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10 Cool Facts about Penguins
The penguin is among the seventeen species of seabirds that do not fly, which breed mainly on islands in subantarctic waters and the cold coasts of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America, and a few species live in temperate regions. A penguin lives Galapagos in the tropics of South America, and the species differ mainly in size and head shape, as they all have a dark back and a white belly, and they feed on fish, squid and marine crustaceans.
Despite the common belief, penguins are not mammals, as the female lays eggs instead of giving birth. Besides, they do not breastfeed their children with milk but rather feed their young, regurgitated meals such as krill, squid and fish, so it is one of the creatures that lay eggs and similarly feed their young. Most birds have hollow bones and feet instead of the paws or legs of mammals.
It is considered one of the most astonishing animals. This bird is characterised by a unique texture and body, as it is regarded as one of the most distinctive birds in nature. They are known to sing in order to attract the attention of the opposite sex and of the birds that are characterised by their distinctive sounds.
The number of penguins worldwide is estimated at tens of millions, as it is one of the birds found in abundance in nature. It is also one of the birds that cannot fly, but it swims and dives with great skill, it also swims in the seas speedily, and it can swim in icy waters.
Geographical Distribution and Migration
The penguin is a beautiful bird, adapted to aquatic life, is good at swimming and diving, and can swim a distance of more than 30 km per hour with the help of its spindle-shaped body and short hind limbs. Its feet have three fingers connected by a membrane or skin fold (like pelicans).
In addition, a thick layer of fat under the skin helps warm it in cold water. This fascinating bird cannot fly, but it walks on its hind limbs, and its front limbs have turned into paddle-shaped appendages (flippers) that it uses for paddling and swimming.
The belly of this cool bird is covered with white feathers, and its back is covered with black or bluish-grey feathers. Some have yellow or orange feathers on the head, neck or chest (emperor and king penguins), and others have a crest of feathers on the head area. Its length ranges between 30 cm and 120 cm, and its weight ranges between 1 and 40 kg which manifests the great difference between the tiny and the giant ones.
Penguins can live in most species for 15–20 years or more. Still, their lives are threatened, and their numbers are declining due to overfishing, natural disasters such as floods and droughts, water pollution with chemicals, sewage waste, and oil leakage. They are also exposed to predation by some animals and assault on their habitats, nests, eggs, etc.
The following are the most important physical characteristics of this pretty bird:
The emperor penguin is the biggest of all known species, with a height of 1.1 meters, and can weigh more than 41 kg, and the tiniest one is the Little Penguin, which is 41 to 45 cm long and weighs about 1 kg.
The body of this amazing bird is adapted for swimming, and it is pointed at both ends, and it has a large head, a short neck, and an elongated body. Its tail is short and solid, similar to the shape of a wedge, and it also has webbed legs, which give them a straight position on the ground.
All adult penguins are dark on the back surface and white on the belly, with the dark dorsal side blending into the dark ocean depths when viewed from above. When viewed from below, the white ventral side blends into the lighter sea surface, so predators cannot see the contrast between the bird and its surroundings.
How do penguins move?
It may move more comfortably and gracefully in the water. It swims or dives and sometimes travels overland to obtain a nesting area or other penguins or escape from predators. The average speed of this bird depends on its type. In general, it ranges Between 1 mph to 2.5 mph. They have strong but short legs.
Why can penguins walk on ice?
They point their feet slightly outward may increase their centre of gravity and lean forward slightly so that their centre of gravity is as above their feet as possible, which keeps them flexible and loose with short strides.
Because of the penguin's short legs, we find him swaying while keeping all his weight on one leg at a time. When it is on the ice, it bends slightly, walks with flat feet, keeps its centre of gravity above its feet as much as possible, and the face of its feet is slightly outward, taking short steps and focusing on maintaining its balance and strolls.
Penguin Feet and Adaptation
Their large feet may be webbed to aid in swimming, and they also have claws helpful in attaching to icy surfaces. Scientists may argue that combining short legs and oversized feet makes walking more efficient because it helps raise the penguin's centre of mass. It reduces heat loss and uses energy less overall. The feet and legs of these birds are more adapted for swimming and diving in the sea because they spend a great portion of their time in the ocean.
Why do penguins not live in the arctic?
The Arctic is a paradise for all birds, and you may wonder why they do not live there and whether they have ever lived there. Although there are none in the Arctic today, there are several beautiful links between the Arctic North and penguins, and the following are some possible reasons why they do not live in the Arctic:
Nest on the ground: They have evolved to breed, nest, brood and raise their chicks on the ground level or in caves. Polar and maybe even humans.
Penguins do not fly: Only flying birds live in the Arctic today. Flight is an essential defence against land predators, allowing the birds to escape attack and nest on cliffs.
Skillful divers: They are the most efficient scuba divers on earth, and one reason is that they sacrificed their lightweight and flexible wings for stiffer, heavier flippers, and these flippers offered penguins the chance to evolve into true underwater specialists.
Competitive advantage: The ability to dive deep and long gives these lovely birds a competitive advantage when feeding in the aquatic environment, shared with many whales, seals, and larger birds.
Food and Behaviour
They drink fresh water, and if it is not available, they can drink salt water because they have a salt gland that purifies and filters the excess amount of salt in the blood and then excretes it through the nasal openings, and some types also eat ice.
What do penguins eat?
Most penguins feed on fish, squid, and other marine creatures. Therefore, they dive to depths that differ according to their types, and tiny ones only sometimes dive to great depths but hunt their prey near the shore and usually dive for a minute or two.
Giant penguins, such as the emperor penguin, can dive when necessary to depths of more than 500 meters for Approximately 22 minutes. Due to consuming large amounts of food, they resort to food-rich waters, provided that these waters are safe from animals that feed on them, such as seals, whales, sharks, and others.
Penguins spend about half their lives on land and the other half in water. Within their soft feathers, a layer of air helps the birds float in the water and insulates them from the extremely cold when they are in cold water. They use their tail and flippers on land to help them stand upright.
They are distinguished by their vertical standing and quiet gait due to the shortness of their hind limbs, nature, and heavyweight. However, they can walk at human speed, climb rocky slopes and jump from one rock to another with ease and skill. Some penguins can ski on snow or ice by descending suddenly and hard, using sliding on their stomachs.
Most penguins live and breed in large groups, numbering between 100 pairs and hundreds of thousands. It reaches sexual maturity at 3–8 years and is considered a monogamous animal.
It is seasonal mating, and when this season approaches, the penguins (except for the emperor penguin) build their nests on the soil, under the beach rocks, or on the bushes in large flocks known as spawning complexes. The emperor penguin does not need to build nests.
During the mating season, most females lay two eggs (except for the two large ones: the emperor penguin and the king penguin, where the female lays one egg), which is white and bluish. The relatively thick shell occupies 10 and 16% and the yolk between 22 and 31% of its weight.
The male takes turns with the female in incubating the eggs for a period ranging between 28 and 66 days. Except for the emperor penguin, the male incubates the egg, provides it with the warmth necessary for its hatching, and places it in the lower abdomen, which contains several layers of fat even after hatching.
Males gather in large groups, each carrying an egg with its feet to incubate. The group members wrap their tight bodies in one mass, seeking the most significant amount of warmth until the eggs hatch and the chicks emerge, characterised by their tremendous appetite for food and their rapid growth.
A few days after hatching, the chicks can regulate their body temperature and remain with their parents until the appearance of fluff and feathers. Most penguin species live about 7 to 10 weeks, compared to about 15 months for king penguin chicks.
Types of Penguins
Scientists agree that there are at least 16 species of penguins:
African Penguins
African black-legged are the only specie in Africa and live only in South Africa and Namibia. They use annoying chirping sounds to identify each other, find a mate, and order food.
Northern Rockhopper Penguins
Native to Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island, these little birds live on uninhabited islands, have little fear of humans and are curious about them.
Royal Penguin
Native to the frozen and cold islands in the South Atlantic, particularly the Falkland Islands, these ones are stunningly beautiful, their chicks are of a general brown colour, and they are prettier when they get older these birds are the second largest species in size.
Adelie Penguins
For many people, this species is the best because Antarctic predators are one of the most ferocious hunters in the region, and due to climate change, these factors affect their food sources, so thousands of these penguin chicks die every year.
Little Penguins
Also known as Little Southern, they inhabit the western and southeastern coasts of the South Island of New Zealand. They are the smallest, blue-eyed, feathered penguins on the planet.
Yellow-eyed Penguins
They are yellow-eyed, known as "hoiho", and there may be less than 3,400 birds left of them, and they are the species facing extinction in the near future.
Chinstrap Penguins
They live on the shores of Antarctica and many islands of the Pacific and Southern Oceans. Not only do chinstrap penguins seem to wear little military helmets all the time, but they are the most typical penguin in Antarctica, where there are nearly 13 million people.
Magellanic Penguins
This type is similar to African but has a darker black neck stripe that distinguishes it from its African cousins. They inhabit the southern coasts of South America and may sometimes live as far north as Brazil. Unlike their African counterparts, Magellanic actively hunt jellyfish.
Southern Rockhopper Penguins
They live in the Falkland Islands and look very similar to other bouncing ones, but they do not have the usual patch of pale skin under their beaks, a few black feathers on the top of their head, and they are cute, but their chirps are very shrill.
Macaroni Penguins
The most abundant species in the world, it is more than all other penguins combined, as there are approximately 24 million penguins in 260 colonies that extend across South America, Australia, Antarctica and Marion Island. Still, they are endangered, as almost all of their gathering places are threatened by human settlements. Huge efforts are being made to protect them in Chile and Argentina.
Australian Penguins
It lives on the southern Australian coast, has one small colony in New Zealand, and was recently identified as a unique species through DNA testing.
Emperor penguins
They are the largest and tallest of all species and live on the shores of Antarctica. This type is found almost exclusively on Antarctic Sea ice, making them the only species of bird that never set foot on land.
Crowned Penguins
They are unusual birds living in open coastal forests on small islands around the South Island of New Zealand. The primary method of communication between them is to pump the chest to attract mates and bow regularly to their partners and children.
Galapagos Penguins
Farther north in the tropical Galapagos archipelago are the striped ones, closely related to the African but much smaller, as their small size allows them to exist entirely on small coastal minnows and clams, avoiding predators in deeper waters.
Erect-Crested Penguins
She is the one who lives in the Bounty and Antipodes Islands in New Zealand and can swim long distances as she hunts in South America and Antarctica, and they spend much time taking care of each other, and they have distinctive hairstyles.
Royal Penguins
They live only on Macquarie Island in the Antarctic subcontinent and look like macaroni. Still, they have white instead of black faces, which is why there is much disagreement as to whether they are two different species.
Facts about Penguins
There are 17 species of penguins, and each species may be slightly different. In fact, all species may live in the southern hemisphere.
In the course of that, there are as many as 100 million penguins worldwide.
They have black and white plumage and wobbles when it walks. It also has a torpedo-shaped body that allows it to swim 25 miles per hour through the water.
They spend most of their time in the water searching for food; however, they cannot swim backwards.
They are powerful birds and can launch up to 6 feet in the air when leaving the water to return to land.
When a penguin wants to move quickly across the ice, it can be seen falling onto its stomach and using its arms to propel it above the surface.
They do not have biological defences against germs found outside cold Antarctica, so keeping them healthy in zoos is challenging.
They are warm-blooded, with an average body temperature of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Like whales, they have a layer of fat under their skin called blubber that is covered with feathers.
They do not live near fresh water, at least, and neither do unfrozen penguins.
Instead, they drink salt water and have a special gland in their bodies that removes salt from the water they drink.
They mate for life, and during the mating season, the penguins head to the private nesting areas on the beach.
If you like learning new facts about birds, you may also like these articles Doves, Pigeons, and Crows.


