text:
Alpenblick Photos ❘ lookphotos
70514300 - Beer garden Alpenblick, Uffing, Staffelsee, Bavaria, Germany
71375266 - View from Seefelder Joch to the Alps, Seefeld, Tyrol, Austria
71372025 - View from Dachsberg - Finsterlingen over Dachsberg - Hierbach to the Swiss Alps, Hotzenwald, Southern Black Forest, Black Forest, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, Europe
71370128 - Autumn at the Eibsee, view to the Zugspitze, moon reflected in the water, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370126 - Autumn at the Eibsee, view to the Zugspitze, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370111 - Hikers at the Eibsee, view to the Zugspitze, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71364799 - View from Zedlach to Iseltal with Rotenkogel (2,762 m), Virgental, East Tyrol, Tyrol, Austria
71375282 - Sunrise at Geroldsee with Karwendel Mountains, Klais, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71375281 - Autumn at Geroldsee, behind it the Karwendel Mountains, Klais, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71375275 - Sunrise at Geroldsee, humpback meadows with hoar frost, hay barn, behind it the Karwendel Mountains, Klais, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370149 - Cyclists, view over the Geroldsee to the Zugspitze massif with Alpspitze, Zugspitze and Waxenstein, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370143 - Dawn, view of the Zugspitze massif with Alpspitze, Zugspitze and Waxenstein, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370141 - Dusk, view of the Zugspitze massif with Alpspitze, Zugspitze and Waxenstein, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370140 - Huts at Geroldsee, view to Karwendel, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370136 - View over the Geroldsee to the Zugspitze massif with Alpspitze, Zugspitze and Waxenstein, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370119 - Woman bathing, autumn at the Eibsee, view to the Zugspitze, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370116 - Autumn at the Eibsee below the Zugspitze, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71364804 - View from Zedlacher Paradies into Virgental, East Tyrol, Tyrol, Austria
71370145 - View of the church village Wamberg, with Zugspitze Waxenstein and Daniel in the background, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71370139 - Sheep in a meadow at Geroldsee, view to Karwendel, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71369798 - Footbridge in the park of the Evangelical Academy, Tutzing, Starnberger See, in the background the Zugspitze, 5-Seen-Land, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany
71359736 - View of the Bohemian Forest and the valley of the Grosser Mühl, Mühlviertel, Austria
71370117 - Island in the Eibsee below the Zugspitze, Werdenfelser Land, Bavaria, Germany
71364802 - Mountain hut in Zedlacher Paradies, Virgental, East Tyrol, Tyrol, Austria
71357921 - Panorama view from the Herzogstand on the Walchensee, Bavaria, Germany
71354745 - View at sunrise from the Warscheneck Group towards Hoher Nock, Upper Austria, Austria.
71375263 - View of Wetterstein with Alpspitze and Zugspitze, Klais, Werdenfelser Land, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany
71372027 - View of Grafenhausen and the Swiss Alps, Southern Black Forest, Black Forest, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, Europe
71369877 - View from the Ratzinger Höhe to the Chiemsee, Chiemgau, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany
71369836 - Diessen am Ammersee, Bavaria, Germany
71362782 - Cascade in the park of Linderhof Palace, Ettal, Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany
71359845 - Purtschellersteig in the Schafberg massif with a view of the Vormauerstein and the Wolfgangsee in the Salzkammergut, Austria
71357473 - View from Herzogenhorn to the Alps, Feldberg, Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
71353851 - Lake Starnberg at sunset with a view of the mountains, St. Heinrich, Bavaria, Germany
71353852 - Jetty on Lake Starnberg at sunset with a view of the mountains, St. Heinrich, Bavaria, Germany
71353867 - Jetty with people on Lake Starnberg at sunset with a view of the mountains, St. Heinrich, Bavaria, Germany
71321541 - Panoramic skyline of Munich city with snowy Alps in the background at sunset
13210672 - A supper platter on Mount Rigi, Lucerne, Switzerland
71328604 - View of a jetty on Lake Starnberg at sunset, in the background the Alps, Starnberg, Bavaria, Europe
71300525 - Cherry blossom nearby Markdorf with views at the Alps, Lake Constance District, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
71337533 - Jetty in sunrise on Lake Starnberg with mountain view, Bavaria, Germany
71321540 - Munich city skyline with snowy Alps in the background at sunset
10278248 - View of ski life tower in sunlight, Titlis, Alps, Engelberg, Obwalden, Switzerland
10265544 - View of snow in Titlis, Uri Alps, Engelberg, Obwalden, Switzerland
10265483 - Fishing nets drying on pole, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265661 - Panoramic view of sail boats in Lake Lucerne, Alps, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265553 - View of Mount Rigi with fog in Alps, Lake Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265615 - View of Titlis rotating cable car with snow covered mountains, Obwalden, Switzerland
10265474 - Tourists relaxing on jetty and boat moored in Lake Lucerne, Alps, Lucerne, Switzerland
10325478 - An alpine view near Ofterschwang in Allgäu in Bavaria, Germany
10265485 - Toni Ottiger sitting on bench near Lake Lucerne and the Alps, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265454 - View of Burgenstock mountain and ship in Lake Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265655 - Tourists walking on jetty in Lake Lucerne, Alps, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265650 - View of tourist at Hammetschwand Elevator at Lucerne, Switzerland
10265642 - People in train on Vitznau Rigi Railway, Mount Rigi, Alps, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265489 - Tourists travelling in boat with national flag, Lucerne, Switzerland
10265478 - View of Lake Lucerne and the Alps with fog, Lucerne, Switzerland
10266178 - View of Culture and Covention Center, Lake Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
10266141 - View of Mount Rigi with fog at sunrise in Alps, Lake Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland


When all the events begin, it will be too late to prepare. This is what I constantly preach. My Son, Jesus, preached the same message. Everyone puts off this invitatio..
The path is not easy and many overestimate their strength. Others do not prepare, believing that they are ready to face the future. The truly wise realize that they do..
When a person is alone, he can only bring forth individual goals. When he joins in a relationship with another, he can bring forth far more. This is best seen in..
The world is exploding – Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and so many other places. Where is America? I look to America and it refuses to take its proper place,..
Let the heavens open up and the blessings of God rain down upon every part of the earth. Can this happen? Did not the fire of the Holy Spirit fall upon Jerusalem and..
Do not put aside what is worthy for what is worthless. This is what the world does all the time. The world does not see the true values. The price tags are all mixed..
All the world is filled with questions of what will take place. There is a fascination with the future, to know what will come. But, what good is it to know the future..
Do not worry about what other people think or say. The time is too short and the difficulties are too great that lay ahead. You must be anxious only about the state of..
A mother sorrows when she sees her children doing foolish things and making foolish decisions. How often she says to them, "Do not be fooled". She says these words..
On earth day follows another and it is easy to believe that this will continue forever. People get used to human existence and forget that a moment of death will come..
In the gospel parables, the servants had to be faithful until the Master returned. This cannot be done, unless the heart of the disciple truly loves the Master and..
Everything is before me, and I see all events past and future. However, the past is quite different from the future. What is past is done and complete. What is future..


The city of Calgary is well known for its entrepreneurial spirit, often associated with the Calgary Stampede and Alberta's wildcatting oil and gas industry. For those interested in the early history of the city and the Bow Valley, Henry Klassen's Eye on the Future is both readable and enlightening. Concentrating on the years 1870 through 1900, Klassen captures Calgary's frontier blend of rural and emerging urban life well before the era of oil and gas.
Calgary's dynamic growth during this period was due to its geography. At the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, the Edmonton Trail from the north converged with the Macleod Trail running south, and in tum the Whoop-Up Trail from Montana, bringing traders and ranchers from the Great Plains in the I 870s. Intersecting the system of north-south trails and wagon roads, the east-west Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in 1883, and the town of Calgary was incorporated in 1884. The CPR brought homesteaders, merchants, and entrepreneurs, linking Calgary by rail and steamships to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.


The STP Intermediate Metamodel (STP-IM) aims to facilitate the sharing of information between different editors in Eclipse STP. A discussion on the motivation for this is available here. A simplified sample scenario involving the IM is also available.


text:
package org.lanca.gui.components;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;
import org.caboclo.activities.Activity;
import org.caboclo.activities.ActivityListener;

public class ActivitiesTableModel implements ActivityListener {

    private Map<String, Integer> idToRowN;
    private DefaultTableModel model;

    public ActivitiesTableModel(DefaultTableModel model) {
        idToRowN = new HashMap<>();
        this.model = model;
    }

    public void addActivity(Activity act) {
        int row = model.getRowCount();

        model.insertRow(row, new Object[]{act.getId(),
            act.getStatus().toString(), act.getDescription(), act.getDate()});

        idToRowN.put(act.getId(), row);

        act.addListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void activityStarted(Activity act) {
        updateActivity(act);
    }

    @Override
    public void activityCanceled(Activity act) {
        updateActivity(act);
    }

    @Override
    public void activityResumed(Activity act) {
        updateActivity(act);
    }

    @Override
    public void activityFinished(Activity act) {
        updateActivity(act);
    }

    @Override
    public void activitySuspended(Activity act) {
        updateActivity(act);
    }

    private void updateActivity(Activity act) {
        int row = idToRowN.get(act.getId());

        model.setValueAt(act.getStatus().toString(), row, 1);
    }

    @Override
    public void activityFailed(Activity act) {
        updateActivity(act);
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: How can I know that an iframe has finished loading? I used iframe to download file from my web application when a button is clicked.
Here is my code:
    iframe = document.createElement("iframe");
    iframe.src = "Report/ExportFile.aspx";
    iframe.style.display = "none";
    document.body.appendChild(iframe);

I want to call a function in the parent page (the one that includes the iframe), to stop my loading animation.
I need to know when the iframe finish loading, and the save/open dialog pops up in order to stop it.
I tried to stop the animation inside iframe.onload = function() { //close },
but the problem is that inside the iframe page load I have this code:
    Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet";
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment;  filename=ExcelDemo.xlsx");
    Response.BinaryWrite(pck.GetAsByteArray());
    Response.Flush();
    Response.End();

so the page execution terminates.
Does anyone have a solution how can I know that the iframe has loaded?

