There are moments when it's sparkling clear that it's time to move to a new city. You get a great job offer, get married, or are accepted to your dream school. Other times, it's hard to be certain uprooting your whole life is the best choice. There are so many possibilities to be explored and not all of them may be good. If you have yet to decide to stay or go, here are 10 signs it may be time to move to a new city.
This seems pretty obvious, but the choice to live where you are is often clouded by emotional ties. Maybe it's family being nearby, a long history of memory-making, or promises you made to yourself a long time ago, but something other than money is keeping you in your current city. If you're constantly stressed out about paying bills and can't afford to have fun anymore, it may be time to move on to someplace with a lower cost of living or better job prospects. After all, life is short, and you should be enjoying it.
Not all cities have great job prospects for every field. If you're ready to excel but haven't been getting anywhere with your current company, it could be a sign that this isn't the career playing field that you need. There may be better opportunities in a new city. Of course, we highly recommend doing your research before choosing a new destination. Moving willy-nilly could put you in the same predicament.
Financial planning is incredibly important and real estate is one of the most fruitful ways to invest. Every quarter, homes across the U.S. are gaining equity; however, if you plan on using real estate to save money for retirement, your primary real estate market should be performing in favor of your goals. Depending on if you're looking to save money through your primary home's equity or an investment property, home prices should be rising at a healthy rate and rentals should be in demand. If not, it may be in your best financial interest to change zip codes or you could lose money in the long run.
Too cold. Too wet. Too dry. Too hot. Too…it really doesn't matter. You're over the weather and in need of a new climate. As a top destination for retirees and northerners, we've see this A LOT. We get it, really. When your lifestyle disagrees with the weather on a daily basis, it can wear on your mental health.
For people who are family oriented, living near family can be very important for well-being. If that's you, moving closer to family could be the key to dealing with some loneliness and stress. On the other hand, when family is all up in your business, it can be stressful and stifling for your growth as a person. Some distance between you and them, or a few county lines, may be the resolution. Don't worry, you can always move back after you've had time to achieve some goals.
Sometimes life sends you so many twists, turns, and smacks in the face that it leaves a mark on the landscape. Schools, restaurants, parks, theaters – they all are the settings for memories. If all you see are bad memories when you look around, it may be time to find a new city and start creating new memories.
We all have passions and activities we like to do during our free time. If you constantly find yourself bored and staying at home, and money isn't a factor, it may just be a sign that your city doesn't have the entertainment opportunities you need. So, why not go somewhere with more attractions and venues that are on par with your lifestyle?
No matter if you're an introvert or an extrovert, having a tribe of people in your life that you can rely on is important for mental health and well-being. If you don't have a tribe in your current city but have supportive friends elsewhere, moving closer to them might be good for you. Just don't make the move without a job and housing in place or the move could be more stressful than good.
Are city ordinances impeding how you use your property? Do you disagree with the choices made by local county commissioners? Are property taxes getting too high? Has school redistricting ruined your family's plans? Is the city development heading in a direction you don't like? Decisions made by city and county agencies affect your lifestyle. If you find yourself complaining about them…a lot…that's a sign it's probably time to move to another city or county.
Your city is still affordable, your career is healthy, you have a support group, and everything else is a-okay – but something is still tugging at your inner barometer. Maybe there's a city that keeps drawing your attention or something doesn't feel quite right – whatever it is, you have a gut feeling that you should move. It's possible the universe is telling you to find green pastures and if you're in search of some adventure, now may be the time to change cities and experience new opportunities.
Tell us in the comments: If you could move right now, where would you go?


text:
\section{Introduction}

Cross-correlation of time-series signals from antennas in radio astronomical arrays scales quadratically with the number of antennas or phased elements and linearly with bandwidth.  A new generation of full cross-correlation low-frequency arrays, motivated in part by the science of 21~cm cosmology \citep{furlanetto06}, is notable for the numbers of antennas employed, which may number in the hundreds.  Examples include the Long Wavelength Array \citep[LWA;][]{taylor2012} and the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization \citep[PAPER;][]{parsons2010}.

Correlator designs that rely on Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are common \citep{perley2009}.  Systems have also been implemented in software, running on general purpose CPUs \citep{deller2007}.  Though ASIC and FPGA-based designs are efficient in terms of computation and signal transport, development efforts may have long lead times and require specialized digital engineering, and upgrades in capability without extensive re-engineering may be impractical.  Moreover, in both cases implementations do not depend on off-the-shelf mass manufactured hardware, use of which may reduce cost.  In contrast, CPU-based correlation depends on general purpose languages, libraries, and hardware.  It leverages investment by computer  and computational science communities in algorithms and optimizations, as well as the economies of scale in manufacturing of hardware.   The approach is inherently flexible, but the computing density of general purpose CPUs limits application to small arrays.

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are massively parallel computation engines that are well matched to the cross multiplication operation of the ``FX'' correlation algorithm \citep{tms01} and the high-speed movement of data that is required for large arrays, i.e., for a large number of correlator signal inputs. The operation may be phrased as an outer product of two vectors that contain data for each antenna for a given time and frequency. The problem is readily parallelized and on GPUs achieves high arithmetic intensity (number of operations per byte moved).  Although use of floating point arithmetic is intrinsically less efficient than the fixed point arithmetic typically executed by ASICs and FPGAs, high computing density, parallel architecture, high-speed memory transfer, and code reduction afforded by a compiler make GPUs strongly competitive for large arrays \citep[e.g.,][]{clark2012}.

The limitations of current correlator systems motivated the development of a new ``hybrid''\footnote{Originally the term ``hybrid'' described correlators that use analog filtering and digital frequency analysis. Such systems are now rare, and the term is repurposed here to refer to an all-digital design that mixes platforms, harnessing fixed and floating point arithmetic.} design where the F and X stages of correlation are implemented using FPGAs and GPUs respectively. The design leverages the modular architecture introduced by \citet{parsons2008}, but GPU servers are substituted for FPGA platforms and applied to the cross multiplication stage. For large N correlator systems, adoption of GPUs for execution of cross multiplication can provide an initial cost advantage \citep[e.g.,][]{filiba2013}, as well as providing the flexibility and rapid development time advantages of a software correlator. Achieving high compute utilization in high-speed stream Fourier processing of data is comparatively more difficult than in cross multiplication, due to the lower arithmetic intensity of the calculation. As a result of this FPGA platforms continue to be used to execute the synchronous digital sampling of time-series data at the correlator input and the Fourier transform to frequency space that is intrinsic to the F-stage.  However, use of GPUs throughout the processing path may also be practical for some applications in which other systems provide synchronous digital sampling.

Section \ref{sec:corrDesign} describes the three main correlator computing layers  (FPGA, CPU, and GPU). Section \ref{sec:scale} discusses the scalability of the design. Section \ref{sec:results} introduces the results of an August 2012 field deployment, and discussion of further development options appears in Section \ref{sec:conclusions}.

\section{Correlator Architecture}
\label{sec:corrDesign}
\subsection{Hardware}

The hybrid architecture can be divided into four sections (figure\,\ref{fig:daq}).  First, the F-stage implemented on FPGA hardware accepts synchronous input from digital baseband samplers,  transforms time to frequency domain data at the Nyquist rate, and formats data into Ethernet packets.  A platform such as the Reconfigurable Open Architecture Computer Hardware (ROACH) or its successor, ROACH2\footnote{http://casper.berkeley.edu/wiki/hardware}, which consists principally of an FPGA chip and the facility to connect the requisite analog to digital converter (ADC) outputs and multiple Ethernet interfaces, can be used.  Second, the network layer initiates a corner turn or transpose operation while conducting data from the F to the X stage  (see Section\,\ref{ss:ct}). This can be realized with an off-the-shelf Layer-2 switch.  Third, at entry to the X stage, packetized data capture and ordering (completing the corner turn in preparation for cross-multiplication) is executed in a CPU layer.  This can use a general purpose high-throughput server and network interface.  Fourth, cross multiplication and integration of products for each frequency channel and time sample is implemented in the GPU layer.  Averaging of time samples in the GPU layer reduces the volume of data that must be transferred back to the CPU layer following the O(N$^2$) cross multiplication.  The selection of GPU is chiefly governed by floating point computing capacity (Flop\,s$^{-1}$).  Device memory capacity is a secondary consideration, effectively reduced to O(N) needed to store data prior to correlation, due to savings afforded by the time averaging of the data afterward.  F-stage processing is parallelized by antenna input.  X-stage processing is parallelized by frequency.  Each GPU processes a sub-band extracted from the output to the F-stage.   (The number of sub-bands and thus the number of frequency channels per GPU depends on computational capacity-- completion of the O(N$^2$) calculations in a sufficiently short time for real-time processing).

In contrast to an ASIC or FPGA correlator architecture, the hybrid architecture combines synchronous and asynchronous elements, which is effective provided there is adequate buffering and the time order of data can be maintained. Each of the `F' stages are synchronized by a Pulse Per Second (PPS), enforcing a specific start time for any observation. The timestamp for any given portion of the dataset can be calculated relative to this starting time. Accordingly, no other synchronization or timing devices are required.

\begin{figure*}
\includegraphics[width=16cm]{fig1.png}
\caption{Correlator data path.Signals are sampled by ADCs that are directly connected to the FPGA platform. Digitized time domain data are transformed to the frequency domain. A selected sub-band is formatted into ethernet packets for transmission via a network switch to a GPU server.  The data are captured to RAM, unpacked from 4 to 8-bits (complex), and copied to the GPUs for cross multiplication. The data are averaged, transferred back to server RAM and written to disk. Direct transfer to disk of spectra is enabled when sampling at the Nyquist rate is needed (dotted line).\label{fig:daq}}
\end{figure*}

\subsection{Software Packages}
\label{ss:ds}

\subsubsection{FPGA}
\label{ss:fpga}

The FPGA firmware was developed using Matlab/Simulink and Xilinx System Generator\footnote{http://www.xilinx.com/tools/sysgen.htm}, coupled with libraries developed by the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER)\footnote{https://casper.berkeley.edu/wiki/Libraries}. These configured the signal routing and FPGA logic for  capture of samples from the ADCs, polyphase filter bank (PFB) operation, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)  processing, and packetizing for ethernet transmission off the ROACH.

