Scientists had yesterday not very optimistic news for those who have gained a lot of weight this Christmas or for those who had high hopes for losing weight in good New Year's resolutions. The Guardian echoes a study investigating several popular diets that lead to very similar results and is quite limited.
To carry out the abovementioned research volunteered to participate in an annual experiment four well-known people were recruited diets Atkins, which minimizes the consumption of carbohydrate Ornish , which restricts fat, the Zone , which calls for small amounts low in calories, fruits and vegetable proteins; and Weight Watchers (Vigilantes weight), which restricts portion sizes and calories.
Michael Dansinger, division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism, and colleagues at Tufts-New England Medical Centre in Boston, in a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association submits that none of the diets is particularly better than the remaining.
Each diet led to modest reductions in body weight and risk factors for heart disease, after a year. In addition, the dropout rate for all diets was high. Of the total, 42% of the 160 people involved did not last the course. The dabandono rates were higher for extreme diets (48% for Atkins and Ornish 50%) than for the other two (35% for the Zone and Weight Watchers).
In each diet group, about a quarter of the participants lost more than 5% of their body weight throughout the year. Approximately only 10% lost more than 10% of body weight. The average weight loss for each of the diets was 2.1 kg for Atkins, Zone parathe 3.2 kg, 3 kg and 3.3 kg Weight Watchers for Ornish.
Those who left their diet in the experiment did so because the diet was too hard to follow or failed to lose enough weight quickly. The authors argue that "a valid diet for everyone the world" will not work, especially in public health programs concerned about the progress of obesity in the general population.
Diets need to be paid to the preferences, needs and lifestyle of each individual, and it is necessary to work on ways to motivate people to follow them not easily give up.


23 February 2006, The Sun PUTRAJAYA: Claiming that Metramac Corporation Sdn Bhd had failed to comply with the Court of Appeal's order, lawyers for Fawziah Holdings Sdn Bhd filed for leave to initiate committal proceedings against the firm and its directors yesterday. Fawziah Holdings Sdn Bhd discovered last month that Metramac had paid RM106 million in dividends to its shareholders. Mr. Benjamin Dawson said that Metramac had breached the mareva injunction issued by the Court of Appeal.


The four ships will have an overall length of 127 metres. Their unique size will allow them to cruise to places larger ships cannot. All passenger accommodation on board the ships will offer spacious balconies, including four 42 square metre suites.
At the stern the ships will feature an infinity pool and mouldable marina, with three different uses; a sundeck whilst cruising, an immersed connector port for disembarkation or a sea level platform for water sports, such as water-skiing or kayaking.
Ponant is the only cruise line which operates flying the French flag.


Who was up for a hike? Zhaf!
Yes.. Last month, we went to hike a little in Cipancar, Subang, West Java. We went to see Cijalu Waterfall (Curug Cijalu in sundanese) – en route from a family gathering in Wanayasa. After such a long hiatus from beautiful green scenery, the tour was a real treat for my eyes. We were welcome by a cool breeze from the waterfall after a rather bumpy and creepy road.
Posted in Travellove and tagged adventure, Curug Cijalu, travelmonday, wonderful indonesia. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
The Dead Gentleman
Authors: Cody, Matthew
Synopsis: A many-worlds adventure novel from the acclaimed author of Powerless!
The Dead Gentleman is a wild ride between parallel New York City timestreams—1901 and today. Eleven-year-old Tommy Learner is a street orphan and an unlikely protégé of the Explorers, a secret group dedicated to exploring portals—the hidden doorways to other worlds. But in the basement of an old hotel, his world collides with that of modern-day Jezebel Lemon.
Now, Jezebel and Tommy must thwart the Dead Gentleman, a legendary villain whose last unconquered world is our own planet Earth, a realm where the dead stay dead—for now. Can two kids put an end to this ancient evil and his legions of Grave Walkers?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Not much compares to the thrill of beginning a new home business. You do not have to answer to a boss, and you control your hours. As your own boss, you will have the responsibility of being professional and getting the most from your own business. You'll find some great tips here to have the most effective business possible.
Keep track of your mileage and gas receipts when you use your car for your business. These fall into travel expenses, which you can get back come tax season. However, you need to be sure that you're able to prove that the trips had to do with your business.
Before you even begin the first steps of a home business, make sure you have a comfortable office with sufficient supplies. A space that is free of distractions allows you to work more efficiently.
Minimize family interruptions during your home work hours. Interruptions can corrode your productivity, so tell everyone when you will start working — and when you will be done. They should understand that you require a private work environment so you can finish and spend time with them sooner. Never leave children unsupervised and provide information on what to do in an emergency.
You should always include a banner page on your site. This enables you to exchange different banner links with similar businesses. Having credible links on your site will improve your search engine rankings.
If you are not sure what kind of business you would like to start, you should consider checking online to discover what is successful. There is a lot of fraud on the web, so please exercise caution. You'll find online guides with information that's already available. Some scams are more convoluted and ask you to pay for access to high paying jobs, or tuition for classes online that are irrelevant. It is probably a scam if it sounds like it's too far-fetched.
Keep your workplace safe. You should make sure you have a fire extinguisher and smoke detector in your office. If you use the computer frequently, you also need a computer setup that fits you properly. If you have good fire protection you will have a better insurance cost, while having a great desk can make sure that you're not going to get any injuries from working.
When you own a online business, sometimes you must try new things and gamble in order to hit it big. When you experiment and try new things, you can get new customers to visit your site. This can help you to make a lot of money. You will not know what strategies will improve your business if you only use one or two all the time.
You should set aside a percentage of all income earned towards your taxes. It is simple to create an account for your taxes and deposit money into that account. This way you are assured to have money available to pay taxes rather than worry about how you will find money for what you owe when it is due.
Start a business you are sure will be profitable. Study the market for saturation. When the market is already saturated, there is no point in trying to join it. In other words, do your homework first to see if you are picking a business that you can succeed in without a lot of competition.
Starting up a work from home business is not as complicated as you might believe it to be. You can run many businesses from home with the right tools and information. Think of whether your idea is feasible in your location and begin to put the plans in motion.
Try to network with business owners to build your connections. This will help you do several things: leave the house to network, garner publicity at local events, and support one another. It's okay to take a break from the computer and see other people sometimes.
When you go into business for yourself, you take on sole responsibility for your success or failure. This is a daunting realization – but it can also be a liberating one! Your hard work will be worth it when you have a home business. Just by reading this article, you're proving you have what it takes to run a business properly.


View stunning colour images of the mysterious creatures of the deep with this sea creatures torch and projector. Three slides are packed with images of diverse sea creatures to give a fascinating insight into life in our oceans. Just the right size to fit in your pocket, young sealilfe enthusiasts can take these colourful images on the move and lit bya white LED, this projector is a torch too!


text:
India will reduce the tax on goods and services paid on cryptocurrency transactions from 18% to 1% through a regulatory reclassification.
Byron Rodgers November 18, 2021 2 min read
One step News CNBC TV18 India, The local government plans to reclassify cryptocurrency transactions as e-commerce sites, This will reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that users have to pay on a transaction or a business to 1%.
Currently, The Government of India uses 18% GST on transactions made on registered cryptocurrency transactions, which are passed on to users in the form of trade fees. The process is similar to the financial protocol of stock brokers in the country.
However, depending on the legal address of the transaction, the new GST proposal may incur higher tax obligations for some users. In July, Business Insider India Reported When doing business with Indians, the government may ask foreign cryptocurrencies to charge their customers the equivalent of 18% GST domestically. Foreign cryptocurrency transactions are often exempted from GST registration in India, resulting in significant tax gaps between users of various transactions.
Indian lawmakers are highly divided in creating the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the country. The classification of cryptocurrencies into commodities ranges from legal projects Total ban on trading digital assets. Last year, the Supreme Court of India Canceled Reserve Bank of India bans banks from doing business with cryptocurrency companies. For his part, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi Publicly supported Blockchain technology, but a year ago he was a victim Fraud to steal cryptocurrencies through Twitter.
See also Hundreds of people are fleeing to Thailand and India amid increasing repression in Myanmar internationally
Previous Environment: Emergency in New Delhi due to serious pollution following allegations that India has "diluted" the climate change agreement.
Next Shares of Paytm in India fell 24% on its stock market launch


One year ago this week, we launched our Social Media Club Editorial Team with more than thirty contributors from across the globe.
Our Editorial Team features daily blogs under Social Media Clubhouse, to help educate the community using their varied skill sets. Our team is made up of Entrepreneurs, Developers, Small Business Owners, an Attorney, Public Relations/Marketing Professionals, Journalists and Students. We are proud to showcase their talents since we feel they truly reflect Social Media Club's Global community, with bloggers from Sweden, India, France, United States, and the Netherlands.
We want to thank our contributors who have dedicated countless hours over the last year to share their knowledge with the SMC community. We love the creativity and perspective you each bring to our team and are grateful for your participation!
We hope our members have all benefited from their posts, if so be sure to follow all our writers on Twitter.
Last month we received more than 60+ applications from professionals wanting to join the team and we'll be introducing you to our new contributors over the coming weeks.
← With so many channels, how do you organize?


