In an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio (h/t Sporting News) on Wednesday, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie is focused on giving contracts to Carr and Jackson after establishing themselves as the two best players on offense last season. Both players are entering the final year of their rookie deals.
"We'll be starting those conversations. We got this draft over with. Now, we will be pursuing Derek shortly. We're always trying to make sure we keep our good players. We targeted Derek from the outset. We're going to try and get talking to him and also Gabe," McKenzie said.
Derek Carr had his best season last year and he was among the favorites to win the NFL MVP Award. He led the Raiders to a 12-3 record before suffering a broken fibula in the final game of the regular season against the Indianapolis Colts. He threw for a total of 3,937 yards with 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
The 26-year-old quarterback did all of that with an already injured finger and he pulled through until getting injured against the Colts. In an interview with USA Today, Carr noted that he is coming back strong next season.
"Injuries happen, but it makes me hungrier to come back and be better. No matter what happens on or off the field with my teammates, I know I have God's trust and Love. I try to send that same message to my teammates that we are in this together no matter what happens," Carr said.
The Pro-Bowl quarterback is among the five best in the league, which means he could be in for a big contract. The Raiders are looking for a discount but it seems Carr is due to make around $24 million per season in his new deal.
On the other hand, Gabe Jackson was instrumental in leading the Raiders to the fewest sacks allowed in the NFL this season with 18. The Raiders also had the league's sixth-best ranked rushing attack last season with an average of 120.1 yards.
Jackson is due for a significant raise for his new deal. He is only getting paid $2 million last season but his extension could be worth $8.5 million per year. It would almost be the same amount of money the Cleveland Browns gave to offensive guard Joel Bitonio.
Another potential move for the Raiders this offseason besides contract extensions for Derek Carr and Gabe Jackson is the addition of middle linebackers. Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio noted in an interview that the team needs to find a linebacker in the market whether via trade or free agency.
"I don't know that we've adequately addressed our middle linebacker position, to be honest. I think we have some work to do there. The rest of our roster is pretty well situated, but we'll be looking for a linebacker and we'll continue to look, whether it's the waiver wire, trades or available guys out there, veterans on the street. We'll continue to look," Del Rio said, via CSN Bay Area.
The Raiders have plenty of options including Perry Riley, who played in Oakland last season. He started 11 games at middle linebacker and he remains unsigned in free agency. Other linebackers available in the open market are Jelani Jenkins, Cory James and Ben Heeney. The Raiders' roster is almost complete and they just have to remain relatively healthy to reach their first Super Bowl since 2002.