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Australopithecus afarensis
Temporal range: Pliocene, 3.9–2.9 Ma
A replica of the remains of Lucy, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: †Australopithecus
†A. afarensis
†Australopithecus afarensis
Johanson & White, 1978[1]
Synonyms[2]
Homo antiquus Ferguson, 1984
Australopithecus afarensis (Latin: "Southern ape from Afar") is an extinct hominin that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago [3] in Africa.[4][5][6] A. afarensis was slenderly built, like the younger Australopithecus africanus. A. afarensis is thought to be more closely related to the genus Homo (which includes the modern human species Homo sapiens), whether as a direct ancestor or a close relative of an unknown ancestor, than any other known primate from the same time.[7] Some researchers include A. afarensis in the genus Praeanthropus.[8]
The most famous fossil is the partial skeleton named Lucy (3.2 million years old) found by Donald Johanson, Yves Coppens and Maurice Taïeb, who, in celebration of their find, repeatedly played the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".[9][10][11]
1 Localities
2 Anatomy
2.1 Craniodental features and brain size
2.2 Skeletal morphology and locomotion
4 Specimens of A. afarensis
5 Related work
Localities[edit]
Hominin timeline
-10 —
-9 —
Hominini
Nakalipithecus
Ouranopithecus
Orrorin
Australopithecus
H. heidelbergensis
Earlier apes
Gorilla split
Possibly bipedal
Chimpanzee split
Earliest bipedal
Exit from Africa
Earliest fire use
Earliest cooking
Earliest clothes
Modern speech
Modern humans
(million years ago)
(See also: Life timeline, and Nature timeline.)
Australopithecus afarensis fossils have only been discovered within Eastern Africa. Despite Laetoli being the type locality for A. afarensis, the most extensive remains assigned to the species are found in Hadar, Afar Region of Ethiopia, including the above-mentioned "Lucy" partial skeleton and the "First Family" found at the AL 333 locality. Other localities bearing A. afarensis remains include Omo, Maka, Fejej, and Belohdelie in Ethiopia, and Koobi Fora and Lothagam in Kenya.
Anatomy[edit]
Craniodental features and brain size[edit]
A. afarensis, forensic facial reconstruction.[12]
Compared to the modern and extinct great apes, A. afarensis has reduced canines and molars, although they are still relatively larger than in modern humans. A. afarensis also has a relatively small brain size (about 380–430 cm3)[citation needed] and a prognathic face (i.e. a face with forward-projecting jaws).
Skeletal morphology and locomotion[edit]
Considerable debate surrounds the locomotor behaviour of A. afarensis. Some studies suggest that A. afarensis was almost exclusively bipedal, while others propose that the creatures were partly arboreal. The anatomy of the hands, feet, and shoulder joints in many ways favour the latter interpretation. In particular, the morphology of the scapula appears to be ape-like and very different from modern humans.[13] The curvature of the finger and toe bones (phalanges) approaches that of modern-day apes, and is suggestive of their ability to efficiently grasp branches and climb. Alternatively, the loss of an abductable great toe and therefore the ability to grasp with the foot (a feature of all other primates) suggests A. afarensis was no longer adapted to climbing.[14]
Lucy skeleton reconstruction, Cleveland Natural History Museum
A number of traits in the A. afarensis skeleton strongly reflect bipedalism, to the extent some researchers have suggested bipedality evolved long before A. afarensis.[15] In overall anatomy, the pelvis is far more human-like than ape-like. The iliac blades are short and wide, the sacrum is wide and positioned directly behind the hip joint, and evidence of a strong attachment for the knee extensors is clear. While the pelvis is not wholly human-like (being markedly wide, or flared, with laterally oriented iliac blades), these features point to a structure that can be considered radically remodeled to accommodate a significant degree of bipedalism in the animals' locomotor repertoire.[citation needed]
Importantly, the femur also angles in toward the knee from the hip. This trait would have allowed the foot to have fallen closer to the midline of the body, and is a strong indication of habitual bipedal locomotion. The feet also feature adducted big toes, making it difficult if not impossible to grasp branches with the hindlimbs. The loss of a grasping hindlimb also increases the risk of an infant being dropped or falling, as primates typically hold onto their mothers while the mother goes about her daily business. Without the second set of grasping limbs, the infant cannot maintain as strong a grip, and likely had to be held with help from the mother. The problem of holding the infant would be multiplied if the mother also had to climb trees. Bones of the foot (such as the calcaneus) also indicate bipedality.[16][17]
Computer simulations using dynamic modeling of the skeleton's inertial properties and kinematics suggest A. afarensis was able to walk in the same way modern humans walk, with a normal erect gait or with bent hips and knees, but could not walk in the same way as chimpanzees. The upright gait would have been much more efficient than the bent knee and hip walking, which would have taken twice as much energy.[18][19]
A. afarensis probably was quite an efficient bipedal walker over short distances, and the spacing of the footprints at Laetoli indicates they were walking at 1.0 m/s or above, which matches human small-town walking speeds.[20] Yet, this can be questioned, as finds of Australopithecus foot bones indicate the Laetoli footprints may not have been made by Australopithecus.[21] Many scientists also doubt the suggestion of bipedalism, and argue that even if Australopithecus really did walk on two legs, it did not walk in the same way as humans.[22][23][24]
The presence of a wrist-locking mechanism, though, might suggest they engaged in knuckle-walking.[25] (However, these conclusions have been questioned on the basis of close analysis of knuckle-walking and the comparison of wrist bones in different species of primates).[26] The shoulder joint is also oriented much more cranially (i.e. towards the skull) than that in modern humans, but similar to that in the present-day apes.[13] Combined with the relatively long arms Au. afarensis is thought to have had, this is thought by many to be reflective of a heightened ability to use the arm above the head in climbing behaviour. Furthermore, scans of the skulls reveal a canal and bony labyrinth morphology, which is not supportive to proper bipedal locomotion.[27]
Upright bipedal walking is commonly thought to have evolved from knuckle-walking with bent legs, in the manner used by chimpanzees and gorillas to move around on the ground, but fossils such as Orrorin tugenensis indicate bipedalism around 5 to 8 million years ago, in the same general period when genetic studies suggest the lineage of chimpanzees and humans diverged. Modern apes and their fossil ancestors show skeletal adaptations to an upright posture used in tree-climbing, and upright, straight-legged walking has been proposed to have originally evolved as an adaptation to tree-dwelling.
Studies of modern orangutans in Sumatra have shown these apes use four legs when walking on large, stable branches and when swinging underneath slightly smaller branches, but are bipedal and maintain their legs very straight when using multiple small, flexible branches under 4 cm in diameter, while also using their arms for balance and additional support. This enables them to get nearer to the edge of the tree canopy to grasp fruit or cross to another tree.
Climate changes around 11 to 10 million years ago affected forests in East and Central Africa, establishing periods where openings in forest lands prevented travel through the tree canopy. During such times proto-hominins could have adopted upright walking behaviour for ever-increasing ground travel, while the ancestors of gorillas and chimpanzees continued to specialize in climbing vertical tree trunks and lianas with a bent-hip and bent-knee posture—which ultimately lead them also to adopt knuckle-walking for minimal ground travel. This differential development within the larger hominid community would result in A. afarensis being adapted to upright bipedalism for extensive ground travel while still using arms well adapted for climbing smaller trees. Still, the proto-hominins and the ancestors of chimpanzees and gorillas were the closest of relatives, and they shared anatomical features including a fused wrist bone, which may suggest that knuckle-walking was used for a time by human ancestors.[28][29][30]
Other studies suggest an upright spine and a primarily vertical body plan in primates dates back to Morotopithecus bishopi in the Early Miocene of 21.6 Mya, the earliest human-like primates.[31][32] Known from fossil remains found in Africa, australopithecines represent the group from which the ancestors of modern humans emerged. As generally used, the term "australopithecine" covers all early hominin fossils dated from about 7 million to 2.5 million years ago—and some others dated later, i.e., from 2.5 million to 1.4 million years ago. Australopithecines became extinct after that time.[citation needed]
Behaviour[edit]
A reconstruction of a female A. afarensis
One of the best indicators of social behavior in extinct fossil species are the patterns of the size differences between males and females (sexual dimorphism). By comparisons to the behaviors to modern apes and other animals, reproductive behaviors and social structure in A. afarensis can be inferred. One difficulty is that the average difference in body size between male and female A. afarensis is considerably debated. Some propose that males were substantially larger than females similar to gorillas and orangutans. If observations on the relationship between sexual dimorphism and social group structure from modern gorillas are applied to A. afarensis, then these creatures may have lived in small family groups containing a single dominant male and a number of breeding females.[33] Other studies have shown there could have been substantial overlap between males and females in size more similar to the pattern observed in modern humans.[34] This, along with the reduction of the canine teeth, has been argued to suggest A. afarensis males and females were monogamous.[35] Males may have engaged in provisioning behavior, and the need for carrying may have led to the evolution of bipedalism.
For a long time, no known stone tools were associated with A. afarensis, and paleoanthropologists commonly thought stone artifacts only dated back to about 2.5 Mya.[36] However, a 2010 study suggests the hominin species ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements. This finding pushes back the earliest known use of stone tools among hominins to about 3.4 Mya.[37]
Specimens of A. afarensis[edit]
Cast of the remains of "Lucy"
The skull of Selam (DIK 1-1)
A. afarensis skull reconstruction, displayed at Museum of Man, San Diego, California
LH 4
Main article: LH 4
The type specimen for A. afarensis is an adult mandible from the site of Laetoli, Tanzania.[38]
AL 129-1
Main article: AL 129-1
The first A. afarensis knee joint was discovered in November 1973 by Donald Johanson as part of a team involving Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens, and Tim White in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
An upper palate with teeth found in October 1974
AL 288-1 (Lucy)
Main article: Lucy (Australopithecus)
The first A. afarensis skeleton was discovered on November 24, 1974 near Hadar in Ethiopia by Tom Gray in the company of Donald Johanson, as part of a team involving Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tim White in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
Main article: AL 333
In 1975, a year after the discovery of Lucy, Donald Johanson's team discovered another site in Hadar which included over 200 fossil specimens from at least 13 individuals, both adults and juveniles. This site, AL 333, is commonly referred to as the "First Family". The close alignment of the remains indicates that all the individuals died at the same time, a unique finding.
AL 333-160
In February 2011, the discovery of AL 333-160 in Hadar, Ethiopia, at the AL 333 site was announced.[39] The foot bone shows that the species had arches in its feet, which Ward et al. claimed confirmed that the species walked upright for the majority of the time.[40] The foot bone is one of 49 new bones discovered, and indicates that A. afarensis is "a lot more human-like than we had ever supposed before," according to the lead scientist on the study.[41] In a follow-up study by Mitchell et al. that included a more comprehensive sampling than the Ward et al. study, the authors concluded that "Comparisons of the Hadar 4th MT characters to those of statistically representative samples of humans, all five great ape species, baboons and proboscis monkeys show that none of the correlations Ward et al. make to localized foot function were supported by this analysis."[42] They furthermore noted that "Overall, AL 333-160 is most similar to the 4th MT of eastern gorillas, a slow moving quadruped that sacrifices arboreal behaviors for terrestrial ones."
This is the cranium of a male found at Hadar in 1992.[43] By the time it was found, it was the first complete skull of A. afarensis.[44] The rarity of relatively complete craniofacial remains in the A. afarensis samples before the discovery of AL 444-2 seriously hampered prior meaningful analysis of those samples' evolutionary significance. In light of AL 444-2 and other new craniofacial remains, Kimbel, Rak, and Johanson argue in favor of the taxonomic unity of A. afarensis.
Kadanuumuu
Main article: KSD-VP-1/1
Also called Big Man, this is a partial skeleton believed to be a male.
Main article: Selam (Australopithecus)
In 2000, the skeleton of a 3-year-old A. afarensis female, which comprised almost the entire skull and torso, and most parts of the limbs, was discovered in Dikika, Ethiopia, a few miles from the place where Lucy was found. The features of the skeleton suggested adaptation to walking upright (bipedalism) as well as tree-climbing, features that match the skeletal features of Lucy and fall midway between human and hominid ape anatomy. "Baby Lucy" has officially been named Selam (meaning "peace" in the Amharic/Ethiopian Language).[45]
Related work[edit]
Human evolution during the Pliocene
Further findings at Afar, including the many hominin bones in site 333, produced more bones of concurrent date, and led to Johanson and White's eventual argument that the Koobi Fora hominins were concurrent with the Afar hominins. In other words, Lucy was not unique in evolving bipedalism and a flat face.
In 2001, Meave Leakey proposed a new genus and species, Kenyanthropus platyops, for fossil cranium KNM WT 40000. The fossil cranium appears to have a flat face, but the remains are heavily fragmented. It has many other characteristics similar to A. afarensis remains. It is so far the only representative of its species and genus, and the timeframe for its existence falls within that of A. afarensis.[46]
Another species, called Ardipithecus ramidus, was found by Tim White and colleagues in 1992. This was fully bipedal at 4.4 to 5.8 Mya, yet appears to have been contemporaneous with a woodland environment. Scientists have a rough estimation of the cranial capacity of Ar. ramidus at 300 to 350 cm³, from the data released on the Ardipithecus specimen nicknamed Ardi in 2009.[47]
Dawn of Humanity (2015 PBS documentary)
Life timeline
List of fossil sites (with link directory)
List of human evolution fossils (with images)
Nature timeline
Origins of Us (2011 BBC documentary)
Prehistoric Autopsy (2012 BBC documentary)
The Incredible Human Journey (2009 BBC documentary)
^ Johanson, Donald C.; White, Tim D.; Coppens, Yves (1978). "A New Species of the Genus Australopithecus (Primates: Hominidae) from the Pliocene of Eastern Africa". Kirtlandia. 28: 1–14.
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^ Prins, Harald E. L; Walrath, Dana; McBride, Bunny (2007). Evolution And Prehistory: The Human Challenge, by William A. Haviland, Harald E. L. Prins, Dana Walrath, Bunny McBride. ISBN 9780495381907.
^ Greshko, Michael (20 October 2017). "Ancient Teeth Found in Europe Belonged to Mystery Primate". National Geographic. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
^ Wehner, Mike (20 October 2017). "Shocking discovery of ancient teeth could rewrite human history". BGR Media. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
^ Staff (20 October 2017). "9.7 million-year-old teeth fossils discovered in Germany". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
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^ Johanson & Maitland 1981, pp. 283–297.
^ Johanson, D.C. (2009). "Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis)". In Michael Ruse; Joseph Travis (eds.). Evolution: The First Four Billion Years. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. pp. 693–697. ISBN 978-0-674-03175-3.
^ Wood 1994, p. 234.
^ Reconstruction by John Gurche (2010), Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Abigail Tucker, "A Closer Look at Evolutionary Faces", Smithsonian.com, February 25, 2010.
^ a b Green, D. J.; Alemseged, Z. (2012). "Australopithecus afarensis Scapular Ontogeny, Function, and the Role of Climbing in Human Evolution". Science. 338 (6106): 514–517. Bibcode:2012Sci...338..514G. doi:10.1126/science.1227123. PMID 23112331.
^ Latimer, Bruce; C. Owen Lovejoy (1990). "Hallucal tarsometatarsal joint in Australopithecus afarensis". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 82 (2): 125–33. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330820202. PMID 2360609.
^ Lovejoy, C. Owen (1988). "Evolution of Human walking" (PDF). Scientific American. 259 (5): 82–89. Bibcode:1988SciAm.259e.118L. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1188-118. PMID 3212438.
^ Weiss, M. L.; Mann, A. E. (1985). Human Biology and Behaviour: An anthropological perspective (4th ed.). Boston: Little Brown. ISBN 978-0-673-39013-4.
^ Latimer, B.; Lovejoy, C. O. (1989). "The calcaneus of Australopithecus afarensis and its implications for the evolution of bipedality". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 78 (3): 369–386. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330780306. PMID 2929741.
^ "BBC – Science & Nature – The evolution of man". Mother of man – 3.2 million years ago. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
^ "PREMOG – Research". How Lucy walked. Primate Evolution & Morphology Group (PREMOG), the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Liverpool. 18 May 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
^ "PREMOG – Supplementry Info". The Laetoli Footprint Trail: 3D reconstruction from texture; archiving, and reverse engineering of early hominin gait. Primate Evolution & Morphology Group (PREMOG), the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Liverpool. 18 May 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
^ Wong, Kate (1 August 2005). "Footprints to fill: Flat feet and doubts about the makers of the Laetoli tracks". Scientific American. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
^ Shipman, P. (1994). "Those Ears Were Made For Walking". New Scientist. 143: 26–29.
^ Susman, R. L; Susman, J. T (1983). "The Locomotor Anatomy of Australopithecus Afarensis". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 60 (3): 279–317. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330600302. PMID 6405621.
^ Beardsley, T. (1995). "These Feet Were Made for Walking – and?". Scientific American. 273 (6): 19–20. Bibcode:1995SciAm.273f..19B. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1295-19a.
^ Richmond, B. G.; Begun, D. R.; Strait, D. S. (2001). "Origin of human bipedalism: The knuckle-walking hypothesis revisited". Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. Suppl. 33: 70–105. doi:10.1002/ajpa.10019. PMID 11786992.
^ Kivell, T. L.; Schmitt, D. (2009). "Independent evolution of knuckle-walking in African apes shows that humans did not evolve from a knuckle-walking ancestor". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106 (34): 14241–6. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10614241K. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901280106. PMC 2732797. PMID 19667206.
^ Zonneveld, F.; Wood, F.; Zonneveld, B. (1994). "Implications of early hominid morphology for evolution of human bipedal locomotion". Nature. 369 (6482): 645–648. Bibcode:1994Natur.369..645S. doi:10.1038/369645a0. PMID 8208290.
^ Ian Sample, science correspondent (June 1, 2007). "New theory rejects popular view of man's evolution – Research – EducationGuardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
^ "BBC NEWS – Science/Nature – Upright walking 'began in trees'". BBC News. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
^ Thorpe S.K.S.; Holder R.L.; Crompton R.H. (24 May 2007). "PREMOG – Supplementry Info". Origin of Human Bipedalism As an Adaptation for Locomotion on Flexible Branches. Primate Evolution & Morphology Group (PREMOG), the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Liverpool. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
^ Aaron G. Filler (December 24, 2007). "Redefining the word "Human" – Do Some Apes Have Human Ancestors? : OUPblog". Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
^ Aaron G. Filler (October 10, 2007). "PLoS ONE: Homeotic Evolution in the Mammalia: Diversification of Therian Axial Seriation and the Morphogenetic Basis of Human Origins". PLOS ONE. 2 (10): e1019. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001019. PMC 2000357. PMID 17925867.
^ Reno, Philip L.; Lovejoy, C. Owen (2015-04-28). "From Lucy to Kadanuumuu: balanced analyses of Australopithecus afarensis assemblages confirm only moderate skeletal dimorphism". PeerJ. 3: e925. doi:10.7717/peerj.925. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 4419524. PMID 25945314.
^ Lovejoy, C. Owen (2009-10-02). "Reexamining human origins in light of Ardipithecus ramidus". Science. 326 (5949): 74e1–8. Bibcode:2009Sci...326...74L. doi:10.1126/science.1175834. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 19810200.
^ Jones, S.; Martin, R.; Pilbeam, D., eds. (1994). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-32370-3. Also ISBN 0-521-46786-1 (paperback)
^ McPherron, Shannon P.; Zeresenay Alemseged; Curtis W. Marean; Jonathan G. Wynn; Denne Reed; Denis Geraads; Rene Bobe; Hamdallah A. Bearat (2010). "Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia". Nature. 466 (7308): 857–860. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..857M. doi:10.1038/nature09248. PMID 20703305.
^ Larry L Mai; Marcus Young Owl; M Patricia Kersting (2005). The Cambridge Dictionary of Human Biology and Evolution. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-521-66486-8.
^ Ward, C. V.; Kimbel, W. H.; Johanson, D. C. (2011). "Complete Fourth Metatarsal and Arches in the Foot of Australopithecus afarensis". Science. 331 (6018): 750–3. Bibcode:2011Sci...331..750W. doi:10.1126/science.1201463. PMID 21311018.
^ Amos, Johnathan (10 February 2011). "Fossil find puts 'Lucy' story on firm footing". BBC News. BBC Online. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
^ Silvey, Janese (10 February 2011). "Fossil marks big step in evolution science". The Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on 14 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
^ Mitchell, P. J.; Sarmiento, E. E.; Meldrum, B. J. (2012). "The AL 333-160 fourth metatarsal from Hadar compared to that of humans, great apes, baboons and proboscis monkeys: Non-conclusive evidence for pedal arches or obligate bipedality in Hadar hominins". HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology. 63 (5): 336–67. doi:10.1016/j.jchb.2012.08.001. PMID 22995931.
^ Nancy Minugh-Purvis (May 2005). "Review of "The Skull Of Australopithecus afarensis" by William H. Kimbel, Yoel Rak and Donald C. Johanson" (PDF).
^ "Description of "The Skull Of Australopithecus afarensis" by William H. Kimbel, Yoel Rak and Donald C. Johanson".
^ Wong, Kate (2006-09-20). "Lucy's Baby: An extraordinary new human fossil comes to light". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13.
^ Leakey, M. G., et al (2001). New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages, Nature, Volume 410, pgs. 433-440
^ Suwa, G; Asfaw, B.; Kono, R. T.; Kubo, D.; Lovejoy, C. O.; White, T. D.; et al. (2 October 2009). "The Ardipithecus ramidus skull and its implications for hominid origins". Science. 326 (5949): 68, 68e1–68e7. Bibcode:2009Sci...326...68S. doi:10.1126/science.1175825. PMID 19810194.
Mckie, Robin (2000). BBC – Dawn of Man: The Story of Human Evolution. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-0-7894-6262-6.
Barraclough, G. (1989). Stone, N. (ed.). Atlas of World History (3rd ed.). Times Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-7230-0304-5.
Australopithecus afarensis from The Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution
Delson, E.; I. Tattersall; J.A. Van Couvering; A.S. Brooks, eds. (2000). Encyclopedia of human evolution and prehistory (2nd ed.). Garland Publishing, New York. ISBN 978-0-8153-1696-1.
Johanson, D.C.; Maitland, A.E. (1981). Lucy: The Beginning of Humankind. St Albans: Granada. ISBN 978-0-586-08437-3.
Wood, B.A. (1994). "Evolution of australopithecines". In Jones, S.; Martin, R.; Pilbeam, D. (eds.). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-32370-3. Also ISBN 0-521-46786-1 (paperback).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australopithecus afarensis.
Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus
Lucy at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan
Lucy at the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
Asfarensis
Anthropological skulls and reconstructions
Becoming Human: Paleoanthropology, Evolution and Human Origins
National Geographic "Dikika baby"
Archaeology Info
Australopithecus afarensis – The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
Washington State University – Australopithicus afarensis: The story of Lucy
Australopithecus afarensis - Science Journal Article
Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).
(Hominins)
Last common ancestors
Chimpanzee–human
Gorilla–human
Orangutan–human
Gibbon–human
Kenyanthropus
A. afarensis
A. africanus
A. anamensis
A. bahrelghazali
A. deyiremeda
A. garhi
A. sediba
Paranthropus
P. aethiopicus
P. boisei
P. robustus
Humans and
proto-humans
(Homo)
H. habilis
H. floresiensis
H. gautengensis
H. rudolfensis
H. tsaichangensis
H. ergaster
H. e. erectus
H. e. georgicus
H. e. lantianensis
H. e. nankinensis
H. e. palaeojavanicus
H. e. pekinensis
H. e. soloensis
H. e. tautavelensis
H. e. yuanmouensis
Archaic humans
H. antecessor
H. cepranensis
H. denisova
H. helmei
H. luzonensis
H. naledi
H. neanderthalensis
H. rhodesiensis
H. s. sapiens (archaic homo sapiens, anatomically modern humans)
Jebel Irhoud
H. s. idaltu
Manot people
Red Deer Cave people
Homo habilis → Homo erectus (→ Homo antecessor)? → archaic Homo sapiens → Homo sapiens
General models
Endurance running
Aquatic ape
Self-domestication
Specific models
Expensive tissue
Shore-based
Drunken monkey
Killer ape
Cooperative eye
Life history
Bipedalism
Origin of modern humans
Recent African origin
Multiregional origin
Archaic admixture
Behavioral modernity
Early migrations
Recent evolution
Human prehistory
Evolutionary biology portal
Paleontology portal
Wikidata: Q107685
Wikispecies: Australopithecus afarensis
EoL: 4454141
IRMNG: 11420619
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australopithecus_afarensis&oldid=905602821"
Pliocene primates
Mammals described in 1978
Fossil taxa described in 1978
Prehistoric Ethiopia
Prehistoric Kenya
Pliocene mammals of Africa
Tool-using mammals
Taxa named by Donald Johanson
Taxa named by Tim D. White