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Tamiya Bullhead Classic Plastic [RC Review]
RCCarAction.com
Featured News, Reviews
In 1987, Tamiya introduced the coolest monster truck of the time, and it was called the "Clod Buster." It featured dual motors, eight shocks, large tires, and a scale Chevy pickup truck body. In 1990, that awesome platform was used to make one of the most unique monster trucks to ever come out of the Tamiya garage. The "Bullhead" was its name, and it had a Peterbilt-type body sitting high on that Clod Buster frame. That wasn't the only tweak that was made. Tamiya molded the chassis in red plastic; the red suspension parts and bumpers were changed to yellow; and the ladder bars, chassis braces, body mounts, and rims were chrome plated. Sadly, the truck was discontinued in 2005. But in 2012, Tamiya put it on the rerelease list, and it's available again almost exactly as it was in 1990.
I was able to get my hands on one of these great trucks and built it up for you to see. Some might think that it's ugly, but others like me think that it's a pretty cool truck. Here's what the Bullhead has to offer.
How cool is that injection-molded big-rig body? It's what makes the Bullhead one of the most unique trucks out there.
Injection-Molded Body
The body used on the Bullhead is like the ones used on most Tamiya vehicles: injection-molded with lots of detail. It's molded to look like a Peterbilt 18-wheeler, and the completed truck looks similar to the full-size Super Pete monster truck. The body is well done and features crisp edges and a smooth finish. You even get a few chrome pieces to bolt on—such as a roll bar, air cleaners, and exhaust stacks—to make it look a little more realistic. The body comes molded in white plastic, so painting it is up to you. I applied five coats of Tamiya TS-19 Metallic Blue paint and finished it off with three coats of Tamiya TS-13 Clear.
A ladder bar–type suspension soaks up the bumps, and the ladder bars have been chrome plated to enhance their look.
Ladder-Bar Suspension
Injection-molded ladder bars locate the gearboxes from front to back, and they pivot on large-diameter pivot balls; stamped metal pieces secure them to the balls. The gearbox side of the bars pivots on large-diameter balls that are molded into the axle tubes. Softer plastic pieces that bolt on to the bottom of the ladder bars connect them to pivot balls on the bottom center of the chassis, and they keep the gearboxes from moving from side to side. Metal braces on the inside of the chassis give all the pivot balls something to thread into, and they provide chassis support.
Inside the transmission housing are gears with large Mod 1 teeth and an open bevel-gear differential.
Beefy Gearbox
Tamiya is known for having transmissions that are overbuilt, and the Bullhead is no different. Inside the large plastic housing are two stepped plastic gears and a large open bevel-gear differential. The gears are wide for increased surface area and, therefore, increased strength, and all but one has large Mod 1–size teeth. Straight shafts with a single dogbone end are used to connect the gears to the hubs; a single bearing is used in each hub, while the rest of the drivetrain is supported by plastic bushings.
Tough Red Tub
A large red injection-molded tub chassis is the base for the Bullhead. The steering servo is mounted low in the center portion, while the speed control and receiver have a home in the detachable top tray. It's designed to accept a 6-cell or 7-cell flat NiMH battery, and a clip-on battery cover gives you access to it. The suspension links mount to the bottom of the chassis, and each of the shocks has three mounting positions available on all four corners.
The Bullhead comes with 4-wheel steering that uses dual bellcranks,
with servo savers to
turn the tires.
The Terra tires are molded out of a firm rubber compound, and they don't need foam inserts for support.
Terra Treaded Tires
The Terra treaded tires that come with the Bullhead are molded to look like the tires used in the '80s, and they are molded out of a firm compound rubber. The rubber is so firm that foam inserts are not needed to support them. The rims are Clod Buster–style units but have been chrome-plated, and a vent hole in the rims allows air to exit the tire, which allows it to conform to various surfaces and soak up landings after a jump.
Don't Skimp on the Servo
The kit includes a speed control and motors to get you halfway there when getting the truck running. For a radio, you don't need anything fancy; a Futaba 3PRKA was all that was needed to control my rig. When the time comes to pick out a servo, you don't want to go with a cheap low-torque unit. A single servo is used to turn the four large tires on this truck, and that requires something with some power to get that job done. You'll want to get a servo that has at least 124 oz.-in. of torque, such as the Futaba 3305 servo that I used
in my truck.
Time-Machine Test Drive
After assembling my Bullhead, I stood back and took some time to enjoy the look of this unique and cool truck. The look may not be for everyone, but I really like it and am glad to have the Bullhead in my collection. Before I could run the truck, I headed to Lancaster, Ohio, to run a few modified monster trucks in the 4-link Nationals. The trucks that I ran there were fast and performed well, so when I got back home and went out to drive the Bullhead for the first time, I wasn't expecting to have as much fun. Let's face it—the Bullhead isn't that fast, and its performance isn't as good as one of my modified monster trucks. Within seconds of pulling the trigger on the radio, my smile grew; the Bullhead is so much fun but in a completely different way. It has just enough power to spin the tires slightly on loose dirt, and it gets up to its fairly slow top speed quickly. Steering is surprisingly responsive, but the soft servo savers and thin linkages make it so that you have to work the wheel to keep the truck going in a straight line. With the large body sitting high on the chassis, you'd think that it would cause the Bullhead to roll over in the turns pretty easily, but that wasn't the case in the baseball field that I was testing it in. I pushed the Bullhead hard in the turns, and instead of rolling over, all four tires slid as it made its way through the turn. Before shutting down for the day, I took the time to get some air off the bases that were left on the field; even though the shocks are heavily sprung and not damped in any way, the suspension did a great job of soaking up the landings and getting the truck ready for more. When the battery was out of juice, I was disappointed; I was having such a great time with the truck. This is the part where I tell you that I'm going to clean up the truck and park it on the shelf. But I think this time around I'm going to put a beater body on the chassis so that my stock one can remain scratch-free and run my Bullhead as much as possible. What a fun truck!
Updated: May 21, 2019 — 5:09 PM
MASSIVE MONSTER: Deboxing the Huge, Hefty, $2900 Primal RC Raminator Gas Truck
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Blog Welcome to the New Sysomos!
Welcome to the New Sysomos!
Incredible things are happening here at Sysomos! We decided it was time to creatively express this new direction with a major new look. Not only do we have a new logo but we are proud to announce the launch of our new website too.
Dramatic? We think so. We haven't changed our name, but we believe that a fresh identity better represents Sysomos and our passion to deliver innovative products that truly make a marketer's job easier. Our new website showcases our unified, insights-driven social platform which empowers marketers to search, discover, listen, publish, engage and analyze at scale across earned, owned and paid media.
While we hope you like our new look, the new brand isn't just cosmetic – it's a reflection of our journey and our growth over the past ten years. Sysomos was founded in 2007 as a spinoff of a University of Toronto research project in response to the growing need for businesses to mine and analyze social media content and data. Ten years later, we have evolved as a business that delivers a real impact and value for 1,200 top brands and agencies around the world. Our offerings have expanded well beyond just monitoring and listening, and now include social media management, visual analytics and psychographics. Plus we offer advanced analytics to help businesses aggregate data across paid and owned social channels to optimize campaigns and maximize ROI in near real-time.
We couldn't be happier with the end result of our rebrand and the new direction for Sysomos in 2017. We hope you like it too!


text:
\section{Introduction}

\begin{figure*}[t!]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figures/sketchdollar.png}

\vspace{0.2cm}
    \caption{On the left, a person's sketch of a dollar bill from memory.  On the right, the same person's sketch with access to a reference.  This indicates that humans only remember and can perform recognition with only a small handful of salient aspects of data and have substantial detail invariance.  (Image credit: \textit{The empty brain}~\cite{epstein2016empty})}
    \label{fig:dollarsketch}
\end{figure*}

Humans experience a high resolution world which is rich in details, yet are able to discern small amounts of highly relevant information from the world.  Thus humans learn abstractions that store important pieces of information while discarding others.  For example, Figure~\ref{fig:dollarsketch} shows how only a subset of the visual details in a dollar bill are remember by a person asked to produce a sketch without a reference.

The quality of the abstractions learned by humans may be an important factor in the flexibility and adaptability of human perception: we are able to understand objects and our environment even as details change.

Disturbingly, a growing body of evidence shows that while deep networks have visual perception which is competitive with humans (at least in some cases), the abstractions learned by deep networks differ substantially from what humans learn.

An exploration by \cite{wang2019high} showed that deep networks correctly classify objects when only high-frequency components of the image are preserved but fail completely when only low-frequency components are preserved (the low frequency version of image is a blurred version of that image).  This is the opposite of the inductive bias demonstrated by humans.

The adversarial examples literature has \cite{szegedy2013intriguing} found that neural network's predictions can be changed by extremely small (adversarially selected) perturbations which are imperceptible to human vision.  At the same time these small perturbations have either a very small effect on humans (when given very little time to process an image) \cite{elsayed2018human}  or no effect at all.

The BagNet project \cite{brendel2018bagnet} explored using bags of local features for Imagenet classification and found that such models could achieve  competitive results.  Additionally, they found that if one performed style transfer on real images \cite{gatys2015neural} and retained the textures while scrambling the image's content, standard convolutional imagenet classifiers retained strong performance.  This is evidence that convnets trained on datasets similar to Imagenet may learn primarily from local textures while discarding global structure, indicating a strong lack of detail invariance.
On artificial images with the local texture from one image but the global shape and content of another image, imagenet classifier's nearly always prefer the class associated with the texture rather than the content \cite{geirhos2018imagenet}.  Additionally this can be partially addressed and generalization improved by training on artificially stylized examples in the imagenet dataset.

We create a dataset, which we call SketchTransfer, where a neural network is evaluated on the quality of its abstractions learned without explicit supervision.   More specifically, we constructed a dataset in which a model must be able to classify images of sketches while only having access to labels for real images.  As an example of why this task is difficult, consider sketches of dogs and cats.  Many of these sketches choose to focus on the face of the animal.  Oftentimes the only clear difference between a dog sketch and a cat sketch is the shape of the ears, with dogs having round ears and cats having pointed ears.  While the shape of the ears is a feature which is present in real images of cats and dogs, a neural network may not pick up on this highly salient feature.

While ideally a network could perform this task with just real data and without any access to data points with missing details, this may make the task too difficult.  To make the task easier, we give the network access to unlabeled sketches with the long-term goal of creating networks that can perform well with as little sketch data as possible or perhaps no sketch data at all (in practice we found the task is challenging even with a substantial amount of sketch data).

An emerging view in machine learning is that a great deal of learning is accomplished in a ``self-supervised way'' by relying primarily on the structure in unlabeled natural data as a form of supervision.  A successful algorithm on the SketchTransfer dataset could provide evidence that detail invariance is also achievable without the use of explicit of supervision of data with missing details.

Our new dataset, which we call SketchTransfer, provides the following contributions:

\begin{itemize}
    \item A new dataset for transfer learning, which is approachable with today's state of the art methods but is still very challenging.
    \item A demonstration that even well-regularized algorithms fail to generalize across different levels of detail.
    \item A brief exposition of a few state-of-the-art approaches to transfer learning and experiments with them on the SketchTransfer dataset.
\end{itemize}

\section{SketchTransfer}

The SketchTransfer training dataset consists of two parts: labeled real images and unlabeled sketch images.  The test dataset consists of labeled sketch images.  To make the task as straightforward as possible, we used the already popular CIFAR-10 dataset as the source of labeled real images.