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Tag Archives: Justin Gill
PAKISTAN: MINORITY RIGHTS DEFENDER SAID TO BE VICTIM OF ISLAMISTS
Posted on August 8, 2009 by particularkev
Muslim who converted, married Christian woman opposed Joseph Francis' efforts.
LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Compass Direct News) – Pakistani minority rights defender Joseph Francis has been unjustly jailed by Islamists and others who oppose his work on behalf of Christians, according to the legal aid organization Francis directs.
An Islamist in Punjab Province who said he had converted to Christianity subsequently converted a young woman to Islam and married her, setting into motion a series of spurious charges when her parents brought her to Francis for counsel, according to the Lahore-based Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). Angered when her family brought her to Francis hoping he would counsel her away from Islam, Mehboob Basharat then arranged for baseless charges to be filed against Francis, director of CLAAS, for allegedly detaining her and setting her on fire, CLAAS officials said in a statement.
Francis was jailed on July 12 after Basharat filed specious charges against him for forging documents and concealing his travel out of the country while on bail. Those charges arose out of the previous case, in which Basharat arranged for the woman he converted to Islam to charge the CLAAS director and others with forcibly detaining and assaulting her in 2006 – even though she previously had told police she suffered no ill treatment at the CLAAS offices.
"His only crime was to help suffering parents of a young Christian girl who was taken away from her family," according to the CLAAS statement.
Francis' predicament began when Basharat went to Bishop Samuel Azariah of Raiwind diocese in 2006 and told him that he, his wife and two children had converted from Islam to Christianity. Since his conversion, he told Bishop Azariah, his Muslim family and friends had ostracized him, and he pleaded with the clergyman to employ him. Bishop Azariah gave him a job in the diocese and provided a living space for him on the church premises, according to CLAAS.
Though he never attended church services, Basharat started socializing with Christian families of the congregation and showed excessive interest in their daughters, according to CLAAS. Pastor Emmanuel Khokhar took note and gave Basharat a warning, according to CLAAS.
Basharat became close with Roma Masih, one of six daughters in a family at the congregation, and on Sept. 26, 2006 he took her to a Muslim education center called Jamia Naeemia Lahore, where she embraced Islam and took on the name Aisha; he later eloped with her, and on Nov. 26, 2006 they married under Islamic rites, according to CLAAS.
When her family found out, they went to Bishop Azariah, who referred them to CLAAS for help. Roma/Aisha's parents, Khursheed Masih and Shamim Masih, asked Francis to talk with their daughter. Basharat, meantime, returned to Raiwind (25 kilometers from Lahore) to collect his first wife and children, at one point threatening Bishop Azariah when the clergyman tried to talk to him. On Dec. 23, 2006 Basharat allowed Roma/Aisha to go to her parents' house. They immediately brought her to CLAAS offices, insisting that Francis keep her in the organization's second-floor shelter for abused women.
"They said that if she stayed away from Basharat, maybe she will change her mind and come back to her family," according to the CLAAS statement.
Roma/Aisha, some of her sisters and their mother stayed overnight at the shelter, and the convert told Francis that she was now a Muslim and did not wish to associate with "infidels." Francis told Roma/Aisha's parents that she now considered herself a Muslim and urged them not to insist on their daughter remaining with them, according to CLAAS.
Upon learning that the Masihs had taken their daughter to CLAAS offices, Basharat on Dec. 23, 2006 complained to police in Lahore that the Christian parents of his wife were detaining her. The next day, police summoned Francis. When he and Roma/Aisha arrived at the station that evening, Basharat and a crowd of 40-45 mullahs (Muslim clergy) were waiting for them.
Nevertheless, Roma/Aisha signed a statement at the police station saying that she had not been held hostage or detained against her will, that she went to CLAAS offices of her own free will and that no one misbehaved or ill-treated her there, according to CLAAS. She left with Basharat.
On Feb. 18, 2007, Basharat, Roma/Aisha and attorney Raja Nathaniel, a church-going attorney at odds with the local Christian community, held a press conference in which Basharat accused Bishop Azariah and Francis of abducting his new wife and forcing her to reconvert back to Christianity. Nathaniel, according to CLAAS, at times "has converted to Islam to marry young girls" and has several cases pending against him for illegally confiscating church property in Raiwind; CLAAS notes that in most of those cases it provides legal assistance to the church.
Three months after the press conference, under the guidance of Basharat and with the financial support of Nathaniel, Roma/Aisha filed charges at the Icchara, Lahore police station against her father, mother, three sisters, Bishop Azariah, Pastor Khokhar and Francis; she accused all of them of forcibly detaining her, mistreating her and attempting to burn her.
All of the accused obtained pre-arrest bail. In July 2007, Francis went to England at the invitation of the late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, along with prominent political leaders, to attend a three-day conference in London. Summoned to a bail hearing on July 14, 2007, he came back on July 15, 2007 and appeared in court the next day, according to CLAAS.
On Dec. 24, 2008 Francis learned that Basharat had filed a new case against him, accusing him of concealing his travel abroad while on bail and forging a medical certificate. Also charged were CLAAS employee Ashar Sarfaraz and Sarfaraz's brother-in-law, Zulfiqar Wilson.
The forgery charges arose after CLAAS submitted a medical certificate indicating that Francis, who suffers from diabetes, was too ill to return quickly for the court hearing on July 14, 2007. CLAAS Program Officer Katherine Sapna said that former CLAAS staff members Aneeqa Maria Akthar and Justin Gill submitted the medical certificate, but Akthar told Compass neither she nor Gill submitted any documents related to the certificate and never went to the court. She added that CLAAS had not even assigned her to the case.
"When someone submits any document before the court," she told Compass, "the court takes the submission by getting signatures of a person who submits the document, and certainly there are no signatures of mine."
She acknowledged that she discussed the matter with CLAAS lawyers at the time – Akbar Munawar Durrani, Tahir Gull and Aric John – and that she suggested that if Francis were to try to return in time for the July 14 court summons, it would cause an undue hardship on him as a diabetic to appear in court after arriving in Pakistan from England early in the morning.
"It was just a suggestion, and it did not lead to [me committing] forgery," she said. "Instead, Ashar Sarfaraz heard this and he went to the doctor himself who was treating Mr. Francis, without asking or telling any of us, and got the certificate. He also submitted the certificate himself in the court, and not the lawyers."
On these charges Francis obtained pre-arrest bail on Dec. 29, 2008, and when CLAAS filed a petition in Lahore High Court for the dismissal of this case, the court set a hearing for June 8, according to CLAAS.
At that hearing, Basharat's lawyer accused Francis not only of being in contempt of court by having traveled abroad while on bail but of using his influence to harass Roma/Aisha into forsaking Islam – the young woman's remaining a Muslim notwithstanding.
Francis' counsel tried to explain to the court that Basharat and his wife were "misleading the court by purposely making it a religious issue for their own vested interest." They informed the court that his travel was not concealed but public knowledge, having been published in major newspapers, and that therefore Francis had no reason to prepare or submit any documents explaining his actions.
"But the court overlooked every argument and dismissed the petition for dismissal," according to CLAAS' statement. "On July 9, the same judge who dismissed the petition rejected Mr. Joseph Francis' bail in this case and ordered the police to arrest Mr. Francis."
This is not the first time that Pakistani courts have put their bias against Christians on display, according to CLAAS.
"Over the years, CLAAS has perused several such cases in which law was overlooked and justice was denied to victims on the basis of their religion, gender, political affiliation and social status," organization officials said in the statement.
CLAAS urged proponents of human rights to write the Pakistani president, prime minister, foreign and interior ministers, chief justice, federal minister of Law Justice and Human Rights, and Pakistani Embassies around the world.
Posted in Christianity, Islam, Pakistan	| Tagged abducting, abused, accused, actions, affiliation, aid, Aisha, Akbar Munawar Durrani, Aneeqa Maria Akthar, angered, argument, Aric John, arranged, Ashar Sarfaraz, assaulting, assistance, associate, attempting, attended, Azariah, bail, based, baseless, Benazir Bhutto, bias, bishop, brother-in-law, burn, center, Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, change, charges, Chief Justice, children, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, church-going, CLAAS, clergy, clergyman, close, collect, community, concealing, conference, confiscating, congregation, considered, conversion, converted, counsel, country, court, crime, crowd, daughters, defender, detaining, diabetes, diocese, director, directs, dismissal, dismissed, documents, education, efforts, eloped, embassies, embraced, Emmanuel Khokhar, employ, employee, England, excessive, families, family, federal minister, filed, financial, fire, forcibly, forcing, foreign, forgery, forging, former, forsaking, free will, friends, gender, girl, girls, guidance, harass, help, high, hostage, human rights, Icchara, ill, ill-treated, illegally, incarceration, infidels, interest, interior, invitation, Islam, Islamists, jailed, Jamia Naeemia Lahore, job, Joseph Francis, Justin Gill, Katherine Sapna, Khursheed Masih, Lahore, late, law, leaders, legal, living, London, major, married, marry, medical certificate, Mehboob Basharat, mind, minister, minority, misbehaved, misleading, motion, mullahs, Muslim, muslims, new, newspapers, note, offices, officials, oppose, opposed, organization, ostracized, overlooked, overnight, Pakistan, Pakistani, parents, Pastor, pending, Persecution, petition, pleaded, police, political, pre-arrest, predicament, premises, President, press conference, Prime Minister, prominent, property, proponents, provided, published, Punjab Province, Raiwind, Raja Nathaniel, reconvert, referred, religion, rights, rites, Roma Masih, Samuel Azariah, series, services, Shamim Masih, shelter, showed, sisters, social, socializing, Space, specious, spurious, started, statement, station, status, stayed, submitted, suffered, suffering, summoned, support, Tahir Gull, threatening, travel, traveled, treating, treatment, unjustly, victim, victims, warning, wife, will, woman, women, work, world, young, Zulfigar Wilson | Leave a comment
PAKISTAN: ISLAMISTS GET MINORITY RIGHTS LEADER JAILED
CLAAS director Joseph Francis charged with forged documents in assault case.
LAHORE, Pakistan, July 14 (Compass Direct News) – Well-known Pakistani minority rights activist Joseph Francis and two others were jailed on Sunday (July 12) for forged documents in connection with false charges of assaulting a woman who visited his office in 2006, their lawyers said.
Francis, national director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), which for more than two decades has defended Christians and others against spurious charges by Islamists, was arrested on Thursday (July 9) along with CLAAS official Ashar Sarfaraz and Sarfaraz's brother-in-law, Zulfiqar Wilson.
Judge Malik Muhammad Mushataq remanded all three to two days of police custody under pressure from Islamists who have harassed Francis and the other two men with false accusations, CLAAS lawyers said, and on Sunday a magistrate sent them to jail to await trial.
"This is the first time in my 19 years of work that I have been so set up by the judicial system," said one of Francis' lawyers, Akbar Munawar Durrani. "The judge was blind to the facts presented before him."
The lawyer told Compass that the court did not listen to their arguments for releasing Francis as it was biased toward the Islamists who have urged the woman to charge the CLAAS officials with assault. In December 2006 CLAAS officers had counseled the woman, identified only as Roma, when her Christian family brought her to the CLAAS office after she converted to Islam.
"She was brought to us because she had converted to Islam, and her parents wanted us to explain to her the consequences and implication of doing so," said CLAAS Program Officer Katherine Sapna.
The woman had changed her name to Aisha and had married Mehboob Basharat, a Muslim who had converted to Christianity and then "reverted" back to Islam. CLAAS lawyers said that Basharat, whom police describe as "fraudulent," along with an Islamist group and a church-going lawyer at odds with the local Christian community, are behind the assault charges officially filed by Roma/Aisha.
Francis and the two others are in Camp Jail in Lahore; today a judge denied their plea for release on bail. CLAAS lawyers said they expect to file for bail in Sessions Court this week.
Francis is charged with forging documents in the 2007 case in which he and the two others are accused of beating Roma/Aisha, "misbehaving" with her and setting her on fire, lawyers said. The forgery charges arose, said Sapna, after two former CLAAS staff members submitted a fake medical certificate indicating that Francis was too ill to appear at court on July 14, 2007 for a hearing on the assault charges.
Francis was out of the country at the time of the hearing and was not aware that the two CLAAS staff members, Justin Gill and Aneeqa Maria, had submitted the false medical certificate, Sapna said. Both Gill and Maria have since left CLAAS.
Sapna told Compass that the Christian parents of the woman then known as Roma brought her to CLAAS offices on Dec. 23, 2006. Roma's mother, Shamim Bibi, and sisters Shabana and Taskeen, were with her at the CLAAS office, where all three spent the night at CLAAS's second-floor shelter for abuse victims, Sapna said.
Roma/Aisha's husband called police the next day, and officers ordered her family to bring her to the Race Course Police Station, Sapna said. Christmas was near and most of the CLAAS staff members were gone for the holiday, so Francis himself went to the police station. When police questioned Roma/Aisha, she never mentioned being mistreated while in the CLAAS offices, Sapna said.
CLAAS staff members forgot the matter until Basharat and church-going attorney Raja Nathaniel Gill held a press conference on Feb. 18, 2007 in which they had Roma/Aisha claim that she had been attacked at the CLAAS office. In May 2007 Basharat, Gill and the Islamist group had her file a First Information Report (FIR) at Ichhra police station charging that during her stay at CLAAS, staff members beat her, forced her to revert to Christianity, doused her with kerosene oil and set her ablaze inside a locked room.
Sapna said Roma/Aisha's FIR also claimed Church of Pakistan Bishop Samuel Azariah threatened her by phone while she was at the CLAAS office. Gill had Roma implicate the bishop because CLAAS had been instrumental in clearing Bishop Azariah of charges of murdering his wife in April 2006, according to Sapna. She said that Gill bore a grudge against CLAAS because he had hoped to gain some advantage in the false charge against the bishop.
In response to an inquiry from Capital City (Lahore) Police, Ichhra police reported on March 7, 2007 that Basharat was a "fraudulent man" who repeatedly changed his religion in order to malign both Christianity and Islam, and that he repeatedly cheated on women. The Ichhra police quoted Basharat's first wife, Fouzia, as saying he "had already cheated on four girls like this."
Sapna said that Basharat originally converted from Islam to Christianity in 2001.
"He converted along with his wife Fouzia and two daughters," she said. "He did a seminary course, and after that he became part of the clergy and joined 15 Waris Road Central Church, run by Bishop Samuel Azariah. Roma used to go to this church for theological studies and was Basharat's student. There Basharat trapped her, and on Nov. 26, 2006 they got married [under Muslim rites]."
Compass obtained Fouzia Basharat's court statement of March 8, 2007, which she gave after her husband had married Roma. In the statement, Fouzia said that on Sept. 12, 2006, her husband brought his pupil Roma to her and told her that she was his new wife – that he had married her in a Christian rite. She also said in her statement that Basharat later married Roma/Aisha under Muslim rites, and that Roma had changed her name to Aisha.
Fouzia Basharat then filed a case under Christian Marriage Act Section 22 applying for judicial separation. Sapna said that Fouzia Basharat initially resisted marriage to Basharat and warded off a later effort to reconvert her to Islam.
"During that time, she stayed at the Central Church, and her children continued their education at St. Peter's High School," Sapna said. She added that the Christian rite marriage of Roma/Aisha to Basharat was illegal, and that CLAAS had sought only to help resolve associated problems.
Sapna said CLAAS staff members were concerned about Francis remaining incarcerated, as he suffers from diabetes and hypertension.
Civil and District Judge Malik Mushtaq of Magistrate Section 30 will hear the forgery case.
Posted in Christianity, Islam, Pakistan	| Tagged ablaze, abuse, accusations, accused, activist, advantage, Aisha, Akbar Munawar Durrani, Aneeqa Maria, appear, applying, arguments, arrested, Ashar Sarfaraz, assault, assaulting, associated, attacked, attorney, aware, bail, beating, biased, bishop, blind, called, Camp Jail, Capital City, case, Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, changed, charged, charges, cheated, children, Christian, Christian Marriage Act, Christianity, Christians, Christmas, Church of Pakistan, church-going, civil, claim, class, clearing, clergy, community, concerned, connection, consequences, converted, counseled, country, course, court, custody, daughters, defended, denied, describe, diabetes, director, district, documents, doused, education, effort, explain, facts, fake, false, family, filed, FIR, fire, first, First Information Report, forced, forged, forgery, forgot, former, Fouzia, fraudulent, gain, girls, group, grudge, harassed, hear, hearing, holiday, hoped, husband, hypertension, Ichhra, identified, ill, illegal, implicate, implication, incarcerated, indicating, initially, intrumental, Islam, Islamists, jail, jailed, joined, Joseph Francis, judge, judicial, Justin Gill, Katherine Sapna, kerosene, Lahore, later, lawyers, leader, listen, locked, magistrate, malign, Malik Muhammad Mushataq, Malik Mushtaq, marriage, married, medical certificate, Mehboob Basharat, members, men, mentioned, minority, misbehaving, mistreated, mother, murdering, Muslim, muslims, name, national director, obtained, odds, office, official, oil, ordered, Pakistan, Pakistani, parents, Persecution, phone, plea, police, police station, presented, press conference, pressure, problems, Program Officer, pupil, questioned, quoted, Race Course Police Station, Raja Nathaniel Gill, reconvert, release, releasing, religion, remaining, remanded, repeatedly, resisted, resolve, response, reverted, rights, rites, Roma, room, Samuel Azariah, section 22, seminary, separation, Sessions Court, Shabana Bibi, Shamim Bibi, shelter, sisters, spurious, St. Peter's High School, staff, statement, stay, student, studies, submitted, suffers, system, Taskeen Bibi, theological, threatened, trapped, trial, victims, visited, warded, Waris Road Central Church, wife, woman, work, Zulfigar Wilson | Leave a comment
PAKISTAN: PARTIAL VICTORY SEEN IN RULING ON KIDNAPPED GIRLS
With both minors saying they had converted to Islam, lawyers feared worse.
ISTANBUL, September 15 (Compass Direct News) – Christian human rights lawyers in Pakistan saw a partial legal victory in a judge's ruling last week that one of two kidnapped girls be returned to her Christian parents. The judge further ruled that her sister be free to choose whether to go with the Muslim man who allegedly forced her to convert and marry him.
Justice Malik Saeed Ejaz ruled on Tuesday (Sept. 9) that 10-year-old Aneela Masih be returned to her parents – an unprecedented legal victory for Christian parents of a girl who supposedly converted to Islam, according to one lawyer – while leaving her sister, 13-year-old Saba Masih, free to choose whether to go with Amjad Ali, a Muslim man who married her after the June 26 kidnapping.
Saba Masih, whose birth certificate indicates that she is now 13 but who testified that she is 17, said she did not want to return to her parents and tried to keep her little sister from returning to them. Their Muslim captors have repeatedly threatened the two girls that their parents would harm them if they returned.
The older sister is not willing to meet with any of the family members or her parents, said Rashid Rehman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
"It's normal behavior," he told Compass. "She was tutored and brainwashed by the family of her husband Ali, and naturally they made up her mind that her parents will hurt her and treat her inhumanely. In fact that will never happen. Her family is really peaceful, and remained so peaceful the whole time the case was heard in high court."
After more than three hours of heated legal arguments in the Multan branch of Lahore's High Court, the judge deemed the oldest child sui juris – capable to handle her own affairs – based on her testimony that she is 17 years old and on a Lahore medical board's ruling that she is between 15 and 17. The medical board may have been pressured to declare Saba Masih as an adult, according to the parents' lawyers.
Conditions set in the ruling called for the parents not to "interfere" with Aneela Masih's religious beliefs, that they be allowed to visit Saba Masih and that the groom's family pay them 100,000 rupees (US$1,316) according to Pakistani marriage tradition.
Raised in a Christian family in the small town of Chowk Munda, the two girls were kidnapped on June 26 while traveling to visit their uncle in Sarwar Shaheed, northwest of Multan. Saba Masih was married to Ali the next day, and the kidnappers filed for custody of the girls on June 28 based on their alleged forced conversion to Islam.
Islamic jurisprudence and Pakistani law do not recognize the forced marriages of minors.
'Pleased with Outcome'
"We are pleased with the outcome," said Joseph Francis, head of the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). He said, however, that the verdict was not complete without the return of Saba Masih to her family.
Francis and two other CLAAS lawyers were present at the Sept. 9 judgment despite repeated threats against their office over the course of the hearings.
CLAAS lawyer Akbar Durrani told Compass that it was the first time in his life that he had seen such a decision. "In my experience they have not given us the custody of minor girls even as young as 9 years old that have been declared Muslim," said Durrani, who has been practicing law in Pakistan for 18 years. "It is a legal victory."
As a minor, though, Aneela Masih's previous declaration that she had converted from Christianity to Islam was not explicitly recognized. Calling the lawyers into his private chamber to present options before ruling, according to the parents' lawyers, the judge said he would make no mention of the girls' supposed conversion to Islam.
"This was a very favorable thing for us," said Durrani. "He said, 'I'm only going to decide the custody,' so we decided this is acceptable to us."
In his private chamber, the judge gave them different options, warning them that if they didn't cooperate or accept his proposals he would make his own judgment. In the end he said he would hand the little girl to her mother and set the other free.
"Wherever she wants to go she can go," the judge told the parties. "But if she wants to go with you she can go, and if she wants to go to her husband she can go."
The girls, their mother and Ali were then invited into the judge's chamber, where the judge announced the decision to them.
Durrani said that Aneela Masih went to her mother willingly, while her older sister gave a cry and tried to pull the 10-year-old back to her.
"The minor resisted for a fraction of a second to go to the mother," Durrani said. "The little girl was under pressure; every time she was instructed by her elder sister not to talk to her mother."
Her mother hugged her, and the lawyer said the little girl seemed very comfortable in her lap. There her mother tried to remove the veil from her daughter to look at her, but she resisted. Outside the courtroom, however, Aneela Masih removed the veil herself and later accepted food and drink. The girls had been fasting during Ramadan.
The lawyers said it was clear from the 10-year-old girl's reactions that she was confused from the ordeal.
Supreme Court Question
Lawyers for the parents are weighing the options and feasibility of getting the oldest daughter back through the Supreme Court.
On Friday (Sept. 12), the girls' uncle, Khalid Raheel, who has spearheaded the efforts to get them back, told CLAAS lawyers that Aneela was readjusting into her life at home. Raheel asked the family lawyers that they continue to try to get Saba back.
Rehman said he does not think the case would stand in the Supreme Court. "She willingly said, 'I don't want to go with my parents,'" he said.
Durrani and Francis, however, said they would continue to fight for her. "We'll go to the Supreme Court for Saba," said Francis.
"We will try getting the statement of Aneela and then will re-open the case," said Durrani, adding that Aneela Masih had told her family, "Please get her back from that place."
Rehman told Compass in a phone interview that Saba Masih's statement that she is 17, her supposed embrace of Islam and her marriage by consent will make getting her back very difficult.
"She has admitted the marriage at the court and produced the marriage papers and has claimed that she's over 16, so it was very difficult for us to prove our case that she's a minor girl… because it is denied by Saba herself," said Rehman.
He explained that the only way to secure the oldest daughter's return to her family would be by proving she is a minor, something virtually impossible at this point because of her testimony. The court has refused to admit her birth certificate as evidence.
Saba Masih still refuses to communicate with her parents.
'Frightened, Small Girl'
In court last week, both sisters sat in hijab dress fully veiled next to a policewoman from the Dar Ul Rahman women's shelter, where the two girls had stayed since a July 29 hearing.
Their mother tried to talk to them and show them photos. Durrani said that Aneela Masih was responsive to her mother, but her older sister would pull her away, forbidding her from talking to her.
The judge had ruled that the girls stay at the shelter in order to think of their alleged conversion to Islam away from external pressures. Lawyers for the parents said that while in the shelter the girls were continually harassed and threatened that their family would not take them back.
Aneela Masih stated to the lawyers and her parents after the court decision that Ali's family and their captors told them that everyone was Muslim – the lawyers, the judge, society – and that their parents could not take them back.
Knowing the attention the case of the two girls had attracted, Durrani said, the judge left the case till last. Yet the courtroom, he said, was full of "those who had kidnapped the girls, their supporters, the Islamic fanatics; all these were present in the court and interested in the hearing of the case."
From the outset at last week's hearing, the judge wanted to ask Aneela Masih questions about Islam to extract a statement on which he could rule on her custody. Durrani and colleague Justin Gill fought against the lawyer and the judge, arguing that as the 10-year-old was a minor, her statement on faith could not be valid and that she must be returned to her mother.
"We concentrated our efforts on Aneela, that at least we should have some relief to get her back and then we can fight in the Supreme Court if we wish to go for any other thing," he said, referring to the older sister's case.
The judge had decided to postpone the verdict till this Thursday (Sept. 18) and place the girls back in the Dar Ul Rahman shelter, where their mother could visit them for two hours every day. But the CLAAS lawyers said they feared waiting would only work against their case in the long run, making it more difficult to gain custody of the younger sister if both were exposed to more harassment and possible brainwashing.
"Even if she is a Muslim and has changed her religion, according to Islam a mother is the best custodian of the child," Durrani said he and Gill argued.
Rehman said that Aneela Masih seemed frightened and, according to information he had obtained, the girl was afraid of her abductors and her own family even while in the shelter.
"She was a frightened, small girl," he said. "They told her that if she returned to her parents she'd be treated unkindly."
Threats, Car Chase
On Sept. 8, the day before the hearing, while traveling together from Lahore to Multan, the three lawyers for the Christian parents – Francis, Durrani and Gill – received threatening calls from the supporters of the girls' kidnappers.
That night while, on their way back from dinner to a bishop's house where they were staying in Multan, the CLAAS team was approached by armed men on motorcycles who threatened them, warning them to not go to the judgment hearing the next day.
"They said, 'You should not be in court or you will be responsible for the consequences,'" said Durrani.
When nearby police saw the scene and approached, the armed men left the scene.
"We were afraid, but we knew we had to go," Durrani said.
After the hearing, while traveling back to Lahore, Durrani said that Muslim fanatics chased them for about 100 kilometers (62 miles).
"Then we went to another city and got to the highway from another shortcut," he said.
Durrani said the lawyers have many cases like this, causing them concern for their own safety.
"It is not the first time we get threats, but by the grace of God, and by the refuge of our Holy Ghost we are safe," he said. "Every time we know the prayers of our church and other Christians are with us, which is why we are able to get the victory for our Lord."
Posted in Christianity, Pakistan	| Tagged abductors, accept, acceptable, accepted, adult, affairs, afraid, Akbar Durrani, alleged, Amjad Ali, Aneela Masih, approached, argued, arguments, armed, attention, behavior, beliefs, birth, bishop, board, brainwashed, brainwashing, branch, captors, case, cases, Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement, certificate, chamber, child, choose, Chowk Munda, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, city, CLAAS, clear, colleague, comfotable, communicate, complete, concern, conditions, confused, consent, conversion, convert, converted, cooperate, course, court, courtroom, cry, custodian, custody, Dar Ul Rahman, daughter, decided, decision, declaration, declare, difficult, dress, drink, efforts, embrace, evidence, experience, explained, external, extract, faith, family, fanatics, fasting, feared, feasibility, fight, filed, food, forbidding, forced, free, frightened, Ghost, girls, God, grace, groom, harassed, harassment, harm, head, heard, hearing, hearings, heated, high, highway, hijab, Holy, home, house, hugged, human rights, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, husband, impossible, instructed, interested, interfere, interview, invited, Islam, Joseph Francis, judge, judgment, jurisprudence, justice, Justin Gill, Khalid Raheel, Kidnapped, kidnappers, kidnapping, Lahore, lap, law, lawyer, lawyers, legal, life, Lord, Malik Saeed Ejaz, man, marriage, marriages, marry, medical, meet, members, men, mind, minors, mother, motorcycles, Multan, Muslim, normal, office, options, ordeal, outcome, outset, Pakistan, papers, parents, parties, peaceful, Persecution, phone, photos, pleased, police, policewoman, postpone, prayers, present, pressured, pressures, private, produced, proposals, prove, question, questions, raised, Ramadan, Rashid Rehman, reactions, recognize, recognized, refuge, religion, religious, remove, resisted, responsive, return, ruling, rupees, Saba Masih, safe, safety, Sarwar Shaheed, scene, secure, shelter, shortcut, Sister, Society, spearheaded, statement, stayed, supporters, supreme, talk, testified, testimony, threatened, threats, town, tradition, traveling, treated, tutored, uncle, unkindly, vaild, veil, verdict, victory, visit, warning, willing, worse | Leave a comment