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Most artists are interested in all aspects of the arts and I am no exception.
In another life I would Love to have been involved in fashion design, theatrical makeup, theatre and film set design, jewellery making, ballet, music and writing, but that would have taken ten lifetimes merely to scratch the surface of that list.
My ever growing collection of original Biba objects, Victorian and Edwardian illustrated books and vintage Vogue magazines from the 60's and 70's continue to give me great pleasure and inspiration, as do our days out at historic houses and country churches. Many things that I have seen and experienced get subtly recycled into paintings and illustrations.I love to try and include favourite items or pieces of architecture in my work: for example, a recent work, 'A Murder of Crows,' has a thinly disguised ancient house from our village in the background.
Purely for my own pleasure, I have indulged in a bit of pottery, hand building character pots from stoneware clay and I still have a long held ambition to build a small model village for the garden. Time, alas, prevents this at present - but never say never.
One Christmas I wrote, illustrated, printed and hand bound three copies of what could loosely be described as a 'graphic novel' featuring the three cats we had at the time. Truly a limited edition, one copy was for my husband, one for our daughter and the other for one of my dearest friends.
I loved doing the project and the looseness and spontaneity of black and white illustrations and it fired my imagination to produce some hand made books for the grandchildren. Whether they will survive the test of time in their eager hands is debatable, but as long as they enjoy the stories I'm happy!
I have, over the years, designed hundreds of images for the rubber stamps used in card making. They sell in places such as Hobbycraft and on the TV shopping channels and are in a very simple style - often cartoon like in nature and not immediately recognisable as my work although my daughter can pick my designs out of a large shop display with ease!
Cars, as always, are predominant in our lives, and our latest acquisition, a genuine WW11 1942 Willys Jeep is currently in a thousand pieces awaiting restoration. Hopefully, it will be ready by the time the grandchildren get their provisional licenses - somewhere around 2027 in Izabella's case, but I am sure it will provide hours of fun in Baba's workshop long before that time comes.


