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DVB Scene Issue 52
DVBSCENE
CONTENTS 6 Turning the ship around 7 Low Latency DASH 8 DVB turns 25 10 CI Plus ECP 11 Scrumptious Subtitles 14 DVB-C2
A word from the DVB Project Office Several years ago, Ulrich Reimers, then chair of the DVB Technical Module (TM), stated after the completion of DVB's 2nd generation transmission standards that we had come so close to the Shannon limit that further improvements could not be expected. At the most recent round of TM, Commercial Module (CM) and Steering Board meetings, it was agreed that WiB technology didn't constitute a reason to specify a new terrestrial system (see page 4), nor would we undertake any further activities on the physical layer for cable for now (see page 14). Keeping in mind that our work on a possible 3rd generation satellite system did not deliver sufficiently increased spectral efficiency to be worthy of the name DVB-S3 (becoming instead DVB-S2X), and that a decade after we developed DVB-T2, our colleagues across the Atlantic could deliver only marginal spectral efficiency gains for the single channel use case in ATSC 3.0, we see that Prof. Reimers was correct.
Providing the physical layer standards for satellite, cable and terrestrial was a major contribution of DVB and triggered the success of digital broadcasting. Now, exactly 25 years later, we can arguably say "mission accomplished" for our broadcast transmission standards. But this does not mean that our work is done. DVB's main focus is shifting from the lower protocol layers to the ones above the IP layer. Our current activities are largely focused on OTT delivery and targeted advertising. In the TM we are working on Low Latency DASH (page 7) and ABR Multicast. The CM has just finalized a first round of Commercial Requirements for targeted advertising and will soon do the same for DVB-I. The latter will bring the convenience and quality of experience of broadcast DTV to the OTT world. These new developments are also relevant for cable, so we will continue to be a player in this space. For the DVB organization this is a major shift in activities and will also
Peter Siebert Head of Technology, DVB Project require new ways of creating standards. We will, I believe, hear more in future about conformance testing, reference implementations and open source development. At 25 years, DVB brings a valuable mix of experience and energy. We are determined to support the industry with specifications that maximize the benefits of combining broadcast and IP delivery.
Make a date in Dublin! 11-13 MARCH, CROKE PARK
How will media delivery evolve in the next decade? Which technologies will drive success? Find the answers to these and other burning questions at DVB World 2019. www.dvbworld.org
Published by the DVB Project Office, c/o European Broadcasting Union, 17a Ancienne Route, CH-1218 Grand Saconnex, Switzerland.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior consent of the publisher. All content correct at time of printing. © DVB 2018.
Editorial Board: Peter MacAvock, Eva Markvoort, Peter Siebert. Editor: Eoghan O'Sullivan (osullivan@dvb.org)
The views expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual DVB Members or guests and are not necessarily the views of the DVB Project Office or Steering Board.
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DVB News Reorganization in the Project Office
We have made some changes in the DVB Project Office with a view to streamlining our internal processes and improving our service to the Members. Eva Markvoort (pictured above) is now Head of the Project Office – she assumes responsibility for its day-to-day running and the coordination of activities requiring Project Office input. Peter Siebert is Head of Technology, focusing on the technical challenges facing the DVB Project as well as representing DVB externally. He is also secretary to the Steering Board and General Assembly, as well as the Technical, Commercial and Promotion & Communications Modules. Désirée Gianetti continues in her role as Events Manager, while additional support on communications activities is provided by Eoghan O'Sullivan.
New CM chair The July meeting of the DVB Steering Board confirmed Sky's Martyn Lee as the new chair of the Commercial Module. He replaced Graham Mills, who had chaired the CM since its very first meeting in January 1997. Martyn comes to the role having been active within DVB for 20 years. He also represents Sky at various other industry organizations on standards, spectrum, business and regulatory issues. He holds an MEng (Honours) from the Open University and an Executive MBA from the University of Hertfordshire. Outside of work, Martyn finds time for the gym, karate, scuba diving and his first grandchild!
NEW MEMBERS Broadcast Networks Europe, based in Brussels, is an international non-profit association of terrestrial broadcast network operators. www.broadcast-networks.eu
NEW STANDARDS TS 101 154 V2.4.1: Specification for the use of Video and Audio Coding in Broadcast and Broadband Applications (February 2018) TS 103 285 V1.2.1: MPEG-DASH Profile for Transport of ISO BMFF Based DVB Services over IP Based Networks (March 2018) EN 303 560 V1.1.1: TTML subtitling systems (May 2018) TS 103 615 V1.1.1: Metadata generation and deterministic DVBT-megaframe/DVB-T2-MI stream generation from MPEG-2 Transport Stream(s) for a DVB Single Illumination System (August 2018)
DVB webinars on YouTube Did you know that you can access a growing playlist of DVB technology webinars on our YouTube Channel? You can find it by visiting www.dvb.org/webinars • UHD in TS 101 154 • Smart TV security • Subtitling systems • DVB-DASH • DVB-SIS (Single Illumination System) The next DVB webinar will be on Next Generation Audio. More details at the URL above.
Unified Streaming, based in the Netherlands, is a vendor of software for online delivery of live and on-demand video, with DVB-DASH among the technologies used. www.unified-streaming.com Verance, based in San Diego, develops and delivers innovations that enhance, protect and measure the delivery of media and entertainment. www.verance.com YouView provides software for set-top boxes and connected TVs together with cloud services to provide a platform in the UK that combines live TV, delivered by DTT and IPTV, with on-demand content. www.youview.com DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
DVB News
Join us on Friday evening at IBC to continue the celebrations that began at DVB World 2018 in Warsaw!
Celebrate with us in Amsterdam! For the DVB community, Friday night at IBC is always a chance to catch up with old friends – and to make some new ones – when we invite you to join us for a drink and a chat at the DVB booth. It will be an extra-special gathering this year, celebrating 25 years of success and looking forward to an exciting future. We will get the party started earlier that same day, at 11:30 in room G102/103, with a special free access conference session that will feature a panel discussion exploring DVB's pioneering role in the success of digital broadcasting. All are welcome to attend this session and to join us right outside the conference
room afterwards for refreshments. The DVB Cocktail Reception will take place on our booth (1.D81) from 17:00 to 19:00. We're grateful to our five sponsors: Funke, Dolby, Neotion, Newtec and Broadcast Networks Europe. We're looking forward to meeting as many DVB Members as possible at IBC 2018. On the DVB booth we will demonstrate state-of-the-art digital TV services that use existing and forthcoming DVB technologies. See: www.dvb.org/ibc2018
WiB: decision made!
The respective WiB study missions of the Commercial and Technical Modules delivered their reports in June 2018, writes Peter Siebert, with the Steering Board (SB) endorsing their recommendations not to continue activity in this domain. WiB, standing for Wideband Re-use 1, was seen as a candidate technology for a next generation terrestrial transmission system. This new technology promised to cut CAPEX and OPEX
by reducing the transmit power while at the same time increasing the capacity of the overall network. The technical study mission confirmed these promises in part: yes, the transmit power can be reduced drastically, however, there was not such a clear result when it came to adding capacity. Depending on the underlying network architecture and boundary conditions, WiB could either increase or decrease the overall
capacity. It was also observed that WiB must be introduced in a wide area simultaneously, with no other terrestrial services at the boundaries. With DTT already on air in many countries, this is a highly unlikely scenario. The report of the commercial study mission concluded that there was not sufficient commercial interest to go ahead with WiB. The SB agreed that WiB didn't constitute sufficient reason to start developing a new DVB terrestrial system.
The WiB study missions of the Technical and Commercial Modules were ably led by, respectively, Chris Nokes (BBC, left) and Peter Barnett (on behalf of Ericsson). DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
IRT's Martin Schmalohr led the preconference masterclass, a deep dive into media streaming protocols and formats.
PCM Chair Helmut Stein kept a tight rein on the opening session, seen here inviting questions for NAGRA's Laurent Piron, who spoke about forensic watermarking.
Muriel Deschanel (b<>com) provided an update on DVB's work around multicast adaptive streaming.
Graham Mills (right), attending his final DVB World as CM chair, with CM-WIB chair Peter Barnett.
Chair of the DVB Project, Peter MacAvock
Warmly welcomed in Warsaw
More than 150 people attended DVB World 2018 last March at the InterContinental Warsaw. The conference offered two and a half days of presentations, with plenty of debate and discussion on the future of media delivery and the role that DVB should play. Here are just a few snapshots – we hope to see you in Dublin next year (11-13 March).
Who better to set out the lessons learned in DVB's first 25 years than opening keynote speaker Ulrich Reimers?
Sky's Stephan Heimbecher outlined the broadcaster's plans for the shift to UHD.
DVB and HbbTV: the best of friends! Stan Baaijens (Funke), incoming chair of the DVB PCM and Angelo Petazzi (Mediaset), chair of the HbbTV Marketing & Education Group. DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Just across the road from the venue, Warsaw's magnificent Palace of Culture and Science provided an eye-catching backdrop; the blue skies were welcome too!
Many delegates were proud to earn their "official" vodka taster certificate!
With TM Chair Jon Piesing moderating, Les Carter (Cadent Technology) and Vincent Grivet (TDF) discussed the bright future for targeted advertising.
Synchronicity.
The Grand-Saconnex delegation: David Wood, Peter Siebert, Eva Markvoort, Frans de Jong, Désirée Gianetti, Peter MacAvock and Eoghan O'Sullivan. The DVB Project Office team ensured the smooth running of the conference, while the EBU's Frans de Jong provided an entertaining review of the state of subtitling technology. All photos by Tomas Hercog
Turning the ship around DVB's chair on the future of the organization. We have reached a point where each new application sees the establishment of a new body to provide the framework in which to gather requirements, profile technologies, specify some of these, provide tools for interoperability and then move to implement. Why? Speaking for a moment as a representative of an organization (EBU) that must follow all these bodies to make sure that broadcaster requirements are included, I'd much rather have all the stakeholders in one group and then work on the different applications in that structure – with one membership fee. The problem is – as always – people. Although the same companies are often involved, those active in one organization may not be involved in another. Looking around DVB, I see the same faces attending our group meetings. Sometimes their companies change, but encountering new people actively contributing to our work is rare. And yet their own companies have fostered the creation of similar organizations elsewhere to cover a specific topic, e.g. VR, DASH, etc. HIGHER LAYERS The 'user experience' we all seek to define is moving further up the OSI stack. Black-and-white TV sets linked broadcast TV channel selection to switching VHF frequencies – physical layer channel selection. This has moved to the remote control, and now is done via some form of application running on the receiving device. So, the reliance on the physical layer to determine user experience has been replaced by an ever-increasing reliance on software development. This change has far-reaching impact on the organizations that gather stakeholders together to work on common technologies. Specifying the
physical layer involved traditional standardization and big-industry engagement to fund the substantial development costs for the technologies and the silicon. Contrast that with open source software, where contributions can be made by anyone with a computer at home, and communities of thousands of contributors across continents and employers are common. This brings a different philosophy of how you go about developing applications, releasing them, testing them, etc. And what of the role of traditional standardization? Is there any? Luckily DVB's forefathers – some of whom are still involved by the way – thought of this and insisted that DVB was a "pre-competitive, industry-led, specification body working through consensus". DVB outsources its actual standardization to competent SDOs like ETSI; it retains the flexibility to shape itself to best suit the purpose of producing specifications. So – at least in theory – DVB could adopt a new philosophy and a new approach if that would better address industry needs. The problem then centres on how you turn around an organization composed of hundreds of companies, and their representatives, who are happy doing what they are. Hmmm. DVB TOMORROW Although I am one of those dinosaurs around since the start of DVB, in 2016 when I agreed to stand for election to
Peter MacAvock Chair, DVB Project chair DVB, I did so on the basis that change was required at different levels in the organization. It will be hard to turn the ship around, but DVB's heritage says we should try. DVB-I is all about bringing the linear TV experience to OTT. For this to work, fundamental changes must come to the way DVB does its work: working on interoperability, using open source tools and development techniques, permitting more failure, etc. Profitable OTT today is the preserve of very few organizations, and for it to become mainstream, substantial technical work needs to be done right through the delivery chain to minimize the cost, maximize the interoperability, and augment the user's experience. DVB won't develop OTT from the ground up, as it did with other technologies, for the reasons I outlined above, but it will play its part.
SOMETIMES THEIR COMPANIES CHANGE, BUT ENCOUNTERING NEW PEOPLE ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTING TO OUR WORK IS RARE. AND YET THEIR OWN COMPANIES HAVE FOSTERED THE CREATION OF SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS ELSEWHERE TO COVER A SPECIFIC TOPIC.
Peter MacAvock is the chair of the DVB Project. He has been Head of Delivery Platforms and Services in the EBU Technology & Innovation Department since 2008. He was Executive Director of DVB from 1994 to 2008.
DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
programme into a national broadcast news channel, and synchronized companion screen services. When these require a combination of broadcast media and live IP-delivered content (as opposed to on demand) this can be very challenging while broadcast and internet distribution latencies differ significantly. With these and other use cases in mind, DVB has defined commercial requirements for a revision of the DVBDASH specification to add support for low latency delivery. Technical work is now progressing within TM-IPI.
Streaming of live sports events is one use case that benefits from low latency.
Decreasing the delay in DVB-DASH Viewers watching live video content over the internet today tend to see pictures that are delayed by tens of seconds. To allow for reliable viewing over the wide range of internet connections that viewers use, video streaming clients such as DVBDASH players tend to hold a large buffer of media to maximize the chance of playing without interruption even when the network throughput fluctuates. Also, for efficient encoding and distribution, media streams using HLS or MPEG-DASH use 'segments' of several seconds duration and today these can be output from the encoder only when they are complete, adding further delay. NEED FOR SPEED While for some content and services, the high latency of internet delivery is not of great concern, there are many use
