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Students & Education Programs & Initiatives Thinking of a Career in Applied Mathematics? Profiles Detail
Michael Parks | Computational Mathematics Department Manager
Sandia National Laboratories
Department: Computational Mathematics
Education: B.S. Computer Science, B.S. Physics, Minor in Mathematics, 1998, Virginia Tech; M.S. Computer Science, 2000, Virginia Tech; Ph.D. Computer Science, 2005, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (CSE degree option)
Career stage: Mid—19 year post Bachelor's
What He Does
Michael manages a department of approximately 20 computational mathematicians, including staff, postdocs, and student interns. They perform cutting edge research, driven by the needs of the Department of Energy (DOE), to develop the mathematical foundations and the algorithmic and software advances to enable accurate, predictive, and scalable computational simulation methods. He also serves as a program manager for fundamental research projects, mission-driven projects, and industrial partnerships. Michael is also the hiring manager for Sandia's John von Neumann Postdoctoral Fellowship, and he coordinates his center's summer intern program. He participates in funding decisions for laboratory-directed research and development projects, helping to determine the lab's technical research directions.
Necessary Job Skills
Computational science is considered a third pillar of scientific investigation, along with theory and physical experiment. In many cases, a complete descriptive theory does not exist, physical experiments are too expensive or simply impossible to conduct, leaving computational simulation as the only option. Science and engineering research challenges driven by the missions of the DOE require us to push the frontiers of computational simulation.
Pros and Cons Of His Job
Michael's job offers him the opportunity to work directly with some of the best applied mathematicians and computational scientists at Sandia, other national laboratories, universities, and industry. I can't imagine working in a more intellectually stimulating environment.
Around the time he finished his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, Michael was recruited by Sandia National Laboratories as a postdoc, and was converted to a member of the technical staff a couple of years later. Many years later he moved into technical management, as it presented the opportunity to do not just his own research, but to enable others to do impactful research as well.
As a graduate student, the national laboratories were not on Michael's radar as a possible place for employment. During his studies, though, he read a lot of journal articles written by staff at Sandia Labs. He didn't know what Sandia was at the time, but found their research activities really compelling. When the possibility of a postdoc opened up for him at Sandia, he thought he'd move to the southwest for a couple of years to check out the place before moving on. He found Sandia to be such a wonderful research environment that he's been there ever since.
Career Expectations and Advice
"Pursue a multidisciplinary education and take some courses outside your degree field."
The most impactful computational scientists are those who can start from an application problem, understand the relevant physical and mathematical models, develop a discretization and numerical solution, and finally interpret the results back to the driving application problem in an impactful way. This requires skills in mathematical analysis, numerical analysis, computer science, as well as expertise with physical and engineering sciences. In general, no one person has this much breadth and depth—this is why we work in teams. However, it's helpful to have at least some expertise in all of these areas.
From $100,000 to $200,000, depending on education and experience.
We are a community of 14,000+ computational mathematicians, computer scientists, numerical analysts, engineers, statisticians, physicists, educators, and students from more than 100 countries.
Join other informed readers, keep abreast of news in the applied mathematics community, and get to know your profession better by signing up for our free e-alerts.
Support SIAM
Your donation helps us carry out our mission and ensures the health of our discipline, from helping students and early career professionals, to bolstering resources we develop for exchange of information, and more.


Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in cereals including rye, oats, wheat, barley, triticale, kamut and spelt. Gluten is what gives flour its bread-making quality, and what makes bread rise, makes it soft and also helps in its baking. It is the cooking of gluten that is behind the golden colour, pleasing aroma and crispness of breads and pastries.
Ingestion of gluten by genetically predisposed persons causes an abnormal response in the intestine, which creates inflammation and damage to the intestinal wall. In its most extreme form, it is called celiac disease, which affects 1% of the population. But a much larger percentage of the population could be hypersensitive to gluten, causing risk to their health, even though blood tests may not reveal it.
Intolerance and hypersensitivity to gluten cannot be cured. Till date, the only known treatment is a completely gluten-free diet for life. Such a diet is becoming increasingly popular with all kinds of products available in grocery stores. But since foods that contain gluten also contain vitamins and other nutrients, one should be aware of the risk of nutritional deficiencies.
That's why the menu we're proposing this week is gluten-free but most certainly not nutrition-free. For a complete meal plan (7 days/3 meals per day) please visit www.soscuisine.com/gluten-free.
Originally published in the Journal de Montréal on March 16, 2013.


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"Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that can't be explained by any underlying medical condition. The fatigue may worsen with physical or mental activity, but doesn't improve with rest. Chronic fatigue syndrome has also been called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and, more recently, systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID). Although CFS/ME and SEID share the same major symptom of chronic fatigue, there is variation between the definitions of these disorders. The symptom of chronic fatigue also may arise from more than one underlying condition. The cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is unknown, although there are many theories, ranging from viral infections to psychological stress. Some experts believe chronic fatigue syndrome might be triggered by a combination of factors."
~from Mayo Clinic
Maine Resources
Maine Support Groups:
Augusta, ME CFIDS/FM
Meets 3rd Sat. of each month, 10 - 11:30 AM
Fay Emery- 207-549-5029
National Resources
The CFIDS Association of America- http://www.cfids.org
A comprehensive and authoritative site of the largest CFIDS organization in the U.S. CAA's goals are to build recognition of CFIDS as a serious medical disorder; advocate to the government; stimulate research; educate health-care providers about CFIDS; and provide information to persons with CFIDS (PWCs). The Web site provides information for PWCs, family and friends, youth with CFIDS, medical professionals, and the media. Many books, videos, tapes, and other educational materials are available. Provides resources for legal and medical issues, and support groups. Newsletter is The CFIDS Chronicle.
Massachusetts CFIDS Association: http://www.masscfids.org
The Mass. CFIDS & FM Association is dedicated to supporting research, promoting medical and public education, and advocacy and support services for persons with CFIDS or Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). The Association provides disability information, advocacy, support group and doctor referral, a lending library of books and tapes, as well as relevant, news, lectures, and research funding. Newsletter is The Update.
National CFIDS Foundation (NCF): http://www.ncf-net.org/
Funds medical research toward treatment and a cure and provides information, education, and support to PWCs and those with related illnesses such as Gulf War Illness, FMS, multiple chemical sensitivity. NCF hosts conferences and lectures, and provides an online library. The newsletter is The National Forum.
For New Hampshire and Maine: http://www.seacoastfms.org/
Support groups, telephone support, and lending library. Meetings and/or resource people are in New Durham, Peterborough, and Rochester, NH and in Saco and North Berwick, Maine.
CFS Guide at About.com: http://chronicfatigue.about.com/
Extensive reader-friendly information on CFS, fibromyalgia, advocacy, complementary medicine, coping strategies, health news, medications, personal stories, related disorders, communication and relationships, research, treatments, support, and Social Security. Also provides information in Spanish (en Español).
The CFIDS/M.E. Information Page: http://www.cfids-me.org/
A comprehensive listing of resources, including general information about CFIDS and FMS, diagnosing and treating CFIDS and FMS, medical research and references, RnaseL Enzyme Dysfunction Disease (R.E.D.D.), activist Information, organizations & discussion lists on the Internet, state and local support groups, disability information, commercial laboratories & other commercial sites of interest, links to information about related diseases and general medical information, and a glossary of acronyms.
Co-Cure Information Exchange: http://www.co-cure.org/
"Co-Cure" stands for "Cooperate and Communicate for a Cure." There is a Co-Cure listserv, Web ring, Web site,archives, and lots of links and information relating to CFS, FMS, and related illnesses. Provides basic information on CFS and FMS, including información básica en español, a list of doctors, research updates and updates on CFS clinical theory and practice, activism links, a "reading room" of reading materials on CFS, FM, MCS, GWS, and auto-immune conditions, containing links to online documents, book reviews, editorials, and abstracts.
Listening to CFIDS: http://wwcoco.com/cfids/toc.html
A very thorough and reader-friendly Web site. Includes CFIDS facts and information on the case definition, medical issues, and coping; along with personal stories and essays, poetry, art, humor, activism, news, pen pal and relationship search, message boards, and a bookstore.
About.Com Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:
http://chronicfatigue.about.com/?once=true&
CFS Links Site: http://www.cfs-news.org/index.htm
By Roger Burns. Latest News about CFS/M.E. and CFS-NEWS Electronic Newsletter; links to CFS radio shows and international medical conferences; medical fact sheets and documents; extensive links to CFS and related disorders discussion groups, e-mail lists and newsgroups; CFS-related Web pages; British, Canadian, Dutch, Australian, French (L'information en français sur le CFS), German (Informationen zum Chronisches Erschöpfungssyndrom), Swedish (Svenska), Denmark (Dansk), Argentina (Web site de Síndrome de Fatiga Crónica o Encefalomielitis Miálgica [SFC/EM] y Otra Web sites en español), Japanese, New Zealand, and Israeli (in Hebrew) CFS resources.