A: I think you need to get some client side scripting involved:
$("#iFrameId").load(function (){
    // Do something, probably an AJAX request in your case
});

A: One solution is to have a method in the iframe javascript that you can call when the iframe is finished loading.  Inside of this method, call a method on the parent page:
var iFrameLoaded = function () {
    parent.stopLoadingAnimation();
};

To continue loading the page after your code in iframe's page load, drop the Response.End() so that execution will continue.

A: you can see this, jquery iframeloaded.
function iframeLoaded() {
    alert("Iframe loaded!");
}
Good Luck!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}
\iffalse
 Automatic processing of videos to obtain audio recordings of a person is challenging, particularly when we do not know what the person looks or sounds like. However, google image search can serve as a valuable tool for building a profile of what that person looks like. We use this image information to process videos to find the person of interest and subsequently their audio.
 \fi

Researchers in the speaker recognition community has worked to build a database of audio of speakers in unconstrained or 'wild' conditions to develop more robust systems. One attempt at creating such a database is the Speakers in the Wild (SITW)\cite{sitw} speaker recognition challenge for Interspeech 2016. The database comprises hand-annotated speech samples from about 300 individuals. These audio recordings are unconstrained with recording locations from red carpet interviews, sports arenas, and the outdoors. Devices used to record the audio range from cellphones to camcorders. With such a dataset, researchers in the speech community can embark on the challenging task of building technology that is robust to real-world applications. The issue, however, is the scalability of building a hand-labeled dataset.

\begin{table}[h!]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{| c | c | c | c |}
         \hline
         \textbf{Dataset} & \textbf{Condition} & \# \textbf{POI} & \# \textbf{Utt}\\
         \hline
         ELSDSR &  Clean Speech & 22 & 198 \\
         \hline
         SITW & Multi-media & 299 & 2,800 \\
         \hline
         Forensic Comp.n & Telephony & 552  & 1,264 \\
         \hline
         Voxceleb 1 & Multi-media & 1,251 & 153,516 \\
         \hline
        \textbf{EACeleb} & \textbf{Multi-media} & \textbf{1,641} & \textbf{76,522} \\
         \hline
         Voxceleb 2 & Multi-media & 6,112 &  1,128,246 \\
         \hline

    \end{tabular}
    \caption{Comparison Unconstrained Datasets}
    \label{tab:ratio_data}
\end{table}

Voxceleb addressed this scalability issue by developing a fully automated pipeline that acquires celebrities' Youtube audio/video clips. Voxceleb queries Youtube by appending the word "interview" with the name of a celebrity and noting time segments in a Youtube video where the person of interest both shows up and speaks. With their system. Voxceleb acquired audio for over 7000 speakers with at least 2000 hours of audio. However, close to 60\% of the data belongs to individuals from the following countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and France. Our work here extends on Voxceleb's database by including primarily three nationalities: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

The work here primarily makes two contributions to speaker recognition in ``real-world" situations. First, inspired by the Voxceleb dataset acquisition method, we develop a fully automated and scalable pipeline that can collect audio-visual recordings of famous individuals. The developed system takes as input the name of an individual and returns as output segments within various Youtube videos where that person was talking. For any arbitrary set of speakers from any arbitrary language, our system can collect data from that language. Collecting a language-specific dataset is of utmost importance, considering it can tune speaker recognition models for specific languages. Even though the system pipeline follows the overall procedure proposed by Voxceleb, the implementation details are very different for the various subsystems involved in the architecture. Subsequent sections will discuss this system in detail.

The second contribution of the work shows that applying diarization on obtained Youtube audio can decrease the error rate. Other methods have used face-tracking (which can accumulate error over time) or frequent face detection (which is much slower) to identify segments in which the desired talker is present. To mitigate the problems with face-tracking, the diarization of audio recordings can be an effective way to improve the overall accuracy of the dataset. Furthermore, by applying diarization, we can remove undesired audio obtained during our pipeline. On average, diarization led to a 9.7\% improvement in equal error rate during our verification experiments.

Overall, we collected unique voice recordings for 1,900 celebrities across three countries. We set up a verification system to evaluate the validity and accuracy of the collected data. Our goal was to show that our proposed method can effectively collect speaker data with a relatively low error rate. This error rate further decreased after the applied diarization. EACeleb can be used both for speaker verification and identification tasks. We use the x-vector system implementation in Kaldi toolkit to train and test our data.

\section{Data Collection Pipeline}
\label{sec:dataCollection}

The data collection pipeline follows the general ideas proposed by Voxceleb. However, the implementations of the different components of the pipeline are unique. In many ways, our work is optimized for speed, particularly during the face-matching phase of the pipeline. Nevertheless, our system generalizes to celebrities of different countries and even people who are not celebrities but have some Youtube presence.

\begin{table}[h!]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{| c | c |}
         \hline
         \textbf{\# of Chinese POI} &  $410$ \\
         \hline
         \textbf{\# of Japanese POI} & $406$ \\
         \hline
         \textbf{\# of South Korean POI} & $925$ \\
         \hline
         \textbf{Average \# of Utterances per POI} & $46.6$ \\
         \hline
         \textbf{Average Duration per Utterance} & $8.4~sec$ \\
         \hline
         \textbf{\# total of utterances}  & $76522$ \\
         \hline
         \textbf{\# total audio hours}  & $180$ \\
         \hline
         \hline
    \end{tabular}
    \caption{Dataset Statistics for EACeleb (POI - Person of Interest)}
    \label{tab:ratio_data}
\end{table}

\subsection{Template Face}
The first step in our pipeline is the creation of a template face. Here, we automatically use a Google search to download the top 20 search results of the person of interest. Then, we append the word "photo" or "face" to the person's name before the search. For example, suppose the celebrity's name is ``John Doe". The search term for our system will be ``John Doe Face." We append this term so our output images will more likely be face shots rather than full-body captures. The face shots are essential for creating the template face.

Note that each resulting image could have multiple faces present in the image. For each photo, we use a histogram of gradients (HOG)\cite{hog} based face detection to find all faces in the picture. Next, we use VGG-face to extract a 2048-dimensional vector for all faces found. Last, we use a density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise DBSCAN \cite{dbscan} to cluster the extracted embeddings. We heuristically identify the largest cluster as the face of the celebrity of interest. We take the average of all the embeddings in the largest cluster as the template face of the celebrity. If the number of embeddings in the largest cluster is less than 10, we disregard that celebrity.

\subsection{Video Downloading}
The next task is downloading videos from Youtube of the celebrity. Like Voxceleb, we append the word "interview" to the celebrity's name before the Youtube search. Then, we download the top 15 results of this Youtube search. For both the Google images and Youtube video download, we searched the names written in their appropriate language of interest. We also translated the words "face," "photo," and "interview" to the languages matching the celebrity's nationality.

\subsection{Video Processing}
Like Voxceleb, the first step for processing the Youtube video is applying shot boundary detection. This is accomplished using the pyscenedetect library, which uses a color histogram for shot boundary detection. Subsequent steps in our video processing, however, differ from Voxceleb. For Voxceleb's implementation, face detections are grouped into face-tracks/tracklets within each detected shot. Their implementation followed the pipeline described in \cite{lip_reading}\cite{out_of_time}. Essentially, every face that appears in the video has a corresponding tracklet. Using a tracklet is expensive, considering it requires face detection in every frame and storing tracklets for all faces. Our implementation, however, combines detection and verification to build tracklets for only the person of interest.

\subsection{Face Verification}
Instead of tracking all faces in each detected shot, we use a HOG-based procedure to find faces in a frame and compare each of the faces with the template face created earlier using the Google downloaded images. Once we find the face of the person-of-interest (POI), a CSRT-based algorithm \cite{csrt} along with face pixel histogram is used to track the POI in subsequent frames. This procedure is more efficient than the re-detection of faces in successive frames. Additionally, it eliminates the need to create tracklets and determine which tracklets belong to the POI.

\subsection{Speaking Detection}
Once we have collected tracks from the person-of-interest, the next phase is determining segments in the tracklet where the person-of-interest POI is actually talking. We applied the Syncnet tool developed by \cite{syncnet} here. Syncet was originally designed to determine the audio-video synchronization between mouth motion and produced speech. It can, however, be repurposed to determine whether or not a POI is talking in a particular segment.

\begin{table*}[!htbp]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{| c | c | c|c|c|c|c|c| c | c |}
         \hline
         \textbf{Model} & \multicolumn{3}{c|}{\textbf{Voxceleb}} & \multicolumn{3}{c|}{\textbf{SITW}} & \multicolumn{3}{c|}{\textbf{SRE16}}\\
         \hline
         & VSR & EER\% & MinDCF& VSR & EER\% & MinDCF& VSR & EER\% & MinDCF\\
         \cline{2-10}
         70 & 0.54 & 3.14 & 0.35 & 0.52 & 3.25 & 0.37 & 0.39 & 3.18 & 0.22 \\
         80 & 0.79 & 6.83 & 0.52 & 0.72 & 5.55 & 0.46 & 0.57 & 5.44 & 0.39 \\
         100 & 0.99 & 15.09 & 0.66 & 0.95 & 15.23 & 0.68 & 0.87 & 15.8 & 0.66\\
         \hline
    \end{tabular}
    \caption{Useful Collection Ratio (UCR) of collected speakers (SRE diarization, in percentage). \\
    $VSR = \frac{Number of segments ~kept ~per ~speaker ~after~ diarization}{total ~number ~of ~speaker~ segments~ before ~diarization}$}
    \label{tab:ratio_data}
\end{table*}

\section{Experiments}
\label{sec:majhead}

We used a speaker verification task on the acquired data to verify the validity of the data collection procedure. The primary metric to evaluate performance is the equal error rate (EER). One particular area of focus is the role of diarization for further cleaning the collected data.