cases where it becomes problematic. One example would be someone watching a football match over IP, next door to someone watching the same match over broadcast. Overhearing their neighbour's reaction 30 seconds before they see what has happened limits their enjoyment of the match. Viewers may also be keeping an eye on social media feeds while watching a live event. If their viewing is significantly delayed, they may find out what's going to happen before they see it and will also find it difficult to participate in discussions with others who are at the event or watching with less delay. Content providers are also seeking to combine the efficiency of broadcast distribution with the personalization that internet distribution can offer. Examples include insertion of a local news
BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY IS A KEY CONSIDERATION AS PRODUCING A SECOND SET OF STREAMS FOR LOW LATENCY CLIENTS CAN BE PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE.
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES Low latency delivery over the internet will not be possible for all viewers from day one. Viewers across the world have internet connections with very different characteristics and performance. There is a fundamental trade-off between latency and reliability and for many viewers, substantial buffering is still required to avoid unacceptable frequent pauses. However, the time is right to be working on a low latency solution. The performance of domestic internet connections is improving year on year and we expect low latency services to be practical for a significant proportion of homes by the time the specification is finished and devices that support it become available. The key technical challenges to lowering the latency are firstly to allow content to be more progressively delivered through the network, allowing clients to receive video and audio with a minimum of delay while still allowing for efficient distribution. Experts within TM-IPI are evaluating approaches such as shorter segment durations and progressive delivery of segments using HTTP chunked transfer encoding. Clients need improved algorithms to maintain reliability with limited buffering, and parity with broadcast delivery also requires fast random access. Finally, backwards compatibility is a key consideration as producing a second set of streams for low latency clients can be prohibitively expensive. The group is collaborating with the DASH Industry Forum on technical solutions as well as on approaches to testing and hopes to complete the technical specification by Q1 2019.
Chris Poole is a lead research engineer with BBC Research & Development, where he has worked on digital, interactive and IP television systems since 1998. He is a member of the DVB TM-IPI Task Force developing a specification for Low Latency DASH. DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
25 years, 25 people, 25 words TO MARK AND CELEBRATE THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY OF THE DVB PROJECT, WE INVITED THE WIDER DVB COMMUNITY – MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS, ACTIVE AND RETIRED – TO SEND US A 25-WORD SUMMARY OF WHAT DVB HAS MEANT TO THEM, WHETHER PROFESSIONALLY OR PERSONALLY.
"DVB provides a forum where I can join together along with critical friends, to expertly develop ideas to make television better, with a global impact." SIMON GAUNTLETT, DOLBY "In a short quarter century, DVB enabled the transition to the digital era for TV. We can be collectively proud of this peaceful revolution!" GÉRARD FARIA, FORMERLY SB REPRESENTATIVE FOR TEAMCAST
"DVB provided the opportunity to help introduce leading-edge technologies to many parts of the world, to work with brilliant technologists and make some lifelong friends." JOHN BIGENI, FORMER DVB ASIA-PACIFIC REPRESENTATIVE
"THE BABY BOOMERS ENSURED THAT OUR FIRST QUARTER CENTURY WAS A SUCCESS; NOW LET'S GET THE MILLENNIALS ON BOARD TO DEFINE NEXT GENERATION DVB DELIVERY!" EVA MARKVOORT, DVB PROJECT OFFICE
"DVB's tremendous success stems from its excellence in combining commercial and technical acumen with an atmosphere of trust, fairness, sincerity and humour. Happy birthday, DVB!"
"DVB standards allow television transmission on amateur radio to flourish despite spectrum reallocation, whether from the ISS, locally or later this year from geostationary orbit." CHARLES BRAIN, AMATEUR RADIO SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
REBEKKA PORATH, INTEL
"I am proud to have been involved in the DVB Commercial Module's initiation of UHD, DASH, ABR Multicast, Targeted Advertising and VR 3DoF."
"DVB has changed the television experience for the better, benefiting millions of people around the world. It's been a pleasure to be part of that community." GRAHAM MILLS, FORMER DVB COMMERCIAL MODULE CHAIR
"Dozens of Valuable Buddies! We've grown together and significantly changed the world of video broadcasting and consumption! Thank you all so much and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" THORSTEN HERFET, SAARLAND UNIVERSITY
"After the pork-barrel politics and fiasco of HD-MAC, DVB was the exciting club for those intent on creating new possibilities for television, primarily pay-TV and satellite operators." ERIK LAMBERT, THE SILVER LINING PROJECT
THIERRY FAUTIER, HARMONIC INC.
"25 years = my professional life, which has run in parallel to DVB's, planning DVB-S, DVB-T and DVB-T2 services. Looking forward to the next 25!" ELENA PUIGREFAGUT, EBU
"For 25 years, DVB has developed high quality standards that meet customer expectations, and this drives me to convince business colleagues worldwide to join DVB." STAN BAAIJENS, FUNKE
"A most satisfactory professional experience... but, in 2014, a letter: 'I had a perfect 25-yearold analogue television – now I must buy a digital one. Shame on you!'" ALBERTO MORELLO, RAI DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
"The stuff that dreams are made of. Krystyna and I managed the DVB Project initially. Original idea? John Forrest and others. Greatest contribution? Ulrich Reimers" DAVID WOOD, CONSULTANT
"I am happy that I could help to orchestrate a successful transition from old analogue television towards the new digital DVB era of entertainment (HD)TV."
"It is always a pleasure to attend DVB meetings or events in a friendly atmosphere with a very skilled and knowledgeable community." CHANTAL BONARDI, ETSI
DIETRICH WESTERKAMP, FORMERLY SB REPRESENTATIVE FOR TECHNICOLOR
"Our IPR policy amended DVB's initial MoU. It contained novel elements: "negative disclosure", arbitration, pool fostering. It's held up well: pools for leading standards, zero arbitrations." CARTER ELTZROTH, DVB LEGAL DIRECTOR "For me, a co-founder of DVB and chairman of the Technical Module for 20 years, DVB was the place to enjoy success and indeed fun" ULRICH REIMERS, TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT BRAUNSCHWEIG
"The outstanding element was DVB's economical basis driven by market and business needs. The consensus principle has often made developments difficult but also safeguarded their success" GEORG LUETTEKE, LUTEK:TC
"At DVB I learned large scale collaboration before it was fashionable. Our success is that normal people have no idea how complicated digital TV is." PAUL BRISTOW, OPEN INNOVATION CONSULTANT
"Structuring the broadcast world means giving a face to the technical framework for TV-technology-oriented and broadcast-centric companies. DVB is this face, by-the-way a friendly one!" SVEN REUTER, STELLA COM
"DVB, MoU, Peter Kahl, Transport Stream, ATSC, ISDB-T, Ulrich Reimers, coffee break, Peter MacAvock, Common Scrambling, Theo Peek, temperature-taking, T2, Phil Laven, Project Office, Geneva" HELMUT STEIN, ISDM DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
"DVB means developing technology that improves the delivery of entertainment and information to over a billion people, through working with great friends on great challenges." KEVIN MURRAY, CISCO
"DVB has been integral to life for most who work in the TV ecosystem. It's a good example of the industry working together for success" ADRIANA MATTEI, ZETACAST
"In a melting pot of ideas, opinions and interests, the cornerstone of DVB's foundations – consensus – always prevailed and very significant contributions to digital broadcasting emerged." SHEILA CASSELLS, FORMERLY CHAIR OF THE DIGITAL INTEROPERABILITY FORUM (DISBANDED)
Bringing enhanced protection to CI Plus
CI Plus is a technical specification that adds additional security and other features to the proven DVB Common Interface standard. Compatible consumer electronics (CE) devices can access a wide range of pay TV services wherever CI Plus technology is supported by the local provider. A new enhanced security level has now been added. 600 MILLION DEVICES CI Plus LLP, the Trust Authority for the CI Plus standard, is celebrating ten years of operation. CI Plus technology is in use by more than 100 pay TV operators in 37 countries, involving 110 CE manufacturers and more than 600 million CI Plus certified devices, mainly in Europe, but also in Asia and South Africa. Since the CI Plus V1.3 specification (the last to be defined by CI Plus LLP), the specification has been defined by DVB. The DVB CI Plus V1.4 specification has been profiled by CI Plus LLP and supporting it is mandatory for any new device registered since 15 September 2017. The revocation of devices in breach of the CI Plus License Agreement is an essential matter for CI Plus LLP. In that respect, we have mandated the support of the revocation mechanism for new Conditional Access Module registrations since July 2017. In parallel, we are working
with operators on the definition of a new Content Distributor Agreement with the common objective of providing an addressable market for pay TV based on horizontal market products, recognizing the interests of both ends of the value chain. ENHANCED PROTECTION At the DVB World 2018 conference, we officially announced the launch of the CI Plus Enhanced Content Protection (ECP) security level, designed to meet the requirements of MovieLabs, the technology lab of the main Hollywood studios. We are actively engaged with studios and other stakeholders to enable the use of CI Plus ECP for the distribution of content requiring enhanced protection, including UHD content. CI Plus LLP has appointed security experts from Trusted
Labs for the definition of a CI Plus ECP security analysis, including robustness considerations, attacks and countermeasures. We have also updated the certification regime and test tools to ensure the compliance of registered devices with the ECP specifications. A CI Plus ECP logo has been defined to facilitate visual identification of a device registered under the CI Plus ECP security level. For ECP device certificates, the SHA-1 hash algorithm is replaced by SHA256 and therefore a new root of trust, namely the CI Plus 2nd Root of Trust, has been established. ECP products using SHA-256 certificates will be deployed in the market alongside current CI Plus products using SHA-1 certificates. We have shared with licensees a transition plan that enables the interoperability of CI Plus ECP devices with legacy devices for as long as needed by the market. The documentation related to CI Plus ECP is available from the CI Plus LLP website (www.ci-plus.com). Additional documentation about the CI Plus ECP registration process is available from the CI Plus Trust Center website (https://knowledge.digicert.com/ generalinformation/device-certificateservices-documents-for-ci-plus.html). Registration of ECP products is possible since June 2018. CI Plus LLP is positive about the DVB CI Plus 2.0 specification (with a USB form factor) and sees it as a natural evolution of CI Plus, subject to market demand. The current CI Plus Trust Authority can be extended to support deployment of the DVB CI Plus 2.0 specification. We are evaluating the extension of the current regime to support it; we will have ongoing communication with licensees on this topic and will share progress with the wider market when appropriate.
AT THE DVB WORLD 2018 CONFERENCE, WE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF THE CI PLUS ENHANCED CONTENT PROTECTION (ECP) SECURITY LEVEL, DESIGNED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF MOVIELABS, THE TECHNOLOGY LAB OF THE MAIN HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS.
Nicolas Stefanelli is the chair of CI Plus LLP and has represented Neotion in the organization since 2012. With more than 13 years of experience in digital television and security, he is currently in charge of Strategic Partnerships at Neotion.
What's cooking in the subtitling kitchen? Broadcasters are like restaurants. The dishes they serve include audio and video as the meat, with subtitles as a popular – sometimes mandatory – side dish. The EBU, DVB and other organizations create recipes. They allow the chefs in broadcasters' kitchens to create and serve great food. But what does the subtitling cookbook look like? The basic recipe for subtitling goes back to the 1970s. The introduction of analogue Teletext allowed the serving of closed subtitling, which means the viewer decides if he wants to see the subtitles or not. The system was revolutionary in its day. Industry veteran David Wood was one of its first users and remembers how the eight colours and double height characters made US colleagues jealous. In 1991 the EBU published the STL format, which
made it possible to exchange subtitles in production. It became a big hit and the number of STL files stored in broadcast archives around the world is probably in the millions. The format is still in use today. Over time it got 'extended' by implementers. Three years later ETSI published the DVB Teletext spec, that allowed for subtitles to 'go digital'. Receivers could simply pass Teletext through in VBI or render the received subtitles with (their own) fonts. A real innovation was the invention of 'baked subtitles' at the end of the 90s. The DVB Subtitling recipe provided broadcasters with more presentation certainty, because the subtitles are sent as high-quality bitmaps. Both DVB Teletext and DVB Subtitling are still in use today.
HAUTE CUISINE 2010 marked the arrival of an haute cuisine recipe for subtitling: W3C's Timed Text (TTML). The analogy is fitting, because compared to the previous standards, this recipe is rather complex and allows for extravagant presentation. The EBU saw TTML as a way to improve HDTV and filebased production workflows and in 2012 published a broadcaster-oriented version of TTML, namely EBU-TT. Replacing STL with EBU-TT could be compared to installing a new kitchen, however we realized that restaurants had a more pressing need for subtitle delivery recipes, especially for streaming. So the EBU created the smallest profile of TTML that is internationally standardized: EBU-TT-D (the 'D' for Distribution). In the meantime, several other bodies had defined their own new subtitling specs. Common sense and the arrival of a new restaurant chain that delivers to the home on demand (Netflix) resulted in the IMSC 1.0.1 profile becoming the convergence point of most of these. It has been adopted in MPEG CMAF, IMF, on iOS, in ATSC, DVB TTML, HbbTV and Freeview Play. (For the latter two, via EBU-TT-D, which is a subset of IMSC.) The main exception is WebVTT, which may be best compared to street food; looks simple but is harder to cope with than you may think. DVB RECIPES DVB cooks have followed all these kitchen innovations and added to their own cookbook, both by updating the image-based DVB Subtitling spec to UHD (including HDR and Wide Colour Gamut) and by creating a new recipe: text-based DVB TTML Subtitling. The latter fits especially well with the EBUTT-D/IMSC progression in the rest of the food chain. With all this in place, the focus will now move upstream, from subtitling delivery to subtitling production. Many parts of broadcasting facilities are still constrained somewhere in the chain by the Teletext/STL legacy. We can expect this to change when the cooks start to look for new equipment that is designed with the latest recipes in mind.
Frans de Jong has worked in the EBU Technology & Innovation Department since 2003, focusing on production technology topics, such as (U)HDTV, System Integration, Quality Control, Loudness and Access Services. He holds a Master's degree in Information Theory from Delft Technical University. DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