\subsubsection{CPU}
\label{ss:cpu}

The data transmitted from the ROACH hardware are received using the Pulsar Distributed Acquisition and Data Analysis \texttt{PSRDADA}\footnote{http://psrdada.sourceforge.net} software package.  The core functionality of the package is the capture and subsequent streaming of data between ringbuffers. Data are acquired from a network interface or other direction connection and stored in a buffer.  Each buffer is broken up into a header block, containing information identifying the origin of the data and several sub-blocks. As data are received they are written to the sub-blocks sequentially. When a sub-block is full, a flag is raised signaling that the data in the sub-block can now be read. Read and write clients manage this process, such that data can be read from one buffer, manipulated, and written to another. This forms a modular processing chain into which additional steps can be inserted without modifying other aspects of the system.

\subsubsection{GPU}
\label{ss:gpu}

The open \texttt{xGPU} package first developed by  \citet{clark2012}--a.k.a. the Harvard X-engine-- is an optimized scalable cross-multiplication code. The required performance of the CPU and GPU layers in combination is measured via the  rate of single precision (SP) floating point operations, R, and  capture rate, D (including all stages of the \texttt{PSRDADA} pipeline and GPU calculations).  Both depend on the number of correlator inputs  (N$_i$: twice the number of antennas or elements for two polarizations), number of frequency channels N$_c$, and the Nyquist sample interval for the F-engine spectra ($\tau$):

\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:tflop}
\textrm{R}= 4 \textrm{N}_{i} ( \textrm{N}_i + 1) \textrm{N}_c \tau^{-1};
\end{equation}

\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:gbps}
\textrm{D} = 8 \textrm{N}_i \textrm{N}_c \tau^{-1}.
\end{equation}
On GPUs, there are four floating point operations per fused complex multiply and add operation.  Thus, dividing equation 1 by four enables crude comparison with the operations count for correlation using fixed-point arithmetic.

\subsection{Frequency Domain Transformation}
\label{sec:dataacq}
The correlator F stage comprises four operations: a PFB,  equalization and requantization, channel selection, and packet assembly (figure\,\ref{fig:feng}).  Each sampled data stream is channelized in frequency using a PFB.  The number of bits required to represent the data typically increases during this stage (e.g. from 8 bit (real) samples at the ADC to 36 bits (complex) samples after the PFB). Since the signal in each frequency channel of each Nyquist sample is noise-like, each channel is requantized to four bits for each component, real and imaginary \citep{backer2007, parsons2008}.  This reduces the F-stage output data rate, and network load.Frequency channel selection further reduces the network load by restricting later processing to frequency sub-bands that are free of persistent terrestrial interference.

The final stage before transmission of the data is the buffering of multiple spectra. As the number of inputs increases, the number of frequency channels that can be processed per GPU decreases, and frequency channels must be distributed among a larger number of servers. Buffering enables multiple Nyquist sampled spectra to be sent in a packet, keeping the packet size large when few frequency channels are sent per packet. This reduces the network overhead, and enables higher data rates than can be achieved with small packets. A 16-byte header is added to each packet for identification purposes. This header contains a packet sequence number (incremented with each packet) and an F-engine identification number. These two numbers allow the packets to be placed in the correct memory location when received, regardless of the order in which they arrive. These identification numbers take up only a fraction of the header space, allowing for additional information (e.g. information regarding RFI) to be encoded with the packet in the future (see figure \ref{fig:packet}).

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig2.png}
\caption{FPGA processing pipeline. Digitized inputs are sent from the ADC to a PFB. Post PFB the signals are scaled to have 4-bits for the real, and 4-bits for the imaginary components. A selection of frequency channels are then buffered and transmitted via ethernet ports connected to the FPGA. Here, N$_t$ is the number of time samples per packet, N$_a$ the number of ADC inputs and Ch$_s$ and Ch$_f$ the starting and finishing frequency channels for the current packet. \label{fig:feng}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Corner Turn and Cross-multiplication}
\label{ss:ct}

Data received from the F stage are processed through a series of ringbuffers (figure \ref{fig:dataflow}). The first stages in the pipeline, data capture and unpacking, complete the corner turn initiated in the network layer, and prepare the data for input to the GPUs for cross-multiplication.

In the context of a correlator, the corner turn operation is the process of assembling frequency channels from multiple inputs, for example, frequency channel zero from every input antenna polarisation. When all inputs are handled by a single device, this process is the same as a matrix transpose (e.g. transposing all the parallel inputs so they are ordered by frequency channel rather than input). When the inputs originate from multiple devices, there must be an interconnect to allow the frequency channels from different F-engines to be merged. In a similar manner to that described in \citet{parsons2008}, a switch is used to simplify implementation of the corner turn operation in this design. Instantiation of the corner turn in the network and CPU layers simplifies and streamlines the operation, playing a critical role in enabling scalability to at least O(10$^3$) inputs without design alteration (see Section \ref{sec:scale}).

Once captured over an ethernet interface, packets are placed into RAM buffers based on the identification number of the packet and the originating F-engine, listed in the header (figure \ref{fig:packet}). If a buffer boundary is reached before all the data for the buffer has been received due to out of order packets, packets for the next buffer can be stored in stack memory temporarily. Once the number of packets in the stack reaches a pre-defined threshold, the remaining missing packets are recorded lost, and the buffer marked as full. The total data rate to be captured by each server, D$_I$, is given by
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:datain}
\textrm{D}_I = [8 \textrm{N}_r \textrm{N}_a (\textrm{High}_{ch} - \textrm{Low}_{ch}) ] / [\textrm{N}_{serv} \tau]
\end{equation}
where N$_r$ is the number of FPGA nodes, N$_a$ is the number of inputs per FPGA node, Low$_{ch}$ and High$_{ch}$ are the starting and finishing channel numbers of the selected frequency band respectively, and N$_{serv}$ is the number of servers.

The capture of data and placement in RAM buffers completes the first part of the corner turn: the data packetized on the FPGA are transmitted to the appropriate GPU, coalescing the frequency channels for each subset of bandwidth. After capture, a separate process pads the data from four to eight bits. While frequency channels from each FPGA node will be grouped together (e.g. channel zero from each ADC input), the channels from different nodes will not be contiguous in memory. Therefore, in addition to bit promotion, the ``unpacking'' step in the dataflow includes an implicit reordering within the defined range assigned to a GPU node and thereby completes the corner turn (figure \ref{fig:unpacker}). Once the data are 8-bit, they can be passed through the GPU texture memory.  The texture memory converts the input from 8 to 32 bits in hardware, effectively making the 32 bit promotion ``free'' in terms of CPU/GPU cycles \citep{clark2012}. The data are then cross-multiplied in the GPU as in \citet{clark2012}. The data size of the cross-correlation matrix to be output from each GPU, D$_{cc}$, is calculated by:

\begin{equation}
\textrm{D}_{cc} = \textrm{N}_c (\textrm{N}_i / 4 + 1)(\textrm{N}_{i}/2) \textrm{N}_{pol}^2.
\end{equation}
where N$_{pol}$ is the number of polarizations. In order to make the output data rate manageable, this matrix is averaged on the GPU before transferring back to host memory, and can then be further averaged on the CPU before writing to disk.

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=8cm]{fig3.png}
\caption{Packet format. The 64-bit sequence number combined with the F-engine identifier creates a unique identifier for each packet received by the server. The combination of these two numbers also indicate where in memory the packet should be placed. The packet size is dictated by the number of frequency channels each GPU can process. Where multiple Nyquist sampled spectra are sent in a single packet, each new time sample, formatted as per the data portion of the packet, is added to the end. \label{fig:packet}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=8cm]{fig4.png}
\caption{Processing stages and buffers for a dual GPU receiving system. Each ``Buffer'' block in the diagram represents a ring buffer with four sub-blocks. As each sub-block is filled, the next stage in the pipeline takes control. Separate threads manage data capture, unpacking from 4 to 8 bits and reordering, and GPU communication.\label{fig:dataflow}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig5.png}
\caption{Data flow during unpacking. The unpacker in the CPU layer completes the corner turn by reordering the frequency channels received from each FPGA to be adjacent. The blue and red blocks indicate frequency channels from different F-engines and antenna inputs.\label{fig:unpacker}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\section{Scalability}
\label{sec:scale}

While the requirements for scalability of a signal processing system are superficially rudimentary (e.g., increase processing power and memory size), in practice, it cannot be taken as given that any particular architecture can be scaled to larger N when details of implementation are considered. The modular nature of the hybrid correlator, choice of packet format and corner turn implementation, enable scaling as a function of inputs and bandwidth as described by equations \ref{eqn:tflop}  - \ref{eqn:datain}. As a limit is reached in the number of inputs, GPU processing capacity or data capture rate, additional F-engine nodes may be added to enable new signal paths, and X-engine nodes to expand cross-multiplication capacity. Note that in order for the corner turn to scale, the requisite number of switch ports increases concomitantly and a full cross-bar network configuration is needed when the number of required ports exceeds the capacity that can be accommodated by a single switch\footnote{This could also be accomplished using multiple smaller parallel networks.}.