Surgery, Anesthesia and CFS/FM/MCS: http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/drugs/anesthesia.html
Site compiled by Melissa Kaplan contains information on surgery and anesthesia for PWCs. Covers acupuncture, anesthesia, IV Bags latex and vinyl allergies/sensitivities, surgery, and topical anesthetics. Melissa's site also provides articles for PWCs on activism, books, chemical sensitivities, coping, diagnosis & differential diagnoses, disability, drugs, gender, hormones, pain, pets, and resources including, "Finding Help: Disability Attorneys, Doctors, and Support Groups."
CO-CURE Web Ring: http://X.webring.com/hub?ring=cocureweb
The most extensive CFS Web ring, containing over 90 active sites. "The Co-Cure e-mail list was developed around the principle goal of furthering cooperative efforts towards finding the cure for the illness(es) commonly referred to as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM). One of the primary ways in which this goal may be achieved is through effective exchange of information. To this end, we have created the Co-Cure Web ring. Covers all conceivable CFS and related issues, locally and internationally.
Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-M.E. WebRing: http://c.webring.com/hub?ring=fibro
"This web ring is for people suffering from the debilitating ailments, Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis(M.E.). Webmasters who have FMS or CFS (M.E.) sites are welcomed to join."
FMS-CFS-Chronic Pain Support: http://pub104.ezboard.com/bsunshine35446
"Friends International Support Group and message board" for information and support for people with Fibromyalgia, FMS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFS, ME or chronic pain. Includes many chat groups, including "Smalltalk," "Coping and Health Problems," "Information Links," "Graphics/Photo/computer talk," "Annie's Pet Corner," "American Social Security/Disability," "Announcements and Friend's rules," plus archives and graphics/PC tutorials.
International Association for CFS/ME: http://www.iacfsme.org/
The mission of the IACFS/ME is to promote, stimulate and coordinate the exchange of ideas related to CFS, ME and fibromyalgia (FM) research, patient care and treatment. In addition, the IACFS/ME periodically reviews the current research and treatment literature and media reports for the benefit of scientists, clinicians and patients. The IACFS/ME also conducts and/or participates in local, national, and international scientific conferences in order to promote and evaluate new research and to encourage future research ventures and cooperative activities to advance scientific and clinical knowledge of these illnesses.
Dr. Charles Lapp: http://www.drlapp.net/
Dr. Lapp is an internationally recognized expert in CFIDS. His Hunter-Hopkins Center site includes his biography, and information on his treatment approach, newsletter, Ampligen treatment, CFS conference summaries, current research, and links to other CFS/FMS sites.
DePaul University Center for Community Research, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Project
Led by Leonard Jason, Ph.D.: http://condor.depaul.edu/~ljason/cfs/
The CFS Project conducts research into psychological aspects of the disease, including patient coping, how the name affects public and/or medical perception, and demographic data, including incidence and racial and gender prevalence. This site provides book reviews, press releases, grant information, a slide show, and measures/scales used in research.
CFS Fact Sheet: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/cfs.htm
A good, basic fact sheet on CFS from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Answers common questions such as What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Who Gets CFS? How Many People Have It? What Causes CFS? How is CFS Diagnosed? How Can I Cope With and Manage the Illness?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): http://www.cdc.gov/cfs
Provides easy-to-read, basic information for patients and clinicians.
SSA Disability Befenits (CFIDS)- http://www.ssa.gov/
The Web site for the Social Security Administration. Provides information and forms on benefits, including disability (SSDI) and supplemental security income (SSI). Información en Español and other languages. Covers Medicare, Medicaid, employment support for people with disabilities, hearings and appeals, and changes to the program
NYSN's Social Security Disability Document Links: http://nysn.org/ssa_links.html
This page contains links directly to the Social Security Administration's (SSA) web site to help when applying for Social Security Disability (SSD) and/or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Includes "Disability Evaluation Under Social Security: (Also known as The Blue Book) Medical criteria for evaluating Social Security disability claims," "Policy Interpretation Ruling Titles II and XVI: Evaluating Cases Involving Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," "Providing Medical Evidence to the Social Security Administration for Individuals with Chronic Fatigue", and "Benefits For Children With Disabilities."
The Social Security and Disability Resource Center website: http://ssdrc.com/
Written by a former disability examiner and addresses questions
that claimants often have about the application and appeal process but,
often as well, have trouble finding clear answers to.
Repeal Existing Stereotypes about Chronic, Immunological and Neurological Diseases (RESCIND): http://www.rescindinc.org/
A news and activism site with lots of links to awareness campaigns, recent media attention to CFIDS, and how to promote a CFIDS advocacy agenda to the government.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome- Changing the Name: http://www.cfs-news.org/name.htm
Site that promotes the popular movement to change the name of CFS. Includes latest news and surveys on the topic, "What can be done to change the name," and background info on the issue. Includes "en francais: SFC -- le problème du nom."
Action for CFIDS/M.E.: http://www.cfs-news.org/action.htm
Promotes awareness, campaigns for change, and works to correct misperceptions in the media and by government officials. Also links to Action for CFIDS/M.E. discussion group.
CFS in Youth Home Page (CFIDS): http://www.cfids.org/youth.asp
Provides resources and support for children, adolescents, and college students with CFIDS or related conditions such as fibromyalgia, neurally mediated hypotension (NMH) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS); as well as family members, teachers, school nurses, pediatricians, family practitioners, psychologists and others who assist children and teenagers with CFIDS.
For Parents of Sick and Worn-Out Children: http://home.bluecrab.org/%7Ehealth/sickids.html
Frank Albrecht's site: "When your child persistently suffers from pain, fatigue, heat and exercise intolerance, dizziness, nausea, 'cognitive fog,' and other symptoms of Chronic Fatigue and related syndromes, you as a parent have special kinds of problems. This page is devoted to pointing toward help on these problems." Provides information on family life and emotional development, detecting symptoms, common misdiagnoses, advocacy guidelines and related conditions such as Chiari I Malformation and cervical stenosis, orthostatic syncope, neurally mediated hypotension (NMH), postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and dysautonomia.
Association of Young People with M.E.: http://www.ayme.org.uk/
AYME is a UK-based charity dedicated to giving help, friendship, support and vital contact to children and young people with Myalgic Encephalopathy (M.E). AYME's activities, including this web site, are run by the young members themselves. Members receive a regular magazine, matched pen-pal and e-mail service, postal library, annual conference/get together, pen-pals for brothers and sisters, contact and advice for parents, and educational advice.
National ME/FM Action Network (Canada): http://www.mefmaction.net/
A Canadian non-profit organization offering support, advocacy, education and research into the many, varied, anomalies connected with these illnesses. Works with the general public, educators, government agencies, and the ME/FM Community. Site includes a bulletin board, news releases, archives, a youth site for parents and teachers to access materials, Gulf War Syndrome information, alternative medicine information, membership, sales of books and videos, a doctors and lawyers roster to receive up to date medical and legal information, a guide on applying for disability pensions, and the bimonthly newsletter 'QUEST.'
Nightingale Research Foundation (Canada): http://www.nightingale.ca/
A charitable foundation located in Ottawa, the Foundation conducts and assists research into the cause and cure of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and serves as an educational institution for the Canadian public, physicians, nurses, teachers and their professional societies. The Foundation provides support to persons with M.E./CFS and related conditions, represents people with M.E./CFS before all levels of government and the courts, promotes public and professional awareness of the disease; and promotes, supports and encourages research directed toward the treatment, prevention and cure of the disease.
Waterloo Wellington Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Association (WWMEA):
http://ca.geocities.com/wwmea/index.html
M.E. Association of Ontario: http://www.meao-cfs.on.ca/splash.shtml
The M.E. Association of Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth: http://www.hwcn.org/link/mehhw/
Action for M.E. (United Kingdom)- http://www.afme.org.uk/
A national charity that campaigns for more recognition, research and better care and benefits for people with M.E.; raises awareness of M.E. within the government, media, health care organizations and general public; and provides information, self-help and support services to people with M.E., their carers, family and friends. The AfME Web site includes links to local support groups, a newsletter and library, telephone help lines, a pregnancy network, AfME Young People, and nutritional supplements.
ME/CFS Society Inc. (South Australia)- http://sacfs.asn.au/society/index.htm
Provides links to support and information line; recovery/management model for tackling ME/CFS; services, goals, events, announcements, reports, and membership information of the Society, the 'Understanding and Managing ME/CFS/CFIDS' Project, youth policy, members' pages, articles, and Society members telling their own stories.
