text:
Q&A With Avian Expert David Bird
by David Bird
Thanks to COVID-19, the number of folks deriving pleasure from the birds in their yards has increased exponentially. Not only are these backyard birders watching their feathered neighbours, they also…
A New Pollinator Habitat on the Way!
by Tracey Etwell
On May 18, 2021, Hydro Ottawa seeded their very first pollinator habitat. This innovative stewardship project has been in the works for a few years. Once it was determined that…
Best Practices for Bird-friendly Farming
by Heather Robison
Did you know that farmland hosts 313 species of birds, and 69 per cent of all breeding bird species in Canada? One of the most famous is the Bobolink, which…
Legacy Pollutants: From DDT to Neonics, Canada has a Long History of Dealing With Them
More than 50 years ago, Canada banned the use of the insecticide DDT. The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) was part of the movement pushing for this historic ban because the…
Monarchs on the Move!
Have you spotted one of these Endangered species yet? In early May, we received the first report of a Monarch Butterfly migrating back into southern Ontario. The listing was made…
Undoing Some Damage
by Alanna Mitchell
We live in a symbolic time. That's especially true when it comes to wild creatures. It feels like a gut punch to hear about an ancient Douglas fir that falls…
Flies: The Unsung Heroes of Pollination
by April Overall
Name a pollinator. Any pollinator. Did bees come to mind? Or maybe butterflies? What about flies? Probably not. It's not your fault, but we're here to tell you that flies…
Neonictinoids and Bats: Yet Another Danger for an Already Endangered Species
There are over 1,300 bat species worldwide, 19 of which call Canada home. Canadian bats are incredibly important, not only to the environment but to the economy too. When the…
What can iNaturalist Tell us About Barn Swallows?
by Mackenzie Burns
Have you had the opportunity to spot one of these flighty little birds? If so, you'll likely remember seeing their dark blue silhouettes flashing about as they swooped and soared…
Winged Victories
From cuckoos to godwits, here's some record-setting journeys . Thanks to GPS, tracking these and other long-range migratory birds is more detailed than ever In 2019 a Manx shearwater (Puffinus…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
In mathematics, a Fuchsian model is a representation of a hyperbolic Riemann surface R as a quotient of the upper half-plane H by a Fuchsian group. Every hyperbolic Riemann surface admits such a representation. The concept is named after Lazarus Fuchs.

A more precise definition

By the uniformization theorem, every Riemann surface is either elliptic, parabolic or hyperbolic. More precisely this theorem states that a Riemann surface  which is not isomorphic to either the Riemann sphere (the elliptic case) or a quotient of the complex plane by a discrete subgroup (the parabolic case) must be a quotient of the hyperbolic plane  by a subgroup  acting properly discontinuously and freely.

In the Poincaré half-plane model for the hyperbolic plane the group of biholomorphic transformations is the group  acting by homographies, and the uniformization theorem means that there exists a discrete, torsion-free subgroup  such that the Riemann surface  is isomorphic to . Such a group is called a Fuchsian group, and the isomorphism  is called a Fuchsian model for .

Fuchsian models and Teichmüller space

Let  be a closed hyperbolic surface and let  be a Fuchsian group so that  is a Fuchsian model for . Let

and endow this set with the topology of pointwise convergence (sometimes called "algebraic convergence"). In this particular case this topology can most easily be defined as follows: the group  is finitely generated since it is isomorphic to the fundamental group of . Let  be a generating set: then any  is determined by the elements  and so we can identify  with a subset of  by the map . Then we give it the subspace topology.

The Nielsen isomorphism theorem (this is not standard terminology and this result is not directly related to the Dehn–Nielsen theorem) then has the following statement:

The proof is very simple: choose an homeomorphism  and lift it to the hyperbolic plane. Taking a diffeomorphism yields quasi-conformal map since  is compact.

This result can be seen as the equivalence between two models for Teichmüller space of : the set of discrete faithful representations of the fundamental group  into  modulo conjugacy and the set of marked Riemann surfaces  where  is a quasiconformal homeomorphism modulo a natural equivalence relation.

See also
 the Kleinian model, an analogous construction for 3-manifolds
 Fundamental polygon

References

Matsuzaki, K.; Taniguchi, M.: Hyperbolic manifolds and Kleinian groups. Oxford (1998).

Hyperbolic geometry
Riemann surfaces

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hi I just joined up. I have a very unique powerstroke. It started life in 1997 as an unfinished E350 dually ambulance chassis. It then got an extended cab & a full aluminum service bed with aluminum service boxes on each side of the bed. It was built this way to be able to haul jet helicopter engines & still be light weight. I'll be using it for hauling my 5th wheel car trailer. So now yes it also has a 5th wheel hitch. The frame rails already had the factory mount holes. Maybe the only E350 with a 5th wheel hitch.
In the last few weeks I've relocated the batteries to the tool boxes, installed a 6637 air filter, removed the mechanical fuel pump, installed an electric fuel pump with dual filters which are in another box, built a 2 stage 8 gallon methanol/water injection system. Today replacing the water pump since it's dripping. Also later this week pulling the transmission for a rebuild/upgrade along with a Revmax TC. Also installed a Suburban back seat in the extended cab for our son.
I just pulled out the injectors this morning & sent them to Rosewood & want to upgrade the AB's to single shot 180/80's. I ordered the TS tuner & was told the TS does not support the LJP1 Super Duty E350 pcm. I wanted to send the chip to Tony Wildman for some nice tunes. So I really need to figure something out before they get to Rosewood.
What do I do now? Different tuner, different pcm? Anyone have any ideas? I can repin for a different pcm if necessary. I sent Tony an email about it also.
As a follow up - Rosewood suggested that I contact Brian Jelich -proprietor of JeliBuilt Performance. He looked up the pcm & code. He says he can build tunes for but suggested the Hydra tuner & has been very helpful.


Yesterday, Chicago-based band Wild Belle released their new album Isles, and I'm already smitten with it. I've listened to it 4 times through, and can see that it will be a Spring/Summer favorite for me this year.
The band is a brother and sister duo – Elliot and Natalie Bergman. Elliot plays several different instruments (including the sax, how cool is that?) and Natalie sings, plays some keys and tambourine. I just really love the chill vibe of this album and I can't help but shake my shoulders to their songs every time.
I can't get enough of this album! It's the perfect summer album!!!
Yes – I love this. I will need to listen more!


In some cases, patients need feeding tubes in nursing homes and hospitals. However, if a feeding tube is used or placed incorrectly, very serious problems can result, leading to illness or even death on the part of the nursing home resident.
Generally, feeding tubes are used when a person is unable to swallow and cannot get enough food or liquids. The tube is either put directly into the stomach through the abdomen or is inserted through the nose.
There are warning signs that let nursing home employees know there is something wrong with the feeding tube, and it is crucial that they be area of and act if there is a problem.
What Can Happen with Feeding Tube Problems?
The most serious problems with feeding tubes can lead to death. While death is rare, below 1%, the risk increases substantially for the elderly. As a result, feeding tubes in nursing homes, where most of the patients are elderly and/or infirm, can be quite risky. Death from a blockage, perforation, pneumonia, bleeding or infection can occur if the tube is not properly inserted or managed.
If you or a loved one has been injured due to the failure of nursing home staff to properly insert or monitor a feeding tube, you may wish to consider legal action. Contact a nursing home neglect lawyer from Lowenthal & Abrams by calling 888-979-7298 today.
Feeding tubes can be crucial for proper treatment of patients in nursing homes. However, when used improperly they can cause serious illness or death.


text:
Biophysical effects on temperature and precipitation due to land cover change
Anthropogenic land cover changes (LCC) affect regional and global climate through biophysical variations of the surface energy budget mediated by albedo, evapotranspiration, and roughness. This change in surface energy budget may exacerbate or counteract biogeochemical greenhouse gas effects of LCC, with a large body of emerging assessments being produced, sometimes apparently contradictory. We reviewed the existing scientific literature with the objective to provide an overview of the state-of-the-knowledge of the biophysical LCC climate effects, in support of the assessment of mitigation/adaptation land policies. Out of the published studies that were analyzed, 28 papers fulfilled the eligibility criteria, providing surface air temperature and/or precipitation change with respect to LCC regionally and/or globally. We provide a synthesis of the signal, magnitude and uncertainty of temperature and precipitation changes in response to LCC biophysical effects by climate region (boreal/temperate/tropical) and by key land cover transitions. Model results indicate that a modification of biophysical processes at the land surface has a strong regional climate effect, and non-negligible global impact on temperature. Simulations experiments of large-scale (i.e. complete) regional deforestation lead to a mean reduction in precipitation in all regions, while air surface temperature increases in the tropics and decreases in boreal regions. The net global climate effects of regional deforestation are less certain. There is an overall consensus in the model experiments that the average global biophysical climate response to complete global deforestation is atmospheric cooling and drying. Observed estimates of temperature change following deforestation indicate a smaller effect than model-based regional estimates in boreal regions, comparable results in the tropics, and contrasting results in temperate regions. Regional/local biophysical effects following LCC are important for local climate, water cycle, ecosystems, their productivity and biodiversity, and thus important to consider in the formulation of adaptation policy. However before considering the inclusion of biophysical climate effects of LCC under the UNFCCC, science has to provide robust tools and methods for estimation of both country and global level effects.
Environmental Letters
#Supplementary notes can be added here, including code and math.
Forest Ecosystem Modeling Land Cover change
Data science competition for cross-site delineation and classification of individual trees from airborne remote sensing data
Rethinking global carbon storage potential of trees. A comment on Bastin et al.(2019)
The role of respiration in estimation of net carbon cycle: coupling soil carbon dynamics and canopy turnover in a novel version of 3D-CMCC forest ecosystem model