In addition to scaling the number of inputs, the F-stage can similarly be scaled in bandwidth using standard techniques such as using multiple oscillators to split the input baseband between platforms, or constructing a compound F-engine (e.g., a course PFB followed by a fine PFB). Scaling of the F-engine may be limited by packet buffering. As the number of antennas grows, increasing numbers of Nyquist sampled spectra need to be buffered on the FPGA before transmission. This can be accomplished using the FPGA buffer random access memory (BRAM), or if required, additionally attached memory such as quad data rate (QDR) or dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). The packet size can be calculated by N$_t$N$_a$N$_c$, where N$_t$ is the number of time samples per packet. The number of packets that can be buffered is then M$_{size}$ / N$_t$N$_a$N$_c$, where M$_{size}$ is the amount of buffer memory available. Taking the ROACH2 platform as an example, there is 36~MB of QDR memory. This allows for buffering of order 4400, 8$\,$kB packets, through to 35000, 1$\,$kB packets, where the minimum packet size will be limited by the required data capture speed for each GPU server.

There are two points at which GPUs may limit scalability. The first occurs when the processing requirements of the system are such that a GPU cannot process a single frequency channel in real time. The second case is a hardware limit, where the number of inputs increases to where the data for a single frequency channel will not fit on the device. This first can be overcome within the current architecture by assigning multiple GPUs to the same frequency channel, and multiplexing in time. For example, GPU zero processing frequency channel zero at time step one, and time step three, while GPU one processes time steps two and four. An alternative option involves partitioning the visibility matrix so that each GPU computes and stores only a subset of the matrix. This can be thought of as an additional level of memory tiling for the GPU. This partitioning solves both limitations simultaneously. Using current generation hardware, the maximum scaling is to $\sim$5600 antennas without time multiplexing or partitioning assuming a sustained processing rate of 3~TFlop\,s$^{-1}$ per GPU. Assuming a $\sim$6~GB memory limit, the maximum number without partitioning is $\sim$19000.

Table \ref{table:datarate} shows capture rates\footnote{Prior to unpacking.} and Tflop\,s$^{-1}$ per GPU for a 32, 64, 512, 5600 and 19000-input system, as well as Top\,s$^{-1}$ for the F-engine. For the lower inputs systems, it is data rate that is the dominating factor. For larger numbers of antennas the data rates into each GPU can become negligible. The 19000-input system assumes that multiple GPUs are assigned to each channel.

\begin{table*}
\begin{center}
\caption{\rm Data rate and processing requirements for a varying number of inputs.\label{table:datarate}}
\begin{tabular}[t]{c|c|c|c|c|c
\hline
\hline
Inputs                      & 32          & 64        & 512    & 5600  & 19000  \\
\hline
FPGA processing &&&&&\\
(Top\,s$^{-1}$ required)    & 0.01        & 0.02      & 1.81   & 1.98  & 6.72 \\
\hline
\hline
GPU processing &&&&&\\
(TFlop\,s$^{-1}$ required)  & 0.42        & 1.66      & 105    & 12539 &  144324 \\

\hline
GPUs (3TFlop\,s$^{-1}$)              & 1           & 1        & 36     & 4180  &  48109   \\
GPUs (24TFlop\,s$^{-1}$)             & 1           & 1        & 5      & 523   &  602     \\
\hline
Data (Gbps) / GPU (3TFlop\,s$^{-1}$)    & 25.58       & 51.17    & 11.37   & 1.07  & 0.316\\
Data (Gbps) / GPU (24TFlop\,s$^{-1}$)     & 25.58       & 51.17    & 81.88   & 8.56  & 2.53 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table*}

An ``ideal'' system for hardware utilization maximizes both both throughput and computation. Figure \ref{fig:scale} illustrates the continuum of the Table \ref{table:datarate} estimates, visualizing the potential tradeoffs that can be made. For a GPU with 3~TFlop\,s$^{-1}$ sustained processing capacity for example, correlating 2.6~MHz of bandwidth, an optimal system has $\sim$500 inputs. For a 24~TFlop\,s$^{-1}$ capable GPU, the ideal number of inputs increases to ~$\sim$1500. For fewer inputs, the GPUs are not computationally bound. In this case GPUs with a lower peak performance can be used to reduce costs. For greater numbers of inputs the GPUs are not capable of processing the requested bandwidth in real time.

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=9cm]{fig6.png}
\caption{Computational optimization as a function of input count. Solid curves represent the trade off between the number of inputs and bandwidth that can be processed, for GPU single precision floating point capacities of 3, 6, 12, and 24~TFlop\,s$^{-1}$ (actual).  The red dotted line specifies the data rate for the specific example of a 2.6~MHz bandwidth.  Above the line processing is bandwidth bound. At the intersection of the lines, the system becomes computationally bound. Below the line the data are unable to be processed in real time.\label{fig:scale}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

The scalability aspects discussed here are focused solely on the correlator. While this may be sufficient for some applications, in the general case other elements in the data path pose unsolved problems of scale owing to dependence on at least N$^2$. The computation challenges associated with gridding irregularly spaced visibilities in preparation for FFT imaging \cite{romein2012}, and subtraction of sky models from correlator output in the visibility domain \cite{mitchell2008}, for example, will also need to be addressed.

\section{Specific Implementations \& Field Demonstration}
\label{sec:results}

Operation of the hybrid correlator configured for 32 inputs was initially demonstrated using a subset of antennas at the LWA1 site in New Mexico \citep{taylor2012, ellingson2013}. The subset comprised 16 dual polarization dipoles at spacings from $\sim$5 to 98~m (figure \ref{fig:stands}).

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig7.pdf}
\caption{LWA1 stands layout. The stands used for the 32-input demonstration are represented by squares.\label{fig:stands}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

Four ROACH boards, housing dual, quad input, ADCs were used to digitize the input signals\footnote{https://casper.berkeley.edu/wiki/ADC4x250-8}. The ADCs were clocked at 200~MHz, to achieve a 100~MHz bandwidth. A PFB (2-tap, 8192~pt resulting in 24.4~kHz channel spacing), transformed the data to the frequency domain (figure \ref{fig:feng}). The data were quantized to 4-bits real and 4-bits imaginary for each frequency channel, and a contiguous frequency sub-band of $\sim$40~MHz was selected from the output (1628 channels).

Frequencies above 88~MHz are dominated by FM radio broadcasting.  Below 30~MHz at the LWA1 site, the time and frequency occupancy of interference increases toward the low end of the band, principally due to long range propagation conditions created by the ionosphere.\footnote{See http://www.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf for the spectrum allocation.} Above 54~MHz, television broadcasting may be anticipated in general, but the LWA1 site is primarily clear of persistent local sources due to the transition to digital TV that moved most of the broadcasting to frequencies above 100~MHz.

Each sub-band was formatted into 10~GbE and transmitted via a switch to a GPU server\footnote{Dual E5645 CPU, dual Tesla C2050 GPUs, dual 10GbE ports}. The 32-input design required that data be captured into RAM at an input rate of $\sim$10~Gbps. The data were unpacked and cross-multiplied in GPUs, per figure \ref{fig:dataflow}. For this implementation, one CPU thread was used to capture on each 10~GbE port (the input data were split between two ports running at approximately 5~Gbps each), two threads were used for each unpacker and reorder step, one thread to call the GPU kernel, and one thread to average and write the data output to disk\footnote{Tests have shown with current generation hardware the software used is capable of capturing and processing data at 9.9~Gbps for each 10~GbE link, or alternatively up to 16~Gbps for each CPU thread when using a 40~GbE link, and that the unpacker code can process approximately 15~Gbps per CPU thread. Data capture and processing using multiple threads has shown the pipeline capable of capturing 39.6~Gbps and processing 30~Gbps of input data. The GPU performance is analyzed in \cite{clark2012}}. Each GPU pre-averaged 1024 cross-spectra, and the CPU a further 119, resulting in output time averaging of $\sim$4.99 seconds.

A selection of fringes obtained following the 32-input installation can be seen in figure \ref{fig:fringes}, and figure \ref{fig:ampvtime} compares the progression in time of the fringe amplitudes at 52~MHz to a two source model for different baselines. Finally, an image of Cygnus A and Cassiopeia A based on 5 minutes of data with 20~MHz bandwidth is given in figure \ref{fig:image}.

