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Blog Music
Can Spotify break out of its lane?
After years of relative stability, music consumption is shifting, with the DSP streaming model beginning to lose some ground as illustrated by the major labels growing streaming revenue by 33% in Q2 2021 while Spotify was up by just 23%. It is never wise to read long-term market trends into one quarter's worth of results, but there was already enough preceding evidence to suggest we are entering a genuine market shift. The question is whether Spotify and the other Western DSPs are going to find themselves left behind by a fast-changing market, or can they innovate to keep up the pace?
Social music is streaming's new growth driver, generating around $1.5 billion in 2020 and growing fast in 2021. It represents a natural evolution of social media rather than an evolution of streaming. Audio is just another tool for social expression, along with video, pictures and words. MIDiA has long argued that Western streaming focuses too heavily on monetizing consumption, at the expense of fandom. While social video does not fix the fandom problem, it does cater to some of the key elements of fandom: self-expression, identity and community. Which means that, in some respects, Spotify and the other DSPs only have themselves to blame for having kept fandom out of their propositions. In doing so, they created a vacuum that TikTok and Instagram eagerly filled.
The data in the above chart comes from MIDiA's latest music consumer survey report which is available now to MIDiA clients and is also available for purchase here.
Rights holder licensing met market demand
Spotify and the other DSPs are the dominant, core component of recorded music and they will remain so for the foreseeable future. But whereas a couple of years ago it looked like they might be the entire story, now music consumption is moving beyond, well, consumption. Finally, we are seeing music becoming an enabler of other experiences. Historically this was restricted to non-scalable, ad hoc sync deals. Now rights holders have established licensing frameworks that are flexible, dynamic and scalable enough to enable a whole new generation of experiences with music either in a central or supporting role.
DSPs occupy one of streaming's lanes
The implication of this is that Spotify and the other DSPs now risk looking like they are stuck in just one lane of the streaming market. What looked like a highway is now just a single lane – and Spotify, Apple and Amazon do not have the assets to build propositions that can get them out of it. Being part of this social music revolution requires both massively social communities and video. They could all build that, of course, but with little guarantee of success. YouTube is a different case, having launched Shorts in a belated bid to ward off TikTok's audience theft – but at least it is now running that race, and Alphabet reported 15 billion daily global views for Q2.
An increasingly segmented market
Spotify and other DSPs now find themselves not being part of streaming's new growth story and, YouTube excepted, with no clear path to becoming part of it. To be clear, Spotify will continue to be the world's largest subscription revenue generator and the DSP subscription model will continue to be the biggest source of revenue, at least for the foreseeable future. But revenue growth will increasingly come from elsewhere. In many respects this simply reflects the maturation of the music streaming market. Consider video streaming. Netflix added just 1.5 million subscribers in Q2 2021 while YouTube grew by 84% and TikTok went from strength to strength. Netflix occupies just one lane in a multifaceted streaming market. The same is now becoming true of the DSPs.
Time to do a Facebook?
So, what can Spotify and the other DSPs do about it? If Spotify really wants to 'own' audio, then it will have to do what Facebook did to 'own' social: create a portfolio of standalone sister apps. Facebook would have become the Yahoo of social media if it hadn't bought / launched Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The signs are already there for Spotify. Even ignoring the slowdown in monthly active user (MAU) growth in Q2 2021, podcast users stopped meaningfully growing as a share of overall MAUs in Q4 2020. It turns out that trying to compete with yourself in your own app is hard to do. The time may have come for a standalone podcast / audiobook app (by the way, I'm just taking it as read that Spotify is going to take audiobooks a whole lot more seriously). If Spotify does launch a podcast app, then the case suddenly becomes a lot clearer for other audio-related apps, all of which could include subscription tiers, such as social short video, karaoke, and artist channels.
The more probable outlook however is for specialisation, with segments going deep and vertical rather than wide and horizontal. While Spotify, and other DSPs, might have success in one or more side bets, it will be the specialists who lead in streaming's other lanes. Whatever the final market mix looks like as a result of this change, the streaming market is going to be more diverse and innovative for it.
There are comments on this post join the discussion.
Spotify and music listening 10 years from now
July marks ten years since Spotify's US launch. Although the tendency among some is to consider this 'year zero' for streaming (thus ignoring everything that had happened in prior years both within...
Fandom's Icarus phenomenon: The hype cycle of the attention economy
Fandom is now entrenched as the success determinator of the saturated attention economy. With so much entertainment competing at all times, it is sentiment which draws audiences back for more. Rather than...
The record labels are weaning themselves off their Spotify dependency
The major labels had a spectacular streaming quarter, registering 33% growth on Q2 2020 to reach $3.1 billion. Spotify had a less impressive quarter, growing revenues by just 23%. After being the industry's...
Spotify is really the only one of the 3 (apple, amazon) single lane streaming services that needs to continue to innovate and create stories around their brand because that is their only source of revenue. Apple uses music to sell computers and phones so they are under no pressure to make money, and Amazons music service is also more of an add-on for what is by far and away the biggest online store in the world.
Sean Voelk
Could you elaborate on "Now rights holders have established licensing frameworks that are flexible, dynamic and scalable enough to enable a whole new generation of experiences with music either in a central or supporting role." Who implemented these frameworks and what made them so much more flexible and effective than the previous?


One of the most intuitive ways to cope with suffering is by trying to control it. Strategies such as avoidance, suppression or distraction may be helpful in the short term, but are often ineffective and even harmful in the long term. When these strategies are used habitually, life can devolve into a losing battle, leaving precious little space remaining for the most important things in life.
ACT helps clients identify what matters most to them. Many clients identify values such as being loving, creative, healthy, and being of service in some way. Clients are then taught skills to help them live according to these values. These skills can involve mindfully accepting the present moment, relinquishing the battle with and distancing from emotional pain, and taking meaningful action.
Through engaging in these processes regularly, clients often feel a greater sense of flexibility, vitality, and subtle joy permeating life. While the goal of ACT is to help people live according to their values rather than to treat mental disorders per se, it has been shown to be effective in alleviating numerous problems, including depression, anxiety, substance use, chronic pain, and workplace stress.


