text:
Preface I received an early Beta OTK to assemble and test but found the mechanics of the device ...
This is an upgrade for spectrometry. Try building it and report back how it goes.
OTK Proto3
by stoft | January 19, 2016 07:34 19 Jan 07:34 ... | #12593 | #12593
stoft was awarded the Empiricism Barnstar by Matej for their work in this research note.
I received an early Beta OTK to assemble and test but found the mechanics of the device much too unstable to perform any real testing so I needed to prototype something more rigid. I also have been recently unable to use SWB for collecting data (Firefox or Chrome) so I also needed an alternate approach for observing the OTK's measurement capabilities.
I'd previously ( https://publiclab.org/notes/stoft/03-02-2015/plab-3-spectrometer-upgrade-prototype ) constructed a more rigid Version-3 of the PLab spectrometer so decided to continue with that mechanical design for integration into a more stable OTK. To avoid the SWB difficulties and retain more flexibility to experiment with data and plots, I wrote new webcam interface and plotting utilities using matlab.
Oils derived by heat (cracking) from hydrocarbon compounds (crude oil) contain significant (yet quite variable) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) which fluoresce under UV light (typically 300-400nm wavelengths). Webcam spectrometer based fluorescence measurements using a 405nm UV pocket laser can detect the presence of some oils as contaminants. However, the observations below suggest the detection threshold is in the 'ppt' (parts-per-thouand), not 'ppm' level. Such a high threshold prompts serious doubts about measuring contaminant trace amounts at levels where these chemicals, and their byproducts, become toxic.
Despite this limitation, detecting contaminants by UV fluorescence, at dilution levels below what is visually apparent to the eye, may still be useful. This is why it is important to know the measurement procedures, parameters and limits of this device. I hope the following designs and observations will be helpful.
To perform any reasonable comparison between fluorescence plots, the mechanics of the OTK must be very stable. This cannot be emphasized enough. As some Beta users have reported, the all-paper design requires very careful hand-holding just to get plots. I'd agree with that assessment as I found it impossible to acquire repeatable measurements using the Beta OTK.
So, I removed my PLab Proto3 spectrometer design from the PLab paper enclosure, added a solid end plate behind the webcam and then recovered with a new single-surface black paper over the light sensitive regions. This also makes the PLabP3 spectrometer a single, independent module; making it easy to separately calibrate for wavelength and gain before inserting into the OTK Proto3.
The OTK system need not be very light-tight (assuming a relatively low-ambient light environment -- i.e. turn off the overhead desk lamp when using the OTK). It is the PLab3 spectrometer module which needs to be very light-tight in order to keep the measurement noise to a minimum (which thus maximizes the measurement's dynamic range).
The OTK Proto3 construction material of choice was hard wood (maple) because it cuts cleanly, is mechanically stable, is easy to work with and scrap material was readily available. It is not necessarily the best option for volume production but is quite superior for prototype work where the purpose is to develop design concepts and identify measurement limits.
The addition of a "front-surface" mirror allows for a more compact "folded" mechanical design with the laser mounted in parallel with the spectrometer. Having the front surface of the mirror reflective is important because a "back surface" mirror would allow the mirror glass to interfere with the UV light; causing unwanted refraction and internal reflections as well as attenuating the UV signal
[ Note: As a quick first substitute, an aluminum foil reflector was prepared but even with care, that surface was not sufficiently polished nor sufficiently flat, causing significant beam distortion. Mylar "mirrors" would be better (though still not guaranteed flat), but small, front-surface mirrors (for dental use) are readily available and can be found in the $1 price class so why bother with substitutes. The only downside of using a mirror is the addition of one alignment. However, once that alignment is done, no more are required. ]
The black paper on OTK surfaces is helpful in reducing OTK-internal reflections but, fortunately, its use does not appear to be critical in terms of ensuring all surfaces are black. Most exposed surfaces are covered, but not all, which appears sufficient.
Samples are easily prepared with 20 drops filling the "viewing window" of the cuvette. This also provides an easy reference for dilution. So, keeping with the OTK Beta testing process, sample references were prepared using 'NDCrude', 'AutoDiesel', '5W-30', '20W-50', '80W-90', 'Water' and 'EVO' (Extra Virgin Olive oil) as zero-fluorescence baseline samples.
[ Note: The cuvettes are inexpensive and appear to function ok but dealing with the various oils is still inherently messy. So, to minimize direct oil exposure to the OTK measurement device and the user, it is recommended that a plastic container, with lid, be included as a storage box and means for organizing the samples being tested. It was also found convenient to dedicate a single eye dropper to each oil and place each dropper inside a labeled zip-lock sandwich bag between uses to avoid cross-contamination of samples. Also, it is possible to write directly on the cuvettes using a Sharpie pen, which works better than using paper labels which easily become contaminated with oil and smear. ]
When diluting an oil, NDCrude for example, I started with 20 drops of EVO (Extra Virgin Olive oil) in a fresh cuvette and then added 1 drop of NDCrude. However, it was clear that the NDCrude would not instantly mix with EVO. This was in part because the of the cuvette's narrow viewing section. However, the solution is simple: placing thumb on the bottom and index finger on the lid, the solution is shaken ("not stirred") vigorously for ~5 sec. Small micro-bubbles sometimes form but do not appear to have a measurable effect on the spectra.
Calibration is important so for these experiments, the plots are calibrated for wavelength using a CFL (using 435nm and 546nm peaks) and a Solux 4700K with published spectral data for gain-correction over the 400-650nm band (See: https://publiclab.org/notes/stoft/03-06-2015/plab-3-gain-correction).
This first image simply provides a baseline OTK system reference as it shows 1) a water sample with no fluorescence (thus the system noise floor) and 2) a wavelength and gain corrected CFL spectrum.
[ Note: There is no useful information in the 405nm spike other than to visualize the signal as a confirmation that the UV laser is working. Therefore, these OTK plots have auto-deleted the 405nm spike so that the only comparison is the oil's fluorescence. ]
The big spike at 405nm, which is typically seen the the SWB plots and in PLab notes, is actually a function of diffraction thought the plastic of the cuvette and the inability to accurately align the laser with the cuvette. The better the laser alignment, the lower the 405nm signal and the better the data will be just above 405nm.
To check the OTK system, with 405nm laser and measurement of fluorescence, we need an initial baseline. Below is a plot of EVO with no attenuation in the optical path.
The 405nm signal is visible but notice the low intensity (relative to many of the OTK plots posted on the PLab site). I believe this is primarily a result of careful alignment of the optics which substantially reduces the diffraction effects of the plastic cuvette (the beam is nearly perpendicular and centered on the cuvette side.).
Yes, there is a visible "glow" when EVO is illuminated by the 405nm laser (which is primarily fluorescence of chlorophyll) so it is worth investigating the EVO spectra closer. Below is a more detailed plot:
The 405nm laser spike is small but clearly visible but there are also two small response peaks at 450nm and 680nm. The one at 450nm has sufficient noise and a lack of correlation between the Red and Blue channels such that the combined RGB spectra is virtually nil. The signal at 680nm is from the "reddish" visible fluorescence response from the chlorophyll. However, for this specific EVO (Costco) at least, that signal is outside the normal sensitivity span of the webcam (400-650nm) so is significantly attenuated. Note that, as a detector, the webcam is not a good choice for observing editable oils. (Below is a plot from Ocean Optics web site of the typical fluorescence spectra of such oils.) As a result, EVO can be used as a base reference oil simply because it's fluorescence does not interfere with the primary fluorescence spectra (visible to the webcam detector) of the oil samples under test.
It is good to have a check of the RGB channel data (to maximize the signal without clipping) before proceeding and the following plot shows the individual levels for the 80W-90 sample:
Next I compared the non-Gain-Corrected data with the Solux 4700K Gain-Corrected data to ensure the gain correction is not causing some irregular spectral shape distortion. Yes, there is a difference, but, based on prior work (referenced above) the gain-corrected plot is believable. The BLUE plot is the UN-Corrected plot (CFL for wavelength but not for gain) and the RED plot is the Gain-Corrected data. The gain-correction effect is visible but does not significantly change the general "shape" of the fluorescence spectra.
Given the above baseline as proof of system performance, the full set of OTK Beta default samples are shown below:
There are a couple of details to note relative to this plot. 1) The fluorescence light path was attenuated such that the Blue channel was near maximum for the largest signals. [See the section on attenuation below.] 2) For each of the plots, the Y-Pos of the pixel line used to acquire the spectral data was "fine-tuned" for maximum peak signal.
[ Note: In theory, once the OTK system is configured, the exact same Y-Pos should ideally be used for acquiring the spectra. However, in the case of this prototype, there is a possible practical flaw in that theory. It is quite difficult to perform a totally accurate alignment of DVD diffraction grating with the webcam. This resulted in a very slight "slant" to the color band in the camera image which results in a slight non-uniformity from end-to-end within that band. In addition, the small alignment errors of the slit, relative to the DVD and camera form some additional error. The resulting effect can be seen in the plot below where the signals for each sample were not adjusted for optimal Y-Pos. ]
So, which is more accurate in terms of representing the fluorescence spectra? I tend to believe that optimizing each spectral curve (assuming that change is a small variation (which it was with this prototype) will tend to reduce the total errors but I cannot yet prove it does.
This leads to the question of the repeatability of the OTK Proto3 system measurements. If either a single OTK cannot get the same results when measuring the same sample at different times, the results must be suspect. If the results from measuring the same sample using different OTK devices do not give the same results, those results must be suspect.
First, there are two types of cuvettes; 1) the OTK-Beta kit cuvette with smooth "window" and clear square lid, and 2) the same size cuvette with "rippled-surface" window and round blue top. As a test, both were filled with 20 drops of 80W-90 oil. Using the same attenuation, the results are shown below:
The RED curve is from the original "smooth-window, clear-cap" cuvette and the BLUE curve is from the "rippled-window, blue-cap" cuvette presently listed in the PLab on-line store.
The Good: The fluorescence spectra are very similar in shape and close in magnitude. The Bad: The peak magnitudes are not actually the same. Conclusion: When measuring samples, it is best to use the same type of cuvette when comparing relative magnitudes -- otherwise an additional error will be introduced into the measurement.
Next, let's look at measurement-to-measurement error. To test this, the '80W-90' oil, which has a strong signal, was measured five times, with the cuvette being removed and re-installed in the holder and alternating its orientation 180 degrees each time. After an initial tuning of the Y-Pos for best signal, the rest of the system remained unchanged; including the Y-Pos for the pixel-line of data used to acquire the spectrum. In theory, there should be no difference so any variation is a measure of measurement repeatability. The combined plot is shown below:
To extract the implications of these 5 plots, it is necessary to look at the effect of the visible variation in terms of the signal being measured. Remember, where the signal intensity is low, the repeatability error become much more significant.
[ Note that the above plot shows that for relative measurements which asses only intensity, only the 450-550nm region have sufficient measurement repeatability to be considered usable. Visualization of spectral fluorescence "shape" factors or the fluorescence peak spectral response wavelength are different measurements which may be less dependent on signal level repeatability. ]
A closer look at the error over 425-575nm is plotted below:
[ Note that even though the error variation is "well behaved" it still represents a minimum of +/- 5% of value. Since even when adding Solux gain-correction which carries a +/- 10% error, the best performance holds at least +/- 15% error for any given measurement. ]
Dilution of NDCrude
As observed in the plots above, 'NDCrude' is visually quite opaque, raising the question of whether the lack of visible fluorescence was likely due to density alone. The dilution procedure was simply to start with 20 drops of EVO and then add drops of 'NDCrude' and mix by rapid shaking (see procedure notes above). The resulting measured ratios were 1:20, 2:20, 5:20, 10:20 ND:EVO mixtures. The results are plotted below:
Several details should be noted from the plotted data. 1) Clearly, the default ND sample was simply too opaque. 2) A 10:20 dilution is also too opaque. 3) Just a 1:20 dilution provides a significant signal. 4) The "optimal" dilution appears to be in the ratio range of 2:20 to 5:20. 5) There are some detailed variation in the ND fluorescence spectral "signature" as related to the dilution ratio which cannot, as yet, be explained; they may be just noise.
[ Note: One other interesting observation. The "center" wavelength of the NDCrude oil fluorescence "peak" does NOT remain constant as the concentration changes. This undermines the hope that "peak wavelength" might be used as one determinant factor of oil type. ]
Dilution Linearity
Now that there is an example basis for observing the effects of dilution using EVO, it is worth applying the technique to '80W-90', which has one of the more active fluorescence spectra, to observe relationship(s) between dilution ratios and florescence spectra. The following plot shows the spectra for a series of dilution ratios:
From these plots the linearity can be extracted by averaging the 460-470nm band for each spectra:
Unfortunately, the dilution process does not show a simple linear correlation between dilution ratio and relative fluorescence intensity. The relationship appears to be non-linear which suggest the fluorescence mechanisms are not yet well understood.
MIXING OIL TYPES
Another test of interest is to mix multiple oils and search for any visual clues which might lead to their differentiation. Two were selected based on having different OTK test characteristics: 1) 80W-90 was selected because it has a strong fluorescence with just a few drops and 2) NDCrude was selected because, when diluted, it appears to have a broader, smoother spectrum. In short, they held some potential differences.
The mixing protocol was simple: 5 drops of 80W-90 and 2 drops of NDCrude were added to 20 drops of EVO; then shaken. The number of drops of 80W-90 was more than the NDCrude because of the desire to mix fluorescence spectra of similar peak spectral amplitude. The results are plotted below:
The RED and BLUE plots represent previous independent 80W and NDCrude dilution spectra which allow comparison to the ORANGE mixed spectra. Despite having similar spectral intensities, the NDCrude spectra appears to predominate in the mixed case. However, there is not enough data within this one test to draw any conclusions; the effect might just be the degree of oil blending or noise.