For our experiments, we use pre-trained x-vector models with a configuration similar to the one described by Snyder et al. \cite{xvectors}. An x-vector system is a feed-forward DNN that maps a variable-length speech segment to a fixed-length embedding. The input to the system is 24-dimensional MFCC features extracted every 10 milliseconds.

The first five levels of this DNN operate at the frame level with a temporal context centered at current frame t. For example, frame1 has a full context of 5 since it concatenates features from t - 2, t - 1, t, t + 1, and t + 2. frame2 builds on frame1 by splicing outputs from frame1 at t-2, t, and t+2. This gives frame2 a total temporal context of 9. The process goes on for the five frame-level layers. Mean and standard deviation values are calculated in the statistics pooling layer. This layer aggregates all T frame-level outputs from frame5. X-vectors are 512-dimensional embeddings extracted at segment6.

The x-vector network is implemented in the nnet3 neural network library in the Kaldi \cite{kaldi} Speech Recognition toolkit.

\subsection{Experiments Using Pretrained Speaker Models}
\label{ssec:subhead}

The first series of experiments evaluated the EACeleb dataset accuracy. To accomplish this, we set up a speaker verification task similar to the one described in \cite{xvectors}. Utterance durations range from 4 seconds to 20 seconds. We pass each utterance through a pre-trained network to extract the x-vectors. We used models pretrained with the SITW, Voxceleb, and SRE16 datasets for experimentation. After training, we then extract 512-dimensional x-vectors from segment 6.

We split the extracted x-vectors into a training and testing set. 80\% of the speakers were reserved for training. The remaining speakers comprised our test set. Using the training set, we trained both a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) matrix and a probabilistic LDA (PLDA) model. The test set was used for speaker verification. A ``test x-vector" belonging to a particular speaker is compared to all the other x-vectors from that same speaker and given a ``target" label. Equivalently, we sampled an equal number of x-vectors coming from speakers different from the "test x-vector" speaker. We compare the sampled x-vectors with the test x-vector and assign a ``non-target" label.
\subsection{Diarization Experiments}
\label{ssec:subhead}
We applied diarization on a per speaker basis. Specifically, x-vectors belonging to a particular speaker were clustered using a DBSCAN algorithm similar to how we clustered faces in our data collection pipeline. For each speaker, we first use PLDA scores to compare all combinations of x-vectors from that speaker with each other. We then use the PLDA scores as the distance metric values for our DBSCAN clustering algorithm. The underlying assumption is that the largest cluster from the DBSCAN will belong to the speaker. Smaller clusters will discarded away as inaccurate speaker data. DBSCAN requires a parameter, eps, the maximum distance between two x-vectors for one x-vector to be considered in the neighborhood of another x-vector. We experimented with tuning this eps parameter.

After this data cleaning method, we use the same train-test split as in pre-diarization verification. We set up a speaker verification task similar to the setup in the previous section and calculated the error rates.

 \subsection{Fine-Tuning Experiments}
\label{ssec:subhead}
 For the last series of experiments, we employed an active learning technique to improve both the model we are using to extract the x-vectors and clean the dataset further. We wanted to fine-tune the x-vector model for the EACeleb dataset. We started by first applying our diarization technique to both the train and test set to accomplish this. Audio identified by the diarization as belonging to a particular speaker became the primary data we used. We applied data augmentation to this raw audio. This includes adding MUSAN music, noises, and reverberation to each audio utterance. We follow the same augmentation technique outlined in the kaldi voxceleb recipe. Next, we reconfigured the last layer of the x-vector to have the same number of nodes as the number of speakers in our train set. Accordingly, this reinitializes the weights of the final layer which we trained. We then retrained the x-vector model

 After retraining the model, we extracted x-vectors for the train and test data and set up another verification task. Then, LDA and PLDA models were again trained using the train data.

\begin{table}[!htbp]
    \centering
    \scalebox{0.9}{
    \begin{tabular}{| c | c | c | c |}
         \hline
         \textbf{Pretrained Model} & \textbf{VoxCeleb} & \textbf{SITW} & \textbf{SRE}\\
         \hline
             \begin{tabular}{ c  c }EACeleb EER \\ before Diarization
    \end{tabular} & 15.09  & 15.23& 15.83 \\
         \hline
       \begin{tabular}{ c  c }EACeleb EER \\ After Diarization (eps=80)
    \end{tabular} & 6.833 & 5.55  & 5.42 \\
         \hline
         \begin{tabular}{ c  c }EACeleb EER on Fine-Tuned\\ X-vector(eps=80)
    \end{tabular} & 3.833 & 4.86  & 5.31 \\
         \hline
    \end{tabular}}
    \caption{EER\% performances of our trained models (in percentage).}
    \label{tab:eer_train}
\end{table}

    \begin{tabular}{| c | c }
    \end{tabular}

\section{Results and Discussions}
\label{sec:print}

For comparison, we selected ten videos of approximately 1 hour each and compared the speed to complete the audiovisual search using face-detection only versus the case of coupling face-detection with tracking. For those ten videos, using CSRT tracking once a face has been found was about eight times faster. Making this kind of comparison is difficult since many factors can affect the speed of the tracking method.

Despite the improved speed with our face-tracking method, we saw significantly higher error rates when compared to the Voxceleb dataset. Table \ref{tab:eer_train} summarizes the error rates using the raw audio collected from Youtube for our EACeleb dataset. On average, the error rate was about 15\% . In comparison, the Voxceleb dataset on the x-vector model had an error rate of only 3.1\%. Our high error rate can be attributed to our face tracking algorithm not being as accurate as constantly doing face detection for subsequent frames. When there is a scene change, the tracking algorithm is not robust and tracks a person, not of interest and stores audio for that person. By applying diarization, we decreased the error rate to approximately 6\%.

We experimented with various eps values used in DBSCAN for our diarization. The values of eps we chose were chosen from 70, 80, and 100. Over all eps range, x-vectors extracted from Voxceleb based models were more robust. Table \ref{tab:ratio_data} shows the performance for various eps. DBSCAN essentially created one huge cluster for high value of eps, signifying that all the x-vectors belong to the speaker. This increased the equal error rate. The goal is to choose eps to reduce equal rates without totally discarding true speaker segments.

SRE16 performed the worst among all the pretrained models. DBSCAN was not able to cluster x-vectors extracted with the SRE16 model. This is because SRE16 was trained with clean data. For low values of eps, SRE16 based models did not correctly cluster segments belonging to a speaker. This explains low VSR rates. Even though it led to decreased error rate, it's not preferable. Voxceleb, on the other hand, achieved error of 6.833\% even after keeping nearly 80\% of data post diarization. Applying the fine-tuning technique to the Voxceleb data decreased our error rate to about 3.8\%. The resulting model is more adapted to our dataset.

\section{Conclusions}
\label{sec:page}
In this paper, we describe a pipeline that can effectively be used to build a speakers database. Here, our database consisted of speakers primarily in East Asian countries. We also show that applying diarization on collected data can be an effective method for further cleaning the Youtube data. Our EACeleb dataset of 1,641 speakers can be used for speaker verification and identification tasks. For individuals in the speech research community who want to tune their models for speakers of a specific language, we hope the pipeline can serve as a guide for acquiring that language-specific data. The fine-tuning experiment showed that this data could further be used to tune pre-trained models.

