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Cycling Across Canada: Photographing the North's Dempster Highway
Jonathon Reed and Asad Chishti are cycling 15,000 km from the Atlantic coast of Canada to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Throughout the six-month expedition, they are documenting unheard stories within the Canadian landscape through the lenses of their cameras. This is the third of a series of dispatches from the wild and windy roads of the north — read the first here and second here.
I'm now in Prince Rupert, almost five months after leaving St. John's on the Atlantic coast. In regards to contributing to the 500px blog, it's been a bit of a lesson in humility. We had planned a larger-scale series across the country, but the challenge of photographing, interviewing, researching, writing—and on top of that bicycling essentially from sunrise to sunset every day kept us busy.
The journey has also been challenging in terms of photography. My personal style is the documentation of human-centred stories in wilderness landscapes. On a bicycle, however, I've been inherently tethered to the road. There's always the asphalt, the gravel, the sound of vehicles going by. We've cycled through some of Canada's magnificent landscapes — the Cabot Trail, the Lake Superior coast, the Sentinel Range of the Rocky Mountains — but essentially viewed them from the highway. So I haven't been able to get the kinds of photographs that I expected before this journey began.
It's hard to justify hiking any distance for a photo, for example, when you're cycling 120 km against a headwind and you have 40 km to go before setting up the tent.
For months, however, I looked forward to cycling the Dempster Highway in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The Dempster is a 770-km gravel road that extends over mountain ranges, permafrost and the Mackenzie Delta from Dawson to Inuvik. It would be, I hoped, a human-centred story in a wilderness landscape.
Throughout British Columbia, my anticipation increased. The day we left Dawson City, I smiled with mud on my lips and rain in my eyes. This was it.
Find what you love, and photograph it. Even when it's not easy. Even when it's not perfect. Even when it takes four months and an entire country to get to. Below are some of my favourite photos from the Dempster Highway, along with a description of how I got the shot. I hope you're inspired to get out there and do your absolute best.
I didn't take many photos on the first day. We were still below the treeline, the road was choked with mud and the sky was low with clouds. At this creek, however, I decided to stop, because I liked how the semi-clear water took on the colour of the surrounding trees. The major challenge of this photo was fixing the overexposure of the white water in the lower left of the frame. It took an adjustment brush dropping the exposure and highlights to make that part of the water look more natural. It bothers me, though, that there's no visual explanation for the moving water. (It was coming out of a culvert that I didn't figure out how to photograph aesthetically.) So it's imperfect. But it was a start.
An unrelenting crosswind poured off the Richardson Mountains and pressed against my jacket, trying to reach down my neck. A squirrel stared impassively at me, fur ruffling in the cold. We hiked into the tundra a short ways to photograph the landscape. I grabbed the red 'Keep Exploring' flag because I knew it would show off the wind.
Again, the style of the photo was monochrome. While the creek south of Tombstone Territorial Park had been green-yellow, this was orange-red. I could have framed this more intentionally and gone for a more formal body posture, but I felt like the candid nature of the photo fit with the wildness of the wind. Photographing flags is tricky. I usually wait for gusts of wind and then shoot bursts of photos. In at least one of the dozens of shots I get the quickly-moving fabric positioned aesthetically.
Wright Pass was covered in ice. Clouds touched the ground. Icicles hung off road signs in the direction of the wind. My breath rolled warm against my cheeks and condensed in the air behind me. This was the Arctic that I had longed to photograph. The texture of this photo still gets me excited—the grey and white of the wet gravel, the faded blue of the mountain peaks, the unevenness of the tundra ice. The most intentional part of setting up this shot was choosing the puddle and tire tracks for the foreground. The landscape did the rest by itself.
The ice faded as we descended towards the Peel River Plateau. The sun was warm, but I could still feel the cold breath of the mountain pass. The road lifted over glacier-etched hills as we left the Richardsons behind, but before the mountains were gone entirely I stopped and shot this photo from the road. Again, it's not perfect. I wish the focal point of the middle peak was larger and more striking. But what the photo was meant to capture was the transition from the lower reaches of tundra to the ice and snow on the peak. It felt rare to see the snow disappear without a treeline cluttering the view.
The coast in Tuktoyaktuk was windswept and grey. Ocean-smoothed stones littered the beach along with a few grey whale bones. I didn't know what it was about wood's flotation and waves and tides, but along the coast there were large collections of driftwood just like this. I wanted to demonstrate the mass of wood, but also highlight the distant houses in the background. I tried getting lower to the wood but decided that if the focal point was the houses, I had to avoid getting too close to the foreground. The texture of the driftwood was a bit distracting, but I hoped that the lines of the logs on the left and right sides of the frame would lead the eye to the strip of grass and houses along the horizon.
It was around 4:30 AM. The aurora ebbed and flowed, growing into a strong band across the southern sky then dissipating into moving strings straight above. I set the camera to a thirteen-second exposure and watched the lights in between the stars. We were on the outskirts of Inuvik above the east channel of the Mackenzie River, so I was limited in terms of foreground. A fence blocked the view so I took this from a playground structure.
In hindsight, though, I wished I had used the wireless function on my phone to shoot a frame with myself in the foreground, using a headlamp to illuminate my body briefly during the exposure. In the moment, however, I was caught up watching the sky. I'll get a better composition next time.
These photos aren't perfect, and some of my descriptions have demonstrated that. I know I didn't get ideal pieces—but I also know that I did my best. For me, the power of a photograph is the power of a story, and these photos come with a great adventure. To improve my photography, then, I suppose I'll have to have another.
Check out more photos from the adventure by following Jonathon on 500px @jonathonreed, and his blog, Exposure — stay tuned for at least one more blog from the islands of British Columbia.
9 summery photos for when you need a dose of sunshine
Photography News Roundup, October 20
Best of 2014: Top 10 Travel Photos
Wishful Thinking: 25 Beautiful Beaches We Wish We Were Sunbathing On Right Now
Creating a Unique Image of One of the Most Photographed Places on Earth


