text:
Scott Lynch update
Publié par Patrick on Saturday, March 13, 2010
Scott Lynch posted something on his LiveJournal a few days back. And since detractors and whiners always seem to be bitching about how late authors like George R. R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and Scott Lynch are in delivering the eagerly anticipated next installment in their respective series, I thought it would be good to remind those people that SFF writers are normal human beings and sometimes they have to deal with a crisis, just like you and me. Hard to believe, I know. . .
Read this and you'll get a better understanding as to why The Republic of Thieves (Canada, USA, Europe) is late. . .
From Lynch's LJ:
Your Mood And How to Swing It
So, it should really come as no surprise to anyone that I'm a moody ol' son of a bitch, and that I have long preferred to work in the severest sort of isolation. My geographic position in rural Wisconsin makes it much too easy to maintain this posture, even when I'm feeling sociable. It also makes it particularly easy to dismiss steadily-worsening emotional problems as nothing more than further harmless sideshows at the Carnival of Quirks.
It's supposed to come with the territory... writers are supposed to be eccentric. We have cultural dispensation to be fruit loops. It makes for good back-cover blurbs, and it spices up our Wikipedia entries after we're dead and can no longer object to the edits.
But what's been happening to me for the past half year and more (and had precursor episodes over the past several years that are now looking more and more obvious in hindsight) can't be passed off as eccentricity or a quirk of mood.
I have occasionally taken deliberate breaks from the internet-at-large, but my silence of the past few months has not been by choice.
I have been dealing for some time with bouts of depression, which have been bad, and ongoing panic attacks, which have been orders of magnitude worse-- positively crippling.
These attacks worsened sharply during the Season of the Long Flu last fall and reached the point where they interfered with nearly everything I tried to do, making it impossible to write, communicate, and sometimes even think straight. It has been a long, sore trial for everyone around me and it ain't over yet. I do not have a firm grip on precisely what causes the damn things, though they are related to my work, my reading, my writing, and my intellectual life. They are very much an ongoing problem.
So, for the first time in my life, I am in therapy.
We really have yet to make any progress but it has been some use and comfort, at least, merely to get the process started.
I am not terribly eager to talk about all the details of this just yet. You'll have to settle for the basic admission. Even that isn't easy, believe me.
I suppose it's only natural coincidence, but it really is incredible how, when you finally grit your teeth and force yourself to admit that you have a genuine problem, you suddenly begin to see echoes and references to that problem in everything you watch, read, or listen to. Time and time again I find myself fighting down a cold, hollow sensation when encountering fictional portrayals of anxiety and depression that I previously found deeply amusing. I'd really like to fast-forward to a time in my life when I can find it all funny again.
Queen of the Iron Sands will continue, and shortly. One of the main reasons for the serial project was to try and combat my growing sense of unease and anxiety over showing anyone my work (this is an aspect of the panic attacks). Unfortunately, my scheme didn't quite work and the panic attacks beat the hell out of me for several months. I'm hopeful that I'm nearly ready to start trying again, but I won't make any firm promises until the files are uploaded.
So please show some respect and stop bitching. . . My thoughts are with Scott Lynch and his family.
As much as I feel for the guy, I'm not really ok with the term "bitching" and the bashing of people who are complaining. I think that if you're not a fast writer, your nerves (and those of your fans) would be in a considerably better state if you did stand-alone work. I guess that makes me a "bitch" or something...
No, Roland, it makes you an asshole.
isis said...
The thing is, Pat, that people should show this respect anyway WITHOUT being told the full gory details of an author's personal problems. It should be ASSUMED that an author is a real person who may have all kinds of issues to deal with, which are simply NOT ANYBODY ELSE'S BUSINESS. There are all kinds of reasons for people to be unable to do their job and they do not automatically become everyone else's business just because that person is a published author. All those assumptions that were made about SL when his online presence was diminished were revolting and completely unnecessary.
The immature, ill-mannered idiots who think that an author owes them a personal explanation for the delayed publication of a sequel need to grow the fuck up and get a life. Seriously.
Wow. I cannot believe that even after being explicitly told the very personal reason that an author has not been able to complete their next book someone will still appear to give them 'advice' about how they should conduct their life. You're a fucking moron, Roland.
Although i understand the points brought up by Roland and Isis, i wouldn't sign them straight away.
I honor SL's outing as a move of courage and will not further comment on this, but i wish him all the best.
MY point of view is a VERY different one:
Since SEVERAL years the buyers are
trained by the publishers to expect one volume each year, and if this doesn't happen, they go up in flames (and flame.....)
..and before this turns into a huge
rant, i cut it off.....
P.K., Berlin
I second Roland´s opinion.
And something else to add
"It should be ASSUMED that an author is a real person who may have all kinds of issues to deal with"
Oh how wonderful! I guess I will tell this sentence to my boss, the next time I am facing a problem in real life and it´s affecting the overall quality of my work. I guess he will be so understanding and not kick my ass...
Stop living in a dream world. Authors are not beyond other people.
"Oh how wonderful! I guess I will tell this sentence to my boss, the next time I am facing a problem in real life and it´s affecting the overall quality of my work. I guess he will be so understanding and not kick my ass..."
You idiot, you're not Scott Lynch's boss. He owes nothing to you.
The whole argument "an author owes nothing to the ones who buy his or her work" is just flawed and stupid.
Does the school teacher owe nothing to his or her students? Does the doctor owe nothing to his or her patients? Does the manager owe nothing to his or her employees? Does the priest owe nothing to his or her followers? Does the social worker owe nothing to his or her clients on the street?
Authors and artists in general are no exception.
Craterus said...
The thing is, Authors, like every other professional who relies on a consumer to purchase their wares, should, before anything else be HONEST with those consumers. Scott has done this and I respect him for it.
Thats not to say he has to tell me the in's and out of this life, but if you are going to have an online presence and use that clever marketing tool to interract with your fans, you should stick to it and be honest whilst using it. Lynch, Martin, Rothfuss, and a whole host of authors have used their blogs to interact and solidify their fanbase. It should be a two way street or they shouldnt use it at all.
A good example is someone like Abercrombie, he uses his blog perfectly and respects his fans. On the other side you have Hoffman (left hand of god), who to my knowledges doesnt even have a web page. Both are fine, but using the web to your advantage and then not understanding why people have grown used to getting updates is unprofessional and egotistical.
Yes Authors are human, but as anonymouse just said, they have to live in the real world like the rest of us.
I think Scott has done the right thing, I now will not expect to see his series finished and if it is it will be a nice surprise. I wish him nowt but the best. At least he is not going to drag it out for 5 years and keep pretending to be nearly finished so we all keep him our attention on him..
And it just carries on. How depressing.
Seriously there's more important things in life than the publication date of a sodding book. Way more important stuff!
If an author is a few years late then go for a walk,get married, have a wank! Anything but the constant whingeing.
I cant believe people hold tot he opinion that authors owe us the readers anything.
Oh how wonderful! I guess I will tell this sentence to my boss, the next time I am facing a problem in real life and it´s affecting the overall quality of my work. I guess he will be so understanding and not kick my ass..."
Is this for real or are you really mentally retarded.
The issue of whether an author owes his fans is totally separate from this issue. Scott Lynch is suffering from a mental illness. Whether or not he owes his fans a book, he's unable to provide it right now. Period. He needs to take the time he needs to get healthy, and consider himself fortunate that he works in a profession where he is allowed the kind of leeway he will need to get healthy.
Trust me, there are plenty of jobs where a boss would be more than happy to tell someone to shape up or get another job. We wouldn't want to be treated that way, and we shouldn't treat Mr. Lynch that way either.
We can save the argument over who owes who something for when the delay isn't caused by an illness.
Sorry Allan, are you saying that authors are in some way our 'employees'or am I totally getting the wrong idea here?
the anonymous poster of 8.59 us spot on, this issue with Scott's illness is different to the issue of what a author does or doesn't owe readers.
Scott, having been honest about his situation now deserves our respect.
Dungeonmum said...
Sorry to hear this. I've never suffered with depression (and hope I never do), so can't imagine what he and his family are experiencing at the moment. Hope Scott finds a way out of this dark time soon.
Scho said...
I hope you are alright. Inspiration is important to writing a book. Try to relax and the ideas can come easier.
"The whole argument "an author owes nothing to the ones who buy his or her work" is just flawed and stupid.
Authors and artists in general are no exception."
Yes, I've seen people make this type of comparison before. It remains completely irrelevant to the point where someone raising it does so only to be argumentative, not to make any kind of serious point.
An author is a freelancer producing a unique product that only they can produce. They only get paid after the product is on the shelves. They are not working on the clock for anyone.
If an author was working in a publisher-provided office on his novel 9-5, five days a week, and was being paid by the hour, then the publisher can complain about the author's lack of progress and 'fire' them if they deem it necessary. Since they don't, the comparison is non-existent.
I agree that an author does not owe anyone a book at yearly intervals. Fans though should not be told that a book is done and will be out on a given date until it really is done. Whether this is a mistake done by the publishers or the author it does not matter. Authors keep blogging that they will or have the book done so we are expecting it. I'll wait until it's done but please don't tell me it's done when it's not. Publishers and Amazon should show the same respect. They also put unjust pressure on a author when they do this.
As much as I appreciate anonymous randomers telling me I'm an "asshole" and "fucking moron" (btw I appreciate the moderation Pat!), I can't help but wonder did anyone actually bothered to read my comment.
Like I said, I feel for the guy. It's terrible having to fight a mental illness. I've seen it before and I know how tough it is. And I completely agree with this comment:
"I think Scott has done the right thing, I now will not expect to see his series finished and if it is it will be a nice surprise. I wish him nowt but the best. At least he is not going to drag it out for 5 years and keep pretending to be nearly finished so we all keep him our attention on him.."
Because, let's face it, whoever's fault it is (publishers, greedy authors, I don't care), readers are now used to a reasonably short periods of waiting until the next book of a series comes out. And I don't think this is entirely wrong, considering the fact that lasting interest is what keeps multi-volume sagas alive after all. And isn't it then more logical to have them come out as quickly as reasonably possible, so that I don't get married and have two kids in the interval between book 2 and book 3?
So if an author KNOWS he couldn't follow a tighter schedule (I appreciate the fact that some can and some can't, that's perfectly normal), isn't it better for everyone if they just try and publish stand-alone work?
I cannot agree that authors don't owe us anything. True, they don't have an OBLIGATION to us. But when you go out hunting, you should expect there is a risk to be mauled by a bear, right? Authors wouldn't exist without readers. It's a symbiotic existence and even if I don't pay the guy directly, his stature as a writer depends solely on my interest in his work as well as the interest of every one of his readers. And so yes, in a certain sense they don't owe us anything. In another sense though they owe us EVERYTHING. I'm looking at you George Martin!
Whether this is a mistake done by the publishers or the author it does not matter. Authors keep blogging that they will or have the book done so we are expecting it.
Sometimes, though, that mistaken expectation isn't the fault of the publishers or the writers; it's the fault of the fans.
Some people see those "Manuscript done! Off to the publisher! Look at this ridiculous stack of paper!" posts as meaning that they can expect the book to be for sale next week.
Some of them don't realize that there are still a lot of steps, and therefore time, between that "Done!" post and the release.
That is true, but I don't think anyone is bitching about it. I mean, when the manuscript is done, the author has done his job. As a general rule, publishers want to publish as quickly as possible. How about waiting 10 years for the middle part in a series though? Is that the fans' fault?
Adam Whitehead commenting on something remotely GRRM related? Shocking. Hey Adam, SHUT THE F**K UP. NOBODY LIKES YOU.
If GRRM had gone to any trouble to communicate to his fans, there would be no argument. End of story.
Get well Scott, we're pulling for you.
1. Hey, anonymous person that has an issue with Werthead - tell people who you are, or STFU. Pretty simple, really...
Other anonymous persons - grow up. Please! Is it asking so fucking much? I feel sorry for people around you that you are SO pathetic... is it really worth me typing this...
2. Hey, Roland: I read your posts... and I stand by my post. You ARE a cock.
Keep it up, loser...
Wow. You tell someone to grow up with one side of your mouth, then call someone a cock with the other side...........
Yes you have it wrong , most my post was quoting what someone else had said earlier in the comments, I was saying I whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that authors owe us readers anything.
That even after Lynch comes out and tells us something deeply personal, we still have people calling him out for not delivering a novel in whatever personal time frame they think it should have been written in.
Roland:
I was only addressing Anonymous' point about writers' "Done!" posts causing people to expect the book and/or that writers should lay off of those posts until the book is 'really' done. Not so much the larger complaining-about-'late'-books stuff.
Hmm, where exactly in this post has anyone "called" Lynch "out for not delivering a novel in whatever personal time frame they think it should have been written in"? I reread the whole thing, and still couldn't find it. Must be because I'm a cock and an asshole.
@ isis
I am anon because I don't want to make an account, I have too many floating around the interwebs already. BTW, what is the difference? Is Isis your real name? Regardless, I stand by my desire to see Adam Werhead STFU about GRRM. Are they dating or something? Why the epic hard-on to defend a him? Jeez.
And how is GRRM's total disregard for non-GRRiMlin fans and utter lack of professionalism even remotely related to Scott Lynch's personal problems? These are two different issues here and Patrick is trying to use Mr. Lynch's post as a reason why GRRM detractors should "leave Brittany alone."
Our detractor community is amused at the predictable dearth of Dance updates now that HBO has given the greenlight to the series. Of course no one "owes" us anything, but if someone acts like an ass for five years, we have the right to call him out on it. So let me express myself: The man is an ass.
Hope he finishes Dance before con season, or we'll be waiting another year.
"Take as long as you want George."
"Don't worry, I will."
-scorpiknox
People have again brought up the authors owing us something line, which seeing this is a post about Lynch and his illness , would certainly point to people being pissed that Lynch hasn't got RoT out yet :
And for the record , you are indeed a cock
^^^ That was a great counter argument. Really great. Well thought out and just, well, great.
I like how you summarized what you were about to quote, and then quoted, and then you called him a cock. How do find room for all your debate team trophies?
It's amazing how quickly this descended into name calling and general assholery :p
Well, people kept saying that Rothfuss was spending all of his time wanking instead of writing The Wise Man's Fear, and then the author announced that his mom has cancer (or another grave illness)and this was affecting him quite profoundly.
SFF fans are very quick to judge and point fingers, and they don't look good when the truth comes out.
Well, it actually STARTED that way...
Kudos to scorpiknox btw, for saying what I was trying to express.
Rothfuss is a different case altogether. I think the fault there lies with the publisher for promoting the series as a "finished product" when it very obviously wasn't.
Myshkin said...