\vfill\pagebreak

\bibliographystyle{IEEEbib}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Cardona's Role in Connecticut's Complex School Desegregation Efforts Becomes Focus: Will He Give Integration a National Platform as Ed Secretary?
With Alexander's Exit, Divided Senate Loses Quiet Champion of Bipartisan Approach to Ed Policy
Will Preschools Survive the Pandemic? Ailing Cleveland Pre-K Programs Hope Federal Funds Can Salvage Seven Years of Progress Among High-Poverty Children
While Awaiting a Vaccine and Debating Reopening, District Responses to Medical Accommodations for At-Risk Teachers Vary Wildly Across the Country
This Week's ESSA News: Tennessee Uses Relief Funds For Literacy Initiative, Georgia Boosts Rural STEM Access, Murray Sees 'Moral Responsibility' in Tracking COVID Learning Loss & More
Nearly a Year Into Remote Learning 'Digital Divide' Persists as Key Educational Threat, as Census Data Show 1 in 3 Households Still Struggling With Limited Tech Access
Caught in a Financial 'Triple Squeeze,' Districts Could See Annual Costs of $2,500 Per Student to Address Pandemic-Related Learning Loss
Meet 2 Aspiring D.C. Public School Teachers in This College's Inaugural Class of 'Ready-to-Go' Post-COVID Educators
Number of Districts Safe for In-Person Learning Shrinking, New Study Suggests
Following DeVos's Surprise Resignation, School Advocates Say She Leaves Behind A Controversial Legacy — and Wonder Why She Didn't Leave Sooner
Ohio's Urgent Push to Open Classrooms During the Pandemic: New Policy Drops COVID Quarantine Rule if Students Wear Masks
74 Interview: SEL Expert Elizabeth Englander on Preserving Social-Emotional Learning During the Pandemic, the Key to Managing Screen Time — and Why Families Should Eat Dinner Together
One Year Ago, 90% of San Antonio's 4-Year-Olds Were Enrolled in School: Now, an Ambitious Texas Early Ed Program is Crumbling Under the Weight of the Pandemic
How an AI App That Detects COVID Carriers By Their Cough Could Help Reopen Schools
74 Interview: AFT's Randi Weingarten Talks Tying School Reopening to Teacher Vaccine Rollout, Biden's Ed Secretary Pick and $900B Relief Bill
Education Through the Pandemic: From Florida's Remote Learners Falling Behind In-Person Peers to Houston Schools Scoring Record Failure Rates, 9 Ways States & Educators Are Coping With COVID-19
Key to Preventing Children's Learning Loss — and Social Regression — During COVID-19 School Closures: Support from Family and Peers, Study Finds
New NACSA Chief Karega Rausch's Mission for Authorizers: Make Charter Schools More Responsive to the Communities They Serve
NewsPandemic The 74 Interview
74 Interview: NYC Council Member Mark Treyger on 11 Unknowns in Mayor Bill de Blasio's School Reopening Plan
By Zoë Kirsch | August 24, 2020
Mark Treyger (New York City Council / flickr)
.@MarkTreyger718 on questions that need resolving before a safe @NYCSchools reopening. "Is the government doing enough to keep kids and staff safe? Are schools truly ready for in-person learning by early September? At this time, I argue they are not."
"There's an expression that 'If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.' [The mayor and schools chancellor] are winging it. They're not even shy about it. There's no cutting corners when it comes to the safety of kids and staff." @MarkTreyger718
See previous 74 interviews, including former U.S. Department of Education assistant secretary for civil rights Catherine Lhamon, Indiana educator Earl Phalen and former U.S. Department of Education secretary John King. The full archive is right here.
Updated, Aug. 27: City Councilman Mark Treyger called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday to force New York City to delay the Sept. 10 start of in-person learning, saying the city is not ready to do so safely.
Sept. 10. It's a date lingering in the minds of many New Yorkers, the day the city is scheduled to become the only major district in the nation to reopen its schools for in-person learning.
That plan has prompted increasing backlash from public figures. So far, leaders from the city teachers union, principals union and nurses union have all urged Mayor Bill de Blasio to delay the first day of school until the city can gather the financial resources required for a safe reopening.
On Aug. 18, a group of principals, independent of their union, joined in, emailing de Blasio a written plea. On Aug. 19, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew released a health and safety checklist, warning of a lawsuit or strike if the city doesn't comply.
City Councilman Mark Treyger of Brooklyn has been one of the plan's most persistent critics. In July, he published a proposal advancing a more cautious approach. On Wednesday, he and 30 other council members addressed a letter to the mayor and the city Department of Education, calling attention to the "far too many unanswered questions" remaining. A former high school history teacher, Treyger is the council Education Committee chair and a member of the city's budget negotiations team. The 74 spoke with him about his plan, and about 11 unknowns he called out in the mayor's proposal. Those are flagged in boldface below.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The 74: What are you hearing these days from students, teachers and families?
Mark Treyger: Teachers and parents want clarity. They want to know: What is the plan, is it funded, is it operational? Parents want to make sure that where they're sending their kids is safe and supportive. Principals have said to me, "Mark, I want to come back when I know that I have the adequate staff to get this right and I know that I have the resources to keep my buildings clean every night."
The theme is that when they ask questions of their superiors, the response is, "Guidance forthcoming." That's been the theme of this entire reopening under the mayor: "Guidance forthcoming."
In a time of crisis, New Yorkers want transparency, someone to be straightforward with them. I can tell you the city is running out of money very quickly. The mayor is preparing memos to agencies, including the city Department of Education, to prepare for layoffs imminently.
This morning (Aug. 17), the mayor announced the imminent threat of layoffs and reduction of city services, unless the state helps the city with borrowing authority. There are so many contradictions when the mayor says, "We can safely reopen. But I have to lay off staff in the school system needed to operationalize the plan."
There's an expression that "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." [The mayor and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza] are winging it. They're not even shy about it. There's no cutting corners when it comes to the safety of kids and staff.
When did you start brainstorming your own proposal?
It was back in June, during budget negotiations. I spoke to principals; I spoke with a couple of school superintendents. I was on a Zoom call with an infectious-disease doctor, Dr. Celine Gounder, who backed up the research I was seeing. I spoke to parents in my district and beyond, and to Advocates for Children.
I was going to release the plan in early July, but then we got word that the state was on the verge of releasing its guidance to reopen schools. That led to a delay because my staff and I wanted to read it carefully, and we did, and it was consistent with many of the things we had talked about. In my plan, I make it clear that we need federal help — or for New York state to issue borrowing authority to the city.
In June, the mayor approached Gov. Andrew Cuomo about borrowing authority, but Cuomo didn't bite. He asked again in early August. How much room is there now for progress on that front?
I want to chalk up June to internal politics between Albany and City Hall, which is unfortunate during a time of crisis, when egos get in the way of doing what's right.
Now, we're staring down September. I knew about these challenges back in June, which is why I fought to prioritize the school budget.
But the state Health Department released their reopening guidance for schools later in July, after the budget was passed. In that guidance are more requirements for schools. For example, to do deep cleaning and disinfecting every night, as opposed to once a week.
So now, the rubber meets the road. The governor and the mayor have to face the public and answer to parents and educators. Is the government doing enough to keep kids and staff safe? Are schools truly ready for in-person learning by early September? At this time, I argue they are not.
To your knowledge, has the mayor asked the governor to issue borrowing authority since June?
I am told there are conversations happening again between the city and state.
If de Blasio can't get borrowing authority from the governor, what options does he have?
These are some worst-case scenarios: By October, the city will just be flat-out broke. I am told that the mayor has tried to engage with the municipal labor organizations about where they could find savings.
How is your proposal different from the mayor's plan?
We're the largest school system in the country. We're still in a pandemic. If you bring everyone back at the same time, you increase the risk of exposure, which will lead to more school shutdowns and more disruption to instruction, and to our city's safety net.
There are children who have regressed because of remote learning. It is extremely painful, and that's why we have to work with a greater sense of urgency, to be more expeditious in getting this right. I believe in a phased-in approach, following the science.
I believe in an approach that prioritizes early childhood and elementary school students for in-person instruction five days a week, with an opt-out option. I would also include children with IEPs [Individualized Education Programs], multilingual learners, children in temporary housing, children in foster care and children in unsafe housing situations; all of them should be given the option for five-days-a-week, in-person instruction with the option to opt out. High school would remain largely remote [so elementary students, and perhaps middle schoolers, could use that space].
Some high school students rely on schools as a sanctuary, a safe space. That's why we need to use nonconventional spaces such as libraries, cultural institutions, YMCAs and local community centers to provide enrichment opportunities for students, adhering to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. To give them an opportunity to interact with peers their own age, in community-based settings. To give them a chance for social interactions and to reconnect.
What other advantages does this approach have?
Many high school students took on additional tasks during remote learning. A common responsibility has been helping younger siblings because many of the younger kids have had difficulty adapting to remote learning. If you allow elementary school students to return to school five days a week, that allows flexibility for high schoolers to learn themselves.
When Siblings Become Teachers: It's Not Just Parents Who Find Themselves Thrust Into the Demanding Role of At-Home Educators
There are also reports from experts, including one at Harvard, that a hybrid model [like the one the city is proposing] actually increases exposure of students and staff to the virus. If you have a child coming into school on Monday, then going into a different setting on Tuesday on a non-school-assigned day — let's say the parents have secured child care — that kid is being exposed to a different group. Now the child comes back to school on Wednesday. That could increase the risk of transmission.
Many working-class families — parents, particularly working moms, single parents — are facing impossible child care situations. Working parents are asking the question, "Where does my child go on their non-school-assigned day?" How will they afford child care on those days that they cannot send their kids to schools?
What questions remain about school staffing?
One that parents keep asking schools is, who is the teacher responsible for providing education for my child? Principals can't answer that question. There is a possibility that someone outside the school will be assigned to a student for remote teaching.
If there are teachers granted medical accommodations to work from home, will the school receive resources to cover the in-person class? The response is, "Guidance forthcoming."
How do principals assign teachers? If a teacher is working in the school, are they allowed — or supposed — to teach remote instruction during their non-in-person hours? The response is, "Guidance forthcoming." Schools have asked the DOE: If there's a staff shortage — or if there's an inability to provide instruction for every child — because of staff issues, who is responsible?
A lot of attention is rightly being paid to the teachers and whether teachers will be granted accommodations, but remember, teachers are only one part of a school community. There are guidance counselors, there are social workers, there are nurses who've applied for medical accommodations and have been granted them. The number of nurse vacancies is very fluid.
I spoke to a principal in my district. They have only one nurse, who has been granted medical accommodation and will not be in the building this fall. [The principal] hasn't heard whether or not she can get one of these new nurses.
If someone's child doesn't feel well, they have to go to what the DOE is calling the "isolation room." There's no clarity on who's supposed to be with the child in this room. On the plan schools submitted to the DOE to be submitted to the state, it said, "Name someone in the building that will be the isolation room leader." Some principals asked superintendents, "If I don't have a nurse, who is supposed to staff this room?" One person said, "Just put someone there." That's how we're planning right now — we're just putting a body in the room. We have no idea if they're trained to provide any type of health care.
So is the implication that these "isolation rooms" should be staffed by nurses?
In an ideal setting, that's where principals would assign a nurse to make sure that if someone doesn't feel well, that there's a health care professional that can provide services. There's now an expectation to have nurses in every building. The mayor has not operationalized that. Schools are in the dark — where are these nurses?
The mayor announced last week that he's reached this agreement between NYC Health + Hospitals and DOE to provide nurses to schools. I do not support pulling nurses from our public hospital systems in a pandemic to go to school. I represent one of the public hospitals, Coney Island Hospital, which went through a lot during the start of this pandemic and already was experiencing some shortages in key staff. The answer is not to pull hospital staff; the answer is to hire more nurses, and no one has given me that clarity yet.
So the concern is that when the pandemic rebounds, those nurses will be needed in hospitals?
It's not just the pandemic. We're entering flu season. Flu season and the pandemic in a perfect, horrific storm coming this fall.
Based on the conversations you've been having, what else needs to happen for a safe schools reopening?
One of the complaints I'm hearing from parents is: It's not safe for families to eat inside a restaurant now, so why is it safe for kids to eat inside schools? Why can't school playgrounds and schoolyards be utilized for outdoor eating and events? That's a very good question, which the mayor and the chancellor have not provided clarity on.
I also want to note the fight for better ventilation in schools. I'm a former teacher in a school that cannot support adequate air ventilation. This doesn't just mean classrooms. It also means school cafeterias. School food workers are essential workers, and their voices also must be centered in this conversation.
I am told school cleaners should brace themselves for cuts. As of this moment, they do not have the budgets to do deep cleaning every day. One custodian told me he received a delivery of an electrostatic sprayer. There's supposed to be a solution with the sprayer; he didn't receive it. He has no idea how to use this thing. He has no idea how to even turn this thing on. It's unclear whether there's going to be training provided. I think it's a fair question: whether school custodians and cleaners will receive any training in how to use new devices.
We haven't heard what adequate personal protective equipment looks like for schools. Custodians are waiting for deliveries of PPE. Some school community members have started forming GoFundMe pages for PPE; that's outrageous. And some school leaders are preparing school readiness checklists for parents — usually a checklist would be a couple of pencils, pens, a notebook, a folder for school supplies — now, they're adding masks, sanitizer and Lysol wipes. Is the City of New York putting the onus on parents, and kids and teachers, out of their own pocket, to provide the supplies that they are required to provide?
How many masks will be provided; will they be replenished? Inevitably, kids throw them out or lose them, and you should not use the same mask over and over again. How often will they replenish hand sanitizer? I am told there's a back order on Lysol wipes.
I was interviewed on a Los Angeles radio station recently about school reopening, and the radio interviewers asked me, "Anything you'd like to say to Los Angeles?" I said, "Hey, if you have any Lysol wipes that you could spare, please FedEx them to New York City." Because we don't have them. We don't have the basics locked down yet; we just don't.
What's the state of the conversation around instruction?
My father is a retired District 75 teacher [the district for children with intensive needs], and I've been speaking with him about this, and there are certain routines that cannot be replicated now. So it's a fair question to ask, "What will in-person instruction look like?" There are young children and kids in District 75 that sometimes need validation in the form of hugs; you can't do that. One of the teacher strategies in terms of managing a class is proximity — walking around the classroom, staying close to kids to see what work they're doing. You can't do that in a pandemic.
I was a teacher. During class time, those were my kids, and I was responsible for them. But it's about more than just putting a body in front of them. It's about advancing an instructional agenda, wanting kids to think critically.
We heard about the issues with the lack of live instruction last school year. There's no clarity around that; the mayor's plan does not talk about live instruction for kids who opt for learning from home. There's such precious time that's been lost, in terms of providing training for educators on how to provide live remote instruction. One could argue that, back in April, schools were still adjusting to this remote platform. But we're now approaching September. What have we done to provide adequate training to educators on how to provide live instruction?
We want kids to do more than just log on to an iPad. How do we measure engagement? How do we gauge whether teachers are moving an instructional agenda forward, beyond just saying a kid has logged on or not? We don't even know how many kids haven't logged on since March; we still do not know how many kids never received live instruction. I've asked for that information; [DOE] still has not given it to me. I'm being told that school communities with more resources had smoother transitions to remote live instruction than those schools without — because they waited months to receive tablets.
How can community partnerships ease some of the pressures schools are facing?
The mayor says he's trying to provide child care for some children on their non-school-assigned days. I'm told the School Construction Authority has been scouting spaces around the city. One provider I've spoken with, who has been in touch with the city about their space potentially being utilized, asked the city, "If you want to contract with us to use this space for child care, are you going to help us with resources to clean and follow protocols?" The answer was, "We don't know."
These providers are in no financial position to shell out money from their own budgets to adhere to state and city safety guidance. If the city doesn't provide resources for adherence to safety guidance, they might not be able to contract with the city to provide space. If they don't have the resources, and the city is not providing the resources, then these agreements just cannot happen.
Sept. 10 is just a few short weeks away. How likely is it that the mayor will change his position on the reopening start date?
One bit of the puzzle that still has not been fleshed out yet is whether the governor has accepted the city's proposal for reopening. Remember, the city had to submit a plan to the state, and at first the state was critical that the city submitted an outline of a plan and not a plan itself. They submitted additional documents, even though I argued that they were still incomplete and inadequate, but we have not yet received word whether the governor has accepted the city's plan.
The governor is hearing from a lot of stakeholders that the city's just not ready. He has a responsibility to not just be the arbiter of plans, but to give the city the resources it needs. It's the governor's own Health Department that released guidance on how to do this safely, and the state should not be advancing unfunded mandates. We need the resources to get it right.
Do you have a sense of when that will happen?
The state's supposed to make a decision soon. We haven't heard yet.
Zoë Kirsch
Zoë Kirsch is a senior reporter at The 74.
Zoe@The74million.org
@Zrkirsch

