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Rahul Gandhi, né le  à New Delhi, est un homme politique indien. Fils de l'ancien Premier ministre Rajiv Gandhi et de l'ancienne présidente du Congrès Sonia Gandhi, il est l'héritier de la famille Nehru-Gandhi.

Il est député depuis 2004, secrétaire général du Congrès entre 2007 et 2013, vice-président entre 2013 et 2017 puis président de  à .

Biographie

Jeunesse et formation
Rahul Gandhi est né le  à New Delhi. Il est l'aîné des deux enfants de Rajiv Gandhi, plus tard Premier ministre de l'Inde, et Sonia Gandhi, qui le précéda à la présidence du Congrès national indien.

Sa grand-mère est Indira Gandhi, Première ministre à l'époque de sa naissance et elle-même fille unique de Jawaharlal Nehru, le premier Premier ministre de l'Inde indépendante.

Rahul Gandhi fréquente l'école St. Columba's à Delhi, puis The Doon School à Dehradun. Après l'assassinat d'Indira Gandhi, alors que Rajiv Gandhi devient Premier ministre le , Rahul et sa sœur Priyanka Gandhi sont éduqués à la maison.

Rahul Gandhi rejoint pour ses études l'université Harvard mais, après l'assassinat de son père en 1991, il rejoint le Rollins College pour des raisons de sécurité. Durant cette période, il utilise le pseudonyme de Raul Vinci. Il obtient un Baccalauréat ès lettres en 1994 puis un Master of Philosophy au Trinity College de Cambridge en 1995.

Il rejoint ensuite le secteur privé et travaille dans une firme londonienne de consultants en gestion, puis, à partir de 2002 à Bombay.

Carrière politique
Rahul Gandhi se présente et remporte ses premières élections en 2004, dans la circonscription d'Amethi qu'occupait précédemment son père, puis sa mère. En 2006, avec sa sœur Priyanka, ils supervisent la campagne de Sonia Gandhi dans la circonscription de Rae Bareilly.

En 2007, Rahul Gandhi est nommé secrétaire général du Congrès national indien et président du Indian Youth Congress, l'organisation de jeunesse du parti. Depuis cette époque, il est souvent considéré comme un potentiel candidat au poste de Premier ministre.

En 2012, il supervise la campagne du Congrès lors des élections locales en Uttar Pradesh, l'État le plus peuplé d'Inde et où le parti enregistre de faibles scores depuis plusieurs années. Le Congrès remporte 28 sièges, soit 6 de plus que lors des précédentes élections, mais ne parvient pas à concurrencer les partis majeurs de l'État.

Le , Rahul Gandhi devient président du Comité de coordination du Congrès en vue des élections de 2014. Le , il devient vice-président du Congrès. Le , il en prend la présidence à la place de sa mère Sonia Gandhi, qui occupait ce poste depuis 19 ans.

Pendant la campagne précédant les élections législatives de 2019, il est la cible d'attaques islamophobes et xénophobes. Il est présenté par le Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comme musulman, parce qu'une photographie le montrait enfant en prière dans une mosquée.

Le président du BJP, Amit Shah, a également affirmé qu'il se présentait dans une circonscription à majorité musulmane (ce qui était faux), qu'il comparait au Pakistan ; il a également expliqué qu'en voyant les cortèges des partisans de son adversaire il n'arrivait pas à savoir si l'action se passait « en Inde ou au Pakistan ». Le , Rahul Gandhi publie une lettre de quatre pages sur Twitter pour officialiser sa démission de la présidence du Parti du Congrès, à peine plus d'un mois après la déroute subie par son camp aux élections législatives. Son mandat n'aura duré qu'un an et demi. Lui-même et plusieurs autres responsables du Parti du Congrès ont vraisemblablement été espionnés par le gouvernement indien à travers le logiciel israélien Pegasus.

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Sonia Gandhi
 Rajiv Gandhi
 Priyanka Gandhi
 Famille Nehru-Gandhi

Liens externes

Références

Personnalité politique indienne
Famille Nehru-Gandhi
Étudiant de Trinity College (Cambridge)
Naissance en juin 1970
Naissance à New Delhi
Étudiant de l'université de Delhi
Étudiant du Rollins College


electro-music.com :: View topic - so, anyone think Clavia will come through on these requests?
so, anyone think Clavia will come through on these requests?
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:59 pm Post subject: so, anyone think Clavia will come through on these requests?
maybe they have implemented a couple of them so far, but there's alot of reasonable wish list features here that seem to be unrealized. will they ever bring back the missing modules from the NM1 like the Filter Bank, etc? this seems to be THE place for G2 users but it doesn't appear that they're listening to requests for features from the many people that use their product on a daily basis. i know that the G2 should be appreciated for what it is, but i don't think that many of these requests are unreasonable. the new patch breeding option looks to be very interesting, but i'm sure there's features that are much higher on current users priority lists. just a thought, there's alot of great ideas here that could only improve on the G2.
I think it's in the nature of modular users to come up with a lot of ways that they think would improve the g2 for them, I'm no different. a lot of people will say "that's a good idea, I'd like that too" but I think it's farfetched to think that Clavia will pick up even a fraction of these ideas - they probably have their own anyway and if patch breeding is one of them I'll take it, since it's a free upgrade I -would- appreciate feedback and fixes for the known bugs that everyone experiences.
I am not a Clavia insider, but I do talk to them occasionally. I talked quite a bit with Palle at the electro-music 2005 event but I've communicated with other people there as well from time to time. I have been assured that they know about the forum and read it. They have a policy not to post to the forum or the NM mailing list for several reasons. I respect this.
They have been pretty supportive of electro-music.com, including posting a link to us on their web site and choosing electro-music 2005 to announce a new release of their software. That said, they are ardent in wanting us to remain an independent user forum and not a corporate support site.
I don't think this forum is a black hole in respect to Clavia. I think the wish list is good for two reasons.
1) It does provide Clavia with feedback from users.
2) The discussions show us users ways of looking at the instrument that we might not have thought of ourselves, and it gives people a chance to present work-arounds and solutions.
well, almost a year later and things aren't looking very hopeful for the future of OS updates, bug fixes, new modules, streamlining, etc.
it's a great synth as it is, but it's a shame that they haven't done more to 'improve' it. there's so many things that could make it 'better'. the excuses about Clavia being a small company are getting a bit tired, maybe if they'd marketed the G2 a bit better they'd be able to sell more of them? the G2 can do *so much* and people aren't even aware of it.
not that i'm in any real position to complain, i guess.
If there is a pay version for the editor.. So the support can be funded. I would absolutly be interested. That would make future updates more realistic right?
Ofcourse we have spended a lot allready, but if that improves updates im pretty sure this hardware will last longer then ever.
Its good to read on the clavia site that they work on a Vista, Mac intel version for the g2. Tough im still using XP as long as not al my gear(usb) is supported by a better operating system. Ofcourse this will be the most important thing to stay up to date for clavia. I hope there will be some requests implemented too. As most of them seem very possible, my opinion is that future music must even get to a higher level and the g2 is allready capable of that.
But then i think it's only a matter of time, for other companies to make simular possibilities.
If there is a pay version for the editor.. So the support can be funded.
Unfortunately, no. I've asked Clavia specifically about that, but they were quite clear in that they're not doing anything of the sort. It would commit them to continued support, and my guess is that they do not under any circumstances want that to happen.
So if i understand correctly they will stop to continue updating anytime now?
There may be an update for the G2, check out this thread.


Pungo 120 - 2018 in Midnight. Pungo 120 - 2018 in Midnight.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Midnight.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Mango. Pungo 120 - 2018 in Mango.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Mango.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Galaxy. Pungo 120 - 2018 in Galaxy.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Galaxy.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Borealis Green. Pungo 120 - 2018 in Borealis Green.
Pungo 120 - 2018 in Borealis Green.
Features a dry seal hatch, universal cup holder, flat surfaces for mounting and easy access compartments for lures and gear.
Durable padding to maintain all day comfort in the cockpit of your Pungo.
I love my Pungo!! It's a great platform for both fishing and just cruising around sightseeing and taking pictures. Super lightweight and easy to put on top of the truck or carry long distance to the launch site. Also super stable so even my friends who have never been in a kayak before feel comfortable out on the water!! Oh and very durable material... I tend to not go easy on toys and the Pungo has handled my abuse for years and is still as strong as the day I got it!!
The Pungo is the Best!
I own a fair variety of kayaks, some much bigger and far more expensive than the Pungo. And yet I always seem to take the Pungo! It is by far my favorite kayak. It moves beautifully on the water, so stable, so nimble and plenty of room. I am 6ft 2in and 200lbs, and I carry my 70lb dog with me as well as lots of gear. The boat happily takes it all!
It is great on rivers or lakes. I think it is about the perfect boat!
My wife wanted us to get kayaks for excersize, and a way to spend some time together on the water, we live minutes from numorous lakes and rivers. With our limited knowledge of kayaks we had lots of questions, and the big box stores my wife had suggested wasn't making choosing a kayak any easier. We decided to go to our local Wilderness dealer and found a great staff who let us sit in various boats and gladly answered all our questions. We left the store with 2 Pungo 120's! We've been out every weekend since and have enjoyed the experience, the Pungos stability, storage and great tracking makes these kayaks a joy to use.
This kayak is great for lakes or Level One rivers. I have taken 2 three day river float/camp trips (about 35 miles each trip) on the Current River in the Ozarks. Using dry sack attached to rear deck bungies and the available cargo space, you can get all the gear you need for riverside camp outs. I am 6'2" so find it better to remove the front deck cowling to improve entrance and egress. The kayak maneuvers easily, light enough to handle from the trailer to the water, tracks nicely and the seat is very comfortable with all its adjustments. This kayak was a great choice! Looks great as well!


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Limoeiro de Anadia is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population is 28,771 (2020) and its area is 316 km².

References

Municipalities in Alagoas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


There is often called Variable Speed Drive or Variable Frequency Drive. These devices are used to control speed and torque during the timespan of the application.
Check the cool application in LabVIEW using an old and common protocol like Modbus TCP that is very common in industrial control applications.