I'm sure that when Lynch made this very personal admission he was just hoping that someone like Pat would use it to berate people with. Arguments about who owes who aside, it took a lot of courage for Lynch to so publicly announce his condition, and it disturbs me that the first thing some people think to do is use it to prove some kind of point.
Fuck I love you guys. So much diatribe and ridiculousness, I knew when I saw this post it'd head down this way.
Keep it up fuzz balls, it's all quite entertaining.
Larry said...
With all the fuck, cock and asshole comments flying about here, I'm disappointed no one's put up a link to hardcore porn...
Or is that the next step? :P
As for what's transpired, I had wondered why Lynch had become so quiet in recent years after being so visible before he became a published author. Guess this makes perfect sense. Very tough stuff here, full sympathies.
Reading these comments, I was totally going to post one about how I was waiting with baited breath for Werthead to show up at Lynch's defense, and then ... low and behold... he'd already beaten me to the punch.
But seriously, the amount of time this guy spends defending slovenly authors is akin to a full-time job. I don't know why you guys continue to debate him, he's a professional.
/Sarcasm.
In related news, it's a bit disturbing to see such a knee-jerk reaction here to the fact that Mr. Lynch says he's depressed. Sorry folks. Depression is not a mental illness. That's a classification pharmaceutical companies use to sell pills. A 2000 study showed that exercise is just as powerful in curing the symptoms of depression as Zoloft. Not knocking Scott Lynch. I have not read his work so I am indifferent about his books and not on the offense here. But, lately many of you keyboard warriors (no need to mention names) find it prudent to make special pleading your go-to argument when it comes to criticism of authors and their work ethics. As in, they are artists, we should not held them to the same standard as other working people. Or equally, they provide a product we, the consumer pays for, but are immune to our feedback concerning our pleasure and displeasure by some magical, internet-born skyhook excuse. My own plea to you would be to take a logic class, at least show up for the first day, and figure out for yourself why this is a no-no and not a valid rule of argument.
This rant has been less directed at Scott Lynch than it has been at internet culture. Cheers to you, Scott Lynch. May you continue to please your fans and make a living by the pen. I will continue, at present, sipping my afternoon drink and laughing at people who take themselves, and the media they like, far too seriously.
First let me say I am very sorry to hear about Mr Lynch's condition. I am currently reading "Red Seas Under Red Skies" and it is a terrific read so far. I hope he copes and continues to write such good books.
However I completely disagree with treating Geroge Martin the same way. While there is no doubt, that he would have numorous problems, engagements etc. he had 10 YEARS to complete a book. Or 5 years to complete half a book, depending on how you look at it. To put things in perspective, since "A Feast for Crows" came out, Scott Bakker completed a TRILOGY and is already working on a second one. All damn good books too. Also to put things in perspective, for 9 years Steven Erikson has published nine books, of similar length to "A Song of Ice and Fire". And the "bitching", comes from the fact that the fans still care and would like to see the series published. Which doesn't seem at all likely at this point.
You know, it would be easier to take proponents from both sides of this argument seriously if there were less obscenities flying around.
Larry is right...
brainshades said...
'ya know, if Scott is having issues with people viewing his work, then he's not very likely to do a better job of delivering a finished product if he has to deal with being called out in public forums in the way that Martin has been...
You could put the blame where it really belongs and rant at the publishers for Jebus-sake. Those rat bastards shouldn't put out a pre-release notice on anything that isn't turned in.
If the whole pre-release marketing concept was available to writers and artists in the historical past... say for instance to Leonardo Da Vinci... would his fans have been bitching that he hasn't done anything since the "Mona Lisa" six years ago?
I met Scott at a reading last year (he was GoH at ArmadilloCon), and before he started reading a piece of "Republic of Thieves" he mentioned the delay with the book. I took the chance to comment to him and the room that he didn't have to worry about pleasing any of us and that his deadline was when he was finished with the book. He seemed to appreciate that and the whole room clapped for him in support of that concept.
He's a super nice dude and he's just trying to make a living. It just so happens that his chosen trade includes providing me with the occasional kick-ass Fantasy novel when he's finished one. Well, I'm pretty happy with that. It sucks that the some people view it otherwise.
I'm gonna sound even more of an ass/cock/whatever now, and say that in my view a BIG part of the fault for today's perspective on delays is due to Martin. I mean, I could be wrong, but I don't recall that much discussion about authors being late before he began pulling that "writing a middle book in a series for 10 years" stuff...
Pat, that had to pain you to admit that I was right (for once), no? :P
Roland,
People are still waiting for Harlan Ellison to release his Final Dangerous Visions anthology. It was promised over 30 years ago. No novelist alive today has had their audience waiting as long as Harlan has for his anthology and he's only the editor!
Kyle said...
What's especially sad is that some posters are just using any mention of any sort of delay to bash George R.R. Martin. Or worse.
Roland, you ARE accusing Scott Lynch of something. You are accusing him of making a series instead of one book because he can't 'keep up' fast enough for a series.
Maybe you wanted to use that as a springboard to attack Martin. I don't know; that seems to be the case. You told us that 'it's sad that any mention of delays brings us back to George R.R. Martin.'
How short our memories have become! You were the first to mention him. You were the first to bring it up. Opinions on ASOIAF's release date nonwithstanding, what's truly sad about all this is that people are willing to take advantage of another author's update, a very emotional update, just to make a point. In some ways, the fact that it's not even related to him makes it worse.
I wish Mr. Lynch a fast recovery, and a wonderful book at the end of it.
Sorry folks. Depression is not a mental illness. That's a classification pharmaceutical companies use to sell pills.
Wow. I didn't realize that Pat's blog was read by such luminous minds as Tom Cruise.
I actually DO think that it would've been better for Lynch if he was writing stand-alones. Then again he explains his reasoning behind deciding to make it a series, and I can understand it. It doesn't make me happy, but I'd be the last to attack someone with mental problems.
As for Martin - I didn't say every conversation like this leads to him. I said he is one of the main REASONS this kind of discussion is so common these days. True, other authors have had bigger delays. But he is the only one who always makes sure people will not forget about him. He is in the spotlight. Drinking beer at cons and promoting the next ASoIF board game expansion...
@Kyle
Sorry but Patrick mentioned GRRM in the first paragraph of his original post. The reason why we are a bit annoyed is because Scott Lynch's honesty and personal problems are being used to hammer home the "they don't owe you anything" argument that we've heard over and over and over and over and over again.
GRRM doesn't suffer from depression, he suffers from being an ass. He suffers from taking what amounts to 5 or 6 vacations a year by traveling to cons. He's not doing a book tour here people, he's just Guest of Honoring his way across the country, one Marriott Ballroom at a time.
He doesn't respect his fans. If he did he would have a sense of urgency with regards to finishing ADwD and eventually the series. Instead, he gives sporadic updates when it suits him and sells stuff to those who will buy, all the while surrounding himself with GRRiMlins primed to tell him how awesome he is at the drop of a hat.
I have heard more than one interview with GRRM and they've all been conducted by star-struck nerds who pitch soft-ball questions to a man who is singlehandedly souring a huge portion of epic fantasy fans on the entire genre.
How can a man who at one point was the heir apparent to the throne of fantasy not see what a huge responsibility he has to finish what he started?
With Robert Jordan dying after years of prolonging his series past the point of credibility, famous writers of epic fantasy should realize that they already have a poor reputation. Whether or not it is a misconception, GRRM comes off as nonchalant about completing his crowning achievement. What makes this so infuriating to many of us is the real possibility that (arguably) the greatest piece of epic fantasy ever written will remain unfinished because the author was too busy soaking in the adulation of a pathetic sect of hangers-on to realize that he was pissing away his legacy.
The Scott Lynch situation DOES NOT EQUAL the GRRM situation. If GRRM had been honest from the start about all the trouble he was going through with Dance, there would be a fraction of the vehemence thrown his way.
dEEmOn said...
@anon: Although I dont agree with you, you argue convincingly, scorp... And your bitterness seems heartfelt. As opposed to the mindless bashers'...
Personally I'm just glad to hear Scott Lynch is still alive and kicking. I hope he can finish the GB series as I really like the characters but if he can't then it won't ruin my life, which is the appearance some people around here are giving. They're fictional books! hardly the stuff of life and death!
'My own plea to you would be to take a logic class, at least show up for the first day, and figure out for yourself why this is a no-no and not a valid rule of argument.'
Ok Adam, as someone who has taken a logic class, I'll bite.
No one's saying authors are an exception. Like the rest of us, authors DO have profesional obligations to people they have professional relationships with: their publishers.
And, again just like us, they DON'T have any professional obligations to the general public.
Look at it this way: we only buy the books that are already on the shelves. So the only money of yours that has made its way to the author's pocket is for books they've already written. You got exactly what you paid for, so all professional obligations are met.
It would only be possible for authors to owe their readers the next book in a series if it was true that purchasing some particular book entitles readers not only to that book itself, but also to the rest of the series as well. Which is a pretty strange idea.
Professional obligations, remember, go both ways. You accrue them by agreeing to perform some service for some price: if you're getting the price you asked for, then you owe the people paying you the service you agreed to provide. And, if you perform that service, then your employers owe you the agreed-upon price.
But, plainly, readers AREN'T obligated to buy an author's next book just because they read the last one. It would be absolutely crazy to suggest otherwise.
But if we're under no obligation to buy the next book, it follows that the authors have no professional obligation TO US to provide it.
So authors aren't obligated to produce another book for us SIMPLY BECAUSE we paid for one they already wrote. Just as we don't owe it to them to buy the next book, they don't owe it to us to produce it. There's no set agreement between the public and the author, so there's no professional obligation binding them to the us.
Maybe slow authors are failing to deliver something they owe to their publishers. But (1) that doesn't make them bad people, just bad at some parts of their job; (2) that's none of your business in exactly the same way that you screwing up in your job would be none of mine, and (3) this is a highly speculative hypothesis to begin with, and depends on the actual agreement between publisher and author, which I for one have no concrete information about at all.
@ anon:
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. <----me snoring
Authors don't owe their fans anything! Never heard that line before. Is that you A.W.? Sure sounds like that broken record of talking points about obligations and entitlement that we have all come to know and love. We are the Borg, yo.
Look, it all boils down to simple
manners and professionalism: Finish what you start. Don't be a lazy bastard. And if you are going to take a ridiculously long time do what you said you were going to do, warn people.
When someone has no manners and zero professionalism, we get to talk shit. It is as simple as that. 10 years man. 10 looooong years.
To leave us dangling in the wind is not only inconsiderate, it is downright mean.
@anon of 8.12.
You completely miss the point. If the book you are buying is one whole story then sure, you the author has no moral obligation to write another story.
So far Martin has provided us with 3.5/7ths of his story. None of his books are complete story arc's in their own right (which Scott Lynch's were by the way, despite the cliff hanger both of his GB books were still full story arc's).
The only reason each ASOIAF book is divided up is length, not by story arc. So when you use your logic Martin has professional and moral duty to provide the rest of the story. If you went to the movies and were only shown half you'd want your money back.
The other point you miss is that Authors like Martin get paid advances, I can assure you he will have been paid very well 10 years ago for ADWD and got another advance for ADWD mark 2 after Feast came out. Where does that advance money come from? The consumer... so when I've paid for Book 1, 2, 3, 3.5, I have invested money in something that if for no other reason than he has some sense of Honour, the author should try and finish.
Slynt said...
As someone who knows what Scott Lynch is experiencing, I feel for him. It fucks up your life, your every thought. It is more than a good enough reason to not be able to deliver a novel, that's for sure.
That being said, waiting for his novels means nothing to me, as I put the first book "The Lies of Locke Lamora" back on the shelf before I was halfway through it.
If other authors could be a little more forthcoming, all would be well.
scorpiknox, so we're talking spcifically about Martin now? Ok.
I know the point isn't a new one, but if you think he owes us something, tell me where you think that obligation comes from. What have you done for him that makes him owe you another book? You haven't paid him anything for it.
'Look, it all boils down to simple
manners and professionalism: Finish what you start. Don't be a lazy bastard. And if you are going to take a ridiculously long time do what you said you were going to do, warn people.'
1) But he does intend to finish what he starts
2) Why should we automatically assume its laziness, not something else? Writing something that long can't be easy. Why does writer's block have to be laziness?
3) He has warned people that its going to take a long time. Its right there in his updates section.
'When someone has no manners and zero professionalism, we get to talk shit.'
Really? So if you're rude to a someone, or you're lazy, or you screw up in your job, its fine for the whole world to talk shit about you? For years?
I've got plenty of character flaws and I screw up sometimes, but I'd feel pretty hard done by if people kept talking shit about it. As far as I'm concerned, its none of their business.
Craterus:
But it isn'tlike a movie cutting out half way through at all. The difference is that you knew when you bought the book that you were only buying an installment of the story. It says so plainly on the cover. So why does he owe you the rest of it? What have you given him in return for that? I just can't see why story tellers are obligated to finish the stories they start. People in other jobs are allowed to quit before they finish the stuff they are working on.
And sure, Martin probably has advances. But those come from his publisher, not from you. So he owes his publishers a book. All I'm saying is that he doesn't owe us anything.
Yes, it's annoying that its taken this long. But, just like everyone else, he is allowed to do things people find annoying.
-RF
As it happens, I do agree that the Lynch, Rothfuss and GRRM situations are all different to one another. Of the three, it is interesting to note that Lynch is both the only one whose books - so far - work as stand-alones and made no claims about a release schedule ahead of time. That said, he's also the lowest-selling of the three and the one under the least pressure from fans to deliver the next book.
Rothfuss and GRRM's situations would have been indeed different if neither had suggested a timeframe for release when the last books in their series came out, and Rothfuss making the claim all three books were done before Book 1 came out was extremely unwise, given the situation that has developed since. I also agree that Pat drew a false comparison here. Lynch is ill, Rothfuss had a ton of RL issues drop on his lap one after the other and GRRM decided to rewrite his book in mid-stride after seemingly promising everyone it would be out in twelve months (in print, no less) and his communication skills over these issues went a AWOL for a while.
I don't really see a valid comparison between the three situations beyond the superficial fact that these are the three eagerly-awaited next books in their respective series.
@ RF
I hate to break it to you, but this conversation was always about GRRM, whether people realized it or not. He is the gold standard of series negligence.
Um, wow, where to begin. I guess you and I are just two different personality types. See, in the real world, where I live, if you are doing a shitty job, or no job at all, you get called on it. I would hope that if you continue to publicly act like an ass for a prolonged period of time, you we be treated accordingly and for an equally long period of time. Artists aren't except from this, just ask Roman Polanski.