TV broadcasting in India: a vast market with vast potential More than 800 DTH TV channels are currently operating in India, including more than 60 twenty-four hour news channels. Public broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) has around 50 channels, both terrestrial and DTH. DD's analogue terrestrial TV viewership is reported to vary from around 5% to 11%. All the commercial TV operators are said to be losing money, with prominent brands among them. Only the stakeholders in the carriage area – cable, DTH satellite and teleport operators – are said to be making profits in this horizontal chain. DTH VERSUS DTT Until last year, a debate raged among media policymakers as to whether DTT should be implemented at all, given the powerful presence of DTH and cable and their access to the majority of TV households. Rationally, one could understand a decision not to proceed, given the huge monetary savings that could accrue if DTT were not implemented in such a vast country. However, in parallel, DD has been building capacity in its transmission network with the installation of a substantial number of DTT transmitters. And, rather quietly, lower power analogue transmitters have been shut down in many parts of the country. This is just an analogue to digital transmitter replacement with no effort invested in digital TV programme production. There is, as yet, no publicly declared exit policy for analogue terrestrial TV. NEW FOCUS The focus shifted after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommended to the government that the commercial TV operators be allowed to operate DTT services. Following this, policymakers have been discussing whether commercial operators should be accommodated in the DTT multiplexes. More importantly, it seems highly
probable that DD will be asked by the government to open up its DTT network for this purpose on a carriage payment basis. It is expected that around 50 DTT services will enter into operation in the next few years. This is a watershed idea. It means that around 100 million fixed receivers will be targeted. If it materializes, DTT in India will proliferate, with both public and commercial broadcasters vying for DTT eyeballs. Broadcast-mode mobile TV is still being pushed. Though it is a a green-field area in India, mobile TV technology has great business potential. The best way to approach mobile TV is for the broadcasters to enter into joint ventures with parties across the industry. WHICH TECHNOLOGIES? Such is the explosive potential of DTT with the associated uptake of DTV sets for a country with the customer base size of India, it is imperative that efficient
and modern technologies be employed by the emerging Indian DTV industry to maximize cost and capacity benefits. Relevant technologies should, therefore, be included in the specifications for DTT broadcasters and also of the Bureau of Indian Standards. Using non-proprietary technology (open standards) for video and audio compression (coding) is always beneficial during the development phase. Such use provides substantial business benefits in terms of gains through higher efficiency, better performance, future-proof avenues for progression, open licensing and easy availability of devices. As an example, HEVC (H.265) video compression should be employed for DTT (instead of MPEG-4), doubling the channel capacity in the same spectrum (mux). This technology will have a lifespan of around 10 years from now. A comparable modern audio compression technology should also be employed.
Sharad Sadhu has worked in the media industry for five decades. His roles have included Director of Technology for the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and Director of Engineering for Doordarshan, India. He now works as a consultant on broadcasting and spectrum issues, including for the ITU.
The views expressed in this short article are those of the author and do not represent the positions of any of the organisations he is associated with.
BROAD CAST/BAND? Moving beyond the broadcast vs broadband narrative Nearly all broadcasters, in one way or another, are making the transition to IP whether it be in production workflows or in distribution. Ultimately all will need to get IP-delivered content to consumers. So, to IP or not to IP is not really the question. The question is when and how do broadcasters make use of IP delivery to their viewers. Assuming the status quo is not a reasonable option, there are two options to consider: switch from broadcast to unicast; or implement a hybrid system. STREAMING CHALLENGES Making a wholesale switch from broadcast to unicast is viable, but is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. To leave behind the benefits of fat pipes and the inherent efficiency of broadcasting at a time when the streaming of high-quality video is so challenging would be shortsighted. The insatiable appetite of video consumers suggests that broadcast and unicast must coexist for some time. And, yes, some broadcasters have adopted IP over their pipes, or have
licensed content to 'skinny bundle' services distributed over the internet. Some of it is to test new technology and new business models and some of it is to maximize revenue by licensing content over all distribution methods. But this activity is not being done to the exclusion of broadcasting. Network crashes, automated picture degradation and frequent pixelation for real-time live popular events delivered over the internet illustrate why broadcasters are most trusted to deliver this type of programming. This compels broadcasters to adopt a hybrid solution(s). Combining the best of both distribution worlds into a hybrid scenario is an obvious desire but can be as complex as it is desirable. The earliest and least complex efforts come from
the consumer-receiver side, where STBs include reception of broadband- and broadcast-delivered content. The HbbTV standard, which provides for a common STB interface for both transmission types, has met with some success. Also, DVB efforts are under way for developing DVB-I, a new set of specifications that promises to bring a broadcast-like user experience for content delivered over the public internet. And some traditional pay TV suppliers now recognize they must provide popular internet-delivered services to their customers, with Netflix and more recently Amazon Prime Video available within the cable infrastructure. MARRYING IP & TERRESTRIAL DTT broadcasting presents its own set of challenges for offering a hybrid service. Apart from the 'HbbTV method' and the development of internet-delivered TV service through companion mobile device apps, there is the marriage into a single delivery system of IP and terrestrial delivery. The step beyond separately broadcasting and unicasting is to do both in one system. Development of such a system is new and not yet fully tested in commercial deployments. A handful of terrestrial broadcasters (in the USA and South Korea) are testing applications enabled by the new ATSC 3.0 standard that make use of IP distribution once the content is received from a terrestrial transmission. The idea is to prepare content so that it can be broadcast and travel over public IP networks, as well as to give broadcasters the tools to do targeted advertising and programme delivery. DVB is also working on solutions for targeted advertising. The idea that viewers make a binary choice between broadcast and unicast services is an overworked narrative. Today, most viewers get TV both ways. Tomorrow, combining broadcast and unicast in a way that is seamless to viewers is where broadcasters will be.
THE IDEA THAT VIEWERS MAKE A BINARY CHOICE BETWEEN BROADCAST AND UNICAST SERVICES IS AN OVERWORKED NARRATIVE. TODAY, MOST VIEWERS GET TV BOTH WAYS.
Myra Moore is president of DTC, a boutique market intelligence firm that analyses the worldwide consumer digital TV market and aids TV providers in transitioning to next-generation technologies. DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
Why did DVB-C2 remain on the runway?
The development of the DVB-C2 specification closely followed DVB's tried and tested processes: commercial requirements (CRs) were drafted, taking into account the requirements of all relevant stakeholders. Several European cable operators asserted in writing their intention to implement DVB-C2. The technical group, under the chairmanship of Christoph Schaaf, provided an excellent technical specification, complemented by an equally comprehensive guidelines document. Equipment manufacturers were eager to support the new specification – as soon as the draft specification was stable, interoperability was tested and confirmed in various plugfests. Chipset providers integrated the new solution in their silicon and it is fair to say that, very soon after its publication, the complete DVB-C2 value chain from the headend to the receiver was available. However, the operators ignored the new specification and continued to use DVB-C!
BUILDING ON SUCCESS Let's rewind for a moment: DVB's first-generation delivery standards had been hugely successful. DVB-S, DVB-C and DVB-T were used by countries and operators throughout the world to introduce digital broadcast television. DVB-C became the de facto standard worldwide, with the exception of North America, where CableLabs' DOCSIS (Data over Cable Service Interface Specification) was dominant. China remains a major user of DVB-C, using it to deliver TV services to around 160M households. With DVB-C having been so successful, it was natural that DVB would provide a second-generation cable system, to emulate the success of DVB-S2 and T2. So, why did the cable operators not implement DVB-C2, which promised significantly increased spectral capacity for cable networks? At that time HD resolution was the new kid on the block. It was assumed
WHY DID THE CABLE OPERATORS NOT IMPLEMENT DVB-C2, WHICH PROMISED SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED SPECTRAL CAPACITY FOR CABLE NETWORKS?
that DVB-C2 with H.264 would be the enabler for HD in cable. There are basically three reasons why this did not happen: 1. Cable operators – and their shareholders – required a faster return on investment than would have been achieved by replacing DVB-C STBs with the newer version. Instead, to overcome bandwidth bottlenecks, they preferred node splitting. 2. There was no real killer application. Since the introduction of DVB-C, the quality of cable networks had increased sufficiently to allow the use of 256 QAM instead of 64 QAM. The resulting capacity increase was sufficient to support a seamless transition for HD signals delivered by DVB-S2 into the cable channel. 3. The unanticipated success of OTT. And so, DVB-C2 did not take off. DVB AND CABLE In the meantime, DOCSIS, with its inherent interactive capabilities, became the established cable system for Layers 1, 2 and 3 (physical, Ethernet and IP). This does not mean that DVB's involvement in cable has ended. Aside from our active liaison with CableLabs, we are working on several specifications which are positioned above the IP Layer and will improve OTT delivery, including on cable networks. Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) Multicast will bring multicast scalability in bidirectional IP networks, while Low Latency DASH (see page 7) will reduce the delay experienced by those watching live content, more closely matching the performance of broadcast systems. These specifications are part of the overall DVB-I (Internet) work package, that aims to bring a broadcast-like user experience to OTT delivery. In the March 2011 edition of DVB Scene, I wrote the following: "I am positive that DVB-C2, like its two older siblings S2 and T2, will revolutionize the way video, as well as data, is delivered via cable systems." I was not the only one who got it wrong! However, I am convinced that our work on developing DVB-C2 was valuable for the industry as a whole and I know that DVB learned from the experience. Onwards and upwards!
Peter Siebert is Head of Technology for the DVB Project. He joined DVB in 2009, having previously worked with Philips, SES and Siemens, in a career that has spanned all aspects of audio-video technology including video transmission over telecommunication networks, satellite and IPTV networks.
AS OPERATORS ARE ALREADY MOVING FUNCTIONS TO THE CLOUD, REPLACING THE STB WITH AN APP IS AN OBVIOUS WAY FORWARD. requirements in different geographical regions. A demonstration of the HbbTV OpApp specification was presented by TNO on the DVB booth at TV Connect 2018 in London last May.
The beginning of the end for the STB? More and more TV viewers are able to access content through apps on their smart TV. In the Netherlands, already half the population has a connected smart TV1. So why do operators still use set-top boxes (STBs)? It should be possible to dump that brick, and to provide services – linear and on-demand – straight to an attractive app running on the TV set. STB-LESS TV? The ability to access content on a TV without the need for an STB offers many advantages. For consumers, it means freedom and flexibility. No hassle with cables, no provider lock-in, no external box and no limitations associated with a legacy box when you buy a new TV. With millennials in mind, STB-less operation allows for easy signup and cancellation, like they are used to on other devices. To offer these benefits, TV operators need a way to deliver linear TV directly 1 extrapolated from SKO figures sko.nl
to the smart TV. As operators are already moving functions to the cloud, replacing the STB with an app is an obvious way forward. Obvious, but not that simple. The STB has two major advantages that are relevant in this context: it works with all TVs, and services available on the STB can be easily accessed via the TV input source menu – users do not need to navigate through app selection interfaces. A virtual STB should offer the same advantages. In contrast to a regular smart TV app, a virtual STB needs to appear as an input source, to make access to live TV services as convenient as accessing these services via an STB or direct-to-TV DVB-C. There is another challenge in getting operator apps to work as a virtual STB. In Europe alone, there are hundreds of TV operators, and thousands of different TV models. For operators, it is impossible to develop an app for each platform. For TV manufacturers, it is complex to manage tens of different applications with specific
HBBTV OPERATOR APP The HbbTV Operator Application (OpApp) specification addresses the challenges mentioned. Building on the widely implemented HbbTV specification, it enables deployment of a single app across multiple TV platforms. It specifies aspects like discovery, installation, the user interface and accessibility. It covers the use of remote control keys and the app-as-a-source behaviour. The standard has recently been published by HbbTV and ETSI, in time for TV manufacturers to adopt the technology in their 2019 and 2020 models. From that moment on, HbbTV OpApps have the potential to work on all TVs and truly act as a virtual STB. Early in 2018, KPN in the Netherlands conducted a first proof-of-concept (PoC) to verify the feasibility of an HbbTV OpApp. The PoC showed that it was possible to quickly develop an 'app-asa-source' virtual STB, and for KPN it provided evidence that HbbTV OpApps are a solid foundation for STB-less TV services. The PoC also underlined that cooperation between TV manufacturers and operators remains essential, as the HbbTV OpApp spec assumes that the operator and the TV manufacturer agree bilaterally to cover various deployment aspects. Several IPTV and satellite TV providers in Europe are now developing PoCs and commercial products in cooperation with leading TV brands. We expect to see the results of these efforts at major trade shows. All these tests are a first step towards new STB-less TV propositions that might come to the market soon.
Teun van der Veen (left) is senior consultant in the Networks department at Dutch research and technology organization TNO. He is team lead in Media Networking, across R&D projects in the Dutch and European telecom markets. Martin Haselhoff is product owner of KPN Telecom's Navigation Squad, which is responsible for the overall vision of KPN TV and explores new product concepts, features and technologies. DVB SCENE | SEPTEMBER 2018
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DVB Scene provides the latest news and information from DVB. In this issue we highlight work on Low Latency DASH, CI Plus, subtitling systems and the HbbTV Operator App, plus reports on broadcasting in India and the market failure of DVB-C2. See: www.dvb.org/scene
DVB Scene