We used the quickdraw dataset \cite{quickdraw2019dataset} as the source of sketch images.  This dataset consists of 345 classes and was collected by asking volunteers to quickly sketch a given class with a 20 second time limit.  For the SketchTransfer dataset, we rendered the QuickDraw images at a fixed resolution of 32x32.

The quickdraw dataset contains many more classes than CIFAR-10 and the classes are slightly different and generally more detailed.  To solve this we defined a correspondence between the classes in CIFAR-10 and a relevant subset of the quickdraw classes (shown in Table~\ref{tb:correspondence}).  For example we map the quickdraw classes ``Car'' and ``Police Car'' onto the CIFAR-10 class automobile.

One small issue is that CIFAR-10 contains a deer class and QuickDraw doesn't.  Thus we elected to make our SketchTransfer test set only have 9 classes, but for the convenience of researchers we keep the CIFAR-10 training set the same (having 10 classes).  Our final dataset of sketches consists of 9 classes which correspond directly to CIFAR-10 classes.  This sketch dataset has a total of 90000 training images and 22500 test images (10000 and 2500 per class respectively).

Examples from both real and sketch images across all the classes can be seen in Figure~\ref{fig:examples_sketchtransfer} and Figure~\ref{fig:examples_of_classes_in_dataset}.  One important property of SketchTransfer is that aside from sharing common classes, there is no explicit pairing between the real images and the sketch images.

We received permission from the Google Creative Lab to use the Quickdraw dataset \cite{quickdraw2019dataset}.

\begin{figure}
    \centering
    Plane
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_0_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_0_qd.png}
    Car
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_1_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_1_qd.png}
    Bird
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_2_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_2_qd.png}
    Cat
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_3_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_3_qd.png}
    Dog
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_5_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_5_qd.png}
    Frog
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_6_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_6_qd.png}
    Horse
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_7_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_7_qd.png}
    Ship
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_8_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_8_qd.png}
    Truck
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_9_cifar.png}
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 0 12cm 0},clip]{figures/examples/real_9_qd.png}
    \caption{Examples from all of the classes in the SketchTransfer dataset, with real images from the class and sketch images from the class.  }
    \label{fig:examples_of_classes_in_dataset}
\end{figure}

\section{Related Datasets}

Datasets of human sketches make it possible for algorithms to learn representations closely aligned with human priors. Prior to QuickDraw~\cite{quickdraw2019dataset}, the Sketch dataset~\cite{berlindb} of 20K hand sketches was used to explore feature extraction techniques.  A later work, the Sketchy dataset~\cite{sketchydb}, provided 70K vector sketches paired with corresponding photo images for various classes to facilitate a larger-scale exploration of human sketches. ShadowDraw~\cite{shadowdraw} used a dataset of 30K raster images combined with extracted vectorized features to construct an interactive system that predicts what a finished drawing looks like based on a set of incomplete brush strokes from the user's digital canvas. In addition to human sketches, ancient Eastern scripts also have sketch-like properties. For example, \cite{clanuwat2018deep} considered using an RNN and VAEs to generate sketched Japanese characters.  Understanding and recognizing these historical Japanese characters has become an important and widely studied problem in the digital humanities field \cite{clanuwat2018kuzu,clanuwat2019kuronet}.

In developmental childhood psychology, \cite{long2018drawings,long_fan_chai_frank_2019} performed a series of experiments in which they tasked children of various ages with drawing sketches of certain classes, and then studying the properties of the sketches using convolutional neural networks.  Their main finding was that visual features become more distinctive in the drawings produced by older children and that this goes beyond differences in visuomotor controls.  This provides some evidence that for humans the deeper knowledge gained about objects from growing older, is reflected in sketches.

{\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
\begin{table}[htp!]
\centering
\caption{Class correspondences used to construct the sketch part of the SketchTransfer dataset.  }
\label{tb:correspondence}
\vspace{0.2cm}
\rowcolors{2}{gray!25}{white}
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
\rowcolor{gray!50}
Cifar-10 Class & QuickDraw Classes\\
\makecell[c]{Airplane} & \makecell[c]{Airplane} \\
Automobile & \makecell[c]{ Car\\\quad\quad\quad\,\, Police Car \quad\quad\quad\quad} \\
\makecell[c]{Bird} & \makecell[c]{Bird\\Duck\\Flamingo\\Owl\\Parrot\\Penguin\\Swan} \\
 Cat & \makecell[c]{Cat\\Lion\\\quad\quad\quad\quad\,\, Tiger \,\quad\quad\quad\quad\quad}\\
Deer & \makecell[c]{n/a}\\
Dog & Dog \\
\makecell[c]{Frog} & \makecell[c]{Frog}\\
Horse & Horse\\
\makecell[c]{Ship} & \makecell[c]{Cruise Ship\\Sailboat\\Speedboat}\\
Truck & \makecell[c]{\quad\quad\quad\quad\,\, Truck \,\,\,\,\,\,\quad\quad\quad\quad\\ \quad  Firetruck \,\,}\\
\end{tabular}
\vspace{-0.5cm}
\end{table}}

\section{Baselines}
\label{sec:baselines}

We evaluated several techniques on the proposed SketchTransfer dataset.  First we considered techniques which only use the labeled source data (real images) including the use of regularization.  As these models don't see the sketches during training, we might expect that it would be difficult for these models to generalize well on sketches.  For techniques which take advantage of the unlabeled data, we primarily focus on methods which perform well on existing benchmarks.  One such benchmark is SVHN to MNIST, which involves transfer learning between very detailed color images of digits (SVHN) and plain black-and-white digit images (MNIST) \cite{mao2019virtual}.  One key idea is to try to make the model's representations on source datapoints and target domain datapoints more similar, which we discuss in Section~\ref{sec:adapt}.  Another key idea is to enforce a consistency based objective on the target domain, which is also widely used in semi-supervised learning \cite{verma2019ict}.  The idea with this is to discourage the classifier's decision boundary from passing through regions where the data in the target domain has high density (and thus encourage connected regions of high density to share the same predicted label).  Virtual adversarial training (Section~\ref{sec:vat}) and virtual mixup training (Section~\ref{sec:vmt}) are both motivated by this notion of consistency.

\subsection{Training only on Labeled Source Data}

As the simplest baseline, we consider simply training a network on the CIFAR-10 dataset and evaluating on sketches.

\subsection{Regularized Training on Source Data}

One possible approach is to still only use the real labeled images, but use regularization.  A possibility is that this will force the model to use the more salient features in the data to predict on real images which will then be usable when predicting on sketches.  For example, \cite{verma2019manifold} found that the use of Manifold Mixup improves robustness to several classes of artificial image distortions.

\begin{align}
\begin{split}
\label{eq:mixup}
  \tilde{x} &= \lambda x_i + (1 - \lambda) x_j,\\
  \tilde{y} &= \lambda y_i + (1 - \lambda) y_j.
\end{split}
\end{align}

Mixup is a state of the art regularizer for deep networks which involves training with linear interpolations of images and using a corresponding interpolation of the labels (Equation~\ref{eq:mixup}).  In its original formulation \cite{zhang2017mixup}, it is only applicable to training with labeled data, although an unsupervised variant has also been explored \cite{beckham2019adversarial}.

\subsection{Adversarial Domain Adaptation}
\label{sec:adapt}

Domain adversarial training \cite{ganin2016domain} consists of taking the hidden representations learned by a network on a source domain and a target domain and using an adversarially trained discriminator $d$ to make the representations $g(x)$ follow the same overall distribution.  Since the discriminator is trained on hidden states (for both source and target domains), it does not require labeled data from the target domain.

\begin{multline}
\label{eq:dann}
\minimize_{f}  \mathcal{L}_y(f;\mathcal{X}_s, \mathcal{Y}_s) + \lambda_d \mathcal{L}_d(g;\mathcal{X}_s,\mathcal{X}_t)\\
\mathcal{L}_d(g;\mathcal{X}_s,\mathcal{X}_t) = \sup_{d}\mathbb{E}_{x \sim \mathcal{X}_s} \brac{\ln d(g(x))} \\+ \mathbb{E}_{x \sim \mathcal{X}_t} \brac{\ln (1 - d(g(x)))},
\end{multline}

The adversarial domain adaptation objective (Equation~\ref{eq:dann}) augments the usual classifier objective on source data $\mathcal{X}_s$ and a hyperparameter $\lambda_d$ is used to adjust the weight of the adversarial loss, which aims to make features $g(x)$ look similar for examples from the source and target distributions.

\subsection{Virtual Adversarial Training}
\label{sec:vat}

The virtual adversarial training (VAT) \cite{miyato2018virtual} algorithm is based on the Consistency regularization principle.  The central idea of this algorithm is to use pseudolabels of unlabeled samples to generate adversarial perturbations, and use these adversarial perturbations instead of random perturbations for Consistency regularization.
We always used the FGSM attack for computing the virtual adversarial perturbations \cite{goodfellow2014explaining}.

\begin{align}
\mathcal{L}_v(f; \mathcal{X}) = \mathbb{E}_{x \sim \mathcal{X}} \brac{\max_{\| r\| \le \epsilon} \text{D}_\text{KL}(f(x) \| f(x + r))}.
\label{eq:vat}
\end{align}

Thus given some ball with a radius $\| r\| \le \epsilon$ around each of the data points we encourage the change in the model's prediction $f$ to be small (Equation~\ref{eq:vat}).

\subsection{Dirt-T}

The Decision Boundary Iterative Refinement Training with a Teacher (or ``Dirt-T'') algorithm \cite{shu2018dirt} starts with a pre-trained model and considers an iterative refinement procedure to enforce the cluster assumption on the unlabeled target data (the cluster assumption is the notion that decision boundaries are more likely to pass through regions of low-density).  Because this is only done on the target domain, it leads to high loss on the source domain, but also allows for the possibility of distribution-shift between the source and target domains.

\subsection{Virtual Mixup Training (VMT)}
\label{sec:vmt}

The approaches which combine \textit{consistency regularization} with Mixup training \cite{mixup, verma2019manifold,verma2019graphmix} have shown to achieve state-of-the-art results in semi-supervised learning paradigm \cite{verma2019ict,mixmatch}. VMT \cite{mao2019virtual} extends these approaches in the paradigm of Unsupervised Domain Adaptation by combining them with the Domain Adversarial Training \cite{ganin2016domain}. More formally, VMT \cite{mao2019virtual} augments the loss function of Domain Adversarial Training and the entropy minimization loss with the Mixup loss.