CFS/CFIDS/ME Reference Guide (International):
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/ip/social.services/cfseir/CFSEIR.HP.html
Provides an International Directory of ME/CFS/FMS/MCS/GWS local support group pages, including Australia, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Books suggestions from people with CFIDS:
• Tara Allen, "Shadow & Light: The Voice of CFIDS"
• David Bell, MD, "The Doctor's Guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Understanding, Treating and Living with CFIDS"*
• Katrina Berne, Ph.D., "Running on Empty"*
• Katrina Berne, et al, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Other Invisible Illnesses"*
• William Collinge M.PH., Ph.D, "Recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"
• Norman Cousins, "Anatomy of an Illness"
• Camilla Cracchioli, RN, "Dealing with Doctors When You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"
• Kat Duff, "The Alchemy of Illness"*
• MD Dwyer, "The Body at War"
• Karyn Feiden, "Hope & Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"
• Gregg Fisher, Stephen E. Straus MD, Paul R. Cheney MD, James Oleske MD, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Victim's Guide to Understanding, Treating, & Coping With This Debilitating Illness"
• Fred Freidberg, Ph.D., "Coping With CFS"
• Fred Friedberg, Ph.D., Leonard A. Jason, Ph.D., "Understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An Empirical Guide to Assessment and Treatment"*
• Erica F. Verrillo, Lauren M. Gellman, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Treatment Guide"
• Pamela D. Jacobs, "500 Tips for Coping with Chronic Illness"
• Toni Jeffreys, "The Mile High Staircase"
• Hillary Johnson, "Osler's Web: Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic"*
• Timothy Kenny, Paul R. Cheney, MD, "Living With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Personal Story of the Struggle for Recovery"*
• Kathleen Lewis, "Successful Living with a Chronic Illness"
• Brian Lutterman, "Long Night's Journey: Coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"
• Terry Mosley, "Life in the Slow Lane"
• Peggy Munson, "Stricken: Voices from the Hidden Epidemic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"*
• Zefra Pitzele, "We Are Not Alone, Learning to Live with a Chronic Illness"
• Charles Pellegrino, Ph.D. & Jesse Stoff MD, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, The Hidden Epidemic"
• Michael Rossenbaum, MD & Murray Susser, MD, "Solving the Puzzle of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"
• Jacki Schrimer, "When I Am Weak"
• Mary Siegel, Ph.D. & Paul J. Donoghue, Ph.D., "Sick & Tired of Feeling Sick & Tired: Living with Invisible Chronic Illness"
• Nancy Smith and Barbara Brooks, "CFIDS: An Owners Manual"
• Jesse A. Stoff and Charles R. Pellegrino, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic"
• Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, "From Fatigued to Fantastic!: A Proven Program to Regain Vibrant Health, Based on a New Scientific Study Showing Effective Treatment for Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia"
• Lynn Vanderzalm, "Finding Strength in Weakness"
The books listed above are available at book stores and libraries. People looking for books on CFIDS might also be interested in:
CFS Discount Books: http://members.aol.com/ldbarns/
Leslie Barns' Web site features "books dealing with healthy living chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivities, environmental illness, fibromyalgia, Gulf War syndrome, chemical poisoning, candidiasis, keeping a healthy home, alternative treatments, heart disease, cancer treatment, and Eastern medicine."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Solos Individualises the Fan Experience with High-Tech Smart Clothing
by	Bullpen	/ Friday, 07 September 2018	/ Published in Feature, Interview, Technology
While it's a peek into the future, in August Solos, Lava and the GWS Giants partnered up to release a series of smart guernsey's embedded with cutting edge technology at the AFL match between GWS Giants and Sydney Swans.
Solos gave 104 of the Giants dedicated fans, their 'Ultimate Giants,' a free guernsey that carried Solos's smart wearable technology within the label which allowed them to enjoy a number of benefits during the course of the day in the stadium.
Positive trials of smart clothing could see this become ubiquitous in just a few years. It minimises friction points around a stadium but importantly it adds an extra layer of surprise for fans as they are provided with an individualised in-stadium experience.
After a successful trial with the GWS Giants, we spoke to Solos CEO George Monemvasitis who gave us the lowdown on the partnership and the benefits of implementing such technology for a club or sporting body.
http://www.bullpen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/J18072-Solos-Wearables-FAN-SOLOS-LOGO-v09.mp4
Going back, how did the GWS Giants partnership come about?
GM: "Ryan McCumber is a former Director of KPMG in Management Consulting, specialising in sports technology and analytics. He completed his tenure at KPMG in Dec 2017 and joined the Solos team as an International Sports Consultant.
"Through Ryan's experience and networks we had the opportunity to be introduced to Ryan Kaveney who is the Chief Fan and Commercial Officer at the GWS Giants. We started talking earlier this year about potentially deploying our technology during the season. The club responded by saying they were very interested and certainly thought it would be well received by their fans and in particular their members. So why wouldn't we do it at a marquee event at their home ground."
How enthused were the GWS Giants in realising this partnership and thinking 'you know what, we should try this, we're a new club, let's be experimental, let's bring on some new ideas?'
GM: "The AFL and GWS Giants in particular are strongly focused on technologies dedicated to enhancing the fan experience. GWS have been a particularly good fit, as they are a technology forward organisation and were excited to embrace the opportunity to be working together on this pilot project. Considering our technology is generally received at large scale international stadiums, we are very excited to see this being pioneered here in Australia."
Even though it is early days, what kind of feedback from the fortunate fans who got to try the smart guernseys?
GM: "The fans are very much excited that they were able get immediate benefits which recognised their membership, their ability to be able to access the venue in a VIP environment through our smart gate technology. They were quite enamoured to receive real time notifications during the course of the day, of which included things like free food and drinks. Also, they were invited to take part in a guard of honour in the tunnel leading onto the field before the commencement of the game. These things happened in real time during the course of that day."
Really cool little live, in the moment experiences.
GM: "It all starts with us embedding smart technology into the guernseys to offer real time smart notifications for the fans. Keeping it simple is really important here, we are agnostic, we don't have an app that we need to provide for our dedicated products, it runs as an analytics extension in the background in real time. It also provides the club with real time fan information, what time they arrived at the venue, what they're doing whilst they're dwelling at the venue.
"More importantly if they're setting budgets for things like merchandise, food and beverage the distinct advantage of this system is that they can push out notifications to fans in real time if they're not hitting their targets on the day. For example, they can see through the security cameras for example a section of the stadium that has stopped consuming food and beverages. They might push a notification to one or two of their loyal members in that section and then it becomes a me too attitude from the fans that are around those people who are seeing consumed food and drink and thinking that they might want to do the same thing."
Definitely a good benefit for the club. Even the stadium and vendors would get that benefit where you can disperse fans across all the concourses and really spread the fans around the stadium.
GM: "Absolutely and when you consider the benefits in isolation, from a stadium perspective the fans are able to access the venue more rapidly than the current systems of them reaching into their pocket, pulling out a ticket and having someone scan it. What that effectively does is the dwell times at the stadium increase and the more time people are spending at the stadium the more money they could be spending.
"Then if you look at the club as an organisation, they're able to sell additional merchandise for the fact that as consumers it is not cheap to buy a new guernsey or jersey year in year out, they're typically anywhere from 120 to 180 dollars. If you were to connect that to immediate benefits that were substantial enough that you would want to make that investment on an annual basis then certainly there's an advantage for the clubs to sell more merchandise."
What kind of internal learning experiences Solos gathered from the Giants that can help for future partnerships?
GM: "We're able to get a strong reaction from their members to participate in this trial and therefore one would assume that if we were offer that to their broader fan base, the obvious advantage to them would be that their general admission fans may consider moving from being a general fan into a potential member
"Outside of the stadium was one area that this technology has a strong ability to be able to also provide the sponsors with some sort of a realisable outcome. If you consider at a typical game at any venue, what happens either pre-game and post-game is that people are dwelling outside the stadium. Where are they going exactly? Is there a bar, a restaurant or a club that is associated with the stadia or the club itself? With this particular type of system through our fans swarming, if we're able to provide those real time benefits for the fans to direct them to these venues that are associated with the club, the stadium or sponsors, again there's obvious advantages."
I was reading reports concerning NBA jerseys where you can scan the license tags on a jersey which gives a person access to content and highlights. My question is, is there any future potential in uses with the technology that can provide added value to a fan?
GM: "Absolutely. A little bit of history of Solos, our DNA as a company is in identification and protection. For just under 25 years we've been developing garments with anti-counterfeit technology built in, in order to protect the brands from fake products.