Founded by Lesley Tarleton in the Liverpool area in 1979 Freshfields Animal Rescue has always been much more than simply an animal rescue charity.
Our values are the foundation upon which the charity was built and from which everything we do today has naturally evolved. Our ethos dictates with certainty that ALL animals (dogs, cats, small animals, wildlife and farm) are worthy of consideration, they are not ours to use, to harm, to eat or to otherwise abuse. Our philosophy also embraces the importance of the Human animal, and the vital role that we humans have to play in securing a safe and certain future for our own kind and for the many species that we live alongside.
We have no expectations of perfection and indeed acknowledging our own imperfections gives us cause to strive to do better, to see good in others and to recognise beauty in the most simple of those living things around us. Those imperfections also make us stronger, more determined and we would hope more forgiving.
Our core work and also where Freshfields began with the rescue and re-homing of unwanted, abandoned and abused domestic animals including cats, dogs, horses, ponies and other smaller creatures. Over time and limited only by space this work has expanded to include smaller farm animals such as pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese. Our core work recognises the value of individuals, of those (human and animal) in desperate situations and therefore desperate need. It allows us to make a hugely positive impact and life changing difference, to hundreds of animals each year as finances allow. Meet the animals >.
This work focuses most strongly upon rescue, rehabilitation and release of hedgehogs, foxes and a plethora of wild birds although at times we are called upon to assist other small wildlife such as field mice and moles. Thanks to the work of 'The Fox Man' Freshfields is able to offer a practical advice service which effectively promotes understanding of the red fox and of fox ecology encouraging people to accept foxes and live alongside them rather than seek ways to move them on. As a charity we place great emphasis on greener living and incorporate such into our daily working practices.
Rescue and re-homing will always be limited by lack of available space and is there to help those individuals lucky enough to make it onto our radar! It's a sad but not terrible thing for an animal to end up in a rescue operating with policies similar to Freshfields, the real tragedy remains with those poor animals not fortunate enough to make it that far! This is why Freshfields outreach work is so important. Freshfields Bull Breed Welfare initiative and our Linacre Cat Neuter Project remain the gateway to a limitless number of animals in need and as importantly to their owners, many of whom want help but don't know that it is available and to those lacking awareness, the day to day of life hard to such a degree that the welfare status of an animal is given little if any consideration.
Whilst we certainly aren't here to preach, what better way than education to lead the cause for animal welfare forwards?!
It's fantastic that Freshfields does what we do in terms of 'rescue & re-home' and 'rehabilitate & release' and hopefully this work which impacts so positively upon individuals will always continue.
Education however, provides the scope to achieve a much greater and potentially permanent change that will influence positively the lives of thousands of animals for the future.
And education is never just about children. Through the sharing of experiences and knowledge in fun and interactive ways (with school groups, clubs, social groups and even businesses through team building exercises) we share our values, exposing our moral philosophy whilst firming up those foundations both for now and for the future.
Making a difference together for All animals!
Turning the tide permanently in favour of the animals requires a vast host of likeminded individuals, working together, giving their time and their energies and putting themselves out without any expectation of reward other than that overwhelming feeling of rightness and wellbeing that comes when a job is done well! Given the stakes and the level of wrongs to be righted, there is no doubt that this particular 'job done well' will bring with it the greatest of rewards.
Community is a part of that reward and is so important to Freshfields because our greatest achievements will be seen not in what we take in order to support the animals but in what we give back to those who choose to join us on our march to reach our goals.
Community is not of itself a physically tangible thing. Rather, community can be described as something one feels, a sense of purpose, of belonging, family, kinship and of sharing, an energy that if focused and used effectively can become a powerful tool for good! Local, regional and even global, the beauty of community is that it has no boundaries. Through our website and social media, individuals who are not able to join us in person find fulfilment AND family!