In the case of target domain, since the targets are not available, similar to the \cite{verma2019ict, mixmatch, miyato2018virtual}, the pseudolabels of the unlabeled samples are used for mixing. The mixing of samples and pseudolabels are done as follows (where $\lambda~\sim Beta(\alpha, \alpha)$):
\begin{align}
\label{eq:vmt}
\begin{split}
  \tilde{x} &= \lambda x_i + (1 - \lambda) x_j,\\
  \tilde{y} &= \lambda f(x_i) + (1 - \lambda) f(x_j),
\end{split}
\end{align}

The Mixup loss function on pseudolabels (Equation~\ref{eq:vmt}), that can be augmented with other losses, is  given as follows:
\begin{align}
\label{eq:vmt_loss}
\mathcal{L}_m(f; \mathcal{X}) = \mathbb{E}_{x \sim \mathcal{X}} \brac{ \text{D}_\text{KL}(\tilde{y} \| f(\tilde{x}))}.
\end{align}

\subsection{Rotation Prediction}

We can also consider adding self-supervised objectives, with the intuition that solving this objective may require the model to have a more thorough understanding of salient aspects than is required to predict the class.  One such self-supervised objective that we consider, due to its simplicity, is randomly rotating input images by either 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees, and having the model classify the degree of rotation as a 4-way classification task \cite{feng2019rotate}.  As this objective does not require labels, we can apply it on both the real images and the sketch images.

\subsection{CyCada and CycleGAN}

The CyCada project \cite{hoffman2017cycada} explored the use of the CycleGAN algorithm \cite{zhu2017unpaired} for transfer learning to new domains.  Essentially the CycleGAN consists of an encoder which maps from the source domain to the target domain and a decoder which maps back to the source domain.  A discriminator is used to encourage the encoded domain to follow the same distribution as the target domain.  Notably this can be done without having access to paired examples from the source and target domains.

\section{Experiments}

First we consider running all the baselines discussed in Section~\ref{sec:baselines} on the full SketchTransfer dataset, with 10000 unlabeled images per class (or zero per class, for the baselines which don't use the unlabeled sketches).  All numbers are accuracies.  We ran two identical trials of each experiment with different random seeds and report the mean and standard deviation.  The results of running with these baseline algorithms is presented in Table~\ref{tb:results1}.

We note that our best result not using labeled sketch data is the same combination of techniques which achieved the best result in Virtual Mixup Training \cite{mao2019virtual}.  However on their tasks involving MNIST to SVHN and SVHN to MNIST transfer, this approach was able to almost match the performance of a classifier trained on labeled examples from the target domain.  However on the SketchTransfer task there is still a clear gap between the 59\% obtained with only unlabeled sketches and the 87\% obtained by training on labeled sketches.

\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}{
\begin{table*}[]
\centering
\caption{Performance of different baseline models on SketchTransfer.  We ran two trials for each experiment and we report mean with standard deviation in parenthesis.  We also report a supervised learning result for a model trained directly on the labeled sketch training set.  Our results indicate that using the unlabeled sketch data improves substantially but still falls short of the a model trained directly on labeled sketches.  }
\vspace{0.2cm}
\label{tb:results1}
\rowcolors{2}{gray!25}{white}
\begin{tabular}{lcccccccccc}
\toprule
\rowcolor{gray!50}
\makecell{Inst.\\Norm} & \makecell{Domain\\Adv.} & \makecell{Source\\Mixup} & \makecell{Virtual\\Mixup} & \makecell{Source\\VAT} & \makecell{Target\\VAT} & DIRT-T & CyCada & \makecell{Rotation\\Pred.} & \makecell[c]{\, Unlabeled\\ \, Sketches\\ \, Per Class} & \makecell[c]{\quad\quad Test\quad\quad\quad\\Accuracy} \\
\checkmark  &   &   & \checkmark &   &   &   &   &   & 10000 & $17.55 (4.95)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray

   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   0   & $23.29  (0.37)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray
   &   &   &   &   &   &   & \checkmark &   & 10000 & $25.27 (0.12)$\\%\arrayrulecolor{gray
   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   & \checkmark & 10000 & $27.90 (0.38)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  & \checkmark &   &   &   &   &   &   &   & 10000 & $30.31 (0.19)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  &   & \checkmark &   &   &   &   &   &   &   0   & $35.66 (0.16)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  &   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   0   & $35.84 (1.56)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  &   &   &   & \checkmark &   &   &   &   &   0   & $37.74 (1.44)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  &   & \checkmark &   & \checkmark &   &   &   &   &   0   & $38.72 (0.75)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  &   &   &   & & \checkmark   &   &   &   & 10000 & $41.15 (0.45)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark &   &   &   & 10000 & $51.60 (6.30)$ \\%\arrayrulecolor{gray}\hline
\checkmark  & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark & \checkmark &   &   & 10000 & $\underline{58.85 (2.85)}$ \\
\checkmark  &   & \checkmark &   & \checkmark &   &   &   &   & Supervised & $87.25 (0.45)$ \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\vspace{-0.5cm}
\end{table*}}

\subsection{Analysis}

While we demonstrated in Table~\ref{tb:results1} that a model trained only on real images performs better than average on sketches, and this performance is improved by the use of transfer learning with sketches, it gives little direct insight into the nature of this improvement.  To address this we considered two different analysis on the learned models.  To make this analysis as clean as possible, we only considered our best model trained only on real images, our best model trained on unlabeled sketches, and our best model trained on label sketches.  The best model was selected according to the test accuracies in Table~\ref{tb:results1}.  All of these analysis were performed on the test set.

First we considered a confusion matrix analysis, given in Figure~\ref{fig:confusion}.  The confusion matrix shows the distribution over predicted classes for each ground truth class.  A stronger diagonal indicates higher accuracy.  We can see that a model trained only on real images is most accurate on planes, trucks, and ships.  The confusion matrix for the model trained with unlabeled sketches shows dramatically better classification on the bird, cat, dog, frog, and horse classes.

Additionally, we conducted an analysis where we collected the k-nearest neighbors for test images using different distance metrics (Figure~\ref{fig:nearest_neighbors}).  First, we considered a simple euclidean distance in pixel space, and this yielded extremely poor nearest-neighbors, with very low semantic and class similarity.  Next we used different encoders and ran it until reaching an 8x8 spatial representation and used simple euclidean distance in this space.  With a purely random encoder, this yielded poor results.  However, with networks trained on real images, the quality of the nearest neighbors was substantially improved in terms of semantic similarity.  We also observed that the network trained using transfer learning on unlabeled sketches had even more semantically relevant nearest neighbors.

\begin{figure}[!]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{figures/confusion/source_confusion.png}
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{figures/confusion/vmt_confusion.png}
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{figures/confusion/supervised_confusion.png}
    \caption{Confusion matrices indicating predicted and true classes for a model trained only on real images (top), our best transfer learning model (center), and a model trained on labeled sketch images (bottom).  A stronger diagonal indicates better performance.  The model trained only on real images has the best performance on planes and trucks.  The model exploiting unlabeled images performs better on many more classes, but still struggles to separate cats and dogs as well as horses and dogs.  }
    \label{fig:confusion}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[ht!]
    \centering
    Pixel-Based
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 18cm 0cm 1.2cm},clip]{figures/nearest_neighbors/pixel_nn.png}
    Randomly Initialized Network
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 18cm 0cm 1.2cm},clip]{figures/nearest_neighbors/random_nn.png}
    Network Trained only on Real Images
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 18cm 0cm 1.2cm},clip]{figures/nearest_neighbors/source_nn.png}
    Network Trained with Unlabeled Sketch Images
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 18cm 0cm 1.2cm},clip]{figures/nearest_neighbors/vmt_nn.png}
    Network trained on Labeled Sketch images
    \includegraphics[width=\linewidth,trim={0 18cm 0cm 1.2cm},clip]{figures/nearest_neighbors/supervised_nn.png}
    \caption{Nearest Neighbors on the test set using different distances (original on the left).  Note that the distance learned after transfer learning is clearly more semantically meaningful, and even a well-regularized model using only the source data learned surprisingly good features for sketches.  }
    \label{fig:nearest_neighbors}
\end{figure}

\section{Discussion}

In this work, we propose the problem of whether a machine learning algorithm can develop representations of everyday things that can be mapped to human doodles, but giving the learning algorithm access to unlabelled doodle data. We could also consider an alternative approach where we train an artificial agent to sequentially draw, one stroke at a time, a given pixel image (such as CIFAR-10 samples) and by constraining the number of brush strokes our agent is allowed to make, we may be able to similar the biological constraints of the human anatomy and thus also develop a human doodle-like representation of actual images.

This approach has been explored in \textit{Artist Agent}~\cite{artistagent} and SPIRAL~\cite{ganin2018synthesizing} where an agent is trained to paint an image from a data distribution using a paint simulator. Subsequent works~\cite{zheng2018strokenet,huang2019learning} combined the SPIRAL algorithm with the sketch-rnn~\cite{ha2017neural} algorithm and enhanced the drawing agent by giving it an internal \textit{world model}~\cite{ha2018worldmodels} to demonstrate that the agent can learn to paint inside its imagination. While the aforementioned works train an agent with an objective function to produce doodles that are as photorealistic as possible, a recent work~\cite{nakano2019neural} trains an agent to optimize instead for the \textit{content loss} defined by a neural style transfer algorithm~\cite{gatys2015neural}, opening up the exciting possibility of training agents that can produce truly abstract versions of photos.

However, the doodle representations of everyday objects developed by humans are not merely confined to our constrained biological ability to draw objects sequentially with our hands, stroke-by-stroke, but cultural influence is also at play. The location meta-data from the original QuickDraw dataset provided interesting examples of this phenomenon. For instance, it has been observed that most Americans draw circles counterclockwise, while most people in Japan draw them clockwise~\cite{qz2017}. Chairs drawn in different countries tend to have different orientations~\cite{jana2017}. Snowman in hotter countries consists of two snowballs, while for colder countries consists tend to have three~\cite{forma2017}. By giving our algorithm actual unlabelled doodle data produced by humans around the world, we give our machine learning algorithms a chance to learn the true representation of objects developed by all of humanity.