text:
Gut microbiota of infants predicts obesity in children
Washington, DC - October 23, 2018 - Evaluating the gut microbiota of infants may help identify children who are at risk for becoming overweight or obese, according to results from a recent study published in mBio. The research revealed that gut microbiota composition at 2 years of life is associated with body mass index (BMI) at age 12. In addition, the BMI at age 2 was not significantly higher in children who later became overweight/obese, indicating that gut microbiota composition may be the earliest warning sign for detecting obesity.
"Our study provides more evidence that the gut microbiota might be playing a role in later obesity," said lead author Maggie Stanislawski, PhD, who is a research associate at the LEAD Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, Colorado. "If our findings can be confirmed by other studies, the gut microbiota might play an important part of the obesity prediction algorithm, to identify at-risk kids early in life, before they start to gain any excess weight that might put them at risk for later obesity."
Prior to this study, a growing body of evidence has demonstrated that the gut microbiota plays a role in obesity, and there is some evidence that the role might be causal. To shed more light on the issue, the University of Colorado researchers collaborated with Merete Eggesbø, MD, PhD, who leads the NoMIC study at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, and analyzed data from 165 infants who had BMI measured at 12 years.
The NoMIC study began in 2002 as one of the earliest birth cohorts in the world to investigate the early life gut microbiome and includes roughly 550 kids who are now teenagers. The study recruited moms and infants in the hospital at the time of delivery. At 12 years of age, 20% of the 165 children in the study cohort were overweight or obese.
The researchers compared the BMI at age 12 with gut microbiota samples from six time points throughout their childhood, at day 4, day 10, one month, four months, one year, and two years. They performed 16s rRNA gene sequencing on the gut microbiota samples. "We looked at whether there were specific taxa that were predictive of later BMI at each time point," said Dr. Stanislawski.
The researchers found qualitative differences in the composition of children's gut microbiota at day ten and at two years that were associated with BMI z-scores at age 12. BMI z-scores are measures of relative weight adjusted for child age and sex. They also examined how much of the variation in childhood BMI z-scores was explained by the early gut microbiota taxa.
"At the early time points, there was somewhat of a relationship between the gut microbiota taxa and later BMI, but the relationship was much stronger as the kids got older," said Dr. Stanislawski. "At one year, it was stronger than the earlier time points. At two years, it was the strongest. We found this very interesting because, at two years, there wasn't any obvious phenotype in terms of whether or not the kids were going to become obese. Kids who became obese later in life didn't have high BMI z-scores at age 2. The findings suggest that the gut microbiota phenotype was present before any overt sign of overweight or obesity. Since the gut microbiota is influenced by diet, this association could also reflect dietary choices that are precursors to obesity."
Dr. Stanislawski said the study was limited in that the entire cohort was of Norwegian descent. This research, she said, needs to be repeated in other cohorts, but if replicated, it may lead to a new tool to identify kids at risk for developing obesity. "It is better to identify at-risk kids early. It is easier to prevent obesity than to reverse it," said Dr. Stanislawski. "It's possible that if we follow up some of these findings in the lab, it will reveal more about the pathophysiology of obesity as well."
The study also exposed a potential health caution. The researchers found that some gut microbes that are generally thought to be healthy in both children and adults were associated with higher childhood BMI. This highlights that we do not fully understand the dynamics of the gut colonization process.
"When I was pregnant, my doctor suggested giving the baby probiotics every day, and I think a lot of people are giving their infants probiotics," said Dr. Stanislawski. "However, it might not be the best idea to give babies the same types of bacteria every day, particularly in very early life when overloading the gut with one or two strains may prevent colonization with other types of important bacteria." She pointed out that one way to improve the gut microbiota in kids and adults is to eat a well-balanced diet with lots of different types of vegetables and fiber, so there are lots of things feeding the gut microbiota.
Future research will focus on further examining the colonization process in relation to other markers of metabolic health in children. "We will focus on the temporal dynamics of first two years," said Dr. Stanislawski.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of more than 30,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications and educational opportunities. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
Aleea Khan
communications@asmusa.org
@ASMnewsroom
http://www.asm.org
DIET/BODY WEIGHT
EATING DISORDERS/OBESITY