"We thought if we can parallel that into sports merchandise with fan gear counterfeited en masse, not so much in Australia but there is always a risk that it may be the case in the future, particularly in North America and in Europe where unfortunately the fakes are often as good a quality as the genuine article.
"With this in mind, if we developed and deployed a smart wearable jersey or guernsey that was linked to the stadium infrastructure and that technology provided you with the benefits that we've discussed, you would have a situation where the merchandise that's coming in to the stadium is predominantly genuine product and therefore the obvious benefits are there from the stakeholders' perspective.
"With the counterfeits being so good, it is tempting to pay one third or a quarter of the price for something that looks and feels just as good as the genuine article. But if you attach fast tracked entry, faster service, no queueing, potentially a tap on the shoulder while you're at the game for a seat upgrade and more, those are the types of things that we believe would entice fans into actually making the purchase of the genuine article over the counterfeit."
That duality of helping companies, clubs and manufacturers to protect their IP as well as safeguarding the fact that they're actually buying the genuine article too.
GM: "With smart guernsey technology you're talking about the ability to individualise every fan and the purchase of their ticket. One of the current flaws in stadia with ticketing is that, for example, I could go online and purchase four tickets and then hand those out to individuals that are unnamed. Those individuals could misbehave and in extreme cases do something untoward in and around the stadium and nobody would ever know. Through this type of system, each individual is recognised and identified, both through that ticketing purchase and at the venue when they log in through the smart gates. Our cloud based system records that entry and records them dwelling within the stadium.
"Now obviously with privacy, we don't record anything outside of the stadium. So certainly people would not be uncomfortable about the provision of that information while you're in that particular venue. Outside of the venue, we are certainly cautious about the privacy issues and ensuring that we're not infringing on anybody's time outside the venue."
I think that's one of the things the fan usually has concerns with is the confidence or removal of suspicion that any data that is obtained on them is specific to the club or the event. Have you felt that could be an issue increasing confidence in people that any data that is obtained on them is actually just used for club or event purposes?
GM: "That's a very important question because in the first instance when you sign in to your smart jersey by simply tapping on, the first thing that happens is that you are informed of what types of communication would be pushed to you. You can select what information you're willing to accept or not. We're very specific about this to ensure that the fan doesn't feel uncomfortable about what information has been taken from them personally. The exception to that is that whilst there are in the stadium, we do push notifications out to them but only around benefits.
"One of the important things about real time notifications is that if you were to have an experience at a game that wasn't going so well, which does happen sometimes, you don't want to receive a notification on Monday with an apology after you've sent a complaint. One of the advantages of this system again is that through time notification, through camera monitoring of what's going on at the stadia, if you're able to see an issue you can deal with it immediately and be able to pinpoint that fan and provide some kind of immediate benefit, which tends to outweigh the issue that's been in front of them.
"A perfect example of that is with our partners at Lava in the United States. There was a young lady who had come along with her daughter and her daughter had dropped her ice-cream and started to cry and they were able to catch that on camera and send a notification to inform that another ice-cream is on its way. Not a big deal for the organisation, a very small cost to pay but it was certainly something that was quite a surprise to that particular person.
"I think if that was to come through as an e-mail on Monday or Tuesday to apologise for that occurring, you wouldn't have the same reaction."
You're looking for the most singular fan experience. That's where we're at, going to a sporting event is generally a communal experience but now the nut to crack is to have that singular experience. Any other noteworthy result or trials with other sports or stadiums?
GM: "Not yet the GWS Giants were the first. What we've been running with the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Football Club and Atlanta Falcons is real time software. We are currently working with the Sacramento Kings and LAFC to deploy our technology in various forms within their stadiums. We're anticipating that that will happen prior to the commencement of the next NBA and MLS seasons."
Interview produced in partnership with Vumero Sports & Sports Analytics World Series.
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Cherry Blossoms in DC
If you are reading this on Facebook, slideshows and videos are often attached. Click on this live link to my blog: http://www.marilyfe.blogspot.com/ if you would like to get the full experience.
Because Saul had a mandatory, college-sponsored lecture to attend, in full academic regalia, by celebrated portrait artist, Nelson Shanks, on Thursday evening, we were not able to leave for DC until Friday morning. We traveled to New Jersey in our SUV so that we would be able to bring home a stack of extra chairs for Passover that were still residing at Ari's since his house-warming party. We met Saul's sister, Rif and her husband, Paul, at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast before setting out, with Rif joining us, on the road to DC.
We had a very pleasant trip down. The weather has been absolutely spectacular this month. Last year I wrote that March came in like a lion and went out like a lion. This year, it came in like a lamb and is going out like a lamb. Peak cherry blossom season in DC is a full two weeks earlier than usual. As of this writing the crocuses, daffodils, and most tulips have come and gone already. All our flowering trees and forsythia are in full bloom. Outside, it seems more like early May than late March. After unpacking our gear at Ari's house, we drove downtown and found a rare parking spot right in front of the National Portrait Gallery. Rif has never really toured DC and, in the two hours we had available, we ran around the enormous museum showing her all our favorite things. Then, we drove just a couple of miles to meet Ari for an early dinner at Founding Farmers. We left the car at a parking garage across the street where the rates went down considerably to $10 for the evening at 5:00 p.m. The attendants were kind enough to wait the ten minutes until the rates changed before validating our ticket and then sent someone across the street to the restaurant to locate us and give us our ticket. We were happy to tip them a few dollars for such great service. We shared a whole bunch of small plates for dinner which was great fun and very delicious. The restaurant is a very hip scene in DC and we would not have gotten a table on a Friday had we not eaten very early. We took advantage of the parking and late sunset by going for a long walk after dinner to see the White House. We had planned to drive to the tidal basin to tour the Roosevelt Memorial and Korean War Veterans Memorial at night, but when we approached the area, we were greeted with masses of traffic at a crawl and masses of tourists walking the streets and pathways around the National Mall. We drove around the clogged arteries looking for a parking spot for about an hour, and then finally decided that we would awaken early the next morning and head to the tidal basin, hopefully, before the predicted rain could wash out the blossoms from the trees. We were on Rock Creek Parkway, heading for Ari's house when he realized that he had left his new iPad and computer at work. He wanted to finish reading the second book of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Catching Fire, on the iPad, so we decided to go to Moorenko's for ice cream and then head back downtown to his office. Moorenko's is really a gem. The ice cream is luscious and many of the flavors truly unique. The featured flavor was honey with sunflower seeds, which could have been bland, but the vanilla and honey flavors burst on the tongue and the seeds added a nutty crunch. Saul and I shared three scoops of different flavors because I couldn't decide on just one (we also had cappuccino cinnamon and salted caramel pecan). Since office hours were long past, Ari was able to take Rif up to show her his new office space.
We were out of the house by 8:30 a.m. as the rain threatened to come pouring down at any second. We lucked out, however, and after much hunting, located a parking spot that allowed us to tour the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial and the Roosevelt Memorial with just a short walk through cherry blossom-lined streets. Then, famished, we headed to China Garden in Rosslyn for dim sum, and arrived at the perfect time, just before the crowds, and with a great selection of dishes steaming on the wheeled carts. After breakfast/lunch, we drove further into Virginia to find a Tuesday Morning store which was rumored to have a gadget to froth milk for use with the Tassimo, which has recalled all the capsules associated with milk because they sometimes would burst while in use and cause burns. We didn't find the item, but decided that since we were already halfway to Belfort Furniture, we would continue to look for bedroom furniture for the room that Saul and I use at Ari's house. No luck there, either. On our way back from there, we tried to stop for dinner at a Fleming's, but the wait was too long. Eventually, we wound up at yet another Lebanese Taverna in Tysons II Galleria, where we, again, had a very satisfying meal and dessert. We wandered through the mall a bit before heading off to wait in line at a nearby AMC Theater to get good seats for The Hunger Games in the IMAX theater. We agreed that the movie was very well done. From finishing the trilogy, I knew where to avert my eyes to avoid the more violent scenes, but from what I saw, an effort was made to downplay the gorier situations. I was quite happy about that because the books become so gory by the third one that I had considered avoiding the movies altogether. By the time we arrived back home and got into bed, it was 2:00 a.m.
We slept so late on Sunday that we spent an hour driving around the neighborhood to find a place for brunch that wasn't mobbed. We eventually went back to the place where we started, The Heights, because Saul had the foresight to put our names on the list. We had never eaten brunch there before, and it was exceptional and reasonably priced. I think we will be going often from now on, especially when the weather is nice and we can walk over. We parked on the lot of the Giant Supermarket across the street in Columbia Heights and picked up a few necessary items there before heading back home to drop off Rif, who waited for us while we attended Talia's first birthday party at the home of her grandparents in Silver Spring. Jess and Alex had driven down with Elaine and the girls after religious school for the party, but left to drive back as soon as the party was over so that the girls would be in bed at a reasonable hour. By the time we arrived in New Jersey to return Rif home, the girls had already had dinner and were in bed. We met Jessica alone at Friendly's for ice cream because Sunday was her birthday and we wanted to celebrate in some way.