\section{Future Work}

The idea of SketchTransfer is quite general and we identify a few ways in which it could be extended:

\begin{itemize}
    \item While CIFAR-10 does contain realistic images, it is limited in a few ways.  First, the images are rather small, being only 32x32.  Second, the number of labeled images is relatively small.  Third, they generally only contain the object of interest and lack context, both spatial and temporal.  Selecting a dataset which is stronger along any of these axis could be a useful improvement to the SketchTransfer task.
    \item Sketches are to a large extent an extreme case of images which lack irrelevant details.  Various cartoons and shaded illustrations may be a reasonable middle-ground and serve as an easier analogue task to SketchTransfer.
    \item We elected to make the task easier by providing access to unlabeled sketch images.  Another way to accomplish this might be to provide a very small number of labeled sketch images and use meta-learning to perform few-shot (or one-shot) classification of sketches.  The task classification without using any sketch data during training would be challenging, yet \cite{goyal2019recurrent} demonstrated strong generalization to changing environments by encourage independent mechanisms as an inductive bias of the architecture.
\end{itemize}

\newpage
\section{Conclusion}

Human perceptual understanding shows a great deal of invariance to details and emphasis on salient features which today's deep networks lack.  We have introduced SketchTransfer, a new dataset for studying this phenomenon concretely and quantitatively.  We applied the current state-of-the-art algorithms on domain transfer to this task (along with ablations).  Intriguingly we found that they only achieve 60\% accuracy on the SketchTransfer task, which is between the 11\% accuracy of a random classifier but falls dramatically short of the 90\% classifier trained on the labeled sketch dataset.  This indicates that this new SketchTransfer task could be a powerful testbed for exploring detail invariance and abstractions learned by deep networks.

\clearpage
{\small
\bibliographystyle{ieee}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


LG is releasing the world first dual core smartphone with its LG Optimus 2X running Android operating system. This dual core phone will run on an Nvidia chip and offers better performance and enhanced multimedia experience with its double core processors.
The initial launch of the Optimus 2X is set to be at the beginning of January, first in Korea and other countries in Asia followed by Europe. No due date is available for America as of now. Initially, the Optimus 2X will be released with Android 2.2 "Froyo" and will be upgradeable to Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" at a later date.
The Nvidia Tegra 2 chip incorporates a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor that runs at a speed of 1 GHz. It also integrates an ultra-low power (ULP) GeForce GPU for graphics acceleration boasting low power consumption and a video processor for playing video and audio with full frame rate 1080p.
"Dual-core technology is the next leap forward in mobile technology so this is no small achievement to be the first to offer a smartphone utilizing this technology," said Jong-seok Park, CEO and President of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.
The Optimus 2X supports HDMI output, DLNA connection enabling it to display video content at full High-definition quality on an external display.
Other features of the Optimus 2X include 8GB memory, with microSD cards expandable up to 32GB, an 8-megapixel camera and an 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.


text:
Rahm Emanuel 'ineligible' for Chicago mayor race
Barack Obama's former top aide could be barred from running for mayor of Chicago, the "dream job" he quit the White House to pursue.
Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel announces his candidacy for mayor of Chicago on 13 November Photo: GETTY
By Jon Swaine
Rahm Emanuel, Mr Obama's chief of staff until last month, is facing a legal challenge to his campaign amid claims he is ineligible because he has not been living in the city.
He is also accused of making an "incorrect statement" to election officials to have himself reinstated on the electoral roll ahead of his mayoral bid.
While working for Mr Obama, Mr Emanuel lived with his family in Washington, where his children went to school. His Chicago house was rented out to a tenant who is now refusing to leave.
An Illinois state code dating from 1871 dictates: "A person is not eligible for an elected municipal office" if they have not "resided in the municipality at least one year preceding the election".
It has emerged that Mr Emanuel was twice removed from the city's electoral roll, because enrolment cards sent to him at his house were not completed and returned.
Rahm Emanuel campaigns in Chicago
But he was reinstated after signing a declaration that the house, on the north side of Chicago, remained his residence.
Burt Odelson, an electoral lawyer who works for one of Mr Emanuel's opponents, has said he will challenge Mr Emanuel's candidacy with the Chicago city election board next week.
Mr Odelson, an electoral lawyer who works for one of Mr Emanuel's opponents, told The Daily Telegraph: "This was an incorrect statement and it should not have been accepted. A resident is a resident. He lived in Washington." The case could proceed through the courts if either side disputes the verdict.
Mr Emanuel's advisers claim the challenge to his campaign is purely politically motivated and insist he is eligible to stand.
Mike Kreloff, an election lawyer for Mr Emanuel, cited a separate Illinois election code stating electors are not deemed to have forfeited their residence while absent "on business of the United States".
But Adam Lasker, the chairman of the Chicago Bar Association's Election Law Committee, said this section applies to voters, not candidates. "This might not save the day for Rahm Emanuel," he said.
The dispute could come down to Mr Emanuel's decision to lease the Chicago home, which has baffled observers who point out he earned an estimated $16 million as a banker after working for Bill Clinton.
"His real problem is not that he left Chicago, but that he decided to rent out his house here," Mr Lasker told The Daily Telegraph.
"This left him with no legal place in the city in which to reside. By contrast Barack Obama, who does not live in his Chicago house but has not rented it out, would be eligible."
The position of mayor is available because Richard M. Daley – the son of the legendary city "boss" Richard J. Daley, who was mayor between 1955 and 1976 – is retiring after 21 years in the job.
Asked in April what job he would most like to do, Mr Emanuel said: "I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago. That's always been an aspiration of mine".
The bitter dispute over his candidacy is the latest to emerge from Chicago's notoriously ruthless political establishment.
While often viewed as being above the use of such tactics, Mr Obama cleared his path to becoming an Illinois state senator in 1996 by challenging the paperwork of rivals for the Democratic candidacy.
When asked years later about his actions, Mr Obama said: "We were just abiding by the rules that had been set up."
In US Politics
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American Way: Don't let anybody tell you these midterms are meaningless


text:
Q: JSF - Pasar valor de checkbox condicionado para sentencia Update Tengo el siguiente inconveniente, tengo un datatable en Primefaces que me muestra una serie de registros, a los cuales puedo editarlos. Al momento de editarlos, me manda una ventana Modal que me muestra los campos editables entre ellos, un checkbox que se precarga según la condición del campo de la DB.
<p:outputLabel value="Contenedor Temperado?" />
<h:selectBooleanCheckbox id="tempcheckbox" value="#{ordenRetiroBean.ord.es_temperado!=0}">
</h:selectBooleanCheckbox>

Ahora, este valor, al momento de actualizar, me manda a mi método en el Bean la lista de campos afectados y también la sesión activa (auditoría).
 public void commitEdit() throws SQLException {
    daoOrdenRetiro.editOrdenRetiro(ord, sessionUsuario);
    listadoOrdenes = daoOrdenRetiro.findAll();
}

Y mi método DAO lo que tengo es la siguiente manera, que si or.getest_orden == 1, haga esta sentencia, caso contrario haga la otra.
public void editOrdenRetiro(OrdenRetiro or,Usuario u) throws SQLException {
    conexion con = new conexion();
    PreparedStatement pst;
    con.getConnection().setAutoCommit(false);
    ResultSet rs = null;
    String query = "";
    try {
        if (or.getEs_temperado()==1) {
            query = "update publico.ordenretiro"
                    + "set cia_codigo=?, ids_itinerario=?, lin_codigo=?, booking=?, pto_codigo=?, mov_xcuenta=?, cant_tipocont=?, "
                    + "tipo_carga=?, req_especial=?,"
                    + "inv_seguridad=?, temperatura=?, ventilacion=?, observaciones=?, loc_salida=?, loc_entrada=?, "
                    + "fecha_mod=current_timestamp, usu_mod=?"
                    + "where cod_ordenretiro=?";
        } else {
            query = "update publico.ordenretiro"
                    + "set cia_codigo=?, ids_itinerario=?, lin_codigo=?, booking=?, pto_codigo=?, mov_xcuenta=?, cant_tipocont=?, "
                    + "tipo_carga=?, req_especial=?, "
                    + "inv_seguridad=?, observaciones=?, loc_salida=?, loc_entrada=?, fecha_mod=current_timestamp, usu_mod=?"
                    + "where cod_ordenretiro=?";
        }
        pst = con.getConnection().prepareStatement(query);
        if (or.getEs_temperado() == 1) {
            pst.setString(1, or.getCia_codigo());
            pst.setInt(2, or.getIds_itinerario());
            pst.setString(3, or.getLin_codigo());
            pst.setString(4, or.getBooking());
            pst.setString(5, or.getPto_codigo());
            pst.setString(6, or.getMov_xcuenta());
            pst.setString(7, or.getCant_tipocont());
            pst.setString(8, or.getTipo_carga());
            pst.setString(9, or.getReq_especial());
            pst.setString(10, or.getInv_seguridad());
            pst.setString(12, or.getTemperatura());
            pst.setString(13, or.getVentilacion());
            pst.setString(14, or.getObservaciones());
            pst.setInt(15, or.getLoc_salida());
            pst.setInt(16, or.getLoc_entrada());
            pst.setString(17, u.getLogin());
            pst.executeUpdate();
        }
        if (or.getEs_temperado() == 0) {
            pst.setString(1, or.getCia_codigo());
            pst.setInt(2, or.getIds_itinerario());
            pst.setString(3, or.getLin_codigo());
            pst.setString(4, or.getBooking());
            pst.setString(5, or.getPto_codigo());
            pst.setString(6, or.getMov_xcuenta());
            pst.setString(7, or.getCant_tipocont());
            pst.setString(8, or.getTipo_carga());
            pst.setString(9, or.getReq_especial());
            pst.setString(10, or.getInv_seguridad());
            pst.setString(11, or.getObservaciones());
            pst.setInt(12, or.getLoc_salida());
            pst.setInt(13, or.getLoc_entrada());
            pst.setString(14, u.getLogin());
            pst.executeUpdate();
        }

        con.getConnection().commit();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.out.println("DAO EDITAR ORDEN RETIRO: " + e.getMessage());
        con.getConnection().rollback();
    } finally {
        con.desconectar();
    }
}