The patented DTM chillers use washing action to produce increased turbulence in the water and improve bacteriological scrubbing versus standard poultry pre-chillers.
Morris & Associates DTM chillers are the pre-chillers of choice for maximizing meat tenderness and surge protection. The mechanical dasher's movement massages the meat to increase tenderness, while creating turbulence in the water to effect loosening of organic matter.
Every Morris & Associate DTM chiller includes a heavy-gauge tank, a virtually indestructible dasher arm and massive drives, enabling the equipment easily to double as a surge tank. Our DTM chillers are thus ideal for plant operations that are prone to inconsistency in bird weights and loads, as the systems are resistant to the damage that such irregularity can cause.
Morris & Associates DTM chillers also use our proprietary, parallel-flow, sub-surface propulsion system, which aids the chilling process by improving heat transfer and maximizing yield. In addition, the systems' adjustable flow-through valve provides increased control over residence time and allows for greater flexibility in future line changes.
Our application engineers can work with you to design an expandable system around your Morris & Associates DTM chiller—for example, incorporating a poultry chiller, water re-chillers and a fresh water chiller to accommodate the chilling process from start to finish.


Andrea is Patron of a charity close to her heart - Back On Track - which gives injured service men and women the chance to build a normal life and enjoy challenging sports such as racing. Not only supporting the charity with her time, Andrea has been the biggest fundraiser to date for Back On Track raising tens of thousands of pounds.
Andrea is also a long-term supporter of the charity Breast Cancer Care, and has helped raise over a hundred thousand pounds to help them continue their important work. Andrea regularly gets involved with the Pink Ribbon Walk and has completed this herself over 8 times.
In 2017 Andrea obtained her Duke of Edinburgh Diamond Challenge Award by completing a half marathon two months after undergoing a full hysterectomy. This was to raise money for the DofE but was also a personal challenge, to get her back on her feet again - literally!