If you'd botherd to read the previous posts I've made here, you would have realized that I don't think authors owe anybody anything.
However, I do think that GRRM has been acting poorly for the last 5 years. I think he has soured a lot of new fantasy fans on the genre. I think he should have been more forthcoming regarding the roots of the delay, or at least let us know that was taking a step back from it for a while. Instead he left us twisting inn the wind, all the while posting regularly on his blog about everything but dance. This wouldn't be so bad in itself if he hadn't been such a whining baby about his "detractors." What he gets to whine, but we don't?
Let's be fair here, we've only been rude for the last 2.5 years, he's been at it much longer.
And how do I know that it is laziness contributing to the delay? Um, look at him. Look at his schedule. Does that physique and those 6 vacations a year set of any alarms? Be realistic, not idealistic, and you'll get a lot farther in life.
Finally, my favorite bit:
"He has warned people that its going to take a long time. Its right there in his updates section."
This is funny/sad/confusing all at the same time. What the hell are you talking about? Dude, he said Dance would be out in a year in 2005. Then he was running really late and overreacted and did the exact OPPOSITE thing that anyone wanted and cut off all updates of progress on the book.
You, my good man, have failed GRRM 101. Lesson One: Never read update page.
Totally agree, none of the 3 situations should be compared. I also think that Pat Rothfuss has handled his delays and communication with his fans with far more aplomb... Pat is also a brand new Author who had no experience in the publishing world so can be forgiven for thinking his books were done when they weren't.
@RF
I don't know about yours but my copy of A Game of thrones says Book 1 of The Song of Ice and Fire. I bought it thinking I would get the rest of the story at some stage. The movie is only half way through so to speak... If the books worked as stand alone stories linked together as a series then fair enough, but thats not the case.
With regards to advances, it seems quite obvious to me, but obviously not to you, so let me ask you. Where does the publisher get the money to give the author the advance? I've seen statistics somewhere for how your 20 bucks for a book is divided up.. x for marketing, x for printing cost, x for author etc etc.. can you guess what one of the other x's is? advances for authors.
Having said all that, I, like most sensible "detractors" don't feel he is obliged to finish the series... but he should be man enough to accept the consequences of his arse-holery if he doesnt.
"With regards to advances, it seems quite obvious to me, but obviously not to you, so let me ask you. Where does the publisher get the money to give the author the advance? I've seen statistics somewhere for how your 20 bucks for a book is divided up.. x for marketing, x for printing cost, x for author etc etc.. can you guess what one of the other x's is? advances for authors."
That's not quite how advances work. How they work is that the publisher gives money from a central fund to the author, say $10,000 as a ballpark figure. A chunk of the book's price, around 15% of the hardcover and less than 10% of the paperback, goes to the author in terms of royalties, but royalties are not paid until the author has 'earned out' the advance. So the author receives nothing until the publisher has made its $10K out of the author royalties, and then the remaining royalties go directly to the author.
So whilst the author does receive some money upfront, that amount is linked to how well the book does when it is actually on sale.
In the case of series, the author might receive an advance upfront for the whole series (or at least chunks of it), not individual volumes. For GRRM we simply do not know what the situation is, as ASoIaF was originally sold as three books. I assume there was a contract renegotiation after ASoS, but the details of that and any advances involved are confidential. My guess would be that it was for another three books (GRRM then envisaging the series then as six books) and the sales of AFFC by itself (half a million in hardcover) probably paid back the advance for Books 4, 5 and 6.
My Apologies, perhaps I wasn't clear, I do understand how the advance system works. The money for the central fund, (at least in general unless its a start up publishing house with VC money involvd) comes from the sales and profits of other books. The price of any book has a certain amount ear-marked for the central fund, just like in, for example, the world of drug research, products that hit the market and make a profit, fund research of other products that may or may not be successful. The price of the drugs includes recouping all R&D (or paying back the advance) but also includes that R&D element for other products (advances for authors).
I'm afraif, I've been a bit long winded to explain a rather simple and obvious point, the fact is that consumer purchases fund the entire book industry...including advances.
Really that's my biggest beef with this Martin debacle, he is polarising a whole generation of readers. Potential Sci-fi/Fantasy readers, burnt by Martin's unprofessionalism could turn to vampire lit porn or something else and the central fund for our genre decreases, as does our shelf space at Borders. I know if the first series of fantasy I ever loved was ASOIAF, i'd be hesitant about any emotional investment in any other new/unfinished series.
You know I don't buy the whole Martin being to blame for turning off a new breed of fantasy readers.
If anything we are seeing the same reactionary fanboy faggotory we see in the gaming industry, with a small buy vocal bunch of cunts telling us all how fucking evil and bad martin is for not getting his novels out in a time frame acceptable to them.
Martin haters are , for the most part, buthurt trolls who need to get the fuck out of their parents basements
^^^^Spoken like a guy who still lives in his parent's basement. Isn't it ironic that the most troll-like post on this thread is written by an anonymous person calling others trolls. Way to go, Alanis.
Even his staunchest defenders are coming around to the fact that Martin has seriously mishandled his relationship with the vast majority of his fans (i.e. who don't attend fantasy cons.) The little spike in dance updates has come and gone, conveniently coinciding with the green-lighting of the HBO series. I have serious doubts as to whether or not he will finish before the year is over.
Regardless, even when he does finish Dance, he has at least two more books to write. Does anyone here really think that there is a good chance they'll actually get done? I sure don't. I really hope I am wrong.
Since 2004 I have not started a single fantasy series that wasn't already completed. This is thanks to GRRM: I really don't want to get burned again. And if even 25% of GRRMs readers feel the same way, that is a huge slice out of the fantasy market-share, mostly affecting new authors.
Sorry, but if you think GRRM doesn't have responsibilities outside of himself, you should never have children, because you'll raise them to be selfish assholes.
"Really that's my biggest beef with this Martin debacle, he is polarising a whole generation of readers. Potential Sci-fi/Fantasy readers, burnt by Martin's unprofessionalism could turn to vampire lit porn or something else and the central fund for our genre decreases, as does our shelf space at Borders."
I'm not sure about this. ASoIaF's sales have been strong but not as huge as many other series (Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, Discworld, Inheritance etc). It is heavily discussed online, but I don't really think the series has the profile (especially offline) to have that kind of impact, especially compared to the jaded attitude many fantasy readers developed over the (somewhat different) situation with the Wheel of Time series long before ASoIaF's troubles began.
In addition, completely disregarding the arguments over this situation, book fans have proven to be very patient overall with authors who take far longer than Martin getting their latest works snapped up on release date in their millions, like the latest Dan Brown.
That said, the argument in favour of not reading series until they are complete is pretty strong, and there are a number of series I'm currently holding out on being completed before I start them.
* ignoring such illuminating comments from anonymous of 1:18, though he/she does prove once again that no side of this debate has the exclusivity on stupidity.
@ Scorpinox
I agree, who knows what the exact figure is but even if we're wrong and its not turning off existing fantasy fans from reading series till they are, that will only cause sales drops and harm to new authors
Point taken about book readers being a forgiving bunch, Dan Brown is a good example, and if Dance is a number 1 best seller the point will be proven again. I am not sure this should be an excuse for Martin's behaviour, but its a valid point none-the-less
Like i said above though, if you are waiting to read new series untill they are finished, so is Scorp.. then its likely you arent alone and thats nothing but bad for new Authors who are writing epics, that Martin's fault almost entirely.
Who know's, maybe it will drive newAuthors to write more stand-alone volumes. That may not be a bad thing, Abercrombies last and next novel's are stand alones, Lynch's work as independant stories... perhaps, the Wheel of time and ASOIAF situations will see more of that kind of thing.
Neth said...
gee Pat, your fame had grown to the point where it seems every post gets a number of trollish anon commenters. Welcome to the internet.
It may be time for you to consider a heavier hand with moderating these things since any useful discussion is really made impossible by such immaturity.
Adam, your patience with jumping into these debates amazes me. I couldn't do it.
Larry, I thought it was clearly clear case where Nazi porn should enter the debate.
You mean like this, Ken? :P
Perhaps one of the more novel ways of invoking Godwin's Law, no? ;)
nycfan said...
I don't think there's anything wrong about bitching about waiting for a sequel, but this and other such threads in SFF forums are ridiculous. The author is not your employee. A closer but still excessive analogy would be a freelancer you once hired to do a job; a job that was done very well (you loved the book) and which you happily handed over money for (you bought the book). After the job you informally agreed s/he'd work for you again in a year or two and know s/he's saying that they're not available for now. So you grouch a bit and hire someone else (read other books). You may also choose not to hire the freelancer again once s/he is available (sequel is out) because you want more reliability. Then again you might do the reverse because his/her work was so good before. If you find out that s/he wasn't available for what in your view was no good reason, you might reasonably be annoyed. If in your mind serious illness is not a damn good excuse, others might reasonably conclude you're not a good person.
Neth,
Why would Pat use a heavier hand in moderating when this is exactly the reaction he wanted when he posted this entry? The trolling started before anyone left a comment.
^ very good point. If you really want to "show some respect and stop bitchin" the first thing NOT TO DO is to write a blog post of it. Especially not with open comments.
playonskydog said...
I'm curious...Does every thread on every internet fantasy book forum eventually descend into a maelstrom of madness with GRRM at it's center?
It could be a new field of science...
@nycfan
You must be a newb GRRiMlin. Next time, before you repeat (poorly) what no less than 7 people have already said on this thread, perhaps you should peruse the comments and form some semblance of an original thought.
Bryce said...
I feel like you all owe me something for slogging through all these comments. :P
The date is June 1st, 2011. I have spent the last seven minutes scouring the interwebs searching for any sign of the man known only as... Scott Lynch.
Lynch disappeared a few months back. Just short of a year, really. His last posts were half a chapter of a serial internet novel, and a snippet of his upcoming book. The book was supposed to come out in February. Now its supposed to come in October. And I guess my ex-wife was supposed to love me and not sleep with my partner, but you know how things go...
A few weeks back I thought I would check in on old Scotty, see if he had rejoined the living and updated with the second half of that internet chapter. When I saw his website hadn't changed, I new something was wrong. Lynch had confessed his psychological issues in 2010, and it had seemed he had gone loco once more. I checked his Twitter account, something I had never resorted to before. It contained several posts from last July, most of them sounding quite positive. Then nothing. Not a single post in over ten months.
I subscribed to his account so I would be informed if he posted. A simple "Dog just bit old lady haha" would let me know he was alive, but word of his writing ventures would be more useful for my... associates. Still, I did not get my hopes up.
I then waited a few weeks, trying not to think about the man, sitting in his house in a rank bathrobe, staring at children cross the street envying the joy he could not obtain, wallowing in self pity and confusion like better men before him, surrounded by empty Lean Cuisine boxes and monster manuals. Soon the depressing images of a man lost in his own world seemed too unbearable. I began wondering if he had dies in a car crash, or perhaps committed the final act of self-rejection, punching his own ticket to the cloud city where no black man awaits Han Solo...
(I refer of course to Darth Vader.)
So it was that I began scouring the webs for a sign. A news clipping on Huffington; A blog reporting a sighting in a Wisconsin grocery store; a sight where fans theorized about his fate.
More worrisome than anything I could have predicted, it seemed the internet had absolutely nothing to report of Scott Lynch. No news, no sightings. Not even a recent theory offered by fans on blogs. It seemed that the internet had forgotten wee Scotty, had moved on and buried him in their minds. No wonder the man was unheard from, no one was even mentioning his name anymore. The only site with a full discussion about his fate was this site, and it hadn't recieved a post in months.
Unsatisfied, but with nowhere left to turn, I moved my curser to the little red X on the top right of my screen, resigning myself to also forget the man I once followed like a God. If everyone else had forgotten him, why should I keep holding on?
But I hesitated. Surely, I was not truly alone. Somewhere, out there in the night, was someone else; another fan, a relative of Scott's... perhaps the man himself. Somebody who would go searching for a sign, if not of news then of at least some concern for the greatest SFF writer of the last ten years, and I thought, "Will they be left with the same things I have seen? The same disparaging apathy that the web has born for Lynch?" No. I would post the account of my journey on the very blog I had just read. Not because I thought the previous posters would appreciate it, but because maybe, just MAYBE... somebody else out there was searching, had not given up on Scott, and they would know. They would KNOW.
They are not alone.
And we will continue to wait, for Scott, and for his Books, and for his loving fans, who will return right after he does, to read his words and support the man as they once did.
This is Neal Werle, high school Senior and Scott Lynch enthusiast, signing off.
Give them hell Scott!
Send them all another book worthy of Modor.
Even if they don't deserve it.
Having not read every comment, but having read enough to make me feel a bit sad as to the absolute lack of understanding exhibited in many of the posts... Having a mental illness is much the same as having any other disease.
If Mr. Lynch had arthritis that interfered with his typing, for example, I doubt that there would be so much rubbish being written about him. Speaking from experience, metal illness can be a killer. You either survive it and get stronger, or you don't.
Therefore, as collective fans of his books, which are wonderful, I personally feel that the moaning about how long its taken for Republic to be written should be secondary to Mr. Lynch's health.
Wish him all the best myself and if it does get written, you'll see me at the front of the queue down the bookshop.
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I actually don´t mind cold showers that much, they certainly do help you "perk" in the morning - and it wasn´t ice-cold... in fact that is probably my real complaint (not that I´m looking for one) but you can´t seem to get cold water from the tap here - it´s always tepid - which, being one that enjoys my water cold is a bit of a downer.
The work here is good - in that I mean there is lots of it, I know how to do it, and it´s not completely mindless. Like many (read all) telecommunications companies I´ve been to their records of where their circuits actually go and how they get there are completely messed up. This may come as a bit of a shock to those of you who have never worked in this industry - you pick up the phone and it works - so how could they not know how it gets from A to Z... well, having spent close to 7 years in network inventory and modeling for large scale telecommunications companies - looking to track their networks in databases I can tell you - I am AMAZED every time I make a call and it actually goes through ;) Seriously though - it´s fun trying to track it down - which is what I´m basically up to.
I saw some of that Starbucks liquour yesterday - but (and with the Starbucks logo emblazened on it I wasn´t surprised) it cost twice as much as the larger bottle right next to it - so I left it on the shelf, my thriftyness getting the better of my curiosity.
I did see something I have never seen before though - and at a Walmart of all places: Self Serve Checkout. This actually made me do a double-take - there where three isles with little strolbe lights to attract attention to themselves labled as "Self Checkout" where customers were dilligently scanning their own purchases. An attendant was stationed a bit past the isles who I assume get´s a bill from the scanner and collects payment.