Comments: If you inform the takeaway that you are vegan they are willing to veganise virtually everything on the menu. If it is not on the menu, just ask and they will cook it. The food is fantastic and the staff are friendly and helpful.
The village of Nantymoel is at the top of the Ogmore Valley on the A4061, 6 miles from Treorchy.


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Living / Services / Environment / Fire Services / Petroleum Licensing
Applications must be made to Wicklow County Council for a license to store petroleum.
Petroleum is defined as being one of three classes for the purposes of legislation and regulation:
Class I, typically Petrol – Leaded and Unleaded (including High Blend Ethanol Fuels)
Class II, typically Kerosene / Paraffin
Class III, typically Diesel / DERV / Central Heating Oil
The storage of Petroleum Class I (i.e. leaded, unleaded or ethanol blend motor fuel), irrespective of the volume, must be carried out in a controlled manner in accordance with the Dangerous Substances Act 1972 and Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations 1979.
Section 21 of the Dangerous Substances Act 1972 sets out the quantity of Petroleum Class I, which can be stored without a licence to do so:
Read more about the Dangerous Substances Act 1972
Regulations in force under the Dangerous Substances Act 1972
Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations 1979 to 2006: These typically apply to petrol stations that dispense petrol through retail transactions on a forecourt and commercial sites that dispense petrol for use by employees within the confines of the site.
Dangerous Substances (Bulk Petroleum Stores) Regulations, 1979: These typically apply to large and medium size bulk storage facilities where large quantities of Petroleum Class I are stored, sometimes in conjunction with Petroleum Class II and/or III, for subsequent delivery to retail petrol stations.
Licensing authority
The licensing authority for Co. Wicklow is Wicklow County Council and all applications for a licence to store Petroleum Class I must be made in accordance with Regulations S.I. 311: 1979.
Alterations to existing petroleum storage sites
In accordance with Section 11 of the Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations 1979 to 2006, no alteration works can be carried out to a petroleum storage facility without written application to and subsequent written consent from the licensing authority.
Discontinuation of existing petroleum sites
In accordance with Section 10 of the Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations 1979 to 2006, a licensee must give 21 days' notice in writing to the licensing authority of their intention to discontinue the use of an underground storage tank and all practicable steps must be taken to render the tank immune from the risk of fire or explosion including any steps required in writing by the licensing authority.
Application for a licence to store petroleum
An application for a licence to store petroleum must, at a minimum, include the following:
A completed application form
An electrical test certificate
A current Vapour Recovery (VR) certificate under the Air Pollution Act 1987 (Petroleum Vapour Emissions) Regulations 1997
Plans, maps, technical specifications and details as listed under Article 12 of the Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations 1979
The appropriate fee under the Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations 1979
An application for the renewal of a licence must be made at least three months before the date on which the current licence expires.
Petroleum Licencing Fees
Form for certification of test of electrical installations
Application form for Licence to store petroleum Retail or Private