Yesterday, after some minor cleaning up and the installation of LED bulbs in my new recessed lighting fixtures, the work inside my house was officially completed. We met Larry at the Fireside Grill for an early bird dinner and climbed into bed early as we both had residual exhaustion from our cherry blossom weekend. I was so relieved this morning knowing that no one was coming to knock on my door to paint, or sand, or anything. The house looks gorgeous, better, I think, than when it was new. With this beautiful weather, my own weeping cherry tree is in full bloom today.
MC Dinner, Dana's Wedding, Purim, March Birthdays,...


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Postgraduate - Course3373 - Master of Commercial Law
Students who commenced study in 2013 should refer to this course entry for direction on the requirements; to check which units are currently available for enrolment, refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course.
This course entry applies to students commencing this course in 2013 and should be read in conjunction with information provided in the 'Faculty information' section of this Handbook by the Faculty of Law
MasterComLaw
1 year FT, 4 years PT
On-campus (City (Melbourne))
Admission, fee and application details
http://www.monash.edu/study/coursefinder/course/3373
Coordinator Postgraduate Admissions and Publications Email: law-postgraduate@monash.edu Telephone: +61 3 9903 8500
Associate Professor Moira Paterson
Unit codes that are not linked to their entry in the Handbook are not available for study in the current year.
The graduate program in commercial law provides advanced offerings in this area for graduates in disciplines other than law. The extensive range of units enables students to develop and enhance their knowledge across the breadth of commercial law that includes corporate, banking and finance, and competition law, or to pursue some selected areas in greater depth. The program is attractive for those who seek to develop or expand a career in this area. The graduate program focuses upon both a thorough grounding in the fundamental principles of commercial law and its practical application as well as addressing advanced and current issues from both a local and international perspective.
The Master of Commercial Law caters for the needs of graduates in disciplines other than law who have an interest in the study of commercial law at an advanced level. It provides a formal course of training for non-law graduates working in law-related fields (eg accountants, company administrators, management personnel etc), and provides opportunities for non-law graduates to obtain a specialist qualification.
The course comprises eight 6-point coursework units or a combination of coursework units and a minor thesis.
Students must complete one of the following options:
a minimum of five coursework units in the area of commercial law. The remaining coursework units may be taken from the approved list of law units. Refer to the 'Areas of study' for more information.
four coursework units with at least one unit in the area of commercial law and a minor thesis of 25,000-30,000 words on an approved topic in the area
six coursework units with at least three units in the area of commercial law and a minor thesis of 12,000-15,000 words on an approved topic in the area
In order to qualify to undertake one of the minor thesis options, a student must have achieved a minimum of 70 per cent in each of the coursework units undertaken. Information on the minor thesis option is available at http://www.law.monash.edu.au/current-students/enrol/re-enrol.html.
Additional course requirements and recommendation:
Domestic students with a degree in a discipline other than law will be required to complete the unit LAW7212 Australian legal system.
International students and those with a law degree from a non-Australian jurisdiction must complete the unit LAW7436 Introduction to Australian legal process.
International students are recommended to undertake the unit LAW7285 Legal research and communications.
For further information regarding law units and specialisations visit http://www.law.monash.edu.au/postgraduate/units-overview.html.
Students are advised that not all units may be available in every year.
For information on the current postgraduate law timetable visit http://www.law.monash.edu.au/current-students/course-unit-information/timetables/postgraduate/index.html.
Students may exit with a Graduate Diploma in Law (Commercial Law) providing all requirements for that award have been met.
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Jake Andersen
Radically Changed
Daniel Yun
Tatsuya Koyama is a UND exchange student from Japan who has become recently interested in the Christian faith. Daniel Yun/ Dakota Student
Jake Andersen, Staff Writer
March 28, 2017|123 Views
"Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun." -2 Corinthians 5:17
Tatsuya Koyama did not expect to learn this verse. In fact, he had never heard of it before coming to UND as an English Learning School (ELS) student from Japan last September.
Instead, he expected what most ELS students do: to learn English, make friends and explore America.
While meeting these expectations has been life changing for Koyama, they do not compare to how the unexpected has radically changed his life.
Koyama, 21, came to UND from Osaka, Japan for an eight month study abroad through Kindai University. From the start, Koyama looked forward to accomplishing his childhood dream of learning English and coming to the United States, but soon after arriving at UND, Koyama was hit with terrible news.
"I was in my homestay house," Koyama said. "I got a message from my sister that our mother had a tumor. I called my sister and I asked her for some information about her and she told me that our mother was in the hospital."
The news of his mother's cancerous brain tumor came a week after arriving in Grand Forks. It made for an even tougher start to his time at UND, as he was already struggling with his English courses, making friends and transitioning to American culture.
Additionally, Koyama has a tight relationship with his mom, as he is the only one of three siblings who lives at home and his mom and dad are separated.
"I felt worry and anxiety," Koyama said. "I was thinking that if my mother died, how would I stand or how would I live without her? I wanted to go back as soon as I could."
In the midst of a tough first month, fellow Japanese exchange student and roommate Rui Okabe recommended that Koyama check out Freedom Church in downtown Grand Forks. Even though Koyama considered himself an atheist and grew up in a country with a Christian population around one percent, the recommendation caught his interest.
"Rui told me church was a good place to make friends in the U.S. I wanted to make friends with American people. At the time, that was the reason to go to church," Koyama said.
Seeking a refuge from his struggles, Koyama went to the 11 a.m. church service on Oct. 2, along with Okabe and three other Japanese friends. Looking back, he admits the first outing at Freedom Church was a unique experience.
"Everyone sang songs, everyone lifted their hands, I felt strange, different from Japan," Koyama said. "I have been to the Japanese church in Japan once and Japan
doesn't have a music band, so I felt a difference. I felt strange, but I felt their power. I felt their faith."
At that church service Koyama and his friends met Naoto Ashino, an aviation graduate who was flight instructing at UND. As a Christian from Japan, Ashino took Koyama under his wing right away, along with his friends.
"To my surprise, Tatsuya was the one who asked me about God, and I realized he was seeking God," Ashino said. "I noticed there was no doubt in his heart and his face was shining with hope. I was hoping to share the gospel with him even before he asked me about God."
Afterwards, Ashino met with the group of Japanese students two to four times a week to cook Japanese food, play Nintendo 64 and practice English, as well as read the Bible and pray for one another. As Ashino continued pouring into the group, Koyama saw something different about Ashino.
"He was not a typical Japanese person. At the time, I thought about how cool he was," Koyama said. "Whatever we said to Naoto, Naoto accepted. He is very patient and I wondered how he was so patient. The difference between them (Christians) is patience and how they treat people."
Additionally, Ashino introduced Koyama to UND Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, a student organization gathering at 7 p.m. on Thursday nights in room 1350 of the Reed Keller building. Through the ministry, Koyama got involved in a small group and was embraced by a welcoming community.
"When we meet people at Chi Alpha, they always smile. They talk to us a lot even if we are international students. They are awesome," Koyama said. "I think the typical American is not willing to speak to international students, but people at Chi Alpha are willing to do that. Every time I go there, I feel warmth, belongingness, I connect with people very deeply and I feel they are genuine and authentic friends."
The community at Chi Alpha and Freedom Church especially helped Koyama through his mother's health situation.
"It helped a lot. While I was in Chi Alpha, church and small group, I felt like I didn't have to think about my mother too much," Koyama said. "The atmosphere at church and Chi Alpha made me not pay attention to the case of my mother. I felt when I was in church or anywhere involved with Chi Alpha or Christianity, she would probably be good. She would get healed and the tumor would be gone."
The sense that his mother would be okay grew after a small group in the middle of October. After opening up about his mother's condition with his group, Koyama remembers everyone circling up for prayer in Johnstone Hall's third floor study lounge and his small group leader Judah Negron praying for his mom.
In Koyama's view, the prayer did not just happen, it worked, as two weeks later, his mother underwent successful surgery to have her tumor removed, along with no sign of cancer.
"I was really happy. I felt relief. I had nothing to say. It was literally healing given from God," Koyama said.
From there, Koyama and his friends continued going to small group on Monday nights and learned more about God and how to live as a Christian.
"We had basic questions," Koyama said. "We didn't know anything at all. How do we behave as Christians? How shouldn't we behave? How do we help people? How do we love people? How do we communicate with people? Basically, about life."