Thurso Golf Club has been in existence for over 100 years but the golf course has moved locations during that time. The present course was established as a 9-hole in 1921 and was extended to 18 holes in 1963.
Over 100,000 trees have been planted which gives the course a parkland feel. Because it is located on a hill above Thurso, several holes are tough tests into a prevailing wind.
The signiture hole is the 13th over a burn with heather on the left and the rough on the right. The gree is drivable but with a stong wind against the fairway is sometimes out of reach.


These cards are a perfect way to announce your perfect bundle of joy has arrived!
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text:
Metallica's Lars Reflects On Guns N' Roses Camaraderie 2020 In Review
Poster from the tour
Metallica's Lars Reflects On Guns N' Roses Camaraderie was a top 20 story of June 2020: Metallica teamed up with Guns N' Roses for a massive coheadlining tour in 1992 and Lars Ulrich revealed that his fondest memory of the trek was the camaraderie between the bands.
Lars and guitarist Kirk Hammett answered fans questions from readers of Kerrang! and Denise from Edinburgh asked him "What's your fondest memory of touring with Guns N' Roses in 1992?"
Ulrich responded, "The camaraderie. Towards the end of the '80s, the more conventional ways of doing things in America were through radio; Metallica and Guns N' Roses found a way to connect to fans outside of [that] and went out together in unity for the fans.
"That was really cool and so unprecedented and I was so proud that we could make that tour happen. All those guys are buddies of mine and we just had a lot of fun. Every night there'd be some crazy thing going on. It was a really fun summer."
Metallica To Premiere New Album '72 Seasons' At Movie Theaters
Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Def Leppard Stars Lead Guests On Ian Hunter's New Album
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Metallica Too Busy For Big 4 Before 2025 Says Anthrax Star
More Metallica News