In 1 Nephi 13:24-29 of The Book of Mormon, the writer states that – "many plain and precious things have been taken away from the book." The "book" in this case is referring to the Bible. The official position of the LDS Church on the Bible is clearly stated by Mormon "Apostle" M. Russell Ballard in his book Our Search For Happiness – An Invitation to Understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is in their Missionary Reference Library.
…the Bible has been through countless translations from the time its chapters were originally penned…there have been changes and alterations that have diminished the purity of the doctrine…it would be unreasonable to assume that it [is] intact.
The beautiful simplicity of Christ's gospel was under attack from an enemy even more destructive than the scourges and crosses of early Rome: the philosophical meanderings of learned–but–uninspired men, which resulted in doctrine based more on popular opinion than revelation.
The LDS position is that although the Bible should to be "revered", the Mormon Church teaches that there is simply no way of knowing what the texts originally said, or of telling just how many books were "lost" from it.
Notwithstanding the promise of Jesus of Nazareth (see-Matthew 5:18), up until the middle to late 1800's it was more difficult to verify or disprove the assertions of the LDS Church. But with the advent of modern archaeology we now have a much better source of information from which to draw our conclusions. In fact, there are some 25,000+ complete or partial copies of New Testament manuscripts alone that have been found and analyzed by textual critics.
There are also some 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand Lectionaries (church-service books containing Scripture quotations used in the early centuries of Christianity). Bottom line: the New Testament has an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting its reliability.
And some parts of these books date back to as early as 125 AD. As such, it would then make them copies done by some of the disciples of the first Apostles themselves. For example, among the men Jesus of Nazareth taught was a man named John. Following the example of His Lord Jesus, and adhering to the biblical command of 2 Timothy 2:2, the Apostle John then taught other men, one of which was named Polycarp.
The manuscript scrap that dates back to 125 AD puts it during Polycarp's lifetime, who as Bishop of the Church at Smyrna, was one of those "early church fathers" mentioned by Rhodes. These godly men–who were not "corrupt priests" as Smith alleged–were leaders in the early churches and their writings have been preserved for us down through the years. As a matter of fact, the teachings of the early Christians were far removed from being merely "philosophical meanderings." The truth is that these men of God quoted so copiously from the Scriptures as they taught, that it is possible to reconstruct virtually the entire text of the New Testament–save for 11 verses – from the writings of these early Church Fathers alone!
No other book is even a close second to the Bible on either the number or early dating of the copies…The New Testament, however, has a fragment within one generation from its original composition, whole books within about 100 years from the time of the autograph [original manuscript], most of the New Testament in less than 200 years, and the entire New Testament within 250 years from the date of its completion.
As reassuring as that information is, there is even more reason to trust the canon of the Old Testament, and its accuracy. This is how the Old Testament as we have it in the Christian Bible came together. The world religion of Judaism has always used the Hebrew Scriptures which were extant in the days of Christ. And then following the Master's own use of those Jewish Scriptures, the early Church also accepted them as the Word of God.
The Protestant Bible today consists of those same Hebrew Scriptures as the Old Testament, while adding the writings of the New Testament. A group of books known as the Apocrypha is contained in some editions–though they are not considered as Scripture; rather these books are thought to have some historical value, and are possibly good for edification. The Protestant church has never accepted the Apocrypha as canonical because the historic record of the New Testament shows that Jesus Himself never used these books in His teachings.
The Roman Catholic Bible contains the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha. The Church of Rome has authoritatively treated the Apocrypha as Scripture since their Council of Trent in 1546. It must be noted that this collection of writings has never been considered to be inspired by God as Holy Scripture by the majority of Protestant Christianity. And the reason for that is actually fairly simple. Judaism has never judged the Apocrypha as inspired by God, nor did Jesus of Nazareth. And while these writings did exist at the time that the Master was on the earth, Jesus never once appealed to them as Scripture when He taught, and as a result neither did His Apostles.
The Hebrew Bible used by the Jewish religion consists of 24 books. However, the writings contained within are exactly the same ones as found in the Christian Bible. The reason that the Protestant Bible, as well as those used by the Church of Rome, contains 39 books in the Old Testament is due to those books being divided differently. The "minor" prophets are each counted separately and Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah are divided into two books each, which is in accordance with the Greek Septuagint translation (LXX), and the Latin Vulgate.
There is very strong evidence that this group of Old Testament writings–just as we have them today–are to be considered Scripture by the way they were accepted and quoted by Jesus in His teachings while He was on the earth. It is shown quite clearly by the primary resource material that we have in the Gospels of the New Testament that the Master regularly appealed to these Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament). He used them to validate His mission and to show the authority of His Words and His actions. By the way, this would have been pointless had not Jesus, and the Jews to whom He was appealing, both found these Hebrew Scriptures to be inspired by God.
Here Jesus indicates the sections into which the Bible [at that time] was divided–the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, probably called "the Psalms" here because the Book of Psalms is the first and longest book in this third section.
As was stated earlier in this work, the Scriptures that were in the "Bible" of Christ's time are the exact same writings that are contained in the Old Testament that we have today. And further it should also be noted that neither Jesus, nor His Apostles, ever made mention of any "lost" books.
There is no evidence whatever of any dispute between Jesus and the Jews as to the canonicity of any OT book.
So despite the claims of the LDS Church to the contrary, the actual witness of historical fact far out weighs the mere philosophical speculations of Mormonism's "learned–but–uninspired men." The absolute truth is there are no "lost books," the Bible is intact, and we do know with certainty what God has revealed.
However, whether or not one believes what the Lord has said is another matter entirely.


Today – June 11, 2011 – All Things Pakistan turns five years old!
Today, sitting in Lahore, Pakistan, I write in the realization that it is now time to move on.
This is not a 'Good Bye' post – it is, in fact, a 'Thank You' post. Nor do I want this to be a 'looking back' post – I would much rather that it be a 'looking forward' post.
For me personally, it is time to move back to Pakistan. For ATP, the blog, it is time to turn off the lights.
Five years ago we set out with the mild ambition to have a conversation with a few friends on all things Pakistan – from the profound to the trivial. What followed was a more intense, more engaged, more elaborate, and more fulfilling conversation than we could have ever imagined. Well above 10 million visits later, it is now time to move on.
But we promise that we have no intention to tune out. We know that this conversation will continue. This was never our conversation, it was yours. We intend to keep listening in. We hope you will let us do so in all the myriad forms and formats that have now become available for this exploration of our Pakistaniat – our Pakistaniness – to thrive. We have chronicled our own story and evolution in our posts (the ATP Credo, the Tangay Walla post, 1st anniversary post, 2nd anniversary post, 3rd anniversary post, who reads Pakistaniat post, 4th anniversary post) and now is not the time to repeat those arguments or even to look back.
I can say with some pride and great joy that we have had some small part in the construction of an important conversation. It has not always been an easy conversation. Our national predicaments have made it an often sad and occasionally angry conversation. But it remains a vibrant – and vital – conversation. We hope that in these five years ATP has contributed some to this conversation, and has contributed to it positively.
So, today, I write in gratitude. Thank you for your companionship. Thank you for your patience. Thank your for dropping by. Thank you for making this your own. Today, we are happy in the knowledge that the conversations we had wanted to seed are thriving. Technology has provided an array of new formats – from facebook to twitter and beyond. There is a mushrooming of blogs and formats, and we hope that in some small way we have contributed to them. We know we have thrived and found sustenance (and ideas) in this new and bold world of Pakistan's Blogistan. We thank our blogging colleagues, our many many writers, and our even more many readers for the excitement they have added to our lives.
I realize that the timing of this will lead many of conclude that it has something to do with my own move. While the two are not unrelated, they are actually less related than you might think. It was, in fact, back in November 2010, that Owais Mughal and I had decided that we would do this on this date and in this manner. Owais had already moved to Singapore and my own professional commitments had begun to mount. We did not wish to end with a whimper nor just fade out abruptly. Five years seemed like a good innings to both of us. Let me take this moment to thank Owais for his support and companionship. More than anyone else he has made ATP possible and allowed it to last this long. Without him, it would have faded long ago. And without him it would have been not just a lonelier but also a much less interesting journey. Thank you, Owais, my friend. Thank you for everything! (As an aside, I should add that Owais and I had never met until fairly recently and for years ran this together without even having met – such is the magic in Blogistan).
Do I have regrets – yes, but too few too mention. I wish we had written fewer obituaries. I wish we had not had to talk about national angst and tragedies as much as we had to. I wish we more time to write all the posts that remain unwritten in our personal lists – more pleasant things than those that were floating in the daily headlines. Yes, I do also wish that some of our readers had been a little more kind to us and to each other in their comments – but, I also realize that we live in unkind times and the viciousness of our environs can sometimes seep into our own language and thoughts. More than anything else, I wish the unkindness of our times will become less, allowing us to be a little more considerate to each other than we sometimes seem to be.
Good byes, they say, should never be long. But this is not a good bye. So, until we meet again, dear friends, take care; khiyal rakhna.
Always good to receive something from All Things Pakistan.The original authors in spite of their very busy daily schedule should give a serious thought to reactivate this blog with renewed energy and ideas,We overseas Pakistani reconnect with Pakistan with sweet memories through this blog.