They also developed close relationships with Americans in their group, but especially their small group leader, Negron.
"He's one of my best friends in the U.S.," Koyama said. "I still don't understand why he was interested in a Japanese guy. Without him, we wouldn't improve our English skills and we wouldn't have many friends in the U.S. Because of him, we have everything that we have here."
Nevertheless, after almost a month of going to Freedom Church, Chi Alpha and small group, Koyama still had questions about becoming a Christian.
"I was wondering if Jesus exists or not," Koyama said. "When I spent time with Naoto, he told me a lot about it and he taught me that living with Jesus is good for our life and then that made me accelerate my feelings (for Jesus)."
All of those doubts went away during one service at Freedom Church on Oct. 23, Koyama remembers worshipping at the 11 a.m. service and dealing with the heartbreak of breaking up with his girlfriend back in Japan.
"I was singing a song and I was about to cry and then I felt like God touched my heart," Koyama said. "I got healed and cured from him. Then, I talked about it with Judah and Naoto and then that night I went to Naoto's house and I decided to be a follower. I wanted to be a believer."
Ashino, along with his roommate Trevor Lachance, prayed over Koyama to accept Jesus into his life at their apartment that night.
"I was super pumped when he said he wanted to pray to receive Jesus into his heart," Ashino said. "I was like 'oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my' because Satoshi (one of Koyama's best friends) received Jesus into his heart just a few days before Tatsuya did, and I thought God wants to do something amazing and that's beyond my thoughts."
While Koyama did not expect to become a Christian in America, it is the decision that has radically changed his life.
"He (God) has been changing me a lot. He's a great, perfect father," Koyama said. "Before that, I use to make fun of my friends. If my friends did something I didn't
like, I would lose my temper quickly or ignore that person completely, but after I became a follower, I don't do that. Now, I like serving my friends, complimenting my friends. It's a total difference."
As Koyama continues to grow in his newfound faith, he is in the midst of finishing his last month of the ELS program and graduates at the end of March before heading back to Osaka, Japan in April. While he is excited to be reunited with friends and family, he is also concerned about coming back as a Christian.
"The number of people that believe in Jesus is just one percent in Japan, so we are a minority. Japanese culture and tradition doesn't like minority. They put priority on the majority," Koyama said. "That's kind of what I am afraid of when I go back to Japan. I may not be able to tell people that I am Christian. I may have a difficult time finding a church and connecting with a community like Chi Alpha."
Even so, Koyama does not see anything changing his love for God.
"I go back to Japan with belief. Even when I go back, I will still be a Christian," Koyama said. "As a Christian, we need to put that first, as the first carriage in the train, so if the train moves off the track, the top of the train doesn't move, it's very tight and steady. So if we put Christianity at the top of our life, we don't get lost."
As Koyama gets closer to heading home, there is one clear takeaway from his experience at UND.
"Going to school and learning English is good and awesome, but everything here, taught me about life," Koyama said. "Going to church and knowing people taught me about life, to take advantage of things in the Bible and how to live with faith."
With that, it is fair to say "an old life is gone and a new life has begun."
Jake Andersen is a staff writer for the Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]
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Florence Pugh on not "complying" with Hollywood's body standards
Sophie Williams
Florence Pugh on Hollywood's body standardsKarwai Tang - Getty Images
Florence Pugh is one of the most famous actors around atm, which means she's super influential to a *lot* of people. So, as well as being an iconic social media chef, incredibly down to earth, and just downright badass, she's now spoken out about not "complying" with Hollywood's body standards.
In a recent video with Vogue ahead of her cover feature, the 27-year-old teaches viewers how to make a Garlic Crostini, plus mixes her fave martini and gets deep about her life in the spotlight. Cue the important body image convo.
"Body image for women is a major thing. From the moment you start growing thighs and bums and boobs and all of it, everything starts changing. And your relationship with food starts changing," she said casually while cooking.
"I had a weird chapter at the beginning of my career, but that was because I wasn't complying. I think that was confusing to people, especially in Hollywood," she continued.
"Women in Hollywood, especially young women in Hollywood, are obviously putting themselves in all these ways in order to get whatever opportunity that they need to get because that's just the way that it's been."
"I think I definitely put my foot down in that aspect," she added. "I love food."
During her Vogue cover interview, she chatted about the topic in more detail, and explained that "we are human" and "we are bodies."
"Yes, I can put makeup on and look good for a premiere. But at the end of the day, I still have hair on the top of my lip and I still smell after a workout and I still get spots when I'm stressed. I think that attitude definitely has trickled down from when I was a child." Preach Florence.
She then added that she'll never lose weight to "look fantastic for a role." Instead, she flips it, and asks herself: "how would this character have lived? What would she be eating?"
This isn't the first time the Don't Worry Darling star has spoken out about body issues, either. Back in July, she wore a sheer pink gown for Valentino's haute couture show in Rome and suffered a whole load of (unnecessary) backlash on social media.
Addressing the topic at the time in an Instagram post, she said: "It isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time a woman will hear what's wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what's worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be."
"So many of you wanted to aggressively let me know how disappointed you were by my 'tiny tits', or how I should be embarrassed by being so 'flat chested,'" Florence added.
"I've lived in my body for a long time. I'm fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it."
See? We told you: icon.
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Hilary Duff remains close to ex Joel Madden
Hilary Duff says she is close friends with her ex Joel Madden and his wife Nicole Richie and loves hanging out with them.


Paul's 2013 Top Ten LinkedIn Tips – Adventures in Networking!
Ps. A shout-out to Clare, one of my LinkedIn mentors who now has a business helping executives and managers get their personal profiles in shape! Want to get on the LinkedIn fast track? Call Clare.
Thanks for the shout out Paul, and the comprehensive round up. LinkedIn mobile still frustrates me greatly…. I'm hoping more improvements to come in that space.
10 years already? Thanks for these excellent tips Paul. LinkedIn keeps changing and it is important to keep up to date. Over reliance on Linkedin creates vulnerability. I do not use LinkedIn as a CRM. Instead, I use a real CRM which uses LinkedIn as a feed. that way, I am in control of my contacts at all times. A proper CRM will already tell you when you last made contact which may have been in a way that Linkedin did not track. Also, I contact people via email rather than the system built into LinkedIn.
Next PostNext "The Naked Man" is a terrible way to find a job. Think ahead.


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Lifestyle | Arts and Entertainment
All Souls Night organizer takes serious look at cultural appropriation
"White folks, please don't borrow/steal from any marginalized people for ideas!"
By Christa Lawler
For the most part, Saturday's All Souls Night event at the Depot will be what has drawn hundreds of attendees to the event for the past decade: the one-square block procession with a soundtrack by a Twin Cities brass band, the burning of bad ideas, and the larger-than-life puppets that organizer Mary Plaster keeps in her company.
While the event was originally inspired by Dia de los Muertos - Plaster spent four years living in Mexico - this year, she said she is hoping attendees will research their own heritage.
"There were a few people from the Cities last year who thought we were getting dangerously close to appropriation," Plaster said, and it was a charge she took seriously.
So, for instance, while there will still be skeletal face-painting, sugar skulls will be reserved for people who understand the significance of the Mexican tradition.
A fire dancer performs at the Duluth All Souls Night celebration in 2017. File / News Tribune
All Souls Night, this year with a theme of "Respect," in honor of Aretha Franklin, starts at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Duluth Depot. There will be poetry, Alex Loch as a skeleton aerialist, fire dancers and more - including the larger-than-life Maximus, a skeleton marionette. Duluth-raised artist Venus DeMars performs at 8:30 p.m.
In preparation for this year's event, Plaster met with university-level diversity and inclusion professionals and read a lot of articles about appropriation. She hosted a screening of "Coco," a Pixar film about Miguel, a young guitar player who travels to the Land of the Dead and learns the secrets of his family's disdain for music. The animated film is set around Dia de los Muertos, and the screening was followed by a panel discussion.
The Duluth All Souls Night Facebook page includes All Souls Night information, death comedy and skeleton jokes. It's also where Plaster shares articles ranging from: "Why discussing cultural appropriation isn't just being told what you can't do" by Everyday Feminism to "Death, Dia de los Muertos, and an Invitation" and "Humanity has destroyed 60 percent of the animal populations since 1970: Report" from Daily Beast.
Enrique Mezza, a Chicago native whose parents came to the United States from Central Mexico, found a slice of home at last year's All Souls Night event. He had recently moved to Duluth and was experiencing culture shock, he said.
"I walk into this space that offers my culture — even though it's not just my culture," he said. "I saw ofrendas, and I was beyond myself."
He isn't hearing appropriation claims within the local Mexican community, he said; it's from the outside.