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Real Life LEED: Vanishing LEED 2009 Minimum Program Requirement?
UPDATE - 06.12.09 - This issue has largely been resolved... details at end of post.
"[This requirement] basically states that if a LEED 2009 project is inactive for 4 years, the GBCI reserves the right to cancel the registration, that all paperwork must be finished within 6 years of the retirement of the system (i.e. 2017 for the LEED 2009 system), and that certification must be complete within 2 years of project occupancy."
Just a day or so ago I had one of my coworkers ask about these requirements in regards to a new project that's got a long time frame, saying he couldn't find that clause anywhere. The MPRs aren't in the reference guides, as they're listed in the free PDF rating systems (see LEED-NC 2009 here). I went back to check (see pages XVI - XVII) and sure enough no such clause is listed???
I know I didn't just invent these requirements out of thin air, but I'm a little troubled at the thought that these requirements and the rating systems themselves are getting tweaked without any notice. No release dates are listed on these documents (that I can find at least), and I'm now curious about how many versions have been updated over time. Unfortunately I didn't save a copy of the rating system on that day, so the only 'proof' I have is the earlier post linked to above. There is also reference to a "LEED 2009 MPR Supplemental Guidance" that I have yet to be able to find which may clear this up.
Has anyone else noticed this or have a copy of the older edition of the rating system? Please let me know I'm not crazy by leaving a comment.
Thanks to many readers who quite quickly left comments and forwarded documents, this seems to have already been cleared up! There are in fact different editions of the rating system documents. Thanks to Chris Collins of McKenney's Mechanical Contractors and Engineers, you can view the older version of the LEED-EB 2009 rating system here, showing 8 minimum program requirements including the one about sunset dates. The current version with only 7 requirements can be downloaded from the USGBC here.
Furthermore, the requirement still exists according to various readers in the comments section. From what I can tell, the USGBC decided to remove this language from the MPR in favor of having you sign off on the dates as part of registering a project. The language is buried in the legal mumbo-jumbo section (that's an official legal term). See comments for details.
Joel, I wouldn't bank on the reference guide too much yet. Though I wouldn't put it past the USGBC to change something like that without notice, the errata for the 2009 reference guide is going to be huge. While some of the new features of the BD+C reference guide are helpful (having NC, CS, & Shools together) I'm embarassed at the lack of quality editing in the guide for the price we paid.
Vanished – not quite. VERY well hidden, yes. I couldn't find anything in the 2009 Reference Guide (within both newer and older published dates) the timetables. I have a 2009 registered project so I looked to see if the language was listed anywhere once logged in to LEED Online.
The MPRs are there, included in a set of forms posted before the SS category. You have to check off boxes agreeing to comply with minimum size requirements, minimum FTE requirements, etc. (as listed in the link you posted) however they say nothing about the Reasonable Timetables and Rating System Sunset Dates. I finally found this clause within Section 6 of 'LEED Terms and Conditions,' which you can find by clicking on the 'Legal' tab in LEED Online V3. Eureka! Let me know if you would like me to post the wording they use, but your comments summarized these requirements in a nutshell.
I noticed the limits too. When you register a project for v3 the program requirments are one of the conditions you're required to agree too as part of the sign up process.
Thanks guys... see updated post bringing together your comments and some emailed evidence!
You seem to have a finger on a pulse here- USGBC seems to be somewhat at sea regarding the 'Legacy LEED AP', upgrading to + category etc. The website(s) are confusing and unhelpful (with stuff being taken down). This seems to be a similar situation to the wobbly rolling out of LEED v3 (now called '2009').
What is the true position?
The sunset/inactivity language is also on the GBCI website. Go to the Policy Manual web page and scroll down to Registration Cancellation Policy.


The College of Engineering has undergone a fundamental transformation and is now poised to achieve even more going forward. We have excellent faculty, dedicated staff, and engaged students and alumni. The College of Engineering at UMass Amherst is ranked as the best public engineering school in New England. We have a physical plant of eight buildings, including our five-year-old ELab II with its gleaming laboratory spaces, research facilities, computer labs, and graduate offices. The College's network of living alumni numbers more than 16,000 around the globe. Enrollment in the College of Engineering has increased steadily in the last five years. Our mean SAT score and GPA are the highest on campus, with the academic quality the best in college history. An Engineering Career Planning & Student Development Center prepares students for professional opportunities and provides a place where engineering students, faculty, and employers can meet and develop mutually beneficial relationships. On average, 25 percent of sophomores and 50 percent of juniors participate in summer internships or undergraduate research. Within six month of graduation, 89 percent of the Class of 2008 found employment or started graduate school.


Retire to a spacious guest room or suite. All rooms at this New Jersey hotel are stylishly decorated and fully equipped with modern amenities. Upgrade to an executive room or suite for exclusive access to the hotel's Executive Lounge with special amenities and complimentary breakfast for two served daily from 6:00am to 10:30am in the lounge. Each suite and executive room comes with a fridge, microwave and full baths.
Expect a business center, complimentary WiFi throughout the hotel, and meeting and event space for up to 400 guests at this hotel in Fort Lee. Enjoy an energizing workout in the fitness center during your stay or swim lengths in the sparkling indoor pool. Relax with a soothing dip in the whirlpool and let stress melt away. Dine on exciting flavors at our restaurants, providing American and Japanese specialties, or order room service if you prefer to eat in the comfort of your guest room.
After a restful night's sleep, start your day off right with a tasty breakfast, made just for you.
Take advantage of out shuttle service to/from midtown Manhattan 8 times a day. View our shuttle service timetable (PDF).
ROUTE 80 EAST: I-80 East to I-95 North (local lanes). Take exit 71 (Broad Avenue). Turn right at the end of the exit ramp and follow Broad Avenue 3/10 mile. Turn right immediately before Route 4 overpass (sign for GWB Bridge), follow ramp up the hill and bear left onto Route 4 East. Proceed 1 mile. Stay to the right and take exit 72 ramp. The DoubleTree by Hilton Fort Lee entrance is to the right.
ROUTE 46 EAST: Route 46 East to Fort Lee, take Palisades Parkway exit (last exit in New Jersey). Follow signs to Route 4 West. Take Route 4 West approximately 1 1/2 miles. Take Jones Road exit. Make a left onto Jones Road and another left back on to Route 4 East. Proceed 1 mile. Stay to the right and take exit 72 ramp. The DoubleTree by Hilton Fort Lee entrance is to the right.
Take the New Jersey Turnpike north to Interstate-195 north. Exit at Exit 71 and go right to Broad Avenue. Turn right onto Route 4; the hotel is on the right.
LA GUARDIA --- Grand Central Pkwy to South Triborough Bridge, cross bridge follow to Major Deegan Expwy to cross Bronx Expwy to George Washington Bridge.Follow signs to Rte 4 West.Make U-turn @ Jones Rd to Rte 4 East. Hotel on right.
Van Wick Expwy West to Whitestone Bridge, to Hutchinson River Pkwy, to Cross Bronx Expwy to George Washington Bridge. Follow for Rte 4 West. Take Jones Rd exit, U-turn onto Rte 4 East. Hotel 1/4 mile on right.