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig8.png}
\caption{Fringes for a 91~m baseline, in two orthogonal polarizations. The vertical axis shows 5 second time steps.,The horizontal axis frequency steps 24~KHz channels. The phase is coded by color (red-blue is one turn).  The two LWA1 stands used for the figure formed a baseline 29.7 degrees west of north.\label{fig:fringes}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig9.png}
\caption{Data from observations dominated by Cygnus A and Cassiopeia A for two different baselines. Visibility amplitudes as a function of time for a 91~m baseline at a position angle of 29.7 (top panel) and 98~m at 18.7 (bottom panel) west of north. These baselines substantially resolve out diffuse galactic emission. The visibility amplitude expected for a sky model of two point sources, representing CasA and CygA (solid line) is scaled to match the amplitude of the observed data (dots). The data are shown for one polarization, and the amplitude is an average over three 24.4~kHz frequency channels at 52 MHz. The fringe patterns show ``beating'' between the two sources. \label{fig:ampvtime}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig10.png}
\caption{Cygnus A and Cassiopeia A in an instantaneous 90 degree field of view. CygA is used as the Stokes I calibrator, adopting flux densities of 17000 Jy at 74 MHz \citep{cohen2007} and 22000 Jy at 38 MHz \citep{kellermann1966}. The flux and position of Cassiopeia A are within 4\% and 0.7\% of those in the literature respectively \citep{kellermann1966}. Data analysis was carried out as in \cite{bernardi2013}. After bandpass calibration and fit for the dipole complex gains as a function of time \citep[as described in][]{mitchell2008}, the visibilities were Fourier transformed to snapshot images that were mosaiced together \citep{ord2010}. CygA and CasA were deconvolved using the forward modeling technique described in \cite{bernardi2011}.\label{fig:image}}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

For the GPUs used in the 32-input test system, the \texttt{xGPU} algorithm can achieve up to 79\% of the GPU peak performance \cite{clark2012}. For the test system, the number of inputs was trivially small, needing less than 10\% of the available resources to compute the cross-multiplication (0.06~Top\,s$^{-1}$). The F-engine was divided over four FPGAs, each processing eight inputs. The total computation for the F-stage was correspondingly small (0.1~Top\,s$^{-1}$), requiring each FPGA to process 0.025~Top\,s$^{-1}$. \footnote{Approximately 7\% of the total theoretical available on a Virtex 5 SX95T chip assuming the maximum clock rate of 550~MHz could be achieved and all DSP48E slices were used. Approximately 20\% when the actual clock rate of 200~MHz is used.} Larger 64 and 512-input systems that more fully utilize the corresponding hardware \citep[e.g. as in][]{clark2012} have been employed. Each system processes $\sim$60~MHz of bandwidth. The 64-input system replaced the original 32-input at LWA1, and the 512-input correlator was installed at the LWA station at Owens Valley Radio Observatory (LWA-OVRO).

\section{Summary \& Future Work}
\label{sec:conclusions}

The ``hybrid'' correlator is a scalable large-N correlator implemented in both hardware (FPGA) and software (CPU/GPU). The design architecture described has been successfully implemented at LWA1 as a 32 and 64-input system, and at LWA-OVRO with 512 inputs. Without modification, the design should be scalable to past the O(10$^3$) antenna regime.  Planned developments for the correlator pipeline include baseline dependent integration (BDI), pulsar gating and partitioning of the visibility matrix. Shorter baselines will have slower fringe rotation, and can be integrated longer without decorrelation. BDI will enable the integration length for different baselines to be specified, decreasing the output data rate. Pulsar gating will allow placing the ``on'' and ``off'' pulse time samples for pulsars over the full field of view into separate data streams, enabling generalization of the calibration scheme discussed in \cite{pen2009}. Partitioning of the visibility matrix will also be implemented to overcome potential limitations in the GPU hardware when dealing with O(10$^4$) antennas.

\section*{Acknowledgments}

Research presented here was supported by National Science Foundation grants PHY-083057, AST-1106045, AST-1105949, AST-1106059 and AST-1106054.
The authors acknowledge contribution from the Long Wavelength Array facility in New Mexico, which is supported by the University Radio Observatories program under grant AST-1139974, and National Science Foundation grant AST-1139963.