Mezza credits Plaster, whom he refers to as his Mexican white aunt, as inspiring his own work at the Zeitgeist atrium. The area is filled with altars, banners and large-scale pieces inspired by Dia de Los Muertos. The exhibition is available through November and later this month will have a movie-dinner tie-in.
When Plaster first started this, she said she was excited to host an event that shifted from Hollywood's version of Halloween to something that celebrated ancestors and grief. It grew to include political statements - both nationally and locally. During the burning of rotten ideas in one of the first year, someone set fire to the idea of a downtown skateboard ordinance.
Plaster defined appropriation as taking things from another culture, while dismissing other parts of the culture. For instance: An active campaign to keep Mexicans out of the United States, but adopting the colorful skull imagery.
"White folks, please don't borrow/steal from any marginalized people for ideas!" Plaster wrote on the event page. "We request dressing for a funeral or as a plain skeleton."
This is the time of year when a lot of cultures celebrate the dead, she said, and in some similar ways.
"It's amazing how many cultures acknowledge the same things," Plaster said. "All the leaves are dropping and becoming naked trees, light is getting darker, some people have seasonal affect disorder."
Among the visual aspects of the event is Maximus, a looming skeleton marionette created by Plaster and Christopher Lutter. Through her research, Plaster - who described herself as 98.5 percent northern European - discovered a group that meets at Carmody Irish Pub and together considers Irish language and traditions.
"We carved turnips together," she said. "That's where jack o'lanterns came from."
What: All Souls Nite
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Duluth Depot, 506 W. Michigan St.
Tickets: Suggested $10 donation
= = =
What: "Day of the Dead Exposition," an exhibition of work by Mexican-American artists
When: Through November
Where: Zeitgeist Arts atrium
Tickets: Free
What: "Spirit of Duluth: Dinner and Film Series"
When: 5:30 p.m. dinner of tamales and tres leches dessert; 7:30 p.m. screening of "Hecho en Mexico" on Nov. 12
Where: Zeitgeist Arts Cafe, 222 E. Superior St.
Tickets: www.zeitgeistarts.com
Related Topics: EVENTSMUSICART
Christa Lawler is a former reporter for the Duluth News Tribune.
Short Cuts: Marie Myung-Ok Lee to speak at Duluth Library Foundation event
The lauded Korean American writer, author of "The Evening Hero," will participate in an Olga Walker Awards conversation moderated by Linda LeGarde Grover.
By Jay Gabler
Front Row Seat: Duluth's mascots are a strange bunch — and that's just how we like it
From Champ to Rhubarbara, Duluth's mascots are best at their most offbeat. There is such a thing as too offbeat, though, as an ill-fated baseball head learned the hard way.
Multiverse adventure 'Everything Everywhere' leads Oscar nominations
Other films vying for best picture include "Avatar: The Way of Water," "Top Gun: Maverick," "Elvis," and "The Fabelmans," among others.
By Lisa Richwine / Reuters
Best Bets: Lake Superior Ice Festival, and more
Find something to do this week in the Northland.


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Some Facets of the Geology of Diamonds
By Simon Wellings on May 9, 2013
Geoscientists can't say if diamonds are forever, but they can say that some are already billions of years old. They form in a place we'll never reach: the deep earth, hundreds of kilometres under our feet. Diamonds tell us much about this hidden world and how it is linked to the surface - and life - in surprising ways.
Diamonds are made of carbon atoms which are densely packed into a structure that is extremely strong. On earth they form only under extreme pressures - under conditions very unfamiliar to us surface-dwellers. Some form in the sudden shock-waves created when material from space hits the earth. The global impact layer found suspiciously close in time to the extinction of the dinosaurs contains countless tiny diamonds. Impact diamonds are rare. Most diamonds, certainly any big enough to put in an engagement ring, form slowly within the deep earth.
Imagine a slab of concrete - about 5cm thick - resting on your chest. The pressure is small, but tangible. The pressure found in the deepest ocean is equivalent to some 80,000 of such slabs. Diamonds form at pressures that are at least 45 times greater still, equivalent to millions of slabs or hundreds of kilometres of rock. The earth's deep interior is a place where even rocks are transformed by the massive pressure.
Natural diamonds don't form, Superman-style, by the application of pressure directly to other solid forms of carbon (such as coal). They grow by the interaction between a carbon bearing fluid and rock - typically involving redox reactions such as the breakdown of CO2 or methane. Diamonds show complex patterns that suggest they grow gradually. Studies of diamonds from a single area often show a wide distribution of ages, from over 3 billion years old to a few hundred million.
Diamonds form within the earth's mantle, the thick layer between the thin crust and earth's metal core. They are particularly associated with parts of the mantle that are stuck to the bottom of long-lived continental crust. Here the mantle forms stable 'keels' and doesn't take part in the convection-driven movements that happen lower down. The portions of stable crust with keels are called cratons - the largest are found in North America, Africa and Australia -all areas rich in diamond mines.
Cratonic keels are very stable, but are not totally insulated from the dramatic events in the rest of the dynamic earth. Subduction at the edge of cratonic plates allows oceanic crust to sink deep into the mantle underneath the craton. Carbon-bearing fluids from the sinking oceanic crust rise into the cratonic keel and may cause a phase of diamond formation. Mantle plumes, columns of hotter rock rising from the base of the mantle can do likewise.
In contrast to how they form, the way diamonds reach the surface involves one of the quickest and dramatic geological events we know. Most diamonds reach the surface brought up within an odd type of molten rock called Kimberlite. This magma forms at great depth in cratonic keels and is rich in volatile elements such as CO2 which makes it highly pressured. If it is able, it will rise to the surface extremely quickly through vertical fractures. At the surface it forms a carrot-shaped pipe which nowadays is often the site of a large circular diamond mine.
Diamonds and other deep minerals are brought to the surface as fragments within the kimberlite magma. Diamonds are able to survive the rough-and-tumble of the eruption very well, but it helps that the eruption events are very quick. Not just geologist-quick, but normal-folk quick. Estimates are that diamonds travel to the surface in at most months but maybe as quick as a few hours. Diamonds are only stable under surface conditions because they are too cold to change their structure. The speed with which they reach the surface and cool down keeps them beautiful and prevents them from turning into worthless graphite on the way up.
Some diamonds are not conventionally beautiful. They contain blemishes, tiny blebs of fluid or inclusions of other minerals that dim their brilliance. But to geologists these are the most attractive diamonds of all. Listen to them carefully and they will whisper secrets about a place we'll never reach - the deep earth.
The deep earth is only a few hundred kilometres below your feet, but is completely inaccessible. The deepest hole ever drilled is a puny 12.2 kilometers. At diamond depths the rocks are at temperatures over 1000°C - few man-made materials can survive such conditions.
Fortunately we can tell a lot remotely. Seismologists gather information on the way waves created by earthquakes pass through the earth and they can dimly make out structures at great depths. This 'seismic tomography' applies the same principles that PET or MRI scanners use to study a human body. Such tools are useful, but in medicine as in geology, sometimes direct sampling of the interior is required: kimberlites act like biopsies, making samples of the interior available for detailed study.
A tremendous range of experimental techniques have been used to study diamonds and their inclusions. Some have poetic-sounding names ("Raman spectroscopy") but many do not ("combustion analysis", "laser ablation ICPMS"). Most are used to measure the elemental composition of the minerals or the isotopic makeup of those elements. These data are not just of interest to chemists.
The chemistry of mineral inclusions can yield information about the pressures and temperatures at which they (and the diamond) formed. Radioactive isotopes can be used to estimate the age of formation.
Stable isotopes tell some of the most remarkable stories in the earth sciences. Particular processes create distinctive isotopic signatures that may be preserved through a whole range of subsequent events. One isotopic signature only forms when ultraviolet light interacts with sulphur in an oxygen-poor environment. This signature has been found in diamonds, meaning that they contain material that was once at the surface (rock is a very good sun-block, so UV reactions do not occur inside the earth). Also, the sulphur was at the surface very early in Earth history, before photosynthesis caused atmospheric Oxygen levels to rise.
Photosynthesis has its own distinctive isotope signature, affecting carbon. Some diamonds contain this 'light carbon', meaning they are formed from life itself. They are the most amazing type of 'fossil' imaginable. Some living organism ended its life as a smear of black carbon in a sedimentary rock. It was then buried deep by subduction. Some of its atoms rose up again, first in fluid and then as part of a diamond, suddenly flung to the surface for us to find and marvel at. This deep loop of the carbon cycle is small in terms of volume but conceptually it is enormous. The cycling of carbon between plants, animals and the atmosphere is well know. Uncomfortably, we are becoming more aware of the additional link between buried coal, atmospheric carbon and climate. But the far deeper cycling of carbon into the mantle, demonstrated by diamonds is only recently proven. We can never reach the deep earth, yet it is intimately linked to surface via the subduction of oceanic crust.