This holiday season, SOUL Society outlets will be pulling out all the stops because Santa Claus is coming to town and will be visiting with patrons across Malaysia this Christmas Eve.
Inspired by the popular Christmas carol of the same name, this year's Christmas theme will see SOULed OUT outlets holding a variety of activities and promotions throughout December to welcome Santa and put patrons in the holiday mood.
Each SOULed OUT outlet will also be hosting its very own Christmas Eve party featuring a variety of performances, carollers and of course, SO delicious comfort food and drinks for all patrons, both loyal and new. To ring in 2019 each SOULed OUT outlet will be throwing their own uniquely themed New Year's Eve party ranging from nautical to hippie and guests will enjoy the ambiance far off locales such as the Wild West or the Polynesian Islands.
WIP @ Bangsar Shopping Centre on the other hand is eschewing tradition to shake things up for their Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve guests, throwing a non-traditional Jazzy Christmas party and organizing a naughty burlesque night to ring in the new year.
So, make your reservations or get your tickets to the end year events which most appeal, to enjoy novel and exciting experiences with friends and family at your chosen SOUL Society outlet.
This Christmas Eve, guests will rock their jingle bells with DJ Hawk to festive tunes performed by Sofa Sundays and sing Christmas carols with the Lighthouse Children's Welfare Home as they eagerly anticipate Santa's arrival. Revellers can also win complimentary drinks courtesy of SOULed OUT by singing along in the 12 Days of Christmas challenge.
The entire outlet will be decked out in Santa themed décor, and guests are encouraged to get into the holiday spirit by showing up in their best red, black and white Christmas outfits.
Tickets for Christmas Eve at SOULed OUT Kuala Lumpur are being sold at RM110 nett for adults and RM80 nett per child aged 10 years old and below, which entitles you a sumptuous Christmas buffet full of tradition and a welcome drink.
There is a kind of magic in the air at SOULed OUT Kuala Lumpur as the popular neighbourhood hangout rings in the New Year with a Bohemian Rhapsody themed tribute to the British rock band Queen. Fans are also being encouraged to come dressed in the style of the fabulous Freddy Mercury to show their love for Queen.
Patrons will be rocked by championship performances by tribute band Soul Statue and break free on the dance floor to tunes by DJ Beryl. As 2018 bites the dust, to welcome the new year in spectacular fashion, SOULed OUT Kuala Lumpur have also planned an extravagant Bohemian Rhapsody countdown complete with pyrotechnics and fireworks!
Tickets for Bohemian Rhapsody at SOULed OUT Kuala Lumpur are being sold at RM130 nett for Rock Zone access and RM110 nett for Chillout Zone access. Both tickets also entitle you to our super delicious British Pub Grub buffet and a welcome drink.
SOULed OUT Bangsar South will be featuring delicious holiday specials to get patron's in a jolly mood to welcome Santa on Christmas Eve. Guests will get the chance to sing along with our merry carollers and enjoy the joyful tunes of Maya Pavloska.
The outlet will also have a festive photobooth where Christmas revellers can make merry memories as they welcome Santa in a very special snowy white Christmas countdown. Minimum spend applies at RM80 nett per pax.
Transforming into a Hawaiian Paradise, SOULed OUT Bangsar South will be bidding Aloha to 2018 and 2019 as the outlet throws a spectacular Luau to greet the new year, complete with hula dancing, games and goodie bags.
DJ Nouveau will be lighting up the dance floor and guests can capture special moments at our Polynesian themed photobooth. Partygoers are encouraged to come in their best Hawaiian shirts and hula skirts and join us for a sizzling countdown. Minimum spend applies at RM80 nett per pax.
Christmas Eve at SOULed OUT Ampang is open for reservations with no tickets and no minimum spend. Guests will be able to enjoy SOULed OUT's delicious specials all month long, culminating in a visit by Santa and his Santarinas who will be visiting for a Christmas Eve countdown.
Leading up to the countdown, guests will able to participate in holiday games as they are entertained by nostalgic carols, DJ Lucid Jun and the SO Gaya Dancers who will be spreading goodwill and seasonal tunes all night long. Minimum spend applies at RM80 nett per adult and RM50 nett per child aged 10 years old and below.
For a chilled out New Year's Eve, the Don't Worry, Be Hippie party at SOULed OUT Ampang will have you flower powering all the way into 2019. Tickets are RM80 nett and are inclusive of a psychedelic buffet dinner, featuring SOULed OUT's greatest hits.
So put on your best tie dye or flower power threads and prepare to space out with live beats from the band EPYKS and get your groove on with DJ Raven as we ring in the new year at SOULed OUT Ampang.
Reservations are now open for a cosy Christmas Eve at Taman Tun with no minimum spend required. Come spend quality time with family and friends as you enjoy great drink promotions and dine on delicious Christmas specials created especially for the occasion.
SOULed OUT Taman Tun is transporting revellers to the Wild Wild West for a very special New Year's Eve. From old-timey carnival games and performances by the SO Gaya Dancers, folks can enjoy the ambiance of the old west as they are serenaded by the band Kaya. Reservations are currently open with no minimum spend required.
SOULed OUT Kota Kinabalu at Imago Mall is open for Christmas Eve reservations with no minimum spend required. The kitchen elves are hard at work to come up with unique specials for the party. And although carollers are set to ring in the Christmas cheer, it will be by no means a silent night as the band Infiniti will be performing live as the SO Gaya dancers pump up the volume. Revellers can also win complimentary drinks courtesy of SOULed OUT by singing along in the 12 Days of Christmas challenge.
SOULed OUT Kota Kinabalu will be ringing in the new year and bidding Bon Voyage to 2018 with an epic bash. Reservations are now open for the nautical themed New Year's Eve party at the popular waterfront hangout.
Come join us in your best red, while and blue seafaring outfit for a whale of a time and experience a seafood feast prepared especially for the occasion as local band Infiniti takes the stage and jaunty tap dancers complete the seafaring ambiance.
WIP is celebrating Christmas Eve with a merry, jazzy party, keeping it fresh and different in typical fashion. Diners will enjoy the smooth stylings of Malaysia's First Lady of Jazz, Junji Delfino and maestro David Gomes. Later, DJ Kino Takamura will heat up the dance floor so guests can groove down in their best cocktail chic.
Tickets for A Merry, Jazzy Christmas at WIP are being sold at RM150 nett for adults, and RM100 nett per child aged 10 years old and below, which entitles you to an elegant and traditional Christmas buffet and a welcome drink.
Don your corsets and bow ties and join us at WIP for a sultry, frivolous and provocative evening this New Year's Eve. Make memories at the naughty photobooth and you mix it up on the dance floor when DJs Lucid Jun and Melissa Jo take to the decks. Burlesque performances will keep diners entertained as WIP closes out the year with a big bang to usher in 2019. Minimum spend applies at RM150 nett per pax.


Key vocabulary for the Jewish Festival of Lights.
Al Hanisim — Pronounced ahl hah-nee-SEEM. Literally "on the miracles," the prayer added to the Amidah prayer and Birkat Hamazon (blessing said after meals) during Hanukkah.
Dreidel (also commonly spelled dreydel) — Pronounced DRAY-dull. A spinning top with four sides, each marked with a different Hebrew letter and each indicating a different play in this game.
When is Hanukkah 2018? Click here to find out!
Gelt — Yiddish for money, which was traditionally given on Hanukkah. Today, it is more often used to identify foil-covered chocolate coins, which are included in many Hanukkah celebrations.
Hanukkah (also commonly spelled Chanukah) — Pronounced HAH-nuh-kuh. Literally "rededication," an eight-day holiday commemorating the Maccabees recapturing the Temple from the Greeks.
Hanukkiyah — Pronounced hah-noo-kee-YAH or hah-noo-KEE-yuh (oo as in boot). Literally "Hanukkah lamp," it is more commonly referred to as a menorah (see below). It contains nine candle-holders, one for each night of Hanukkah and one to hold the Shamash (see below).
Latkes — Pronounced LAHT-kuhs, sometimes LAHT-kees. Pancakes, usually potato ones, fried in oil and eaten on Hanukkah.
Maccabees — Pronounced MACK-uh-bees. The family of religious zealots who triumphed over the Syrian Greeks and liberated the Temple.
Menorah— Pronounced muh-NOHR-uh. Literally "lamp," it originally was used only to describe the seven-branched candelabrum that was used in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. However, the hanukkiyah used on Hanukkah is commonly referred to as a menorah.
Sevivon — Pronounced suh-vee-VOHN. The Hebrew word for dreidel.
Shamash (also often spelled shammash) — Pronounced shah-MAHSH. Literally "the helper," the candle on the Hanukkiyah that is used to light the other candles.
Pronounced: kha-new-KEY-uh, Origin: Hebrew, a candelabra with eight branches used for Hanukkah candles. Also known as a Hanukkah menorah.
The Maccabean revolt and the miracle of the oil.
Lesser-known facts about the Festival of Lights.


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Q: Multiboot options in Windows 10 When booting, my Win-10 PC offers a list of 6 partitions to [supposedly] boot from but actually only two partitions contain WIN-10 operating systems. Is there a way to eliminate the unwanted "boot options" to leave only the two OSs?
Thanks

A: First, I would be careful when editing the boot configuration. Definitely create a backup before you change anything.
I think I found an article that will help you get rid of your extra entries. Check this out and let me know if it helps. Towards the end it shows how to remove entries.
MSDN Article

A: You can use Graphical BCD Editor for easy editing of BCD store.

*

*Start tool.

On the left side of program under "Loaders" you will see a list of loaders.

*Click on loader you want to delete, then right click and select "Delete".