A couple in Pennsylvania had only eleven days to save their favorite park from gas drilling—and they succeeded. Watch their story.
Jen Slotterback was hiking in her favorite park when she found signs of surveying for gas drilling, or fracking. She went home and told her husband Jim, and although the two had never been actively involved in the issue of gas drilling, they immediately began a campaign to save the park. The board that controlled the park was set to vote on whether to drill in the park in 11 days. The story of the Slotterbacks' journey of those 11 days is the subject of this film.
A 2011 Wild & Scenic Film Festival Official Selection.
Multimedia Producer Chris Jordan-Bloch writes about the making of this film in the blog post, "Fighting Fracking: A Love Story"


Regardless of your current financial state, or how much you're making today, following the Income Builder program can help turn you into a wealth-generating real estate investor. Use this site for courses, useful blog posts, worksheets, and resources to attain the prosperity you've always wanted.
Luke breaks down his strategies to evolve you from financially disorganized to a lean, mean deal making machine.
It seems that everywhere you look, you can find a way to "get rich." Whether that's the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of books and lectures, multi-level marketing, or the like.
Luke Harrison offers the story of a normal guy who went from being over his head with a high amount of debt and a poor credit score, to having over one million in assets in five years.
He did it by giving himself a thorough education when it comes to money and how to generate capital.
He's now sharing his methods with the general public in the form of online lectures, in person seminars, one-on-one investment training, and helping his students make their first deals under the Income Builders moniker.
Be sure to check out his blog, which outlines thoughts, educational opportunities, success stories, and methodologies which you can use in your life right now to start on your journey to having $1 million in assets.
Luke Harrison found himself living in Bellevue WA, playing the corporate rat race game, and feeling that his goals and aspirations seemed as far away as ever. With his family's third child on the way, he realized that he was never going to get ahead and be able to provide the lifestyle for his family that he'd always envisioned without making some serious adjustments.
Behind on bills, mortgage, with credit card debt racking up, Luke decided that it was time to change his life. He began the process of increasing his financial literacy through books, online courses, and studying the wealthy.
He observed that one thing that all wealthy people have is real estate, and he realized that working real estate was the single most important aspect in building and maintaining wealth.
Through trial and error, Luke has developed a methodology which he has used himself to go from being in debt with a low credit score, to working real estate deals to build capital and create recurring income.
A serial entrepreneur, Luke has decided to make both his methods and himself available to a select group of students in the Pacific Northwest.