6 top tips to enhance your student life.
We get it, at times university life can be expensive. Here's a few money saving tips we've pulled together to help enhance your student life.
Save hundreds of £££'s throughout your course, by purchasing second hand books online. You'd be surprised by the amount of textbooks you can find. The mailman doesn't only deliver ASOS packages!
No, Tupperware is not just for your nan! Dedicate a few days of the week to prepare your meals and store them in Tupperware for the day after. The average lunch, bought out of home, will set you back £4 a day. So, use the money you save on something fun. Snapchat was made for #mealprep.
Avoid doing the laundry more than once a week. If you didn't wash the shirt you want to wear in advance, too bad. You're an adult now, it's time to accept that life is full of disappointment. Whether you're taking your clothes to the local laundrette or back home for mum to wash, try to keep the cost of washing to a minimum. If you do decide to save your washing until you go back home, make sure you get a 16-25 Railcard. It can save you an average £190 a year. Imagine all the new clothes you can buy with that.
You're sitting in your living room and suddenly realise how beautiful this place would look if you had a coffee table with candles on it ( a bit of ambiance pour-vous!). Avoid the extra cost by purchasing items on Gumtree - there's definitely some freebies on there as well. Especially since most of the time you will not take it with you when you leave. Make your place #goals for under £50.
Students often forget the amazing benefits that a student discount can give them (besides £1 VK's on student night). From retail to food shopping, ask your Student Card provider for a list of the savings you can make.
The 16-25 is not just a railcard, it's also a life enhancer. With 1/3 off your rail fares, you'll have extra money for student necessities such as books, furniture and food.
More money in your pocket, means you can live your best life, whether that's socialising with friends or going back home for your Grandmother's birthday (you can tell her all about that Tupperware!).
Save 1/3 off Rail Fares around Britain. Enjoy a year off rail discounts for £30 (or 3 years for £70) and use that extra money to be limitless.


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@MSNBC
The U.S. has officially passed 50,000 deaths due to COVID-19.
"At this rate, in just a few days, more Americans will have died from Coronavirus over a span of roughly 9 weeks than died in the Vietnam War over a span of 12-years,"
PS ...and US adding a record number of new cases today, 36,000 - including 7 states with 1k+ and 11 states with 800+.
Words from a Nobel laureate:
Paul Krugman@paulkrugman
I could be wrong, but somehow the Lysol moment feels like it could be a psychological turning point — the moment when even a lot of Trump diehards face up to his essential unfitness. Those who went through the Bush years may remember how scandal after scandal, policy failure after policy failure, didn't seem to stick. The debacle in Iraq dented Bush's popularity, but not nearly as much as it should have.....
Of course I could be wrong. But right now my sense is that, to turn the pundit cliche on its head, yesterday was the day Trump stopped being president.
JUST IN: Reuters has reported that China has sent a team, which includes medical experts, to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
- The spectator index
dr, why not use all of the wars for comparisons.
Christ, death is all you libs care about.
A sweet, kind, compassionate 80 yr old......that will tear your balls off, with a smile.
There is a reason the madam became Speaker.
She needed to retire 15 years ago. She can't control the far left of her party.
Trump said his comment was sarcastic. BS!
Did you see Dr Birx face when Trump was talking about the disinfectant?
I have to admit it, Trump was a bozo for that comment. And it was not sarcastic.
After THAT I'm done with the guy. That was the final straw. I can't support someone who tells the public that.
Can't someone rip his badge and let Pence finish up the year?
Holy cow....
I didn't see today's presser but I can only imagine what crock of crap he said tonight.
Dr, I can't defend that bozo anymore.
I still in shock of what he said and then he tries to play it off as being sarcastic to test the reporter.....
I'd give it 24-48 hours before you're right back in his corner.
Lol, more like 5 Mins. Guy flip flops more than an actual flip flop.
These are the people the president defends on Twitter.
I dont even think it goes that far. I think he's just posting that to appear objective but is really just itching to blame something about this on Obama.
goingfor28
We suck
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...119e894f56.jpg
Now Trump is claiming that what he said was sarcasm?
I don't know if he was serious or not with his statement. I also do not believe this is the time to be sarcastic. You have 10s of 1000s of people dying. Just goes to show how little empathy he has as a human.
Really sad.
Trump plans to cut daily coronavirus briefings
https://www.axios.com/trump-daily-co...0ad1d29b0.html
First smart idea he's had in a while.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Discover more:Child Pornography, Children's Safety, Content moderation, CSam, Supreme Court
SC Orders Committee to Assess Govt's Adoption of Online Child Safety Measures
SC directs a committee to oversee approach on tackling child pornography online as govt argues that Court oversight may no longer be required
Aarathi Ganesan
Yesterday, the Supreme Court directed a court-appointed expert committee tackling the dissemination of child pornography online to assess whether the Indian government had successfully adopted its earlier recommendations, reported LiveLaw. A Division Bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Vikram Nath directed the committee to submit its report in a sealed cover within six weeks. The matter will be listed after eight weeks. The Court was hearing arguments by amicus curiae N.S. Nappinai and counsel Aparna Bhat in a 2015 case concerning the dissemination of child pornography and abuse on WhatsApp. The Court took suo motu cognisance of the case in 2015 following a letter sent to then Chief Justice H.L. Dattu from Prajwala, a Hyderabad-based anti-trafficking NGO. Members of the expert committee themselves, both Nappinai and Bhat highlighted the faults in approaches taken by the government and intermediaries to remove such content, and urged for strict action to be taken against the originator and people transmitting it. The counsels argued that while the government has accepted the recommendations in principle, their implementation leaves much to be desired. Why it matters: India, like many countries, is experimenting with its statutory regime to protect children online. A new data protection bill details specific protections for children's data and privacy. The IT Rules, which govern content moderation online, outlaw pedophilic, pornographic, and material harmful to children online. Even the current case has led to various developments supporting children's safety online. However, while these are important and necessary steps, their impact on a child's experience of the…
Written By Aarathi Ganesan
I'm interested in stories that explore how countries use the law to govern technology—and what this tells us about how they perceive tech and its impacts on society. To chat, for feedback, or to leave a tip: aarathi@medianama.com


They might not be your obvious choice of marketing niche, but one thing is for sure – marketing your vacation rental to senior travelers has plenty of benefits.
Not only are over-65s now living longer, better lives than ever, they're also some of the highest income earners and, generally, the demographic with the most time and disposable income to travel.
Pair this with changing attitudes towards vacationing which are making the "home-from-home" experience more valuable than ever, and you'll soon understand why over-65s should be your next go-to market.
Don't be mistaken – however – there is not simply one type of senior traveler. So whether they're planning a multi-generational vacation, are looking to escape the winter weather or undertake a hobby holiday, here are some ideas on how you can market your vacation rental to senior travelers.
It's no secret that many seniors fly south for the winter to warmer weather and attractive areas – and now you can use this to give you the upper hand. If your vacation rental climate stays mild even off-peak, you could think about marketing your rental well ahead of time to capture these guests and fill your shoulder season.
Offering early bird incentives such as discounts, free airport transfers or even a complimentary activity to enjoy during their stay can help lookers turn into bookers!
Age is nothing more than a number, and when it comes to staying in shape, the over-60s are fitter than ever. With almost a quarter of over-60s working out a minimum of five times a week, this can be a great selling point for your vacation rental. Think about what sporting activities visitors to your town or city like to do best. That could be: golfing; fishing; walking; hiking; cycling; swimming; or simply attending sports fixtures. Additionally, mention any activities that are free or discounted for senior citizens (for example, museums, art galleries, local transport etc.).
The opportunity to undertake their favorite hobbies in a new setting will not only help them to feel active and energized, but it will also help them in the quest for an authentic experience of living like a local!
In the US, around 40% of people aged 65 and over have at least one disability, with two thirds of them stating mobility as the biggest difficulty. But don't let mobility be the hurdle that keeps potential guests away from your property.
There are many ways you can adapt your property for disabled travelers and it doesn't have to be expensive or ugly. If you can make any adjustments to suit seniors with mobility issues, be sure to highlight these benefits through your photos and descriptions. Small touches such as a portable ramp and detachable grab rails in the bathrooms can go a long way in making a guest feel more at home.
Although they're now traveling more than ever, that's not to say seniors are necessarily happy with "roughing it". So make sure they know your home has everything they need – from the very minute they interact with your property. That might be full kitchen facilities, extensive cable TV, high-speed internet, a working phone connection with unlimited long distance calls – all these amenities will help your guests feel right at home. Top it off with the comfiest mattresses, sofas and outdoor furniture and you'll be onto a winner with senior travelers!
It may surprise you to find out just how many seniors are using Facebook – more than 62% of online adults over the age of 65 regularly use the social media network. So, make the most of this online community opportunity and tailor some adverts to catch their eye! Using Facebook Ads, you can easily target specific demographics using filters for age, location and interests – based on past senior visitors to your rental.
After a day of golfing, walking or generally visiting the area, any guests will appreciate their space to chill out and relax – and this couldn't be truer for senior travelers. Ensure your home looks as comfy and cozy as possible by adding some perfectly staged photos which show off these relaxing spaces. Whether that's a reclining sofa, hanging hammock or outdoors day bed, make these areas look as inviting and welcoming as possible!
Baby boomers take an average of four to five vacation trips per year, so remember this number in your marketing material! Even though studies show that comfort is more important than money for the older generation when traveling, a little incentive to book early may be just what they need to get their travel plans locked down.
Building meaningful relationships with your guests first time round will create a lasting impression for their stay. Staying in touch with your past guests after departure with a newsletter will also help maintain the relationship and provide you with a way to target them for future stays. Match this with a tempting money-off discount and you'll be bringing in repeat guests in no time.
Whatever your property's unique selling point, you can't afford to miss out on marketing to the older generation – not when they're one of the biggest growing travel sectors out there. Follow these tips to attract more senior travelers to your vacation rental.
Lodgify is a vacation rental software solution that allows vacation rental owners and managers to easily create their own accommodation website and accept online bookings. Owners can manage all reservations from one place and synchronize property data with their booking channels.
With millions of monthly users, Pinterest is one of the most powerful social media platforms.
Ready to take more direct bookings?
No set up fees, no credit card details, no obligation. Try Lodgify free for 7 days.
© 2012 - 2019 lodgify.com. All rights reserved.