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
\section{Differentiating the SVD}
We will need formulas for how $U$, $\Sigma$, and $V$ change as $F$ is perturbed with ``velocity''
$\dot F$, which we find by differentiating both sides of the SVD:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:svd_der_preliminary}
\dot F = \dot U \Sigma V^T + U \dot \Sigma V^T + U \Sigma \dot V^T
       \quad \Longrightarrow \quad U^T \dot F V = U^T \dot{U} \Sigma + \dot \Sigma + \Sigma \dot{V}^T V.
\end{equation}
Differentiating the relationships $U^T U = \text{Id}_{3 \times 3}$ and $V^T V =
\text{Id}_{2 \times 2}$ reveals that $U^T \dot{U}$ and $\dot{V}^T V$ are skew
symmetric and can be written as the infinitesimal rotations:
$$
U^T \dot{U} =
\begin{bmatrix}
    0 & -\omega_z & \omega_y \\
    \omega_z & 0 & -\omega_x \\
   -\omega_y & \omega_x & 0 \\
\end{bmatrix},
\quad \quad
\dot{V}^T V =
\begin{bmatrix}
    0      & -\alpha \\
    \alpha & 0       \\
\end{bmatrix}.
$$
Plugging these into \pr{eqn:svd_der_preliminary}, we obtain a formula for
the infinitesimal rotations and singular value perturbations induced by $\dot{F}$:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:svd_der}
U^T \dot F V =
    \begin{bmatrix} \dot{\sigma_1} & -(\sigma_2 \omega_z + \sigma_1 \alpha) \\
                    \sigma_1 \omega_z + \sigma_2 \alpha & \dot{\sigma_2} \\
                   -\sigma_1 \omega_y & \sigma_2 \omega_x
    \end{bmatrix}.
\end{equation}
Geometrically, $\omega_z$ indicates a rotation of the surface element about the current normal $\normal$, while
$\omega_x$ and $\omega_y$ are rotations around the principal stretch axes.
When $\omega_x = \omega_y = 0$, the deformed surface element simply rotates in-plane around $\normal$
(and $\normal$ does not change). However, nonzero $\omega_x$ and $\omega_y$ indicate
that $\dot{F}$ induces a rotation of $\normal$.