3BR/2.55BA 3LVL TH w/ Garage & Many Upgrades! Nice hardwoods on main level. Remodeled Kit w/ Silestone counters, Stainless Steel appliances, recessed lighting, table space! Anderson SGD to nice deck backing to trees! BR's w/ vaulted ceilings! MBA w/ jetted tub & sep shower. LL Rec Rm w/ Gas FP! . Amenities incl Pool, Tennis, Playground, Fitness Ctr. Blocks to shopping, 1.5 Mile to Metro!


The 'Game of Thrones' actor partied a little too hard on Friday night.
Kit Harington made his first public appearance since getting kicked out of a bar for drunk and disorderly conduct on Friday night. The very next night, the Game of Thrones actor attended the 7th Annual Sean Penn & Friends Haiti Rising Gala with his co-star Emilia Clarke, where he looked fully recovered from his behavior of the previous evening!
Kit looked at ease with his co-star Emilia at the swanky event.
Emilia stunned in a button up red blouse and floor-length red skirt. The natural brunette has opted to go blonde these days, and she couldn't look more glamorous!
Kit opted for a black blazer over a simple black shirt.
On Friday night, Kit was caught acting drunk and disorderly at Barfly in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan. He was asked to leave the bar, and then escorted out when he returned a second time.
Are you surprised Kit stepped back into the spotlight after Friday night? Sound off in the comments below!


text:
Crocs Q1 Profit Dives, But Sales Edge Up
In What's New, Industry News by Jeff Prine May 1, 2014
Life beyond the clog: Crocs diversifies offerings
Niwot, CO—Stung by currency impact in Japan and Russia, a later Easter and a shift in product mix, Crocs Inc. reported Tuesday afternoon that its first quarter profit fell 68% though sales edged up.
For the quarter ended March 31, the footwear company reported net income of 6.4 million, or 6 cents a hare, down from $28.9 million, or 33 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding certain one-time charges, adjusted earnings were 14 cents a share. Analysts' average estimate expected 17 cents a share.
Net revenue edged up to $312.43 million compared to $311.66 million last year and beating analysts' estimate for $311.01 million in sales.
"Revenues for our business globally in the quarter were in line with our expectations," said outgoing CEO/President John McCarvel. "From a segment perspective, our Asia segment continued to deliver solid quarterly revenue growth across all channels and our Europe segment remained on the positive trajectory, which started late last year. We saw continued momentum in our non-clog portfolio during the quarter, as new collections like our Stretch Sole, with its patent-pending Fit2U Technology, and our Busy Day collection helped us further expand our brand into a casual footwear leader."
Factors affected the company's first quarter, however, included "the shift of the Easter holiday from March into April, negative currency impacts in Japan and Russia, and the change in product mix," said Jeff Lasher, Crocs chief financial officer.
Also, Russia, which comprises 15% of European sales had a weakening of the ruble in mid-January, he noted.
The company, which recently received an investment fromm Blackstone Group, is in a period of transition, Lasher said. For instance, sales of its iconic clog styles are moving downward (42% of sales vs. 47% in first quarter last year.)
Looking ahead, Crocs projected second quarter sales between $370 million to $374 million. Analysts' estimate calls for $377.37 million.
In related news, McCarvel retired on Wednesday and the board of directors is in the process of a search for his replacement. In the meantime, Thomas Smach, chairman of the board, will serve as interim chief executive officer.
"It has been an honor to be part of the Crocs global team for the past decade and to lead it since 2010," McCarvel said. "We've made tremendous progress as a company over these past 10 years–from a one-season, one-shoe, and one-country brand to a diversified, four-season global footwear leader that is on solid financial footing.
THA Tips Its Hats During Annual Industry Dinner
Words of Wisdom, Love and Friendship on Sex and the City
Tags: Footwear, Crocs, John McCarvel, Blackstone Group LP, Thomas Smach