Pero me manda el error

value="#{ordenRetiroBean.ord.es_temperado!=0}": Sitáxis ilegal para Operación de Poner Valor

A: Ya lo logré. Lo que hice fue crear un boolean en mi Bean.
boolean temperado2;

La cual, paso a darle valor en el método que se ejecuta cuando presiono Editar, que me abre una ventana modal.
public void showEditDialog(OrdenRetiro orde) {
    ord = orde;
    temperado2 = (ord.getEs_temperado() != 0);
}

Y en mi xhtml lo que hago es darle el valor del boolean:
<p:outputLabel value="Contenedor Temperado?" />
     <h:selectBooleanCheckbox id="tempcheckbox" value="#{ordenRetiroBean.temperado2}">
</h:selectBooleanCheckbox>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Footprints in the Ash - Is Genesis History?
Lavishly illustrated "picture book" that shares the full, explosive story of Mount St. Helens. A powerful testament to the Creator and Judge, who forms canyons in just days, not millions of years!
In the early morning hours of May 18, 1980, the pristine scenery around Washington's Mount St. Helens was shattered by a powerful explosion that devastated its north slope. The eruption of a landmark mountain had begun.
In the aftermath, amid the rivers of mud, blankets of ash, and eerie quiet, scientists made a startling discovery: "nature" was bringing life out of death, re-claiming from the destruction a teeming colony of plant and animal life. Most amazing of all, the geological upheavals had re-created the processes of old that had carved out such marvels as the Grand Canyon.
Today, the site stands as a testament to the power of God, who upholds all of creation. In His infinite wisdom, He has shown the modern science of geology that the earth is much, much younger that many suspected.


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Places >
Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe >
Scandinavian Political Geography >
Norway Overview >
Norway Overview: Economy
Almost three quarters of Norway's land is unproductive; less than 4% is under cultivation and the country imports over 50% of its food. The vast mountain pastures are used for the grazing of cattle and sheep, and, in the north, for reindeer raising. Barley, wheat, and potatoes are grown. About one quarter of Norway is forested; timber is a chief natural resource and is the basis for one of the main industries. The beautiful Norwegian fjords and the midnight sun of the far north attract many tourists. Fishing (notably of cod, herring, and mackerel) is important, and fresh, canned, and salted fish are exported.
The country's chief industries are petroleum and natural gas production, shipping, and trading. Since the discovery of petroleum in the Ekofisk field in 1969, the petroleum and natural gas industries have become vital to Norway's economy, bringing increased employment, but also increased inflation and a vulnerability to fluctuations in the world petroleum market (most of the oil and gas is exported). Other mineral resources include iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, titanium, pyrites, and nickel. Aluminum, ferroalloys, and semifinished steel are produced. Almost all of Norway's electricity is supplied by hydroelectric power, and the country exports hydroelectricity as well. Food processing, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, and textiles are important to the economy. The great Norwegian merchant fleet carries a large part of the world's trade. Petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, ships, and fish are the main exports; imports include capital goods, chemicals, metals, and foodstuffs. The chief trading partners are Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and France.
Land and People
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Scandinavian Political Geography


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La Milán-San Remo 1926 fue la 19.ª edición de la Milán-San Remo. La carrera se disputó el 15 de abril de 1926. El vencedor final el italiano Costante Girardengo, que de esta manera conseguía su quinta victoria en esta carrera.

Clasificación final

Enlaces externos
 Resultados completos en les-sports.info
 Resultado de la Milán-San Remo 1926

1926
Italia en 1926
Ciclismo en 1926

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Batman Reloaded
By TestosteRohne, July 8, 2006 in Comics
Chinese bakery
Location:Beijing
The last two issues do seem to be pulling the various threads from Morrison's thus-far disappointing run into something resembling an entertaining and mildly interesting comic series, though, which is at least vaguely promising.
On the other hand, I got a copy of Dini's detective trade the other day and he hit the ground running. Which one of these guys is supposed to be the comic book genius again?
Awww.....that's unfair. Dini has experience with one character and he writes him well, and it's Batman.
Morrison has taken characters like Doom Patrol and Animal Man and turned them into amazing reads. He's written one of the most defining comic series of the 90s with Invisibles. He hit the ground running with his Superman book.
Yeah, he's been shaky on Batman, but Morrison is still the comic book genius.
Paul Dini is just a damn fine writer on Batman.
Not saying he couldn't do a good job with other characters, because he's very talented. But, I certainly wouldn't classify Dini as the creative genius that Morrison has proven himself.
It's not as if every Dini issue of Detective has been masterful either. He's had some stories that didn't quite work.
I'm not really saying Dini's a genius, but Morrison's not doing himself any favours these days by writing far, far too many comics and movies at the same damned time. As a result, his biography is rapidly filling up with work that's deeply mediocre and far beneath the level he can write at when he's really concentrating on something.
Besides, Morrison by all accounts gave good Batman in the JLA series that he did.
Dave 287
Location:Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Batman 665, Was Damien the Bane ripoff? that part wasn't really clear to me.
No, he wasn't. That was a corrupt cop who's clearly part of some larger conspiracy, same as the guy who shot the Joker in the face back in Morrison's first issue.
Without wanting to seem too patronising, what gave you the impression that it might have been Damian? It struck me as such a strange interpretation that I've just re-read the issue to see if I could figure out what you were basing it on, but I've still got nothin'.
probably a combination of not really remembering the preceding issue too well, and Damian being brought to his mother all beat to hell in what looks like a similar shredded outfit.
So I ask you, What's going on with Damian?
Last time we saw him, he was apparently killed in a huge explosion. It's revealed here that, while badly injured, he survived (who'da thunk it?), and Talia's got all sorts of sci-fi-type medical folks working to make sure he recovers, while she continues to keep an eye on Bruce Wayne, presumably plotting something. We don't know any more than that at this point.
Ahhh, yes. Stupid Short term memory. Really, whats wrong with me that i can't remember that.
Yes, I'm very confused about Morrison's handling of Batman.
He wrote every fan-boys' dream Batman during his JLA run.
But, his LOTDK story was pretty average, and he seems almost intimidated by the Bat-god so far in his run on Batman. Strange....
Damian will also apparently be playing a big part in next issue, Batman #666.
Much as I loved Morrison's JLA version of Batman (seriously, James, you should read it - the whole run is marred by some fucking hideous art by Howard Porter, but if you can get past that, it's got some of the best mainstream writing Morrison's ever done - Rock Of Ages, in particular, is one of my favourite superhero stories. The Morrison/Quitely JLA: Earth 2 trade is well worth picking up too), I can't imagine it working in the main Bat-books. He was just too all-powerful, too overwhelmingly perfect - it worked fine in the "super-team as pantheon of Gods" context of JLA, but would have felt wrong in a street-level, fighting-crime-in-Gotham book.
Unfortunately, what he's come up with for the new version still hasn't entirely coalesced into something satisfying. There are lots of good ideas, in both characterisation and plot terms, but none of it has quite gelled. That said, the most recent two issues have shown a marked improvement, and while I'm slightly sceptical about the solicitation for issue #666, I like the sound of the next arc a lot. If it continues to improve, I'll be happy to pick it up in trade, and write off Batman & Son as a disappointing start. I'm still not as 100% confident in Morrison's ability to pull it off as I would have been a year or two ago, though.
(seriously, James, you should read it - the whole run is marred by some fucking hideous art by Howard Porter, but if you can get past that, it's got some of the best mainstream writing Morrison's ever done - Rock Of Ages, in particular, is one of my favourite superhero stories. The Morrison/Quitely JLA: Earth 2 trade is well worth picking up too)
Yeah, they're on my "to buy" list, but only when I've got around to flogging the excess books that are clogging up my place. I doubt they'll ever go out of print, so I'm not too worried there.
Back like herpes.
Location:The Left Coast
Maybe DC will comission Quitely to go back and re-draw all of Morrison's JLA stories.... that would be the best thing EVAH.
Anyway, Morrison's Batman run thus far has been very meh.
Is he phoning it in? Too many projects/responsibilities over at DC?
Time for the Joker to acquire a fictionsuit, I say.
Dini's run on Detective has been only slightly better. Sadly, I think I like the non-Dini issues just as much as the Dini ones--- but maybe that's due to the art in the spooge-bomber 2-parter.
I will concede that the Joker/Robin story was pretty excellent, though.
And then do The Invisibles.
And then give me a million billion pounds.
Surely this isn't correct. From Rich Johnston's Laying in the Gutters:
In June/July, DC are killing off Batman. Or rather, Bruce Wayne. Robin will inherit the Batman cowl. One of the Robins anyway. Tim Drake. Jason Todd. Or possibly Red Hood. Hey, maybe Jean-Paul Valley, it has been ten years since Azrael.
Either way, the book will relaunch with a nice shiny #1.
Yes, didn't Captain America miss a trick there? I'm sure Marvel will do the same come 2009.
And what of Batwoman? Well, I'm told the launch of the Rucka/Williams series has been pushed back yet again because of the movie, and fears of "unacceptable media coverage." I'm told four issues are fully completed.
Apparently it's okay for Batman to be dead, and a new character take his place when there's a movie out. But not for Batwoman to be a lesbian. At least wait till it's gone to DVD for that brunette bombshell.
Oh, I hope this happens. I really, really do.
Yes, it'd be a crap idea (although Brubaker's Captain America has, if anything, been better since he killed off Steve Rogers), but it won't last more than a few months/a year or two anyway, and the hysterical nerd meltdowns will be hilarious.
Well, we all know that Bruce Wayne won't stay dead. I just don't like the 'shiny new #1' idea.
But i see what you are saying, the outcry will be massive and hysterical.
wolvy 58
Sometimes... you just gotta do IT.
Location:Right behind you...wanking.
Haven't they tried to kill Bruce Wayne and tried to have different people fill in his role. Az Batman to Nightwing in Prodigy.
Why do comic companies do this? They try to kill off a character and decide to "reboot" the numbering of the series.
So, I guess Morrison is going to be off Batman by June or July then?
There's no mention of creators, but with a relaunch, I'm sure Morrison won't still be around.
Probably for the best, since he has Final Crisis coming up and doesn't seem capable of writing more than one monthly title at a time.
Mr. Tom Willecome 0
You talk the way stupid people think clever people talk.
Location:City of Caaaardiff
Neal Adams came out of retirement and all we got was this lousy cover:
That's ugly.
You always get the feeling that constant re-'number oneing' of a series is to try and get new readers to hop on board.
But surely the Bat-canon is one of the most continuity mired universes if new readers have to take into account that the new Batman used to be a sidekick to the old Batman and there have been other old sidekicks to the old Batman who aren't the new Batman but are still out there. What if the new Batman gets a new sidekick who becomes the replacement to one of the sidekicks to the old Batman if they die?
Ginyarg!!!!! Just come up with a new character you lazy bastards or do something good with the characters that exist.
Coming soon... Year One: Year One.
Nice concept, shame about the execution. The linework is OK, but the actual layout is pig-ugly, and horribly confusing to boot.
Still vastly better than the "aargh, I've just shat meself" cover he did for All-Star Superman #1, though:
I'm particularly impressed with the way he made the bottom of Superman's cape look exactly like a hilariously crap-filled bulge in the back of his pants.
Not a bad idea really.
You see if they kill him, then they can replace him with four other Batmen.
Like a punky Bat Boy (Perhaps give him round glasses and a leather jacket), a Cyborg Batman (Half his face is a robotic!), a Batman with Red Visor and and lastly a Black Iron Man/Thor Batman.
Just think about it...
well that way they could have 4 comics with new #1's. Brilliant!
Pimp of the Year
Last week's rumour about Batman kicking the Batbucket to be replaced by a sidekick is kicking up steam. As Valerie D'Orazio picks up on, the original plan was for all the main DC icons to die and be elevated to the status of New Gods as part of the Fifth World, their sidekicks filling the roles they left behind.
However, that plan was abandoned internally at DC and reduced to a Bat-storyline by Grant Morrison. So look for Bruce Wayne New God to go head-to-head with Darkseid in "Final Crisis."
From Lying in the Gutters
And there was something in there about Killing off Nightwing again wasn't there?