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text:
Q: F1 Score vs ROC AUC I have the below F1 and AUC scores for 2 different cases

Model 1: Precision: 85.11 Recall: 99.04 F1: 91.55 AUC: 69.94
Model 2: Precision: 85.1 Recall: 98.73 F1: 91.41 AUC: 71.69

The main motive of my problem to predict the positive cases correctly,ie, reduce the False Negative cases (FN). Should I use F1 score and choose Model 1 or use AUC and choose Model 2. Thanks

A: just adding my 2 cents here:
AUC does an implicit weighting of the samples, which F1 does not.
In my last use case comparing the effectiveness of drugs on patients, it's easy to learn which drugs are generally strong, and which are weak. The big question is whether you can hit the outliers (the few positives for a weak drug or the few negatives for a strong drug). To answer that, you have to specifically weigh the outliers up using F1, which you don't need to do with AUC.

A: Introduction
As a rule of thumb, every time you want to compare ROC AUC vs F1 Score, think about it as if you are comparing your model performance based on:
[Sensitivity vs (1-Specificity)] VS [Precision vs Recall]

Note that Sensitivity is the Recall (they are the same exact metric).
Now we need to understand what are: Specificity, Precision and Recall (Sensitivity) intuitively!

Background
Specificity: is given by the following formula:

Intuitively speaking, if we have 100% specific model, that means it did NOT miss any True Negative, in other words, there were NO False Positives (i.e. negative result that is falsely labeled as positive). Yet, there is a risk of having a lot of False Negatives!
Precision: is given by the following formula:

Intuitively speaking, if we have a 100% precise model, that means it could catch all True positive but there were NO False Positive.
Recall: is given by the following formula:

Intuitively speaking, if we have a 100% recall model, that means it did NOT miss any True Positive, in other words, there were NO False Negatives (i.e. a positive result that is falsely labeled as negative). Yet, there is a risk of having a lot of False Positives!
As you can see, the three concepts are very close to each other!

As a rule of thumb, if the cost of having False negative is high, we want to increase the model sensitivity and recall (which are the exact same in regard to their formula)!.
For instance, in fraud detection or sick patient detection, we don't want to label/predict a fraudulent transaction (True Positive) as non-fraudulent (False  Negative). Also, we don't want to label/predict a contagious sick patient (True Positive) as not sick (False Negative).
This is because the consequences will be worse than a False Positive (incorrectly labeling a a harmless transaction as fraudulent or a non-contagious patient as contagious).
On the other hand, if the cost of having False Positive is high, then we want to increase the model specificity and precision!.
For instance, in email spam detection, we don't want to label/predict a non-spam email (True Negative) as spam (False Positive). On the other hand, failing to label a spam email as spam (False Negative) is less costly.