text:
Town Assessor
Town Auditors
Town Treasurer
Town Report
Forms & Ordinances
Selectboard Meeting Agendas & Minutes
Planning & Zoning Bylaws & Applications
Planning & Zoning Meeting Agendas & Minutes
NEK Gravel Rides Project
Concord Library
Waste & Disposal
Municipal Plan
Concord Parks
Town of Concord, Vermont
Four Seasons Playground
Home→Community→Concord Library
Library Trustees
Barb Bailey
Jill Abetti
Theresa Hovey
Nancy LaPotin
Eileen Wilson
Library E-mail: library@concordvt.org
Are any people interested in forming a group that produces a town
newsletter containing news and activities about town things like:
Concord Cemeteries
Concord Historical Society
Concord Public Library
Concord Planning and Zoning Board
Concord Select Board
Concord Fire and Rescue
If interested, please submit name and email address to library@concordvt.org
************************************************************************************************************************************************
Tuesdays 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Thursdays 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
The Library Board of Trustees meet on the first Thursday of each month at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Library Board of Trustees Agendas
January-6-2022-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
December-2-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
November-4-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
October-14-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
September-2-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
August-5-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
July-8-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
June-3-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
May-6-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
April-1-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
March-4-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
February-4-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
December-2-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
November-4-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
October-14-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
September-2-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
August-5-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
July-8-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
June-3-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
May-6-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
April-1-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
March-4-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
February-4-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
January-7-2021-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
Library Board of Trustees Agendas: 2020 ARCHIVES
October-1-2020-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: 2020 ARCHIVES
October-1-2020-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
Feb-6-2020-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes
July-11-2019-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Agenda
July-11-2019-Library-Board-of-Trustees-Minutes-Revised
© 2022 - Town of Concord, Vermont Proudly powered by WordPress Weaver II Pro by WP Weaver


Discussion in 'Mac Apps and Mac App Store' started by MBABuyer, May 24, 2011.
I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread about the best Applications in the Mac App Store, or other downloads for students.
I am going to be purchasing the MBA when it is updated this summer for high school.
So, for all the students, or people using apps designed for students, what are some of the best you have come across?
Thanks, lets see what apps some of you think are good!
Scrivener, Schoolhouse, and The Hit List. Though, Scrivener is definitely overkill for HS. It shines when you are researching/writing long papers or books.
Umm... can't think of anything else... beside from a good document composition application. What more would you need? Of course there are programs to help organize data but I find the good old folder tree swirls wonders if you keep everythimg tidy.
The link in my sig might be able to help.


If your car breaks down, or you've been in an accident, you're left with a dilemma: how do you get home, and how do you get your car home? Ring Reading Service & MOT Centre, we offer a 24 hour breakdown recovery service.
We'll come out any time, day and night, and recover your car to our garage. We can also take you home. Our expert mechanics will have your car back on the road quickly and efficiently. Call us for a quote; it can be much cheaper than using the major breakdown recovery firms.
Do you remember when your car had that straight from the factory look? When you could use the bonnet as a mirror? It can look just as good again, thanks to our car valeting service. We'll make your car gleam, inside and out.
It's a perfect accompaniment to a car's MOT or service. It's also a great idea if your car's been recovered after an accident. People will think you've bought a new car.


This article was published in Winter 2015 Nor'Easter for TONE (Tartan Owners Northeast).
Boaters will tell you the two most exciting days in their life are: 1 the day they bought their boat, and 2 the day they sold it. An inexperienced boater will say the scariest day for them is when they had to be "Suddenly in Command".
Taking the helm when you least expect it and are not prepared is no joke. It is a lot of responsibility and your life could depend on it. That's why it's important to make sure your sailing buddy knows how to handle certain things. This [buddy] could be your spouse, significant other, or friend. These "things" are: the radio, engine, first aid, man overboard.
Years ago Luke had a heart attack while sailing in the harbor. The only other person on the boat was his wife, Dani. She had never taken the helm before and was now "Suddenly in Command". According to Dani, she was a nervous wreck. Her husband was sick, the sails were up and her focus was to get back to the marina. She didn't use the radio. She didn't call the Coast Guard. Not even to the other boats they knew passing by. Today, if she had to do it all over again, she would alert someone that they were coming in.
Last summer a call for help came over the radio. A woman fell overboard and they didn't know how to get her back into the boat. We did not hear where this person was. They just kept asking how to get her back on the boat. A few minutes later we heard a second incident of man overboard. Both times it was clear the person on the radio was not used to using it. Nor could they give a good description of where they were.
In Ray McAllister's curriculum "Suddenly in Command" he writes about the important use of a VHF radio. He goes on to talk about an incidence where a woman took the helm and radioed for help. The problem was that she did not depress the button to allow others to respond back to her. This I'm sure only made matters worse as she felt like no one was listening. Again, the radio is one of the top four things your mate should know how to use on the boat. Teach them these simple procedures: How to turn the radio on (power it up); How to transmit and to remember that they need to RELEASE the microphone button so the Coast Guard can communicate with them.
So remember, when using the radio in a distress situation you simply mention May Day three times. In fact, print off the following instructions, laminate them and place it on your boat where everyone will see it.
May Day May Day May Day, give the name of your boat, number of people on board, where you're located, and the nature of your distress. Always start off saying May Day three times and then the basic information about your situation.
Winter edition pages 3,4 17,18.
available in both softcover and on Amazon Kindle.


text:
Home Story - News Southampton Historical Museum Launches Adopt-A-Window Campaign
Southampton Historical Museum Launches Adopt-A-Window Campaign
Erin McKinley
The Southampton Historical Museum has launched a new "Adopt-A-Window" campaign to refurbish the antique windows in the Thomas Halsey Homestead.
All 43 windows need to be refurbished at an estimated cost of $100,000. Last week the historical society launched the new campaign, in which donors can choose a particular window in the two-story home to restore.
Also last week, the historical society received an initial anonymous donation of $50,000 for the cause. It has since raised an additional $10,000 through the new campaign. Participants who donate $2,000 and over will have a plaque dedicated to them, or to anyone they choose, in the house near the window they have chosen.
"Every window is different," Southampton Historical Society Executive Director Tom Edmonds said this week. They vary in size, and some have diamond glass paneling while others do not, for instance.
The Thomas Halsey Homestead, located on South Main Street in Southampton Village, is one of several historical properties maintained by the society. It was built in 1660 by Thomas Halsey on property first purchased from the Shinnecock Indians in 1640. It is believed to be the oldest house in Southampton Village and the oldest English-style house in New York State.
The "first period" home is filled with 17th- and 18th-century furnishings, all donated by local families. The house was first restored in 1959 by Henry Francis duPont of the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. It was also partially restored between 1999 and 2003, but the restoration work stopped when the historical society ran out of money and the windows were never done.
"The refurbished windows will protect the integrity of the house," helping protect it from the elements, Mr. Edmonds said this week. Many of the leaded glass windows need new frames, glazing needs to be done on glass paneling, some windows have cracks and scrapes, and in some instances the hand-blown pieces of glass are warped. One second-floor window was even shot at with a rifle.
Once the money is raised, according to Mr. Edmond, the restoration work will be completed by local architect Nathan Tuttle. Mr. Tuttle, who has offices in Eastport, specializes in restoring historical structures, and he has done work on the Halsey Homestead and other local structures in the past.
Mr. Edmonds said the group hopes to be able to start the work as soon as possible, and hopes to have all 43 windows completed by the start of winter. Anyone wishing to contribute can send a check to the Southampton Historical Museum, Box, 303, Southampton, NY 11969, or contact Mr. Edmonds at tomvedmonds@gmail.com. Donors can also call 283-2494 for more information.
"We are desperate to start," he said this week. "These windows date back to the 1750s, so we can't just go out and get new windows. We need it done nicely and quickly."
Previous articleSnappers And Stripers Are On the Fishing Agenda
Next articleNorth Sea Soap Business Competing In Martha Stewart Contest
Montauk Lighthouse Lit for the Holidays
Halls Decked In Southampton Village
One Person Suffers Severe Foot Injury After Being Struck By Train In East Hampton Village


text:
Tag: Duette Elementary School
Florida schools roundup: Scholarships appeal, science tests moved and more
Scholarships appeal: Three judges of the First District Court of Appeal hold a 50-minute hearing to consider whether the Florida Education Association and others have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the state's tax-credit scholarship program. The judges also must decide if there is a specific harm to public schools.[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Top high schools, career academies and more
Top high schools: The Pine View School in Osprey is rated the top high school in Florida and seventh-best in the United States, according to ratings by U.S. News & World Report. Design and Architecture Senior High in Miami is ranked second in the state and 20th nationwide. Miami's International Studies[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Grades, Fresen, a one-room school and more
School grades: After months of delays, the Department of Education releases Florida school grades for 2014-2015. The grades are similar to the projections issued in December, and will become the baseline for comparison to future grades. Twenty-two of the state's 67 districts received A grades. None received an F, and only two[Read More…]
February 15, 2016 by Compiled by reimaginED staff


I hope you are having a nice relaxing weekend and have a chance to do something you really enjoy. That's exactly what I've been doing. It's after 6:00 in the afternoon here and I'm still in my jammies, Frappuccino and M & M's at my side, enjoying some new crafting toys! What a wonderful way to spend a hot summer Saturday!
I don't know about you, but sometimes I have a tough time challenging myself to try a new technique or method. I tend to get stuck doing the same, safe things. So, I'm a little late to the dance (nothing new there), but I finally pulled out my Copics and the new stamp set I just got from "Peachy Keen" and made myself sit down and give it a try. I was really intimidated to try importing the SVG images from "Peachy Keen" to my Cameo...but once I tried it...nothing to it! One new self-challenge conquered! Yay me! My next self-challenge - use those expensive Copic Markers that have been sitting on my shelf gathering dust!
The sketch is really great, lots of fun and lots of layers. I also love the bright papers I used. This stamp set is from the June stamp set and I love the adorable images and sentiments. I still cringe a bit when I look closely at my coloring, but I'm hoping that I will improve with practice!
*Mat - Spellbinders - "Lacy Ovals"
*Ink - Memento "Black Tuxedo" and Ranger "Vintage Photo"
Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my self-imposed challenge with you! I think this is something I need to try more often. Think you can stand it? I guess if I see my "Followers" numbers dropping, I'll have my answer...lol! Thanks for visiting and remember...be kind!
I think you did an excellent job colouring. I have this stamp set too. Thanks for the inspiration.
Such a pretty card! I pulled out my Copics last night as well, to play with the SOTM. Your coloring is fabulous!
Super cute!!! So glad you are branching your with your supplies! Well done!
Wow, sounds like your having a wonderful day-I have been in my pj's all day to but not because I wanted to-I caught some kind of flu bug. Yuk! Feeling a little better this evening, thank goodness!
So pretty! The bird is so cute and I love how it stands above the card.
Such a fun and happy card! I think your coloring is just fine! Great work!
Aww this is sooo cute! Saw it on Ginger Snap Scraps and had to have a looksie! New follower, too!
I think it's colored beautifully. Cute little birdie. The colors you chose are so bright and cheerful. Awesome job. Go, Tanya!
I think you did great! I just ordered my first set... I understand I'm super nervous about coloring with them.
Super cute card!! I LOVE your interpretation of the sketch!! Awesome Job!!
So cute, that background paper is so, so pretty!
This is So "Tweet!" I love all the layers and that background paper is perfection! Love it!
Gorgeous card Tanya,I think you did a great job with your colouring.
Your card is so cute!! You did a great job with the coloring.
Oh - this is just ADORABLE!!! LOVE it! So glad you joined us this week at Peachy Keen!
Very cute!!! I love that little bird...too cute!
Yay for you for doing something new! Doesn't it feel great???
So darling. I love the sweet little bird.