{\it Facilities:} LWA

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Psyche fans want it darker – interview
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of "Mystery Hotel" and way beyond 35 years as an artist, Darrin Huss of Canadian "poppy" darkwavers Psyche summarizes a long-lasting career and promises a new Psyche album in due time.
We have written about these Canadian-German veterans several times before and won't bore you with the basics. We met a cheerful Darrin before his show at Hafenklang Goldener Salon in Hamburg to talk about everything from being a cult band to the progression of the Psyche sound over the years.
A long-lasting career in review
Welcome back to Hamburg and the first show here in years! Last year was kind of productive I would say, with a new single/EP and a new remix album.
- Some people would consider it unproductive when there was nothing new, only a compilation, but you have to have a period when you are doing your legacy work, reminding the people who already know who you are but also let in the new audience to discover your old stuff. Some of it is 30 years old and needs to be presented to new listeners.
Two years ago you had a 30th anniversary celebration of the pioneering album "Unveiling the Secret". Tell me about your feelings when you look back on a very long career – longer than 35 years – and where Psyche is today?
- And this year it's the thirty year anniversary of "Mystery Hotel", and I actually like the feeling. When I was younger and we only had three albums, of course I didn't care much for the first album. And I remember when we toured, my brother and I actually refused to play anything from the "Insomnia Theatre" album. You had different opinions of what you had done because you wanted to move forward. We turned more to pop music and maybe was slightly embarrassed by the older things but now it's different. I remastered them and for me it's also about rediscovering what made them really good and I don't have too many songs I feel that I'm really ashamed of. There is a few.
I love our first album "Insomnia Theatre" and now we play some songs that we didn't do in the eighties. Some artists don't like that but I look at it as the music never sounded old. The whole point with Psyche when we first started was to come up with something in electronic music that we liked but was different enough to be futuristic. Even the song titles like "The Brain Collapses" are relevant themes today, and that sound I really don't think have been reproduced. When I hear it now, especially now with all the new coldwave bands and the dance music that basically use the same sounds that we used, obviously there must have been something pretty fresh about that because it's getting recycled. So, for me it's like a new release, a reminder and a rebirth at the same time.
But still, after more than 35 years of music production you still create new EP:s and albums. What is driving you to create new music after more than 30 years? I guess that you have had a full-time job next to your music career most of those years – like most musicians have?
- No I don't have a full-time job! People ask "What keep you going?", and "The fear of McDonalds" is my favorite answer. I don't have any other skills! The only skill I have is singing and making Psyche, and doing art in some way. This is all I can do, it's one reason. Since I was 17 I thought I was going to be a singer.
Maybe when you're younger you think you are going to get a freaking Grammy but to be honest, not really with our music. In the beginning there was early punk, and Gary Numan had a top ten hit in North America with "Cars", and we thought everything was possible. We actually thought that a song like "The Brain Collapses" could be a top ten hit, I'm not kidding you! I was like "Why can't the weird 'The Brain Collapses' song be a hit? It's danceable, it's catchy".
At the time we didn't think about all that stuff like "Are we independent?, "Are we too goth?" and I still think it could have happened without going too far. The song "Eternal" is the radio song of Psyche and that got us the farthest that we were going to get into the pop area. But we never had a chart hit, and at some point you start to realize that you're going to be a cult band instead. All my heroes like Fad Gadget and even Marc Almond went from number one on top ten lists worldwide to be very multiversed artists. I mean Marc and the Mambas and even Soft Cell were less commercial, so if these are my heroes, that's where you end up.
Becoming a cult band must be a comfort for not entering the charts?
- Yes and it's consistent! And the other thing I learned is that you can always be discovered. If you were really big – let's say that "Unveiling the Secret" was a massive hit – then the whole world wants that damn song again. Then if you fail at the next two albums you are basically screwed. For me it's more that we make other albums, and some people will like the newer stuff, some people don't because they think you have changed too much, but after a while they hear it all together and can figure out what we were doing. When I was seventeen I thought about the idea that "Okay, if you're 60 would you sing 'The Brain Collapses', would that be your thing"?
But did you even think that Psyche would still exist when you would be 60?
- Well, I didn't know if that was possible but I put some thought into like "How would I feel about that?". At that time I was more into the pop side so I felt embarrassed by the idea, and even at 24, I said I was too old for "The Brain Collapses" or my cover of "Sex Dwarf". I think even Marc Almond said "At some point you're too old for 'Sex Dwarf'", so I recently also stopped playing it. Claus Larsen in Leæther Strip made it if after me and he still plays it so he's not too old yet. I looked at people like Iggy Pop and I thought "Well you know, when he is 60 he's probably still going to do 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'", and he still does. Then you grow into that and say that "As long as I'm still physically fit why the fuck not". Let's say that I watch a video of myself and think "You look like an old man crawling on the floor", that would be something else. But why not, I'm still ready for it.
How would you describe the evolution of Psyche's sound since the 80:s? Are there different "eras" of Psyche styles, according to you?
- That's very interesting because some people always say that "You're not like Depeche Mode, you didn't gradually change". Sometimes it was like a slap in the face and on the next album it was like "Oh my God, it's pop" and suddenly it was like "That's really, really slow". I think that if you look at the themes and the overall atmosphere and feeling, you hear musical changes and you hear different ways of making these songs but the core of Psyche – what I'm writing about – hasn't changed, that's still there. My voice is still recognizable enough. It was not like that I one day was singing with distortion and the next day I was singing opera. I don't see those extremes that many people do and what I've been told many times is that "If you haven't made three albums that were like 'Mystery Hotel' you would have been more successful". You can't plan those kind of things, we just do what we do.
The 90:s were kind of rough though but I think we survived that well by just doing the kind of weird music that we wanted to do. The "Love Among the Ruined" album – I love it because it's a mixture of five or six electronic styles. We had a little bit of drum'n'bass and other styles that were influencing at the time but we made it through the Psyche machine. It comes out on the side sounding like Psyche's version of drum'n'bass, and in my opinion it still sounds like us.
Skinny Puppy and FLA fueling the synthpop direction
Considering when you started Psyche in Canada back in the 80:s, at the same time as pioneer bands such as Skinny Puppy, how did Psyche turn into another musical direction?
- We probably existed briefly before Skinny Puppy was even on the market but it was almost at the same time. And do you know why I turned into synthpop? Because of them! Another thing I said to myself when I was younger was that "Do I want to spend the next 25 years just doing only this dark stuff". I wouldn't want to be the singer of Skinny Puppy because I can sing. I knew that from a very young age that I wasn't going to do just super dark aggressive stuff, I'm not that kind of person.
You're more a Marc Almond person?
- Definitely, and he was my major inspiration. He was like Uncle Marc, everybody thinks he is my dad or my brother or something. For me it was Marc Almond, Annie Lennox, Peter Murphy and Alison Moyet. They were my guides, and everything they achieved vocally as well as musically is where I wanted to go so I didn't want anyone to say "You can only do this one thing". I know I can sing – I think even much better now – and at the time I knew I wasn't going to do this dark voice forever. Even "The Brain Collapses" has poppy elements actually, maybe not poppy lyrics but the singing is not like Skinny Puppy's or Front Line Assembly's more aggressive singing, it's totally different.
The first 2, maybe 3 Psyche albums are much darker than the rest of your releases and they represent a unique sound of the 80:s. What is your reflection of those albums?
- Except for "Mystery Hotel" since that was actually the album that kind of broke us in Sweden because it was on Sonet. We found out later that it was licensed to Sonet and I was like "Oh my god". "Uncivilized" and some of the poppy songs were big hits in Sweden. The dark stuff is the first two albums so it's the whole spectrum. Actually, the whole feeling of Psyche is really in those first three albums.
But there was quite a change in sound between "Mystery Hotel" (with Stephen Huss) and "The Influence" (with David Kristian). It's quite clear that you use many of the classic analogue synthesizers and drum machines, such as the Roland TR-series, on those albums.
- 707 is on there and we only used one FM keyboard at the "Mystery Hotel" but we used it in ways it wasn't recognized at all. And the fourth album was entirely made on the Casio FZ-1 sampler so all the sounds are original. David Kristian made all the sounds himself on the sampler. So yeah, it was dependent on what kind of synths you used but we were always kind of picky like using sounds that don't sound like obvious presets, like on "Unveiling the Secret", the really famous one. There are two presets that we use from the Korg Poly-800 II but nobody else used them, just Psyche. I don't think nobody else made a hit out of those keyboards.
Music is not for free
You have also seen the huge changes in how music is distributed through changes in product formats – LP to CD to digital formats – and how fans are listening to and buying music. What are your impressions of these huge transitions of the music industry and how has it affected Psyche?
- I have learned all about that and survived all of that, and now we can come to the point why I have all these weird releases. In the beginning I was terrified like a lot of people, especially major label bands. I remember when Radiohead did that "pay-what-you-want" thing for one of their albums and some people were very angry, some people thought that's smart because at least you will find out what people are willing to pay for your music. The "give-it-away" thing – I followed all the possibilities when trying to find out what is right for us – but I don't really agree with this. I think it may be okay to give away one song on a compilation just to get people interested in you, but in the end it send a message that music really has no value. I'm with Taylor Swift on that one! She is like "You got to pay for the stuff I do, I'm an artist and won't give it away for free". I may not like her music but I agree with the philosophy.
There's a real fight in there where people say "You're an artist, you're privileged to be an artist and should be happy that someone would want to pay for the shit you do" – that's one take on it. But I think that if what you're doing is worthwhile somebody would pay for that. The proof of what you're doing is worthwhile is that they pay for that. Any of us can go and make music and give it away for free but does that mean anything for the person who got it? I don't think so. I decided a long time ago that I was going to try all those avenues – Bandcamp, the streaming thing and different ways of monetizing the videos on YouTube. I think I can start a school to learn other people how to do this. But I'm also privileged enough, I guess, to have a certain volume of music or songs that people are discovering, buying and downloading today. If you don't have that, then you have the bargain bin. That's what I meant about being really successful. Let's say you sell your million records when you're 19, and all of a sudden you're 40 and those records are worth nothing because people won't even pay 99 cents for them.
Which means that when you release a new album you have a strategy, like with the new remix album "Under the Radar"?
- "Under the Radar" is rather interesting because it's caused by fans. I had a whole bunch of fans who would tell me "I have to download stuff from Bandcamp, why can't you just put them out on a CD" and I thought it would be really expensive for me to make everyone of all those damn releases on a CD so I decided to put together what I thought was the coolest stuff from all the collections. There was one called "Rare Remixes & B-sides" and a lot of the tracks came from there, and then some of the cover versions and then things that were only on a single, like "Disorder" that was only on a 7″ – for the people who don't want to buy 7″ singles or vinyl, because not everyone want that. You have to have all the things available and when I do something I want it to be special so I thought "Okay, I would make it in an order that it's pleasant to listen to it and take entire series of things that you might have missed because they were only on compilations".
But is it really necessary to release all music, including the remastered albums, in such a range of different formats?
- I don't have to but I want to! But yes, with the new releases, the idea that you got to have the CD and the vinyl and everything else – I did that with the maxi. We decided that CD singles, they're not happening, it's not worth it. We did the maxi and said it's going to be vinyl only and of course a digital download. At first I just wanted it to be vinyl only but that's a little bit mean. You can do the 12 inches as vinyl and then you can't buy the download but you can stream it on Spotify. I thought about that too but then I went back to my value-for-your-music thing and I thought "No, the people who buy the vinyl get the download and the people who just want the download can go for that". And thanks to Taylor Swift I put a lot of thought of not doing as some German bands do and not put things on Spotify. Before, Radiohead also said they didn't want to be on Spotify since it also devalues the music. I didn't really do that. We gradually started to end up on all the streaming things because we were still selling CD:s. What I like is that any musician can be known worldwide through YouTube and Spotify. Then if someone buy your physical product you know they will value your music even more. It doesn't hurt you to at least be available to those who may not pay for it, but they still pay for it. I mean, you get your 0,02 cents for every stream.
Speaking of being available, you don't do full tours anymore?
- No, I don't do tours. I decided that a while ago. Stefan, my partner, has a normal job and I don't. I don't like singing every single night in a row, I don't like to do these ten days in a row. I did it when I twice supported Diary of Dreams which wasn't thrilling for me at all. I wanted to know how it would be to be in a nightliner and do every night once, but I think it's hideous. I want to do weekends or one-off events, festivals where you give everything on that night and then you go away for a month. I learned that from Grace Jones by the way because she used to disappear and then occasionally she turned up once or twice a year at midnight in Italy or something, and I thought "That's cool, I like that idea" and I'm into that now.
A new Psyche album in 2018?
An obvious question is of course if there will be a new Psyche album out soon?
- Yes, we're working on it and actually it's the reason why we released the new single. The single was supposed to be officially released this year so we could say "13 year since the last" but because it was ready we decided to release it in December – and the video was already done. I wanted to have the video ready for Halloween – Friday the 13th and Halloween is my thing – and I needed to have a release on that date. We did the video and the single came later. We started playing it [live] in the middle of December because we didn't want to feature it before it was ready to go – the B-side as well. We have other songs but we're not really ready.
That's another thing I don't really like, this schedule, when you have your material and you got three months of promotion blablabla. Once in my life I wanted to have the single, nobody is expecting it and just say "Here's the video, here's the song". I wanted to experience that once. These days it's really cool and I did my leaks – we're not famous enough for leaks anyway – and just wanted to reach the point of surprise when someone says "Oh my God, they have a new single". I just wanted to do that once, and when the album is ready it will be the same "Holy shit, Psyche released an album".
And everybody has been waiting for it.
- And that puts a little pressure on me because I promised for sure that this year it will be finished but I can't tell you that 100%. We got five or six songs and I don't do like some artist who says "Oh I recorded 30 songs and I will choose my ten best and here's my album". I read in interviews that Moby says that, and I think even Blondie, but I don't write songs just to fill out some space on a CD. I make ten songs and then I have ten songs. It took me ages to come up with the confidence for the single and we since learned that most people like the B-side better because it's darker – people want Psyche to be dark! It's interesting because we have stuff that's poppy but not necessarily happy, but definitely danceable and poppy. We're a dark synthpop band!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The sea beet, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima ((L.) Arcangeli.), is a member of the family Amaranthaceae, previously of the Chenopodiaceae. Carl Linnaeus first described Beta vulgaris in 1753; in the second edition of Species Plantarum in 1762, he divided the species into wild and cultivated varieties, giving the name Beta maritima to the wild taxon. The sea beet is native to the coasts of Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia.

The sea beet is the wild ancestor of common vegetables such as beetroot, sugar beet, and Swiss chard. Its leaves have a pleasant texture and taste, being good served raw or cooked, and because of this, it is also known as wild spinach. It is a large perennial plant which grows up to , and flowers in the summer. Its flowers are hermaphroditic, and wind-pollinated. It requires moist, well-drained soils, and does not tolerate shade. However, it is able to tolerate relatively high levels of sodium in its environment.

Description
Sea beet is an erect and sprawling perennial plant up to  high with dark green, leathery, untoothed, shiny leaves. The lower leaves are wavy and roughly triangular while the upper leaves are narrow and oval. The inflorescence is borne on a thick, fleshy grooved stem in a leafy spike. The individual flowers are green and tiny with the sepals thickening and hardening around the fruits.

Distribution and habitat
Sea beet is found in maritime locations in Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia. In the British Isles it is found round the coasts of England, Wales, Ireland and southern Scotland. It grows at the top of sand and pebble beaches, at the drift-line on saltmarshes, on sea-walls, coastal rocks and cliffs. It also occurs on wasteland near the sea, and occasionally on rubbish tips and roadsides inland. On the pebble banks of Chesil Beach in Dorset, it dominates the drift-line along with oraches Atriplex spp., and is in dynamic equilibrium with a community dominated by shrubby sea-blite Suaeda vera.

References

Leaf vegetables
Beta (plant)
Plant subspecies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Thursday, 8/10/2017, the fun starts at 5:30pm and will end at 8:30pm.
Friday, 8/11/2017 & Saturday, 8/12/2017, the fun starts at 9am and will end at 3:30pm.
Sunday, 8/13/2017, join us for Church Service beginning at 10:30am and see what your children have experienced at VBS!