text:
The Rev. Dr. Lloyd J. Ogilvie: "The Glorious Freedom of the Prisoners of Hope"
Libby Twain, the wife of novelist and humorist Mark Twain, was a proper lady who always was horrified at the amount of profanity her husband wove into his lectures and speeches. One day she decided she was going to cure him.
While tying his string bow tie one night before he left for a lecture, she looked him squarely in the eye, and with a sweet smile on her face she began to swear, using every word she had ever heard her husband use. Finally, she ran out of words, then stopped and waited for his response.
Mark Twain looked down into her eyes, and with a broad smile he said, "Libby, you got the words, but you ain't got the music."
On this Fourth of July weekend, in this post 9/11 era of tension and anxiety about the future, we need hope.
The Music of Hope
Hope is more than words, though. Yes, it is far more than carefully turned phrases or slogans or self-help pep talks. To be real, hope must live inside us. We don't possess hope; hope possesses us. Authentic hope captures us and, at the same time, sets us free.
Hope is the music of life. It gives us zest, gusto, and verve. Hope puts a song in our hearts. It not only gets our feet tapping but it gives us the freedom to move out into the "dance of life" with energy and excitement.
Prisoners of Hope
In one of the more obscure books in the Old Testament, God calls His people by a name that describes this captivating, liberating quality of hope. "Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope" (Zech. 9:12). This magnificent word-portrait is set against the backdrop of the prediction of the coming of the divine messianic King who would bring salvation.
In anticipation of the coming of the Messiah-King, God's people were encouraged to sing and shout:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zech. 9:9).
Zechariah's message was addressed to his countrymen who had returned to Jerusalem after years of exile in Babylon. Although they had been prisoners during those years, they were hopeful, because they were sustained by the dream of Jerusalem. Now these "prisoners of hope" were involved in the rebuilding of their Temple and the Holy City. The prophet Zechariah, whose name means "the Lord remembers," was pointing their way toward their future of hope.
Our founding fathers and foremothers were prisoners of hope, and yet it was a glorious freedom they had because of hope. Their hope was to establish a new nation with God as Sovereign, not some human monarch. Our forefathers and foremothers established a clear separation between sectarianism and state, but never separation of God and state. The words "separation of church and state" do not appear in our Constitution. Their origin is in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptists who were fearful that the government might choose a denomination to be the "state" church. Jefferson wrote his letter on January 1, 1802 to reassure the Baptists that this could not happen. At no point did Jefferson argue for a separation of God and state. He clearly sounded warning against neglect of God: "God who gave us life, gave us liberty. Can these liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gifts of God?"
Three days ago we celebrated the birth of our Nation with the Declaration of Independence. We heard again the words of patriotism in many speeches. But did the touch of memory take in our souls? What new resolve did you make about your citizenship? Could you be called a prisoner of hope? Hope for your life, those around you and the unfinished American dream.
I have selected this passage from among the Scriptures listed in the Lectionary for this Sunday because it prompts us to think about our freedom and our hope for our beloved Nation. First let's talk about true hope, and then about how it can give us courage in these terror-troubled times.
At first, the words "prisoner" and "hope" seem contradictory. And yet they belong together when God sets them to the music of His Son. In a way, hope does make us a prisoner. It is true that Christ came to set us free, but in His freedom we are firmly bonded to Him forever. His bond of hope, though, makes us radiant, vibrant, singing people. We become tireless, persistent in claiming the Lord's promises in each new day.
It was this idea that prompted George Mattheson, a blind Scots poet and preacher whose life was a song of hope many years ago, to write:
Make me a captive, Lord, And then I shall be free; Force me to render up my sword, And I shall conqueror be. I sink in life's alarms When by myself I stand; Imprison me within Thine arms, And strong shall be my hand.
My heart is weak and poor Until it master find; It has no spring of action sure— It varies with the wind. It cannot freely move Till Thou has wrought its chain; Enslave it with Thy matchless love, And deathless it shall reign.
My will is not my own Till Thou hast made it Thine; If it would reach a monarch's throne It must it's crown resign; It only stands unbent Amid the clashing strife When on Thy bosom it has leant And found in Thee its life.
As the psalmist wrote, "Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. For He has done marvelous things…" (Ps. 98:1). Don't sing a different song each day, but sing the same song of hope for each new situation in which we can confidently expect God's presence and power— and freedom!
Prisoner of the Lord
The most free human being who ever lived called himself a "prisoner of the Lord" (Eph. 3:1). Because the Lord imprisoned Paul with the splendor of hope, he could sing in man-made prisons. His hopeful song and the Lord's intervention at a midnight hour so astounded the Philippian jail keeper that he cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" In response to Paul's answer he and his whole family became Christians.
There were only a few thousand Christians when Paul was converted on the road to Damascus. By the end of his life, the far reaches of the then-known world had heard the gospel from Paul or from those whose lives he had touched with the transforming power Christ's hope. Hope dominated the apostle with single-mindedness in both his prayers and messages. He wrote the Christians at Rome about his prayers for them, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13). He told them that when he came to them, he would share the secret of that abounding, overflowing hope. "But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Rom. 15:29). What Paul wanted for his Christian friends in Rome is meant for us as well. We are to be people full of hope—and of "music."
Hope is the energy of the Christian life. It makes everything else work. Somerset Maugham in Of Human Bondage says, "Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five." Of course, that's wide of the mark. But what is on target is that hope is a sixth spiritual sense that fires the five cardinal qualities of the Christian life—faith, love, commitment, vision, and service. As prisoners of hope—people confident of Christ's indwelling presence and intervention in their needs—we can be irrepressible in our enthusiasm. Our heritage is to live with tiptoe anticipation of what Christ will do for us in the most mundane duties and the most momentous problems of any day. Hope has set us free from berating ourselves over the past or brooding about the future. We are liberated to live.
No Hope, No Freedom
Nikos Kazantzakis, (Ka-zan-zákis)the Greek novelist had his own words placed as an epitaph on his gravestone, "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free." What a sad way to die and what a horrible way to live. It's the quality of our hope that determines whether we can be fearless and free. The kind of hope Christ releases in our souls frees us from fear of anything or anyone. We are free from the tyranny of "things"—free to follow His will. This freedom keeps our lives focused on our primary goal of living every day to love and glorify Him. And we are then free to pursue our secondary goals related to our families or our work.
Measure of Maturity
Karl Menninger, the eminent psychiatrist and Christian, once said, "The hopes we develop are the measure of our maturity." Human perceptions of what hope is usually involve wishful thinking. We all have wishes for ourselves, for other people, and for the future. These wishes are the result of our human desires— that what we have evaluated would be best for us and others, or for some situation. Sometimes we try to wish things into existence, while at the same time we attempt to wish away other things.
A facsimile of authentic hope is yearning. We incorrectly use the word hope to express this longing. Our daily expressions, "Well, I hope so!" or, "Here's hoping" or, "Where there's life there's hope!" are rooted in our humanly induced yearning. It is an intensified brand of wishing. We try to make things happen by yearning them into being.
This yearning sometimes masquerades for prayer. Winston Churchill said, "We build our houses and then our houses build us." In the same way we draft our castles in the air according to our specifications and then yearn for God to help us build them. Often we are disappointed when He doesn't build the castles of our dreams on time, or when He has other plans for what is best for us.
Optimism is another bogus substitute for genuine hope. Richard Rodgers' song from South Pacific sung with such gusto by the late Mary Martin, began, "I'm only a cockeyed optimist." Lots of what we call optimism is cockeyed. Optimism and hope are confused so often. Creative optimism is a by-product of something more than a happy disposition. There are people who have what seems to be an optimistic personality because of their conditioning and experience. However, unless optimism is based on something more solid, often the optimist sets himself or herself up for big disappointments. I've lived through the fires of difficulty with too many ungrounded optimists to suggest that optimism alone lasts for the long pull when the going gets really rough.
"Well," you say, "if hope isn't wishing or yearning or surface optimism, what is it?"
The Holy Spirit is the source of lasting hope. One with the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit could be called the Spirit of hope. When He seals us and we keep on allowing Him to fill us, hope is engendered in us through His indwelling presence.
It may be difficult for some to think of hope as a manifestation of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. We are so used to thinking of hope as something we must produce. When we experience uncertain and difficult times, we search within ourselves to try to conjure up hope. Often we place our expectations on what someone can do for us or on some magic reversal of disturbing circumstances. In tough times, I've found that asking the Holy Spirit for hope has brought about wonderful results. He actually produces the hope I could not develop on my own. He reminds me of the Father's faithfulness and leads me back to Calvary and the empty tomb. He gives me fresh confidence to trust the future to my reigning Lord and Savior. It's then that I can affirm the triple-braided cord and sing with hymn writer James Small:
He drew me with the cords of love And thus He drew me to Him. And 'round my heart still closely twine Those ties which can't be severed. For I am His, and He is mine, Forever and forever.
Hope Through the Spirit of Hope
We need a fresh supply of abounding hope to face the abrasive demands of life. I can't remember a day that there wasn't some relationship, problem, or challenging opportunity in which I needed hope.
The wishings, yearnings, and self-induced optimism I mentioned earlier just won't do— nor will placing my expectations on people, or the idea that eventually things work out, or the idea that "time heals everything." I need a daily tonic of hope to fire my blood, clear my mind, and impel my will. Time alone with the Holy Spirit to talk out my worries and fears, uncertainties and complexities, as well as my need for clarity and vision, has now become an absolute necessity. I need the perspective of the Lord's plans for me as the context of hope, coupled with a fresh draught of hope from the Holy Spirit Himself. Coming to know the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of hope has revolutionized my life. I used to pray for hope thinking I could run off in my own direction to use it to keep me stabilized in the rough and tumble of a demanding schedule. Now I know that lasting hope is a by-product of consistent communion with the Holy Spirit.
Hope on the Creative Edge
Hope is the special gift of the Lord for the creative edge of our lives in which we realize that if anything of lasting value is to be done, He must do it. Our only task is to discover what He's doing, where He's breaking through, and then join and follow Him.
We can be sure that He will lead us into opportunities to serve. Hope is the special gift given to those committed to be servants. Christ came not to be served but to serve. He told His disciples, "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master'" (John 15:20). Christ emulated servanthood and called us to nothing less. When we ask and answer the question "As a servant of Christ and of people, in His name, what can I do to serve unselfishly?" we can be assured that supernatural power will be released in us and around us. The assurance of that power gives us the Lord's hope for His agenda of serving. Luther was right: the Christian is subject to none and yet servant of all.
Return to the Stonghold
How do we rediscover our true freedom as prisoners of hope? Our text gives us the secret. Return to the stronghold. Our stronghold is the Lord Himself. He is our sure defense and deliverer. In Scripture the word "return" is used in conjunction with repentance. Our celebration of the 4th of July is a time for repentance. After the speeches and fireworks are over it will be our repentance that will strengthen our nation in this post 9-11 terrorism world. Allow me to illustrate an experience I had of returning to the stronghold with the members of Congress.
Almost seven months ago to the day, on December 4, 2001 an historic meeting took place in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. Concurrent Resolution 83 had been passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate establishing December 4 as a Day of Reconciliation and calling for a meeting of Members of both Houses to come together in the Rotunda with the Chaplains of the House and Senate for a two hour prayer meeting.
A palpable air of expectancy filled the Rotunda at 5:00 p.m. that afternoon. Throughout the two hours that followed Representatives and Senators shared prayers for the Nation and asked God for His blessing for their leadership. The motto of the meeting was, "When there is no where else to turn, return to the Lord."