Kenneth Radnofsky has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras and ensembles throughout the world, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Kurt Masur, Dresden Staatskapelle, Boston Pops, the Taipei and Taiwan Symphonies, New World Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, Marlboro Festival, Portland String Quartet, Moscow Autumn, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project with Gil Rose. Mr. Radnofsky made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York premiere of Gunther Schuller's Concerto for Alto Saxophone with the National Orchestral Association. The world premiere of this work featured Mr. Radnofsky with the Pittsburgh Symphony; both of the highly acclaimed performances were conducted by the composer. David Amram's concerto, Ode to Lord Buckley, is dedicated to Mr. Radnofsky, who premiered the work with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, under Bruce Hangen's direction. He has also performed on numerous occasions for the Boston Symphony Orchestra over the last thirty years.
Other composers commissioned by Mr. Radnofsky include Michael Gandolfi, Larry Bell, Donald Martino, Milton Babbitt, Ezra Sims, Roger Bourland, Michael Horvit, and John McDonald. His commission of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison's San Antonio Sonata led to the innovative 1995 premiere by forty-three saxophonists in different locations around the globe in an effort founded and organized by Mr. Radnofsky, entitled World-Wide Concurrent Premieres, Inc. (WWCP). Mr. Radnofsky and BMOP also gave the world premiere of Betty Olivero's Saxophone Concerto Kri'ot, commissioned by Harvard University Judaica Division, in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary.
Current solo CD releases include Debussy Rhapsody with the New York Philharmonic (Teldec), Radnofsky.com (Boston Records), Fascinatin' Rhythms (Boston Records), Donald Martino's Concerto (New World Records), Michael Colgrass's Dream Dancer (Mode), and Elliott Schwartz's Mehitabel's Serenade (Albany-Troy). In 1991 he was the featured soloist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performing Franz Waxman's A Place in the Sun, under John Mauceri's direction (Philips).
Kenneth Radnofsky's principal teachers were Joseph Allard, Jeffrey Lerner, David Salge, Steven Hoyle, Terry Anderson, and Duncan Hale. He is currently teaching at Boston's three conservatories—The Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music—as well as Boston University. He is a Buffet Artist and performs on 400 Series Buffet gold plated alto and tenor saxophones.
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project performed alongside guest artist Kenneth Radnofsky to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence at Sanders Theatre on Sunday evening.
The concert, "Israel at 60: Six Decades of Innovative Music," marked the world premiere of Israeli composer Betty Olivero's composition Kri'ot, the first piece of Israeli classical music to join a solo saxophone—played by Radnofsky—and a string quartet. Oliveros's premiere received a five-minute standing ovation from the audience.
Listening to Olivero's music is like swimming in an ocean and when you pick up your head you can see the traditions she is weaving into her music.


text:
Explore Malaysia from a 5-star hotel – Sheraton Petaling Jaya
by Malaysiakini | Dec 24, 2019 | Branded Content, Lifestyle, place, travel, video
Revel in relaxation at Sheraton Petaling Jaya Hotel, a 5-star haven near Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Find your respite in luxury accommodations with contemporary essentials, signature amenities and refined design elements. Thrill your palate with delectable local and international fare at Feast, savor authentic Japanese dishes at our contemporary Miyabi restaurant or try inventive Chinese specialties at Yue. Stay within steps of Putra LRT Station near Jalan Universiti, Jaya One and Bukit Gasing Forest Reserve. Celebrate and succeed in sophisticated event space for meetings, weddings and flawless social affairs. After a full day of business or sightseeing, refresh in the sparkling waters of our rooftop infinity pool or celebrate and socialize over wines, craft beers, innovative cocktails and cigars at our stylish Chime Lounge. Designed to be everything you would expect from a 5-star hotel, Sheraton Petaling Jaya Hotel in Malaysia is an upscale sanctuary in a vibrant travel destination.
For more information, go to https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/szbsi-sheraton-petaling-jaya-hotel/.
KiniTV features 7 documentaries in conjunction with Human Rights Day
by VOIZ asia | Dec 19, 2018 | News, video
In conjunction with Human Rights Day that falls on the 10th of December, KiniTV is featuring seven original documentaries focusing on Malaysian minorities throughout the weekends in December. The screening is taking place on YouTube, Facebook, Dailymotion and Instagram.
Of the seven documentaries, three of them were produced in a joint effort between KiniTV and the Freedom Film Network. The first is Tak Kesampaian, directed by aboriginal amateur director Shafie Dris. The second is The Story of Kam Agong while the third is Sevan Doraisamy's POCA Boy.
These seven documentaries focus on the rights of the people in the rural areas of Malaysia and also the minority groups of the country.
The following are the dates and times of the broadcasts.
8:00PM, 8 December The Endangered Gentle Giants of the Borneo
8:00PM, 9 December The Story of Tijah Chopil
8:00PM, 15 December POCA Boy
8:00PM, 16 December The Anatomy of An Abduction
8:00PM, 22 December Tak Kesampaian
8:00PM, 23 December Operasi Lalang & After
8:00PM, 30 December The Story of Kam Agong
Below you can find a brief summary of the documentaries that will be screened.
The Endangered Gentle Giants of the Borneo
Running Time 10min
Directed by KiniTV Original
Language Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia
Subtitles in Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, English
Airing on 30 December 2018
Synopsis: The rainforests of Borneo are home to many flora and fauna including the little-known Pygmy elephant. Not many people know that Malaysia is home to several of these elephants, the smallest species of elephants in the world. They are known to be smaller and more temperamental compared to the other species in Asia. However, their numbers are dwindling as over the years as a result of irresponsible human activities.
The Story of Tijah Chopil
Directed by KiniTV
Language Bahasa Malaysia
Subtitles in English
Synopsis: Armed with only a high school education, Tijah Chopil is an indigenous Semai from Peninsular Malaysia. As the ethnic group with the longest history in West Malaysia, seeing the discrimination and injustice that her people are subject to made her pick up activism from the age of 17. This is the story of how she joined the fight for the rights of the indigenous people of Malaysia.
Poca Boy
Directed by Sevan Doraisamy
Subtitles in None
Synopsis: Can you imagine what it is like to be 16 years old and not be allowed to go further than 10KM from your home for an indefinite period of time? This is the true story of Ang, a boy who has been under house arrest for more than a year and who walks around with an electronic monitoring device fitted to his leg.
Pastor Koh: Anatomy of an Abduction
Synopsis: On the 13th of February 2017, Pastor Raymond Koh was swiftly abducted by 15 masked individuals in just 40 seconds. One year later and the police have not managed to solve the case, prompting questions into the possibility of this mystery being a case of enforced disappearance.
(This documentary was first released on February 13, 2018)
Tak Kesampaian
Directed by Shafie Dris
Synopsis: Despite poverty and socio-cultural hindrances, some Orang Asli youths do rise above and complete their secondary education. Nevertheless, their struggle doesn't pay off. Despite achieving good results in their Form Five examinations, they had received rejections from higher education institutions. The film explores the responses from the community and educators on the factors leading to this issue.
Operation Lalang & After
Directed by Dave Anthony
Synopsis: After witnessing his wife taken away into preventive detention during the 1987 security crackdown known as Operation Lalang, filmmaker Dave Anthony embarked on producing a film documenting the ordeal as he put the crackdown on trial in search for answers. However, the fear of authoritarian politics kept the tape unpublished for 30 years. In 2017, on the 30th anniversary of the crackdown, KiniTV obtained the rights to publish the video. (This documentary was first released on November 27, 2017)
The Story of Kam Agong
Directed by Lawrence
Language Bahasa Malaysia, Lun Bawang
Subtitles in English, Bahasa Malaysia
Synopsis: In 2002, a Lun Bawang woman named Kam Agong living in Sarawak succumbed to excessive blood loss after delivering her eighth son. Over the next six years the family embarked on a tireless legal battle, seeking justice for Kam. The court finally found the local clinic doctor and the Malaysian government guilty of clinical malpractice and sentenced them to pay RM50,000. Sixteen years later, Kam Agong's daughter Agnes brings her youngest brother back to their hometown to honor her memory. (This film is produced in a collaboration between KiniTV and the Freedom Film Network.)
For more KiniTV documentaries, please subscribe to our channels.
Are men and women equal today?
by VOIZ asia | Mar 16, 2017 | society, video
"Are we equals?"
Source: WeAreEquals
"Are we equals? Until the answer is yes, we must never stop asking."
– Judi Dench
Directed by acclaimed 'Nowhere Boy' director/conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, scripted by Jane Goldman ('Kick Ass') and featuring the voice of Dame Judi Dench reprising her role as 'M', the film will be screened in cinemas and streamed online in a bid to highlight the levels of inequality that persist between men and women in the UK and worldwide. It is the first film featuring Bond to be directed by a woman.
Director: Sam Taylor-Wood. Producer: Barbara Broccoli. Scriptwriter: Jane Goldman. Director of photography: Seamus McGarvey. Featuring the voice of Dame Judi Dench.
Editor: Mel Agace
Post production: Michael Sollinger
Post production coordinator: Harriet Dale
With thanks to all the team at Ascent, including Patrick Malone, Dean Harding,
Grading: Robin Pizzey
Deluxe grade production: Rob Farris
Effects fix: Emily Greenwood
Sound producer: Hannah Mills
Sound: Simon Diggins and Peter Gleaves at Goldcrest
More on VOX KINI
Escaping from North Korea in search of freedom
Beauty and the Beast - Official Trailer
Malaysia's Gang Menace
"Supposingly-gay" LeFou on "Gaston" Clip
by VOIZ asia | Mar 15, 2017 | Entertainment, video
"My, what a guy, that Gaston!"
"My, what a guy, that Gaston!" Watch a new clip from Beauty and the Beast featuring Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou.
Watch the original classic:
by VOIZ asia | Mar 15, 2017 | people, society, video
Video by One Young World
Yeonmi was speaking at the One Young World Summit 2014 in Dublin, Ireland. The Summit brought together 1,300 young leaders with 194 countries represented to debate and devise solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems.
Suffragette (2015)
by VOIZ asia | Mar 8, 2017 | Entertainment, video
A 2015 British historical period drama film about women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
If you haven't already, today is a good day to watch the film Suffragette (2015). IIRC, this movie didn't reach Malaysian cinemas.
This story is about the women who were jailed, beaten and abused for campaigning for their right to vote – sometimes involving elements of militancy. It also documents how many British males were not supportive of what their suffragette spouses.
Believe or not, all women were only allowed to vote in the UK in 1928, behind Australia, New Zealand and the Russian Empire, among others.
In contrast, our grandparents didn't have to spill blood specifically for universal suffrage in Malaya, Sarawak or Sabah.
Official trailer by Transmission Films