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Perhaps to avoid consumer confusion, or to grab back a few headlines from Barnes and Noble's sweet looking Nook e-reader, Amazon has dropped the Sprint-powered U.S. Kindle and now sells just the international version along with the super-sized DX. And the price has also been dropped to $260, the same as the old Kindle 2 and the same as the Nook. It looks like this fight is on.
Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6" Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don't need to do anything to get the lower price—we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.
Good news indeed. Now, Amazon, perhaps you could start selling all titles in the U.S. store to overseas customers, and maybe switch on my damn web browser. Just saying, is all.


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Q: Analytic Solution to SDEs Are there any example of SDEs with constant diffusion terms, other than the Ornstein Uhlenbeck process, which have exact solutions?  I'm thinking of something of the form:
\begin{equation}
dX_t = f(X_t)dt + a dW_t
\end{equation}
where $a$ is a constant, and $f$ is some function.

A: Yes.  Unexpected weak solutions to the SDE
$$
d Y = - \Phi'(Y) dt + \sqrt{2} dW \quad Y(0) \in \mathbb{R}
$$
are available. To see this, transform the associated Fokker-Planck equation into a Schrödinger equation following e.g. Chapter 5 of H. Risken, The Fokker-Planck Equation, Springer-Verlag, 1989.  Loosely speaking, if the resulting Schrödinger equation is solvable, then so is the Fokker-Planck equation for the SDE.
For example, in this way one can obtain a formula for the transition probabilities of a Brownian particle in the infinite well potential shown in the figure.
.
For an animation of the transition probability density of the solution click here. The movie starts at a point mass initial condition at $x=0.125$, and evolves the transition density of the process over a time interval that is long enough for the process to relax to its stationary density.  For a MATLAB function file which implements this solution click here.
Finally, here is an explicit formula for the transition density of this weak SDE solution: let $p_t(x,y)$ denote the transition probability density of $Y(t)$ given that $Y(0) = x$, i.e.,
$$
\int_A p_t(x,y) dy = \mathbb{P} ( Y(t) \in A \mid Y(0) = x )
$$
The formula the code uses is taken directly from Risken, and is given by:
$$
p_t(x,y) = e^{\Phi(x)/2 - \Phi(y)/2} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \psi_n(x) \psi_n(y) e^{-\lambda_n t}
$$
where I respectively introduced a potential:
$$
\Phi(x) = - 2 \log( \cos(\pi x/2) )
$$ eigenfunctions
$$
\psi_n(x) = \begin{cases}
\cos((n+1/2) \pi x) & \text{if $n$ is even} \\
\cos(n \pi x) & \text{if $n$ is odd}
\end{cases}
$$
and corresponding eigenvalues
$$
\lambda_n = \begin{cases}
\pi^2 (n^2 + n) & \text{if $n$ is even} \\
\pi^2 (n^2-1/4) & \text{if $n$ is odd}
\end{cases}
$$
I verified this solution numerically using the numerical PDE-based, SDE solver described in Bou-Rabee and Vanden-Eijnden 2015.