*Repeat (2.) on every loader you want to get rid of.
WARNING: You should be careful what you delete as there is NO UNDO!
Before starting deletion you can "Backup BCD" to a file (if you make a mistake just "Restore BCD" from the saved file.)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Digital journalism or online journalism, is a contemporary form of journalism. Where, here the content is distributed online via the internet, rather than publishing via print or broadcast; i.e, newspapers, magazines, and other forms of informative hardcopies.
The primary product of journalism, which is news and features on current affairs, is presented solely on combination as text, audio, video or some other interactive forms. Fewer barriers to entry lowered distribution costs, and diverse computer networking technologies have led to widespread practice of digital journalism.
It has democratised the flow of information that was previously controlled by traditional media including newspapers, magazines, radio and television. The digital aspect maybe central to the journalistic message and remains to some extent, within the creative content of the writer, editor, or publisher.
In a world we live in today, with the ever fast growing technology, the way we are informed has changed dramatically in a huge scale. This in a way has impacted the way we see the world, and how we see it. It is quite okay to say i think that we for sure the most informed generation, every thing is just a click away in our most relied on devices.
Following are a few ways how this form of reporting has an impact on the people :-
Digital Journalism allows for connection and discussions at levels that print media cannot offer on its own. People have the liberty to comment on articles, and start discussions. It also should be noted that these discussions can be far more interesting, and exciting; and we all know that the lion in us is braver behind a screen. Before the internet, these spontaneous discussions were near impossible. People meet like minded individuals, and bring forth their interests on similar topics. Hence, its far more participative and informative to all, when those who are not a part of these discussions.
Digital Journalism creates an opportunity for niche audience, allowing people to have more options as to what to view and what to read. People with similar minds are bought together and discuss views.
Digital Journalism opens up a new way of story telling; through the technical components of the new medium, it can provide a variety of new media, such as audio, video and digital photography.
It provides a revolution of how news is consumed by society. Online sources are able to provide quick, efficient, and accurate reporting of breaking news in a matter of seconds. We are updated on any breaking news in a very short span of time, and this information gets updated as soon as they collect more information. Hence, it gives us more accuracy. Unlike the traditional sources of media, any matter of import would be published one or two days later.
New consumes have become more web literate, and use critical thinking to evaluate the credibility of the sources. As now it is possible for anyone to publish anything as they please online, with not always the best of the intentions concerned. Hence, people while reading have become more cautious as what to believe and what not to.
Also, there are some who do not really seem affected by this medium of information. For instance, there are some who are used the traditional methods and cannot always catch up quickly with the new technologies of the 21st century. Even though the goals are the same, there are different tools that are needed to function. And the major drawback being the credibility of these online sources.CONCLUSION
Traditional media has lost a lot of ground to their online counterparts, as people are able to find the news they want, when they want, without having to face any such dire circumstance as leaving the comforts of home. Immediacy has always been a fundamental element in Online journalism. It allows a story depth, and accuracy, and most importantly is fast.
● en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digi_journalism
● yourstory.com/mystory/online-journalism
Sharon Sarah Thawaney
St.Xaviers College, Kolkata