Spectral Curve Features
[ NOTE: This section has been moved to a new Research Note: https://publiclab.org/notes/stoft/01-26-2016/otk-proto3-analysis ]
Detection Threshold
Yes, this fluorescence technique can detect some oils but even the above observations remain some distance from real device measurement specifications.
Mechanical rigidity of the optical path is a requirement for obtaining repeatable and comparative measurements; this cannot be stressed enough. Even with good stability, intensity repeatability is likely limited to the 450-550nm band.
The spectrometer module should be light-tight, but when used in subdued ambient light, the OTK Proto3 need not be so protected.
Careful optical path alignment can significantly reduce the 405nm laser signal magnitude which can otherwise distort the near-UV end of a fluorescence spectra.
Attenuation is required for some spectra (like '80W-90') but it is best to attenuate the fluorescence signal rather than optically distort the 405nm source. Attenuation should be removed entirely when searching for low concentrations.
It is possible to visually differentiate between the five (5) test samples provided with the OTK Beta package. However, if just using those as the "reference catalog", none of the above observations suggest it will be possible to identify an unknown nor the concentration of that unknown. This is obviously the next most important challenge.
The above observations suggest a minimum measurement error of at least +/- 15% -- even with full wavelength and gain-correction calibrations.
While the detection threshold for 80W-90 as a contaminant is close to a 1:1000 dilution ratio, this is only under ideal lab conditions and says nothing about detecting 80W-90 (or any other oil) under field conditions or in the presence of other contaminants which also fluoresce. (See the 'Mixing Oil Types' section above as an example.)
Appendix: Signal Attenuation
Given the present OTK 405nm 5mW-rated UV pocket laser, the Blue-channel data from the webcam can, in fact, be easily overloaded despite the fluorescence being visually weak in appearance.
Attenuate the fluorescence light, not the UV laser light! The reason is is that the present thin-film attenuation will also distort the light arriving at the cuvette and therefore 1) make the source level a direct function of the film attenuator position (and so amplify any mechanical instability or vibration in the film) and 2) potentially cause an increase in UV diffraction which would increase the unwanted 405nm signal at the webcam. Moving the attenuation film in front of the spectrometer module simplifies the mounting, makes it easier to include attenuation films and keeps any amplitude variations resulting from the mechanics to a minimum.
[ Note: Some additional attenuation "fine tuning" is possible by sliding the spectrometer module further away from the cuvette. However, it is still necessary to "get close" using a fixed attention film. ]
Appendix: Alignment
The 'horizontal' diffraction pattern, which appears in the webcam image, is not completely uniform relative to the choice of the detection line of pixels. So it is valuable to select the maximum signal which does not clip any of the three RGB channels. This is not new for the OTK. What IS new for the OTK, is the stability requirement of additional components to the system with interchangeable cuvette samples. Notice that this prototype design now has multiple components: laser, mirror, cuvette, attenuator, slit, DVD grating and webcam. Even w/o the mirror, there would still be 7 components in the optical chain which must remain mechanically stable and aligned over the life of multiple measurements. If the measurement mechanics are not stable, the measurement error will quickly multiply and make any reasonable measurement impossible. Even with the additional stability of the OTK Proto3 design, there is still a measurement error band for measurement repeatability.
To achieve the highest SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) , configure the OTK attenuator using the sample with the most fluorescence signal. This will allow measuring and comparing all other related samples without changing any of the OTK system parameters. These parameters include: the laser, the optical path, the cuvette positioning, the attenuator or its position, the spectrometer module and, most importantly, the select "pixel line" in the webcam image which is used to extract the spectral data (or the 3 lines used to average-out the webcam noise).
Appendix: Safety
[ Disclaimer: I do not work in the Laser industry nor am I professionally qualified to advise on laser safety but I would be remiss to not pass along my observations from what I've read online. The following observations and comments are simply my interpretation of technical references publicly available on the web. There is no wish to cause alarm; just a desire to provide some background information to help the user and experimenter make informed choices. ]
PLab's OTK 5mW UV laser is a potential eye hazard although if fully enclosed in an OTK housing, the user is likely well protected. However, for this OTK Proto3 project, where working with "live" laser alignment via direct, up-close observation of the various internal components was a given, I believe some form of qualified UV laser eye protection was clearly advisable.
So, to be safe, I purchased a pair of laser protection glasses from Laser Safety Industries (Model 100-35-110) which provide OD+6 level protection from 190nm-532nm; completely covering the 400-410nm UV laser wavelengths. No, this is not a promotion for LSI's products and no, they are not cheap, but their performance is designed for UV light and is well specified. The OD+6 (OD = Optical Density) rating means that the given UV range will attenuate light to 1 / 106 = 1 millionth of the source level.
The FDA CFR Title 21 limits for UV laser power for wavelengths <=400nm is 1.5 mW / cm2 for >0.25 Sec exposure which is based on the typical 7mm aperture of the human eye. The time is based on the reaction time of the eye, which is generally not fast enough to avoid the laser's effects. (Yes, 405nm is a longer wavelength that the 400nm category cutoff, but we're talking about damage to the human eyes which calls for a more conservative approach. Yes, the FDA limits have a "built-in" 10X buffer but again, it's not worth the risk of operating next to the limits; right?).
A 7mm pupil diameter is 0.384 sq-cm which means that a 5mW pocket laser could produce 13mW/cm2 in the eye which would easily exceed the declared safety limits. In addition, pocket lasers are notorious for poor production Q/A and some have reportedly appeared on the market at 10x their rated power. For safety, it is best to err on the side of caution which suggests a potential direct exposure of 130mW/cm2 or nearly 100x the FDA limit. This would translate to a required safety glass rating of at least OD+3 to provide some added margin for error. While the OD+6 rating of the LSI 100-35 glasses may be more than what is required, they clearly will provide sufficient protection. For close-up work while building this prototype, I thought the cost was justified.
However, these numbers also suggest that using safety glasses which do not have any rating for either OD or wavelength should not be assumed to provide the user with any confidence whatsoever about their use as UV laser safety protection. Unspecified "safety glasses" that claim to "block UVA", but have no other specification, should also be suspect because the UVA "band" is classified as 315-400nm but optical coatings for this "band" may be "rolling off" their attenuation at or below 400nm and so may have significantly reduced protection at 405nm. It's a matter of estimating the degree of protection relative to the anticipated degree of exposure.
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warren commented almost 4 years ago
This is super, and very impressive, Dave. I have a number of comments/questions, but I'll start with just a few:
I'm very surprised to hear that EVO did not fluoresce for you, and that you're using it as a baseline/solvent -- it had very clear pinkish fluorescence when I tested it on multiple occasions.
The effects of diluting crude oil may have multiple sources, but one is called "quenching" in the published literature, and is when the color of the liquid itself (as you describe) filters some wavelengths out. This can clearly affect the peak height wavelength position.
@ethanbass had suggested at the Barnraising that we could standardize the opacity of solutions, rather than their concentration, by using absorption spectroscopy, or even an opacity reference card. Thoughts?
I especially appreciated your graph of "repeatability error" and wonder if you'd considered using averaged data in your later analyses, using repeated scans to improve signal to noise. Maybe you did and I missed this.
More thoughts soon! There's a lot in here. Thanks as always, and I must also note that you're an impressive woodworker!
Is this a question? Click here to post it to the Questions page.
"visually differentiate between the five (5) test samples" - here, you mean based on qualitative visual inspection of the graphs, right? Do you believe the gain correction is absolutely needed for this? Just curious.
We've discussed (@gretchen, can you help me with a link?) using an area-based measure for curve centering, for comparisons. Do you think this'd be equally, more, or less affected by some of the peak shifting effects you describe? Are there other measures of center position that might perform better?
Laser eye safety is of course a high concern for us, and is part of what's motivated some of @tonyc and my explorations into LED-based fluorescence, along with very tight control of the input light source brightness (with a dial!). Any thoughts on the viability of this method, esp. as it also reduces the # of parts which must be aligned, and increases rigidity enormously (and removes the need to align a beam path, for the most part)? https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/01-05-2016/testing-high-brightness-405nm-leds-in-fluorescence-spectroscopy-of-oils
stoft commented almost 4 years ago
Jeff, thanks.
1 - Yes, you are right, there is a "glow" from EVO. However, that peak is small and out at 650nm past where it has little effect. I added another plot to show this affect up above in the 'Fluorescence' subsection.
2,3 - Sounds plausible. However, I don't see the value in dilution for opacity uniformity.
4 - Yes, averaging multiple plots of the same sample would likely reduce the noise. However, measurement uncertainty would remain as all data samples might be, by chance, not an even distribution -- but yes, averaging is generally helpful.
A - Yes, subjective visual analysis. Gain-correction: It depends on what is being measured. If you want only to look for a 20% level change at 550nm, then maybe it doesn't matter. However, when attempting to build a measurement device like this, and have the measurements mean something, it is necessary to identify what the measurements mean -- i.e. you need to develop Specifications. It is the only way to, ultimately, compare measurements made using separate instruments.
B - Yes, I'm thinking about ways to get quantitative results from qualitative factors so "area-based" or other such measures would be interesting to test. I figure I have enough stable data to try a few. What is not clear, even as a guess, is if there will be any correlation at all.
C - I believe LEDs generally have a much much wider spectral bandwidth (than lasers) -- which I think was also evident in your plots in the RN you linked. This is a major problem as 1) it could significantly affect the fluorescence spectra, complicating that spectra by mixing multiple fluorescence signatures instead of having just one, and 2) the beam angle of LED is very broad (compared to a laser) so there would be significant diffraction products which would intensify the ~400nm signal and obscure the fluorescence signature and the beam spread is effectively much lower power density within the sample thus significantly decreasing the fluoresce-signal:source-signal ratio. If a compromise could be found (integral lens, etc) the LED would need to be driven from a well regulated source with low noise.
I just ran some new calculations looking at the curves from my existing data and found a possible correlation between oil density and the centroid of the fluorescence curve. I posed the results and plot in a new subsection above: "Spectral Curve Features". It may not be a linear relationship and there's questions from the dilution data but the results appear to be more than just chance.
Re: UV LEDs. I just did a quick DigiKey search for UV laser diodes. As one reference point, $15 will get you a 365nm, 1.5mW CW, 10% optical beam-width with a -6dB wavelength bandwidth of about 100nm. So, that 3X lower power than the pocket laser, a wide dispersion and wide bandwidth. LEDs do not present a simple solution.
gretchengehrke commented almost 4 years ago
This is a really great post, Dave!
As for the concentration effects, in addition to quenching, there is also shielding, and there can be another phenomenon (whose name I am forgetting), where relaxing fluorophores can actually excite others if the HOMO and LUMO are close enough. If this sort of chain-reaction fluorescence were occurring, I would expect a broader, or skewed peak with a red tail in the more concentrated samples, but in the 80W90 solutions you have shown, it looks like the less concentrated samples actually have broader peaks and are similarly skewed as the more concentrated samples.
For sample comparison, we used to use the wavelength at maximum intensity as the primary distinguishing feature. We would normalize the area under the curve and then compare lambda-max, though normalizing the area under the curve did not actually affect the position of lamba-max. Based on conversations that Jeff and I have had about the differences in web cam sensitivities throughout the visible spectrum and especially at band-boundaries, it makes sense that comparing lambda-max wouldn't be appropriate here. However, given your Solux gain-correction (which is fabulous!), that should make lambda-max comparisons relevant.
Gretchen, thanks for the insight.
I'd read that the generally broad fluorescence spectrum is, as would be expected, a combination of many spectral responses (oils contain so many separate molecules) so what you suggest make sense. Unfortunately, also as you suggest, this makes finding identifying features (which might correlate oil type with spectral "shape") much more difficult because finding independent factors to extract are so buried in the larger spectra and spectral noise. From other plots I've seen on the web (which cover a much more broad spectrum than the webcam can see) the 400-650nm span only contains very broad features so we're looking for very low SNR indicators. I think the primary benefit of the Solux correction is in lowering spectral errors when analyzing "curve shapes".
I've also read evidence that, even with a single oil type, the shift in peak center nm does vary with concentration (probably due to the factors you referenced); which also supports my observations. I believe this is primarily why equalizing areas before comparison, doesn't help. So, I'm waiting on more cuvettes from PLab to perform some comparisons between oil types where the dilution has been adjusted to make the fluorescence peak values equal as means of chemical normalizing out some of these variables. It looks like any type-related signal within these spectra is relatively weak -- thus some form of isolation technique, that does not add to the noise, is required. What I don't know yet is if just having different concentrations, even if the fluorescence "intensity" is the same, will still retain to large an error term.
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created by stoft almost 4 years ago
created by warren almost 4 years ago
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This week`s stitch for the Build a Seam (BAS) Challenge is a very basic stitch that I have managed to neglect until now - the Fly Stitch.
This stitch will be familiar to a lot of people, but perhaps we can try to use it in a new way on a seam treatment. I have used it here to secure some gold trim to a block and will be adding more bling before I am done.
If you would like to look at some instructions for the fly stitch, Sharon B., of Pintangles, has a tutorial in her Dictionary of Stitches. Have fun with this one!