Is just building learning technology enough? Modern learners are increasingly looking for a learning experience at work that mirrors the way they learn and discover information in their social lives.
Interconnected, social-media-savvy learners expect faster, more relevant answers to their search for knowledge – and in real time.
They're turning away from the more traditional learning technology and content in favour of Google, YouTube and wikis to help them find solutions where and when they need to.
So, if you're building a learning arena these days, how can you be sure anyone will turn up for the show?
It's important to recognise that learners' expectations are changing. With new technology and content on demand, learners are used to formulating their own learning objectives and finding ways to meet them. You can acknowledge this by designing a learning environment that allows learners to take control of their learning path.
You also need to have learners invest in their learning. Make it relevant so that they believe that what they're learning will make them better at their jobs. Learning should address a need that they themselves perceive, rather than one you've created for them.
Learners will only take control and invest in their learning if they see a benefit. Otherwise, they might view asking them to take control as shifting responsibility, or worse abdicating it altogether.
Changing the environment in which learning takes place can help. Organisational culture can reinforce a sense of personal responsibility for learning, tying it to improved performance, peer recognition, and personal reward.
Taking control of learning can only happen if there's a motivating factor. Learning that's targeted at improved performance gives learners purpose, direction, and incentives. Learners feel personally invested in learning.
Performance management within the organisation sustains that investment. Tying learning requirements to performance objectives emphasises the relevance of the learning. Benefits include increases in pay, the prospect of bonuses and other forms of recognition within the organisation.
You can incentivise individual learners to engage more with learning, but real success comes when you combine individual motivation with peer collaboration.
People learn better when they share knowledge and ideas, particularly when they're working together. Peer pressure and solidarity can produce an environment where sharing information is seen as desirable, necessary, and mutually beneficial.
This represents a cultural shift within the organisation and requires buy-in and support from senior management.
Learning, as we know, isn't a one-off event. Part of the dissatisfaction with learning technology is that it's often based on a single occasion or single point of interaction. To really change the culture of learning within an organisation, we need to make it sustainable.
Running learning like a campaign can help. Campaign-based learning means constantly engaging new learners, keeping messages up to date and fresh, providing reinforcement and recall of learning through practice, making learning stick by playing the long game and supporting people in changing their learning habits so that they learn while they're doing their regular jobs.
Micro-learning – learning in bite-sized chunks on the go – is a good example of campaign-based learning. It gives learners a sense of control over what they're learning and when they're learning it. It can help personalise learning and provide that agility modern learners and organisations require.
Also, use technology to make learning a social experience through online contact and face-to-face interactions. These forms of engagement can help create learning cohorts: groups of people working and learning together.
These ideas may sound great, but how do you make them a reality? Easy access to learning is critical but to make that happen you first need to remove some barriers.
Time is always a key asset for any organisation. Often learning means employees are taken away from their jobs to do some mandatory training. Everyone is expected to attend. The trouble is that even if everyone does participate, most are likely to forget what they've learned. And when they want to recall it they have no access to the material.
A more effective way is to provide learning in a way that learners can access it when they need it, where they need it, on their own time and device.
Locking away content in a training room, user manual or on an LMS creates another barrier. Consider how accessible your learning content is. So, think about ways of making it more accessible by breaking it down and making available on multiple devices in the workspace.
And where is that space? Not everyone is at a desk. In this mobile world, people need and expect information on the go. Assume that about learning too.
The answer to that question is a categorical yes. But don't build it in the expectation that they have to come: entice them in.
Technology allows us to make and build connections. We see it all the time in the way people use social media. The same can apply to learning. Technology should be about breaking down barriers not reinforcing them. If you can run learning like a campaign and make it inclusive, you give employees a learning environment in which they can invest and whose benefits they see.
Motivating learners and bringing them together in a learning network offer the prospect of more sustainable learning, leading to better on-the-job performance and a more rewarding learning experience.
At Learning Pool we recognise the challenge for learning technology. It's our business to provide learning that is relevant and accessible.
With our chatbot Flo we're harnessing the power of AI to give learners control over what they need when they need it. We're making learning technology smarter and more agile, in keeping with the modern learner who expects instant access to the world's knowledge via smart devices.
But we also know that modern workers need very particular learning at a key moment on the job. By using technology to embed learning in the workflow, we're looking to improve performance and provide real benefits for organisations and individuals alike.
To go back to the 'Field of Dreams' analogy, you may have built it, but to make sure they come you need to make it 'access all areas'.
Andy Hurren has been leading L&D teams at npower Ltd for the past eight years and has been the organisation's head of learning since May 2015. During this time, Andy has lead the complete restructuring of the L&D function and moved from a very traditional model of training to a completely blended learning approach.
Before joining npower Ltd, Andy ran his own training and development consultancy delivering programs in sales, customer service and management development. Andy is also a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute.


The weekend has allowed me to slowly back track sales that have occurred over the last few weeks in January, and I am continuously discovering record high prices on various Michael Jordan inserts. While I have yet to validate the winning bidder, this $440 sale of this ungraded 1997 Z-Force Zuperman Rave /399 topps any previous high I had recorded in 2011. There were 17 bids and the winning bidder r***8 has a feedback of over 6000. Awaiting feedback.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 12:44 pm	and tagged with chicago bulls, ebay, michael jordan, nba, rave, skybox, z-force, zuperman and posted in NEWS.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
« Hey, That Looks Familiar!


A slow week, learning wise.
Setting up my learning to code environment for The Odin Project required some hard drive file maintenance.
And, of course, all my backup medium were full.
With clean up accomplished, this past weekend I geared up for TOP on my Windows 7 machine. Memo to the file: it helps to read the instructions, no matter the excitement level.
The install of Oracle VirtualBox went as advertised. No problems there.
Xubuntu 18.04, not so much, as I fixated on my CPU brand (Intel) instead of its data width (64-bits) which resulted in a VM snit.
Off to the TOP Discord and a suggestion from @bycdiaz#1505 (thanks!) to try the 64-bit version got me back on track.
If I had done a bit of Googling first, I would have found the explanation. Apparently, while 32-bit will run for many folks on 64-bit machines, the AMD distro is preferable regardless of who makes the 64-bit CPU.
My laptop was very fussy and wanted xubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso and absolutely refused to play with 32-bit.
Curiosity has me researching why the 32-bit version would not run. From what I've read, it should have, at least, limped along.
If you can offer any guidance in this realm, please share in the comments.


Wanda Arnold, one of our recent graduates from Texas wanted to use her research paper assignment as a chance to write about how she incorporated essential oils into her family's daily routine. Being from a dry state (with the exception of dealing with mold caused by hurricane Harvey), she decided she wanted to explore how to use essential oils for allergies.
SOUTHEAST, TEXAS. It is still summer, but my grandson and son both are full of congestion and pain. My son is always using his nose inhaler from over the counter. That is why I have decided to research allergies to help my family.
March during the spring when all the beautiful flowers are blooming!
September when the ragweed is at its peak!
So for some reason, this summer is proving to be a bad time for allergies. My hope is to use the natural power of essential oils to alleviate allergies.
Allergies are some of the worse things that a person can experience. They are very irritating and can also be a sign that they are some underlying disease or problems. In this article, we'll learn about some of the best essential oils for different types of allergies plus understand how to use the essential oils so we can try the essential oils out.
Allergies are one of the costliest ailments in current time. It never goes away, its just keeping going! It is also one of the most miserable illnesses. Among the world's most common ailments, doctors can't cure them. They just put you and your poor kids on weekly shots and daily medicines. This is what they did to us for years. They did absolutely nothing for us. Neither my sons or myself found any relief having done this twice in the last twenty years. The over the counter stuff is a joke. It just keeps taking your money and offers no results. In fact most of the time you just get worst! My sons are now 42 and 46 and still suffer daily!
Essential oils provide a naturally safe, gentle, effective alternative to prescribed or over the counter medicines. Essential oils, for the most part, do not have side effects as some medicines do.
Why would we rely on over the counter drugs to sooth pains and aches from allergic reactions, when we can experience the natural remedies using essential oil with so many to select from? We will never run out of choices of essential oils since they are a natural product and are available to anyone.
An allergy is a damaging immune system response to a substance that does not bother most other people. The symptoms vary widely. Some typical reactions are itching, selling runny nose, asthma, sneezing, and persistent coughing.
Histamine is a chemical released as a result of an allergic reaction. An allergic reaction which causes sneezing, itching, way more mucus, swelling, wheezing. Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is a response to airborne allergens: pollen, pet dander, dust mites.
Essential oils known to help combat this is lavender, roman chamomile, and rose.
Histamine is protein molecules acting as neuro transmitters produced during an allergy attach. Histamine always circulating within the body at anytime stimulates the brain to produce large amounts of histamine.
In reality, it isn't any substance that is the problem, but the way our body reacts to it. The problem is when our body identifies something as harmful that substance is an allergen. Typically sensitivity to a particular allergen the bodies immune system over reacting to allergens. This can cause wheezing, sneezing, itching, coughing, watery eye, headaches.
German Chamomile neutralizes allergies and increases the ability of the skin to regenerate. You can use Rosemary and lavender to help in healing allergies.
For some individuals, the use of peppermint oil has eliminated the need for allergy shots! But keep in mind to always follow directions for use. Always, Always check cautions of each essential oil. It is It is also advisable to consider a skin test before usage.
Essential oils work to prevent allergies from happening again too but do not overuse as excessive application of essential oils may trigger other body reactions. The redness of skin experienced when applying essential oils may indicate too much was applied or not enough carrier oil was used when applied to the skin.
Use only use 100% therapeutic essential oils for best results for any allergies. If not 100% therapeutic essential oil it may contain some impurities that can trigger a reaction., you want to avoid that.
ADD 1 DROP EACH TO A SPOONFUL OF LOCAL HONEY FOR CHILDREN 2—3 DROPS EACH TO ADULTS.
ADD CARRIER OIL SUCH AS COCONUT OR ALMOND TO PREVENT BURNING.
Hot or cold compresses (10 drops oils into 4 oz water) put on the affected area.
Inhalation—2-3 drops into the material you will be inhaling from or into diffuser or humidifier.
Rosemary for healing allergies, respiratory problems-when inhaled immediate relief for congestion and infection from allergies and headaches.
Eucalyptus—take a bit when your not breathing right and it will help you breathe better.
Frankincense—relief from a stuffy nose and inflammation in breathing passages.