\subsection{Example Perturbations}
\label{sec:example_perturb}
According to \pr{eqn:svd_der}, a perturbation of the form
$$
\dot{F} = U \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T
$$
leaves $\normal$ unchanged as it stretches/rotates the surface element in-plane.
Specifically, we have $\dot{\sigma_1} = a$, $\dot{\sigma_2} = d$ and the following
system for $\omega_z$ and $\alpha$:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:rot2d_sum}
\begin{aligned}
    \sigma_2 \omega_z + \sigma_1 \alpha &= -b \\
    \sigma_1 \omega_z + \sigma_2 \alpha &=  c
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
On the other hand, perturbation
$$
\dot{F} = U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 \\ e & f \end{bmatrix} V^T
$$
rotates the surface element's normal by angular velocities $\omega_x = f / \sigma_2,
\omega_y = -e / \sigma_1$ without any in-plane stretch/rotation.

\section{Gradients of the Invariants}
We can now use the formulas for $\dot{\sigma_1}$ and $\dot{\sigma_2}$ to
differentiate the invariants:
\begin{align*}
\pder{I_1^{3 \times 2}}{F} : \dot{F} = \dot{\Sigma} : \begin{bmatrix} \ 1 \  & 0 \ \\ 0 & 1 \ \\ 0 & 0 \ \end{bmatrix} = \Big(U^T \dot{F} V\Big) : \begin{bmatrix} \ 1 \  & 0 \ \\ 0 & 1 \ \\ 0 & 0 \ \end{bmatrix}
    = \dot{F} : \left(U \begin{bmatrix} \ 1 \  & 0 \ \\ 0 & 1 \ \\ 0 & 0 \ \end{bmatrix} V^T\right) \quad \Longrightarrow \quad \pder{I_1^{3 \times 2}}{F} &= U \begin{bmatrix} \ 1 \  & 0 \ \\ 0 & 1 \ \\ 0 & 0 \ \end{bmatrix} V^T,
\\
\pder{I_3^{3 \times 2}}{F} : \dot{F} = \dot{\Sigma} : \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} = \Big(U^T \dot{F} V\Big) : \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix}
    = \dot{F} : \left(U \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T\right) \quad \Longrightarrow \quad
   \pder{I_3^{3 \times 2}}{F} &= U \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T,
\\
    \pder{I_2^{3 \times 2}}{F} : \dot{F} = 2 F : \dot{F} \quad \Longrightarrow \quad \pder{I_2^{3 \times 2}}{F} &= 2 F.
\end{align*}

\section{Hessians of the Invariants}
We evaluate the Hessian applied to an
arbitrary perturbation $\dot{F}$. First, the easy invariant:
$$
\spderF{I_2^{3 \times 2}} : \dot{F} = 2 \dot{F},
$$
which means $\spderF{I_2^{3 \times 2}}$ is a multiple of the fourth order identity
tensor. Any orthogonal basis can be chosen as a set of eigenmatrices, and their
corresponding eigenvalues are all $2$.

Next, we consider $I_1^{3 \times 2}$:
$$
U^T \left( \spderF{I_1^{3 \times 2}} : \dot{F} \right) V
    = U^T \dot{U} \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} +
        \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} \dot{V}^T V
            = \begin{bmatrix} 0 & -(\omega_z + \alpha) \\ \omega_z + \alpha & 0 \\ -\omega_y & \omega_x \end{bmatrix}.
$$
We plug in $\dot{F} = U \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \\ e & f\end{bmatrix} V^T$
and note that summing the equations in \pr{eqn:rot2d_sum} yields $\omega_z + \alpha = \frac{c - b}{\sigma_1 + \sigma_2}$.
Thus:
$$
\spderF{I_1^{3 \times 2}} : \dot{F}
    = U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & \frac{b - c}{\sigma_1 + \sigma_2} \\
                        \frac{c - b}{\sigma_1 + \sigma_2} & 0 \\
                        \frac{e}{\sigma_1} & \frac{f}{\sigma_2} \end{bmatrix} V^T.
$$
From this expression, we see there is a three dimensional null space
with $e = f = 0$ and $b = c$. We can pick the following
orthonormal basis for this subspace:
$$
\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 &  1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T,\quad
\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & -1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T,\quad
\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 1 \\ 1 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T \quad \quad (\lambda = 0).
$$
We further deduce the three eigenmatrices with nonzero eigenvalues:
$$
\underbrace{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & -1 \\ 1 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \frac{2}{\sigma_1 + \sigma_2}}, \quad
\underbrace{                  U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 1 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \frac{1}{\sigma_1}}, \quad
\underbrace{                  U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \frac{1}{\sigma_2}}.
$$

Finally, we consider $I_3^{3 \times 2}$:
$$
U^T \left( \spderF{I_3^{3 \times 2}} : \dot{F} \right) V
    = U^T \dot{U} \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix}
        +
        \begin{bmatrix} \dot \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \dot \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix}
        +
        \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} \dot{V}^T V
    = \begin{bmatrix} \dot \sigma_2 & -(\sigma_1 \omega_z + \sigma_2 \alpha) \\
                      \sigma_2 \omega_z + \sigma_1 \alpha & \dot \sigma_1 \\
                     -\sigma_2 \omega_y & \sigma_1 \omega_x \end{bmatrix}.
$$
Again plugging in $\dot{F} = U \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \\ e & f\end{bmatrix} V^T$ and
using the formulas from \pr{sec:example_perturb}, we find:
$$
\spderF{I_3^{3 \times 2}} : \dot{F} =
U \begin{bmatrix}  d & -c \\
                  -b & a \\
\frac{\sigma_2}{\sigma_1} e & \frac{\sigma_1}{\sigma_2} f \end{bmatrix} V^T
$$
We deduce the following eigenmatrices and eigenvalues:
\begin{gather*}
    \underbrace{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 1 &  0 \\ 0 &  1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T,\quad
                \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & -1 \\ 1 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = 1},\quad
    \underbrace{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 1 &  0 \\ 0 & -1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T,\quad
                \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  1 \\ 1 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = -1},\quad \\
    \underbrace{                   U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 1 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \frac{\sigma_2}{\sigma_1}},\quad
    \underbrace{                   U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \frac{\sigma_1}{\sigma_2}}.
\end{gather*}

We note that for all invariants, four of the six Hessian eigenmatrices are
simply padded versions of the 2D eigenmatrices from \cite{Smith2019}, while the
last two are new and concern the rotation of the surface element's normal.