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Radio Listings
Love in the Country
Imelda May named artist of the year at Irish Post Awards
Updated / Saturday, 25 Nov 2017 12:20
Imelda May wins Artist of the Year at Irish Post Awards, image via Instagram
Imelda May bagged the Artist of the Year Award at Thursday's Irish Post Awards ceremony which was held in London's Grosvenor House Hotel.
The 40th annual Irish Post Awards, which are organised to champion the Irish community, was hosted by Eamonn Holmes and saw a host of famous faces attend.
Dublin singer May said she was "thrilled and honoured" to receive the award, which was handed to her by TV presenter and comedian Dara Ó Briain.
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Meanwhile, Snow Patrol star Johnny McDaid, who attended the awards with his partner Courteney Cox, scooped the Outstanding Contribution to Music gong.
The Derry native was treated to a video tribute that Cox organised which contained contributions from some of his famous pals who he has worked with over the years.
While accepting the award, he said: "I'm absolutely overwhelmed by all those amazing messages, I'm amazed by Courteney going to that effort – thank you darling."
He subsequently took to Twitter to say he was "very moved by" the tribute.
Thank you to the #IrishPostAwards for the incredible honour tonight. Very moved by all those who contributed and grateful for all the love. JMD
— Johnny McDaid (@johnnymcdaid) November 24, 2017
Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys and his Snow Patrol bandmate Gary Lightbody all voiced their respect for the 41-year-old musician.
Former Take That star Williams said: "He's like a musical therapist, he got me to be the most vulnerable that I've ever been on any song ever", while Snow Patrol singer Lighbody commented: "I don't remember how Johnny and I met, I don't remember a time when I didn't know him.
"His contribution over the last two decades to Irish music is immense."
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Musician Niall Breslin cosied up to former Friends star Courteney Cox at the awards and snapped a selfie where the actress was holding The Little Book of Sound, which Breslin has been involved with promoting.
Bob Geldof was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award which was presented to him by actress Fionnula Flanagan, who herself received the honour in 2015.
The Boomtown Rats star gave an passionate speech onstage while collecting the gong, in which he tackled the Brexit challenge.
Sir Bob Geldof gives intense speech as he receives Lifetime Achievement Award at the Irish Post Awards https://t.co/p32R66eZEw pic.twitter.com/6P0xrUNlZd
— The Irish Post (@theirishpost) November 24, 2017
He said: "Over 90 percent of the Irish in Britain – the great Irish cities of London, Manchester, Liverpool, Derry and Belfast voted to remain.
"It is in the interest of Britain to stay in Europe, as it is in the interest of Ireland to be allied with Britain in Europe, and this is very dangerous for our native country and it is very dangerous for here.
"We have a year and a half to prevent this catastrophe
"As Irish we're used to watching the British shoot themselves in the foot. But this is the first time I've seen them knife themselves in the guts."
Other recipients on the night were Cork brothers Gary and Paul O'Donovan, who won the Outstanding Contribution to Sport, and The Apprentice star Karren Brady who bagged the Outstanding Contribution to Business gong.
The event closed with a special performance by Johnny McDaid and Kodaline.
And that's a wrap... @johnnymcdaid joins @Kodaline on stage to close the 40th Annual @irishpostawards #IrishPostAwards pic.twitter.com/XXNdMqF1Ic
— Grace O' Reilly (@graceyosmiley) November 23, 2017
Johnny Mcdaid


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Q: Pushdown automaton with unequal variables I'm having trouble coming up with a proper automaton that succesfully accepts the following:
A string composed of any number of {a, b, c}* in any order of course, but
n(a) + n(b) != n(c)
Initially, I had assigned 'x' to be pushed into the stack for any 'a' or 'b' and remove 'x's from the stack when a 'c' is encountered. This would loop between two states as needed. Of course, this was complicated in the case that any number of c's precedes a's and b's. I obviously can't remove from an empty stack. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome!

A: This PDA is not trivial. You have to work with two branches (one for increment (A and B) and one for decrement (C)). The trick is to place a top-of-the-stack-marker and look for this marker. if you hit it hold on (don't go further on your band) switch branch and push negatives on your branch.
In the following I define a transition by a triple: (input, pop, push)
For example:

*

*(A,ϵ,#) means: read A from input, pop nothing, push # to the stack

*(ϵ,#,B) means: read nothing (stop at the actual position and don't go further in this step), pop #, push B

*(AB,ϵ,X) means: read A or B and push X

For your example:
S = starting state
Q1 = "switch branches" state, from here the stack is empty and we move in the branch we need in dependend of the next character read from the input band.
Q2, Q3 = States of the there-is-an-A-or-B-next branch
Q4, Q5 = States of the there-is-a-C-next branch
Q6 = State of acceptance (the only one. all other states are not accepting)

Now the transitions:
S -(ϵ,ϵ,#)-> Q1 ' # is our top-of-the-stack-marker

' first branch (for more As and Bs)
Q1 -(AB,ϵ,+)-> Q2 ' for every A or B push a + sign on the stack
Q2 -(AB,ϵ,+)-> Q2
Q2 -(C,+,ϵ)-> Q3 ' for every C consume a + sign
Q3 -(AB,ϵ,+)-> Q2
Q3 -(C,+,ϵ)-> Q3
Q3 -(ϵ,#,#)-> Q1 ' if we reach the top of the stack, return to the Q1 state
Q2 -(ϵ,#,#)-> Q1
Q2 -($,+,+)-> Q6 ' if the input is processed and the stack is not empty => go in the state of acceptance
Q3 -($,+,+)-> Q6 ' if the input is processed and the stack is not empty => go in the state of acceptance

' second branch (for more Cs)
Q1 -(C,ϵ,-)-> Q4 ' for every C push a - sign on the stack
Q4 -(C,ϵ,-)-> Q4
Q4 -(AB,-,ϵ)-> Q5 ' for every A or B consume a - sign
Q5 -(AB,-,ϵ)-> Q5
Q5 -(C,ϵ,-)-> Q4
Q5 -(ϵ,#,#)-> Q1
Q4 -(ϵ,#,#)-> Q1
Q4 -($,-,-)-> Q6 ' if the input is processed and the stack is not empty => go in the state of acceptance
Q5 -($,-,-)-> Q6 ' if the input is processed and the stack is not empty => go in the state of acceptance

Logic describtion:
We push a #-sign on the stack to detect the top of the stack.
Now we operate in two "zones". The first zone handles a positive number of A and Bs compared to Cs and the other zone handles a negative number of As and Bs compared to Cs.
We're working with three signs that are part of the Stack:

*

*'# = top marker

*'+ = there are more As and Bs read than Cs

*'- = there are more Cs read than As or Bs

The first transition is from starting state to a new starting state. This transition is only used in reason of pushing the top marker on the stack. The new original starting state is never reached again.
The new starting state is the switch and is hit everytime we hit the top marker on the stack. From this state we're visiting the zones in dependency of the next A and B or C.
I hope that explains it. The described automaton should give you a good idea. I think there is a little error in it, but if you follow the idea and you got it right then you can fix it :)
I build the described automaton with an online simulator to test it. You can find it here. This simulator uses epsilon as initialization for the input band and for doing nothing... so it's a bit confusing. I added some tests that can be run by clicking the green arrow next to "Bulk Testing".

A: We can try to simplify the problem somewhat. You want n(a) + n(b) != n(c). In the absence of other restrictions, this means that as and bs are indistinguishable as far as the PDA is concerned; so this language is the same as n(a) != n(c) (if we make the PDA pretend that bs are as). If we can make a PDA for this simpler language, we are done.
We might ask whether the goal is a deterministic or just any PDA. Not all context-free languages have deterministic PDAs, so, in general, PDA refers to nondeterministic ones. If we assume this is fine for this problem, we can further simplify the condition n(a) != n(c) by writing down the equivalent condition n(a) < n(c) or n(a) > n(c). This makes our lives a little easier since now we only need to come up with a PDA for n(a) < n(c), and then we're done: a PDA for our language will branch nondeterministically to two PDAs, one for each of the directions.
So how do we get a PDA for n(a) < n(c)? Well, we can start with a PDA for n(a) = n(c) and, instead of accepting with no input and an empty stack, accept with no input and a stack indicating there were more cs than as. What does a PDA for n(a) = n(c) look like? We need a strategy. The trick is to use the stack to keep track of the running difference n(c) - n(a) as follows:

*

*if n(c) - n(a) = 0, the stack is empty and the topmost symbol is Z, the bottom of the stack symbol.