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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This page, Baker-Polito Administration Awards $3 Million in Food Security Grants, is offered by
Office of Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito
Governor's Press Office
Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Department of Transitional Assistance
Press Release Baker-Polito Administration Awards $3 Million in Food Security Grants
Also Announces Selection of 39 New Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) Vendors
Media Contact for Baker-Polito Administration Awards $3 Million in Food Security Grants
Call Governor's Press Office at 617-725-4025
Email Governor's Press Office at gov.press@state.ma.us
LYNN — Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced nearly $3 million in grants to address urgent food insecurity for Massachusetts residents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and make the Commonwealth's food system more resilient. This funding is being awarded as part of the first round of the new $36 million Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, created following recommendations from the Administration's COVID-19 Command Center's Food Security Task Force, which promotes ongoing efforts to ensure that individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth have access to healthy, local food.
The Administration also announced the first round of new vendors for the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), funded through $5 million in additional funds recommended by the Food Security Task Force. Thirty-nine new vendors were selected based on their ability to respond to the needs of populations and communities most significantly impacted by the pandemic including communities of color and older adults, serve areas designated as food deserts or low-access areas, and reach SNAP client populations disproportionally impacted by COVID-19.
"During this pandemic, Massachusetts' food supply chain has faced significant challenges and there is an urgent need for food security to support our most vulnerable residents," said Governor Charlie Baker. "This new funding is a $3 million investment in the infrastructure we need to continue to respond to the impacts of the pandemic, while creating a system that provides more equitable access to nutritious, local food in the Commonwealth."
"Increasing food security and the resiliency of our food system is essential to protecting public health and local jobs," said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. "Our Administration's new grant program will help ensure the Commonwealth's farmers, fishermen, food banks, and other food businesses can continue contributing to our economy and connect fresh, local food with Massachusetts residents."
The Food Insecurity Infrastructure Grant Program was announced in May 2020 as part of a $56 million investment by the Baker-Polito Administration to combat urgent food insecurity for Massachusetts families and individuals as a result of COVID-19. The Administration also announced $12 million for the provision of 25,000 family food boxes per week through a regional food supply system, and $3 million in funding as an immediate relief valve to food banks.
"The Command Center's Food Security Task Force has been pursuing strategic investments to bolster the food system and provide emergency supplies to meet residents' immediate needs," said COVID-19 Command Center Director and Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders. "These investments are targeted to support organizations across the Commonwealth in producing and supplying food to communities in need, and will help strengthen the system that has been strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond."
"This ongoing crisis has highlighted the importance of ensuring that the food grown and produced here in Massachusetts reaches all our residents, especially vulnerable populations and those struggling with food insecurity," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. "This grant program provides a great opportunity to strengthen our diverse food system, allow for greater access to local food in a way that supports customer and worker safety, and address systemic inequities around access to fresh, local food."
"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the food system," said Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner John Lebeaux. "These Food Security Infrastructure Grants will help to strengthen the resiliency of Massachusetts' farmers and fishers, and better connect locally grown and produced food products with the Commonwealth residents most underserved by healthy, fresh food options."
The Administration today also launched a food assistance decision tree, to help residents in need determine which programs they might be eligible for. This tool can be accessed at mass.gov/findfoodhelp.
Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program
The goal of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program is to ensure that individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth have access to food, with a focus on food that is produced locally and equitable access to food. The program also seeks to ensure that farmers, fisherman and other local food producers are better connected to a strong, resilient food system to help mitigate future food supply and distribution disruption.
The first round of the grant program includes 26 awards totaling $2,941,838 to fund investments in technology, equipment, increased capacity, and other assistance to help producers distribute food, especially to food insecure communities. When evaluating the applications, considerations included equity, economic impact and need, sustainability and scalability of efforts, and ability to support producer readiness to accept SNAP and HIP benefits.
Applications will continue to be evaluated on a rolling basis through September 15, 2020. Eligible grantees include entities that are part of the Massachusetts local food system including production, processing and distribution, the emergency food distribution network, Buy Local, community and food organizations, school meal programming, urban farms and community gardens, non-profits, and organizations that provide business planning, technical assistance and information technology services. The Request for Responses for project proposals is available here.
The awardees for the first round of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program include:
Grant Recipient
Franklin Public Schools
Franklin Public School's Food Service Program will expand outreach to the community by implementing a remote ordering system that can allow families to place meal orders online.
Red Apple Farm
This grant will fund infrastructure changes needed at the farm that include increased refrigerated storage, purchase of a refrigerated delivery van, and a computerized inventory and delivery account system.
Adams Farm Slaughterhouse LLC
Adams Farm Slaughterhouse will purchase a walk-in freezer, air conditioning for the processing and packaging area, expansion of the processing and packaging area, and a new merchandising case.
Chestnut Lot Farm
Chestnut Lot Farm will purchase welded stainless pans to increase production.
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Haverhill, Inc.
This grant will fund additional equipment to store, prepare, and distribute meals for their grab-n-go dinner program.
Pioneer Valley Growers Association
The Pioneer Valley Growers Association (PVGA) will build a new cold storage facility, install a new inventory tracking computer software system, and provide technical assistance to PVGA staff and members.
Mexirico
Mexirico will buy a delivery truck or van to deliver food to people who are SNAP recipients in need.
Walpole Public Schools
Walpole Public Schools will purchase mobile food stations and accompanying signage. The mobile food stations will allow their school nutrition department to safely and efficiently serve students.
Food 4 Kids/Church of the Holy Spirit
This grant will fund coolers to transport meals safely to distribution sites.
Map Academy Charter School
The school will purchase three vans to allow for the delivery of meals throughout the summer and beyond. The vans will be used to provide daily food deliveries to students and their families.
Clarkdale Fruit Farms Inc.
This grant will fund the purchase of a refrigerated delivery vehicle to facilitate safer deliveries of produce and allow for expansion of markets and wider distribution.
Franklin Public Schools will purchase insulated food carriers to expand its food delivery capability both onsite and offsite to help deliver more food to those in need.
Colchester Farm
Colchester Farm partners with Farm & Community Collaborative, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that improves access to local farm fresh produce for underserved populations within the Gateway cities of Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton. The farm will purchase additional equipment to bring 10 more acres into production.
Farm and Community Collaborative, Inc.
This grant will fund the purchase of a refrigerated distribution vehicle with sufficient capacity to accommodate the farm's increase in produce distributions.
Springfield Public Schools
Springfield Public Schools aims to provide 100% prepackaged meals to 25,000 students both in school and provide meals for students to take home when they are e-learning for the 2020-21 school year. This grant will fund the cost of packaging machinery, a refrigerated truck, and additional insulated bags for classroom meal delivery.
Rockland Public Schools
This grant will fund the purchase of two new vehicles with coolers built in to meet the need of serving breakfast and lunches to children every day.
Harvest Farm Produce LLC
Harvest Farm will install an efficient vacuum cooler and a portable engine driven irrigation pump. These investments in production and processing infrastructure at Harvest Farm will leverage the farm's existing specialization in wholesale production to scale up and meet the increased demand for locally grown food during the COVID-19 pandemic.
North of Boston Farm
This grant will expand the farm's home delivery model and expand to those with language and cultural barriers. This grant will fund the purchase of a refrigerated/heated van, mobile farm stand trailer, cooler/heater unit and insulation for existing box truck, Khmer translation services, and English/Khmer farmers market pandemic safety signs and barriers.
Pembroke Ps
This grant will fund a cooler for each elementary classroom so students can receive pre-ordered breakfast and lunch meals in a safe manner.
This grant will fund a refrigerated food truck to expand Dedham Public School's meal distribution program to reach more students/residents in need.
The Salem Pantry
This grant will fund the development of a new food storage and distribution warehouse. This warehouse space will expand Salem Pantry's storage capabilities for fresh produce, frozen meats, dairy and eggs. This grant will also fund the purchase of a new van to support expanded food distribution to food insecure residents as well as new office equipment for inventory management.
Ward Aquafarms, LLC
Ward Aquafarms will build a walk-in cooler installation so they can begin direct sales on shellfish.
Stone Soup LLC dba Langwater Farm
This grant will fund the purchase of farm production equipment, a tractor, and a delivery van to produce 40% more certified organic and transitional organic fruits and vegetables.
Acushnet Public Schools
This grant will fund additional equipment and supplies for Acushnet Public Schools to prepare, store, and serve individual meals in the classroom and to send home to students who are learning remotely. This will include food sealing machines, additional refrigeration and heated storage units and insulated containers to transport the meals to classrooms.
Healthy Incentives Program New Vendors
The Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) provides matching benefits for SNAP households who purchase locally grown produce from participating Massachusetts vendors. HIP vendors include farm stands, farmers markets, mobile markets, and CSA farm share programs. Learn more at mass.gov/HIP.
The majority of the newly selected HIP vendors are local, small-scale farmers who live in or have close ties to the communities and populations they intend to serve, while other selected applicants are local agricultural vendors with demonstrated capacity to serve high-need communities through delivery, mobile markets, and targeted outreach. Sixty-six percent of the selected vendors will serve families in a Gateway City, 49% of the selected vendors will serve multiple communities, and 23% will expand access to towns with no HIP vendors in 2019. The Department of Transitional Assistance received 90 applications in response to a Notice of Opportunity announced on June 11.
New Vendors:
Primary Locations To Be Served
2 Cents Homegrown
40 Acres Farms
All Farmers
West Springfield, Springfield
Back Azimuth Farm
Wareham, Boston, Brockton
Barnabas Forndia
Worcester, Auburn, Webster, Holden
Black Seed Farmers Market
Milford, Worcester
Checkerberry Farm
Chris Farm Stand
Coastal Foodshed
New Bedford, Fall River, Wareham
Dick's Market Garden
Quincy, South Boston, and additional locations
Effloresce Culture & Design
Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury, Marlborough, Chelsea
Everett Community Growers
Fabiola Nizigiyimana
Full Well Farm
Adams, North Adams, Cheshire
Great Falls Farmers Market
Turner's Falls
Growing Places Garden Project Inc
Athol, Ashburnham, Clinton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Lancaster, Leominster, Westminster, Winchendon
Hilltown Mobile Market
Cummington, Huntington, Worthington
Holyoke Farmers Market
Many Hands Farm Corps/Amherst Mobile Market
Marie Romaje
Mycoterra Farm
Quincy, Lynn, Billerica, Bedford, and delivery throughout Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk counties
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Oriental Farm
Regional Environmental Council, Inc.
Worcester, Webster, Southbridge
Riquezas del Campo Cooperative Farm
Springfield, Northampton, Greenfield
Roots Rising
Round the Bend Farm
Sibling Organic Crops, LLC
Brockton, Dorchester, Waltham
Stow, Hudson, Maynard
Sunderland Farm Collaborative
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To put it bluntly, both of you are being victims.
You beating yourself up about past mistakes but not changing anything. She manipulating you to keep the status quo.
It sounds that you two are well matched in that way.
The children are collateral damage.
There are always options even if they are not pleasant ones.
Be prepared for the possibility that your relationship has run its course.
You're growing and he is not.
Congratulations for taking that self caring action.
What are you doing with your life now you don't have? School? Other activities? Reading? That's a start of a conversation. When you limit your shared life by not really sharing an in person life then it's more of a challenge to stay connected especially when you don't share the same interests anymore.
Ultimately you want to be accepted. Hell, you want to be valued. Don't we all?
Your view of being valued is to be an Instagram model solely based on your looks.
You can rail against how society judges women but at the end of the day, that's reality. There is a Byron Katie quote, If you argue against reality, you will lose.
You may want to reexam how you want to be valued for otherwise you will be stuck in your unhappiness and anger.
This reply was modified 2 days, 5 hours ago by Mark.
It seems like a good idea for you to go volunteer to help those with MS or any other disability.
Start with that. Let go your angst about that guy and learn more about yourself and dealing with disabilities.
You can always get back to him but you need this first.
I can empathize with you about this burden of got. I would think that after a while you can come to realize that the the past is the past. You cannot change it. Aren't you tired of beating yourself up? Don't you want to move on? There are meditations of self forgiveness. Start with that as a practice. Get out of yourself and go help others. Turn this guilt into something positive in helping the world.
I don't see any compelling reason to move in together. It seems from all what you are saying is that it is your boyfriend who wants this, not you.
So this relationship of 4 months has been one of phone calls and/or texts and/or Facetime/Skype? You have never met him at all and this visit in a week will be the first time you have actually see each other face-to-face?
When you said you two have not been affectionate lately, what does that affection look like? Is in the form of words that convey fondness, warmth, tenderness and care?
My take all these feelings of something being missing may all go away when you actually see him. Be patient and see what happens.
I am trying to understand your post.
I have not read any compelling reasons on why you should move in with him.
Your bf has said he wants to have a stronger relationship before moving in. What does he mean by that? Do you agree?
Do you plan to move back to NC? If so, when?
Google Second Date Update and see if you can get an explanation from her.
Have you done anything about anita's suggestion in looking into CBT?
It seems that you are obsessing about this guy and worrying about how and when he will respond to you.
It does not seem healthy for having your world revolve around him and how he responds to you.
CBT helps you become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way. The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to teach patients that while they cannot control every aspect of the world around them, they can take control of how they interpret and deal with things in their environment.
This reply was modified 3 days, 20 hours ago by Mark.
Are you talking about an article/blog on this site or somewhere on the web?
Can you give more of a context of this article?
Question: How to stay open to reconcilliation without letting it take over your life?
I don't understand your question. What do you mean by "staying open?" What do you mean "take over your life" ?
Do you want to get back together with your ex-wife? She has no interest in doing that since she is dating and want her boyfriend to meet her children.
Let her go. Focus on your own personal care and health. Focus on being the best father you can be. It sounds like your children have been through a lot of rough years.