text:
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@interface BugsnagNotifier : NSObject <BugsnagMetaDataDelegate>

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
CHAPTER XIII.
"The first light we see we'll land a hundred yards below it or above it, in a place where it's a good hiding-place for you and the skiff, and then I'll go and fix up some kind of a yarn, and get somebody to go for that gang and get them out of their scrape, so they can be hung when their time comes."
But that idea was a failure; for pretty soon it begun to storm again, and this time worse than ever. The rain poured down, and never a light showed; everybody in bed, I reckon. We boomed along down the river, watching for lights and watching for our raft. After a long time the rain let up, but the clouds stayed, and the lightning kept whimpering, and by and by a flash showed us a black thing ahead, floating, and we made for it.
It was the raft, and mighty glad was we to get aboard of it again. We seen a light now away down to the right, on shore. So I said I would go for it. The skiff was half full of plunder which that gang had stole there on the wreck. We hustled it on to the raft in a pile, and I told Jim to float along down, and show a light when he judged he had gone about two mile, and keep it burning till I come; then I manned my oars and shoved for the light. As I got down towards it three or four more showed -- up on a hillside. It was a village. I closed in above the shore light, and laid on my oars and floated. As I went by I see it was a lantern hanging on the jackstaff of a double-hull ferryboat. I skimmed around for the watchman, a-wondering whereabouts he slept; and by and by I found him roosting on the bitts forward, with his head down between his knees. I gave his shoulder two or three little shoves, and begun to cry.
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He stirred up in a kind of a startlish way; but when he see it was only me he took a good gap and stretch, and then he says:
"Hello, what's up? Don't cry, bub. What's the trouble?"
"Pap, and mam, and sis, and --"
Then I broke down. He says:
"Oh, dang it now, DON'T take on so; we all has to have our troubles, and this 'n 'll come out all right. What's the matter with 'em?"
"They're -- they're -- are you the watchman of the boat?"
"Yes," he says, kind of pretty-well-satisfied like. "I'm the captain and the owner and the mate and the pilot and watchman and head deck-hand; and sometimes I'm the freight and passengers. I ain't as rich as old Jim Hornback, and I can't be so blame' generous and good to Tom, Dick, and Harry as what he is, and slam around money the way he does; but I've told him a many a time 't I wouldn't trade places with him; for, says I, a sailor's life's the life for me, and I'm derned if I'D live two mile out o' town, where there ain't nothing ever goin' on, not for all his spon-dulicks and as much more on top of it. Says I --"
Page by Page Books.TM Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
NY Film Festival Honors Anniversary of S. African Elections - 2004-04-29
A film festival honoring the tenth anniversary of democratic elections in South Africa opened in New York City this week. The festival features films from a new generation of South African filmmakers.
The "Ten Years of Freedom" film festival coincides with the 10th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's 1994 election, which heralded the end of apartheid and spurred the first decade of freedom in South Africa.
Sean Jacobs, festival director, says the festival showcases the work of emerging artists who have captured images of a new South Africa on film.
"It says what South Africa has achieved has politically been a remarkable event," he said. "It says people have got their dignity back. South Africa has all the political institutions in place, South Africa has human rights commissions, gender commissions, and it is all enshrined in the constitution. But at the same time, it says there is a disjuncture between the rights enshrined in the constitution and peoples' real lives."
Norman Maake is a 25-year-old filmmaker from Johannesburg. His films, Soldiers of the Rock and Home Sweet Home, are being shown during the festival.
He says both films capture the confusion and struggle in the black townships during the 1980's and early 1990's, when South Africa was on the brink of change.
"The transition to Mandela was coming, so I grew up between the two phases. The bad part and when South Africa was kind of changing, so I have seen it change," he said.
Mr. Maake says his film Home Sweet Home bears witness to his friends and neighbors trying to find their places in a free South Africa. "'Home Sweet Home' is about how everybody at the end of 1994, in terms of the black people in South Africa, sort of thought freedom was about, you know 'I'm going to get that big house I have always wanted, or that big car, I am going to get back what was taken away from me.' But of course, the process couldn't be like that. So you saw people become criminals, because they didn't have education and it's like that lost generation that didn't really start with the new system, but were part of the old system," he said.
Jonathan de Vries, a musician from the port city of Cape Town, says the new South Africa has also seen an explosion of artistic expression. His film, Casa de la Musica, documents a South African musician's tour through the jazz clubs of Havana, Cuba.
Mr. De Vries says he wanted to inspire South African musicians to explore their own musical roots, the way Cuban musicians have done. His film shows a musician connecting with other musicians in Havana, which has a similar tradition and a history of slavery.
"I kind of proved a feeling I had that a Cape Town guy would be able to land on his feet immediately at the musical level with the Cubans, which he did," he said. "He was able to automatically slip into the groove, improvise, and connect, without even being able to speak the same language in words."
Director Portia Rankoane, 41, says that along with all the positive changes in South Africa during the last 10 years came the spread of HIV/AIDS.
She says she made the film, Red Ribbon Around My House, after she met one woman in her township of Soweto who was bravely battling several diseases, including cancer and HIV.
"I wanted to (talk) about fear, you know, to show people that whatever disease they have you can still lead your life no matter what, so in the film, Pinky does exactly that. With all the three diseases, she still enjoys her life. She lives a life like anybody else. I had to show people that there is still life behind HIV," she said.
The festival features 43 films over six nights and includes documentaries, features, and animation, highlighting the works of South Africa's newest filmmakers.