Excellent quality and highly recommended.
I placed an order with net curtains direct. Purely by giving the measurements of all my windows over the phone. And maybe sometimes you have doubts about what you have done!!!! But what I received back boxed with my curtains individually marked up the way I requested. I was over the moon. And every curtain fitted exactly. I recommend this company to make anyone's nets. Because the finish is craftsmanship.
A very quick perfect service and the curtains look great.


text:
Dodd hits the airwaves
By Chris Good - 05/15/07 04:27 PM EDT
Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) became the third Democratic presidential candidate with a TV ad campaign Tuesday, running ads touting his anti-war stance in New Hampshire, Iowa and on national cable.
In the spot, Dodd claims to be the lone presidential candidate to support "the only responsible measure in Congress that would take away the president's blank check and set a timetable to bring our troops home."
Dodd staked that claim on his support for an Iraq withdrawal plan that would remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008, leaving only those necessary to train Iraqi forces, protect U.S. facilities and engage in anti-terrorism missions against al Qaeda.
The plan, forwarded by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidWebb: Questions for Robert Mueller Steyer's impeachment solution is dead wrong The Hill's Morning Report - House Democrats clash over next steps at border MORE (D-Nev.), is expected to see floor debate this week.
Dodd's campaign says the Connecticut senator's withdrawal plan is responsible because it "does not set an arbitrary number on how many troops would be redeployed today," instead allowing U.S. generals one year to figure out how best to withdraw American forces "in a way that protects our troops."
Tags Person Career Harry Reid Russ Feingold Feingold Dodd Wisconsin Politics War

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


roman candle was released by cavity search and was elliott's first solo release. elliott recorded these songs on a 4 track recorder.
rumor at the time is that elliott's girlfriend and heatmiser's manager, jj gonson suggest that elliott ask his friends if they were willing release one or some of his songs. when elliott gave his tape to cavity search, they told elliott they wanted to release the whole thing.
elliott was still in heatmiser when roman candle came out. if you look in the liner notes, elliott is appears courtesy of frontier records for his own record.
2 x-heatmiser members sort of make an appearance on roman candle. neil gust appears on the roman candle cover along with a friend of elliott's and tony lash help mix the record.
available in cd format. import lp also available.
roman candle was recorded and produced by elliott in the basement.
the record was recorded in 1993 but it was released in 1994.
roman candle is elliott smith's first solo album and was originally released on portland's cavity search records in 1994.
roman candle had quite an impact on slim moon, kill rock stars' founder: "in 1994, i had been asked to be on this five-person solo-act tour called pop chord with tammy watson, carrie akre, sean croghan and elliott smith. the first night at the crocodile in seattle, i didn't pay too much attention and people talked all thru elliott's set. sean croghan got up next and said "all of you people who just talked through elliott's set are bummed because you just misssed something very very special." the next night of the tour, at the bottom of the hill in san francisco, i listened very closely to elliott's set, and it was basically one of those life-changing moments. instead of watching the rest of the performers, i went out to the tour van and popped roman candle into the player, and listened to it on endless repeat for the rest of the evening and beyond. it completely blew my mind. i have never heard music as heartwrenchingly, gut-checkingly honest, intimate, and wise - before or since."
roman candle has been remastered for the re-release by larry crane, editor of tape op magazine and archivist for elliott's family and roger seibel of sae mastering.
we will also be releasing roman candle on vinyl for the first time in the U.S.


text:
Energy-savvy art museum is anchored atop a historic Dutch dike
under Architecture, carousel showcase, Gallery
by Lucy Wang
Rising out of a historic dike, the new Lisser Art Museum pays homage to the landscape's context while offering a new contemporary cultural destination in Lisse, The Netherlands. Dutch architecture firm KVDK architecten headed the recently completed project and embraced smart, sustainable solutions from the optimization of natural daylighting to gray water collection systems. Wrapped in earth-colored Petersen bricks, the modest, light-filled building feels like an extension of the forest, and ample glazing provides connection with nature on all sides.
Commissioned by the VandenBroek Foundation, the small-scale museum is located in the Keukenhof, a former country estate dating from the 17th century that had featured a terraced garden with an artificial dike — unique in the Netherlands at the time. The estate was later redesigned in 1860 by landscape architects J.D. and L.P. Zocher, who transformed it into a cultural park that has since achieved national heritage status. The recently completed museum was an addition in the Keukenhof cultural park masterplan drafted in 2010.
"One ingenious but also complicated strategy involved placing the foundations in the historical dike core, thereby making the museum the pivot point between a landscaped approach, the historical terraced landscape, the open sandy area and the wooded dune ridge," the architects explained. "Intensive consultation and careful dimensioning ensured that the plan for a museum on this sensitive spot was wholeheartedly embraced by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, the government body that oversees the register of national monuments."
Related: Daan Roosegaarde uses light art to breathe new life into an iconic Dutch dike
The museum comprises two main volumes, the lower of which is set into the dike — glass curtain walls emphasize and embrace the land form — and supports the upper, cantilevered volume enclosed in brick. The interior is flexible with multipurpose spaces and follow the Guggenheim principle in which visitors experience all the exhibition spaces by winding down from the highest point. In addition to natural lighting, the museum is equipped with thermal energy storage, a green roof and a gray water system for toilets. The museum depot is located inside of the dike to take advantage of the earth's natural cooling properties.
+ KVDK architecten
Via ArchDaily
Images by Sjaak Henselmans and Ronald Tilleman
Lisser Art Museum by KVDK Architecten
The museum is built with Petersen bricks.
The museum rises from a historic dike.
Glass curtain walls surround the lower volume.
The stairs also offer seating.
The museum follows a Guggenheim-like layout where visitors explore from the top down.
Ample glazing blurs boundaries between the indoors and out.
The museum blends in with its landscaped surroundings in Keukenhof.


text:
Collayer Surname Ancestry Results
Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'collayer'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 1 record (displaying 1 to 1):
coll'dge collant collap collar collarad collarbone collard collard-gentle collarde collared collaro collart collarth collas collass collasson collat collaton collatt collaway collay collbatch collbran collburne collcell collchestre collcorne collcot collcott collcraft collcut collcutt colldick colldicott colldicut colldon colle collean colleary colleau
British merchant seamen (1835-1836)
At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act this large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. Each seaman was assigned a number, and the names were arranged in the register by first two letters of the surname (our sample scan shows one of the pages for 'Sm'); in addition, an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. But no effective method was devised to prevent the same man being registered twice as he appeared in a second crew list; moreover, the original crew lists were clearly difficult for the registry clerks to copy, and some of the surname spellings appear to be corrupted. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and this register was abandoned after less than two years: but it is an apparently comprehensive source for British merchant seamen in 1835 to 1836. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (master, captain, mate, 2nd mate, mariner, seaman, fisherman, cook, carpenter, boy &c.); and the name and home port of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all (for instance, Charleston and Stockholm appear in the sample scan). The final column 'How disposed of' is rarely used, and indicates those instances where a man died, was discharged, or deserted his ship during the voyage.
COLLAYER. Cost: US$16.00.


text:
Player Representation
Deal Timeline
Cagliari sign Lykogiannis
24th January 2018 /in News /by Charles Mountifield
World in Motion client Charalampos Lykogiannis completes his transfer from SK Sturm Graz to Cagliari. The Greece international right-back has signed a four-and-a-half year contract with the Serie A club.
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lykogiannis.jpeg 1225 1242 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-24 11:13:232018-01-30 11:17:13Cagliari sign Lykogiannis
World in Motion brokers Vranjes deal
22nd January 2018 /in News /by Charles Mountifield
Done Deal: World in Motion has brokered the transfer of Bosnian international midfielder Stojan Vranjes from Piast Gliwice to FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo. Stojan has signed an 18-month contract.
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/9b3ac545-2e58-4ed9-818b-4087fa092bbd.jpeg 640 1136 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-22 11:20:152018-01-30 11:21:41World in Motion brokers Vranjes deal
Dani Pinillos joins Barnsley!
World in Motion is pleased to announce that left-back Dani Pinillos has joined Barnsley from Cordoba on a two-and-a-half year contract – congratulations Dani!
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Pinillos.jpeg 1526 1221 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-19 11:09:262018-01-30 11:12:23Dani Pinillos joins Barnsley!
Eero Markkanen joins Randers on loan
World in Motion are pleased to announce that Eero Markkanen has joined Randers on loan from AIK until the end of the season.
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DTq4fAcX0AEytCD.jpeg 1425 1600 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-15 12:14:242018-01-19 12:15:51Eero Markkanen joins Randers on loan
Jesse Öst signs for SJK Seinäjoki
World in Motion client Jesse Öst moves to SJK Seinäjoki from Swedish club Degerfors. The 27-year-old Finnish goalkeeper has signed a long term contract with the 2015 Finnish champions.
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DTR_jqqX0AEmn0_.jpg 796 796 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-11 12:16:012018-01-19 12:17:13Jesse Öst signs for SJK Seinäjoki
Done Deal: Jonas Borring signs for Horsens!
World in Motion are pleased to announce the transfer of Danish left-midfielder Jonas Borring to AC Horsens from FC Midtjylland.
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DTKsw51W4AAhD4R.jpeg 1000 750 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-10 12:17:192018-01-19 12:19:10Done Deal: Jonas Borring signs for Horsens!
Greg Tansey joins Ross County
9th January 2018 /in News /by Charles Mountifield
World in Motion client Greg Tansey has secured a loan move to Ross County until the end of the season. The 29-year-old Aberdeen midfielder will wear the number 23 shirt at Ross County.
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DTGGCRkW4AA6sMB.jpeg 1529 1474 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-09 11:56:412018-01-19 11:58:51Greg Tansey joins Ross County
Evolution Sports Management joins forces with global sports management company World in Motion
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/download.jpg 225 225 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-09 00:00:342018-01-10 00:05:58Evolution Sports Management joins forces with global sports management company World in Motion
Theo Karasavvidis joins the team at World in Motion!
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Theo.jpg 768 1024 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-08 23:11:182018-01-09 23:15:07Theo Karasavvidis joins the team at World in Motion!
Odense sign André Rømer!
World in Motion client André Rømer has today signed for Odense Boldklub. The Danish defensive midfielder moves from FC Midtjylland on a 3 1/2 year deal!
https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DS2frPuXcAEhGjo.jpeg 959 768 Charles Mountifield https://www.worldinmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/logo.png Charles Mountifield2018-01-06 12:19:192018-01-19 12:22:44Odense sign André Rømer!
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[SPECIALTY PERFORMERS] Specialty performers with skills that are amazing, refined and interesting. Vegas style acts, contortionist, hand balancers, stilts, gymnasts, break dancers with tricks, fencing.
Performers should have more than one very strong skill.