text:
Bernhard Schölkopf
Office: N4.019
Find me on Google Scholar
Contact & Applications
My scientific interests are in the field of machine learning and inference from empirical data. In particular, I study kernel methods for extracting regularities from possibly high-dimensional data. These regularities are usually statistical ones, however, in recent years I have also become interested in methods for finding causal structures that underly statistical dependences. I have worked on a number of different applications of machine learning - in our field, you get "to play in everyone's backyard." Most recently, I have been trying to play in the backyard of astronomers and photographers.
I am heading the Department of Empirical Inference; take a look at our last formal Research Overview and Alumni List.
Many of my papers (PDF publication list) can downloaded if you click on the tab "publications;" alternatively, from arxiv or from http://www.kernel-machines.org/. Some additional information:
We have written a book about causality that was just published as an open access title at MIT Press (PDF, with Jonas Peters and Dominik Janzing).
Photographs: HDR composite of the 2017 solar eclipse viewed from La Silla, including the moon lit by the earth, wide angle view, view of the Alps from the southern black forest, a rainbow in La Palma, a lunar eclipse in 2007, the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way on the Roque de los Muchachos, the North America Nebula, the constellation Orion with Barnard's loop, and finally a picture of a beautiful northern light, which I took a few years ago from the plane, on the way home from a conference in Vancouver. I always try to get a window seat when flying home from the North American west coast - it is surprizingly common to see northern lights. Looking at the night sky is a fascinating and humbling experience.
Some chapters of our book Learning with Kernels.
Review paper on kernel methods in the Annals of Statistics.
Short high-level introduction on statistical learnig theory (in German) that appeared in the 2004 Jahrbuch of the Max Planck Society.
Obituary for Alexej Chervonenkis (NIPS 2014).
I am a member of the LIGO scientific collaboration to detect gravitational waves
With the growing interest in (how to make money with) big data, machine learning has significantly gained in popularity. We have published an article in the German newspaper FAZ in January 2015, discussing some of the implications. Disclaimer: the newspaper added some text that appears above our names - this was not written or approved by us.
In March 2018, I published an article about the cybernetic revolution in the German newspaper SZ. It starts with the thesis that the current revolution is about processing (generating, converting, industrializing) information in much the same way the first two industrial revolutions dealt with processing (generating, converting, industrializing) energy. I have occasionally put forward this thesis (but I'm sure I am not the only one who thinks of it this way), for instance during a NYU symposium on the future of AI in January 2016 (here are some notes written by Max Tegmark). The article also provides recommendations on what Europe should do to keep up with the development.
A children's book
I do not engage in military research, and I believe AI/ML should not be used for aggressive military purposes. Open letter against autonomous AI weapons / open letter against a military collaboration of KAIST, with positive outcome / IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems
My department and/or members of the department (incl. myself) receive funding from a number of sources including Max Planck, the DFG, the Alexander-von-Humboldt foundation, Amazon, Google, Bosch, Facebook, the BMBF (German Ministry of Science), the EU, the ETH Zürich, the Land Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Koerber foundation, CIFAR, and the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.
Machine Learning Causal Inference Artificial Intelligence Computational Photography Statistics
M.Sc. in mathematics and Lionel Cooper Memorial Prize, University of London (1992)
Diplom in physics (Tübingen, 1994)
doctorate in computer science from the Technical University Berlin (1997); thesis on Support Vector Learning (main advisor: V. Vapnik, AT&T Bell Labs) won the annual dissertation prize of the German Association for Computer Science (GI)
scientific member of the Max Planck Society, 2001
awards won by his lab
J. K. Aggarwal Prize of the International Association for Pattern Recognition, 2006
Max Planck Research Award, 2011
Academy Prize of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2012
Royal Society Milner Award, 2014
Member of the German National Academy of Science (Leopoldina) (since 2017)
Distinguished Amazon Scholar (since 2017)
Fellow of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) (since 2018)
Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Preis of the German Science Foundation (2018)
Honorarprofessor at the Technical University Berlin (computer science) and at the Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen (physics)
list of publications as of January 2015
"ISI highly cited" (added in 2010)
the h Index for Computer Science
co-editor-in-chief of JMLR
member of the boards of the NIPS foundation and of the International Machine Learning Society
PC member (e.g., NIPS, COLT, ICML, UAI, DAGM, CVPR, Snowbird Learning Workshop) and co-chair of various conferences (COLT'03, DAGM'04, NIPS'05, NIPS'06 and the first two kernel workshops).
co-founder of the Machine Learning Summer Schools
two-page CV: PDF.
If you'd like to contact me, please consider these two notes:
1. I recently became co-editor-in-chief of JMLR. I work for JMLR because I believe in its open access model, but it takes a lot of time. During my JMLR term, please don't convince me to do other journal or grant reviewing duties.
2. I am not very organized with my e-mail so if you want to apply for a position in my lab, please send your application only to Sekretariat-Schoelkopf@tuebingen.mpg.de. Note that we do not respond to non-personalized applications that look like they are being sent to a large number of places simultaneously.
We are always happy to receive outstanding applications for PhD positions and postdocs.
Fisher discriminant analysis with kernels
Mika, S., Rätsch, G., Weston, J., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K.
In Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE Signal Processing Society Workshop, 9, pages: 41-48, (Editors: Y-H Hu and J Larsen and E Wilson and S Douglas), IEEE, Neural Networks for Signal Processing IX, 1999 (inproceedings)
ei Mika, S., Rätsch, G., Weston, J., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K. Fisher discriminant analysis with kernels In Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE Signal Processing Society Workshop, 9, pages: 41-48, (Editors: Y-H Hu and J Larsen and E Wilson and S Douglas), IEEE, Neural Networks for Signal Processing IX, 1999 (inproceedings)
Entropy numbers, operators and support vector kernels.
Williamson, R., Smola, A., Schölkopf, B.
In Advances in Kernel Methods - Support Vector Learning, pages: 127-144, (Editors: B Schölkopf and CJC Burges and AJ Smola), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999 (inbook)
ei Williamson, R., Smola, A., Schölkopf, B. Entropy numbers, operators and support vector kernels. In Advances in Kernel Methods - Support Vector Learning, pages: 127-144, (Editors: B Schölkopf and CJC Burges and AJ Smola), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999 (inbook)
Navigation mit Schnappschüssen
Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H., Zell, A.
In Mustererkennung 1998, pages: 421-428, (Editors: P Levi and R-J Ahlers and F May and M Schanz), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 20th DAGM-Symposium, October 1998 (inproceedings)
Es wird ein biologisch inspirierter Algorithmus vorgestellt, mit dem sich ein Ort wiederfinden l{\"a}sst, an dem vorher eine 360-Grad-Ansicht der Umgebung aufgenommen wurde. Die Zielrichtung wird aus der Verschiebung der Bildposition der umgebenden Landmarken im Vergleich zum Schnappschuss berechnet. Die Konvergenzeigenschaften des Algorithmus werden mathematisch untersucht und auf mobilen Robotern getestet.
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H., Zell, A. Navigation mit Schnappschüssen In Mustererkennung 1998, pages: 421-428, (Editors: P Levi and R-J Ahlers and F May and M Schanz), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 20th DAGM-Symposium, October 1998 (inproceedings)
Where did I take that snapshot? Scene-based homing by image matching
Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H.
Biological Cybernetics, 79(3):191-202, October 1998 (article)
In homing tasks, the goal is often not marked by visible objects but must be inferred from the spatial relation to the visual cues in the surrounding scene. The exact computation of the goal direction would require knowledge about the distances to visible landmarks, information, which is not directly available to passive vision systems. However, if prior assumptions about typical distance distributions are used, a snapshot taken at the goal suffices to compute the goal direction from the current view. We show that most existing approaches to scene-based homing implicitly assume an isotropic landmark distribution. As an alternative, we propose a homing scheme that uses parameterized displacement fields. These are obtained from an approximation that incorporates prior knowledge about perspective distortions of the visual environment. A mathematical analysis proves that both approximations do not prevent the schemes from approaching the goal with arbitrary accuracy, but lead to different errors in the computed goal direction. Mobile robot experiments are used to test the theoretical predictions and to demonstrate the practical feasibility of the new approach.
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H. Where did I take that snapshot? Scene-based homing by image matching Biological Cybernetics, 79(3):191-202, October 1998 (article)
On a Kernel-Based Method for Pattern Recognition, Regression, Approximation, and Operator Inversion
Smola, A., Schölkopf, B.
Algorithmica, 22(1-2):211-231, September 1998 (article)
We present a kernel-based framework for pattern recognition, regression estimation, function approximation, and multiple operator inversion. Adopting a regularization-theoretic framework, the above are formulated as constrained optimization problems. Previous approaches such as ridge regression, support vector methods, and regularization networks are included as special cases. We show connections between the cost function and some properties up to now believed to apply to support vector machines only. For appropriately chosen cost functions, the optimal solution of all the problems described above can be found by solving a simple quadratic programming problem.
ei Smola, A., Schölkopf, B. On a Kernel-Based Method for Pattern Recognition, Regression, Approximation, and Operator Inversion Algorithmica, 22(1-2):211-231, September 1998 (article)
The moon tilt illusion
Schölkopf, B.
Perception, 27(10):1229-1232, August 1998 (article)
Besides the familiar moon illusion [eg Hershenson, 1989 The Moon illusion (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates)], wherein the moon appears bigger when it is close to the horizon, there is a less known illusion which causes the moon's illuminated side to appear turned away from the direction of the sun. An experiment documenting the effect is described, and a possible explanation is put forward.
ei Schölkopf, B. The moon tilt illusion Perception, 27(10):1229-1232, August 1998 (article)