text:
AI Social Distancing Tool Keeps People "Safe"
April 23, 2020 April 23, 2020 renegade 7 Comments
Renegade Editor's Note: I obviously do not endorse Daisy playing along with the BS that Covid-19 could truly be a deadly virus. This is such an obvious hoax. I republish this story for the Orwellian implications.
By Daisy Luther
Landing AI has created a new tool to help keep people "safe" by spying on them with a camera that measures whether or not they're properly participating in social distancing. Because who needs privacy when there's a deadly virus around, right?
Landing AI's blog says:
To complement our customers' efforts and to help ensure social distancing protocol in their workplace, Landing AI has developed an AI-enabled social distancing detection tool that can detect if people are keeping a safe distance from each other by analyzing real time video streams from the camera.
For example, at a factory that produces protective equipment, technicians could integrate this software into their security camera systems to monitor the working environment with easy calibration steps. As the demo shows below, the detector could highlight people whose distance is below the minimum acceptable distance in red, and draw a line between to emphasize this. The system will also be able to issue an alert to remind people to keep a safe distance if the protocol is violated.
As part of an ongoing effort to keep our customers and others safe, and understanding that the only way through this is with global collaboration, we wanted to share the technical methodology we used to develop this software. (source)
Watch the quick video below.
Watching life go on through the eyes of an artificial intelligence device has a certain sense of dystopia. The technology highlights "people whose distance is below the minimum acceptable distance in red, and draw a line between to emphasize this."
What will they do to enforce it? Make people wear shock collars that will give them a little zap when they get to close to a fellow human being? Deploy a drone to give them a verbal warning? Dispatch a human being to get within six feet and threaten them with arrest, resulting in even more contact?
Landing AI doesn't mention that. Instead, they conclude cheerfully:
As medical experts point out, until a vaccine becomes available, social distancing is our best tool to help mitigate the coronavirus pandemic and as we open up the economy. Our goal with creating this tool and sharing it at such an early stage, is to help our customers and to encourage others to explore new ideas to keep us safe. (source)
AI in the workplace
Landing AI is a company out of California that will work "closely with you to empower your company to become an AI-driven organization" and they hope to "influence the emerging AI generation."
Some workplaces may be launching AI technology in the age of social distancing.
One potential use touted for the technology is that it would enable workplaces to monitor their employees to make sure they are operating within the advised distance of each other. It's even able to issue alerts to remind them to re-establish that distance if they break the rules.
The system works by using an artificial 'neural network' that detects individuals and draws a box around them. If two boxes come too close to each other, they are highlighted in red.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Amazon has already introduced similar technology in its warehouses, and has warned workers they could be fired if they violate social distancing guidelines. (source)
So, just in case your workplace isn't already looking over your shoulder to a sufficient degree, your every move could soon be digitally downloaded.
Your privacy is "safe" with Landing AI.
Oh, and there's no need for privacy concerns. Landing AI says that those deploying their system should only use it on people who have given their "informed consent."
The rise of computer vision has opened up important questions about privacy and individual rights; our current system does not recognize individuals, and we urge anyone using such a system to do so with transparency and only with informed consent. (source)
Because we know that'll happen when they pop this bad boy into the already-existing surveillance cameras in cities across America. They'll be sure to let us know they're now also measuring how close e get to our fellow humans too and of course they'd never use other tech to identify "offenders."
Don't worry. It's just to keep us "safe."
At this point, the word "safe" should now be looked upon with suspicion any time it's used in a sentence uttered by the government or anyone who contracts with the government. Just like the way people can be kept "safe" by not being allowed to purchase non-essentials (to be determined by the government) from open stores. Or how Baltimore has deployed surveillance drones 24 hours a day to keep people "safe."
We've now crossed the Rubicon between intelligent measures to reduce the spread of illness and authoritarian control. The protests are growing daily.
At some point in the not-so-distant future, people are going to completely rebel and we'll all be dealing with the fallout. Or potentially worse, nobody will rebel and this will become our everyday lives. We'll be so "safe" that we'll never experience true freedom again.
Will the overreach be here to stay?
In the words of Rahm Emmanuel, former mayor of Chicago, President Obama's Chief of Staff, and senior advisor to President Clinton, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not before."
Our government, along with governments around the world, are taking those words to heart. Please do not think that surveillance deployed now will just go away if or when the virus is eradicated. Don't believe it for a minute when you are told the measures are only temporary.
All you have to do is remember the Patriot Act and take a look at your "travel papers" if you've got them, to realize the infringements on our freedom happening now are very likely here to stay with only some minor modifications to make us feel like we're "free" again.
This is dividing our country.
All of this may sound like I support infected people being out there willy-nilly and mingling with everybody else. That's not the case. You can be concerned about a deadly virus, the economy, and freedom all at the same time. These things are not mutually exclusive.
But we're being made to feel that you have to choose only one thing to worry about and to hell with the rest. We're being pitted against one another and that never ends well. And the longer the population is locked up and kept from making a living, the higher tensions are going to rise. Civil unrest is already happening and it's inevitable that it will get worse.
What do you think of yet another surveillance device being used on us? Are you more concerned with the virus, the economy, or the attacks on personal liberty? Or are you concerned with all of the above? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: The Organic Prepper
Daisy Luther writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, voluntaryism, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, The Organic Prepper. She is widely republished across alternative media and she curates all the most important news links on her aggregate site, PreppersDailyNews.com. Daisy is the best-selling author of 4 books and runs a small digital publishing company. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
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Israeli Settlers and Soldiers Wound 105 Palestinian Civilians in Jerusalem
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September 9, 2015 Kyle 3
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July 16, 2020 renegade 3
Yesterday, the UK government's 'top medical advisor' declared the lock-down will last AT LEAST till the end of the year. They are looking at making the public install an app on their mobile phone which uses bluetooth to connect to other people's phones. It warns of people who apparently already have this fantasy bug, and that you will now have it too because they got too close. It then goes on to warn other people about you being a threat to them. It's like some sinister Pokemon Go game purely designed to control our movement, to deter… Read more »
Ernest Eck
Reply to James
The Junited Kingdom is not a nation it is a communist ZOG globalist state engaged in biological and technological terrorism. Globalist Britain is Anti English and is engaged in reverse colonialism using a mass migration invasion army from the colonies that it still controls through Rothschild central usury banks to replace the true native English population. During the Covert 1984 plandemic Englishmen will be LockedUP not lockedDOWN and prevented from recording and reporting on the invasion of their former country by the ZOG hordes. Down With Big ZOG.
It could very well cause so much hysteria among sheeple that they go bonkers and lynches people who get too close. How they will solve the problem with lynching another human being without getting to close I do not know and neither do they. In best case scenarios some of them will maybe go Oooops! afterwards when they have calmed down.
Same here in Australia….the app is to be stored in US cloud Amazon….Oz biz excluded from the app …. pre planned to go to Amazon, probably same with UK ? We are hearing lock down lifting in 4ish weeks but a lot of noise about no jab no job
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-24/amazon-to-provide-cloud-services-for-coronavirus-tracing-app/12176682
(((Coronavirus))) Israel's Maccabi Healthcare Services Launches AI-Powered Algorithm to Detect Potential High-Risk COVID-19 Cases
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/israels-maccabi-healthcare-services-launches-ai-powered-algorithm-to-detect-potential-high-risk-covid-19-cases-301045065.html
GreeenFireLazer
If viruses worked the way they say they do they'd be way more concerned with updating ventilation systems, lol. With the aim of having a low humidity and low dust particle environment that's being constantly filtered in high volumes. With out that you'd already have it by the second time you went out shopping. There would be no need for social distancing, expensive cameras, and hysteria if the air you exhale immediately goes straight up and out, if again viruses exist let alone work the way they say they do.
violet sky
Will they be able to keep robbers and murderers away from us with this "social distancing tool" ?
Or they will probably allow them to operate as always. The NKVD instructions were to allow the criminal elements in society to operate mostly unhindered everywhere in order to keep the rest of the people in a continuous state of tension.


text:
Treat Easter Island Moai statue at British Museum like human remains, says international law expert
The Moai statue, named the Hoa Hakananai'a, has been in the possession of the British Museum since around 1870, after it was taken to England from the Chilean island by Richard Powell, captain of HMS Topaze Credit: Stephen Chung/London News Pictures Ltd
Izzy Lyons
1 December 2018 • 9:35pm
Easter Island's Moai statue should be "treated like human remains", an expert in international law has said.
The Moai statue, named the Hoa Hakananai'a, has been in the possession of the British Museum since around 1870, after it was taken to England from the Chilean island by Richard Powell, captain of HMS Topaze.
But the indigenous population of Easter Island, known as the Rapa Nui, have requested it is returned.
The British Museum are only considering a temporary loan of three to five months as they believe "there is great value in presenting objects from across the world" in London.
Paz Zarate, a legal practitioner in public international law who has experience of cases before the International Court of Justice, said: "The case of the Easter Island Moai statue is different from other cases British museums are facing. What distinguishes it is that it's a claim being made by indigenous people.
"For them, this is not an object or a statue. For them this is a grandfather and it's full of spirit needed back in the island to care for the people. This is family for them and it helps explain their emotional reaction.
"This case should be treated like we are dealing with human remains, not just a statue. In Western culture, we treat human remains with reverence because this is how we honour the past of our ancestors. In other cultures, they have other ways of honouring the dead. For them, this is their way."
The Easter Island dispute follows several other claims the British Museum face, including returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece and the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
Ms Zarate, who studied her doctorate in international law at the University of Oxford, said: "You can say that the Greeks are attached to the Elgin Marbles, that the Nigerians are attached to the Benin Bronzes, but it's not the same degree of attachment as it is for the Easter Islanders.
"Out of all the 900 Moais built by the Rapa Nui people, this is the finest of all."
Felipe Ward, Chile's National Treasures Minister, said: "I do agree that this moai is so much more than an object. A long time ago, when someone important died, it was built by the Rapa Nui community even with the physical features of the deceased.
"I am confident that this campaign and also the conversations that we had with the British Museum authorities, are heading in the right direction."
The British Museum said it hoped to develop positive collaborations with the Rapa Nui community.


text:
Delta C-7
P 2652 Student Conduct on Buses
The safety of students during their transportation to and from school is a responsibility which they and their parents/guardians share with the bus drivers and school officials. Therefore, the rules of student conduct will be issued to all students at the beginning of the school year, and to new students upon enrollment.
© 2022 Delta C-7 | Policies Provided By Missouri Consultants for Education | Powered By Static Dynamics | Ver 4.8


Want to create something more fun than smartphone apps that everyone can enjoy together!!
Until now, I've developed popular apps for smartphones and tablets, but I want to find ways for more people to have fun! So this time I'm jumping out of small screens, onto the grand stage of projection mapping to create a game which both children and adults can enjoy together at a time! Playing this game will require thinking and cooperation, and it will nurture children's creativity!


text:
<?php

namespace Drupal\Tests\migrate_drupal\Kernel\dependencies;

use Drupal\Component\Utility\SafeMarkup;
use Drupal\migrate\MigrateExecutable;
use Drupal\Tests\migrate_drupal\Kernel\d6\MigrateDrupal6TestBase;

/**
 * Ensure the consistency among the dependencies for migrate.
 *
 * @group migrate_drupal
 */
class MigrateDependenciesTest extends MigrateDrupal6TestBase {

  /**
   * {@inheritdoc}
   */
  public static $modules = ['aggregator', 'comment'];

  /**
   * Tests that the order is correct when loading several migrations.
   */
  public function testMigrateDependenciesOrder() {
    $migration_items = ['d6_comment', 'd6_filter_format', 'd6_node:page'];
    $migrations = $this->container->get('plugin.manager.migration')->createInstances($migration_items);
    $expected_order = ['d6_filter_format', 'd6_node:page', 'd6_comment'];
    $this->assertIdentical(array_keys($migrations), $expected_order);
    $expected_requirements = [
      // d6_comment depends on d6_node:*, which the deriver expands into every
      // variant of d6_node.
      'd6_node:article',
      'd6_node:company',
      'd6_node:employee',
      'd6_node:event',
      'd6_node:page',
      'd6_node:sponsor',
      'd6_node:story',
      'd6_node:test_event',
      'd6_node:test_page',
      'd6_node:test_planet',
      'd6_node:test_story',
      'd6_node_type',
      'd6_node_settings',
      'd6_filter_format',
      'd6_user',
      'd6_comment_type',
      'd6_comment_entity_display',
      'd6_comment_entity_form_display',
    ];
    // Migration dependencies for comment include dependencies for node
    // migration as well.
    $actual_requirements = $migrations['d6_comment']->get('requirements');
    $this->assertIdentical(count($actual_requirements), count($expected_requirements));
    foreach ($expected_requirements as $requirement) {
      $this->assertIdentical($actual_requirements[$requirement], $requirement);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Tests dependencies on the migration of aggregator feeds & items.
   */
  public function testAggregatorMigrateDependencies() {
    /** @var \Drupal\migrate\Plugin\Migration $migration */
    $migration = $this->getMigration('d6_aggregator_item');
    $executable = new MigrateExecutable($migration, $this);
    $this->startCollectingMessages();
    $executable->import();
    $this->assertEqual($this->migrateMessages['error'], [SafeMarkup::format('Migration @id did not meet the requirements. Missing migrations d6_aggregator_feed. requirements: d6_aggregator_feed.', ['@id' => $migration->id()])]);
    $this->collectMessages = FALSE;
  }

}