\section{Example: Incompressible neo-Hookean Sheet}
We consider the membrane energy of a thin sheet of incompressible
neo-Hookean material \cite{bonet1997nonlinear}:
$$
\psi_\text{IncNeo}(F_\text{3D}) = \frac{\mu}{2} \left(\tr(F_\text{3D}^T F_\text{3D}) - 3\right)
                                = \frac{\mu}{2} \left(I_2^\text{3D} - 3\right)
$$
When the sheet experiences an in-plane deformation gradient $F \in \, \mathbb{R}^{3 \times 2}$,
it stretches or compresses in the normal direction to maintain $J = 1$.
We can solve for the normal stretch as $\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}$ and express
$\psi_\text{IncNeo}$ directly in terms of $F$'s invariants:
$$
\psi_\text{sheet}(F) = \frac{\mu}{2} \left( I_2^{3 \times 2} + \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^2 - 3 \right).
$$
The Hessian of this energy density is:
\begin{align*}
\spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}} &=
    \frac{\mu}{2} \left[
        \spderF{I_2^{3 \times 2}} + 6 \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^4 \pder{I_2^{3 \times 2}}{F} \otimes \pder{I_2^{3 \times 2}}{F}
                       - 2 \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^3 \spderF{I_3^{3 \times 2}}
    \right]
\\
    &=
    \mu \left[
        \text{Id}_4 + 3 \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^4 \left(U \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T\right) \otimes \left(U \begin{bmatrix} \sigma_2 & 0 \\ 0 & \sigma_1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T\right)
                    - \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^3 \spderF{I_3^{3 \times 2}}
    \right].
\end{align*}
We note that $\pder{I_2^{3 \times 2}}{F}$ is orthogonal to all but two of the eigenmatrices of $\spderF{I_3^{3 \times 2}}$
(and eigenmatrices for the fourth order identity tensor $\text{Id}_4$ can be chosen arbitrarily), so we
immediately get the following four eigenpairs:
$$
    \underbrace{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & -1 \\ 1 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \mu  - \mu \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^3},\quad
    \underbrace{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  1 \\ 1 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \mu  + \mu \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^3},\quad
    \underbrace{                   U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 1 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \mu  - \mu \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^3\frac{\sigma_2}{\sigma_1}},\quad
    \underbrace{                   U \begin{bmatrix} 0 &  0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \mu  - \mu \left(\frac{1}{I_3^{3 \times 2}}\right)^3\frac{\sigma_1}{\sigma_2}}.
$$
Because $\pder{I_2^{3 \times 2}}{F}$ is generally not orthogonal to either of the remaining two
eigenmatrices of $\spderF{I_3^{3 \times 2}}$ (whose eigenvalues are distinct) we must diagonalize
the projection of $\spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}}$ onto their span to obtain the final two
eigenpairs. We obtain simpler expressions using the
basis $D_1 \vcentcolon= U \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 &  0 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T$
and $D_2 \vcentcolon= U \begin{bmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 0 &  1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T$
for this subspace, which results in the reduced Hessian:
\begin{align*}
&\begin{bmatrix}
    D_1 : \spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}} : D_1 &
    D_1 : \spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}} : D_2 \\
    D_2 : \spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}} : D_1 &
    D_2 : \spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}} : D_2
\end{bmatrix}
= \mu
\begin{bmatrix}
    1 & 0 \\
    0 & 1
\end{bmatrix}
+
\frac{\mu}{\left(I_3^{3 \times 2}\right)^4}
\begin{bmatrix}
    3 \sigma_2^2 & 2 I_3^{3 \times 2} \\
       2 I_3^{3 \times 2} & 3 \sigma_1^2
\end{bmatrix}.
\end{align*}
The eigendecomposition of this $2 \times 2$ matrix can be expressed
by introducing quantities ${\beta \vcentcolon= 3 (\sigma_2^2 - \sigma_1^2)}$ and
${\gamma \vcentcolon= \sqrt{16 \left(I_3^{3 \times 2}\right)^2 + \beta^2}}$:
$$
\vec{v}_1 = \begin{bmatrix}\beta - \gamma \\ 4 I_3^{3 \times 2} \end{bmatrix},\quad \lambda_1 = \mu  + \mu \frac{3 I_2^{3 \times 2} + \gamma}{2 \left(I_3^{3 \times 2}\right)^4}, \quad \quad \quad \quad
\vec{v}_2 = \begin{bmatrix}\beta + \gamma \\ 4 I_3^{3 \times 2} \end{bmatrix},\quad \lambda_2 = \mu  + \mu \frac{3 I_2^{3 \times 2} + \gamma}{2 \left(I_3^{3 \times 2}\right)^4},
$$
making the final two eigenpairs of $\spderF{\psi_\text{sheet}}$:
$$
    \underbrace{U \begin{bmatrix} \beta - \gamma & 0 \\ 0 &  4 I_3^{3 \times 2} \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \mu  + \mu \frac{3 I_2^{3 \times 2} + \gamma}{2 \left(I_3^{3 \times 2}\right)^4}},\quad
    \underbrace{U \begin{bmatrix} \beta + \gamma & 0 \\ 0 &  4 I_3^{3 \times 2} \\ 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix} V^T}_{\lambda = \mu  + \mu \frac{3 I_2^{3 \times 2} - \gamma}{2 \left(I_3^{3 \times 2}\right)^4}}.
$$
Note that these eigenmatrices do not have unit norm and should be normalized.

\bibliographystyle{plain}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Based on Linux Mint's default theme, Mint-X, and inspired by the GTK2 theme Mint-Metal-X-Blue, but made for GTK3/Cinnamon, I give you Mint-X-Colours. I find the green to be suboptimal, so I swapped it out with blue, red, and purple. Looks great with Faenza Cupertino icons.
The red theme attempts to load the icon set Faenza-Cupertino, if you use a different icon set edit index.theme to point to your set.
Finally, if you want to simply use the red/purple theme for your normal user, download Mint-X-Red or Mint-X-Purple. Extract to ~/.themes/ to install, or /usr/share/themes/ so that they will be available to all users - including when you launch applications as root.


Please see below for information about applying to the Data Science Master's Program. See our FAQ for more information.
More information and application. For 5th Year Master's Applicants.
Applications open in early September, and admission is rolling, which means we may accept some students before the March 15 deadline. No applications can be accepted after March 15. You will be notified by the Graduate School if you are admitted. We expect to contact waitlisted and admitted applicants by the end of March.
Please provide unofficial (scanned) copies of your transcripts as part of the electronic application. You will be prompted to mail an official copy of your transcript if you accept an offer of admission.
Writing sample (optional): If you have written a technical article or paper which you feel would help us evaluate your preparation for the program, this is where you would attach it.
We seek to admit students from a wide range of backgrounds for distinctive careers in Data Science. This means that students will have a wide range of experience through work and education, which can prepare them for the program in a variety of ways.
At a minimum, we recommend that students entering the program have completed at least a year of calculus (at the level of MATH 0090 & 0100), a semester of linear algebra (at the level of MATH 0520), a semester of calculus-based probability and statistics (at the level of APMA 1650), and an introduction to programming (at the level of CSCI 0150 or 0170).
We also admit exceptional students who lack one or more of the minimum requirements in linear algebra, probability and statistics, and computer science. These students will be expected to take a course at Brown or elsewhere to achieve the necessary preparation before the program begins, and should consult with the program director to determine what is most appropriate.
Academic performance: The GPA is not the only criterion. The grades in data-science related areas are also important. Also, we take into account the fact that at some very competitive schools it is very difficult to achieve a high GPA.
Letters of recommendation: Letters must give a detailed, factual, and candid evaluation of the applicant's capabilities. Rankings and comparisons with other students are very useful. Ask your recommender to follow these guidelines. Remind your recommenders of deadlines to ensure they are met.
Work experience: Please describe any work experience you might have. Not all applicants have work experience, but for those who do, some description of it helps us better evaluate your application.
GRE scores: These scores let us compare the basic skills of applicants from diverse backgrounds. We are aware that (1) test performance can improve considerably with practice, (2) some people do not perform well on tests, (3) and the verbal GRE is harder for some foreign applicants. While we do not require the GRE General score, the test provides an additional objective form of evaluation that is often helpful in determining an applicant's abilities.
TOEFL and IELTS scores: Applicants whose native language is not English and who have not received a college degree from an institution where the instruction is in English must take the TOEFL or IELTS exam. Additional evidence (e.g., certificate of completion of an English course) may also be submitted. We generally do not consider applicants who have scored below 620 (PBT) or 260 (CBT) or IBT (105), and prefer scores higher than that. The corresponding minimum IELTS score is 7.5. If you are exempt from taking the an English language test, please email the Graduate School directly at [email protected] to get a waiver. More information.
Personal Statement: The statement that accompanies your application helps us learn more about you.
Awards, honors, and prizes: Unless they are well-known (e.g., NSF fellowship or graduation with honors), please give details about them (how many candidates? how many awards? what were the selection criteria?). This is especially important for foreign applicants. If these awards are really important, we would expect your recommenders to mention them.
Research experience: Research experience is not required for master's applicants and many of our applicants do not have any, but you can use experience you've had to demonstrate your ability to handle graduate-level data science material.
The Data Science Initiative (specifically, a group of faculty members) evaluates your application and makes recommendations to the Graduate School, which typically follows our recommendations. Therefore, you are generating your application (in particular, your statement) to be read primarily by the faculty of the Data Science Initiative. You will be notified by the Graduate School if you are admitted. Questions about the online application process should be directed to [email protected].
The annual tuition for the DSI Master's Program for 2018-2019 is $63,440. This information is also listed on the Graduate School's website.
Because the program comprises 4 fall credits, 4 spring credits, and 1 summer credit, the total cost of the program is equal to the annual tuition plus one-eighth of the following year's annual tuition (since summer courses fall in the following fiscal year). Tuition rates typically rise around 4% per year, so the total cost of the program should be estimated at 1+(1/8)(1+4%) = 1.13 times the annual tuition.
We do not currently have scholarships available for this program. Brown's Office of Financial Aid can help with loan funding; you can find information and a financial worksheet here.


Since my last post, we have secured several more sponsors for our July Blog Party and I'm thrilled to share them with you! We have such a talented lineup which is going to make for some pretty sweet Blog Party boxes, this time we even have some sweet treats to include. Take a look at the shops who are so kindly sharing their items for our bloggers to take home with them. If you want to be one of the lucky people to receive one of these amazing boxes, register for the July 11th Blog Party here, hosted by Social Print Studio in San Francisco. You can check out photos from the last Blog Party here.
And if you haven't entered the Social Print Studio giveaway, do so here. It's open until July 30th but you can enter everyday!