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The following is supplementary to the article 'American Canyon-Hot Zone,' exploring the possible home location of the Zodiac Killer. Using the premise of the Zodiac Killer working a regular 9-5 job, and the 'buffer zone' and 'least effort principle' of geographical profiling, we shall examine the idea that our killer strategically planned out every crime in advance, using precise distance and time as the overriding factors. This attention to detail, his use of maps in his correspondence, including the term 'radians,' his mailing of ciphers, diagrams and access to multiple firearms, could suggest a historically disciplined and attentive individual, although not necessarily of military roots.
Taking American Canyon as our point of interest, the crimes at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs would obviously employ a 'buffer zone' to his residence, and both occurring on a Friday (9-5 job), would also bring into play the 'least effort principle', where he is likely to travel less distance from his residence on a day in which he has worked. This would be the case in both of these crimes. But time and distance may have been paramount to the Zodiac Killer, plotting precisely how far he was prepared to travel, in conjunction with how long it would take.
American Canyon to Lake Herman Road is approximately 11 miles or 19 minutes traveling time by vehicle.
American Canyon to Blue Rock Springs is approximately 8 miles or 15 minutes traveling time by vehicle.
The Zodiac Killer's buffer zones would be within 4 minutes of each other during the first two crimes.
His next crimes would be on Saturday, at Lake Berryessa and Presidio Heights. Assuming this was a non-working day, the least effort principle would apply less constraint to his movements. Not limited by time he can now travel further afield, which is exactly what he did. But would time and distance yet again come into play in his plans.
American Canyon to Presidio Heights is approximately 48 miles or 1 hr 12 minutes traveling time by vehicle.
American Canyon to Lake Berryessa is approximately 38 miles or 1 hr 09 minutes traveling time by vehicle.
The buffer zone difference in these two crimes is a mere 3 minutes. It was only 4 minutes in Vallejo and Benicia.
From American Canyon to the Springs and Tuolumne payphone is a 16 minute journey. From American Canyon to the 1231 Main Street payphone is a 26 minute journey.
The buffer zones from American Canyon to Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs and the Springs and Tuolumne payphone are 19 minutes, 15 minutes and 16 minutes respectively.
In the article 'Lake Berryessa-North of the Crime Scene Pt 2' it was considered that the Zodiac Killer after stabbing Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard likely returned to his vehicle, parked not by the Karmann Ghia, but 0.8 miles further north along the Knoxville Road, where he may have been observed by Dr Clifton Rayfield and his son David, who described seeing an individual wearing a "long-sleeved dark shirt with red coloring." It was considered this may have been blood. The journey time on foot 0.8 miles north, using caution, would have taken 20-25 minutes, arriving at his vehicle at 6.50-6.55 pm, The 45 minute journey time to the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone from this location would have him making the call to police dispatcher Dave Slaight at exactly 7.40 pm, the exact time the call was logged.
The buffer zone in terms of minutes from the Knoxville Road to the Napa payphone would be 45 minutes, if the above scenario was correct. In other words, the Zodiac Killer allowed 45 minutes to elapse before calling the police. After the Blue Rock Springs attack on Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin he waited 40 minutes, only a 5 minute difference. It seemed like everything he did was based on the clock. The 4 minute difference to his Friday murder sites. The 3 minute difference to his Saturday murder sites. The 5 minute difference between the second and third crime scene to each phone call. A total of only 12 minutes.
If we include the time difference to each payphone from American Canyon, which is 10 minutes, that gives us a grand total of 22 minutes over four crime scenes, based on a Monday to Friday, 9-5 job, using the criteria of the 'least effort principle'.
But only if the Zodiac Killer lived in American Canyon.
Times and distances may fluctuate slightly in real time on Google maps due to road conditions.