SVMs — a practical consequence of learning theory
IEEE Intelligent Systems and their Applications, 13(4):18-21, July 1998 (article)
My first exposure to Support Vector Machines came this spring when heard Sue Dumais present impressive results on text categorization using this analysis technique. This issue's collection of essays should help familiarize our readers with this interesting new racehorse in the Machine Learning stable. Bernhard Scholkopf, in an introductory overview, points out that a particular advantage of SVMs over other learning algorithms is that it can be analyzed theoretically using concepts from computational learning theory, and at the same time can achieve good performance when applied to real problems. Examples of these real-world applications are provided by Sue Dumais, who describes the aforementioned text-categorization problem, yielding the best results to date on the Reuters collection, and Edgar Osuna, who presents strong results on application to face detection. Our fourth author, John Platt, gives us a practical guide and a new technique for implementing the algorithm efficiently.
ei Schölkopf, B. SVMs — a practical consequence of learning theory IEEE Intelligent Systems and their Applications, 13(4):18-21, July 1998 (article)
Nonlinear Component Analysis as a Kernel Eigenvalue Problem
Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Müller, K.
Neural Computation, 10(5):1299-1319, July 1998 (article)
A new method for performing a nonlinear form of principal component analysis is proposed. By the use of integral operator kernel functions, one can efficiently compute principal components in high-dimensional feature spaces, related to input space by some nonlinear map—for instance, the space of all possible five-pixel products in 16 × 16 images. We give the derivation of the method and present experimental results on polynomial feature extraction for pattern recognition.
ei Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Müller, K. Nonlinear Component Analysis as a Kernel Eigenvalue Problem Neural Computation, 10(5):1299-1319, July 1998 (article)
Hearst, M., Dumais, S., Osman, E., Platt, J., Schölkopf, B.
ei Hearst, M., Dumais, S., Osman, E., Platt, J., Schölkopf, B. Support vector machines IEEE Intelligent Systems and their Applications, 13(4):18-28, July 1998 (article)
The connection between regularization operators and support vector kernels.
Smola, A., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K.
Neural Networks, 11(4):637-649, June 1998 (article)
n this paper a correspondence is derived between regularization operators used in regularization networks and support vector kernels. We prove that the Green's Functions associated with regularization operators are suitable support vector kernels with equivalent regularization properties. Moreover, the paper provides an analysis of currently used support vector kernels in the view of regularization theory and corresponding operators associated with the classes of both polynomial kernels and translation invariant kernels. The latter are also analyzed on periodical domains. As a by-product we show that a large number of radial basis functions, namely conditionally positive definite functions, may be used as support vector kernels.
ei Smola, A., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K. The connection between regularization operators and support vector kernels. Neural Networks, 11(4):637-649, June 1998 (article)
Prior knowledge in support vector kernels
Schölkopf, B., Simard, P., Smola, A., Vapnik, V.
In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 10, pages: 640-646 , (Editors: M Jordan and M Kearns and S Solla ), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, Eleventh Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing (NIPS), June 1998 (inproceedings)
ei Schölkopf, B., Simard, P., Smola, A., Vapnik, V. Prior knowledge in support vector kernels In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 10, pages: 640-646 , (Editors: M Jordan and M Kearns and S Solla ), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, Eleventh Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing (NIPS), June 1998 (inproceedings)
From regularization operators to support vector kernels
In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 10, pages: 343-349, (Editors: M Jordan and M Kearns and S Solla), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 11th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing (NIPS), June 1998 (inproceedings)
ei Smola, A., Schölkopf, B. From regularization operators to support vector kernels In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 10, pages: 343-349, (Editors: M Jordan and M Kearns and S Solla), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 11th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing (NIPS), June 1998 (inproceedings)
Übersicht durch Übersehen
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Wissenschaftsbeilage, March 1998 (misc)
ei Schölkopf, B. Übersicht durch Übersehen Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Wissenschaftsbeilage, March 1998 (misc)
Learning view graphs for robot navigation
Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H.
Autonomous Robots, 5(1):111-125, March 1998 (article)
We present a purely vision-based scheme for learning a topological representation of an open environment. The system represents selected places by local views of the surrounding scene, and finds traversable paths between them. The set of recorded views and their connections are combined into a graph model of the environment. To navigate between views connected in the graph, we employ a homing strategy inspired by findings of insect ethology. In robot experiments, we demonstrate that complex visual exploration and navigation tasks can thus be performed without using metric information.
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H. Learning view graphs for robot navigation Autonomous Robots, 5(1):111-125, March 1998 (article)
Fast approximation of support vector kernel expansions, and an interpretation of clustering as approximation in feature spaces.
Schölkopf, B., Knirsch, P., Smola, A., Burges, C.
In Mustererkennung 1998, pages: 125-132, Informatik aktuell, (Editors: P Levi and M Schanz and R-J Ahlers and F May), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 20th DAGM-Symposium, 1998 (inproceedings)
Kernel-based learning methods provide their solutions as expansions in terms of a kernel. We consider the problem of reducing the computational complexity of evaluating these expansions by approximating them using fewer terms. As a by-product, we point out a connection between clustering and approximation in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces generated by a particular class of kernels.
ei Schölkopf, B., Knirsch, P., Smola, A., Burges, C. Fast approximation of support vector kernel expansions, and an interpretation of clustering as approximation in feature spaces. In Mustererkennung 1998, pages: 125-132, Informatik aktuell, (Editors: P Levi and M Schanz and R-J Ahlers and F May), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 20th DAGM-Symposium, 1998 (inproceedings)
Generalization bounds and learning rates for Regularized principal manifolds
Smola, A., Williamson, R., Schölkopf, B.
NeuroCOLT, 1998, NeuroColt2-TR 1998-027 (techreport)
ei Smola, A., Williamson, R., Schölkopf, B. Generalization bounds and learning rates for Regularized principal manifolds NeuroCOLT, 1998, NeuroColt2-TR 1998-027 (techreport)
Kernel PCA pattern reconstruction via approximate pre-images.
Schölkopf, B., Mika, S., Smola, A., Rätsch, G., Müller, K.
In 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pages: 147-152, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, 1998 (inproceedings)
ei Schölkopf, B., Mika, S., Smola, A., Rätsch, G., Müller, K. Kernel PCA pattern reconstruction via approximate pre-images. In 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pages: 147-152, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, 1998 (inproceedings)
Generalization Bounds for Convex Combinations of Kernel Functions
Royal Holloway College, 1998 (techreport)
ei Smola, A., Williamson, R., Schölkopf, B. Generalization Bounds for Convex Combinations of Kernel Functions Royal Holloway College, 1998 (techreport)
Generalization Performance of Regularization Networks and Support Vector Machines via Entropy Numbers of Compact Operators
(19), NeuroCOLT, 1998, Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory (techreport)
ei Williamson, R., Smola, A., Schölkopf, B. Generalization Performance of Regularization Networks and Support Vector Machines via Entropy Numbers of Compact Operators (19), NeuroCOLT, 1998, Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory (techreport)
Quantization Functionals and Regularized PrincipalManifolds
Smola, A., Mika, S., Schölkopf, B.
NeuroCOLT, 1998, NC2-TR-1998-028 (techreport)
ei Smola, A., Mika, S., Schölkopf, B. Quantization Functionals and Regularized PrincipalManifolds NeuroCOLT, 1998, NC2-TR-1998-028 (techreport)
Support Vector methods in learning and feature extraction
Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Müller, K., Burges, C., Vapnik, V.
Ninth Australian Conference on Neural Networks, pages: 72-78, (Editors: T. Downs, M. Frean and M. Gallagher), 1998 (talk)
ei Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Müller, K., Burges, C., Vapnik, V. Support Vector methods in learning and feature extraction Ninth Australian Conference on Neural Networks, pages: 72-78, (Editors: T. Downs, M. Frean and M. Gallagher), 1998 (talk)
Convex Cost Functions for Support Vector Regression
In 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pages: 99-104, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, 1998 (inproceedings)
ei Smola, A., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K. Convex Cost Functions for Support Vector Regression In 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pages: 99-104, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, 1998 (inproceedings)
Support-Vektor-Lernen
In Ausgezeichnete Informatikdissertationen 1997, pages: 135-150, (Editors: G Hotz and H Fiedler and P Gorny and W Grass and S Hölldobler and IO Kerner and R Reischuk), Teubner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1998 (inbook)
ei Schölkopf, B. Support-Vektor-Lernen In Ausgezeichnete Informatikdissertationen 1997, pages: 135-150, (Editors: G Hotz and H Fiedler and P Gorny and W Grass and S Hölldobler and IO Kerner and R Reischuk), Teubner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1998 (inbook)
Support vector regression with automatic accuracy control.
Schölkopf, B., Bartlett, P., Smola, A., Williamson, R.
In ICANN'98, pages: 111-116, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN'98), 1998 (inproceedings)
ei Schölkopf, B., Bartlett, P., Smola, A., Williamson, R. Support vector regression with automatic accuracy control. In ICANN'98, pages: 111-116, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN'98), 1998 (inproceedings)
General cost functions for support vector regression.
In Ninth Australian Conference on Neural Networks, pages: 79-83, (Editors: T Downs and M Frean and M Gallagher), 9th Australian Conference on Neural Networks (ACNN'98), 1998 (inproceedings)
ei Smola, A., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K. General cost functions for support vector regression. In Ninth Australian Conference on Neural Networks, pages: 79-83, (Editors: T Downs and M Frean and M Gallagher), 9th Australian Conference on Neural Networks (ACNN'98), 1998 (inproceedings)
Asymptotically optimal choice of varepsilon-loss for support vector machines.
Smola, A., Murata, N., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K.