F1 Score
It's given by the following formula:

F1 Score keeps a balance between Precision and Recall. We use it if there is uneven class distribution, as precision and recall may give misleading results!
So we use F1 Score as a comparison indicator between Precision and Recall Numbers!

Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUROC)
It compares the Sensitivity vs (1-Specificity), in other words, compare the True Positive Rate vs False Positive Rate.

So, the bigger the AUROC, the greater the distinction between True Positives and True Negatives!

AUROC vs F1 Score (Conclusion)
In general, the ROC is for many different levels of thresholds and thus it has many F score values. F1 score is applicable for any particular point on the ROC curve.
You may think of it as a measure of precision and recall at a particular threshold value whereas AUC is the area under the ROC curve. For F score to be high, both precision and recall should be high.
Consequently,  when you have a data imbalance between positive and negative samples, you should always use F1-score because ROC averages over all possible thresholds!

Further read:
Credit Card Fraud: Handling highly imbalance classes and why Receiver Operating Characteristics Curve (ROC Curve) should not be used, and Precision/Recall curve should be preferred in highly imbalanced situations

A: If you look at the definitions, you can that both AUC and F1-score optimize "something" together with the fraction of the sample labeled "positive" that is actually true positive.
This "something" is:

*

*For the AUC, the specificity, which is the fraction of the negatively labeled sample that is correctly labeled. You're not looking at the fraction of your positively labeled samples that is correctly labeled.

*Using the F1 score, it's precision: the fraction of the positively labeled sample that is correctly labeled. And using the F1-score you don't consider the purity of the sample labeled as negative (the specificity).

The difference becomes important when you have highly unbalanced or skewed classes: For example there are many more true negatives than true positives.
Suppose you are looking at data from the general population to find people with a rare disease. There are far more people "negative" than "positive", and trying to optimize how well you are doing on the positive and the negative samples simultaneously, using AUC, is not optimal. You want the positive sample to include all positives if possible and you don't want it to be huge, due to a high false positive rate. So in this case you use the F1 score.
Conversely if both classes make up 50% of your dataset, or both make up a sizable fraction, and you care about your performance in identifying each class equally, then you should use the AUC, which optimizes for both classes, positive and negative.

A:
to predict the positive cases correctly

one can rewrite a bit your goal and get: when a case is really positive you want classify it as positive too. The probability of such event p(predicted_label = positive | true_label = positive) is a recall by definition. If you want to maximize this property of your model, you'd choose the Model 1.

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text:
Jerusalem Post Opinion Editorials
July 15: Cemetery latecomers
I was not aware that Muslims are also buried in this ancient Jewish cemetery.
Published: JULY 15, 2011 07:56
Understanding needed
Sir, – While I personally do not condone embarrassing anyone on the bus, I think Sharon Shenhav exaggerates a bit ("Scream, insult, embarrass and harass 'uppity' women," Comment & Features, July 14).
We do not know all the facts. Was the woman on the bus taking a direct stand against Mehadrin buses? How did she answer the yeshiva student? According to the article, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv seemed to think she was doing it on purpose, and not because she was disabled or unwell, or could not physically sit in back.
But his proof must be learned in the Gemara, and not just cited without background or context.
I don't think one can extrapolate from this, as Shenhav does, that it is okay to embarrass any woman who does not follow Halacha. This was on a specific point in a specific circumstance, and not a general call.
Has Shenhav tried to speak with Rabbi Elyashiv and elucidate the reasoning behind this ruling? If she truly wants to help women, perhaps she should. (And when she goes, she should dress modestly.)
BATYA BERLINGER
Sir, – Regarding "Credit due others" (Letters, July 14), which was written in light of Shmuley Boteach's "Knee-deep in bloodsoaked battlefields of Europe" (No Hold Barred, July 12), my brother, Brig.- Gen. Alvin D. Ungerleider, as a young lieutenant led his men onto Omaha Beach and up the draw. He told them, "Follow me, step in my footsteps and I will get you in," and he did.
On the 50th anniversary, Al escorted President Bill Clinton to lay a wreath at the monument at Colleville-su-Mer cemetery.
The theme of Clinton's speech was that these men saved the world.
For the 60th anniversary, my brother was awarded the French Legion of Honor. Though wounded twice, he fought on until the end of the war.
Alvin also served in Korea and Vietnam. He retired after serving for 36 years and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on March 25, 2011.
He was a great American hero and never forgot his Jewish roots.
ANNETTE UNGERLEIDER MARTIN
Kfar Shmaryahu
Cemetery latecomers
Sir, – In her article "Extensions to mosque inside Mount of Olives cemetery illegal, says city" (July 13), Melanie Lidman reports that the area has "been used as a Jewish and Muslim cemetery for more than 3,000 years."
However, this certainly could not have been a practice for 3,000 years, i.e., even before the advent of Islam.
The only connection I have heard between the Mount of Olives and Muslims is from the 1948-1967 period, when the Jordanian army reportedly used Jewish tombstones to pave the area of their latrines.
DONYA MEIJER
Melanie Lidman responds: My reporting was incorrect. The area has been a Jewish cemetery for 3,000 years. Newer parts are Muslim.
Deals require value
Sir, – The flaw in letter writer Peter Redstone's suggestion ("UFOs and BG," July 12) that the "flightilla" participants taken into police custody be placed under house arrest until Gilad Schalit is released, is that these people mean less to Hamas than even the Hamas terrorists in Israeli jails.
No value, no deal!
MICHAEL BRUNERT
Modi'in
"Nothing new under the son" (Arts & Entertainment, July 14), as well as the frontpage promotion for the article, should have stated that the play All My Sons was written by Arthur Miller. We regret the error.
Also, a dated version of "Genuine solidarity vs. stale promises" by Eitan Grossman was inadvertently run in the Comment & Features section on July 14. To read the updated version, visit www.jpostcom.


I'm doing some work that requires the usage of the libcore library, specifically using the class HttpUrlConnectionImpl.java or so my trusty IntelliJ debugger tells me.
Unfortunately, these sources aren't shipped with the standard sources that come with your android sdk in the sources directory, and you have to do some work to get them up and running.
Here's the steps I took to allow me to step into the classes and see what's going on.
This checkout out the tag I required into a new branch on my machine. Then, in finder, I located the folder ./luni/src/main/java and copied the libcore folder into my <sdk>/sources/android-16 folder and hey presto, I could now step through the source!


Half-Hour Hegel: The Complete Phenomenology of Spirit (eventually): Major Announcement - Consciousness Section Finished!
Major Announcement - Consciousness Section Finished!
If you've been keeping up with the video series, you know that we've now covered five portions of the work -- the Preface, the Introduction, and then the three sections of Consciousness: Sense-Certainty, Perception, and Force and the Understanding. The very last installment for that last section -- video number 65 so far -- was released earlier this week.
We've reached an important turning point both in the written work of the Phenomenology itself and in this Half Hour Hegel project. So, I'd like to take a bit of time to look back and reflect upon the latter, and to talk about why the former matters as well.
We're now primed to step into the next section, the portion of Hegel's Phenomenology that tends to get the most press and play -- the part that people get most excited about -- Self-Conciousness, which includes the famous "Master-Slave dialectic." To be sure, as you watch it (and video 64, on paragraphs 162-163) -- or you read those last paragraphs of Force and the Understanding, its clear that we're already leaving that dialectic behind and moving explicitly to discussion of the nature of self-consciousness. But that, in its turn, still needs to be worked all the way through dialectically, which is what we'll be doing now in this new section.
When one is engaged and involved in activity, in the middle of a complex project like this one -- with the many details the videos involve, rereading, reflecting, planning, getting in front of the camera and lecturing, creating and converting slides, editing, and then finally releasing and publicizing -- it is easy to lose sight of the "bigger picture," the overall direction and development of the project. That's one reason precisely why we need section breaks!
From this vantage point, I think it is safe to say that we've officially crossed a line from an experimental new project, still largely in the planning stages, to an established project that has demonstrated its, as they say these days, "proof of concept." If I were to stop the entire thing today, not shoot one more video in the series(and don't worry, that's definitely not the plan!), the 65 videos we have so far would still constitute a novel and valuable contribution in a number of ways.
A commentary on a portion of a work is after all, good for that portion, and a guide that can take students, lifelong learners, professionals, and even other academics through at least a portion of this difficult text is a useful resource. That the commentary in question is a digital one -- consisting of about 33 hours of free open-access videos, available anywhere the internet goes and YouTube isn't blocked (e.g. China), publicized as a resource through social media -- arguably renders it a yet more valuable one, if I have indeed succeeded in making Hegel's convoluted thought accessible.
What the successful product of a year-and-a-half of work and thought invested in the project -- and the fact that certain viewers have responded not only with comments but even with some financial support -- has indicated is the feasibility of continuing the series for several more years, all the way to the final paragraph, number 808. It's now clear that, in this case, the "if you build it, they will come" adage does hold.
And that bears some really significant implications of much wider applicability for the work of philosophy in the public sphere and for the digital humanities more broadly. As far as I know, this is the first attempt at a systematic close reading of the entirety of a major philosophical work carried out in this digital medium in this manner. So, I'm hoping that the success to this point of this particular project not only opens the door to follow-up projects on my own part, but also inspires other scholars to create similarly detailed video series really engaging with texts -- building a new digital humanities library widening access to philosophy for generations to come.
There is, to be sure, a worthy predecessor in the excellent course series Reading Marx's Capital with David Harvey, in which he takes his viewers through vols. 1 and 2 of the work in a series of 25 roughly 1-hour-and-45-minute videos. While I acknowledge a kind of kinship between what he accomplished, and what I'm currently doing, there are some relevant differences. For one, Harvey is a long-established Marxist scholar with a world-wide reputation, employing the resources afforded by his academic institution (e.g. filming, editing), whereas what I've been doing is very much more at the one-man (or mom-and-pop, since my wife has helped) DIY level.
Harvey's Marx lectures demonstrate that when a major scholar decides to work with his institution to create valuable digital resources intended to broaden access to important but difficult theory, there is an appreciative and receptive public for that new type of work. I'd like to think that the success of my Hegel lectures to this point suggest that there is an equally receptive, indeed hungry, public for less well-known scholars who are willing to share their knowledge of important texts and thinkers through digital media.
You don't need to be famous in your field. You don't need the backing of a university. You don't need sophisticated filming and editing. If you can competently discuss your subject, if you can communicate a bit of the excitement you feel about it, if you can speak about it in ways that conduce to broader understanding -- and if you've got a flipcam, a tripod, a chalkboard, a laptop, and a YouTube channel -- you can create a similar digital commentary on any work you choose and have it viewed and used by thousands of people worldwide.
Open Culture Features The Project!