text:
Home GO WEST
What's On, Music
"The band burst into the charts with their debut 'We Close Our Eyes' and went on to have a string of hits..."
Get Cat Crazy
Award-winning 80s pop icons Go West are celebrating their 35th anniversary with a run of UK shows in May 2021 featuring a full live orchestra, plus very special guests Cutting Crew.
Go West are one of the most successful songwriting duos of the glorious 80s pop decade. Formed in 1982 by Peter Cox (lead vocalist) and Richard Drummie (guitarist and backing vocals) the band burst into the charts with their debut 'We Close Our Eyes' and went on to have a string of hits including 'Call Me', "Don't Look Down', 'Goodbye Girl', 'Faithful', 'Tracks of My Tears'. 'King of Wishful Thinking' which featured on the blockbuster movie 'Pretty Woman' starring Julia Roberts & Richard Gere, sold over 10 million copies worldwide, received an ASCAP award and was one of the most played songs on American Radio.
Their eponymously titled debut album sold 1.5 million copies worldwide and remained on the UK chart for 83 weeks. The music video for 'We Close Our Eyes' which launched them into the charts, was directed by Godley & Crème. Go West went on to win the people's choice BRIT Award for 'Best British Newcomer' in 1986.
Celebrating 35 years of Go West launches May 2021 in Birmingham, London, Southend & Manchester. These special, must see shows feature a full live orchestra and support from fellow 80s' chart toppers Cutting Crew
Go West will also spend September 2021 on a double headline tour with Paul Young, re-scheduled from 2020 due to the pandemic.
GO WEST 2021 UK Shows
1st May 2021 Symphony Hall Birmingham
2ndMay 2021 Palladium London
7th May 2021 Cliffs Pavilion Southend
8th May 2021 Bridgewater Hall Manchester
Go West Tour news, tickets and all other live dates: gowest.org.uk/
OUTSIDE THE NORMAL RESTRICTIONS
From her home in Ladbroke Grove in December, Cerys Matthews tells Sam Bennett about her new record, hopefully the first in a series for Decca.
A Hillside of Sunflowers
Last month Lissie released Thank You To The Flowers EP, a collection of stunning covers written by female artists she admires, here she talks pain, politics, and positivity.