Summary: first internet of things day event in Vienna was a smashing success with over 500 people attending and many talks and open source projects.
Soon afterward i was for the first time in my life "session chair": The task was to be mental and physically present in a certain conference room at a certain time, greet and introduce the speakers, signal the speakers when it is time to end the speech and start the public discussion. Every speech was limited to 20 minutes talks (english or german), followed by 10 minutes time for public discussion and 10 minutes break. This session chair "work" was suprisingly easy, the only disadventage is the loss of freedom to visit other talks. On the positive side, i was forced to listen to same talks i would not have choosen to attend from the talk description alone and got new impressions.
From other conferences (like Europyhton) i was used to a more dense packed shedule without the 10 minutes break. I found the "forced" 10 minutes break after each talk very wise and can recommend it to every conference organisator: For the price of maybe one or two less talks squeezed in per day and room a conference profit by getting a remarkable better air quality during the whole day in the conference rooms and more important: it is ensured that there is a more constant flow of visitors around the exhibiting tables of student projects and sponsors - conference visitors have "official sheduled" break time between talks to, well, talk.
Also a phenomen i often see at other conferences with a more dense shedule was thankfully not observed by me at the GIDE2015 Vienna: conference visitors occupying the same chair motionless for several talks in a row, somtimes building small "fortresses" with drink, food, papers and electronic devices around them. It seems to me that a break time of 10 minutes triggers the urge to move out of the room for nearly every visitor, leading to an overall much more pleasant conference experience.


text:
Adapting the HERCULES Film for the Stage
The Delacorte Theater Now - September 8 (with added performance on Wednesday, September 4)
Public Works' Musical Adaptation of
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by David Zippel
Book by Kristoffer Diaz
Choreography by Chase Brock
Directed by Lear deBessonet
Based on the Disney film written by Ron Clements, John Musker, Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi, and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker.
The Public Theater's initiative that invites communities across New York to create ambitious works of participatory theater is closing out the summer in truly epic fashion. Public Works will present the glorious story of HERCULES, brought to vibrant life by professional actors and community groups from across the city. Directed by Public Works Founder and Resident Director Lear deBessonet, this summer's production, based on the Disney animated film, will feature the film's beloved score, plus additional original songs by the film's composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, with a new book by Kristoffer Diaz and choreography by Chase Brock. Journey with Hercules in this new stage adaptation that invites New Yorkers from all five boroughs to participate in a joyous musical that celebrates the heroes found in all of us.
200+ New Yorkers including
Jelani Alladin (Hercules), Roger Bart (Hades), Jeff Hiller(Panic), James Monroe Iglehart (Philoctetes), Ramona Keller (Thalia), Tamika Lawrence (Calliope), Krysta Rodriguez (Megara), Rema Webb (Terpsichore), cameo groups 10 Hairy Legs, Passaic High School Marching Band, and a special featured performance by Broadway Inspirational Voices.
PUBLIC WORKS is a national and international initiative of The Public Theater that seeks to engage the people of New York by making them creators and not just spectators. Led by Founder Lear deBessonet and Director of Public Works Laurie Woolery, Public Works deliberately blurs the line between professional artists and community members, creating theater that is not only for the people, but by and of the people as well.
PRODUCTION DETAILS.
This production will include fog and flashing lights meant to mimic lightning. As sensitivities vary from person to person, if you have specific questions regarding content, please call us at 212.967.7555.
100 minutes with no intermission
No performance at The Delacorte Theater is cancelled before 8pm.
HERCULES is presented by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher.
Lead support for PUBLIC WORKS is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, The Tow Foundation, the Abrams Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., The One World Fund, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Gray Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, The SHS Foundation, and The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Free tickets via the In-Person Standby Lottery at The Delacorte. You may enter the free in-person standby lottery before each public performance, at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, from 5pm to 7pm. Starting between 7pm and 7:30pm, winners will be selected to receive up to two (2) free tickets. The lottery will continue until all available tickets are distributed. Learn More.
The Advance Digital Lottery has ended, but you may join the Daily In-Person Standby Lottery.
8:00 PM Audio Described
8:00 PM Sign Language
AUGUST SEPTEMBER
SAT 08/31 8:00 PM Audio Described
SUN 09/01 8:00 PM
MON 09/02 8:00 PM
WED 09/04 8:00 PM
THU 09/05 8:00 PM
FRI 09/06 8:00 PM
SAT 09/07 8:00 PM Sign Language
David Zippel
Kristoffer Diaz
Chase Brock
Lear deBessonet
Dane Laffrey
Scenic Design
Andrea Hood
Tyler Micoleau
Kai Harada
Jessica Paz
Sound System Design
Cookie Jordan
Wigs, Hair and Makeup Design
Puppet Design
Laurie Woolery
Additional Direction by
Danny Troob
Michael Kosarin
Music Supervisor, Arranger, and Conductor
Dance Music Arranger
Howard Joines
Music Contractor
Rick Steiger
Kristen Gibbs & Janet Takami
Stage Managers
How Do You Stage Disney's 'Hercules'? Invite Everyone
Explore Roosevelt Island With Hercules' Jelani Alladin
Original Hercules voice actor Roger Bart talks going the distance, playing Hades on stage
Jelani Alladin, Krysta Rodriguez & Jeff Hiller On The Public Works' Musical "HERCULES"
Disney's 'Hercules' Is Coming to the Stage—With Over 200 Performers
Why 'Hercules' Needs Puppets of Mythic Proportions
Going the Distance with Public Works' HERCULES
How to Access Free Tickets to Public Works' HERCULES
Public Works' HERCULES Montage


text:
NICE final OK for AstraZeneca's Brilique
Lynne Taylor
In final guidance, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of AstraZeneca's "clotbuster" Brilique (ticagrelor), in combination with aspirin and for up to 12 months, as an option to treat adults with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).
Every year around 200,000 people in England are diagnosed with ACS, among whom around three-quarters have unstable angina or non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) - the latter occurs when ischaemia (blockage by a blood clot of one of the large blood vessels carrying blood to the heart) results in damage to the heart muscle.
Brilique is an anti-platelet drug which is licensed for the treatment of people with ACS who are managed medically or who are to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to widen narrowed arteries in the heart.
NICE's newly-released final guidance recommends its use, in combination with aspirin, as a treatment option in people with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who are to undergo PCI, and also in people with NSTEMI. It is further recommended as a treatment option for people admitted to hospital with unstable angina.
The guidance was welcomed by Professor Marcus Flather, consultant cardiologist and director of R&D at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who said that Brilique "has been shown to be a more effective treatment option than clopidogrel [Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi's Plavix] and will help us reduce the rates of repeat heart attack and cardiovascular death in the thousands of patients we treat each year."
Professor Carole Longson, director of the health technology evaluation centre at NICE, noted that the evidence shows that Brilique, in combination with aspirin, is effective at reducing myocardial infarction and deaths from cardiovascular causes.
In recommending the drug's use where clinically appropriate, the new guidance "is an affirmation of that effectiveness and good news for patients with ACS, wherever they live in England and Wales, because it increases the number of treatment options available to them," Prof Longson added.
Also welcoming the recommendation, AstraZeneca pointed out that Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England and Wales now have three months to ensure that Brilique is made available as an option for physicians to use in the treatment of ACS. The NICE guidance is also expected to be adopted in Northern Ireland, the firm added.
Ticagrelor has now been approved in 43 countries, including the European Union (EU) under the trade name Brilique and in the US, Canada and Brazil under the trade name Brilinta. The product currently has price approvals in 19 countries and reimbursement authorisations in nine, says AstraZeneca.
NICE issues final draft OK for AstraZeneca's Brilique
AZ's Brilique could prevent 20% of heart attack deaths
AZ's Brilique more cost effective than clopidogrel, new data suggest
http://www.nice.org.uk
http://www.astrazeneca.co.uk