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Bitcoin exchanges suspend conversions as hacker attack intensifies
The Guardian @guardian
@guardian
Three online exchanges for the bitcoin virtual currency have suspended conversions into state-backed currencies, saying they are under attack from hackers suspected of trying to create fraudulent transactions.
The value of the currency has plunged as the attack has intensified, from $926 on 5 February to $530 on 12 February on MtGox, one of the affected exchanges. Bitstamp, based in Slovenia, and BTC-e, in Bulgaria, also halted withdrawals indefinitely on Wednesday as they came under attack.
The moves follow crackdowns by China in December and Russia last week on use of the cybercurrency, which some authorities fear could be used for money laundering, funding terrorism or tax evasion.
"This is a denial-of-service [DoS] attack," said Jinyoung Lee Englund, a spokeswoman for the Bitcoin Foundation, a trade organisation for exchanges. "Whoever is doing this is not stealing coins, but is succeeding in preventing some transactions from confirming. It's important to note that DoS attacks do not affect people's bitcoin wallets or funds."
In a statement, MtGox said: "A bug in the bitcoin software makes it possible for someone to use the bitcoin network to alter transaction details to make it seem like a sending of bitcoins to a bitcoin wallet did not occur when in fact it did occur. Since the transaction appears as if it has not proceeded correctly, the bitcoins may be re-sent." Such "double spending" could destroy trust in the system.
This article was written by Charles Arthur and agencies, for The Guardian on Wednesday 12th February 2014 19.38 Europe/London
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
image: © Zach Copley
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Spouse left home.. is it my Karma?
Posted in doership, dukha, emotions, flow of life, free will / destiny, god, karma, LIFE, Non Reaction, pleasure / pain, present moment, raaga-dvesha, RELATIONSHIP, sakshi bhav, self-effort, suffering. Tagged buddha, karma, lifetimes, reacting, spouse, tapas, truth.
Do we accumulate karma if we scold loved ones or try to correct them when they do something wrong?
Posted in causation, dispassion, doership, emotions, karma, LIFE, maaya, mind, raaga-dvesha. Tagged agami, dvesha, emotions, karma, raaga, spontaneous.
Your mother-in-law is one of your very strong past Karma !
Posted in awareness, dukha, flow of life, karma, LIFE, pleasure / pain, raaga-dvesha, RELATIONSHIP. Tagged agaami, dvesha, karma, karmaphalam, lifetimes, mother in law, raaga.


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Doppelgangers: a new form of self?
Jeremy N. Bailenson on the psychological consequences of seeing the 'self' acting independently
Humans have long been able to see their reflections in mirrors and other reflective surfaces. Since the past century, film and video technology has provided a way to view the self 'asynchronously', such that the video image shows a behaviour that the human actually performed but at a previous time. New technology that creates 'avatars', virtual models that look just like the self, allow for a wholly new human experience – seeing the 'self' perform an action that was never actually performed physically by the viewers. Can these 'doppelgängers' – virtual representations that may look like a person but act independently – cause psychological consequences in the physical world?
Orville Redenbacher was a noted popcorn mogul, and one of the most successful brand icons in US history. He would frequently be seen in television commercials advertising his product, proclaiming that 'You'll taste the difference or my name isn't Orville Redenbacher'. Redenbacher passed away in 1995, but there was enough video and photographic material from decades of his public life to build a 3D model of his head and body, and to use sound clips to create a persuasive analog of his voice. Consequently, in a surprising move, in 2006, the owner of the brand, ConAgra, released a commercial with a virtual Orville Redenbacher dancing around while listening to an MP3 player, popping popcorn and exclaiming, 'Can you believe this little baby holds thirty gigs?'
Today, however, this technology is porting from expensive film studios into the living room. Video game technology allows users to build doppelgängers that look like them, but once built are controlled by the video game animations. For example, the Microsoft Kinect has many features that allow avatars to resemble the users, especially the 'Avatar Kinect', which allow people to have remote collaborations in which their avatars are co-present even though the people controlling those avatars are in separate physical locations.A number of recent experiments run by my colleagues and me at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab have explored the question of what happens when individuals are exposed to their autonomous doppelgängers. Does existing psychological theory provide predictions regarding the experience of seeing oneself from the third person? In this article
I focus on three different research areas: health communication, false memories, and marketing.
People know that healthy behaviours are important. They are barraged by the media on a daily basis, reminding them, for example, to exercise, eat right, and get a good night's sleep. However, relatively few people actually make the effort to do so. Why not? Some researchers posit that it results from a failure of 'self-efficacy'. People simply do not believe that they have the ability to lose weight or get in shape. Might it be possible, by observing one's doppelgänger become the healthy person that one wants to be, to encourage and induce healthy behaviours? Jesse Fox, while a student at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, ran a number of studies designed to answer that question (see Fox & Bailenson, 2010, for a review).
In one line of research (Fox & Bailenson, 2009), adults came to our lab, put on a head-mounted display that allowed them to be immersed perceptually in a virtual environment and watched their virtual doppelgängers exercise, someone else's doppelgänger exercise, or their own doppelgänger stand still. Participants in the self-exercise condition reported higher 'self-efficacy' – the belief that they could exercise successfully – than participants in the other two conditions. Simply by watching their doppelgängers exercise, participants expressed the intention to adopt that behaviour. More importantly, they claimed to have acted on their intentions: when we contacted all participants the next day, the exercise group reported that they had worked out for almost one hour more than participants in the two control conditions.
In a follow-up study, participants physically exercised, running in place while standing in the centre of a room in the lab, while wearing a head-mounted display and experiencing an immersive virtual environment with their doppelgänger in it. As they exercised, they watched their doppelgänger losing weight. For every minute they ran in place in the physical world, their doppelgänger became slimmer, that is, scaled down on the vertical axis. In other words, participants were able to connect the cause and effect of exercise and weight loss. Next, without compensation, participants had the opportunity to remain in the lab longer and work out using free weights. They were told that the next participant wouldn't be coming for at least 30 minutes and the lab was free for them to use. Participants who were in the critical, self-efficacy condition, exercised 10 times longer than participants in a number of control conditions.
Jesse Fox reported similar effects on healthy eating behaviours (Fox et al., 2009). In the virtual world, undergraduates viewed their doppelgängers eating candy and gaining weight, or eating carrots and losing weight. Subsequently, in the physical laboratory, participants remained in the room to complete a series of questionnaires with a bowl of candy nearby, and we unobtrusively measured how much candy they ate. The virtual eating behaviour of the doppelgänger subsequently affected physical eating. However, the effects varied by gender – men ate more candy after seeing their doppelgängers eat candy (compared to control conditions), while women suppressed the urge and consumed less candy. According to Fox, this stereotypical gender behavior was activated in the virtual world, and both genders adhered more voraciously to the stereotype, with men displaying large appetites and women behaving in a more diet-conscious manner.
False memories
Doppelgängers can also affect memory. Kathryn Segovia, another graduate student at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, ran one of the more industrious studies in the history of virtual-reality research, placing fragile, expensive equipment on the heads of scores of preschoolers and elementary-school children (Segovia & Bailenson, 2009). Segovia was interested in false memories. There is a large body of work on false testimony and eyewitness memory. Much of it has focused on children, because they are more suggestible than adults. Unfortunately, innocent people have been imprisoned because of children's false memories. Previous work has demonstrated that if
a child actively thinks about doing something, for example if the child is guided by a prosecutor to do so, the action can often become real to the child when asked about it later. Segovia's study examined whether witnessing a doppelgänger engage in a certain behaviour could produce a false memory. She built replica avatars of 60 children, who then watched 'themselves' swimming with whales in a virtual aquarium.
When interviewed a week later in the physical world, more than half of the elementary-school children who saw their doppelgängers swimming, compared to children who had seen other children's avatars swimming, persisted in the belief that they had physically gone swimming with whales sometime in the past. When asked to describe the experience, many had invented stories around the event, for example they could tell you what 'Sea World' looked like and what they ate before swimming with the whales. Apparently, watching a doppelgänger can create false memories. The implications are profound. In virtual reality, just seeing oneself performing some action can change one's behaviour and memory.
Given that virtual behaviour is controlled by computer programmers and animators, the consequences can be dire. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) in the US demonstrated that children between the age of eight and 18 spend over eight hours per day consuming digital media, much of that time spent playing video games that feature avatars. The line differentiating 'the real' from 'the virtual' is one that becomes less defined as more of life is conducted in digital forums.
One such consequence is depicted in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story Minority Report. Specifically, there was a scene in which Tom Cruise's character looked up at a billboard and encountered an advertisement using his own name. That marketing feat can certainly be recreated in virtual reality. We've demonstrated that if a participant sees his avatar wearing a certain brand of clothing, he is more likely to recall and prefer that brand. In other words, if one observes his avatar as a product endorser (the ultimate form of targeted advertising), he is more likely to embrace the product. There is a fairly large literature in psychology on the 'self-referencing' effect, which demonstrates that messages that connect with the receiver's identity tend to be more effective than generic messages (e.g. Rogers et al., 1977)
To explore the consequences of viewing one's virtual doppelgänger, we ran a simple experiment using digitally manipulated photographs (Ahn & Bailenson, 2011). We used imaging software to place participants' heads on people depicted in billboards using fictitious brands, for example holding up a soft drink with a brand label on it. After the study, participants expressed better memory as well as a preference for the brand, even though it was obvious their faces had been placed in the advertisement. In other words, even though it was clearly a gimmick, using the digital self to promote a product is effective. Based on the findings from this study, the Silicon Valley company LinkedIn is featuring job advertisements that pull the photograph of the job applicant and place it in the job advertisement. In other words, the applicant gets to 'see' what he or she would look like inside of the corporate message.
More human than human?
Doppelgängers allow for humans to have abilities that were never possible in the past.
Think about how often people multitask nowadays. For better or for worse, we are often mentally in more than one place at the same time, or at least travelling back and forth between many places psychologically very quickly, whether text messaging in movie theatres or chatting on the phone while driving a car. Think about identical twins, who have the unique ability to send a proxy to a boring meeting or to take a difficult exam. Avatars and agents take the notion of multitasking to a new plateau, and may free us up a great deal, via a virtual power we label outsourcing. For example, movie hero Bruce Willis, the physical version at least, has an active social life, attending parties in Hollywood and New York with other celebrities. But while Willis was enjoying his lunches and glitzy affairs in the summer of 2007, his agent clones were promoting the movie Die Hard 4. A Bruce Willis doppelgänger was built and replicated. An army of these doppelgängers were sent into Second Life to walk around and convince people to see the movie. Not only can our avatars work while we sleep, but thousands of versions of our avatars can work simultaneously as we sleep (maybe, like Bruce Willis's, they're off performing a canned sales pitch to any number of potential clients). Imagine how much more persuasive, and useful, full-blown avatars and agents in virtual reality will be.
The National Science Foundation in the United States awarded a grant to a team of scientists headed by Jason Leigh at the University of Illinois at Chicago and his colleagues at the University of Central Florida. These scholars were tasked with developing the technology to build a lifelike visual appearance and personality replica of specific individuals. The goal of the project is to develop the technology needed to accomplish such a task. To test the feasibility of the technology, they chose to capture, preserve, and reuse the expertise of retiring NSF program director, Dr Alex Schwarzkopf (Lee et al., 2010). His doppelgänger is accurate in terms of appearance (they used a 3D scanner to make the avatar look like its owner), nonverbal behaviour (meticulously recorded via motion-capture technology), personality (by using a vast array of artificial-intelligence natural language processing algorithms based on data collected during interviews with him), and emotions. One of the graduate students, who spent more than 30 hours per week with Schwarzkopf for a year, collecting data, noted that the doppelgänger even used speech idiosyncrasies, for example, his signature salutation, 'Keep the peace!' This system is somewhat functional and is being prepared for use by current, less senior NSF officials to leverage the expertise that Schwarzkopf achieved over decades of service. He has given them carte blanche to use his avatar as they see fit. The avatar actually learns from the people it meets because its understanding of the world at large changes based on history of previous conversations. In this sense, virtual Schwarzkopf is capable of forming relationships with people that physical Schwarzkopf never knew.
Virtually greener
In a new line of work we are examining how to use doppelgängers to reduce energy use and promote 'green' behaviour. Take paper use as an example. People who use non-recycled tissue paper over the course of their lifetimes are personally responsible for cutting down virgin trees (approximately two large trees per person). In an initial study using first-person virtual reality rather than observation of doppelgängers (Ahn & Bailenson, 2011) about 50 people read some information about how the use of non-recycled paper leads to deforestation. One group of subjects then read an account of what happens when a chainsaw cuts down a tree. The narrative was rich with detail, describing the flight of birds in the forest, the sound and vibration of the saw and the breaking of branches.
A second group of subjects didn't read the description, but instead entered a virtual forest via a head-mounted display that provided stereoscopic sight and spatialised sound. Also, using a special joystick called a haptic device, the subjects were able to feel the vibration of the virtual chainsaw in their hands.
Regardless of which group they were in, all participants said they planned to use less non-recycled paper in a self-report questionnaire. But when it came time to put that belief into practice, only the virtual tree choppers reduced their paper use, as measured by watching them clean up an 'accidental' water spill about 30 minutes later. Those who only read about logging used an average of 20 per cent more napkins than those who saw their limbs taken control of.
We are in the process of running a similar study using true third-person doppelgängers; the results await completion of analysis. In follow-up studies we are extending this work to and to other environmental domains, for example water use and carbon dioxide production.
When a virtual human is controlled by an actual human's behaviours in real time, it is an avatar, by definition. If it is controlled by a computer, it is an agent. However, the notions of doppelgängers challenge these definitions, by begging the question, 'If it looks just like me in every way but is controlled by a computer algorithm, is it really just an agent?' Strictly speaking, the answer to this questions is 'yes'. However, the notion of self is fluid in virtual reality. The same holds for people in the physical world, but to a lesser extent. 'I wasn't myself when I said that!' is an excuse people often give for some transgression.
The possibilities for self-representations are many in virtual reality, and scholars are just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding the implications of these new technologies for who we are and how we act as humans. There are many unknowns about these doppelgängers – for example, how long the effect lasts, how it interacts among people who vary across cultures and personality type, and what is the exact psychological mechanisms behind the process. As the technologies to build avatars move from the laboratory into the living room the need to answer these pressing questions will be more pronounced.
Jeremy N. Bailenson is Director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University
Ahn, S.J. & Bailenson, J. (2011, November). Embodied experiences in immersive virtual environments. Paper presented at the 97th Annual Conference of the National Communication Association, New Orleans, LA.
Ahn, S.J. & Bailenson, J.N. (in press). Self-endorsing versus other-endorsing in virtual environments. Journal of Advertising.
Fox, J. & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtual self-modeling: The effects of vicarious reinforcement and identification on exercise behaviors. Media Psychology, 12, 1–25.
Fox, J. & Bailenson, J.N. (2010). The use of doppelgängers to promote health behavior change. CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation, 3(2), 16–17.
Fox, J., Bailenson, J.N. & Binney, J. (2009). Virtual experiences, physical behaviors: The effect of presence on imitation of an eating avatar. PRESENCE: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 18(4), 294–303.
Kaiser Family Foundation (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8- to 18-year-olds. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Lee, S., Carlson, G., Jones, S. et al. (2010). Designing an expressive avatar of a real person. Proceedings of the 10th Int. Conference, Intelligent Virtual Agent, Philadelphia, PA.
Rogers, T.B., Kuiper, N.A. & Kirker, W.S. (1977). Self-reference and the encoding of personal information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 677–688.
Segovia, K.Y. & Bailenson, J.N. (2009). Virtually true: Children's acquisition of false memories in virtual reality. Media Psychology, 12, 371–393.
The Life guide
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Coronavirus, Mental Health, Autism, Art, Gender, Racism, Trauma, Sport, Children, Workplace, Memory, Health Psychology, Emotion, Politics, Abuse, Therapy, School, Suicide, Prison, War, Replication, Media, Language, Brain Injury, Freud, Music, Stress, Forensic, Sexuality, Dementia, Behaviour Change, Parenting, Ethics, Climate Change, Intelligence, Addiction, Internet, Refugees, Writing, Culture, Students, Conflict, Humour, Leadership, Learning, Animals, Teaching, Religion, Qualitative, Education,