text:
What Say You? 14 Restaurants that Could Replace W.L. Goodfellows in Galloway, NJ
Chris Coleman Updated: October 6, 2021
The former W.L. Goodfellows and Company restaurant on the White Horse Pike in Galloway Township NJ - Photo: Chris Coleman
In the summer of 2019, W.L. Goodfellows and Company closed its doors after serving up food for 35 years.
And since then, not much has happened with that rather large building on the White Horse Pike in Galloway. But maybe soon that will change.
I drove past that restaurant the other evening and started to think about what could be built there that would really be great for the area. Something that would be a big deal. Something that would be a destination.
So, with that in mind, I assembled a quick list of fourteen restaurants that would be a very nice addition to that part of the White Horse Pike.
And should you be interested in opening any of these, W.L. Goodfellows is still for sale. It's described on the listing as,
8500 sf restaurant sitting on 2.15 acres with 200' of frontage along the White Horse pike. Parking for over 100 vehicles, 210 dining seats, 60 bar seats and 80 outside seats. Good location with many hotels and businesses in the area. Building is in need of updating and repairs, but has great layout.
14 Restaurants that Could Replace W.L. Goodfellows in Galloway
For whatever reason, South Jersey seems to lack many chain restaurants that are commonplace in practically every other part of the state. Here's how we can change that...
A Look Back At Sunshine Park Nudist Resort In Mays Landing
Take a look at the nudist resort that once sat on the Great Egg Harbor River in Mays Landing.
Source: What Say You? 14 Restaurants that Could Replace W.L. Goodfellows in Galloway, NJ
Filed Under: Galloway, Galloway Township
One Traffic Signal in South Jersey Never Turns Red – Where is It?
Get Ready for Major Construction Project on Route 30 in Galloway Twp, NJ
Surprising! 26 Old Things in South Jersey That You Don't Think of as Old
Funniest Reviews of the Frank Sinatra Rest Stop on Parkway in Galloway
3 South Jersey Rentals Among Best and Most Unique Airbnbs in State
Mesmerizing Christmas Lights Display in Galloway Township, NJ is a Must-See!
The Best Non-Casino Restaurants In The Atlantic City, NJ Area
South Jersey Restaurant Folks Reveal Favorite Dishes On The Menu
Galloway Twp., NJ, Woman Charged With Vehicular Homicide For 2020 Crash


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This one-day course could mean the difference between life and death. This course will teach you how to cope with medical emergencies on board.
This is a practical course covering all aspects of basic life support, casualty management, obtaining outside medical assistance and helicopter rescue. The certificate is valid for three years.


text:
Q: angularjs restrict directive scope I have three controllers, one parent and two nested controllers that are siblings in the DOM. All contain a property called "customisation". The two nested controllers use a directive that creates/binds a DOM element to the "customisation" property. My issue, is that a change to the value of the bound DOM property in one nested controller is changing the value in it's sibling nested controller.
I'm assuming it is something to do with the scope of the directive. I wish to restrict the scope of the directive to the individual controller so as not to affect the parent controller or any siblings.
Any advice please?

A: You can specify the controller in you directive.
app.directive( 'directive', function () {
  return {
    controller: 'CtrlName'
  };
});

Or you can create your own scope for the directive.
app.directive('directive', function() {
  return {
    scope: {},
    controller: ['$scope', function($scope) {
      $scope.customisation = ...
    }]
  };
})

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Clifford Jack "Cliff" Serwa (born December 23, 1935) was a businessman and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Okanagan South from 1986 to 1991 and Okanagan West from 1991 to 1996 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a Social Credit member. He was one of only seven Social Credit MLAs elected in the 1991 election that marked the end of the party's dominance of provincial politics. Of these seven, only Serwa completed his term as a Social Credit member, leaving him the last member of that party to serve in the legislature.

He was born in Pine River, Manitoba, the son of Jack Serwa and Helen Churaewski, and was educated in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan and Kelowna, British Columbia. He was co-founder of the Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna. In 1977, Serwa married Lois Rae Hanson. He served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Environment. Serwa lives in Kelowna.

His granddaughter Kelsey Serwa was an Olympic champion in women's ski cross.

References

1935 births
British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs
Living people
Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia
People from Kelowna
People from Northern Region, Manitoba

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 is a very handy application which will help the users to perform various different editing as well as mixing operations. This application allows you to record the audio streams and apply special effects. This application lets you create musical compositions. You can also download Ableton Live Suite v9.5 32 64 Bit.
Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 comes packed with loads of dedicated parameters so the layout may seem a bit overwhelming at 1st sight. This application provides help manual as well as user tutorials on how to get the things started with this program. Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 allows you to record and change the clips and manage the flow of signals. You can create new clips through recording, effect processing and mixing options. It has got warping feature which can be used for changing the speed of smaple playback independently from the pitch, set the tempo, select from various built-in audio effects and edit the MIDI contents. The users can also create preset music compositions and select the signal source as well as destination for every track. This application allows the users to automate the devices as well as mixer controls and access the tool via an external MIDI controller. All in all Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 allows the users to perform various editing and mixing operations, record audio streams and apply various special effects. You can also download Ableton Live 9 Suite.
Below are some noticeable features which you'll experience after Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 free download.
A very handy application which will help the users to perform various different editing as well as mixing operations.
Allows you to record the audio streams and apply special effects.
Lets you create musical compositions.
Comes packed with loads of dedicated parameters so the layout may seem a bit overwhelming at 1st sight.
Provides help manual as well as user tutorials on how to get the things started with this program.
Allows you to record and change the clips and manage the flow of signals.
Can create new clips through recording, effect processing and mixing options.
Got warping feature which can be used for changing the speed of sample playback independently from the pitch, set the tempo, select from various built-in audio effects and edit the MIDI contents.
Allows the users to automate the devices as well as mixer controls and access the tool via an external MIDI controller.
Before you start Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 free download, make sure your PC meets minimum system requirements.
Click on below button to start Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5 Free Download. This is complete offline installer and standalone setup for Ableton Live Suite 9.7.5. This would be compatible with both 32 bit and 64 bit windows.


text:
2020 preseason Coaches Poll released
By Kevin Kelley - August 6, 2020
Photo: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
The 2020 preseason Coaches Poll has been released and the Clemson Tigers top the rankings. Clemson received 38 first place votes and 1,589 total points.
Clemson is followed by Ohio State in second, Alabama in third, and Georgia in fourth. LSU, which won the College Football Playoff National Championship last season, debuts in fifth place.
Other teams receiving first-place votes include Ohio State with 17, Alabama with four, and LSU with six.
The Big Ten and SEC lead all conferences with six teams apiece in the Top 25 poll. The ACC and Big 12 follow with four ranked teams each. Listed below is the full conference breakdown:
Big Ten – 6
SEC – 6
ACC – 4 (includes Notre Dame)
Big 12 – 4
Pac-12 – 3
AAC – 2
The complete 2020 Preseason Coaches Poll is listed below (first place votes in parentheses):
1. Clemson (38)
2. Ohio State (17)
3. Alabama (4)
5. LSU (6)
7. Penn State
9. Oregon
10. Notre Dame
11. Auburn
13. Texas A&M
14. Texas
15. Michigan
16. Oklahoma State
17. USC
18. Minnesota
20. Utah
21. UCF
22. Cincinnati
23. Iowa
24. Virginia Tech
25. Iowa State
Others receiving votes: Tennessee, Boise State, Arizona State, Kentucky, Memphis, Baylor, Washington, Louisville, Miami (FL), Appalachian State, Navy, Virginia, Air Force, Mississippi State, TCU, Washington State, Tulane, California, UL Lafayette, SMU, Nebraska, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Indiana, Duke.
Jinzo2400 says:
Polls don't mean squat this year……neither does a national championship. Schools should just play if they can and enjoy the season for what its worth.


text:
Front Line Family was a British radio soap opera initially broadcast on the BBC's North American shortwave service. It ran from April 1941 until 1948 when it was replaced by Mrs Dale's Diary. The show's storylines depicted the trials and tribulations of a British family, the Robinsons, living through the war. This featured plots about rationing, family members missing in action and the Blitz.

The BBC had resisted soaps as antithetical to its quality image, but began Front Line Family to encourage American intervention on Britain's behalf in World War II. The network instructed the show's writer that "[t]his material must appeal to an audience of relatively limited mentality, an audience who believes in thrilleresque, is not squeamish, and is almost completely credulous". Front Line Family became popular, and soon independent radio stations purchased it for rebroadcasting within the United States. After the war the show was moved to the Light Programme in 1946 and continued to run until 1948.