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> Industry
Apple CEO Tim Cook to Receive IISE 'Captains of Industry Award'
The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) welcomes Apple CEO Tim Cook to its virtual Annual Conference & Expo to receive the Captains of Industry Award. The award is the Institute's highest honor that is bestowed solely on business, industry and government leaders.
Cook has ties with the Institute that go back to his student days and holds a degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University where he was a student member of IISE (then IIE – Institute of Industrial Engineers) at the time.
"On behalf of our leaders and members within the Institute and the profession, IISE is thrilled to recognize such a world-renowned business leader at this year's Annual Conference," said Don Greene, IISE CEO and Fellow. "Tim Cook is at the helm of a company whose products have helped to change so many lives around the world. He is an inspiration to industrial engineers everywhere, demonstrating the awesome power that our field has to make the world a better place."
Greene added that in addition to receiving IISE's prestigious award during the conference, Cook will engage in a Question and Answer session at a Captains of Industry Forum from 3 to 3:40 p.m. ET on May 24 with IISE's Auburn Student Chapter President Annie Dorsey.
"We are honored to have a leader like Tim join us to share his unique insights and perspectives with the industrial and systems engineering community," added Greene. "For attendees at the beginning of their career journey or well along its course, this discussion will undoubtedly provide valuable insights on his life of leadership in the field, in business and in living his values."
Cook was nominated for the award by author and IISE Fellow Alice E. Smith, the Joe W. Forehand/Accenture Distinguished Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Joint Appointment Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University.
"It's an honor to receive this award from IISE, and I'm looking forward to joining many leaders, visionaries and friends at this year's virtual conference," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "My Auburn degree in industrial engineering helped to prepare me for everything my career had in store for me, and it is especially meaningful to be nominated by Auburn Professor Alice Smith."
More than 700-plus sessions are planned at IISE's virtual Annual Conference & Expo May 22-25, including dozens of COVID-era solutions, ample networking opportunities, and an honors and awards reception. The event features keynote speakers Walt Ehmer, president and CEO of Waffle House Inc., Nadine Sarter, professor of cognitive ergonomics and organizational safety at the University of Michigan, and Andres Medaglia, professor of industrial engineering at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá and director of the research center Centro para la Optimización y Probabilidad Aplicada (COPA), or Center for Applied Optimization and Probability. See the schedule and register by May 3 for early bird savings at www.iise.org/Annual.


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Scott McGillivray, né le  à Richmond Hill (Ontario) est un entrepreneur, investisseur, animateur de télévision, auteur et éducateur canadien.

Scott McGillivray est l'hôte et le producteur exécutif de la série Income Property, une émission de rénovation sur HGTV Canada et le DIY Network (Canada), ainsi que HGTV et DIY Network aux États-Unis.  Il est juge sur All American Handyman de HGTV avec Mike Holmes et Canada's Handyman Challenge avec Mike Holmes, Bryan Baeumler et Paul Lafrance.

Contexte
Scott McGillivray a fréquenté l'Université de Guelph où il a obtenu un baccalauréat spécialisé en commerce en 2001. Ce qui a commencé comme un projet scolaire sur les immeubles à revenus s'est transformé en un modèle d'entreprise qu'il allait exécuter lui-même plus tard. À , grâce à des prêts étudiants, Il a acheté et rénové sa première propriété locative et possédait 5 propriétés locatives à l'âge de . Il est devenu entrepreneur agréé en 2004 pour gérer ses propres équipes. Il possède maintenant des centaines de propriétés à revenus au Canada et aux États-Unis.

Scott McGillivray est un hôte de HGTV aux États-Unis et au Canada depuis 2008, mettant en vedette dans plus de  de télévision, et est surtout connu pour la série HGTV Income Property, Moving the McGillivrays et Buyers Bootcamp. Il est actuellement en pré-production pour la quatrième saison de sa série Scott's House Call, nommée au Canadian Screen Award.

Scott McGillivray est PDG du Groupe McGillivray et McGillivray Entertainment, cofondateur de Keyspire, qui dispense une formation sur l'investissement immobilier. Il est également associé dans District REIT, et investit dans l'immobilier dans toute l'Amérique du Nord.

Vie privée
Steve McGillivray est né à Richmond Hill et a grandi à Toronto, en Ontario, au Canada. Il est marié à Sabrina McGillivray et a deux filles. La famille partage son temps entre ses résidences à Toronto, en Ontario, et à Fort Myers, en Floride.

Séries télévisées

Income Property (2009-2016)
Income Property est une émission de télévision créée en 2009 où Scott McGillivray aide les propriétaires à transformer une partie de leur maison en une source de revenus, et est diffusée sur HGTV Canada. Dans chaque épisode, Scott présente aux propriétaires des options de rénovation pour transformer leur espace en un logement locatif légal. Le  épisode a été diffusé en 2013, année où la durée des épisodes est passée d'une demi-heure à une heure, pour revenir à des épisodes d'une demi-heure l'année suivante.

Dans le format d'une demi-heure, Scott vient aider les propriétaires avec leurs propriétés existantes, la rénovant pour un logement locatif rentable. Dans le format d'une heure, Scott aide les gens à acheter une maison et à la rénover, y compris en créant une unité locative rentable. Il y a eu plusieurs saisons à thème, en plus des saisons régulières sans thème, et le spectacle d'une heure peut être considéré comme une saison à thème, avec d'autres, qui se concentre sur des types particuliers de propriétés locatives.

En 2013, il est diffusé dans 33 pays à travers le monde.

Moving the McGillivrays (2016)
Avec Moving the McGillivrays, Scott McGillivray, sa femme et ses deux filles, achètent et rénovent une maison, sur HGTV Canada. Ils finissent par choisir une maison qu'ils démolissent en raison des coûts de rénovation élevés, pour finalement construire la maison de leurs rêves.

Buyers Bootcamp avec Scott McGillivray (2018)
Dans Buyers Bootcamp avec Scott McGillivray, au lieu d'aider les acheteurs à acheter de nouvelles propriétés et à les transformer en propriétés à revenus (comme dans la version d'une heure de Income Property), il aide les acheteurs à rénover et à revendre des propriétés.

Dans le cadre du projet pilote, pour HGTV Canada, en 2016, Scott aide les propriétaires à choisir une propriété à acheter et à rénover avec profit.

Dans la série pour HGTV (États-Unis), Scott s'associe en tant que partenaire pour aider à rénover les immeubles de placement et les revendre à des fins lucratives. La saison 1 a été diffusée en 2018.

Scott's Vacation House Rules (2020)
L'émission Scott's Vacation House Rules reprend le principe d'Income Property. Dans cette émission, il aide les propriétaires de chalets à rénover leurs propriétés en propriétés locatives attrayantes pour les locations de vacances.

Chroniqueur à la télévision

Debbie Travis' Facelift (2003-2005) et From the Ground Up avec Debbie Travis (2006)
Steve McGillivray a fait ses débuts à la télévision en tant que chroniqueur puis en tant que manager avec Debbie Travis.

Juge et animateur à la télévision

Holiday Battle on the Block HGTV HGTV (2007)
McGillivray et Kim Myles coorganisent un concours de propriétaire pour la meilleure décoration de maison de vacances.

Canada's Handyman Challenge (2012-2014)
McGillivray est juge à l'émission HGTV Canada Canada Handyman Challenge avec Mike Holmes, Bryan Baeumler et Paul LaFrance.

Flipping the Block (2014)
Dans Flipping the Block, McGillivray est un juge évaluant les capacités de rénovation de quatre couples en compétition. Le but est de faire un bénéfice maximal lors de vente aux enchères. Les équipes transforment des condominiums délabrés identiques - puis les vendent au plus offrant. Scott McGillivray est aux côtés des juges Nicole Curtis, David Bromstad et de l'animateur Josh Temple.

All American Handyman (2010-2012)
McGillivray est coanimateur de l'émission All American Handyman de HGTV avec Mike Holmes.

Star invitée à la télévision

Home To Win (2015)
Dans l'émission Home to Win de HGTV Canada, McGillivray rénove une maison pour une famille sélectionnée par les producteurs.

Livres
En 2014, McGillivray publie son premier livre sur la rénovation de maisons dans lequel il conseille aux propriétaires comment tirer le meilleur parti de leurs investissements en rénovation.