I experimented a bit and created this woven shrinky dink bracelet. For this project, you will need one sheet of shrinky dink, jump rings, and a clasp.
I started by cutting out five squares of shrinky dink, about 2"x2." I have tiny wrists so you may need more squares. I rounded the corners with a paper punch and then cut out lots of thin strips of shrinky dink that were a little shorter than the square.
Next, I used a craft blade to cut strips in the squares. Leave space around the entire edge. This was the tricky part. It's not that easy to cut the strips through the shrinky dink so be careful not to cut yourself. It's also possible to pull down too far and cut all the way down to the end of the square.
Now weave the strips through the squares in a normal weaving fashion. I used only about five in each; when I tried to pack it too tightly I ended up ripping my squares. It also ended up looking tidier if I trimmed the strips to line up right with the end of the slits.
Once the squares are woven, punch holes in all four corners. Now, bake. This is the fun part. I recommend sitting in front of your oven in anticipation.
Now use jump rings to attach all the squares together. Attach a clasp and a length of chain to the two ends to close it. It would probably be easier to just have one hole punched in the middle of these two end squares, but I didn't plan ahead and made it work with two holes. You can find what works for you and adjust it to fit your wrists.
Now wear it. Ta-da! Gorgeous.
Very nice. I think that your weaving is inspired, and would be easy to mix up and use in many jewelry pieces on your Etsy site. Consider woven hearts or circles as the links on your bracelet, or use colored plastic as the weaving material on a clear or white background. I've had decent luck giving the plastic a light sanding then coloring it with colored pencils. The color looks weak before baking, but intensifies when the plastic is shrunk. Also, since the weaving takes so much time, you might consider a woven piece as the highlight of a beaded bracelet or a pendant hanging from an interesting bit of chain. Best of luck with your lovely crafts.
Thanks for the sweet and thoughtful comment! It would be fun to integrate some woven pieces into my jewelry.
I have 25 sheets of shrinky dink! I think this will take care of one of them! Thanks, its very cute!
i thought its ideal for fashionable belt ....:)) luv this bracelet ..
Just a word to the wise recycler. Shrinky-dink is a commercial name for bi-axially oriented polystyrene, which is pretty common packaging material. Use the clear or colored thin sheet stuff with a #6 recycling code stamped on it. The quality will vary, but on the other hand, it's free.
I've looked for this and cannot find anything packaged in #6. Where do you find it?
Clear plastic food containers, like bakery clamshells, are your best bet. You also find the '6' on foamed containers, but that form doesn't work.
How long do you bake this and at what temperature? Any concerns about off-gassing?
Hi GHawkins- I followed the instructions on the package. Temp was 230 (I think) and you bake until the piece has flattened. I usually turn on the oven light and watch it. It will start to bend and twist in weird ways and finally it will stop moving. Let it go for another 20 sec or so to make sure it is done and then you can take it out.
If you are using non-branded shrinky dink (recycled #6), then I'm not sure about the time and temp but I know there are several tutorials on the internet for using this material. I would guess it is similar.
As far as off-gassing, I don't know of any problems. I think if you follow directions you are okay. However, I am definitely not an expert on this material.
Cool instructable, and great photos and instructions!


text:
\section{Introduction}

Individual or agent based models (IBMs/ABMs) have been successfully applied for modeling complex ecological dynamical systems \cite{DeAngelis2005,Brown2004}. They simulate all individuals in a population or other group of interest as individual entities and consider the stochastic nature of processes such as birth, death, movement or decision making. Furthermore, IBMs explicitly consider individual characteristics (e.g. mass, life stage, personal preferences) that differ among the individuals, and they can easily incorporate the spatio-temporal arrangement of organisms, and interactions among individuals \cite{DeAngelis2005}. A typical IBM used in this case study is illustrated in Figure \ref{f:ibm}, and consists of individuals of a predator species and a prey species at different life stages and with different masses.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{schemes/StateSpaceModel}
	\caption{Illustration of a two-species IBM with individuals of either prey or predator species at different life stages and with different masses as a state-space or hidden Markov model. Circles depict individuals in the individual-based simulation (preys are represented in blue, predators in grey), the states $\mathbf{x}_t$ are represented by all properties of the individuals necessary for the evolution to the next time step (only examples of the properties are given here), the incomplete observation process $\mathbf{h}(\mathbf{x}_t)$ filters for detectable (sufficiently large) individuals.
	{\tiny [Reprinted from Environmental Modelling \& Software, 87, Kattwinkel M \& Reichert P, Bayesian parameter inference for Individual-Based Models using a Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, 110--119., Copyright (2017), with permission from Elsevier.]}}
	\label{f:ibm}
\end{figure}

However, model parameter estimation for IBMs is often performed only ad-hoc
by manual tuning or optimization, lacking a thorough assessment of the underlying uncertainties. Bayesian inference \cite{Ellison2004} can be used for both parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification. It is based on the so-called likelihood function $L(D|\theta, M)$ of the model $M$ that formulates the model as a probability distribution of observations $D$ for given model parameter values $\theta$. Additionally, prior information about parameter values is described probabilistically by prior distribution $\pi(\theta)$. This prior knowledge on model structure and parameters is then combined with information from observed data $D$ to the posterior distribution $p(\theta|D, M)$ of model parameters $\theta$:
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:bayes}
p(\theta|D, M) \propto L(D|\theta, M) \pi(\theta).
\end{equation}

Usually, Bayesian inference cannot be solved analytically for posterior $p(\theta|D, M)$. Therefore, numerical schemes have been developed to sample from the posterior distribution of model parameters. Commonly applied techniques are Metropolis or Metropolis-Hastings Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling schemes \cite{Gamerman2006,Gelman2014,Hastings1970,Metropolis1953}. These schemes are based on simulations for a large number of parameter samples and the evaluation of the likelihood and prior at these parameter values.
As presented by a flowchart in Figure \ref{f:pmcmc} (left), parameter values are sampled in a chain: based on the evaluated likelihood for a given set of proposal parameters $\theta$, parameters are either accepted (with a probability based on the ratio of current and previous posterior estimates) or rejected (in which case previously accepted parameters are appended to the chain instead).

\begin{figure}
	\centering

	\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{schemes/MCMC+PF}
	\caption{Simplified flowcharts of the PMCMC algorithm combining MCMC (left) for posterior sampling and PF (right) for marginal likelihood estimation in stochastic models using ensembles of re-sampled model states.
	{\tiny [PF reprinted from Environmental Modelling \& Software, 87, Kattwinkel M \& Reichert P, Bayesian parameter inference for Individual-Based Models using a Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, 110--119., Copyright (2017), with permission from Elsevier; altered.]}}
	\label{f:pmcmc}
\end{figure}

The successful application of Bayesian inference for IBMs to realistic scenarios has been hindered by the complex stochastic nature of such models leading to (i) technical difficulties in likelihood estimation and (ii) entailing high computational costs. Likelihood estimation issues were recently tackled by applying Particle Filter (PF) to MCMC sampling, known as Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo (PMCMC) technique \cite{Andrieu2010}. In PMCMC, the hidden Markov structure of IMBs is exploited for efficient marginal likelihood approximations using time-series observations \cite{Kattwinkel2017}. A model has a Markov structure if the future model states do not depend on the past other than through the current state. The Markov structure is hidden if the observations do not follow a Markov structure, hence, the states are observed incompletely. This is typically the case in IBMs with observations consisting of time-series data with $n$ measurements (e.g. of abundances). The hidden Markov structure is evident for IBM illustrated in Figure \ref{f:ibm} where observations are only available for the abundances of individuals exceeding a certain mass.
Using Markov structure, the marginal likelihood can be rewritten as follows \cite{Kattwinkel2017},
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:L-markov}
L (D | \bf{\theta}, M) = \int
f_0 \left(\bf{x}_{t_0}|\bf{\theta}\right)
\prod_{j=1}^n f_j \left(\bf{x}_{t_j}|\bf{x}_{t_{j-1}}, \bf{\theta}\right)
\prod_{j=1}^n P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}} (D|\bf{h}(\bf{x}_{t_j}), \bf{\theta})
d\bf{x}_{t_0} \dots d\bf{x}_{t_n}.
\end{equation}
Here, for given parameters $\bf{\theta}$, probability distributions $f_j (\bf{x}_{t_j}|\bf{x}_{t_{j-1}}, \bf{\theta})$ characterize random model state vector $\bf{x}_{t_j}$ given previous state $\bf{x}_{t_{j-1}}$, and observation likelihood $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}_j = P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}} (D|\bf{h}(\bf{x}_{t_j}), \bf{\theta})$ is dependent on a specific model and data type \cite{Kattwinkel2017}.
PMCMC algorithm \cite{Andrieu2010,Kattwinkel2017} provides an unbiased statistical estimate of the proposal parameter marginal likelihood $L (D | \bf{\theta}, M)$ with structure given in equation \ref{eq:L-markov}.
As depicted in Figure \ref{f:pmcmc} (right), marginal likelihood approximation procedure involves multiple evaluations $i = 1, \dots, p$ of the underlying model, so called particles. At each measurement time $t_j$ in the observations time series, model simulations are paused and all particles are re-sampled according to their normalized marginal likelihoods $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}_{j,i}$.
Such periodic re-sampling, however, increases algorithmic complexity due to required destruction and replication of existing particles.
At the end of the Particle Filtering,
an unbiased estimate $\hat L(D | \bf{\theta}, M)$ of marginal likelihood $L(D | \bf{\theta}, M)$ as in equation \ref{eq:L-markov} is evaluated by
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:L-PF}
L (D | \bf{\theta}, M) \approx
\hat L (D | \bf{\theta}, M) =
\prod_{j=1}^n
\left(\frac{1}{p}\sum_{i=1}^p P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}_{j,i} \right).
\end{equation}
PMCMC was already successfully applied to simple IBM \cite{Kattwinkel2017}.
However, complex IBMs modeling realistic ecological systems were out of reach due to limitations of serial particle filtering implementation.