text:
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Last Exile – Fam The Silver Wing
by Christopher Kinsey February 13, 2015 December 23, 2019
Anime Review: Last Exile – Fam The Silver Wing
By Christopher Kinsey
I come into this review as a fan of the previous series, Last Exile. I found the setting to be different, the characters to be believable, and the story to be an interesting take on science fiction war. I would go so far as to say that it is the sort of anime that you could show to non anime fans and they wouldn't be lost, since it doesn't rely on many anime tropes and styles of storytelling which might confuse those unfamiliar. The art style lent itself to such a show, and the pedigree of the production staff made the series, to me, an instant classic.
For example, Last Exile begins with an opening song and animation that grabs your attention then sweeps you across the new landscapes you'll be seeing, showing characters and events which are meant to make you wonder a bit about the direction this series will take. The opening scene is of a battleship in the clouds, towing a small scout of some kind called a "vanship". It is dangerous work and they seem to be seeking something, then the vanship is lost spelling tragedy. Just being thrown into this series leaves you wanting to know more and yet you've already learned a lot without a historical scroll or having the main characters recap the setting.
Nine years pass and the opening to Last Exile-Fam The Silver Wing goes as follows; we look upon a strange sky of six moons, a young woman stumbles into frame, proceeds to disrobe to her underwear, then bungee jumps sleepily out into the void. At the end of the rope a bell jingles and the rest of her friends are roused from their sleep on the flight deck of the airship and then proceed to mock her. This tells me a little about how far removed we are in nine years.
One thing that disturbs me a little out of the gate on this series is the fact there is a short collection of manga that bridges both series. I'm not one who enjoys needing separate media just to enjoy another part of the same series. This is compounded by the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, this bridging series never came to the states. But the series can work on its own save for a few sore spots. For instance: the character of Dio, who was a major factor in the original series, finds himself in this series as well. Now, I don't wish to spoil Last Exile for you and I won't, but if you're going to bring in such a character it kind of requires you to give the original audience a reason for it. Watching the first series can get you to connect the dots that would lead him in this series a world away, but it really is jarring in a sense.
But Fam The Silver Wing is its own entity to a point, and can be enjoyed for what it is. The story centers around Earth, the home of humanity left behind when the Exile ships took mankind to the stars to escape some sort of catastrophe never mentioned. In particular we examine the chronicles of Fam, a sky pirate of great skill that captures large airships in her vanship with her navigator, Giselle. On a typical hunt the pair decides to intervene on a peace treaty between the Kingdom of Turan and the Ades Federation. But the Federation betrays the truce, so the sky pirates save the capital ship along with the younger of the princesses of Turan, Millia. The series follows their struggles to stop the Federation from their plans to stop the colonists from returning home and uncover the more sinister plots involving the super ship, the Grand Exile.
This would all be pretty cut and dry for anyone who hasn't watched the first series, but for me there is this nagging feeling that all they did was recycle many elements from the first series. Sweet battles between airships? Check. Vanship racing? Check. Mysterious circumstances of the higher technology and bloodlines in relation to the Exile ships? Check. A special airship stumbled upon by our protagonists that is stealthy, super and possibly the finest and most noble crew in the world? Check. No matter how many sky pirates are sprinkled on there, it seems like there is a lot of retreading of old ground.
That isn't to say that this series doesn't have its own ideas and themes. Besides sky pirates there are gaggles and gaggles of ladies. I know there are a great many anime series out there that have a majority of their cast be male or female, but something seems a little off this time. The Last Exile series has never been one to tout sexuality to draw in viewers, and this isn't the case this time either. However, every male is either inconsequential to the scheme of the plot, used for some scene establishment or foppishly comedic. All of our major protagonists are ladies, with a rare dash of girl crushes (or as the kids today call it, some "Ho-yay") to keep things interesting. Having one gender dominate the cast happens often enough in series such as Gurren Lagann, but that series had no precedent to hold up to in that regard. In Last Exile gender didn't define roles, but somehow Fam The Silver Wing decided the way to differentiate itself from the pack would be to follow the current trends in anime and heavily lean on a female heavy cast roster.
It's my own prejudices I carry from being a fan of the original series that keeps me from really giving this series all of my praise. The animation is just as great as it was in the original. The airship battles are gorgeous even if they are lacking some of the human element I felt in the first series. Save for a few spots, all the characters are well fleshed out and believable. The voice acting in the English dub is fair, save for some minor annoyances I find in casting of young boys in ridiculous situations. The Japanese dub is exceptional as is expected. Koichi Chigira and Gonzo team up well on all their projects together, so I can't say I'm disappointed from a technical standpoint at all.
And after the initial shock of the changes, I found a good story within it all. It is not an exceptional story in the anime world today, but something entertaining with a good cast to back it up. At the end of the day that is all we can hope for, a little something to entertain us that is executed well. It is a series I feel we didn't need or want, but it's nice that it came along.
The Wrapup
An interesting and gorgeous setting aided by great animation and style
Decent soundtrack and good vocal work no matter how you like to listen
Lots of interesting extras on the DVDs, from promotional items that would remain unseen over here to product reveals from conventions
Missing supplemental material that would tie the previous series to this one
Rather forced relationships amongst the main characters
Some slow pacing to the main plot can confuse watchers as the character roster gets quite large over the series
Opposite Ends of Cyberpunk and Anime
Nekopara: Cat Paradise Lost
Christopher Kinsey
View all posts by Christopher Kinsey →
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
Strike Witches 2
May 3, 2015 December 23, 2019
Psycholonials: E-girls, Depression, and Trotskyism
The Entire Story of Girls' Frontline, in Order
HIVESWAP: ACT 2 – Dead Freight
Dean Talks Anime: Final
Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out
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The u-blox C030-N211 NB-IoT mbed-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) Starter Kit is a versatile development platform that allows quick prototyping of a variety of applications for low-power Internet of Things (IoT).
Due to the USB current limitation, optimal RF performance can be achieved only by supplying the board either through the "Aux 5V USB" connector or the VIN pin of the Arduino® UNO R3 interface. Other alternative is to use a LiPo Battery connected through the "LiPo Battery" connector. Please refer to Power Supply and LiPo Battery section below.
During the RF transactions, SARA-N211 module of C030-N211 Application Board demands higher currents than a USB 2.0 Master Port could provide. If the C030-N211 Application Board is powered from a single USB 2.0 port, a Brown Out could be experienced during RF transactions. This situation is observed as premature board reset and/or application interruption. To overcome such situation, the C030-N211 Application Board could be powered with a high current PSU through purpose built "Aux 5V USB" connector. Another, solution is to connect a LiPo battery to the "LiPo Battery Connector"
C030-N211 Application Board has provisions to upgrade SARA-N211 Module firmware. Please consult your u-blox representative for further details.
There are no restrictions for the commercialization of the C030-N211 application boards in all the countries of the European Union.
Radiofrequency radiation exposure Information: this equipment complies with radiation exposure limits prescribed for an uncontrolled environment for fixed and mobile use conditions. This equipment should be installed and operated with a minimum distance of 20 cm between the radiator and the body of the user or nearby persons. This transmitter must not be collocated or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter except as authorized in the certification of the product.
The gain of the system antenna(s) used for C030-N211 application boards (i.e. the combined transmission line, connector, cable losses and radiating element gain) must not exceed 2.96 dBi (900 MHz, i.e. GSM 900 or UMTS FDD-8 band), 7.85 dBi (1800 MHz, i.e. GSM 1800 band), 11.84 dBi (2100 MHz, i.e. UMTS FDD-1 band) for mobile and fixed or mobile operating configurations.
To compile a program for this board using Mbed CLI, use ublox_c030_n211 as the target name.


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We woke up on the ferry. Gorgeous patterns in the wake as we cruised into Sitka.
I have wanted to come and photograph the totem poles for some time, and also visit some of the National Historic Landmarks (NHL) in town. I used to work for cultural resources in the regional office, for the National Landmark program. I am very familiar with the history in this small town.
We arrived in Sitka too early to check into our hotel, so we jumped into exploration. First we visited Castle Hill (NHL), then we drove around the St. Michael's Cathedral (NHL), walked around town, watched the fisherman fish, visited the Sheldon Jackson Campus (NHL) and Museum, and an old Russian cemetery. We finished the day of exploring by walking the fishing docks and admiring the ships.
Castle Hill, or Noow Tlein (Tlingit), is a rocky hill that overlooks Sitka. The top of this location is significant to the history of this area. First the Tlingit, then the Russians built and lost forts in battles on this hill. It was on this very mound that the Russians lowered their flag and the American flag was raised, signifying U.S. ownership.
At this ceremony in 1867, a dual cannon salute was fired. The Russian flag got stuck in the lanyards as they tried to lower the flag. Several soldiers tried to climb the pole with no success. Eventually they got it down, but once it was untangled, it fell, landing on the Russian soldier's bayonets. The American flag was raised with no incidents, and Alaska became part of the United States. Today, there are no sign of forts, structures, or bayonets. Two cannons still reside, and the space is a grassy spot with a view.
1827 illustration of Castle Hill in Russian-controlled Sitka. The hilltop building was an imposing fortification that overlooked the water and Tlingit areas. (Old Sitka, Alaska) by Postels.
Source: Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
In 1959, after Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state, Castle Hill was the location where the first 49-star U.S. flag in Alaska was raised.
Sheldon Jackson (May 18,1834 – May 2, 1909) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and political leader. His history and legacy in Sitka is very interesting, particularly his interest in education. He is interesting enough that he should have a blog post all about him, but instead I will mention where my interests are. Sheldon was a collector, an early scientist and ethnographer, who believed in preserving the material objects from all his travels. He traveled extensively in early Alaska. I wanted to go to the museum to see some of these artifacts that remain in Sitka. I was not disappointed. If you ever get a chance to get to the Sheldon Jackson Museum, it is definitely a must! Some of the best artifacts I have seen in Alaska are here. I purchased a couple of books on Sheldon Jackson and toured the museum.
We spent a good part of the afternoon enjoying the boats.
I glanced at a map and saw there was an old Russian cemetery in town. We opted to explore this graveyard. What an amazing find! The cemetery was overgrown and was very lush. The Russian Orthodox cross was to be seen in many places, and someone had been planting flowers randomly in the cemetery. We later ran into the security guard who told us a woman spends a lot of time in the place. She plants the flowers out of respect, and to add a touch to many of the mostly forgotten graves. The place was very peaceful and beautiful.
Soon we will visit the totem poles; my primary reason for coming to Sitka.