*if n(c) - n(a) > 0, the stack contains n(c) - n(a) instances of c.

*if n(c) - n(a) < 0, the stack contains n(a) - n(c) instances of a.

To accept n(a) = n(c), we read as and cs and exhaust the input. Then, we see what's on top of the stack:

*

*If the stack is empty, n(a) = n(c) (see the first bullet above)

*If the stack has a c on top, n(a) < n(c) (see the second bullet above)

*If the stack has a a on top, n(a) > n(c) (see the third bullet above)

To accept n(a) = n(c), we transition nondeterministically to a new accepting state q whenever we see the bottom-of-stack symbol Z on top of the stack.
To accept n(a) < n(c), we transition nondeterministically to a new accepting state q whenever we see a c on top of the stack. In this case, if you want to accept with an empty stack, you can clear out the stack in the accepting state.
To accept n(a) > n(c), we transition nondeterministically to a new accepting state q whenever we see a a on top of the stack. In this case, if you want to accept with an empty stack, you can clear out the stack in the accepting state.
Observe that we can handle n(a) < n(c) and n(a) > n(c) together; we don't even need to branch nondeterministically up front. Here's a sample implementation of the PDA just described:
Q    x    s    Q'    s'
///////////////////////
// count a           //
///////////////////////
q0   a    Z    q0    aZ
q0   a    a    q0    aa
q0   a    c    q0    e
///////////////////////
// count c           //
///////////////////////
q0   c    Z    q0    cZ
q0   c    a    q0    e
q0   c    c    q0    cc
///////////////////////
// move to accepting //
///////////////////////
q0   e    a    q     a
q0   e    c    q     c
///////////////////////
// clear stack       //
///////////////////////
q    e    a    q     e
q    e    c    q     e

You will need to add the transition rules for b like we did for a, but b is otherwise indistinguishable from a and should be treated as such.
Columns in the above table are as follows:

*

*Q: the states from which transitions originate

*x: symbols of the input alphabet which cause a transition, or the empty string e if the transition does not consume input

*s: the topmost stack symbol

*Q': the states in which transitions terminate

*s': what to replace the topmost stack symbol with upon transitioning

For instance, the row
q0   a    Z    q0    aZ

encodes a transition which can be described as follows:

From state q0 with the bottom-of-stack symbol Z topmost on the stack, consume input symbol a and transition to state q0, pushing an a on top of Z.


Porcelain veneers procedures typically require patients come in for two separate dental visits. The first visit is reserved for preparing the teeth.
In order to prepare the teeth for porcelain veneers, a thin layer of enamel will need to be removed. This is done with local anesthetic and is comfortable and pain-free for the patient. Removing a tiny bit of the enamel is necessary to adhere the veneer to the front of the tooth so it will line up with the gum and will not protrude further than natural teeth.
Once this is complete, impressions are taken of the teeth. They are then sent to an off-site dental laboratory for custom fabrication.
After about 10-14 days, the veneers will be ready for permanent placement. During the placement appointment, veneers are double-checked for the correct size, shape, and color. Minor adjustments can be made on site prior to permanent bonding. After any changes are complete, the veneers are attached to the front of teeth with a special dental cement. Once the veneers are placed, patients will be able to bite, chew, and speak normally. Not to mention, they will leave the office with a brand new smile.


Over the past few months, the Love Tokyo Awards 2016 saw local experts from across the global Time Out network descend on Tokyo and join our own ace team in picking out the very best of the capital. After countless sleepless nights and heated debates, our judges have finally decided on the winners in the five categories of restaurant, bar, café, shop and product, in addition to picking out a handful of essential things to do and six excellent individuals who truly deserve the title 'Face of Tokyo'. Read on for a roundup of the city's crème de la crème in 2016.
From the moment you remove your shoes to walk on the tatami mats to the moment you eat your final morsel of supple crabmeat, Kitafuku is an exhilarating experience. A meal lasts at least two hours, which is the minimum time necessary for a live king crab to be deshelled, systematically dismantled ‒ leg by leg, claw by claw ‒ and feasted upon boiled, charcoal-grilled and raw.
The place I'll be telling everyone about when I get home is Kitafuku. The experience was so theatrical, so special, so well executed, and I doubt I'll experience anything quite like it ever again. It wasn't just the fact that they dismantled a king crab right in front of you, it was the whole atmosphere of the place – there were just four rooms, making it very personal, and the attention to detail was spectacular. The way our whole experience was curated, with dish after dish presented in quick succession, and each of an amazing quality and standard, was very special indeed.
Hotel bars usually aren't very inspiring places, but the Tokyo Station Hotel's version isn't like most hotel bars. Master Hisashi Sugimoto mixes up his signature Tokyo Station cocktails in a room that incorporates red bricks and wood in the décor, matching perfectly with the newly renovated station's exterior.
Thinking back on all of the places I reviewed, I'm pleased that Bar Oak was the final place I visited. It was a great way to bring a close to two fantastic days – the negroni was one of the best I've had, and the atmosphere there was excellent. We also had a plate of chocolates, and they were divine – the truffles in particular were tremendous.
This tea salon puts a fresh twist on traditional Japanese confectionery. As well as the typical combination of green tea and sweets like cold kuzu noodles, the salon also serves alcohol ‒ ask the staff which beer, shochu or wine goes best with your sweets. It's a spot relaxing enough for hours of lingering in busy Ginza.
Love this place. One of my favourite places in Tokyo-a modern and beautiful take on the Japanese tea experience. Huge selection of teas and the staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. Modern, cool, beautifully designed, and a calm, peaceful space. A place made for lingering. I would come back here again.
Arguably the trendiest department store in Japan, Isetan Shinjuku is renowned for having its window displays created by leading artists and offers only the finest in food, clothing and homewares.
Set in a charming art deco architecture, Isetan Shinjuku offers a friendly and welcoming atmosphere upon your first step in the mall. The beauty zone on the ground floor is amazing. I also particularly love the way they display those luxury fashion items — more accessible yet still elegant. And everything is all in one place, so I don't need to visit every other store of different brands. Love it.
Knocking out simple, attractive bicycles since 2002, Tokyobike adheres to a simple concept: comfort above speed, ideally put together for the local life. The minimalist brand has been such a success in its home city, in fact, that they now have outlets as far afield as New York, London and Melbourne.
The Time Out Tokyo Cafe in Kuala Lumpur's newly launched Isetan The Japan Store is holding a special exhibition of the Love Tokyo Awards 2016 from November 25 to December 25. Visitors have had the chance to see our hand-picked selection of Japanese products for themselves and vote for what they thought deserved to be winner for Best Product. The results are in, and we're pleased to announce that the easy-to-use Kokuyo Harinacs stapleless stapler won the hearts of Tokyo lovers in Malaysia.
A walk around the legendary Tsukiji truly is an essential Tokyo experience – especially now, as the market is set to relocate to Toyosu as early as next year. When visiting, we suggest you head over at 9am, which is when the Inner Market opens to the public and you get to stroll its narrow alleys in search of superb seafood, street snacks and a taste of old Tokyo in action.
Looking for the best view in town? Located on the 52nd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, this observatory provides an impressive 360-degree bird's-eye view of Tokyo, including landmarks like Shinjuku Gyoen, the National Diet Building, Tokyo Tower and the Skytree. The open-air Sky Deck on the roof is accessible on fine days and offers even more stunning vistas.
Taking part in a matsuri (traditional festival) lets you experience a living tradition that often goes back centuries. In addition to the spectacle of mikoshi (portable shrines) being carried by eagerly chanting festival-goers, you can look forward to plenty of stalls selling delectable street food, plus anything from dance shows to free sake service.
Finding tickets to see a Grand Sumo tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan can be a bit of a wrestle. But don't worry: instead, you can visit a sumo stable to watch an early-morning practice for free. The catch is that you have to wake up at the crack of dawn, as practice usually starts around 6.30am in the stable.
Hidden in between and behind shiny high-rises, massive station complexes and other architectural monsters, Tokyo's old-school alleyways are treasure troves for anyone looking to experience the city's less sterile side. Found all over town, they host thousands of tiny eateries, pubs and shops, some of them dating way back to the early postwar years.
Eccentric artist extraordinaire Takashi Murakami had his hands full in 2016, and not just with a paintbrush: his critically acclaimed 'The 500 Arhats' show attracted over 300,000 visitors during its run at the Mori Museum, while an exhibition at the Yokohama Museum of Art showcased the 'Superflat' progenitor's highly eclectic collection of art.
The CEO of Hoshino Resorts, a leading operator of opulent resorts and hotels, Yoshiharu Hoshino oversaw the opening of Hoshinoya Tokyo in July. This luxurious traditional-style inn sits right in the heart of Tokyo, boasts its own natural hot spring and successfully brings the onsen ryokan experience to the capital.
Kris Yoshie is the director of the Slow Label collective, which works to empower people with disabilities and advance their integration into society. Their art project, 'Slow Movement', was a surprise hit at this year's Roppongi Art Night, while Kris herself also had a hand in Japan's refreshingly diverse 'handover' show performed at the Rio Paralympics closing ceremony.
Although singer and songwriter Sheena Ringo has evolved from teenage pop starlet to cultural icon during a career that now spans almost two decades, her influence has been largely restricted to Japan ‒ until this year, that is. Having juggled the roles of creative supervisor and music producer for the flag handover segments of both the Rio Olympics and Paralympics closing ceremonies, the capital's very own musical misfit has well and truly arrived on the world stage.
2016 finally saw the overturning of Japan's antiquated 'no dancing' law ‒ a potentially farreaching change that came about largely thanks to the efforts of lawyer Takahiro Saito. Having lobbied for reform since 2012, Saito won over an impressive cast of entrepreneurs, artists and politicians, initiating a movement that eventually became too funky for the authorities to resist.
Makoto Shinkai was already an established name in the anime world before August, when his new film 'Your Name' hit theatres, but the record-breaking success of this fantasy-tinged teen romance saw the 43-year-old director catapulted into the mainstream spotlight and praised for spreading the gospel of anime to completely new audiences.