Now don't get me wrong, I think Jupiter does good stuff and I like Eric Peterson. But when I keep reading things like Jupiter made the first splash about cookie deletion and even Eric saying that others are validating his findings, I just scratch my head.
At Y! we've been discussing this issue for a long time. Not because we're super-insightful, but because back in the spring of 2004 (almost a year ahead of the Jupiter study), there was a study done by newspaper research firm Belden Associates that says .. wait for it … some 40 percent of users clear their cookies at least once a month.
Does it matter? Not really. Just that it's not new news at all, so I'm baffled by the recent storm of discussion. Kudos to Jupiter for bringing it to the attention of the wider industry, because obviously it wasn't well-known previously.
← We Can Agree on a Metric, but is it Good?
Bob, I am as mystified as you by the attention the report received given previous work by RedEye and Belden but perhaps the difference was that both Belden and RedEye wanted to sell you something after you read their report. I had a chance to discuss this with Belden folks just prior to the reports release and they were still talking about selling data. My comment to them about using their algorithm for calculating more accurate UV counts for the good of mankind as opposed to trying to profit from people's fear, uncertainty and doubt was met with silence.
Perhaps you should call RedEye and Belden and ask them about giving their methodologies away for the benefit of all involved. What do you think they would say?
At JupiterResearch I have the honor and privilege of ** not ** having to sell — my job is to conduct the highest quality research possible and to disseminate that research first to our clients and then to interested external parties (e.g., the press, bloggers, etc.) Perhaps it was the combination of an objective, respected party publishing this informtion that was truly "the match that lit the fuse".
Ironically, my counterpart at Forrester Research, Bob Chatham, came wiithin 50 words of saying the same thing two months before my report came out in a report on the rise of anti-spyware applications. Really, if you think about it, technologists in the know have been questioning the accuracy of cookie-based systems for years … it's just that nobody wanted to have the conversation since most of us are not sure how the problem will play out.
Anyway, like I said at Emetrics, I'm ok being the "cookie monster" as long as companies like yours are actively trying to resolve the issue. The only response I believe to be unacceptable is no response at all. WebTrends and Coremetrics are to be applauded for including cookies and accuracy in their recent releases and I strongly believe that technology providers will find some competitive advantge arising from accuracy before too much longer.
Thanks for the reply, and yes, it was a compliment .. as you said, others had previously discovered/discussed it, but you blew the lid off the cookie jar.


text:
Admirers and Adversaries Recall the '24/7' DA Richard Brown
His tenure began in 1991, amid a record crime wave, and ended May 4, leaving behind a legacy intertwined forever with New York City becoming the safest big city in America.
By Colby Hamilton | May 06, 2019 at 05:51 PM | The original version of this story was published on New York Law Journal
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown in his office in 2017. (Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP)
Richard Brown's recent passing brought to a close his nearly three-decade career as district attorney in Queens—a remarkable tenure that coincided with a dramatic shift in crime that today places New York City among the safest big cities in the United States.
Colby Hamilton
B. Colby Hamilton is a litigation reporter for the New York Law Journal and Law.com.
Plexiglass, Microphones and 65-inch TVs: How One NY Court Handled Its First Criminal Trial During COVID-19
Jason Grant | January 21, 2021
It was challenging to "get a feel for [jurors], because not only are they 50 feet away from you, but they also had masks on," one lawyer said. Still, the judge and lawyers were largely complimentary of the trial and how it went.
Donziger's Criminal Trial Is Postponed Once Again, as His Motion to Dismiss Counts Is Denied
"Now before the court is Mr. Donziger's current request (to which the government does not object) to adjourn the trial date to May 10, 2021, some 643 days from Mr. Donziger's initial appearance and that same number of days since Mr. Donziger began his home confinement," wrote Manhattan federal court Judge Loretta Preska, who said she was "reluctantly" delaying the trial again.
Ex-Lawmakers Silver, Skelos Left Off List of Last-Minute Trump Pardons
Tom McParland | January 20, 2021
Talk of a prospective pardon for ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had caused a stir among New York Republicans, who chafed at the idea that he might receive a pardon, while Dean Skelos, the former majority leader of the state Senate, would not.
White Collar Crime: Business and Regulatory OffensesBook
This book has gathered a prestigious group of authors to counsel you on: criminal tax cases; securities fraud; RICO; mail and wire fraud; banking crimes; criminal ant...


A range of Active Travel information sheets and publications are available to download. There are lots of great resources here – be sure to check it out!
This provides 32 ready-to-use asset-building activities, eight activity sheets, eight newsletters, and six handouts that encourage elementary-age children to eat healthy and be physically active.
Physical activity and exercise is mentioned quite a few times and chapters 4 and 5.
Why play? is the latest in the series of information leaflets including Why Walk?, Why Cycle?, Get Cycling and Cycling with Children, and explains why active outdoor play is essential for children, including facts and suggestions.
The practical suggestions in this guide are focused on orderlies, attendants, nurses, nursing assistants and others who actually lift and move patients and residents.
Ambitions for health: a strategic framework for maximising the potential of social marketing and health-related behaviour.
This framework sets out plans to make sure that policy development and public health interventions are informed by an understanding of what motivates people. It constitutes the (UK) Government's response to It's Our Health!, and sets out how social marketing and other behavioural change activities will be used to put the consumer at the heart of health improvement and delivery.
The video features commentary from Vancouver Coastal Health staff and stories from local residents about how the social determinants of health impact their lives.
The proportion of U.S. adults who are obese increased to 26.1 percent in 2008 compared to 25.6 percent in 2007.
Building health: creating and enhancing places for healthy, active lives - what needs to be done?
Some people are determined to keep fit and physically active, and will find ways to be active even when special facilities and physical space are either non-existent or inappropriate. But most of us are physically active only when certain social and environmental conditions are in place. Health promotion is about making healthy choices the easy choices. Building Health is a timely report which clearly outlines the current problems and, more importantly, makes practical recommendations for building for health and active living.
This new public information leaflet introduces the benefits of walking and cycling for health, transport and pleasure.
From the South East Public Health Observatory (UK). Lots of information here, including many different resource publications.
Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 6(4), July 2009.
This study examined whether reasons for trail use predict levels of physical activity on urban trails. Reasons for trail use significantly predicted recreational but not transportation activity. Recreational trail activity was greater for participants who reported exercise and health reasons for trail use as compared with other reasons (ie, social interaction, enjoying nature) for recreational trail use.
The NHS Information Centre's third report on obesity, physical activity and diet includes, for the first time, information on attitudes towards and knowledge about leading a healthy lifestyle for both adults and children. This includes information on how much physical activity should be done, barriers towards doing more physical activity, knowledge of the recommended daily number of portions of fruit and vegetables and attitudes towards a healthy diet.
WHI (Walking the way to Health Initiative) is for everyone with an interest in walking for health. We offer information, support and encouragement to complete beginners, existing walkers and health and leisure professionals.
Journal of Public Health Policy, 30(1): 102-116, 2009.
Researchers analyzed planning and transport practitioners' perceptions and responses to government public health guidance aimed at modifying environmental factors to promote physical activity. Researchers found that evidence-based public health guidance is a new voice in urban and town planning, although much of the advice is already reflected by the 'accepted wisdom' of these professions.
The Active Travel Workplace Toolkit is a UK-wide resource designed to help organizations encourage their employees to walk and cycle to work, thus helping improve health, reduce absenteeism and increase productivity.
CDC's LEAN Works! Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition" is a FREE web-based resource that offers interactive tools and evidence-based resources to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control programs, including an obesity cost calculator to estimate how much obesity is costing your company and how much savings your company could reap with different workplace interventions.


text:
#include "tensorflow/core/framework/model.h"
#include <memory>

#include "tensorflow/core/lib/gtl/cleanup.h"
#include "tensorflow/core/platform/test.h"

namespace tensorflow {
namespace data {
namespace model {
namespace {

class AsyncInterleaveManyTest
    : public ::testing::TestWithParam<std::tuple<int64, int64>> {};

TEST_P(AsyncInterleaveManyTest, Model) {
  const int64 parallelism = std::get<0>(GetParam());
  const int64 input_time = std::get<1>(GetParam());
  std::shared_ptr<Node> async_interleave_many =
      model::MakeAsyncInterleaveManyNode(
          {0, "async_interleave_many", nullptr},
          {model::MakeParameter(
              "parallelism",
              std::make_shared<SharedState>(parallelism, nullptr, nullptr), 1,
              parallelism)});
  std::shared_ptr<Node> meta_source =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "meta_source", async_interleave_many});
  async_interleave_many->add_input(meta_source);
  auto cleanup_meta = gtl::MakeCleanup([async_interleave_many, meta_source]() {
    async_interleave_many->remove_input(meta_source);
  });
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source1 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "source1", async_interleave_many});
  async_interleave_many->add_input(source1);
  auto cleanup1 = gtl::MakeCleanup([async_interleave_many, source1]() {
    async_interleave_many->remove_input(source1);
  });
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source2 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({2, "source2", async_interleave_many});
  async_interleave_many->add_input(source2);
  auto cleanup2 = gtl::MakeCleanup([async_interleave_many, source2]() {
    async_interleave_many->remove_input(source2);
  });
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, input_time);
  async_interleave_many->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->processing_time(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  async_interleave_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->num_elements(), 1);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_LE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  EXPECT_GE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source1->add_processing_time(200);
  source2->add_processing_time(300);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_LE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  EXPECT_GE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source1->record_element();
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 100 + 250);
  EXPECT_LE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            100 + 250 / parallelism);
  EXPECT_GE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  async_interleave_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 50 + 250);
  EXPECT_LE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            50 + 250 / parallelism);
  EXPECT_GE(async_interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
}