References

See also
Radio drama

BBC World Service programmes
British radio soap operas
1941 radio programme debuts
1948 radio programme endings
Radio programs about families


text:
By Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal
75% OFF $10.99 $2.75
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Hugo Award-winning authors Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal team up in this exclusive audio-first production of The Original, a sci-fi thriller set in a world where one woman fights to know her true identity and survive the forces that threaten her very existence. In the near future, humans choose life-for a price. Injectable nanite technology is the lifeblood that flows through every individual wishing to experience the world through the lens of their own theme. While death from mortal wounds is still possible, life is made easier in a socially liberated society where automation and income equality allow passion pursuits to flourish over traditional work. Renewal stations are provided to every law-abiding citizen for weekly check-ins, which issue life-sustaining repairs in exchange for personal privacy. But what becomes of those who check out, of those who dare to resist immortality and risk being edited under the gaze of an identity-extracting government surveillance system? When Holly Winseed wakes up in a hospital room, her memory compromised and a new identity imposed on her, a team of government agents wastes no time stating their objective. With intent to infiltrate and defeat the terrorist group ICON, the agents tell Holly that she is now a Provisional Replica and has one week to hunt down and kill her Original for the murder of her husband, Jonathan. If she succeeds, she'll assume her Original's place in society. If she fails, her life will end. Holly's progress is monitored by an assigned contact that feeds her information as she confronts the blank, robotic world around her, discovering that others view life through the theme of their own choosing. With her newly implanted combat and deduction skills, Holly fends off both attacks by terrorists and doubts about her own trustworthiness as clues lead her to her Original-and to the truth about Jonathan. In the end, one body remains and one walks away. Although questions persist, one thing is certain: life will never be the same.
Genres: Mystery, Thriller & Horror > Suspense


Features are seldom force-ranked by business value, so teams spend too much time on functionality that produces little return on investment.
Too much time goes by between the spec being written and the stakeholders seeing working, shippable software. By the time they provide feedback, it's too late to make substantial changes.
There isn't enough interaction between business visionaries and the development team to keep them informed about changing priorities along the way.
When used correctly, the product backlog solves these problems by creating a shared vision with business stakeholders and the team throughout the development of the product. Interaction between the product owner and the development team happens throughout every day. This ensures the needs of the business are directly connected to the ongoing development work throughout the entire process.
Finally—and probably the most important—the product owner places the most valuable stories at the top of the backlog. This ensures items that generate business value are completed first and are delivered sooner rather than later. This prevents less important items stealing development time from other, more profitable user stories.
The product backlog provides a shared "source of truth" as it pertains to the vision for the product. It allows both the business stakeholders and development team to always understand the vision for the product.
The backlog contains three different types of items: user stories, tasks, and bugs.
Most development team members don't spend as much time reading project documentation as we'd like. To combat human nature, instead of assuming the team will read the documentation, we talk about the product vision instead.
The process of refining the product backlog—sometimes also called grooming the backlog—happens throughout the development of the product. Most Scrum teams get together one or two times during each sprint to talk about what's coming up next on the product backlog.
The product owner can explain the vision for each upcoming story.
The team can ask questions to get more details.
Because the team will be on the same page, the planning process will take less time.
If there is anything confusing or open questions from the development team, the product owner has some time to get things straightened out before the next sprint planning ceremony.
Collectively, this discussion does what I call "programming the team's collective subconscious." It gets everyone thinking about what's coming up next and, in the back of their minds, they'll start thinking about how they might build it during the next sprint.
The comprehensive software specifications that are common with waterfall projects assume that requirements can be nailed down at the beginning and remain largely unchanged.
Scrum acknowledges the high-risk nature of software development and instead of attempting to lock things down for long spans of time, it says, "Let's embrace change." The product backlog is in a constant state of evolution. The only requirement to "lock down" a portion of the product is for the scope of work in the very next sprint, ranging from one week to a calendar month.
What are your thoughts? What do you think are the key factors that lead to the dreaded sentence from stakeholders "That's not what I wanted"? Leave a comment below.