It is truly a work of art, these clouds and this light and this image. And yet, here we are, speeding down the road, groceries in our car and receipts in our pocket, the evidence of spending time in the ordinary moments, when even then we are blessed with this art show, totally unique and free for our eyes… if only for a moment.
I couldn't stop staring and pointing and holding my breath. How beautiful it is. See how the light peeks through? Like God is there, behind these clouds, waiting for us to turn our gaze so he can smile at us through the light.
And what are the clouds in this holy painting of light and air, what do they represent and how do they change so subtly but so quickly at the same time? And when the orange dips lower and lower so that I find myself standing on tiptoe to see the last inch of it, as disappointment and awe makes its way into my heart, there shines the brightest, most brilliant orange and red, the final blot of divinity on this masterpiece that is now gone forever.


text:
En væv er et redskab til fremstilling af vævede tekstiler.

Et vævet tekstil består af to trådsystemer, der krydser hinanden vinkelret. De længdegående tråde kaldes trend eller kæde, mens de tværgående tråde kaldes islæt eller skud. Det redskab, der holder trendtrådene udspændt under vævningen af tekstilet, kaldes en væv eller vævestol. De fleste typer har udstyr, der kan dele trendtrådene i to lag, så islættet lettere kan indføres under vævning.
Håndvæve findes i mange udformninger fra de mest simple lændevæve, der blot består af  pinde og rundstokke, til de meget avancerede trækvæve og jacquardvæve.

Opstadsvæv

Opstadsvæven, der hører til de ældste vævetyper, var tidligere udbredt over store dele af den vestlige verden. Opstadsvæven kendetegnes ved, at trendtrådene holdes udspændt ved hjælp af vævevægte, som enten er hulsten eller af keramik. Ved arkæologiske udgravninger er fund af vævevægte ofte det eneste bevarede spor efter væven, da træstolper, væveredskaber og selve tekstilerne for længst er forsvundet. Ved udgravninger i Europa og Mellemøsten har man fundet mængder af kugleformede eller diskosformede vævevægte fra forskellige perioder. Derfor ved man, at opstadsvæve har været udbredt over store dele af verden.

En opstadsvæv består af to lodrette træstolper med en vandret bom foroven. Væven står lænet mod en væg under brug. Trendens startkant er fæstnet til vævens vandrette bom og trendens tråde er opdelt i grupper, der hver tynges ned af en vævevægt. Ved opsætning af trend på opstadsvæven begynder man med en startkant. Den kan være brikvævet eller udføres i lærred med et vævespjæld. Kantens islæt bliver i den ene side trukket ud og ført omkring et punkt i rummet, inden der skiftes skel. Disse lange tråde skal fungere som trendtråde i det planlagte tekstil, og jo længere startkantens islæt trækkes ud, jo længere bliver opstadsvævens trend. Startkanten virker næsten som en vævekam og afgør antallet og tætheden af trendtråde foruden bredden af opsætningen. Hvis startkantens islæt slås tæt sammen, vil trendtætheden og dermed antallet af trendtråde øges. Den færdige startkant sys fast til en rundstok, der fastgøres til opstadsvævens bom. Inden vævningen kan begynde, bindes der halvsøller om hver anden trendtråd. Halvsøllerne sidder på en rundstok, der kan placeres alt efter hvilket skel, man ønsker åbnet. Når opsætningen er færdig, hænger vævevægtene i to (eller flere) lige rækker og holder hver trendtråd udspændt. Under arbejdet ved væven står væveren op og banker islættet op mod vævens vandrette bom.