The aim of this manuscript is to address the computational issues in PMCMC using modern high performance computing techniques and to enable Bayesian inference for realistic ecological models. We present \texttt{SPMC}, a Python-based framework for parallel PMCMC, which mitigates high computational costs by adaptively distributing particles (model evaluations) over multiple computational units in a parallel compute cluster.

\section{Parallelization}
\label{s:parallelization}

In particle filter marginal likelihood estimator (see Figure \ref{f:pmcmc} (right)),
each particle in the ensemble is assumed to posses an execution control interface.
Such interface is assumed to expose main model workflow routines,
such as \texttt{init($\bf{\theta}$)}, \texttt{run($t_j$,seed)}, and \texttt{observe()}.
This ensures efficient execution, since model state is kept in working memory
at the end of every observation time $t_j$, with next simulation phase for time $t_{j+1}$ executed without additional overhead.
During particle re-sampling stage, depending on the acquired observation likelihoods $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}_{j,i}$, excessive replications of strongly-weighted particles would exert a strong imbalance in parallel usage of resources.
Auxiliary model interface routines \texttt{state=save()} and \texttt{load(state)} are assumed to be provided for writing and reading a serialized model state to and from memory (binary stream), respectively, ensuring efficient particle replication (and inter-node communication, if needed).

\subsection{Paradigm}

Nested parallelization framework is used, with outer and inner parallelizations corresponding to MCMC chains and particle filtering stages of the algorithm, respectively.
Outer parallelization for standard MCMC algorithm is trivial as multiple (often in the order of tens or hundreds) independent MCMC chains can be evaluated in parallel without any required communication (for a standard MCMC sampler).
We focus on the inner parallelization, where multiple parallel workers are executing a partial ensemble of all required particles, with periodic particle filtering (re-sampling)
at specified observation times $t_j$.
A master - worker framework is proposed, where particles are distributed across parallel workers controlled by the master.
Master process would dispatch parameters and observation times to worker processes,
which would in return report back estimated observation likelihoods.
Both types of communication patterns,
master – worker (inter-communicator)
and
worker – worker (intra-communicator),
are required: the latter is relevant for particle routing in order to adaptively re-balance
worker loads after particle re-sampling stages.
A detailed example of parallelization structure, execution and communication patterns
for $p=8$ particles and 4 parallel workers
is presented in Figure \ref{f:ppf}.
Main stages in the parallel particle filtering algorithm are the following:
\begin{enumerate}
	\item Master broadcasts model parameters $\bf{\theta}$ to all workers.
	\item Each worker initializes an approximately equal fraction of required $p$ particles to obtained parameters $\bf{\theta}$ by calling \texttt{init(seed)} with globally different seeds for pseudo random number generation in each stochastic model.
	\item Master broadcasts next required observation time $t_j$ to workers.
	\item Workers evolve all particles until time $t_j$ by calling \texttt{run(seed)} routine.
	\item Workers compute observation likelihoods $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}_{j,i}$ for all particles $i = 1, \dots, p$, which are then gathered in the master.
	\item If all required observation times have been processed, master broadcasts exit command to workers (not included in the example for clarity), and evaluates amrginal likelihood estimate $\hat L (D|\bf{\theta},M)$ as in equation \ref{eq:L-PF}.
	\item Based on gathered and normalized observation likelihoods $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}_{j,i}$ as probabilistic weights, master re-samples current particle ensemble (virtually, no actual particle instances resident in worker memory are affected).
	\item Master computes routings (refer to following subsection \ref{ss:routings} for details) which contain instructions on adaptive re-distribution of re-sampled particles in order to equilibrate computational work across all workers.
	\item Master scatters relevant part of routings to each worker and jumps to step 3.
	\item Communication and computation overlapping is achieved by employing asynchronous send and receive requests for particle states while performing required local particle replications. In particular, based on information in received routing, each worker performs the following tasks:
	  \begin {enumerate}
	    \item Remove particles that are no longer needed on this worker and do not need to be send to any other worker.
	    \item Initiate asynchronous non-blocking sends for serialized particle states (from \texttt{stat=save()}) which are routed from current worker to other workers and asynchronous non-blocking receives for serialized particle states which are routed from other workers to current worker.
	    \item Replicate (employing \texttt{state=save()} and \texttt{load(state)}) local particles that are routed to current worker itself and more than one particle is required.
	    \item Once asynchronous receives are completed, replicate received particles if more than one particle is required.
	    \item Once asynchronous sends are completed, remove particles that were sent to other workers, but are not needed on this worker.
	    \item Reset seeds for pseudo random number generators (such that replicated particles continue as independent stachastic realizations) and jump to step 3.
	  \end{enumerate}
\end{enumerate}

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{schemes/PPF}
	\caption{Flowchart of the parallel particle filtering algorithm with adaptive load balancing.
		Requests for multiple model instances (particles) are dispatched to parallel workers, where models are initialized and executed.
		During re-sampling steps, particles are re-distributed from the over-utilized to neighboring under-utilized workers according to routings dispatched from master. Communication and computation overlap is achieved by asynchronous send and receive requests for particle states while performing local particle replications.
	}
	\label{f:ppf}
\end{figure}

To further reduce communication overhead, identical particles are moved together
by moving only a single particle and then replicating it on the destination worker.

\subsection{Routings}
\label{ss:routings}

During routing, re-sampled particles are instructed to be moved from over-utilized workers to the neighboring under-utilized workers across their intra-communicator.
Routing objects include worker-specific information regarding particle identification, source (present worker address), destination (re-routed worker address), and re-identification (for post-routing re-seeding).
An empirical greedy algorithm is employed for constructing routings based on re-sampled particle counts and current particle distribution across workers.
The maximal allowed worker load $W_{\max}$ is estimated by dividing the total number of particles by the total number of workers.
Two main stages of the algorithm are:
\begin{enumerate}
	\item \textbf{Prioritize local particle replications:} for each worker, resident re-sampled particles are kept on original workers provided their loads do not exceed $W_{\max}$.
	\item \textbf{Route particles to closest worker:} iterate across remaining particles and route each to a closest (measured by proximity of worker ranks) under-utilized worker.
\end{enumerate}
Such load balancing strategy does not take into account possibly heterogeneous model runtimes for each particle, and hence there could be potential gains from dynamic balancing frameworks using task stealing instead of a static routing approach.

\subsection{Implementation}
\label{ss:implementation}

We have implemented a new parallel PMCMC package \texttt{SPUX}\  as a modular Python framework for Bayesian uncertainty quantification.
Python is a modern high-level programming language and has recently seen increasing interest from the high performance computing community \cite{Smith2016}.
Modular design in \texttt{SPUX}\  allows for simple framework extension by
general hidden Markov models in any programming language and various MCMC posterior samplers
(currently: Metropolis-Hastings \cite{Hastings1970} and EMCEE \cite{Foreman-Mackey2013})
are supported as plug-ins.
User-defined likelihoods and load balancers can be also implemented.

\texttt{SPUX}\  is parallelized using Message Passing Interface (MPI) library \cite{MPI3} via the object-oriented Python MPI bindings package \texttt{mpi4py} \cite{Dalcin2011}.
Pickle-based communication of arbitrary serializable Python objects is used for execution workflow management across master and workers, as the memory and processing time overheads are negligible.
Efficient communication of \texttt{NumPy} arrays (using exposed C-style data buffer)
is used for communication of saved particle states, assumed to be arrays of raw bytes.
MPI dynamic process management for parallel workers is employed for deploying nested parallelization: parallel MCMC chains execute marginal likelihood estimation using parallel particle filtering.
Particle sandboxing prevents race conditions in model implementations.