What's New in Version X6?
If you're a veteran user of PhotoPlus, a quick glance at X6 will show you that not much has changed when it comes to the basic interface design. Don't let that fool you though – several new features have been baked into the program along with quite a few enhancements and improvements to existing tools.
However, in my opinion, the biggest new thing in the X6 version is something you don't actually "see" at all, but it is something I noticed right away. Assuming that you have a 64-bit operating system, the new 64-bit engine of PhotoPlus makes the application much faster than before – especially when working with large or complex files.
In the sections that follow, we'll take a closer look at some of these new and enhanced features. And, for those who aren't familiar with PhotoPlus, we'll also take a look at some of the tools that have been around for a while but are still quite nice and useful.
A lot of photo editing applications have tools similar to X6's new smart selection brush, which allows you to brush over an object or area to select it while a behind-the-scenes analysis detects edges to help you avoid "coloring outside of the lines." The trouble is that most of these tools aren't quite as smart as they claim to be, and it can be pretty frustrating trying to find the right combination of settings to make even a halfway-decent selection.
I was immediately impressed with how well PhotoPlus's version of this tool worked using just the default settings. As seen in the screenshot above, I was able to select a single flower from a background that contained other objects with similar coloring in under a minute. Then, I inverted the selection and desaturated the background to achieve a style that many people like to use to put emphasis on an object in a photo. While it could probably use a little more tweaking, it took less than two minutes to get the result above from the photo shown to the right.
PhotoPlus's new tilt-shift effect is housed within the collection of the Depth of Field filter's settings. There are a lot of cool things you can do with this creative tool, but be prepared to play around with it for a bit to find a look you like. In particular, don't be shy about ramping up the saturation to see what kinds of results you can get.
When people talk about this filter, they often refer to it as a miniaturization effect because the combination of blurring and saturation adjustments can make your original scene look like a toy model. For that reason, you may want to experiment with the tilt-shift filter on photos that contain buildings and roadways, such as the image to the right. But, I also like to use the filter to create an illustration or comic-book effect, similar to the photo above.
Technically, you could create what X6 calls fill layers in prior versions of PhotoPlus by combining various tools and settings, but it took a lot more work. Now, you can create such a layer with a solid or gradient fill with just a couple of clicks.
This may seem like a fairly inconsequential addition to some, but if you regularly create a lot of multi-layered creative works, you'll probably find this feature extremely useful – especially if you like to add text to your images. Plus, it's a lot of fun to play around with.
The Lens filter isn't a new – or even an improved – feature in X6, but I wanted to dedicate a section of this review to this tool because so many people tend to overlook it completely.
This adjustment is based on the traditional filters used on camera lenses to achieve various lighting and color-tint effects, but the digital versions of these effects are much more varied – and more controllable.
There are several preset configurations for the Lens filter, including popular warm, cool and sepia tints, but you also have the option of defining a custom color to use for your tint. If opt for this latter option, you can save that color as your own preset so you can use it again on other images.
Once you select a color for your tint, you can alter its strength using the Density slider – the higher the Density, the stronger (or more opaque) the effect. Although the Lens filter is very easy to use, it can create a wide range of effects, from very subtle to strikingly artistic.
The Cutout Studio is another feature that is not new to X6, but it is definitely one of the tools that makes PhotoPlus stand apart from other photo editors in its price range. While almost every image editing program has some type of tool that allows you to extract objects from the background of an image, those utilities are not created equal. That is, the tools that are easiest to use don't generally do that great a job of extracting the object and those that do an excellent job of extraction can be a real pain in the neck to work with.
Cutout Studio, on the other hand, is the perfect example of an extraction tool that manages to balance ease of use with accurate results. It has great edge-finding capabilities that make the process of removing a photo's background quick and easy. There's even a Help panel that walks you through the process of using the tool and gives helpful tips while you're extracting an object – but after using Cutout Studio a couple of times, you won't even need to refer to that.
In addition, you can use the Cutout Studio in conjunction with Fill Layers to create some interesting effects, such as the image shown above.
I've used and reviewed numerous image editing programs over the years, and I still feel that PhotoPlus is exceptionally strong when compared to other products in its price range. With an SRP of $89.99 (special upgrading pricing is available for users of prior versions of the software and/or owners of other Serif products), PhotoPlus X6 gives you a lot of bang for your buck.
Serif doesn't offer a free trial of the full X6 product, but it does support a completely free limited version of the application – PhotoPlus Starter Edition. If you're still sitting on the fence, I highly recommend downloading this free edition to try out. In fact, you may find out that the SE version is all you really need right now and you wait a little while longer before purchasing a more feature-rich photo editor.
If you've tried PhotoPlus X6, we'd love to hear what you think about the application. Would you recommend it to others?


During the first IHO Assembly taking place from 24 to 28 April 2017 in Monaco, the represented Member States will elect the new Secretary-General and Directors. The nominees present themselves by answering the same 5 questions. This multi-interview is available at www.hydro-international.com/iho-2017. Captain Abraham Kampfer (South Africa), nominated for Secretary General and Director, answers 5 questions.
The benefits of being a member should continuously be communicated during high level visits and technical advisory visits and that SOLAS obligations are best met through membership and active participation in the workings of the IHO. It is possible that the economic circumstances of a prospective Member State could be the major factor in the reluctance to commit to full membership and it should therefore be clearly communicated that the benefits gained through the capacity building programme will outweigh the membership contribution. Consideration should also be given to provide some assistance with the application process.
To maximise success rates, capacity building should be considered holistically with awareness and support being engendered at all levels of government in the state being supported. Awareness at high levels of government should generate support for the in-country officials with regards to a supported mandate for the establishment of a hydrographic capability. Strict adherence to the IHO Capacity Building Strategy to develop hydrographic capability in accordance with the three phases of Hydrographic Development is required. The provision of support and training should consider the current levels of development and be escalated only to the next phase once the required capacity and competence are established and maintained. Better long-term progress could also be achieved if IHO Member States consider including in-country support to fledgling Hydrographic Offices through attachment of survey and cartographic experts as a capacity building strategy. Such support does occur currently as bi-lateral activities.
The initiative to establish MOUs with Organisations, Associations and Institutions is welcomed and this practice should continue as this is an excellent method of creating awareness of the objectives of the IHO and obtain support in meeting those. It will also ensure that there is no duplication in efforts with similar capacity building initiatives. The IHO should however examine and re-prioritise from time to time to ensure that the efforts to be an active participant can be met within the limited resources available.
There is already a very active participation by private industry in the various working groups of the IHO and it should be encouraged to continue. It is to the benefit of all parties that standards are not developed in isolation and inputs from industry is critical to ensure a successful outcome and create better products and services for all, particularly the end users. The participation by industry in Regional Hydrographic Commission meetings as observers will benefit delegates as they can be exposed to new developments and technologies. In commissions with many associate members this is of particular benefit as very few have the resources to attend shows and exhibitions. Noting the limited resources available in many regions to conduct hydrographic surveys and to produce the necessary products, available private industry data will greatly assist in improving safety of navigation in these regions if such data could be made available, especially in shallow navigable waters.
The concept of the services provided by Hydrographic Offices being restricted to charting and some allied publications must surely be something out of the past. Hydrography is far more than making and distributing colourfully prepared charts, it is the core essential in the provision of Maritime Safety Information. Hydrographic Offices are involved in measuring most of the parameters of the oceans and seas, advising and servicing those that utilise these areas in so many other fields related to maritime transport, exploitation of maritime resources and environment protection. Marine Spatial Planning is becoming critical to improve management and governance of ocean space and marine resources to ensure sustainable development and hydrographic data is an important component. The lack of hydrographic data in various parts of the world and particularly in developing countries will thus become more evident and may encourage coastal states to invest more in improving their hydrographic services.
Captain Abraham Kampfer joined the SA Navy in 1979 and qualified as a warfare officer with particular specialist skills relating to mine warfare, before completing a CAT A Advanced survey course at RNHMS Drake and a post graduate qualification from Plymouth University. He had command of several ships including the SA Navy survey ship SAS PROTEA as his last command. He was appointed Hydrographer of the South African Navy in 2004 and represents South Africa at various committees of the International Hydrographic Organization. He is the current chairman of the IHO Regional Hydrographic Commission, Southern Africa and Islands Hydrographic Commission. He has been an active participant in IHO Capacity Building initiatives by conducting several IHO Technical visits to countries within Southern Africa.


You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Sam Bowring' tag.
I'd never heard of Sam Bowring before this book crossed my desk, although he's an experienced Australian writer; and I can only say that I was clearly missing out. This is an extremely good novel, which drew me in quickly and held my attention. It's the first in a trilogy, and I'm looking forward to reading the remaining books. Although Bowring writes with a relaxed style that makes it easy to devour the novel, there's quite a lot of depth to this. Obviously, a certain amount of the novel is spent on set-up. Bowring weaves the history in quite cleverly and provides an eventful novel while still leaving a lot to be addressed in books two and three.
Rostigan is a wandering warrior – not exactly a mercenary, as he seeks only enough money to keep himself and his companion, the Minstrel Tarzi. He will undertake ridiculously dangerous tasks for no better reason than that someone should help. It soon becomes clear to the reader that this isn't the only thing that differentiates him from other mercenaries – he's also one of the legendary Wardens. Centuries ago, these Wardens saved the world by destroying Lord Regret and his rogue magic. In destroying Lord Regret, each of the Wardens took on some of his magic. Some were turned towards their baser instincts and wreaked havoc on the world; others responded to better instincts and brought good. Eventually, the Wardens disappeared or died, sometimes at the hands of each other. The better among them are still revered as saints.
Having achieved his objective at Holdwith, Losara and his army abandon it and heads to the mines. Bel, learning of this races there leaving Jaya behind but arrives too late. Losara moves on and Bel is determined to get there ahead of him. Corlas is at Whisperwood, gathering a sprite army to defend and rescue his reborn son while Battu works with Fahren, once enemies, now joined together in single task. Bel longs to be reunited with his lost half so light can win but Losara has another fate in mind.
The world that caught my attention in Prophecy's Ruin failed to hook or hold my attention with this story. Soul's Reckoning is little more than one very extended battle scene pockmarked with romance and later on one long debate between Bel and Losara about who is the better person.
After returning to Skygrip from killing the Throne Naphur, Losara must face Battu or risk the Shadow's victory against the Light. But Battu escapes and Losara must find him before Battu can take his revenge, that is if Losara doesn't get sidetracked. Bel has told Jaya everything and on the morning of Naphur's funeral he makes a rash decision to undo the spell that hides his blue hair. Allowed to be himself, Bel put Fahren on the Throne instead of the heir Thedd Naphur, angering many but none of them dare defy the Sungod's will. Then Bel and Fehran receive a lead on where the Stone of Evenings Mild might be and Bel set out with companions to find it. But a third path has appeared, one that with the help of Corlas might deny both Shadow and Light victory and heal the broken well.
Although this is a story I enjoyed I found that at the end of it, it felt like little more than the next section of a book rather than a complete story in it's own right, building towards a larger story. Basically, this story wasn't enough to satisfy me. I wanted more from this story and although there are several different goals/games going on, this is a story capapble of taking in a much wider scope than it does. At it's core, it's a battle between light and dark but one where the third path is found. Yet, when compared to The Lord of the Rings it feels like decorated tissue paper being compared to a richly woven rug. In essence they're both about a battle between light and dark but The Broken Well Trilogy (so far at least) lacks the depth and breadth that LOTR has, and given Sam Bowring's world it is possible for this story, if it had of been pushed and developed further, to have a similar scope.
Consequently it would have been a story I would highly recommend, but as it is, I cannot do that. I have enjoyed, but it isn't a book I instantly want to reread or one that I relish.