Litteratur
Andersson Strand, Eva: "The Basics of Textile Tools and Textile Technology", s. 10-22 in Textile Terminologies in the ancient near east and Mediterranean from the third to the first millennium BC", (red. C. Michel and M.L. Nosch), Oxbow Books, 2010.

 Barber E. J. W.: Prehistoric Textiles, the development of cloth in the neolithic and bronze ages, with special reference to the Aegean. Princeton University Press,  1991.
 Broudy, Eric: The Book of Looms. A History of the Handloom from Ancient Times to the Present, University Press of New England, 1979
 Hansen, Egon H.: Opstadsvæv før og nu, Teamcos Forlag, 1978.
 Hoffmann, Martha: the Warp-weighted Loom, Robin & Russ Handweavers, 1974
 Stærmose Nielsen, Karen Hanne: Opstadsvævens historie og nutidige brug, Historisk-arkæologisk Forsøgscenter Lejre, 1999.
 Wild, John Peter: Textile Manufacture in the Northern Roman Provinces, Cambridge University Press,  1970.

Gobelinvæv

Den opretstående tobommede billedvæv udgøres af en ramme med to bomme og to sidestykker: øverste bom er til trenden og den nederste til at rulle det vævede stof op på. Trenden holdes stramt udspændt mellem de to bomme. Det første skel (det faste skel) dannes ved at indsætte en skelstok, der går under og over hver anden trendtråd. Det andet skel, sølleskellet, dannes ved at hver af de trendtråde, der er bag skelstokken i det faste skel, omkranses af en løkke, der hæftes på endnu en stok, søllestokken. Det faste skel står altid let åbent på væven, mens sølleskellet aktiveres ved at væveren trækker søllerne ind mod sig selv. Derved trækker han de bageste trendtråde frem og det andet skel åbnes. Islæt bankes ned med en spids pind eller en vævegaffel.

Da trenden er hævet til lodret position, behøver væveren ikke åbne det søllede skel fra ægkant til ægkant, og med bommene fastgjort til opretstående sidestykker og søllestokken placeret over væverens hoved, kan han frit gribe det ønskede antal søller og åbne dele af skellet ved gobelinvævning.

Den opretstående tobommede væv har været uløseligt forbundet med gobelinvævning, og den bruges endnu til fremstilling af vævede vægtæpper. Vægmalerier fra Egypten viser, at den tobommede væv var i brug så tidligt som i 15. årh. f. Kr. under Det Nye Riges 18. dynasti.

Gobeliner kan inddeles i to grupper: Dem, som er fremstillet på opretstående væve, og dem, som er vævet på vandrette trampevæve. Når man undersøger et vævet billede, er det umuligt at afgøre, om det er vævet på den ene eller den anden type væv. Det skyldes, at kun to skel er nødvendige for at væve gobelin. Den vandrette trampevæv, som stadig bruges i gobelinværkstederne i Aubusson i Frankrig, har søllerne placeret på to sæt skafter, der kan hæves og sænkes ved hjælp af tramper under vævningen og åbne de to skel. Tramperne sætter væveren i stand til at arbejde hurtigere, fordi han ikke behøver at gribe om søllerne med venstre hånd for at åbne sølleskellet, men har begge hænder frie til at placere islættet mellem trendtrådene.

Litteratur
 Brekke Koppen, Maria: Innføring i Billedvev, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1974
 Paulli Andersen, M. K.: Billedvæv, Borgen, 1977
 Rössing, Mette Lise: Trådens gang i billedvæv, udgivet på eget forlag, 2013

Lændevæv

Denne meget primitive væv kendes især fra Syd- og Mellemamerika, hvor den fortrinsvis anvendes til vævning af stof til traditionelle dragter og bånd. Men den findes også udbredt i Asien som i det nordlige Hokkaido i Japan og afsides områder i Malaysia, Indonesien og Philippinerne. Væven består af et antal rundstokke og pinde, snore til søller og et bælte, der går rundt om væverens ryg. Trenden, hvis bredde svarer til eller er smallere end væverens krop, spændes ud mellem væveren og et fast punkt fx et træ. Væveren holder med sin kropsvægt trendtrådene stramme under arbejdet.

Skeldannelsen sker som på gobelinvæven, ved at en skelstok lægges mellem trendtrådene og danner det faste skel. De trendtråde, der ligger under skelstokken, omkranses af halvsøller, der er fastgjort til en søllestok. Når søllestokken hæves, åbnes sølleskellet, og når den  sænkes, står det faste skel åbent.
Selv om væven i sig selv er meget simpel, kan så godt som alle mønsterteknikker udføres på den, afhængig af væverens færdighed. Man har under arkæologiske udgravninger i Peru fundet tekstiler fremstillet i komplicerede drejerbindingsteknikker, enkelt- og dobbelt brokade, billedvævning og dobbeltvævning. Tunikaer, kapper og bluser blev således ofte syet sammen af flere smalle baner vævet på lændevæv. I præcolumbiansk tid blev kvinder begravet med deres lændevæve og andre tekstilredskaber fx håndtene, tenvægte og spoler til garn

Litteratur
 Bjerregaard, Lena: Indianervævning fra Guatemala - mayaernes lændevæv, fremstilling, opsætning, vævning, mønstre, Høst og Søn, 1976
 Broudy, Eric: The Book of Looms. A History of the Handloom from Ancient Times to the Present, University Press of New England, 1979
 Engelstad, Helen: Vævninger fra det gamle Peru, Nationalmuseet, 1985
 Schellerup, Inge: Inkapigens væv, Nationalmuseet, 1980

Se også

Kunst
Vævning


Marguerite's Odyssey consists of an introduction page and seven challenges to print for the students to complete. Answer sheets for each challenge are available for teachers.
These challenges are fun and a motivating way to learn about the history of Marguerite Bourgeoys, the Congrégation de Notre-Dame and New France.
The seven challenges include texts to read and games to play that are based on the texts. To give variety to the students' experience and maintain their interest, all the games are different. Illustrations and photos enrich the challenges.
1. The life and work of Marguerite Bourgeoys, pioneer of education in Quebec and Canada.
2. The development and implication of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys.
3. The history of Quebec and Canada, from New France to today.
These three themes make it possible to cover a broad range of topics from the everyday lives of the pioneers to contemporary concerns.
Challenge 1. Marguerite finds her vocation and joins in the dream of Ville-Marie.
1640-1653: Vocation of Marguerite Bourgeoys, Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, establishment of Ville-Marie by de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance, fur trade, populating the colony.
Challenge 2. Marguerite sets out on her mission to Canada.
1653-1700: Perilous crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, difficult living conditions in New France, comparison with today.
Challenge 3. Marguerite contributes to the development of Ville-Marie.
1653-1700: Marguerite Bourgeoys's projects to participate actively in the development of Ville-Marie.
Challenge 4. Marguerite founds a "revolutionary" community.
1653-1700: Journeying life, Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Montréal, temporary and permanent missions.
Challenge 5. Continuing the work of Marguerite Bourgeoys in peacetime and in war.
1700-1763: Death of Marguerite Bourgeoys, Great Peace of Montreal, society in New France, Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Montréal, Seven Years' War, Siege of Louisbourg, Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Treaty of Paris.
Challenge 6. The Congregation adapts to the new régime and evolves.
1763-1850: Post-Conquest, Quebec Act, American Revolution, Loyalists, Irish Catholic and Scottish immigrants, Constitutional Act and Union Act, reconstruction and expansion years at the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, the role of education in the new society.
Challenge 7. The Congrégation de Notre-Dame broadens its horizons and faces new challenges.
1850-1960: Political instability during the 1850's, Confederation, industrialization, rural exodus, social movements, wars, Great Depression, "baby boom", education system, university studies, education of girls and women.