Market access for oncology products is being shaped by a broad range of trends, including an aging population, robust pipelines, personalized medicine, 340B program participation, and budgetary pressures. But the oncology market access trends of greatest concern to the biopharmaceutical industry are provider consolidation and site-of-care shifts, the rise of oral oncolytics, and payer management and clinical pathway experimentation, according to a study conducted by Campbell Alliance.
These trends emerged as standouts from an online survey conducted in April 2012 that polled representatives of 38 managed care health plans in the US. In addition, Campbell Alliance conducted telephone interviews in May 2012 with respondents representing 15 community practices to gather their perspectives.
Of particular concern to these respondents is the increasing shift in cancer drug spending to hospitals, many of which have access to 340B pricing that limits the cost of drugs to federal purchasers. Office-based practices and hospitals represent two distinct customer segments with differing business models and support needs. Hospitals have greater leverage against payers in local markets with provider fragmentation than do office-based practices. In addition, whereas office-based practices rely heavily on buy-and-bill profits, hospitals rely more on diversified service lines and have access to 340B pricing if eligible. The 340B Drug Pricing Program limits the cost of drugs to federal purchasers and to certain grantees of federal agencies, such as hospitals that serve a disproportionately large share of low-income patients, children's hospitals, freestanding cancer hospitals, critical access hospitals, and federally qualified health centers, among others.
As institutions, hospital stakeholders have the power to influence access. The implication for cancer drugmakers is more restricted access to prescribers, who may face more restricted product selection due to the use of stricter formularies and institutional guidelines. Cancer drugmaker profitability also declines considerably when more patients are referred to 340B institutions. Meanwhile, economic pressures have made it difficult for oncology practices to operate independently, resulting in provider consolidation. Growing hospital shares and provider consolidation both lead to greater bargaining power against payers and cancer drugmakers.
As declining reimbursement, the growing underinsured, and 340B program participation continue to accelerate site-of-care shifts, drugmakers will need to monitor these shifts by geographic region and determine actionable drivers. According to Campbell Alliance, drugmakers must optimize support by site of care to ensure market access and consider the needs of hospital stakeholders in doing so. In addition, they must develop new customer-facing models and align field force deployment.
Global sales of oral oncolytics have increased every year since 2005 and have overtaken that of traditional chemotherapy. The increased use of oral oncolytics confers different advantages and disadvantages to each of three stakeholder groups: patients, providers, and payers. Key considerations for commercialization of oral oncolytics include program design for patient assistance, distribution strategy, and a compelling payer value proposition.
The convenience of taking an oral medication is a benefit to the patient, but out-of-pocket costs for oral oncolytics can be overwhelming and lead to non-adherence. As the patient's cost burden continues to drive treatment abandonment, Campbell Alliance recommends manufacturers optimize the design of patient assistance programs to address the significant patient cost burden.
From the provider perspective, oral therapeutics eliminate the buy-and-bill profits that practices rely upon and result in uncompensated care for prior authorization, patient education, and side-effect management. Furthermore, oral medications take the provider out of the patient feedback loop, leading to less compliance control and making the management of treatment side effects more difficult. Trade strategies and distribution structure can be refined to determine the optimal level of supply chain control and provider/patient access. Although payers prefer the use of specialty pharmacies to distribute oral oncolytics, on-site dispensing by community physician groups may improve practice economics as well as the patient experience. Campbell Alliance suggests that when evaluating distribution strategies, drug manufacturers should consider physician preferences for on-site dispensing.
With oral drugs, payers see savings from the elimination of infusion costs. In addition, oral oncolytics are more easily managed under the pharmacy benefit, and product waste can be reduced through quantity limits and short cycle dispensing. Nevertheless, for payers, oral oncolytics represent a source of rapidly increasing spend. Because health plans are able to manage oral oncolytics more aggressively than infused therapies, Campbell Alliance recommends drugmakers develop strategies to communicate clinical and economic value to payers. In categories with high competitive intensity, cancer drugmakers should consider developing contracting strategies to improve or defend access as the market matures.
Utilization management of cancer therapeutics is a high priority for payers, but the level of management varies by product. Payers will most often restrict high-cost drugs, biomarker-indicated therapies, and drugs deemed to be at high risk for widespread off-label use, including failure to comply with step therapy.
Moving forward, commercial health plans expect to increase their use of utilization management tactics, but the range of tactics they employ is limited. According to the Campbell Alliance survey, the vast majority of payers plan to increase their use of biomarker testing to prospectively identify likely responders where indicated, as a means to ensure appropriate use and fulfill their need for budget predictability. Other utilization management tools that are likely to see an increase in use include clinical pathways, prior authorization, increased patient cost-sharing, prior therapy requirements, and the mandated use of specialty pharmacies to exclude buy-and-bill (i.e., white bagging).
Management tactics such as prior authorizations are a preferred tool, but the specific criteria and requirements for a given drug may vary by payer. Oncology practices navigate a wide range of prior authorization requirements to limit reimbursement risk. Successfully securing prior authorization does not guarantee payment, however.
As payers increasingly use blunt tools (e.g., prior authorizations) and case management of high-cost patients as means of ensuring appropriate use and controlling costs, Campbell Alliance recommends drugmakers ensure their target product profile does not inadvertently lead to a label that incurs highly restrictive payer management. In the case of Dendreon's Provenge®, for example, commercial health plans looked to clinical trial exclusions to define coverage policy exclusions. The product's indication statement allows some room for physician interpretation of terms such as "asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic," therefore Provenge is typically not authorized for patients who use opioid analgesics for cancer-related pain.
Whereas guidelines expand the set of available treatment options, pathways seek to restrict choice. The goal of a clinical pathway is to improve or maintain health outcomes while lowering costs by reducing treatment variability. Pathway inclusion is based on a hierarchy of efficacy, safety, and cost, in that order of priority.
Clinical pathways are designed to address the limitations of prior authorization and reducing fee schedules, offering more durable cost containment to payers. Pathways may lead to cost savings by encouraging the use of generics, streamlining treatment choices, and reducing side effects while maintaining outcomes.
Only 29% of commercial health plans surveyed by Campbell Alliance have implemented the use of clinical pathways to date, either as pilot programs or as fully implemented programs across all physician practices. But nearly half of commercial health plans surveyed perceive the use of clinical pathways to be of high or very high benefit. Currently, clinical pathway programs focus on the largest cancers, but the majority of payers surveyed anticipate expanding their use of clinical pathways to such tumor types as prostate, lymphoma, myeloma, and renal cell carcinoma. Some surveyed payers also expect to expand their clinical pathway programs to new geographical areas.
As payers view clinical pathways as a potential game changer (relative to the use of blunt tools), Campbell Alliance recommends drugmakers develop an economic value proposition that considers the total cost of therapy to ensure pathway inclusion. They can identify opportunities to engage regional stakeholders contributing to pathway development and/or driving pathway utilization. Cancer drugmakers can also increase physician awareness of their drug's presence on pathways and keep clinicians apprised of their drug's latest clinical developments, as pathways may not always be updated in a timely fashion.
Pathways are gaining traction, but only with a limited number of regional plans and in geographic markets conducive to pathway adoption. While adoption will likely be a slow process due to physician skepticism and resistance, Campbell Alliance believes that it is important for drugmakers to monitor pathway adoption on a regional basis.
Access to the full results of the Campbell Alliance study, Turning Tides: Trends in Oncology Market Access, is available at: www.campbellalliance.com/TurningTides.
Lujing Wang is Practice Area Leader, Terry Tao is Practice Executive, and Nicolle Hamilton is a Senior Consultant within the Pricing and Market Access Practice of Campbell Alliance. Campbell Alliance (campbellalliance.com) is the consulting business segment of inVentiv Health, and is the leading management consulting firm specializing in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.


Camillia, a puffed crown angled brim bonnet, appeared in the fashion plates between 1795-1810. The Camillia features a buckram brim and a gathered or pleated crown. The crown is finished off at the neck by a neat bias binding. The brim is available 5 levels of depth and flare.
Kit includes the Camillia pattern, buckram, wire, binding, cotton net interlining, linen for lining, and box for your bonnet.