A: Check the seminar book:
Numerical Solution of Stochastic Differential Equations
P.Kloeden.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Your Small, Cramped Space Needs a Chic Pedestal
Sydney Wasserman
Oh Joy! Founder Joy Cho on Her Plans for a Bright, Happy Kitchen
Joy Cho
Say Hello to the Colorful Art Deco Kitchen Add-On of Your Dreams
Kelly Dawson
This New York City Apartment Holds a Museum's Worth of Art and Design
Shoko Wanger
3 Ways to Decorate with Pantone's Polarizing Color of the Year
Purple rooms forever
Amanda Sims
Photo: Courtesy of Pantone
It's the best time of the year . . . Pantone's Color of the Year has been announced! (What, did you think we were going to say "the holidays"?) On the heels of last year's slightly controversial color, a bright yellow-green called Greenery, comes yet another difficult-to-decorate-with pick: Ultra Violet. As in a bold, blue-tinged purple hue that is probably flooding the creative conversations in fashion houses and paint companies at this very moment. In a statement to AD, Pantone's executive director used terms like "inventiveness," "imagination," and "creative inspiration" when describing the color, and we can certainly agree that all of the above will be required to work such a, ahem, regal tone into apartments that don't yet use it (that is to say, it's not as easy to decorate with Ultra Violet as it is to decorate with blue).
But we're all for colorful interiors, so here are a few ways to work Ultra Violet into your decor without it looking like your fifth-grade fantasy.
Use it as an accent
Whether you end up with a few sprigs of lilac in a jar, a pair of purple throw pillows, or a vintage rug with a few violet threads in it, the easiest way to start decorating with a new color is to take baby steps.
Soften it with other purples, pinks, and blues
By working with other shades in the same color family—lilac, blush, mauve, blue, etc.—the boldness of Ultra Violet will soften and suddenly feel right at home.
Embrace a moody theme
Dark and romantic, purple begs for a full-on embrace of other supersaturated dark colors and rich fabrics. Think leather, velvet, and dark-colored woods—go big or go home, right?
Explorechannel decoration duo
3 Things to Consider When Designing Rooms for Kids
Food and Drink Trends As Seen in Decor
Inside Ellen Van Dusen's Pattern-Happy Brooklyn Brownstone


Please bring a flower and a fruit on the first day for Kriya Initiation.
What is Kriya Yoga (The Spinal Breathing)?
KRIYA YOGA or SPINAL BREATHING is an ancient Yoga system revived in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya. Kriya was brought into popular awareness through Paramahansa Yogananda's book AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI and through Yogananda's introductions of the practice in the West since 1920 and India since 1917. The system consists of a number of levels of SPINAL Breathings based on techniques that are intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion. Kriya Yoga can be practiced by any person at any age.


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Cellulomonas persica is a mesophilic and cellulolytic bacterium from the genus Cellulomonas which has been isolated from forest soil in Iran.

References

Micrococcales
Bacteria described in 2000

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Ahoy Matey! This Nautical Birth Announcement Wall Art displays your newborn's details in an array of deep navy, green and brown colors with marching anchors. Hang it on a wall or display the petite one on a shelf.


I've said it before and I'll say it again — we LOVE seeing all the amazingly beautiful designs you guys create with our flowers, and this shoot is no exception!
Fatima of Studio Terrain in Detroit dreamt up this stunning little installation, and it's giving me all of the warm, desert vibes I need during these winter storms. Keep scrolling to see all the beauty and to pretend it's summer, if just for a minute!
Inspiration for this shoot derived from the beauty and simplicity of warm neutral tones. Warm taupes & cool browns complimented by the vibrancy of terra-cotta made the perfect palette to warm up these winter months in Detroit.
The Mayesh Detroit branch provided the fresh floral for the shoot, and we finally got our hands on the luscious toffee roses everyone is talking about! We also wanted to design with ingredients that are often overlooked like gypsophila, carnations, anthurium, and daisies. The spider phantom daises and sprayed gyp added great texture to the installation!