text:
About ISIA
Specialist Groups
Honorary Chairmen
Honorary Advisors
HKICT Awards
Best SME ICT Award 2015
Introduction of Organiser
Introduction of Co-organiser
Prizes for Winners
Award Streams
Organizer & Supporting Organisations
Eligibility & Rules
Hong Kong Big Data Symposium 2015
Posted on 28/05/2015 · Posted in ISIA
Date – 28 May 2015
Nurture Hong Kong to be the Leading Big Data Hub in Asia Pacific
Date : May 28, 2015 (Thursday)
Time : 9:15 am to 5:30 pm
Venue : Charles K. Kao Auditorium, Hong Kong Science Park
Fee : Free of Charge
Big data is not just a popular topic for discussion around the world but also becomes a mandatory competence to enterprises, societies and even countries. Peter Sondergaard at Gartner Research said, "Information is the oil of the world and analytics is the combustion engine" and Barry Beracha at Sara Lee said, "In God we trust, all others bring data". While most of the major cities in Asia Pacific and the rest of the world have recognized the importance of big data and are strategically empowering their companies and societies to leverage on big data, and nurturing their big data startups, data scientists and researchers to support these strategic initiatives, Hong Kong has just started in this big data journey. In order to stay ahead of global and regional competition in today's digital economy, Hong Kong needs to establish ourselves to be a big data powerhouse in the region.
Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) will proudly host the Hong Kong Big Data Symposium 2015 on Thursday, 28 May 2015 at Charles K. Kao Auditorium of Hong Kong Science Park. The main theme of this year's Symposium is to nurture Hong Kong to be the leading Big Data hub in Asia Pacific. We will gather the leaders and key stakeholders in the big data ecosystem including users, researchers, startups, data scientists and technology providers together to share their views on big data with the audiences. In particular, we will discuss how these key stakeholders in the big data ecosystem could work together to help Hong Kong's private and public sectors effectively leverage on big data and strategically establish Hong Kong to be a world-class big data hub in Asia Pacific. Please join our Symposium to find out more.
Tentative Agenda
Time Topic and Speakers
Mr. Michael Leung, President, Hong Kong Computer Society
Mr. Andrew Young, Chief Commercial Officer, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation
Mr. Alex Lee, Assistant GCIO, Office of Government CIO, HKSAR Government
Opening Speech
9:45am Topic: Establish Hong Kong to be the Leading Big Data Hub in Asia Pacific
While most of the world cities are making use of big data to gain their competitive advantages and have strategically positioned themselves as the leading big data hubs in their respective regions, Hong Kong has just started in this journey. How can the key stakeholders of big data ecosystem, including users, data scientists, researchers and startups, work together to help Hong Kong's private and public sectors effectively leverage on big data and strategically establish Hong Kong to be a world-class big data hub in Asia Pacific? The speaker will share his thoughts on this theme with the audiences and set the scene for the 4 discussion forums in the conference.
Dr. Toa Charm, Chairperson, BI & Big Data SIG, Hong Kong Computer Society
Keynote Speech #1
10:00am Topic: Unleash Customer Insight from Baidu's Big Data
As the largest internet Chinese search platform in the world, Baidu has accumulated a large number of customers' footprint. Based on these trails, Baidu has precipated a number of relevant models and solutions to solve critical marketing and customer questions. In this session, the speaker will talk about these big data driven analysis from Baidu including User Portrait Model, Celebrity Spokesman Selection Model, Competitive Analysis Model, Brand Digital Equity Model and Data Visualization.
Mr. Roy Zuo, Big Data Marketing Director, Marketing Institute, Baidu
Forum #1 – Big Data Users
10:30am Topic: Big Data in Action
In this forum, users from different industries will discuss how they make use of big data in their businesses and operations, what business values they gained from these investments, what challenges they have been facing, how they resolved these hurdles, and what's next in their big data journey.
Panel Speakers:
Mr. Dave Chan, Regional Director, Business Intelligence, UBM
Mr. Matthew Chan, Assistant General Manager, Digital Marketing and CRM, K-11
Mr. Steve Illingworth, Chief Technology Officer, Asia Pacific & Japan, Pivotal Software Inc.
Mr. Anil Raparthi, Business Intelligence Lead, APAC, Fossil
Mr. Vandia Yang, IT Solution Director, Enterprise Business Group, Hong Kong, Huawei
Mr. Michael Chong, Solution Manager, Enterprise Group, Microsoft
11:30am Break
Forum #2 – Big Data Research
12:00pm Topic: Big Data Innovations and Research Worldwide
In this forum, big data researchers from leading universities and research labs will discuss what research they are working on, what advanced research the world-leading scientists are working on, and the latest trends in big data technologies and applications.
Dr. Eric Lo, Director, Big Data Lab, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Mr. Jia Zeng, Senior Research, Huawei Noah's Ark Lab
Prof. Helen Meng, Director, Stanley Ho Big Data Decision Analytics Research Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mr. Yu Tao, Head of ASTRI-HP Information Technology Research Center (AHITRC) & Principle Engineer, The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute
Dr. Michael Zhang, Associate Professor, HKUST Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Mr. Daniel Chui, Technology Manager, Enterprise Group, Microsoft
1:00pm Lunch
2:30pm Topic: Big Data Mashups for Marketing Insight
We live in a period where it is possible to instrument and collect information on most sociotechnical process in near realtime. This growth in information capture and analysis is happening at a time when computation, storage and networking have become services that can be rapidly provisioned in the cloud. In this session, we will understand the basics of the big data revolution and how we got here. We will look at actual cases of how it is being used in the wider marketplace.
Studying the influence of externalities on customer interactions is a topic that involves both big data and creativity. This requires marketing analysts to combine publicly available datasets with enterprise log information to arrive at new insights. Google's Cloud Platform allows such mashup analytics to be performed quickly and rapidly. Mine terabytes of data, rapidly identify customer usage patterns and make effective outreach campaigns  without massive hardware and software investments.
Mr. Karthikeyan Rajasekharan, Lead Technical Architect, Cloud Platform, Asia, Google
Forum #3 – Big Data Startups
3:00pm Topic: Opportunities and Challenges of Big Data Startups in Hong Kong
In this forum, big data startups in Hong Kong and other countries will discuss what brought them into big data market, what opportunities they see and what challenges they have been facing as big data startups in Hong Kong, and what's next in their plans.
Mr. Ian Huang, Chairman, EXCEL Capital Strategy
Mr. Edmund Lee, CEO, K-Matrix Ltd
Mr. Francis Kwok, CEO, Radica Systems Ltd
Mr. Ivan Ng, Founder, Lively Impact Technology Ltd
Dr. Phil Tian, Senior Solution Architect, Cloudera
Big Data startup from mainland China (TBC)
4:00pm Break
Forum #4 – Data Scientists
4:30pm Topic: Roles of Data Scientists and How to Become a Great Data Scientist
Data scientist is being called as the sexiest job in the 21st century. What does a typical data scientist do? Why is it so important to enterprises, society, government and even the whole nation? In this session, world-class data scientists will explain who they are, how they make an impact to their companies, what it needs to be a great data scientist.
Dr. Daniel Eng, Vice Chairperson, BI and Big Data SIG, Hong Kong Computer Society
Ms. Money Chin, Strategic Marketing Manager, Siemens Building Technologies Group, International Headquarters
Mr. Steve Illingworth, Chief Technology Officer, Asia Pacific & Japan, Pivotal
Mr. K Y Lo, Acting Deputy Director (Business Strategy & Planning), CLP
Mr. Phil Tian, Senior Solution Architect, Cloudera
Mr. Jacob Wai, Committee Member of BI & Big Data SIG, Hong Kong Computer Society
5:30pm Lucky Draw
Organizers reserve the right to change the agenda and speakers
Should you have any enquiry, please feel free to contact us at 2834-2228 / bisig@hkcs.org.hk
Seat is subject to availability and is reserved on a first-come-first-served basis.
HKCS reserves the right to change terms and conditions without prior notice.
In case of dispute, the decision of HKCS shall be final and binding.
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© Copyright 2019 Information And Software Industry Association


Our company also is organising group bout cruise daily It's 2h cruise and gratis time for swimming. Our group mix tour is a combination of history and nature including a big number of birds islands and castles, also our company is offering refreshments on the boat.
Gratis for kids yunger than 8 years.


The Physics Classroom » Minds On Physics - Legacy » Start!
Version 52 of the Firefox browser was released in March of 2017. Upon releasing this version, Firefox announced that it would no longer support NPAPI plug-ins. Unfortunately, this includes the Shockwave plug-in that Minds On Physics relies upon. This means that Minds on Physics users will either have to choose a different brower (Safari or Internet Explorer) or revert back to version 51 of Firefox or use one of the mobile apps.
The Minds On Physics Internet Modules use the Shockwave plug-in. Support for Shockwave by most modern browsers is diminishing. But fear not! The Minds On Physics program has now been completely converted to a mobile app that works on iOS and Android phones and tablets, on Mac computers, and on Chromebooks. The most promising means of doing MOPs at this time may be through the use of the mobile app on an iOS device, an Android device, a Mac, or a Chromebook.
Visit the Minds On Physics the App section of our website for more information. The Download links can be found on the Purchase page.
As we transition our Minds On Physics program from a browser-based, Shockwave-reliant application to an app-based program, we are considering a variety of options that allow teachers to validate student progress. Those teachers who purchased a 2015-16 or a 2016-17 Techer account will continue to have access to the Shockwave-based module through the 2017-18 school year. This will allow those teachers who purchased accounts to continue their code checking at no additional charge, provided that the Shockwave-based module works on their devices. As of July, 2017, we have begun production of a desktop-based app that allows teachers the ability to view questions (not answers), created customized Start Codes, and validate student-submitted Success Codes. We hope to have the Mac and Windows versions ready to distribute in the Fall of 2017.
Don't have an account? You can now sign up for access to the Shockwave-based teacher modules for the 2017-18 school year and the coming years (as long as you can get the Shockwave plug-in to work). Visit our Teacher Registration page to get started.
Minds On Physics - Legacy » Start!


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Who Taught Bruce Lee?
By Steven Moody June 21, 2012 3 Comments
Bruce Lee was the most influential martial artist of the 20th Century. After his death, the world was flooded with knockoff movies and Hong Kong actors imitating him using names like Bruce Le and Bruce Li and everyone was claiming to have with trained with him or taught him.
Bruce Lee learned Wing Chun Kung Fu from Wong Shun Leung.
"After Bruce died, I had the opportunity to read some of (Wong Shun Leung's) writings. It was instantly clear that many of the things that were attributed to Bruce were actually things that had come to Bruce through Wong."
Jesse Glover (Bruce Lee's first U.S. student)
Wong Shun Leung put the Wing Chun way of fighting on the martial arts map in the 1950s when he won over 70 challenge matches (no-hold barred bare knuckle brawls to knockout) on the streets and rooftops of Hong Kong.
David Peterson, a long-time student of Sifu Wong, has captured his fighting wisdom in a book called The Combat Philosophy of Wong Shun Leung.
In my opinion, this is the best book yet written on Wing Chun. Peterson does not attempt to illustrate the forms or demonstrate techniques, in the way of so many previous works on the subject.
Wing Chun is a principle-based fighting art. This means the general ideas about what works and what doesn't work are more important than any particular technique. Peterson's book captures Wong's take on the principles. How did Wing Chun principles allow him to defeat all those other fighters?
Wong Shun Leung was a practical and pragmatic man and he took a scientific approach to fighting. He called his version of Wing Chun "the science of in-fighting."
"I view Wing Chun as a skill, not an art."
Wong Shun Leung
He tested his theories on the other fighters in Hong Kong and for him, a successful test resulted in a knockout. He had been a boxer and originally came to Ip Man's school a skeptic. After Ip Man beat him easily, he signed up and within months was beating the top young fighters of Hong Kong.
"When fighting, one should fix one's eyes firmly on the target with only one idea in mind, that of attacking the enemy most simply and directly"
This is a video Sifu Wong made in the Eighties called Wing Chun: The Science of In-Fighting.
Filed Under: Wing Chun Teachers
Guadalupe Acosta says
I like your writing style.
arnold daniels says
I am almost 50 years old is it to late to learn martial arts
Its never too late – I'm 50.


Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Core LTE/4G, a low-end smartphone aimed at ensnaring those users seeking super-fast data speeds, rather than high-end specs.
The device, which is likely to go on show at MWC 2014 in Barcelona next week, only packs a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and a significantly below-HD 4.5-inch 960 x 540 PLS TFT display.
On the rear there's a modest 5-megapixel camera, coupled with a negligible 0.3 megapixel front-facer, while buyers can rely on 8GB of internal storage (plus MicroSD), Bluetooth 4.0 and a 2100mAh battery.
On the plus side, it can shoot 1080p video at 30fps, while the presence of TouchWiz UI means all the usual S Voice, S Translator, Continuous Shot and Smart Shot goodness. among other Samsung apps.
The relatively unflattering spec sheet will presumably allow the company to keep the handset as cheap as possible to aid those speed-focused smartphone fanciers.
Samsung has also pointed out the new Galaxy Core LTE/4G (name will depend on region), will be a category 4 device, meaning it'll be capable of harnessing speeds of up to 150Mbps, depending on what's available in the area.
The company hasn't confirmed pricing or availability just yet, but has said it will be available in Europe and Asia. We'll probably get the full skinny at MWC next week, so stay tuned.


text:
Essays & Papers Ecology And Nature Earth Asteroid, Meteor, and Comet Collisions with Earth
Asteroid, Meteor, and Comet Collisions with Earth
Asteroid, Meteor, Or Comet Impact On The Earth! Pages: 3 (570 words)
Doomsday Asteroid - Earth Under Threat Pages: 3 (520 words)
The Importance Of Asteroid In History Of Humanity Pages: 5 (1011 words)
Might the World End Soon: Due to a meteor strike Pages: 5 (1207 words)
Momentum and collisions Pages: 3 (582 words)
Paper Type: Essay
Pages: 16 (3918 words)
Problem and its Background
More than a hundred asteroids of kilometer size, which cross the Earths orbit are catalogued, and this represents perhaps 5% of the total of these fragments. There is thus a certain risk of a collision of an object a few kilometers in size with our planet This could provoke a climatic upheaval and extinctions of species, as in the past Even a hundred meter fragment could do great damage, and objects of this size are certainty much more numerous still than those of kilometer size (Zanda 2001 75).
Collisions play a capital role in the Solar System. Moon origin, tilt of Uranus poleaxe, planet ring formation, craterization, and the actual figure of the asteroid population are due to collisions. Unfortunately, models of collisions lay on laboratory experiments in which the involved targets and projectiles are small objects. It is then difficult to apply scale laws to predict mass, velocity or spin distributions of fragments resulting from a collision between astronomical bodies, Parameters such as the gravitational attraction between the different fragments are not taken into account in laboratory experiment due to the small size of the bodies.
During the last decades, the important role played by the occurrence of catastrophic collisions between the planetary bodies of our solar system has been progressively evidenced (Benest and Froeschle 1998 3).
Scope and Limitations
Meteor, comets and asteroids are some of the major ground bases of astronomical phenomena and developments of technological field; hence, focused study of such condition is essential. The case study involves the subjects of collisions with the heavenly bodies linked with the condition of determining the trends of probable disaster events implicated by such astronomical changes. The study shall determine the possible implications of meteors, asteroids, and comet collision in the body of astronomy. The following shall be utilized in the overall study.
To be able to determine and elaborate the aspects concerned and their contributions to the phenomena of collision between Earth and the heavenly body concerned
To be able to relate the possible trends of astronomy brought by the phenomenon of heavenly bodies' collision to the Earth surface as impregnated to various astronomical incidents
To be able to compare and link the significance, similarities and differences present in the two forms and trends of astronomical phenomena
Purpose of the Study
The value significance of this study provides awareness to the public especially in terms of what can these contributing factors impregnate to the conditions of meteor, comet, and asteroid collisions towards the Earth's surface. Moreover, the study compares the significant relationships involved in the situation of technology and astronomical intervention, which employs various new trends of astronomical management as derived from different incidents.
Page Outline
The study utilizes the astronomical subject of Earth colliding with various heavenly bodies, such as meteors, asteroids and comets. The study involves the previous history and events of such collisions dated from 1800s and the latest 2002. Furthermore, the study utilizes this subject in order to implicate significance in the trends of astronomical technology to further enhance aspects of prevention for such cases that may occur. The following are the sections discussed throughout the study and the implications posed:
This section of the study provides an introductory background of the entire course research. As for the section, it describes the problem discussed and the background of the study itself. Furthermore, it utilizes scopes and limitations in order to specify the actual scope of the entire research study.
B. Brief Background and History
The section of the study describes the incidents of collisions from the very past time of Stone Age up to the present. Moreover, it illustrates the conditions brought by such phenomena, which somehow caused environmental threats.
C. Evolution of Knowledge
The section of the study determines the effects of such incidents in the development and enhancements of astronomical measures for the prevention of future possible occurrences of collision. The section involves the latest updates and previous theoretical and conceptual changes that have been utilized by astronomers in order to enhance the knowledge in regards to such phenomenon.
Brief Background and History
Meteors are small fragments of matter that approach the Earth as it moves in space. Usually we see meteors as bright streaks in the sky, sometimes called shooting stars," which occur when they burn up due to friction with the atmosphere. Occasionally, large meteors are not completely burned up in the atmosphere and survive to strike the Earth. These are called meteorites, which usually fall into one of three categories: stony meteorites with composition similar to ordinary rock; stony iron meteorites which are a matrix of stone and iron; and iron meteorites, consisting largely of iron with some nickel alloyed with it (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 43).
Meteors very rarely impact the earth since most are vaporized fifty to seventy-five miles up. However, the larger source particles of very bright sporadic meteors that survive their encounter with the atmosphere and impact the earth are called meteorites. Material in space not associated with a comet prior to entering the earth's atmosphere is referred to as a meteoroid. Meteoroids can be made up of various types of objects often material left over from the formation of the solar system. Other types of bodies that can strike the earth include comets and asteroids. Asteroids (the word means "starlike") are usually about a kilometer across. They are larger masses of rock and metal that predominately orbit the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but a few are in orbits that cross the inner planets (Reynold 2001 8). The stony meteorites often contain organic compounds such as hydrocarbons and amino acids. These biologically important compounds evidently formed in the hot gaseous cloud (called a gaseous nebula) from which the solar system is believed to have formed. It is believed that meteorites (and their larger "cousins," asteroids) are leftover "building materials" from which the inner solar system was fabricated five billion years ago (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 43). After the initial discovery of multiple asteroids in the space between Mars and Jupiter, it was theorized that a single planet once orbited there. According to the theory, the planet broke up, most likely due to the gravitational pull of its gigantic neighbor, Jupiter. Today's astronomers believe that the asteroid belt is simply made up of material left over from the formation of the solar system. Astronomers also theorize that there were initially about seventy smaller bodies that broke into the thousands and thousands of asteroids that now form the belt.
Any planetary system is rife with cosmic debris: asteroids and comets, the residue left over from planetary formation. Great quantities of this material will eventually strike all members of a planetary system, and the energy released can spell planetary disaster. Such disasters are now known to have caused mass extinctions on Earth. In 1980, Luis and Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen Michel from the University of California at Berkeley proposed that one of the greatest of all mass extinctions, the 65-million- year-old event that killed off the dinosaurs and many other species living near the end of the Mesozoic Era, was caused by the impact of a large meteor or comet striking Earth. As evidence for this view mounted, most scientists realized that collision with a meteor or comet could cause a biotic crisis on any planet and that it has done so at least once (and probably other times as well) during Earth's past (Ward and Brownlee 2004 164). The first asteroid discovered was Ceres, observed in 1801 by the Sicilian monk Giuseppe Piazzi, who believed it to be a planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers had long theorized that a planet should be found at that distance because of a theory known as Bode's law However, Ceres was small compared to the other planets (a little over five hundred miles in diameter). Eighteen years later another object was discovered in approximately the same orbit as Ceres. A number of additional objects were discovered in the following years, but none are larger than Ceres and only three of the asteroids are more than 250 miles in diameter (Reynold 2001 8).
Earth has had more recent collisions with large meteorites and/or comets. On June 30, 1908, a tremendous explosion occurred in a forested region near the Tunguska River in Siberia. The sight of a great ball of flame leaping from the forest was followed by an explosion powerful enough to level trees in an area of about 800 square miles. One estimate of the force of the explosion was that it was equivalent to 10—20 megatons of TNT exploding. No impact crater was located and thus the most probable cause of the explosion was a collision with a comet, which does not have a solid rock core (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 44). One of the by-products of a large meteor collision with the earth is the formation of line diamond crystals due to the explosion. The presence of hoe diamond crystals in a layer 65 million years old helped to formulate the theory that a large meteor impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. One of die distinctive aspects of diamond created by explosion is that cubic as well as hexagonal (lonsdaleite) crystals are formed. An explosion is capable of creating millions of atmospheres of pressure in microseconds (Lee 2006 668). Scientists have speculated that the dinosaurs may have become extinct because of a collision with an asteroid or comet.
Many variables affect the degree of lethality resulting from a collision, such as the meteors size, composition, angle of impact, and velocity and the nature of the impact target area. In the case of the Cretaceous event (also known as the KIT impact), for instance, the target rock was rich in sulfur, which exacerbated the impacts environmental effects. (The sulfur reacted with air and water to produce a highly toxic acid rain that lasted many months after the impact event itself.) Moreover, not only the geology of the impact site, but also its geography, may play an important part. An impact in (Ward and Brownlee 2004 165) a low-latitude site will have entirely different consequences from a similar body hitting a high-latitude site at a similar angle and speed, because the distribution of lethality across the globe may be produced by atmospheric circulation patterns. An impact in a highly diverse world of ecological specialists—anima1s and plants with little tolerance for environmental change—might produce more extinction than the same event in a low-diversity world and an impact in the greenhouse world might have lowered the greenhouse content as of today (Ward and Brownlee 2004 166).