text:
Quantum wonders: Nobody understands
Physics 5 May 2010
It is tempting, faced with the full-frontal assault of quantum weirdness, to trot out the notorious quote from Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman: "Nobody understands quantum mechanics."
It does have a ring of truth to it, though. The explanations attempted here use the most widely accepted framework for thinking about quantum weirdness, called the Copenhagen interpretation after the city in which Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg thrashed out its ground rules in the early 20th century.
With its uncertainty principles and measurement paradoxes, the Copenhagen interpretation amounts to an admission that, as classical beasts, we are ill-equipped to see underlying quantum reality. Any attempt we make to engage with it reduces it to a shallow classical projection of its full quantum richness.
Lev Vaidman of Tel Aviv University, Israel, like many other physicists, touts an alternative explanation. "I don't feel that I don't understand quantum mechanics," he says. But there is a high price to be paid for that understanding – admitting the existence of parallel universes.
In this picture, wave functions do not "collapse" to classical certainty every time you measure them; reality merely splits into as many parallel worlds as there are measurement possibilities. One of these carries you and the reality you live in away with it. "If you don't admit many-worlds, there is no way to have a coherent picture," says Vaidman.
Or, in the words of Feynman again, whether it is the Copenhagen interpretation or many-worlds you accept, "the 'paradox' is only a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality ought to be".
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text:
Platform A Gallery Presents Looking Down by Francesca Simon
The Northern September 26, 2018
When: Preview 4th Oct 6-8pm. Refreshments provided
Exhibition runs from 4th October until 15th November 2018
Where: Platform-A Gallery, Middlesbrough Railway Station,
Zetland Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 1EG
Call: +44 (0) 1642 252 061
Repeated patterns of existence are mesmerisingly submerged within Francesca Simon's current paintings. The recent series of hinged triptychs is inspired by looking down at the world, noticing both the elusive and the systematic. She observes angled foreshortened combinations of geometric patterns, perhaps on tiled church floors (such as the Borromini pavement at San Giovanni in Laterano) or the rough designs and articulations of slanting or vertical stones in dry stone wall boundaries in the Yorkshire Moors. Simon is able to make fine archaeological judgements in relation to the adaptation and understanding of these disruptions and patterns. She observes the world with precision and logic, allowing the personal to interweave with the potency of illusionistic experience which then resurfaces in her paintings.
"In Yorkshire I am always walking, which means looking down; I notice things on the ground … fossils, stones, even adders. It was the topographical patterns of the drystone walls, unwieldy irregular grids on the landscape, enclosing desaturated greenery, which first drew me to abstracting from what I saw around me."
This kind of almost numinous identification with the landscape is significant factor in the making of her work. On her many walks in Yorkshire Simon might notice the stitching of fields together through the innumerable congregations of rock forms, pierced openings for livestock, the angles and curves of sections of dry stone walls, which perhaps mark a space or dwelling, or an erasure of past habitations. Perceptions of texture, weight and erosion, the wear and tear of centuries of harsh northern weather, start to permeate her thoughts and introduce themselves into the compositions and drawings. You slowly begin to register the way things lock together, a kind of mapping or trace of her journeys.
The identification with a particular place seems always carefully interwoven with a continuing strategy of reiteration. A routine is developed through the drawing of underlying grids. Here the isometric forms are drawn directly onto each panel with near geometric certainty. The sum of these actions begins the gradual accumulation of a spellbinding set of illusions.
Speaking to Simon recently in her studio, she describes how (though she is not always sure what will happen) she continually sands back subsequent gesso layers over the entire surface of each work to reveal what is beneath. In this way her approach is open, the physicality of the revealed grounds acknowledging a personal history.
In Als ich kann, 2017, for example, the method of sanding and abrasion, through the acrylic, linen and wood, seems evocative of deeper memories. We notice the subtle flecks and a sparkle akin to the use of charcoal. Diamond shapes, painted in thin translucent washes, hover alongside 'kite' structures over a mysterious built-up substructure. The false symmetry creates myriad densities, and the sensation of a 'falling' movement, perhaps with the intention of destabilising the viewer.
"Geometry can play pretty serious tricks on the mind and that fascinates me."
Simon's approach is always to pare away the unnecessary, to strip back to the essence, to impose restrictions on her own use of colour or shape or repetitions. A particular specificity of colour is developed with clarity and intensity in Alien Logic, 2017. The black kites, like the English red in its counterpart painting Als ich kann, echo strong associations with the swirling optical floor designs in the Accademia in Venice. This concentrates the mind on the importance of value systems; systems for controlling eye movements or predicting connections. Simon wants us to rethink how we process paintings, through memory, emotion and cognition.
This kind of shifting oscillation calls to mind the multi-panelled paintings of Robert Mangold. Mangold's interest in early renaissance fresco paintings with their play of light and shadow seems to resonate with Simon's thinking. In writing for Art Forum in 1974 the critic Joseph Mascheck pointed out that Mangold had been making painting as though moved by constructive doubt. Later, in his Attic series, 1990, Mangold used irregular quadrilaterals to construct his large scale eccentric compositions. The variegated mottled tones on masonite or plywood grounds engage peripheral vision, shifting the eye from the seam made by the adjoining panels, from one form to another. Mangold thinks through his worked colour studies on paper setting up what Mascheck calls a humanist geometry.
I am immediately reminded of Simon's earlier works such as Leviathan, made in 2015 for her exhibition 'Navigations' at the Ryedale Folk Museum. Simon starts by choosing three parts in response to the breadth and textures of the landscape of the North York Moors. The use of repetition exerts a definite and continuous sense of movement and propulsion. The precisely taped-off triangulation at one end of the painting protrudes into the edge of the field of vision, signalling the notion of an edifice or the exterior of a building, the gridded devices and deceptive flatness creating illusory space, and one that points to her recent multi-panels.
A differing process takes place in the construction of the hinged triptychs such as After Campin 2, 2017.This is a key work in terms of construction. Simon based the work on the Flemish Renaissance painter Robert Campin's Mérode Altarpiece, The Annunciation Triptych, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Simon's drawing (at thirty degrees) is reductive and begins an elastic transformation.
In Campin's hands the central panel is a depiction of a middle-class room in which the Annunciation takes place. There is a typical settee (common in the Netherlands at the time) which the Virgin leans against. Clutter and religious symbolism fill the interior: lilies symbolise Mary's virginity, rays of sunlight at the top left of the painting highlight the scroll and the book, representing both the Old and the New Testaments. Simon leaves all this out and its airiness is key to the painting's success. The viewer registers the black and white elevations first as roofs then rooms, which produces a tension between the mechanical and symbolic relationships. This work, and also After Campin 1, 2016, suggests perhaps the spatial matrix of a future city in its feeling of newness and virtuality.
The shifting saturated compartments of colour draw the viewer in. Simon likes to use oxide browns and Indian reds, played off against Prussian blue, and warm grey in equal measure. Balancing the hierarchy of colour across the three panels in architectural combinations is difficult, but here Simon explores a system of possibilities in the placement and distribution of the architectural and pictorial. Simon gives the donor and his wife in the left hand panel a four-colour combination. The Indian red and Prussian blue denote status and sit intimately inside the projected space. The near sided parallel projections in this case are black and white, as is the elevation above.
I particularly like the right-hand panel. Campin portrays St Joseph working as a carpenter, and it keeps catching my eye, maybe Simon's as well, as it seems to have greater depth, possibly through the colour mixing. Simon combines Prussian blue with touches of nickel azo yellow and a mixture of oxide brown.
"In the After Campin paintings I was deliberately attempting a transcription. This is different from my usual process which relies on the subconscious filtering of visual memories; time elapses and eventually, unforced, an echo of the original visual experience emerges, usually a close relation in terms of shape and texture."
Lateran 1 and Lateran 2, both made in 2016, hinged triptychs, painted straight onto the birch ply support, owe something to the constructive domain explored in the work of Lygia Clark, particularly in her understanding of collage: that
inherent sense of visual experimentation, the artist playing with form or altering the line and perspective. These operations seem to lie at the core of Simon's concept of structure, and the way she develops divisions of colour both achromatic and chromatic.
When Lateran 2 is open and flattened to the wall a more constructive relief is revealed in the horizontal rhythm and modulation of movement. The power of the smoothed slightly translucent flatness is a key emphasis. But on closer inspection the sanded areas of gesso in between increase the illusion of depth and space not only through emotive textural characteristics but through a hermetic sense of geometry that persuasively suggests an eerie constructional effect.
Lateran 1 has a strange mixture of privacy in a public space within the layers, transparencies and overlays of colour. There is a feeling of an eruption of activity as rhomboid forms pulse inside the isometric structures. The illusion made by the architectural elements pushes right forward and slips back into space. We can see that the transparency and overlays are made to be seen both flatly and half opened, as there is a choice to be made about the how the work can be shown.
The temporal concerns and the invitation to the audience to take part in that unhinging feels part of the concept for the show. Each manoeuvre has its own duration or unfolding co-existence of past and present. I find myself thinking of a relationship with The Wilton Diptych. This painting feels fundamental to the exhibition in its portability and devotional context; and is an inspiration for a more direct transcription in one of Simon's earlier paintings, Tunnel Vision 2, 2015. The altar piece depicts a strange encounter between the imaginatively real and something beyond the visible, alluded to perhaps in Simon's painting in the juxtaposition of flat white paint and translucent white washes in the winged forms.
That kind of haunting complexity is scaled up in Ghost Logic and Ghosting both made in made in 2018. These works have an odd sense of location and unexpected surface tension. Simon works over the ground of these larger works with vigour, allowing the viewer to sense her struggle, her physical engagement with the canvas. Thin grey washes catch in the fissures of sanded gesso and accentuate a primitive engagement with the materials used. But the scale of these works pays dividends. In each painting she inserts a rectangular structure, an inner frame within the composition, higher up in Ghost Logic, almost suggesting a stooped figure (Christ carrying his cross perhaps?); lower down in Ghosting where the black and white composition creates a more foreboding, almost sinister, atmosphere.
There is a sense of everything becoming much looser; the grids and overlaying composition do not resist a figurative interpretation. Francesca Simon understands the way things can be left more open, as her rationality combines instinctively with the geometry's physicality consolidating the whole effect as a single entity.
Laurence Noga
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USA.com / Connecticut / Windham County / East Brooklyn, CT
East Brooklyn, CT
East Brooklyn is located in east Connecticut. East Brooklyn is part of Windham County. East Brooklyn has 1.70 square miles of land area and 0.03 square miles of water area. As of 2010-2014, the total East Brooklyn population is 1,784, which has grown 21.11% since 2000. The population growth rate is much higher than the state average rate of 5.48% and is much higher than the national average rate of 11.61%. East Brooklyn median household income is $52,866 in 2010-2014 and has grown by 104.80% since 2000. The income growth rate is much higher than the state average rate of 29.60% and is much higher than the national average rate of 27.36%. East Brooklyn median house value is $210,000 in 2010-2014 and has grown by 90.74% since 2000. The house value growth rate is higher than the state average rate of 64.47% and is much higher than the national average rate of 46.91%. As a reference, the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for the same period is 26.63%. On average, the public school district that covers East Brooklyn is worse than the state average in quality.
Population Growth 21.11% since 2000, rank #8
Median Household Income: $52,866 at 2010-2014—104.80% increase since 2000, rank #108
Median House Price: $210,000 at 2010-2014—90.74% increase since 2000, rank #96
Water Area: 0.03 sq mi (1.69%), rank #91
Area: Willimantic, CT
County: Windham County
Accommodations: East Brooklyn Hotels
Fastest / Slowest Growing Cities in CT
High / Low CT Cities by Males Employed
High / Low CT Cities by Females Employed
Best / Worst Cities by Crime Rate in CT
Richest / Poorest Cities by Income in CT
Expensive / Cheapest Homes by City in CT
Most / Least Educated Cities in CT
East Brooklyn, CT Map, Border, and Nearby Locations
Connecticut State
Willimantic Area


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