INSTANTIATE_TEST_SUITE_P(Test, AsyncInterleaveManyTest,
                         ::testing::Combine(::testing::Values(1, 2),
                                            ::testing::Values(0, 50, 100,
                                                              200)));

class AsyncKnownRatioTest
    : public ::testing::TestWithParam<std::tuple<int64, int64, int64>> {};

TEST_P(AsyncKnownRatioTest, Model) {
  const int64 parallelism = std::get<0>(GetParam());
  const int64 input_time = std::get<1>(GetParam());
  const int64 num_inputs_per_output = std::get<2>(GetParam());
  std::shared_ptr<Node> async_known_many = model::MakeAsyncKnownRatioNode(
      {0, "async_known_many", nullptr}, num_inputs_per_output,
      {model::MakeParameter(
          "parallelism",
          std::make_shared<SharedState>(parallelism, nullptr, nullptr), 1,
          parallelism)});
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source1 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "source1", async_known_many});
  async_known_many->add_input(source1);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source2 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({2, "source2", async_known_many});
  async_known_many->add_input(source2);
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, input_time);
  source1->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source2->add_processing_time(200);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source1->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(), num_inputs_per_output * 100);
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * 100);
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (100 + 200));
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (100 + 200));
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source1->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 200));
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 200));
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  async_known_many->add_processing_time(128);
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  async_known_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 128);
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 128 / parallelism);
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  async_known_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(async_known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 64);
  EXPECT_LE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 64 / parallelism);
  EXPECT_GE(async_known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
}

INSTANTIATE_TEST_SUITE_P(Test, AsyncKnownRatioTest,
                         ::testing::Combine(::testing::Values(1, 2, 4, 8),
                                            ::testing::Values(0, 50, 100, 200),
                                            ::testing::Values(0, 1, 2, 4)));

TEST(InterleaveManyTest, Model) {
  std::shared_ptr<Node> interleave_many =
      model::MakeInterleaveManyNode({0, "interleave_many", nullptr});
  std::shared_ptr<Node> meta_source =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "meta_source", interleave_many});
  interleave_many->add_input(meta_source);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source1 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "source1", interleave_many});
  interleave_many->add_input(source1);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source2 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({2, "source2", interleave_many});
  interleave_many->add_input(source2);
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, 0);
  interleave_many->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->processing_time(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  interleave_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->num_elements(), 1);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  source1->add_processing_time(200);
  source2->add_processing_time(300);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  source1->record_element();
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 350);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 350);
  interleave_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->ProcessingTime(), 300);
  EXPECT_EQ(interleave_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 300);
}

class KnownRatioTest : public ::testing::TestWithParam<int64> {};

TEST_P(KnownRatioTest, Model) {
  const int64 num_inputs_per_output = GetParam();
  std::shared_ptr<Node> known_many = model::MakeKnownRatioNode(
      {0, "known_many", nullptr}, num_inputs_per_output);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source1 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "source1", known_many});
  known_many->add_input(source1);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source2 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({2, "source2", known_many});
  known_many->add_input(source2);
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, 0);
  source1->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source2->add_processing_time(200);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source1->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), num_inputs_per_output * 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times), num_inputs_per_output * 100);
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), num_inputs_per_output * (100 + 200));
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (100 + 200));
  source1->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 200));
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 200));
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  known_many->add_processing_time(128);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(), num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100));
  known_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 128);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 128);
  known_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->ProcessingTime(),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 64);
  EXPECT_EQ(known_many->OutputTime(&input_times),
            num_inputs_per_output * (50 + 100) + 64);
}

INSTANTIATE_TEST_SUITE_P(Test, KnownRatioTest, ::testing::Values(0, 1, 2, 4));

TEST(SourceTest, Model) {
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source = model::MakeSourceNode({0, "source", nullptr});
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, 0);
  source->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->processing_time(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(source->num_elements(), 1);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  source->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(source->num_elements(), 2);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->ProcessingTime(), 50);
  EXPECT_EQ(source->OutputTime(&input_times), 50);
}

TEST(UnknownRatioTest, Model) {
  std::shared_ptr<Node> unknown_many =
      model::MakeUnknownRatioNode({0, "unknown_many", nullptr});
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source1 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "source1", unknown_many});
  unknown_many->add_input(source1);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source2 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({2, "source2", unknown_many});
  unknown_many->add_input(source2);
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, 0);
  unknown_many->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->processing_time(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  unknown_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->num_elements(), 1);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  source1->add_processing_time(100);
  source2->add_processing_time(200);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  source1->record_element();
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->ProcessingTime(), 400);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 400);
  unknown_many->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->ProcessingTime(), 200);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown_many->OutputTime(&input_times), 200);
}

TEST(UnknownTest, Model) {
  std::shared_ptr<Node> unknown =
      model::MakeUnknownNode({0, "unknown", nullptr});
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source1 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({1, "source1", unknown});
  unknown->add_input(source1);
  std::shared_ptr<Node> source2 =
      model::MakeSourceNode({2, "source2", unknown});
  unknown->add_input(source2);
  std::vector<int64> input_times(1, 0);
  source1->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source2->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 0);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 0);
  source1->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 200);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 200);
  source1->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 150);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 150);
  source2->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  // Unknown node processing time should not affect its ProcessingTime() or
  // OutputTime().
  unknown->add_processing_time(100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->processing_time(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
  // Unknown node number of elements should not affect its ProcessingTime() or
  // OutputTime().
  unknown->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->num_elements(), 1);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->ProcessingTime(), 100);
  EXPECT_EQ(unknown->OutputTime(&input_times), 100);
}

class TestNode : public model::Node {
 public:
  using model::Node::Node;

  virtual ~TestNode() {}

 protected:
  std::shared_ptr<Node> Clone(std::shared_ptr<Node> output) const override
      SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(mu_) {
    return nullptr;
  }

  int64 OutputTimeLocked(std::vector<int64>* input_times) const override
      SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(mu_) {
    return 0;
  }

  int64 ProcessingTimeLocked() const override SHARED_LOCKS_REQUIRED(mu_) {
    return 0;
  }
};

TEST(SetterGetterTest, Node) {
  std::shared_ptr<TestNode> node =
      std::make_shared<TestNode>(model::Node::Args{-1, "TestNode", nullptr});
  EXPECT_EQ(node->id(), -1);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->name(), "TestNode");
  EXPECT_EQ(node->output(), nullptr);

  EXPECT_EQ(node->buffered_bytes(), 0);
  node->add_buffered_bytes(42);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->buffered_bytes(), 42);

  EXPECT_EQ(node->processing_time(), 0);
  node->record_start(1);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->processing_time(), 0);
  node->record_stop(41);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->processing_time(), 40);
  node->add_processing_time(2);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->processing_time(), 42);

  std::shared_ptr<TestNode> input =
      std::make_shared<TestNode>(model::Node::Args{-1, "TestInput", node});
  EXPECT_EQ(input->output(), node.get());
  EXPECT_EQ(node->inputs().size(), 0);
  node->add_input(input);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->inputs().size(), 1);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->inputs().front(), input);
  node->remove_input(input);
  EXPECT_EQ(node->inputs().size(), 0);

  EXPECT_EQ(node->num_elements(), 0);
  node->record_element();
  EXPECT_EQ(node->num_elements(), 1);
}

}  // namespace
}  // namespace model
}  // namespace data
}  // namespace tensorflow