\section{Applications}
\label{s:applications}

We apply \texttt{SPUX}\  to a simple test case of predator-prey IBM
described in detail in \cite{Kattwinkel2017}.
The stochastic IBM is implemented in Java programming language \cite{Kattwinkel2017}.
In \texttt{SPUX}\  Java classes can be directly accessed in Python runtime using \texttt{jpype} interface \cite{SteveMenard}, avoiding heavy file system access and significantly reducing the overhead of storing or loading model states during re-sampling stages.
During the first 1901 simulations steps, IBM simulations are initialized to approximately
2000 preys and 30 predators.
Afterwards, the model is executed for 20 available observation times,
until its last step at 2604.
Observation likelihood $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}$ is evaluated based on the observation (counting) process error model provided in \cite{Kattwinkel2017}.
Two calibration parameters were selected, prey and predator half saturation constants for self inhibition, with respective starting values of 25 and 15.
2000 particles were used in Particle Filter for the estimation of marginal parameters likelihood.
With the focus on the performance of the PF rather than of MCMC, only 100 MCMC samples were computed.
There is no ``burn-in'' stage in the MCMC sampling,
since the selected starting values were also used for the generation of synthetic observation data.
\texttt{SPUX}\  was executed on 200 parallel worker cores on EULER cluster in ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Simulation results are provided in Figure \ref{f:posterior-likelihoods}, where MCMC chain path in parameter space is reported (left plot), together with estimated marginal log-likelihoods for each MCMC sample and rolling MCMC sampling acceptance rate (right plot). The associated standard deviations of marginal log-likelihood are estimated relying on a Taylor-series approximation and are also reported in the right plot of Figure \ref{f:posterior-likelihoods}.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[height=0.22\textheight]{fig/mcmc-ibm-2000p-100s-200c_posterior_prey_kDens_predator_kDens}
	\includegraphics[height=0.225\textheight]{fig/mcmc-ibm-2000p-100s-200c_likelihoods}
	\caption{Left: PMCMC posterior samples and estimated posterior distribution.
		Right: estimated marginal likelihoods with corresponding estimated standard deviations
		and rolling MCMC sampling acceptance rate.}
	\label{f:posterior-likelihoods}
\end{figure}

\section{Performance}
\label{s:performance}

We investigate the \texttt{SPUX}\  framework performance for an IBM introduced in section \ref{s:applications}.

In Figure \ref{f:redraw-traffic}, particle redraw rates (fraction of all particles that are not removed during particle re-sampling stage in filtering algorithm)
and particle move and copy traffics (fractions of particles that are moved or replicated during the subsequent routing for load balancing) are reported for each MCMC sample.
Multiple measurements of redraw rate and traffic are obtained at each observation time,
average and ranges of which are investigated.
Low particle redraw rate ($\approx30\%$) is observed throughout all MCMC samples due to heterogeneous observation likelihoods obtained from all particles, which lead to a subset of particles that are heavily replicated and dominate the re-sampled ensemble (copy traffic amounts to $(\approx55\%$)). In general, lower redraw rates are expected for models with stronger stochasticity and unstable behavior, both as potential causes for heterogeneous observation likelihoods $P^\textnormal{\footnotesize{obs}}$.
Despite low particle redraw rate, particle move (communication) rate ($\approx15\%$) is kept low due to move-before-replication balancing strategy, ensuring a minimal communication overhead.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=0.49\textwidth]{fig/mcmc-ibm-2000p-100s-200c_redraw}
	\includegraphics[width=0.49\textwidth]{fig/mcmc-ibm-2000p-100s-200c_traffic}
	\caption{Left: low particle redraw rate ($\approx30\%$)
		is observed throughout all MCMC samples.
		Right: low particle redraw rate causes high local replication (copy) rate $(\approx55\%$); however,
		a low particle move (communication) rate ($\approx15\%$) is maintained due to move-before-replication balancing strategy.
		For each sample, multiple measurements of redraw rate and traffic are obtained at each observation time.
		Solid lines represent average of measured values,
		whereas corresponding surrounding brighter regions represent the range.}
	\label{f:redraw-traffic}
\end{figure}

Runtimes for different execution stages of all parallel worker processes are aggregated in the left plot of Figure \ref{f:runtimes-scaling}.
Multiple runtime measurements are obtained for each parallel worker at every MCMC sample.
Averages and 10\% - 90\% percentiles of all measured runtimes are investigated.
Both, simulation-related routines as well as communication and synchronization overheads are taken into account.
Large variation in initialization \texttt{'init'} runtimes across parallel workers causes significant synchronization overhead, as can be observed in \texttt{'init sync'}.
Particle routing communication routine \texttt{'route'} is dominated by the local particle copying procedure \texttt{'replicate'} and hence introduces only a relatively small parallelization overhead.
Parallel scalability of \texttt{SPUX}\  for an increasing number of workers (1, 8, 50, 200, 1000) is reported in the right plot of Figure \ref{f:runtimes-scaling}.
Additionally, the resulting parallelization efficiency is provided, which (for each MCMC sample) measures runtime fraction spent on main computing routines such as initialize, run, observe, likelihood, resample, and replicate.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[height=0.225\textheight]{fig/mcmc-ibm-2000p-100s-200c_runtimes}
	\includegraphics[height=0.22\textheight]{fig/mcmc-ibm-2000p-100s_scaling}
	\caption{Left: Estimated runtimes for different algorithm simulation and communication stages.
		Only routines with runtimes larger than 2\% of total runtime are depicted.
		For each sample, multiple runtime measurements are obtained
		for each parallel worker;
		dark lines represent measurement averages,
		whereas corresponding surrounding brighter regions represent the 10\% - 90\% percentiles.
		Continuous lines indicate simulation-related routines and dotted lines - communication and synchronization overheads.
		Large variation in initialization \texttt{'init'} runtimes across parallel workers causes significant synchronization overhead \texttt{'init sync'}.
		Particle routing communication routine \texttt{'route'} is dominated by the local copying procedure \texttt{'replicate'} and does not constitute a bottleneck.
		Right: Scalability and efficiency of \texttt{SPUX}\  implementation for parallel Particle MCMC.
		For each simulation, multiple runtime and efficiency measurements are obtained for each MCMC sample;
		dark lines represent measurement averages,
		whereas corresponding surrounding brighter regions represent the 10\% - 90\% percentiles.
		Adaptive particle re-balancing across ensembles
		maintains a relatively high parallelization efficiency up to 200 workers, achieving a significant 100x speed-up compared to a serial code.}
	\label{f:runtimes-scaling}
\end{figure}

Adaptive particle re-balancing across ensembles
maintains a relatively high parallelization efficiency of $\approx 50\%$ up to 200 parallel workers, despite the challenging complexity of \texttt{SPUX}\  execution graph.
A significant 100x speed-up is achieved compared to a serial code:
2000 particles are simulated in 30 seconds instead of one hour.
In a limiting case of fine-grained parallelization with 1000 workers, where only 2 particles per worker are available,
we observe significant scalability deterioration (compared to theoretical linear scaling)
due to insufficient amount of computational work (for current IBM) to compensate for the communication overhead.
We note, that multiple independent or mixed MCMC chains can be executed in parallel,
allowing further scalability.

\section{Summary and Outlook}
\label{s:summary}

We presented \texttt{SPUX}\  - a new scalable Python framework for Bayesian inference using PMCMC in stochastic models.
Several orders of magnitude speed-up (100x) of the particle filtering marginal likelihood estimate algorithm were achieved, essentially limited only by the number of particles.
Depending on the available resources, accelerated parallel PMCMC code is capable of reducing the required simulation time for the entire Bayesian inference of predator-prey IBM from almost one month to only several hours, enabling rapid prototyping and calibration of complex IBMs.
The algorithm is expected to scale efficiently on even larger computing clusters,
providing a scalable framework for Bayesian inference in general hidden Markov stochastic models,
accelerating novel insights in data-driven ecological and environmental research.

\section{Acknowledgments}
J{\v S} would like to thank Siddhartha Mishra (SAM, ETH Zurich) for access to EULER, and Peter Reichert (SIAM, Eawag) for fruitful discussions regarding parallelization issues.