Paradise describes itself in its comp blurb as a procedural interactive fiction and multiplayer novel. Neither of those are terms I would use to describe it: there's not much you'd call plot progression. And when I hear "procedural interactive fiction" I usually assume that there's going to be some text generation or some procedural narrative structuring or some AI-driven characters or something along those lines. What's here, I'd be inclined more to call something like "a platform for collaborative textual landscapes".
Paradise is hard for me to judge: it's a platform for creating IF experiences; it allows multiple people to be logged in at the same time and to chat with one another, though I never saw anyone else when I was inside, and I'm not sure how much it really tries to facilitate multiplayer interactions; it's very unclear which parts of the environment are by any specific person. I didn't see any way to create a project with a delineated beginning, middle, and endpoint. Where Seltani is divided into realms, Paradise has lots of stuff connected to other stuff and stacked within other stuff and anything by anyone could be (as far as I could tell) pretty much anywhere.
So it's kind of more like a big sprawly collaborative art project, maybe, than it is a story or game? I'm not sure. Of things I've previously covered on this blog, it probably bears the most affinity to these games of co-authorship.
The part of Paradise that I enjoyed most on my tour was a little room that I know was set up by another reviewer of this competition. Should I credit the submitter of Paradise for this, when what charmed me here was a joke written by someone else at a time after the game was submitted to the comp?
Likewise, am I supposed to be judging this primarily as a player? Or is part of the experience really supposed to be about authoring for this platform? Do I need to spend a couple hours acquainting myself with how to write for it, and judge it on that basis, which is a totally different basis than the one on which I generally judge comp games?
All that said, though, I'm glad to see stuff turn up in the Comp that's not what I expected; and as a matter of fact I'm frequently exasperated when people use "I don't know how to judge X" as a reason why X-type things should be categorically excluded from the competition. So I list all these thoughts I had not as a criticism of Paradise or a meta-criticism of its presence here, but as a way of laying out some of my own limitations in trying to address it.
…and what it offers is a curious hybrid interface of command line and hyperlink, where clicking a link pastes a correctly formed command into your line buffer. You still have to press return in order to execute that. The command line is also where you type if you want to create anything new.
I say "command line" rather than "parser prompt" because there are only a few verbs at the command line that do things to the fictional-level world model (mostly ENTER and USE, LEAVE to pop up a level from where you are now, and WARP TO for getting places). Most of the things that you can type there are creation-level commands instead: create an object, rename an object, program an object with simple behavior. The programmed behavior can be about warping and spawning.
The world model, meanwhile, is about nesting one thing within another, and you can generally "enter" anything you want. When, e.g., one encounters a vegetarian cookbook lying on a table, an appropriate behavior is to enter said cookbook. It may have an interior description. But this immediately removes any illusion that your character is supposed to be an embodied physical entity in the world, and instead positions you as a sort of floating consciousness that can interpenetrate different orders of thing.
I didn't figure out how you'd do many of the features of conventional space-modeling IF (portable objects, lockable areas, characters who wander around and say things, etc.). That's not to say that the capacity doesn't exist, just that I didn't figure it out in the time I had available to explore. It's also not completely obvious how one would do something more like hypertext: yeah, you could model each node of a story as an enterable object, and let the player dive down deeper and deeper into the hierarchy, but I also didn't see how one would go about, say, setting variables on the player character that would record past choices. In any case, it seems really antithetical to the purpose of the tool, and none of the examples I saw were about that kind of thing.
Paradise isn't about building an outline like that, but it is about traversing a hierarchy and making and destroying more things within that hierarchy. And it really does want you to create something: the first thing you have to do in order to interact is make yourself an avatar in which to travel.
So with all that in mind, I spent the last of my comp judging period building a little area as well. If you warp to 8020, you will see a yellow phone box, which is what I made with this time.
This is entertaining but also a bit frustrating. The system strips away all capitalization and a lot of the internal punctuation on any object descriptions you write. If you want to edit an object description, there are some semi-clumsy options that are not as convenient as just popping open a text box and editing it; this is intended, I think, to avoid too much modality, but it just made me feel as though I would be frustrated if I wanted to build anything with a lot of text. I did not, in the time available to me, figure out how to add in-line links within a description, though it looks as though Wade did discover that. The programming elements also felt fairly counter-intuitive to me, though, again, I had only a little time within comp-judging rules to explore all that.
At a slightly higher level, I would also have welcomed the ability to see a little tree view of the objects I was working on in that section and how developed they were. It was very easy to create a bunch of props for a location and then drill down into one of them and forget that its sister props hadn't been described or edited yet.
So… hm. The area of Paradise where you start seems designed mostly to show how to create very basic things and teach interaction. That's absolutely necessary. But I think the platform could use a hard-to-miss example area that shows off a best-in-show creation that demonstrates what Paradise can do best. Right now, it's not quite presenting me with something that makes me say either "whoa, I need to play/read more things like this!!" or "I am inspired! I want to build something with this tool." But I'd like to be saying those things.
At any rate, it's interesting, and clearly the product of some refinement already, and I am super keen to see more multiplayer IF experiments.
This entry was posted in Competitions, Creation Tools, CYOA, multiplayer, Reviews and tagged Devine Lu Linvega, paradise by Emily Short. Bookmark the permalink.
Emily, I judged – or attempted to judge – this project as well, and had very similar responses to it. By the end I was caught snugly in-between my excitement about the idea of multiplayer IF and someone having tried to make it work, and the actual somewhat disappointing experience of trying to find something to do with it. Like you said, it definitely needs a model area to show off what it can do and give players a vision for what's possible; but I'm not sure the nested-object model really allows for enough narrative options to make much possible, and the tools are somewhat shonky.
The real benefit of it for me was as a segue into the weird and wonderful world of Devine Lu Linvega's wiki-like website where he catalogs everything he does, sometimes in strange in-fiction ways. My mind was thoroughly blown by the time I was done.
Er, when you were building your yellow phone box, I mean. Sorry for the double post, I couldn't find anywhere to edit the comment.


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BIG STEP FORWARD IN CANBERRA'S BID FOR AN A-LEAGUE TEAM
Image Credit - @ALeagueCapitalRegion/Facebook
Canberra's bid for an A-League team has taken another major step forward!
Canberra & Capital Region has surpassed their target of 5,000 Foundation Members almost a month ahead of schedule.
The bid's focused on creating a community-based club that builds ties with football communities from Canberra and the surrounding region and ensuring talented young players don't get overlooked.
Organiser Michael Caggiano said the latest achievement shows just how much locals support the bid.
"We knew this was a region crying out for a professional men's football team to support, but the speed at which this target has been surpassed has surprised even me," he said.
"It reflects the amazing reception this bid has received from local grassroots football fans."
The bid's taken significant strides since the FFA announced we'd made the shortlist, with a final decision expected in October.
"We now have more than 100 volunteers helping with the bid, around 120 people attended our community forum last week and I've lost count of the amount of local businesses offering assistance," Mr Caggiano said.
Despite surpassing the member target, the bid team won't be resting on their laurels!
"We are picking up more momentum every day and the sky is the limit now," Mr Caggiano said.
"This will be the Australia's most community orientated professional football club and I encourage every football fan across the region to sign up as a Foundation Member and get involved. If you are keen to help, we want to hear from you."
They're now hoping to hit 10,000 members by the August 31 deadline!
Register online today!
HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY ON CANBERRA'S A-LEAGUE BID
RAIDERS COACH JOINS NRL HALL OF FAME
RAIDERS STAR BLAKE AUSTIN TO LEAVE THE GRE...
ERRORS COST RAIDERS WIN OVER BRONCOS
Eels Stripped 12 Points, Fined $1million
Dragons Coach Arrested Drink-Driving: Report


The sensitivity of yeast mutants to oleic acid implicates the peroxisome and other processes in membrane function.
The peroxisome, sole site of beta-oxidation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is known to be required for optimal growth in the presence of fatty acid. Screening of the haploid yeast deletion collection identified approximately 130 genes, 23 encoding peroxisomal proteins, necessary for normal growth on oleic acid. Oleate slightly enhances growth of wild-type yeast and inhibits growth of all strains identified by the screen. Nonperoxisomal processes, among them chromatin modification by H2AZ, Pol II mediator function, and cell-wall-associated activities, also prevent oleate toxicity. The most oleate-inhibited strains lack Sap190, a putative adaptor for the PP2A-type protein phosphatase Sit4 (which is also required for normal growth on oleate) and Ilm1, a protein of unknown function. Palmitoleate, the other main unsaturated fatty acid of Saccharomyces, fails to inhibit growth of the sap190delta, sit4delta, and ilm1delta strains. Data that suggest that oleate inhibition of the growth of a peroxisomal mutant is due to an increase in plasma membrane porosity are presented. We propose that yeast deficient in peroxisomal and other functions are sensitive to oleate perhaps because of an inability to effectively control the fatty acid composition of membrane phospholipids.
March 10, 2014 Waiting for tested.
March 10, 2014 Request sent.