 How to Add Value to your Home (2014), HarperCollins Canada

McGillivray a également coécrit des livres sur l'investissement immobilier avec son partenaire Michael Sarracini.

 Cash Flow for Life (2012)
 Quick Start To Cash Flow (2011)
 The Investors Tool Kit (2011)

Projets commerciaux

 Keyspire (Lifetime Wealth Academy)

En 2010, Steve McGillivray lance sa propre société d'éducation immobilière appelée The Lifetime Wealth Academy, ensuite renommée Keyspire en 2013. Keyspire organise des sessions de formation et des ateliers d'investissement. Keyspire est également un réseau immobilier de premier plan en Amérique du Nord.

 Événements en direct

McGillivray a lancé ses propres événements en direct intitulés « Creating Wealth through Real Estate » (« Créer de la richesse grâce à l'immobilier ») en 2009 pour sensibiliser les gens à l'investissement immobilier. Cet événement est devenu #TheWealthTour en 2015.

Voir également

 Mike Holmes
 Bryan Baeumler
 Paul LaFrance

Références

Étudiant de l'Université de Guelph
Producteur canadien de télévision
Animateur canadien de télévision
Professeur canadien
Naissance en 1978
Pages avec des traductions non relues

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans – Make the most of your space with these decorating ideas for Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans from top designers. Copy these stylish Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans wall decoration ideas to bring your empty walls . To get you motivated, here's our pick of ideas from houses we've search. These simple Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans prove that you don't need a lot of square, Add instant style to any decor with decorating ideas that call to get a small imagination. Just because you are living in a Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans apartment doesn't mean you need to settle for dull, pint-sized furniture. And if you've discovered the perfect Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans of your fantasies, minute spaces can fold down and up and a number of other space saving furniture cases and ideas. Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans can have a big impact with the ideal design. Renting a Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans can get extra tricky with strange nooks and corners. Use light, crisp colours to fight unique attributes like reduced ceilings. Bright whites seem luxe in any sized room, and also turn this slanted-ceiling children' room to a spacious play zone. Put the'large' to a Rustic Home Floor Plans Elegant 24 Fresh Rustic House Plans with bold bits and strong patterns. When decorating with art that wows, neutral bedding is essential. A little background, paint, or a few colorful accents may make a massive difference in your house. It's possible to tackle every one of those ideas in one day, even though the results will seem like it took way longer to pull off. Shade is a powerful layout tool in decoration, in addition to in interior design which is the art of composing, and coordinating colours together to create a stylish scheme on the interior architecture of the space. It is essential to interior designers to acquire a profound experience with colors, understand their psychological effects, and comprehend the meaning of each colour in various locations and situations in order to produce suitable combinations for each location.
Mixing colours together could lead to making a condition of mind as seen by the audience, and may eventually lead to positive or negative results on them. Colours make the space feel more serene, cheerful, comfortable, stressful, or dramatic. Color mix make a very small room look bigger or smaller.So it is the Interior designer livelihood to select appropriate colors for a place in ways people want to feel and look in the space.
One of the most important things when planning house plan would be the traffic patterns.You have to thinking more detail about how to developing a strategy for every day activity from start to finish. This is about finding which way is your quickest route, what places to hit first to avoid delays and traffic, so we can achived efficiency. While that could be a stretch from house design and preparation, the idea of traffic pattern planning is your underlining focus that coincides with producing the flow or traffic movement in your home. Among the greatest way to effectively ascertain home plan traffic patterns is, you need to imagine yourself actually moving throughout the home, multiple posibbility can be produced through the visualitation. Remember to dedicate a minimum amount of room to traffic areas. Planning is take the important role, so valuable square footage could be lost if you do not plan accordingly. The most efficient design entails creating the illusion of hallway traffic patterns or passages using furniture placement. This is often seen in open floor plans. They utilize a minimal number of interior walls to different rooms. It involves a bit of forethought from the designer and homeowner, but expert active preparation eliminates traffic pattern issues and furniture arrangement for the homeowner. You ought to keep the size of halls and corridors should to a minimum. Make sure that you also keep hallways short in distance.


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The TreadRight Foundation: Supporting Sustainable Development Through Tourism
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Travel is both fun and educational; the two go hand in hand. But while travel broadens and enriches the mind, it is ultimately up to individuals to choose to protect the places they set out to explore. At Insight Vacations, we choose to live up to the moniker of "responsible" travel, not only respecting the destinations we visit but also by creating the opportunities to have a positive impact on resident communities. Although there are countless ways to travel sustainably, we've picked out four projects that Insight Vacations work on with the TreadRight Foundation, where travelers can satisfy their hearts as well as their minds.
Sheep walking © Otmar Winterleitner/iStock
Whitmuir Society, Scotland
Seeking to develop its 140-acre farm at Whitmuir, West Linton, Scotland, as a living, learning space that entices visitors to educate themselves about sustainable food and farming, the Whitmuir Society is a pioneer in more ways than one. Community owned and a keen advocate of partially converting farmland into woodland, hedges and shelterbelts in order to promote biodiversity, a safe haven for wildlife and the perfect balance of trees and crops, the farm rears traditional breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys and hens, whilst recycling everything it can, making sure no nutrients go to waste. Guaranteeing all this good work gets the attention it deserves, the TreadRight Foundation has contributed towards the construction of a farm yurt where guests of Insight Vacations on the Best of Britain trip can gather to learn the secrets of organic farming, its environmental benefits, and participate in cooking demonstrations.
Brozzetti, Italy © Insight Vacations
Laboratorio Giuditta Brozzetti, Italy
Giuditta Brozzetti's own travelogue started in the midst of the First World War. A housewife turned elementary school director, she journeyed by horse-drawn carriage around the Italian countryside, becoming more and more curious about the noises that came from the houses she passed along the way. Eventually, she discovered that these sounds came from clattering looms and became determined to ensure that the art of hand-weaving textiles on antique wooden looms would continue into the modern age. Four generations later, the Laboratorio Giuditta Brozzetti is still going. Located in the medieval city of Perugia, Italy, it uses funds provided by TreadRight Foundation grants to establish educational tools that spread the tradition of weaving and also build e-commerce capabilities that enable online sales to spread. Insight Vacations guests can visit the Umbrian hilltop on the Ultimate Italy tour and see for themselves how the art of hand-weaving textiles has been passed down the generations.
Storyboot, Canada © Insight Vacations
The Storyboot School, Canada
The tale of the Storyboot School, or the "Manitobah Mukluks Storyboot Project" to give it its full title, begins with a single Cree artist. Fast forward to 2015 and the project showcased the work of 25 talented Aboriginal artisans from all across North America and emerged as a global player in the online marketplace, where Aboriginal artists sell their one-of-a-kind mukluk (soft boots) and moccasins, made in the traditional way. Using its TreadRight Foundation grant to set up an educational workspace at The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada, the project also displays the work of Storyboot artists in the museum's gift shop, creating the perfect synthesis of cross-cultural instruction and real market opportunities. Insight Vacations guests in Toronto have the opportunity to visit the Storyboot school to learn about the story that celebrates Aboriginal values and history on the Trans-Canada Grandeur tour.
CTTC, Peru © Insight Vacations
Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco, Peru
Officially established in 1996, the Traditional Textile Center of Cusco employs more than 500 individuals from the Cusco region in Peru. Encouraging the continuation of the 10,000 year-old Andean textile traditions and providing support to those working in the heritage industry affected by the hostile effects of globalization, it originally began as a collective group of weavers in the 1980s. Now, having interviewed over 80 weavers and established 44 patterns (with all their histories and meanings), the Center goes from strength to strength, using its TreadRight Foundation grant to finish the construction of a traditional weaver's home at the Chinchero Weaver's Center, which will then open its doors to locals and Insight Vacations guests in order to provide an education in traditional weaving techniques and promote the sale of textiles produced. Insight Vacations guests should also look out for a certain Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez, too. A Quenchua and scholar, she is only too happy to meet Insight Vacations visitors intrigued by the enterprise on the Treasure of the Incas tour.
If these projects have prompted your interest in responsible, sustainable tourism, why not discover some of the other projects that Insight Vacations and its partner the TreadRight Foundation help fund, here.
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TreadRight
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An Insight love story
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Seven Festive Foods to Try at Europe's Christmas Markets
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Our 2018 #InsightMoments winner is…
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Uncover the secrets of the Grand Canyon
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At least 767 people in 36 states are now part of the Salmonella outbreak linked to imported cucumbers. Since the last update on October 6, the outbreak has expanded to a new state, Florida, and 35 new cases from 14 states have been added.
There have been four deaths and 157 hospitalizations. About 50 percent of those sickened are children under 18.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) say the outbreak, which they have linked to cucumbers imported from Mexico and distributed by Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce, is ongoing.
The recalled cucumbers, dark green in color, between 7 and 10 inches long were sold unlabeled in bulk displays at grocery stores. A list of retailers that sold the recalled cucumbers has not been provided by health officials. But Walmart, Winco, Food 4 Less, Ralphs, and Savemart stores all carried them.
As of October 13, 2015, 767 people were infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Poona associated with this outbreak. By state, the case count is as follows: Alabama (1), Alaska (16), Arizona (118), Arkansas (11), California (205), Colorado (18), Florida (1), Hawaii (1), Idaho (24), Illinois (9), Indiana (4), Iowa (6), Kansas (2), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (5), Maryland (1), Minnesota (38), Missouri (12), Montana (15), Nebraska (7), Nevada (14), New Mexico (31), New York (6), North Dakota (6), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (12), Oregon (21), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (9), South Dakota (3), Texas (38), Utah (53), Virginia (1), Washington (24), Wisconsin (42), and Wyoming (7). The deaths occurred in Arizona, California, Oklahoma and Texas.