ei Smola, A., Murata, N., Schölkopf, B., Müller, K. Asymptotically optimal choice of varepsilon-loss for support vector machines. In 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pages: 105-110, Perspectives in Neural Computing, (Editors: L Niklasson and M Boden and T Ziemke), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 8th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, 1998 (inproceedings)
Support Vector Machine Reference Manual
Saunders, C., Stitson, M., Weston, J., Bottou, L., Schölkopf, B., Smola, A.
(CSD-TR-98-03), Department of Computer Science, Royal Holloway, University of London, 1998 (techreport)
ei Saunders, C., Stitson, M., Weston, J., Bottou, L., Schölkopf, B., Smola, A. Support Vector Machine Reference Manual (CSD-TR-98-03), Department of Computer Science, Royal Holloway, University of London, 1998 (techreport)
Comparing support vector machines with Gaussian kernels to radial basis function classifiers
Schölkopf, B., Sung, K., Burges, C., Girosi, F., Niyogi, P., Poggio, T., Vapnik, V.
IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 45(11):2758-2765, November 1997 (article)
The support vector (SV) machine is a novel type of learning machine, based on statistical learning theory, which contains polynomial classifiers, neural networks, and radial basis function (RBF) networks as special cases. In the RBF case, the SV algorithm automatically determines centers, weights, and threshold that minimize an upper bound on the expected test error. The present study is devoted to an experimental comparison of these machines with a classical approach, where the centers are determined by X-means clustering, and the weights are computed using error backpropagation. We consider three machines, namely, a classical RBF machine, an SV machine with Gaussian kernel, and a hybrid system with the centers determined by the SV method and the weights trained by error backpropagation. Our results show that on the United States postal service database of handwritten digits, the SV machine achieves the highest recognition accuracy, followed by the hybrid system. The SV approach is thus not only theoretically well-founded but also superior in a practical application.
ei Schölkopf, B., Sung, K., Burges, C., Girosi, F., Niyogi, P., Poggio, T., Vapnik, V. Comparing support vector machines with Gaussian kernels to radial basis function classifiers IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 45(11):2758-2765, November 1997 (article)
The view-graph approach to visual navigation and spatial memory
Mallot, H., Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H.
In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN '97, pages: 751-756, (Editors: W Gerstner and A Germond and M Hasler and J-D Nicoud), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, October 1997 (inproceedings)
This paper describes a purely visual navigation scheme based on two elementary mechanisms (piloting and guidance) and a graph structure combining individual navigation steps controlled by these mechanisms. In robot experiments in real environments, both mechanisms have been tested, piloting in an open environment and guidance in a maze with restricted movement opportunities. The results indicate that navigation and path planning can be brought about with these simple mechanisms. We argue that the graph of local views (snapshots) is a general and biologically plausible means of representing space and integrating the various mechanisms of map behaviour.
ei Mallot, H., Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H. The view-graph approach to visual navigation and spatial memory In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN '97, pages: 751-756, (Editors: W Gerstner and A Germond and M Hasler and J-D Nicoud), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, October 1997 (inproceedings)
Predicting time series with support vector machines
Müller, K., Smola, A., Rätsch, G., Schölkopf, B., Kohlmorgen, J., Vapnik, V.
In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN'97, pages: 999-1004, (Editors: Schölkopf, B. , C.J.C. Burges, A.J. Smola), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks , October 1997 (inproceedings)
Support Vector Machines are used for time series prediction and compared to radial basis function networks. We make use of two different cost functions for Support Vectors: training with (i) an e insensitive loss and (ii) Huber's robust loss function and discuss how to choose the regularization parameters in these models. Two applications are considered: data from (a) a noisy (normal and uniform noise) Mackey Glass equation and (b) the Santa Fe competition (set D). In both cases Support Vector Machines show an excellent performance. In case (b) the Support Vector approach improves the best known result on the benchmark by a factor of 29%.
ei Müller, K., Smola, A., Rätsch, G., Schölkopf, B., Kohlmorgen, J., Vapnik, V. Predicting time series with support vector machines In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN'97, pages: 999-1004, (Editors: Schölkopf, B. , C.J.C. Burges, A.J. Smola), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks , October 1997 (inproceedings)
Predicting time series with support vectur machines
In Artificial neural networks: ICANN '97, pages: 999-1004, (Editors: W Gerstner and A Germond and M Hasler and J-D Nicoud), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks , October 1997 (inproceedings)
ei Müller, K., Smola, A., Rätsch, G., Schölkopf, B., Kohlmorgen, J., Vapnik, V. Predicting time series with support vectur machines In Artificial neural networks: ICANN '97, pages: 999-1004, (Editors: W Gerstner and A Germond and M Hasler and J-D Nicoud), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks , October 1997 (inproceedings)
Kernel principal component analysis
In Artificial neural networks: ICANN '97, LNCS, vol. 1327, pages: 583-588, (Editors: W Gerstner and A Germond and M Hasler and J-D Nicoud), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, October 1997 (inproceedings)
A new method for performing a nonlinear form of Principal Component Analysis is proposed. By the use of integral operator kernel functions, one can efficiently compute principal components in highdimensional feature spaces, related to input space by some nonlinear map; for instance the space of all possible d-pixel products in images. We give the derivation of the method and present experimental results on polynomial feature extraction for pattern recognition.
ei Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Müller, K. Kernel principal component analysis In Artificial neural networks: ICANN '97, LNCS, vol. 1327, pages: 583-588, (Editors: W Gerstner and A Germond and M Hasler and J-D Nicoud), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 7th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, October 1997 (inproceedings)
Homing by parameterized scene matching
In Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Artificial Life, (Eds.) P. Husbands, I. Harvey. MIT Press, Cambridge 1997, pages: 236-245, (Editors: P Husbands and I Harvey), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 4th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL97), July 1997 (inproceedings)
In visual homing tasks, animals as well as robots can compute their movements from the current view and a snapshot taken at a home position. Solving this problem exactly would require knowledge about the distances to visible landmarks, information, which is not directly available to passive vision systems. We propose a homing scheme that dispenses with accurate distance information by using parameterized disparity fields. These are obtained from an approximation that incorporates prior knowledge about perspective distortions of the visual environment. A mathematical analysis proves that the approximation does not prevent the scheme from approaching the goal with arbitrary accuracy. Mobile robot experiments are used to demonstrate the practical feasibility of the approach.
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H. Homing by parameterized scene matching In Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Artificial Life, (Eds.) P. Husbands, I. Harvey. MIT Press, Cambridge 1997, pages: 236-245, (Editors: P Husbands and I Harvey), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 4th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL97), July 1997 (inproceedings)
Das Spiel mit dem künstlichen Leben.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Wissenschaftsbeilage, June 1997 (misc)
ei Schölkopf, B. Das Spiel mit dem künstlichen Leben. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Wissenschaftsbeilage, June 1997 (misc)
Improving the accuracy and speed of support vector learning machines
Burges, C., Schölkopf, B.
In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 9, pages: 375-381, (Editors: M Mozer and MJ Jordan and T Petsche), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, Tenth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), May 1997 (inproceedings)
Support Vector Learning Machines (SVM) are finding application in pattern recognition, regression estimation, and operator inversion for illposed problems. Against this very general backdrop any methods for improving the generalization performance, or for improving the speed in test phase of SVMs are of increasing interest.In this paper we combine two such techniques on a pattern recognition problemThe method for improving generalization performance the "virtual support vector" method does so by incorporating known invariances of the problemThis method achieves a drop in the error rate on 10.000 NIST test digit images of 1,4 % to 1 %.The method for improving the speed (the "reduced set" method) does so by approximating the support vector decision surface.We apply this method to achieve a factor of fifty speedup in test phase over the virtual support vector machineThe combined approach yields a machine which is both 22 times faster than the original machine, and which has better generalization performance achieving 1,1 % error. The virtual support vector method is applicable to any SVM problem with known invariancesThe reduced set method is applicable to any support vector machine.
ei Burges, C., Schölkopf, B. Improving the accuracy and speed of support vector learning machines In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 9, pages: 375-381, (Editors: M Mozer and MJ Jordan and T Petsche), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, Tenth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS), May 1997 (inproceedings)
(46), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, Febuary 1997 (techreport)
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H. Homing by parameterized scene matching (46), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany, Febuary 1997 (techreport)
Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Georg, P., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H.
In Proceedings of the 1st Intl. Conf. on Autonomous Agents, pages: 138-147, (Editors: Johnson, W.L.), ACM Press, New York, NY, USA, First International Conference on Autonomous Agents (AGENTS '97), Febuary 1997 (inproceedings)
We present a purely vision-based scheme for learning a parsimonious representation of an open environment. Using simple exploration behaviours, our system constructs a graph of appropriately chosen views. To navigate between views connected in the graph, we employ a homing strategy inspired by findings of insect ethology. Simulations and robot experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Georg, P., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H. Learning view graphs for robot navigation In Proceedings of the 1st Intl. Conf. on Autonomous Agents, pages: 138-147, (Editors: Johnson, W.L.), ACM Press, New York, NY, USA, First International Conference on Autonomous Agents (AGENTS '97), Febuary 1997 (inproceedings)