Hublot Big Bang Unico TMT Carbon Gold.
The Big Bang Unico TMT adorns its winning outfit with a strap in black calf leather enhanced with python and gold studs, transposing the codes of the famous shorts worn by Mayweather during his latest fight. The boxing champion's gold appears in the details of the two watches. For the first time, 3N-gold-incrusted carbon fiber dresses the watch from its case to its bezel. This is a unique composite material; gold powder is manually inserted into the carbon fiber layers before being compressed. At 12 o'clock, the watch proudly displays the 3 letters TMT in appliqué. The sapphire case back bears the champion's ultimate inscription, TBE, "The Best Ever". Released in a limited edition of 100 pieces.


January 16 2017, 1:38 p.m.
The leader of the U.K.'s Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, called for a "de-escalation" of tensions between NATO and Russia, adding in a BBC interview on Thursday: "I want to see a de-militarization of the border between them." Along with the U.S., the U.K. has been rapidly building up its military presence in the Baltic region, including in states that border Russia, and is now about to send another 800 troops to Estonia, 500 of which will be permanently based.
These comments suggest that the Labour leader would rather collaborate with Russian aggression than mutually support Britain's NATO allies. As with Trident, everything Labour says and does shows that they cannot be trusted with Britain's national security.
This is the same propagandistic formulation that has been used for decades in the West to equate opposition to militarism with some form of disloyalty or treason: If you oppose military confrontation with a foreign adversary or advocate better relations with it, then you are accused of harboring secret sympathy and even support for those foreign leaders, and are often suspected of being an active "collaborator" with (or "stooge" for) them.
This lowly smear tactic was, of course, deployed over and over during the Cold War with regard to those who argued for improved relations or a reduction of conflict with Moscow, but it has been repeatedly used since then as well every time it comes time to confront a new Foreign Villain (those opposed to the invasion of Iraq were pro-Saddam, those who opposed intervention in Libya were Gaddafi apologists, those who objected to war on terror programs are terrorist sympathizers, etc. etc.).
But this template has recently become super-charged, more widely invoked than ever, as a result of the starring role Russia now plays in U.S. domestic politics, where many Democrats blame Russia for Hillary Clinton's defeat. Putin now occupies the role of Prime Villain in Western discourse, and this Cold War rhetorical template — anyone opposing confrontation is a Kremlin operative or stooge — has thus been resurrected with extraordinary speed and ease.
In general, during the Obama presidency, we have only deepened our dangerous embrace of nuclear weapons. At the moment, around a thousand nuclear weapons are still on a hair-trigger alert; as they were during the Cold War, they are ready to be launched in minutes in response to a warning of imminent attack.
It is not hyperbole to say that perhaps nothing is more reckless, more dangerous, than ratcheting up tensions between these two countries. That's what makes it so repellent and toxic to demonize those such as Corbyn as "collaborators" or traitors merely because they oppose this escalation and belligerence. But this is the script that — once again — is quickly becoming mainstream orthodoxy in both Washington and London.
Let us, for a moment, imagine if this framework were applied consistently rather than manipulatively. Democrats have been alarmed — rightfully so — by the preliminary belligerence of Trump and his top aides toward nuclear-armed China: accepting a call from Taiwan's president, openly questioning the decades-old "One China" policy, suggesting the U.S. would militarily intervene to prevent Chinese control over nearby uninhabited islands (the latter was also suggested by the current head of the U.S. Pacific fleet).
But applying the prevailing Russia logic to these concerns, should one not accuse these Democrats objecting to confrontation with China of being "collaborators" with and apologists for the dictatorial regime in Beijing, which imprisons dissidents and tortures ethnic and religious minorities? Should we publicly ponder whether the liberal writers demanding that Trump cease his aggressive posture are being clandestinely paid by the Chinese Politburo or merely acting as "useful idiots" for it? Should those objecting to Trump's belligerent policies be accused of siding with a dictatorial regime over their own president and country?
Of course none of those things should happen, because it is not only rational but morally compulsory to be deeply wary of those who seek to escalate tensions between countries with large nuclear arsenals. At the very least, one should be free to debate these policies without being smeared as a traitor. That applies to China, and it applies to Russia. And those who voice such concerns should not, as Corbyn just was, have their loyalties and integrity be impugned by our new Cold Warriors.
(1) This Foreign Affairs article by University of Chicago political scientist John J. Mearsheimer on the West's relentless, aggressive march eastward up to Russian borders and its consequences.


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Mike Zafirovski
Mike Zafirovski is a founder and president of The Zaf Group, a management consulting and investment firm. The Blackstone Group is the firm's principal client where he is an executive advisor and he also serves on the board of directors of three Blackstone companies: non-executive chairman of DJO Global Inc and PGI Inc, and independent director for Apria Healthcare Services. Zafirovski also serves on the board of directors of Boeing and Stericycle.
Previously, Mr. Zafirovski served as President and CEO of Nortel, a global communications technology company; President and COO of Motorola; and during a 25-year career at GE, served as President and CEO of five GE businesses in the consumer, industrial and financial services arenas.
Among his education, civic and philanthropic activities, he is Vice Chairman of AUSL, the organization that helps turn around the most challenged public schools in Chicago. He is a visiting lecturer at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. He is a founding director and chairman of Macedonia 2025, an organization aiming to improve the country's economic and democracy developments. He is a member and former director of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Council of Global Affairs. He and his wife, Robin, are co-chairs and past national chairs for Duke University's Parents' Committee. Mike, Robin and their three sons Matt, Kirk and Todd are officers of the Zafirovski Family Foundation, formed in 2005 with a focus on education and health issues.
From 2006 to 2010, Zafirovski was a presidential appointee to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC). NSTAC provides analytics and recommendations to the President on a wide range of policy and technical issues related to telecommunications, information systems, information assurance, infrastructure protection, and other national security and emergency preparedness concerns.
Zafirovski holds a B.A. in mathematics from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania where he captained the intercollegiate soccer and swimming teams. In 2002, Edinboro University awarded him an honorary doctorate degree. A native of Macedonia, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2004 and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the NY Hall of Science in 2008.
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Essential Kaggle
> Yarah11 > Data Science
Learn Data Analysis - Free Curriculum. Introduction The Data Analysis learning path provides a short but intensive introduction to the field of data analysis.
The path is divided into three parts.
Become a Data Scientist in 8 Easy Steps #infographic. Data Science Industry Unravelled: Data science roles, skills, mindset, salaries,.. all in one infographic! A Tour of Machine Learning Algorithms. Originally published by Jason Brownlee in 2013, it still is a goldmine for all machine learning professionals.
The algorithms are broken down in several categories. Here we provide a high-level summary, a much longer and detailed version can be found here. You can even download an algorithm map from the original article. Below is a much smaller version. It would be interesting to list, for each algorithm, examples of real world applications,in which contexts it performs well,if it can be used as a black box,ease of use and interpretation,how it handles missing data,enterprise version available or not,integration with existing analytics platforms or real-time systems,constraints on data (e.g.
And generally speaking, compare these algorithms. For more on machine learning (ML), click here. Ensemble methods to fit data: see original paper 1. 2. K-Nearest Neighbour (kNN)Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ)Self-Organizing Map (SOM)Locally Weighted Learning (LWL) Pinterest. 5 Best Machine Learning APIs for Data Science. Machine Learning APIs make it easy for developers to develop predictive applications.
Here we review 5 important Machine Learning APIs: IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure Machine Learning, Google Prediction API, Amazon Machine Learning API, and BigML. By Khushbu Shah (DeZyre). Big data is streaming into businesses all over the Internet from various data sources like sensors, social media data, excel spreadsheets, reviews, customer data, etc.
There are many companies like Google, IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft helping businesses process big data by building Machine Learning APIs so that organizations can make the best use of the machine learning technology. Machine learning courses online. How do you learn machine learning?
A good way to begin is to take an online course. These courses started appearing towards the end of 2011, first from Stanford University, now from Coursera, Udacity, edX and other institutions. There are very many of them, including a few about machine learning. Last updated January 2016. Here's a list: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. Besides these classes, there are many more about statistics, computer vision, natural language processing and whatnot. A revolution in higher education is underway, so take your part. The MOOCs mentioned above feature some degree of interactivity, including homework and forums. 1. Input — R Tutorial. Here we explore how to define a data set in an R session.
Only two commands are explored. The first is for simple assignment of data, and the second is for reading in a data file. There are many ways to read data into an R session, but we focus on just two to keep it simple. 1.1. Assignment¶ The most straight forward way to store a list of numbers is through an assignment using the c command. The numbers within the c command are separated by commas. When you enter this command you should not see any output except a new command line. If you wish to work with one of the numbers you can get access to it using the variable and then square brackets indicating which number: > bubba[2][1] 5> bubba[1][1] 3> bubba[0]numeric(0)> bubba[3][1] 7> bubba[4][1] 9 Notice that the first entry is referred to as the number 1 entry, and the zero entry can be used to indicate how the computer will treat the data.
You now have a list of numbers and are ready to explore. Titanic: Getting Started With R. So you're excited to get into prediction and like the look of Kaggle's excellent getting started competition, Titanic: Machine Learning from Disaster?
Great! It's a wonderful entry-point to machine learning with a manageably small but very interesting dataset with easily understood variables. In this competition, you must predict the fate of the passengers aboard the RMS Titanic, which famously sank in the Atlantic ocean during its maiden voyage from the UK to New York City after colliding with an iceberg. While there could hardly be a more chaotic event than frightened people scrambling to escape a sinking ship, the disaster is famous for saving "women and children first". With an inadequate number of lifeboats available only a fraction of the passengers survived, and through this series of lessons, we'll try to predict who they were. As with most Kaggle competitions, you are given two datasets: I will be dividing this series of tutorials into five parts:
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