\bibliographystyle{unsrt}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Q: Codeigniter $_SERVER in config file I have what I suspect may be a really dumb question.  And if it's been answered before, please let me know.  Here is what I am attempting to do inside an old CI project in application/config/config.php circa line 287:
If an outside API request is hitting the site from a specific URL, then turn off CSRF protection.  (hacky solution I know, no proper API is built out because it is a very old project and the code is in Legacy mode)
if (stripos($_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"], 'foo/bar') === FALSE) {
    $config['csrf_protection'] = TRUE;
} else {
    $config['csrf_protection'] = FALSE;
}
$config['csrf_token_name'] = 'csrf_foobar';
$config['csrf_cookie_name'] = 'csrf_foobar_cookie';
$config['csrf_expire'] = 7200;

I am getting the following error message when attempting to execute this code, at odd times:
Undefined index: REQUEST_URI

Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't the $_SERVER be accessible inside the config folder.  Unless something happens in CI post loading of config files?
Thanks!
EDIT
The request to the foo/bar url is being done via a cURL request, could this factor into the problem?


text:
09-06-18 National Western Center Authority Names CEO
NATIONAL WESTERN CENTER AUTHORITY NAMES BRAD BUCHANAN FINALIST FOR CEO POSITION
The National Western Center Authority Board of Directors today announced that after an intensive local and national search, Brad Buchanan was named the finalist for the chief executive officer (CEO) position for the National Western Center Authority (the Authority).
The Authority is a Colorado nonprofit corporation that will program, operate and maintain the future 250-acre campus, transforming it into a year-round destination for agricultural education, innovation and entertainment. The Authority is guided by a 13-person board made up of 11 voting directors and two non-voting directors. The CEO will report to the Authority.
"As Denver's planning director, Brad has devoted thousands of hours to building community in big and small ways. I have no doubt that if selected, he will bring the same passion, inspiration and entrepreneurial spirit to the National Western Center Authority and operate the campus in an innovative and fiscally prudent manner," Mayor Michael B. Hancock said.
The Authority voted Thursday to move Buchanan forward as the sole finalist for the CEO position and will begin a two-week open comment period that will include community outreach and engagement. A final board vote will follow the open comment period.
"We're thrilled to move Brad forward as a final candidate for the Authority's first CEO," Authority Board Chairman Joe Garcia said. "I know he will work tirelessly to attract the appropriate programming, tenants and visitors to the campus, locally, regionally and internationally. With his many years of civic and public service, Brad will be a great liaison to our neighborhoods while working diligently to connect our urban and rural interests."
Buchanan was appointed executive director of Community Planning and Development by Mayor Hancock in 2014 and has been responsible for visionary city planning to ensure safe, responsible, sustainable building throughout Denver during a period of unprecedented growth. Under Buchanan's leadership, city planners released Denveright, five community-driven plans to guide the city's growth, development, parks and mobility options over the next 20 years. Also under his direction, the city's plan review, permitting and inspections functions managed historic levels of demand during the post-recession construction boom, drastically cutting wait times and eliminating backlogs. In his role as planning director, Buchanan provided valuable leadership in the urban design aspects of the National Western Center Campus.
"I'm honored to be considered for the CEO position but even more excited about the potential of creating a one-of-a-kind campus that will integrate our urban and rural communities," Buchanan said. "Building on the legacy of the National Western Stock Show, the National Western Center Master Plan and with new partners like CSU, Denver Water and others, we will write a new future for regenerative agriculture, food production and the next chapter of our western tradition."
A Denver architect for nearly 30 years before his appointment as planning director, Buchanan was involved with many design and construction projects throughout the city, including new commercial and residential projects as well as adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Brad also co-founded the Buchanan-Yonushewski Group in 1999 and later joined RNL (now Stantec) as principal. Buchanan has held leadership positions on civic boards such as the Denver Planning Board, the Downtown Denver Partnership Board of Directors and Denver's Landmark Preservation Commission.
Since 2006, Buchanan and his wife Margaret have owned and operated the Flying B Bar Ranch in Strasburg, Colorado, where they raise certified grass-fed cattle. He has spoken at events like Slow Food Nation and TEDx about responsible urban development and its link to conservation of rural ranchlands.
If Buchanan is ultimately named CEO of the Authority, a succession plan will be put into place for leadership within Denver's Department of Community Planning and Development.
For more information on the Mayor's Office of the National Western Center Authority, please visit https://nationalwesterncenter.com/authority
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text:
Range Life may refer to:

 Range Life (song), a song by Pavement
 Range Life Records, a record label named after the Pavement song

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


We often note with envy, as a dazzling and look great Hollywood actress – at least in the movies, on stage, during performances or receptions. This is not surprising, since they spend huge money on their beauty. Of course, we have no such amount of money to afford the insanely expensive procedures, but to make a unique and amazing manicures by virtue of every woman. Current trends the white nail Polish is quite diverse. Any lady will be able to stop your choice on that white nail design that she likes.
Stylists in one voice say that this season white varnishes are the most relevant and popular, as evidenced by fashion shows of famous brands. Especially cool and looks impressive matte white finish. Fans of white will be in awe of fashion ideas versatile and stylish manicure, in which white color is used as the primary.
Rare to meet a woman with a plain white cover. This is due to the fact that the white color brings out all the small drawbacks: the curvature forms of nail, finger bumps. By the way, a pure white shade prefer quiet, sometimes aloof and self-contained women, tend to remain in the shadows. Although in itself a monochromatic white manicure looks very nice.
Delicate white color of nail Polish many believe is universal, as it harmonizes perfectly with any garment and during any season. Experiments with white lacquer can be carried out indefinitely: it goes well with everything. Neat white design is set off, causing a few nails to the shade of varnish, preferably not flashy and pastel colors.
The color of the paint in the women's manicure – is very important. And largely it depends on what mood the owner, and what will happen on the day. Parts a lot, and one solution – a white coating with a minimalist print. This nail design is perfect for everyday working and for recreation and entertainment in a nightclub. How to define pattern and minimalist on a white manicure? Look best geometric curved lines and dots of various sizes.
Nails, already painted a white base, you can brush up on bright colored ornaments. Summer nails decorated with motley flowers on white background, autumn — yellow and red drawings, winter – glitter snowflakes and tinsel, and in the spring bloom green motives. And all this together makes white nail art unique and bright. Pick a colorful pattern and tint it properly, combining it with the closet or with the tone of lipstick. Bright prints on a white background prefer women, endowed with a sensibility that is extremely convivial, and sometimes short-tempered and even hostile. Very popular not only floral, but animal colorful motifs on a white lacquered coating.
How to make a white manicure bole perfect and expressive? The answer is simple: select one or a couple of nails with gorgeous flower sculpting. With such grandiose made decoration manicure immediately becomes colorful and exciting. Beautiful body sculpting looks spectacular, long nails on women, with a strong and resolute character.
French classic manicure says about the sophistication and simplicity of taste women. And it is all about restraint and calmness of the nature. However, the classic French manicure is not a trend. On it was replaced by a cheeky smile at the tip of the nail, which challenges all others. Skillful use of white with bright colors and shiny jewelry in the jacket can highlight your unique personality.
Stylists this season to offer a familiar, but rather unusual combination of white with black. There are many extraordinarily beautiful options in black and white nail art in which these two colors are connected in an inimitable perfect manicure. Of course, in this design the white color is dominant, and the black just highlights the beauty and glamor stylish nail art. The option of the chess Board or black and white jigsaw puzzles are perfect for long nails. When choosing a geometric print, keep in mind that it visually changes the shape of the nail.
Plain white color for the daily Express manicure. Armed with amazing Swarovski stones, rhinestones, sequins and «complete» marigolds for evening meetings. The perfect combination of glamorous gloss and white finish gives the image of high cost and sophistication. Of course, this eye-catching manicure will attract a lot of enthusiastic attention to the people around you. Decorated with white nail art elegant designs modestly, but with taste. Do not try to «close up» all the white coating of the nail, it is better select one.
What manicure from a woman, speaks volumes and reflects the inner essence. This means that to determine the temper of the times is terribly easy. The woman immediately noticeable! For nails and specific way to do a manicure. For example, square nails with the white coating confirm the unbalanced nature of the owner. Sometimes these women – people who are in eternal search. Almond beautiful shape of the nail is more common in purposeful and steadfast women. But a little sharp fingers and conical form of the nail indicate a great sense of humor.
Reviewing photo examples white manicure, it can be concluded that the white color is a perfect base for the most daring solutions to nail art.