Support vector learning
pages: 173, Oldenbourg, München, Germany, 1997, Zugl.: Berlin, Techn. Univ., Diss., 1997 (book)
PDF GZIP [BibTex]
ei Schölkopf, B. Support vector learning pages: 173, Oldenbourg, München, Germany, 1997, Zugl.: Berlin, Techn. Univ., Diss., 1997 (book)
(44), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Tübingen, December 1996, This technical report has also been published elsewhere (techreport)
We describe a new method for performing a nonlinear form of Principal Component Analysis. By the use of integral operator kernel functions, we can efficiently compute principal components in high-dimensional feature spaces, related to input space by some nonlinear map; for instance the space of all possible 5-pixel products in 16 x 16 images. We give the derivation of the method, along with a discussion of other techniques which can be made nonlinear with the kernel approach; and present first experimental results on nonlinear feature extraction for pattern recognition.
ei Schölkopf, B., Smola, A., Müller, K. Nonlinear Component Analysis as a Kernel Eigenvalue Problem (44), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Tübingen, December 1996, This technical report has also been published elsewhere (techreport)
Comparison of view-based object recognition algorithms using realistic 3D models
Blanz, V., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H., Burges, C., Vapnik, V., Vetter, T.
In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN 96, LNCS, vol. 1112, pages: 251-256, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, (Editors: C von der Malsburg and W von Seelen and JC Vorbrüggen and B Sendhoff), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 6th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, July 1996 (inproceedings)
Two view-based object recognition algorithms are compared: (1) a heuristic algorithm based on oriented filters, and (2) a support vector learning machine trained on low-resolution images of the objects. Classification performance is assessed using a high number of images generated by a computer graphics system under precisely controlled conditions. Training- and test-images show a set of 25 realistic three-dimensional models of chairs from viewing directions spread over the upper half of the viewing sphere. The percentage of correct identification of all 25 objects is measured.
ei Blanz, V., Schölkopf, B., Bülthoff, H., Burges, C., Vapnik, V., Vetter, T. Comparison of view-based object recognition algorithms using realistic 3D models In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN 96, LNCS, vol. 1112, pages: 251-256, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, (Editors: C von der Malsburg and W von Seelen and JC Vorbrüggen and B Sendhoff), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 6th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, July 1996 (inproceedings)
(33), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen,, July 1996 (techreport)
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Georg, P., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H. Learning View Graphs for Robot Navigation (33), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen,, July 1996 (techreport)
Incorporating invariances in support vector learning machines
Schölkopf, B., Burges, C., Vapnik, V.
In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN 96, LNCS vol. 1112, pages: 47-52, (Editors: C von der Malsburg and W von Seelen and JC Vorbrüggen and B Sendhoff), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 6th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, July 1996, volume 1112 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science (inproceedings)
Developed only recently, support vector learning machines achieve high generalization ability by minimizing a bound on the expected test error; however, so far there existed no way of adding knowledge about invariances of a classification problem at hand. We present a method of incorporating prior knowledge about transformation invariances by applying transformations to support vectors, the training examples most critical for determining the classification boundary.
ei Schölkopf, B., Burges, C., Vapnik, V. Incorporating invariances in support vector learning machines In Artificial Neural Networks: ICANN 96, LNCS vol. 1112, pages: 47-52, (Editors: C von der Malsburg and W von Seelen and JC Vorbrüggen and B Sendhoff), Springer, Berlin, Germany, 6th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, July 1996, volume 1112 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science (inproceedings)
Künstliches Lernen
In Komplexe adaptive Systeme, Forum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung, 15, pages: 93-117, Forum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, (Editors: S Bornholdt and PH Feindt), Röll, Dettelbach, 1996 (inbook)
ei Schölkopf, B. Künstliches Lernen In Komplexe adaptive Systeme, Forum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung, 15, pages: 93-117, Forum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, (Editors: S Bornholdt and PH Feindt), Röll, Dettelbach, 1996 (inbook)
Aktives Erwerben eines Ansichtsgraphen zur diskreten Repräsentation offener Umwelten.
Fortschritte der K{\"u}nstlichen Intelligenz, pages: 138-147, (Editors: M. Thielscher and S.-E. Bornscheuer), 1996 (poster)
PDF PostScript [BibTex]
ei Franz, M., Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H. Aktives Erwerben eines Ansichtsgraphen zur diskreten Repräsentation offener Umwelten. Fortschritte der K{\"u}nstlichen Intelligenz, pages: 138-147, (Editors: M. Thielscher and S.-E. Bornscheuer), 1996 (poster)
View-based cognitive map learning by an autonomous robot
Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H., Georg, P., Schölkopf, B., Yasuhara, K.
In Proceedings International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, vol. 2, pages: 381-386, (Editors: Fogelman-Soulié, F.), EC2, Paris, France, Conférence Internationale sur les Réseaux de Neurones Artificiels (ICANN '95), October 1995 (inproceedings)
This paper presents a view-based approach to map learning and navigation in mazes. By means of graph theory we have shown that the view-graph is a sufficient representation for map behaviour such as path planning. A neural network for unsupervised learning of the view-graph from sequences of views is constructed. We use a modified Kohonen (1988) learning rule that transforms temporal sequence (rather than featural similarity) into connectedness. In the main part of the paper, we present a robot implementation of the scheme. The results show that the proposed network is able to support map behaviour in simple environments.
ei Mallot, H., Bülthoff, H., Georg, P., Schölkopf, B., Yasuhara, K. View-based cognitive map learning by an autonomous robot In Proceedings International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, vol. 2, pages: 381-386, (Editors: Fogelman-Soulié, F.), EC2, Paris, France, Conférence Internationale sur les Réseaux de Neurones Artificiels (ICANN '95), October 1995 (inproceedings)
Extracting support data for a given task
In First International Conference on Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining (KDD-95), pages: 252-257, (Editors: UM Fayyad and R Uthurusamy), AAAI Press, Menlo Park, CA, USA, August 1995 (inproceedings)
We report a novel possibility for extracting a small subset of a data base which contains all the information necessary to solve a given classification task: using the Support Vector Algorithm to train three different types of handwritten digit classifiers, we observed that these types of classifiers construct their decision surface from strongly overlapping small (k: 4%) subsets of the data base. This finding opens up the possibiiity of compressing data bases significantly by disposing of the data which is not important for the solution of a given task. In addition, we show that the theory allows us to predict the classifier that will have the best generalization ability, based solely on performance on the training set and characteristics of the learning machines. This finding is important for cases where the amount of available data is limited.
ei Schölkopf, B., Burges, C., Vapnik, V. Extracting support data for a given task In First International Conference on Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining (KDD-95), pages: 252-257, (Editors: UM Fayyad and R Uthurusamy), AAAI Press, Menlo Park, CA, USA, August 1995 (inproceedings)
View-Based Cognitive Mapping and Path Planning
Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H.
Adaptive Behavior, 3(3):311-348, January 1995 (article)
This article presents a scheme for learning a cognitive map of a maze from a sequence of views and movement decisions. The scheme is based on an intermediate representation called the view graph, whose nodes correspond to the views whereas the labeled edges represent the movements leading from one view to another. By means of a graph theoretical reconstruction method, the view graph is shown to carry complete information on the topological and directional structure of the maze. Path planning can be carried out directly in the view graph without actually performing this reconstruction. A neural network is presented that learns the view graph during a random exploration of the maze. It is based on an unsupervised competitive learning rule translating temporal sequence (rather than similarity) of views into connectedness in the network. The network uses its knowledge of the topological and directional structure of the maze to generate expectations about which views are likely to be encountered next, improving the view-recognition performance. Numerical simulations illustrate the network's ability for path planning and the recognition of views degraded by random noise. The results are compared to findings of behavioral neuroscience.
ei Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H. View-Based Cognitive Mapping and Path Planning Adaptive Behavior, 3(3):311-348, January 1995 (article)
A New Method for Constructing Artificial Neural Networks
Vapnik, V., Burges, C., Schölkopf, B.
AT & T Bell Laboratories, 1995 (techreport)
ei Vapnik, V., Burges, C., Schölkopf, B. A New Method for Constructing Artificial Neural Networks AT & T Bell Laboratories, 1995 (techreport)
(7), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Tübingen, November 1994, This technical report has also been published elsewhere (techreport)
We present a scheme for learning a cognitive map of a maze from a sequence of views and movement decisions. The scheme is based on an intermediate representation called the view graph. We show that this representation carries sufficient information to reconstruct the topological and directional structure of the maze. Moreover, we present a neural network that learns the view graph during a random exploration of the maze. We use a unsupervised competitive learning rule which translates temporal sequence (rather than similarity) of views into connectedness in the network. The network uses its knowledge of the topological and directional structure of the maze to generate expectations about which views are likely to be perceived next, improving the view recognition performance. We provide an additional mechanism which uses the map to find paths between arbitrary points of the previously explored environment. The results are compared to findings of behavioural neuroscience.
ei Schölkopf, B., Mallot, H. View-based cognitive mapping and path planning (7), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Tübingen, November 1994, This technical report has also been published elsewhere (techreport)