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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When an end-user starts Outlook for the first time in a managed environment, he or she usually expects that Outlook is fully configured already and simply opens to the Inbox. Being a good administrator, you obviously want to create this experience for your users as well.
AutoDiscover in Exchange 2007 and later together with Auto Account Setup (or AutoConfigure) in Outlook 2007 and later alleviates some of this pain already by presenting the user with dialogs for which they only have to click Next and Finish or prompt them to supply commonly known information such as their email address and password. Outlook then figures out the technical configuration itself and has the user quickly up and running.
As this still requires end-user interaction, which could lead to confusion or errors, you can take this a step further by deploying Outlook mail profile settings. The Office installation offers various options for this.
Directly deploying Outlook mail profile settings when deploying Office is the best way to go. By using the Office Customization Tool (OCT) you can prepare your deployment and specify default settings for your users including Outlook mail profile settings.
Execute the downloaded OCT for your version to extract it to a convenient location.
Copy the contents of your Office 2007/2010/2013 installation media to the deployment location.
Copy the Admin folder from the extracted OCT location to the installation directory of your Office deployment folder.
If your installation DVD contains both the 32-bit and the 64-bit version of Office 2010 or Office 2013, you'll have to copy it to the x86 or x64 folder, respectively.
The OCT works for any Office Suite. Be aware of the fact though that the Home and Student version doesn't contain Outlook.
The mail profile can be configured in the Outlook section of the OCT.
Once you've configured all the settings that you want, use File-> Save As… to save the msp-file to the Updates folder of your Office deployment folder. When Office is being installed, it will automatically apply the msp-file and configure the settings for the user.
This OverwriteExistingService setting applies to Section 6 and Section 7 of the prf-file and not to any already configured mail profile or mail account which are controlled by the OverwriteProfile and ModifyDefaultProfileIfPresent options in Section 1.
To apply this customization when creating an msp-file, export the prf-file, make the customization and then set the OCT setting to Apply PRF and point it to the modified prf-file.
Without this modification, Outlook will ignore the configuration specified in the prf-file and start the "Microsoft Outlook 2010 Startup Wizard" as usual.
This issue has been first fixed in hotfix KB2584053 and is also included in later updates.
If Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2013 is already installed on the client computers, you can create a new msp-file via the OCT which only holds mail profile settings and nothing else. You can then deploy this msp-file.
This deployment can be done via Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager or via a different deployment application within your organization.
If you are still using Outlook 2003, then you can use the Office Resource Kit (ORK) to create a Custom Maintenance Wizard File (cmw-file). To apply this to your users, deploy the Maintwiz.exe file to the Office directory of the user's machine and execute it with a the location of the cmw-file as the parameter in a GPO startup script.
The OCT or ORK also allows you to export the Outlook mail profile as a prf-file. This prf-file can then be distributed to your users via a logon script. As logon scripts work on user instead of computer level, it will allow you to more easily deploy different mail profiles to different sets (Organizational Units) of users. Outlook offers 2 built-in mechanisms for this.
One method is to import prf-files via the /importprf command line switch. The downside of this command line is that it will also directly launch Outlook and will execute at each logon and could therefore possibly also modify end-user alterations to the mail profile.
The ImportPRF Registry value has the benefit that it can be set without needing to open Outlook. The first time that Outlook is launched, Outlook will look at this value and if it is set, it will use the specified prf-file to configure Outlook.
For this Registry value to work, the FirstRun and First-Run value may not exist in the Setup key.
While setting the key for the fist time isn't hard to do, once the FirstRun or First-Run values have been set, updating the mail profile without ending up applying it each time the user logs on is a bit more complicated. To prevent this, you can use the vbs-script below which has the following characteristics.
Checks if the profile already exists. If it does, it won't import the prf-file again.
Allows for setting a version for your prf-file. By increasing the version in the script, you can force the (updated) prf-file to be reapplied again.
Can be used as a (Group Policy) logon script.
Works for all versions of Outlook.
The following code is contained in the zip-file download. You can use the code below for review or manual creation of a vbs-script.


text:
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM KODAK'S DOWNFALL
The lesson of Eastman Kodak Co. is not that the company that invented the digital camera was blind to the fact that technology would annihilate its cash cow film business.
The lesson is that even seeing the oncoming train heading down the tracks doesn't make avoiding it easy, said Scott D. Anthony.
Kodak's woes show "how brutally hard it is to get transformation right," said the managing director and head of the Asia-Pacific operation of innovation consulting firm Innosight and author of the new book Little Black Book of Innovation: How It Works, How To Do It ($25, 281 pages, January 2012, Harvard Business Review Press).
Anthony, who lives in Singapore, also co-authored a December 2011 piece in Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review, The Empire Strikes Back: How Xerox and Other Big Corporations are Harnessing the Force of Disruptive Innovation.
Anthony said businesses looking to make substantive changes that have impact can learn a lot from Kodak's rise as an industrial and consumer products giant to its fall in the form of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 19. Among them: Don't get trapped by your business model, as it can cause you to miss big growth opportunities; develop a big portfolio of those possible growth opportunities instead of focusing on one; and start looking for ways to change before it's necessary to do so.
"I call it 'the innovator's paradox' — that when you have the freedom to change, you don't feel the urgency," Anthony said. "For example, in the early days of the market disruption caused by digital imaging, the late 1990s, Kodak's core film business actually was growing. A lack of urgency allows a company to treat new growth efforts as science experiments that are academically interesting but not vital. However, once the urgency grows, degrees of freedom narrow rapidly as attention goes to staunching the bleeding in the core business."
Anthony discussed Kodak and the challenge of innovation in an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle.
D&C: Given the innovator's paradox, how can a company best know when it should be putting resources into its core business vs. investing in innovation? For example, with Kodak, what were the warning signs it should've seen to know now is the time to invest more in digital, not film?
Anthony: There are three specific things to watch for when you are deciding the pacing of investment in new growth. The first is changes in the rate of growth of the core business. Kodak's business was growing, but at an increasingly decelerating rate. The second is important developments at the periphery of your industry. Any fast-growing market is worth watching, even if the size on absolute terms is small. The third is early warning signs of change. In other words, determine what factors would really cause serious damage to your business. Then identify what "trigger events" indicate that the probability of those events has changed in a meaningful way.
I would also note that my general perspective is that Kodak's problem wasn't necessarily that it invested insufficient funds in digital imaging and other new growth businesses.
It appears to me the bigger problem was how it framed and managed those investments. In fact, you could argue it invested too much, which forced it to target large existing markets, because small emerging markets couldn't justify billions of dollars of investment.
D&C: It's easy in retrospect to say a company should've done more of X or less of Y. But in the moment, how can a company know the balance it must strike between its core business and trying to innovate in new directions?
Anthony: It is indeed an incredibly difficult balance to strike. History shows that most companies get it wrong. So, you will be right more often than you are wrong if you say any company is neither investing enough in new growth nor managing that investment appropriately.
Of course, what makes this so hard is it really has to be an "and" proposition. That is, you simply cannot take your eye off the core business for even a split second, because that core provides all the cash flow for investment in growth, and when it gets sick, your degrees of freedom shrink rapidly.
D&C: If the leadership of a company has expertise in a particular direction or business model, how much of a leadership change is typically needed in order to innovate in a very different model? If a company has struggled to turn around, like Kodak, is that indicative of executive ranks that need changing because of the failure to innovate successfully?
Anthony: As an analogy, think about what happened when Michael Jordan left the Chicago Bulls to go play baseball. He was much better at baseball than you or me, but he wasn't close to a major league-quality player. People who spend their entire lives honing one set of skills find it understandably different to innovate and act in very different ways.
Now, of course Kodak brought in a bunch of outsiders, including Antonio Perez, who is a very smart, very successful executive. One can only speculate what would have happened if Perez had come in a decade earlier.
D&C: What are the companies today that are innovating well and what are they doing right? And conversely, what are the ones that obviously are dropping the innovation ball?
Anthony: Apple is obviously the cliché answer to this question. But there are other "quiet" innovators out there. Take, for example, the Swiss agrichemical company Syngenta. The company has found innovative ways to compete in developing markets, using unique business models to go after individual farmers. What I like is that the company is very thoughtful about innovation, they approach innovation in a disciplined way, and they have invested to train and develop their people. I see some companies in Asia that are doing very interesting things. The Tata Group and Godrej and Boyce in India are both constantly looking for ways to transform existing markets and create new ones. The ones that get it right have this kind of restlessness where they are always searching for the next thing. In terms of ones dropping the innovation ball, one obvious candidate is Sony. The last 10 years could have been beautiful for the company, but it seems to still struggle to do anything beyond its base business.
MATTHEW DANEMAN
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120406/BUSINESS/304060039
http://www.dimbulb.net/.a/6a00d83454a03269e201675fcd4576970b-500wi
Labels: Business, Leadership, News, Photography


To collect saliva DNA samples from 500 Indigenous RHD patients and 1000 matched controls – participants of a similar age – for genotyping to better understand the pathogenesis (development patterns) of Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), which could lead to better treatments and improve the genetic literacy of key stakeholders.
Determine the genetic associations of susceptibility to RHD in Indigenous Australian communities.
Even though RHD is preventable, Australia has the highest recorded rates of the disease in the world. Many RHD sufferers in Australia die either because their disease is so severe that surgery can't help, or because they don't get a chance to even consider surgery.
Indigenous Australians are up to eight times more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to be hospitalised for Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) and RHD. They are 20 times more likely to die from the condition too.
On average, Indigenous people die from RHD in their mid-thirties, compared to non-Indigenous people with the same disease who can expect to live well into their sixties.
Many Indigenous people will get group A streptococcus infections but only some will develop RHD. It's not well understood why some people are susceptible to RHD and others aren't.
Enter RHD Genetics, a new collaborative study into the role genetics plays in the disease's presence and progression.
It's anticipated the study will prompt further investigations into genetic determinants of disease among Indigenous Australians.
The study will run until 2015.


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Last Name: Rick – Would you like to know the origin, Coat of Arms and Ancestors of the Surname Rick? – X-Finder
The name 'Rick' originates from England. It is derived from the nickname for a wealthy man (or in some cases an ironic name for a pauper), from the Middle English, Old Flemish word 'riche' meaning rich, wealthy (of Germanic origin, akin to the Germanic word 'ric' meaning power). It is also a habitation name from the lost village of Riche in Leicestershire, apparently so called from the Old English element 'ric' meaning stream, or in this case drainage channel. Some early forms of the surname, such as 'Alexander atte Riche' probably derive from minor places named with this element in southern counties, as for example 'Glynde Reach' in the county of Sussex. It was used in medieval times as a short form of 'Richard'. Compiled information from Historical and Private archive's has confirmed that the surname 'Rich' and or it's variant's, dates as far back as the 14th century were a 'Johannes Riche', from the county of Yorkshire, England, is recorded on Poll Tax records in 1379. The exact period of settlement in North America has not been definitely determined but Information extracted from Public and Civil registry archive's c…
Coat of arms: Gules a chevr…