Last week our friends on the american west coast celebrated Cocktail Robotics at San Francisco's DNA Lounge.
Roboexotica's Johannes Grenzfurthner was there to hold the opening speech and he brought some of his students along who had been excelling at Roboexotica last Dec with their Whiskey serving robot.
The video above looks like it was quite the success, and I did spot one or two new cocktail robots, yet unknown to myself. David Calkins and Simone Davalos of Robogames, who organize Barbot have managed to demonstrate just how hot the hotbed of cocktail-robotics has become in the Bay Area!


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Brow Beat
Is This the Worst Thing BuzzFeed's Ever Done?
By L.V. Anderson
July 08, 20137:11 PM
This is not how you educate Americans about Egyptian politics.
Photo By Getty Images
BuzzFeed is not known for its restraint, decorum, or adherence to traditional journalistic standards. But it's nonetheless usually pretty easy to tell the difference between a BuzzFeed headline ("The 15 Most Epic Puppy Stampedes") and an Onion parody of a BuzzFeed headline ("40 Numbers Under 40"). Today, sadly, BuzzFeed crossed that line, publishing "The Story of Egypt's Revolution in 'Jurassic Park' Gifs."
Let that sink in a minute. "The Story of Egypt's Revolution in 'Jurassic Park' Gifs." The democratic yearnings of an oppressed people reduced to 20-year-old catchphrases. A bloody, tumultuous, ongoing political conflict filtered through moving screen shots from one of Spielberg's most popcorn-ready blockbusters. The deaths of hundreds of Egyptians—including more than 40 allegedly peaceful protestors who were shot just yesterday—metaphorically reenacted via computer-generated dinosaur maulings.
I don't like most of what BuzzFeed publishes, but I respect other people's right to. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look at photos of baby animals and garish '90s trends. But there is something wrong with treating a political crisis as though it occupies the same moral realm as kittens and frosted tips. Jurassic Park is an entertaining film, but it is not allegorically deep enough to convey the complexity or tragedy of what's going on in Egypt. BuzzFeed's GIF-ification of Egypt's civil conflict belittles the pain of people whose lives have been upended by violence and surely confirms the suspicion of many non-Americans that we in the U.S. do not take their lives and circumstances seriously.
And it's not even well executed! An Onion version of "The Story of Egypt's Revolution in 'Jurassic Park' Gifs" would probably at least attempt some kind of coherent metaphor for the sake of highlighting the shallowness of the comparison. BuzzFeed's version is a narrative mess. In one GIF, Samuel L. Jackson's character seems to represent Morsi; in another, Wayne Knight's character is. Near the end, wounded Jeff Goldblum appears to symbolize the entire nation of Egypt; just two captions down, he is "the international community." (How convenient that the stand-in for the "international community" is a white man.) The only thematically consistent thing about the list is that Egyptians—at various times, Morsi, the Egyptian Army, and protesters—are represented as raging, irrational, dangerous animals.
I feel fairly comfortable asserting that BuzzFeed's dehumanizing, minimizing, implicitly racist treatment of the Egyptian revolution is the worst thing the site has ever done. (Congratulations, Fox News car chase suicide—you're off the hook!) I will hold out hope that BuzzFeed does the right thing and takes it down. (There may be encouraging precedent here; a similarly stupid post from earlier this year, "What's the Deal With Jazz?," seems to have vanished.) But so far, the site's editor-in-chief has not only published but also promoted this dreck:
The Story Of Egypt's Revolution In "Jurassic Park" Gifs http://t.co/6iijUDOadp via @bennyjohnson of course
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) July 8, 2013