A comet or an asteroid has no problem penetrating the Earth atmosphere. However, the collision of a comet or an asteroid with the Earth could have devastating consequences for the environment and human civilization. Although events of this kind are extremely rare, they cannot be completely excluded as was shown by the collision between a comet and the planet Jupiter in 1994. As a consequence, Russian scientists suggested using the International Space Station as an outpost to search for objects in space that have a potential collision course with the Earth. Such a "warning system" would probably provide enough lead Lime to take suitable measures to protect the Earth from a global natural disaster. A large number of asteroids exist in our solar system. Some of them pass relatively close to Earth. However, the orbits of most of them lie between those of Mars and Jupiter. There are at least 100,000 asteroids that are a half-mile or more in diameter. The largest, Ceres, is over 600 miles in diameter. The asteroids that are of most concern to us are those whose orbits arc close to that of Earth. Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) are asteroids whose orbits bring them within 121 million miles of the Sun. It is believed that NEAs are fragments jarred from the main asteroid belt by either asteroid collision or by the gravitational force (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 44). We have crater evidence that at least 200 large meteors have struck Earth. It is estimated that at least one large collision occurs each 10,000 years. For example, near Winslow, Arizona, the Baringer meteorite crater is located. It is nearly 500 ft deep and 4,000 ft wide, it was created by a meteorite weighing at least 30,000 tons, which struck Earth about 24,000 years ago. The collision must have devastated all plant and animal life in a large region around the crater (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 44). In April 2002, scientists announced that a 1.3-km-diameter asteroid, 1950DA, had a 1 in 300 chance of impacting the Earth. Its orbit was predicted using radar to measure its position and velocity more accurately than could be achieved by optical telescopes. Although, 1 in 300 odds may seem small, one expert said that it was the highest odds ever assigned by scientists to an object in space. The projected impact location is the North Atlantic off the US coast, similar to the collision depicted in Deep Impact. The good news is that the impact, if it occurs, will not happen until March 16, 2880. Thus, we have more than sufficient time to stop it (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 44).
Evolution of Knowledge
One theory suggests that every 26 million years or so a rain of comets that lasts for hundreds or thousands of centuries bombards the Earth. The impact of some of the larger asteroids or comets spews enough dust into the atmosphere so that it blocks the Sun's rays from reaching the Earth for months or years and most of the plant and animal species on Earth perish. According to this theory the last extinction occurred about 11 million years ago so that the next calamity should not occur for another 15 million years. Scientists are searching the skies for evidence of a possible "dark star," which they have named "Nemesis." They suggest that Nemesis may circle our solar system every 26 million years. When it approaches our solar system, Nemesis passes through the region of space beyond the orbit of Pluto, which contains vast numbers of comets. Its passage would disrupt the comets' orbits and send a shower of them toward the Sun. Some of these comets would then collide with the Earth (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 44). A collision or close encounter between Earth and the comet is avoided because the comet is not as the crossing point when the Earth is there. Some suspected sources of known meteoroid streams are the Comets C/1861 GI, 1P/Halley, 109P/Swift-Tuttle, 21/PGiacobini-Zinner, 2P/Encke, 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, 3D/Biela, and 8P/Tuttle (Denecke and Carr 2006 174).
Some investigators thought that a general synthetic model linking most or all mass extinctions to impact would emerge. This was the thinking behind the "Nemesis" hypothesis of astronomer Rich Muller from Berkeley, and it underlies the work of David Raup and Jack Sepkoski of the University of Chicago, who hypothesized in 1984 that mass extinctions show a 26-million- year periodicity (. Since then, elevated levels of iridium (the platinum-group element used by the Alvarez team as a sign of impact) have been found from 11 different time intervals in the geological record. Yet most of these are at such low concentration that they are nor indicative of larger impacts. The evidence date suggests that only the major mass extinction at the end of the Triassic and that at the end of the Cretaceous Period were brought about by the effects of impact (Ward and Brownlee 2004 166). Astronomers have classified asteroids based on their orbits. One group, the Apollo objects, are asteroids that have earth- crossing orbits. The gravitational pull of Jupiter affects the orbits of these asteroids, making them quite dangerous as their orbits shift. Close-up exploration of asteroids had to wait until recently. On its way to the planet Jupiter, the spacecraft Galileo made two all-important flybys of the asteroids Ida and Gaspra. Images sent back by Galileo revealed irregular-shaped bodies that had been battered by impacts. In 1996, the United States launched a spacecraft specifically to orbit and study an asteroid. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, or NEAR, arrived at the asteroid Eros in February 2000. Data from NEAR indicates that Eros, a twenty-one-mile-long asteroid, is an irregular-shaped solid body, showing many impact features and n moons or debris surrounding the asteroid. Eros, apparently a very old asteroid, passes close to, but never crosses the earth's orbit were once members of the main asteroid belt but was ejected by Jupiter. There is also a possibility that some NEAs are dead comets. NEAs are considered dangerous to the earth if they pass within three million miles. (Reynold 2001 10).
The presence of numerous impact craters on every stony planet or moon of the solar system is stark evidence of the frequency of these events, at least early in the history of our solar system. It is probable that impact is a hazard in most, or perhaps all, other stellar systems as well. Impacts are probably the most frequent and important of all planetary catastrophes. They could completely reset the course of the biological history of a planet by removing previously dominant groups of organisms, thus opening the way for entirely new groups or for the rise to dominance of previously minor groups (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 46).
The larger the asteroid or comet, the less likely that an impact will occur but the more damaging the impact would be. One study suggested that impactors with a diameter of less than 10 m would likely not cause any damage because most of them will burn up or break up in the upper atmosphere. For impactors with a diameter of 75 m, iron asteroids will make craters like Meteor Crater; stony asteroids will produce airbursts such as that at Tunguska and a land impact would destroy a city because the energy released would be in the range of 10—100 megatons of TNT. A 350-rn-diameter impactor would destroy an area the size of a small state. If it struck an ocean, it would produce a mild tsunami. It would release energy in the range of 1,000—10,000 megatons of TNT. An impactor 1,700 m in diameter (about I mile) would destroy an area the size of France and raise dust with global consequences. Its impact energy would be 100,000—1,000,000 megatons. The frequency of such an impactor hitting is about once every million years. The death total could be 1.5 billion people! Even larger impactors could wipe out all human life on Earth (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 46).
The most likely location for an impactor is in the oceans, which cover most of the Earth's surface. For example, an impact of a stony asteroid more than 400 m in diameter anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean could devastate coasts on both sides of the Atlantic with tsunamis that would reach 60 m at the shores. An asteroid with energy of 40 million Hiroshima-style bombs hitting in the center of the Atlantic would produce a gigantic tsunami at the shore that might reach a height of 100 m. Thus, the risk to a low-lying coastal area from a tsunami generated by asteroids is significantly greater than the risk from a direct impact by such objects. However, an ocean hit would result in less dust being thrown into the air than a land hit. The overall risk that an object of diameter 100 m (the approximate size of the Tunguska impactor) or so will strike the Earth is that such an impact will occur once each century. One researcher estimated that the odds that an "extinction-level" object 2—5 km in diameter will strike the Earth this century is about I in 1000 to 1 in 10,000 (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 46).
In order to deflect an object on a collision with the Earth, we must first find it. At present, several organizations are searching the skies for NEOs. Deflection technologies also need to be developed. They will likely need to include nuclear devices, which raise security issues. In addition to using nuclear weapons, other ideas include attaching rockets to the NEO's surface, which fire for a sufficient period of time to change its orbit away from a collision with the Earth. Also, one could place a mass driver on the NEO's surface to accelerate part of the NEO into space, while the reaction would move the NEC) into a different orbit. Finally, one could attach thin solar sails several kilometers in size to the surface of the NEO and let the solar wind change its orbit (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 46).
Scientists invented the Torino Scale to categorize the Earth's impact hazard associated with newly discovered asteroids and comets. It is intended to serve as a communication tool for astronomers and the public to assess the seriousness of predictions of possible impacts by asteroids and comets. An object is assigned a value of 0 to 10 based on its collision probability and its kinetic energy. The value "0" means either that the object has little chance of striking the Earth or that it is so small that it would not do damage if it did hit the Earth. The value "3" is a dose encounter with a 1% chance or greater of a collision that would do localized destruction. The value "7" is a close encounter with an extremely significant threat of a collision capable of causing a global catastrophe. Lastly, the value "10" is a certain collision capable of causing a global climactic catastrophe. The crash of Comet Shoemaker—Levy into Jupiter demonstrated the destructiveness of an impacting comet. The comet had broken up into more than 20 fragments, which impacted separately. One of the impacts affected an area as large as the entire Earth! There is little doubt that had the Shoemaker—Levy fragments struck the Earth, the human race would have been annihilated (Dubeck, Moshier and Boss 2004 47).
The phenomenon involving the collision of asteroids, meteors and comets have greatly initiated even before the Mesozoic era of the dinosaurs, which is one of the proposed theory for their extinctions. Apparently, the collision caused severe environmental changes, and climatic damage that greatly endangered the ecological balance present. The significance of studying such subject in astronomy is the fact that technology can predict the probable trends, projections, and damages that may have resulted in such collision. Moreover, determining such angle of causation provides possible cautionary measures for possible disastrous implications that might be brought by the incident. Such knowledge have greatly inculcated vast structural modifications in the technological aspect of astronomy, and provided enhancements in astronomy.
Benest, Daniel, and Claud Froeschlé. Impacts on Earth. Springer, 1998.
Denecke, E J., and W H. Carr. Let's Review: Earth Science. Barron's Educational Press, 2006.
Dubeck, L W., S E. Moshier, and J E. Boss. Fantastic Voyages: Learning Science Through Science Fiction Film. Springer, 2004.
Lee, S. Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing. CRC Press, 2006.
Reynolds, M D. Falling Stars: A Guide to Meteors and Meteorites. Stackpole Books, 2001.
Ward, Peter, and Donald Brownlee. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe. Springer, 2003.
Zanda, B. Meteorites: Their Impact on Science and History. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Zichichi, Antonio, and Richard C. Ragaini. International Seminar on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies: 25th Sessions. World Scientific, 2001.
Cite this Asteroid, Meteor, and Comet Collisions with Earth
Asteroid, Meteor, and Comet Collisions with Earth. (2016, Aug 04). Retrieved from https://graduateway.com/asteroid-meteor-and-comet-collisions-with-earth/
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Topic: Asteroid, Meteor, and Comet Collisions with Earth