Not all diamonds form from surface material. Carbon has been part of the mantle since the formation of the earth and this carbon forms diamonds too. Tracing types of mineral inclusions, it is possible to distinguish diamonds formed from subducted material from other types. This reveals an interesting pattern: diamonds that are older than 3 billion years show no trace of subducted material. This suggests - consistent with other evidence - that plate tectonics as we know it was not active in the very early earth. Subduction may only have started 3 billion years ago.
Most diamonds form in the upper reaches of the mantle but some come from deeper down. These 'sub-lithospheric diamonds' form in the part of the mantle that slowly circulates in convection currents. This lower mantle forms the majority of the earth by volume, yet is poorly understood. At these depths only exotic minerals are stable, traces of which are found as tiny inclusions within diamonds. The only other place we can see these materials is in the laboratory. Here 'anvils' are used to squeeze tiny samples to tremendous pressures. The material they are made of is very strong, but also transparent, so that observations can be made and lasers fired through it to heat the samples. What are these special anvils made of? Diamonds, of course. These are precious stones indeed.
A great open-source review of current knowledge from the Deep Carbon Observatory:
Shirey et al. "Diamonds and the Geology of Mantle Carbon" Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 2013 v. 75 no. 1 p. 355-421 doi: 10.2138/rmg.2013.75.12
The latest evidence that diamonds are made from life:
Schulze et al. "Anticorrelation between low δ13C of eclogitic diamonds and high δ18O of their coesite and garnet inclusions requires a subduction origin" Geology 2013 v. 41 no. 4 p. 455-458 doi:10.1130/G33839.1
Images: 'Picasso diamond' with permission of University of Edinburgh; Picture of diamond inclusions kindly supplied by Prof. Ben Harte, University of Edinburgh.
Simon Wellings
Simon Wellings has a PhD in Geology from Oxford University but now works in IT. Despite having metamorphosed from a Scientific Englishman into a Wired professional, he still writes about the beautiful things geologists discover on his blog.
It Is in Our Nature to Need Stories
By Jag Bhalla on May 8, 2013
Dye and Poison Stop Rhino Poachers
By Martin Angler on May 9, 2013


The key event of the recent forum was the plenary session, National Development Goals and Global Trends, attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Prime Minister's remarks were largely devoted to humanitarian issues. It was the first time the head of the Russian Government actually spoke about the need for a humanitarian appraisal of economic legislation – from the podium of the Gaidar Forum.
The Russian Prime Minister cited a high level of uncertainty in nearly all sectors of society, the speed and scope of digital transformation, sweeping changes in conventional markets and the appearance of new markets as the main challenges affecting the global agenda and Russia's priorities in the medium term.
The forum participants focused on how to streamline the industries responsible for human capital development – mainly education and healthcare. These sectors should not be "flooded" with money – the same is true for other branches of the national economy. Therefore, it was important to discuss the principles of their functioning, which is why discussions at the forum to a large extent focused on the non-economic agenda.
The remarks by First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov and Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova were the highlights of the forum's economic agenda. They shared their views on Russia's fiscal policy problems and its effectiveness, and actually voiced many ideas that are often discussed behind the scenes. Golikova, for example, proposed the consolidation of social payments and the formation of a single social fund.
The participants paid special attention to social issues, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to increasing the natural growth of the population as part of the implementation of national programs – not just by supporting the birth rate, but also by reducing mortality, increasing life expectancy, raising labor productivity and reducing poverty. "Poverty reduction and the growth of people's incomes are directly related to Russia's potential entry into the world's top five leading economies, achieving economic growth rates that are higher than the global ones and inflation below 4%," Golikova noted.
While on the subject of social issues, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin noted the danger of the high social differentiation, which can lead to certain groups' limited access to quality education and health services. "Therefore, without finding a global remedy for this problem – for this trend that has developed over the past 20–30 years – we will see even stronger negative effects on the global economic dynamics not only in the near future, but also in the long term," the minister stressed.
The forum participants discussed the implementation of national projects at the federal and regional levels – very thoroughly and from various perspectives. They considered which problems need to be solved to achieve the greatest effect. First Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov said the financial standing of Russian regions has stabilized. "It is now much more stable than it was three or four years ago. This means we can start implementing important state projects that are planned with the regions this year," he added.
While the first Gaidar Forums were dominated by economic topics, this year's concept suggests that social, political, humanitarian, cultural, and geopolitical factors are even more important for economic growth. This concerns the relevant institutions – political, legal, educational, and cultural. A major role at the 10th Gaidar Forum was devoted to education and the prospects for its development. The participants paid particular attention to the implementation of the Education national project. They noted that effective education is a factor of national security and the most important resource for the development of civilization. Many experts agreed that the main problem in education is underfunding, and that education reforms should be based on the transition to continuous, life-long, multi-level education. Minister of Higher Education and Science Mikhail Kotyukov, Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva, and head of the Rosobrnadzor regulator, Sergei Kravtsov, took part in discussions on this matter.
Particular attention at the forum discussions was paid to Russia's development prospects. President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center Mikhail Kovalchuk and President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev in their presentations stressed the immense importance of science as one of the driving forces of the economy.
Many of the stories and issues raised at the 10th Gaidar Forum became the subject of a broad national debate, which even went beyond Russia's borders. First of all, these include the sharp reduction in the state's controlling and supervisory functions noted by Dmitry Medvedev. The head of the Russian government described this measure as absolutely necessary for the economy to move forward with the pace required for national development.
Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin pointed out that digitalization is a must, unquestionably, but the government's attention to it must correspond to its concern for the real economy, especially the non-commodity industries.
Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Vladimir Mau said Russia's macroeconomics are quite good, which means good opportunities for the implementation of national priority projects and, ultimately, for improving the quality of life in Russia.
Prominent foreign experts took part in the 2019 Gaidar Forum. The speakers at the plenary session included Finnish Parliament Speaker Paula Risikko, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policy Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giovanni Tria, French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Frédérique Vidal, and Honorary Governor of the Bank of Greece, Prime Minister of Greece in 2011-2012 Lucas Papademos.
Other participants in the forum were heads of ministries and government agencies, state corporations and enterprises, educational and cultural institutions, and businesses from Russia and other countries. Interestingly, this year's forum was attended by a record number of heads of Russian regions – 36. Moreover, they made presentations and reports and actively joined the debates in most of the key sessions, such as the plenary session, the discussions of the social triad, digitization of agriculture and modernization of healthcare, education and development of the country's research potential.
The following statistics confirm the broad interest elicited by the forum. This year's event was attended by over 13,000 participants, which means that on average, more than 130 guests took part in each of the more than 100 sessions, discussions, roundtables and presentations, and many of them were not just passive listeners, but joined the debate on the agenda, asked questions, and made remarks. More than 700 panel speakers and roundtable participants spoke during the forum.
Despite the sanctions against Russia, the forum was visited by a large number of foreign participants. More than 150 foreign experts representing 56 countries spoke during the event. Foreign embassies in Moscow also showed keen attention to the work of the Gaidar Forum – 178 representatives of diplomatic missions attended its sessions. Interestingly, while the number of participants and guests from the United States dwindled, the representation of European and Asian countries increased compared to previous years.
As any other significant event, the Gaidar Forum leaves a tangible trace, which is more than a memory – rather a sense of social and political demand for the ideas and plans that were discussed. More than 20 reports were presented at the forum with recommendations for various areas of economic policy, social policy, forex control, Russia's international positioning, and so on. The organizers have a firm confidence that all the interesting topics and ideas raised in the reports and critical comments at the 10th Gaidar Forum will be implemented sooner or later, as was the case following the previous nine events. This is exactly the way it happened before.
The forum is not a government that makes policy decisions; it is not a parliament that votes. The effectiveness of the forum manifests itself over time. Most of the proposals discussed in the past years have been implemented. The tax maneuver, the budget maneuver, and the budget rule – all of that had been presented at the Gaidar Forum before implementation. Only, this effect does not show after a week – most likely, it will take a few years. However, in January 2017, it so happened that the forum discussed the idea of transferring the function of collecting pension contributions to the tax service; on the next day, the President issued an executive order doing just that. It is clear that the decision had been considered for a long time, but still this shows the degree of relevance of the Gaidar Forum discussions.
Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom, gave his assessment of the forum underlining that the program was packed with highly relevant current topics that are truly important for Russia and for international integration processes in the economy and in technology. "So, this year, for the first time, there was a discussion of the NGV fuel market development in Russia. This open discussion with a wide range of regulators, market participants and experts at the very beginning of the year gave us a chance to compare notes and roadmaps," Zubkov said.