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Andrea Radrizzani on the possibility of a phased return to Elland Road for Leeds United fans
Leeds United are playing the remainder of the season behind closed doors.
Sunday, 5th July 2020, 11:45 am
Updated Sunday, 5th July 2020, 12:24 pm
Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has said that he hopes supporters can make a phased return to Elland Road in the near future.
The Whites saw their season halted in mid-March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with football and sport across the world put on hold indefinitely amid the global health crisis.
After months of discussions the Championship campaign restarted in late June but the season will conclude behind closed doors without fans in attendance due to concerns over public safety.
Marcelo Bielsa's side are pushing for a return to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years and sit top of the table six points clear of third with just five games of the run-in remaining.
United fans have had to swap the terraces for television screens in the short term as they cheer Leeds' promotion push on from home.
Radrizanni, though, says that while it has been important to keep in touch with supporters through the use of technology and social media, he is hopeful people will be able to attend games sooner rather than later.
Even believing that a phased return to stadiums could be the answer to help football return towards some form of normality.
Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani. (Jonathan Gawthorpe)
"It's positive that we have the opportunity to get in touch and create a technology bridge between the fans and the players and the club," Radrizzani told the Talking Sport webinar.
"With the fans this is very important.
"Obviously whoever has been in a stadium, especially in England where the atmosphere is fantastic, knows and understands the difference.
"I think as soon as it's possible the stadium will be full again.
"I hope that the transition will be gradually done soon because I don't think it's necessary to shut clubs down completely in the stadium.
"There's no danger if you manage to have one-third of the people in the stadium or half of the people.
"I think with the right adjustments and precautions I think it is possible to have people in the stadium soon, hopefully."


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We are always looking for great opportunities for our members, so you may want to contact us for the most up-to-date offerings. Be sure to review your membership materials for full details or restrictions.
We are pleased to offer a variety of members-only events, such as behind-the-scenes tours at local factories and businesses, family-friendly outings around town, and more.
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BMI members at the Anchor level and above receive free admission for two people at participating museums across the county. Many museums also offer member discounts in gift shops and/or member pricing for special programs. More museums are added regularly, visit the ROAM website for a current list.
BMI is also a partner in GBHA — the Greater Baltimore History Alliance.
BMI members at the Anchor level and above receive a GBHA admission pass, valid for general admission at over a dozen area museums. View the full list on the GBHA website.


For the first time since the election, Jared Kushner spoke publicly earlier today. It was also the first time many of us had heard his voice before. What was he saying? Oh, who cares? I think he droned on for a while about doohickeys and thingamajigs. The important thing is, Kushner has a voice, and he used it.
Having heard his voice for the first time, Twitter was not impressed. Hilariously so.
No wonder Jared Kushner never speaks in public.
Wow, no wonder Jared Kushner never speaks. Guy sounds like a NERD!
Apparently Jared Kushner has a voice, but he has about as much business addressing tech CEOs as my dog Shep.
Kushner speaks! He sounds like the guy who's consistently the last person waved into a group photo.
Kushner finally speaks—how anticlimactic! He seems like a frightened little boy reading out loud in front of the class, & sadly boooring.
HE SPEAKS!!!! Jared Kushner just did a presser. Wow. Now we know he has a voice but his eyes are still dead.
and jared #kushner sounds exactly as he looks.
The mystery is gone. He's just another douchey weasel in a suit now. Meanwhile, Bloomberg may have found a connection between Kushner and Paul Manafort, so we may get to hear his voice again soon. Under oath.
← How is Megyn Kelly Doing Outside of the Fox News Bubble?


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What is the main economic system used in feudalism?
What was the economic side of feudalism?
How did feudalism help the economy?
What does feudal economy mean?
What is meant by feudal society?
What are three features of feudal society?
What are the characteristics of feudal society?
What is the purpose of feudalism?
What were the effects of feudalism?
Why is it called feudalism?
Who has the most power in feudal society?
What is true feudalism?
Who has the power in the feudal system?
Who has the least power in feudal society?
What is another name for a vassal of the king?
When did feudalism grow weaker?
Did the Black Death caused the feudal system to collapse?
Did the Black Death end feudalism?
Is the feudal system still used today?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of feudal system?
What countries use feudalism?
Where was the feudal system used?
Medieval Vocabulary Feudalism: A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century based on holding all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.
During the Middle Ages, the manor system was the basic economic arrangement. The manor system rested on a set of rights and obligations between a lord and his serfs. The lord provided the serfs with housing, farmland, and protection from bandits.
It reduced the risks of trading between communities. It allowed serfs to earn more money and purchase land. It gave women a way to participate in trade. It ended military conflict and allowed for a focus on trade.
Feudalism is defined as a Medieval European political, economic and social system from the 9th to 15th century. An example of feudalism is someone farming a piece of land for a lord and agreeing to serve under the lord in war in exchange for getting to live on the land and receiving protection.
A feudal system (also known as feudalism) is a type of social and political system in which landholders provide land to tenants in exchange for their loyalty and service.
It had several features.
Castle: The Castle was the chief characteristic of feudalism.
Manor: ADVERTISEMENTS:
Demense: Another feature of feudalism was 'Demense'.
The Feudal Society:
The Knight:
The Rights and Duties of Feudal Lords:
Duty of Vassals:
Ceremony of Homage:
As defined by scholars in the 17th century, the medieval "feudal system" was characterized by the absence of public authority and the exercise by local lords of administrative and judicial functions formerly (and later) performed by centralized governments; general disorder and endemic conflict; and the prevalence of …
What was the purpose of feudalism? It provided people with protection and safety by establishing a stable social order. When a king granted a fief to a vassal, what did the vassal owe the king in return? He gave the king a supply of knights in time of war.
Feudalism had two enormous effects on medieval society. (1) First, feudalism discouraged unified government. Individual lords would divide their lands into smaller and smaller sections to give to lesser rulers and knights.
The word 'feudalism' derives from the medieval Latin terms feudalis, meaning fee, and feodum, meaning fief. The fee signified the land given (the fief) as a payment for regular military service.
Answer. Feudalism was a system in which landowners pledged loyalty to more powerful landowners, becoming their vassals. The majority of people were peasants, farming land they did not own. Kings owned the land, and lords owed them loyalty.
Feudalism in the Middle Ages resembles a pyramid, with the lowest peasants at its base and the lines of authority flowing up to the peak of the structure, the king. Under Feudalism the King was only answerable to the Pope. Feudalism was based on the exchange of land for military service.
Vassal Synonyms – WordHippo Thesaurus….What is another word for vassal?
bondsman
liegeman
serf slave
subject thrall
helot liege
man retainer
In England, several political changes in the 12th and 13th centuries helped to weaken feudalism. A famous document known as Magna Carta, or Great Charter, dates from this time. Magna Carta was a written legal agreement that limited the king's power and strengthened the rights of nobles.
When the Black Death swept over Europe and wiped out a third of its population, it also dismantled Feudalism. Serfs were free to leave the lands of the lords to seek higher wages with the vast labour shortages. The land that had usually been the primary source of wealth was now worthless.
How the Black Death Led to Peasants' Triumph Over the Feudal System. In the year 1348, the Black Death swept through England killing millions of people. The dispute regarding wages led to the peasants' triumph over the manorial economic system and ultimately ended in the breakdown of feudalism in England.
Feudalism does still exist today in part of the world, but is better known as 'Neo-feudalism'. An example is in the United States- where the higher class is getting richer, middle class is not going anywhere and there are more poor people now than ever.
In a system so divided between rich and poor, the peasants were the ones who felt the disadvantages of feudalism. Serfs made a subsistence living in which they had to forfeit virtually everything to keep their homes. Compounding that hardship were the often heavy taxes that these individuals had to pay.
1.1 12th century England.
1.2 11th century France.
1.3 Holy Roman Empire.
1.4 Portugal.
1.5 North American colonies.
The feudal system was introduced to England following the invasion and conquest of the country by William I, The Conqueror. The feudal system had been used in France by the Normans from the time they first settled there in about 900AD. It was a simple, but effective system, where all land was owned by the King.
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(Tumon, Guam) Guam was voted "Most Romantic Tour" at the 2014 Hong Kong International Travel Expo (ITE). The widely acclaimed "New Travel Routings Contest," now in its 7th year, was co-organized by ITE and U Magazine, Hong Kong's leading travel magazine. Representatives from Guam Visitors Bureau accepted the award at a presentation ceremony held on June 16, 2014 at the 26th Hong Kong International Travel Expo.
This is the second consecutive year the tropical resort island has been voted "Most Romantic Tour" by the public. Guam's reputation as a premier wedding and honeymoon destination has grown steadily in the Asia-Pacific region with thousands of couples traveling to Guam every year to exchange vows. Dotted with oceanside chapels, Guam offers a wide variety of wedding packages that can be tailored to suit any budget and level of luxury. Guam's close proximity to Asia is also a major draw—Guam is easily accessible with regular direct flight service and flights only 3 to 4 hours long.
In 2013, visitor arrivals to Guam topped 1.33 million and roughly 4.5% were wedding and honeymoon travelers. The island's natural beauty provides a backdrop for romance and there are many activities for a newlywed couple to enjoy during their stay. The island's hotels, resorts, restaurants and entertainment facilities are perfect venues to share this special occasion with family and friends.
U Magazine has been guiding travel enthusiasts through the world by identifying innovative travel routes. Twelve new international travel routes were presented in three successive issues of U Magazine, ranging from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and onwards to Europe.