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Homecoming at Wesley Chapel UMC
Wesley Chapel UMC will celebrate homecoming Sept. 9. Sunday school will begin at 10 a.m., with worship following at 11 a.m. A potluck lunch will start at noon, with music to follow. Pastor Brad Johnson and congregation invite the community and friends of the church to attend. The church is located at 3195 Sugar Creek Pike.
Pollard Day at Mt. Beulah
Mt. Beulah UMC, located at 1781 River Road, will host Pollard Day at 4 p.m. Sept. 8. The event will feature food, a bake-off contest, prizes, fellowship and southern gospel music. Capital City Boys Quartet will be in concert at 6 p.m. Baked items need to be presented by 4:15 p.m. for judging. Everyone is welcome.
Trama-affected child seminar at Wilmore Free Methodist
Wilmore Free Methodist Church will host a seminar for teachers, administrators and children's ministry leaders from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Located at 1200 Lexington Road in Wilmore, instruction and discussion will focus on understanding how early trauma affects children in the classroom and exploring strategies to empower, connect and correct the trauma-affected child in your classroom with compassion. There is no charge for the seminar, and a certificate of attendance will be available for professional development credit. For more information, visit wilmorefmc.org or call the church office at 859-858-3521.
Helping Hands Ministry hosts bake, yard sale
Helping Hands Ministry will host a bake and yard sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, and Saturday, Sept. 8. The event will be at Rite Aid in Kimberley Square and will feature homemade baked goods. For more information, call Kate Stinnett at 859-885-5129.
Wilmore Anglican Church meeting at Asbury
The Wilmore Angelican Church will meet at 10:30 a.m. Sunday mornings at the McKenna Chapel on the Asbury Theological Seminary campus. For more information, visit facebook.com/TheWilmoreAnglicanChurch.
Concert at Beulah United Methodist
The Capital City Boys Quartet will perform at 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at Mt. Beulah United Methodist Church. The church is located at 1787 River Road. All are welcome.
New Beginnings announces new location
Services at New Beginnings Full Gospel Church, previously located at 120 Blueberry Lane, have moved to 220 Edgewood Drive at 11 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Thursdays. The church invites all to come and join them as they look forward to what God has planned for them in their new location. For more information, contact Pastor Richard Stipe at 859-339-3031.
Grose wins 4-H competition
Photo submitted Faith Grose, of Wilmore, won grand champion at the Kentucky 4-H State Communications Day hosted at University of... read more
Work begins on first Habitat house in almost 10 years


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A Theory of Nature Architecture through Indigenous Knowledge: Evaluation with Post-Disaster Building Design
Lin, ChungTse
Nature Architecture
Post-disaster architecture
Ida, Aletheia
Humans are continuously developing new technologies to transform buildings into comfortable fortresses that are not affected by the outdoor environment. But this modality of environmental control also makes architecture a barrier to the relationship between nature and humans. Although the topic of green architecture or sustainable building is becoming ever more prevalent, the focus tends to primarily be on physical impacts such as energy-reduction and carbon footprint minimization. However, the early and long-standing important relationship between humans and nature is not well considered through these contemporary sustainable architecture practices. This research seeks to develop a built environment theory, identified as Nature Architecture, that focuses on establishing the relationship between humans and nature. This relationship has the capacity to bring humans back to natural systems and help situate human considerations, reflections, and actions for and with nature in the future. Nature Architecture is a metaphorical bridge connecting people directly with nature, rather than a barrier that isolates humans from nature due to technological developments. In order to identify human and nature relationships in architecture, this research analyzes the indigenous architecture from three different geographic regions: Arizona, Alaska, and Taiwan. By comparing and contrasting ancient people's dwellings, which were built with early construction techniques, a symbiotic relationship between indigenous people and the balance of nature for thousands of years is identified. Fundamental defining characteristics are elicited from this symbiotic relationship, including form, material, condition, and space. These foundational aspects are then applied to post-disaster architecture's conceptual design process with three demonstrations that show more connection with nature that improve psychological and physical health for refugees.