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Category Archives: Books
Book reviews of the Unreal kind. Here, I discuss the books I have read, and share my impressions with my readers. I read mostly non-fiction or classics. And when I say read books, I mean listen to them in audiobook (always unabridged) form. Audiobooks have the ability to make your commute or gym workout something you look forward to, rather than dread. When reviewed, they present a disadvantage though, that they cannot be referred to. Thus quotes from them become paraphrasing, names get misspelled and so on. Please excuse such shortcomings…
Note that these are not real reviews. Most of these books are so well-known that they are really beyond reviews. So my Unreal reviews are more like my impressions and thoughts, often containing spoilers.
Books, Creative
The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil
It is not easy to review a non-fiction book without giving the gist of what the book is about. Without a synopsis, all one can do is to call it insightful and other such epithets.
The Age of Spiritual Machines is really an insightful book. It is a study of the future of computing and computational intelligence. It forces us to rethink what we mean by intelligence and consciousness, not merely at a technological level, but at a philosophical level. What do you do when your computer feels sad that you are turning it off and declares, "I cannot let you do that, Dave?"
What do we mean by intelligence? The traditional yardstick of machine intelligence is the remarkably one-sided Turing Test. It defines intelligence using comparative means — a computer is deemed intelligent if it can fool a human evaluator into believing that it is human. It is a one-sided test because a human being can never pass for a computer for long. All that an evaluator needs to do is to ask a question like, "What is ?" My $4 calculator takes practically no time to answer it to better than one part in a million precision. A super intelligent human being might take about a minute before venturing a first guess.
But the Turing Test does not define intelligence as arithmetic muscle. Intelligence is composed of "higher" cognitive abilities. After beating around the bush for a while, one comes to the conclusion that intelligence is the presence of consciousness. And the Turing Test essentially examines a computer to see if it can fake consciousness well enough to fool a trained evaluator. It would have you believe that consciousness is nothing more than answering some clever questions satisfactorily. Is it true?
Once we restate the test (and redefine intelligence) this way, our analysis can bifurcate into an inward journey or an outward one. we can ask ourselves questions like — what if everybody is an automaton (except us — you and me — of course) successfully faking intelligence? Are we faking it (and freewill) to ourselves as well? We would think perhaps not, or who are these "ourselves" that we are faking it to? The inevitable conclusion to this inward journey is that we can be sure of the presence of consciousness only in ourselves.
The outward analysis of the emergence of intelligence (a la Turing Test) brings about a whole host of interesting questions, which occupy a significant part of the book (I'm referring to the audio abridgment edition), although a bit obsessed with virtual sex at times.
One of the thought provoking questions when machines claim that they are sentient is this: Would it be murder to "kill" one of them? Before you suggest that I (or rather, Kurzweil) stop acting crazy, consider this: What if the computer is a digital backup of a real person? A backup that thinks and acts like the original? Still no? What if it is the only backup and the person is dead? Wouldn't "killing" the machine be tantamount to killing the person?
If you grudgingly said yes to the last question, then all hell breaks loose. What if there are multiple identical backups? What if you create your own backup? Would deleting a backup capable of spiritual experiences amount to murder?
When he talks about the progression of machine intelligence, Kurzweil demonstrates his inherent optimism. He posits that ultimate intelligence yearn for nothing but knowledge. I don't know if I accept that. To what end then is knowledge? I think an ultimate intelligence would crave continuity or immortality.
Kurzweil assumes that all technology and intelligence would have all our material needs met at some point. Looking at our efforts so far, I have my doubts. We have developed no boon so far without an associated bane or two. Think of the seemingly unlimited nuclear energy and you also see the bombs and radioactive waste management issues. Think of fossil fuel and the scourge of global warming shows itself.
I guess I'm a Mr. Glass-is-Half-Empty kind of guy. To me, even the unlimited access to intelligence may be a dangerous thing. Remember how internet reading changed the way we learned things?
automatoncomputingconsciousnessmachine intelligencespiritual machinesTuring test
Books, Philosophy
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
October 18, 2008 manoj 3 Comments
I don't get symbolism. Rather, I do get it, but I'm always skeptical that I may be getting something the author never intended. I think and analyze too much instead of just lightening up and enjoying what's right in front of me. When it comes to reading, I'm a bit like those tourists (Japanese ones, if I may allow myself to stereotype) who keep clicking away at their digital cameras often missing the beauty and serenity of whatever it is that they are recording for posterity.
But, unlike the tourist, I can read the book again and again. Although I click as much the second time around and ponder as hard, some things do get through.
When I read Siddhartha, I asked myself if the names like Kamala and Kamaswami were random choices or signified something. After all, the first part "Kama" means something akin to worldliness or desire (greed or lust really, but not with so much negative connotation) in Sanskrit. Are Vasudeva and Givinda really gods as the name suggests?
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Siddhartha is the life-story of a contemporary of Buddha — about 2500 years ago in India. Even as a young child, Siddhartha has urges to pursue a path that would eventually take him to salvation. As a Brahmin, he had already mastered the prayers and rituals. Leaving this path of piety (Bhaktiyoga), he joins a bunch of ascetics who see the way to salvation in austerity and penances (probably Hatayoga and Rajayoga). But Siddhartha soon tires of this path. He learns almost everything the ascetics had to teach him and realizes that even the oldest and wisest of them is no closer to salvation than he himself is. He then meets with the Buddha, but doesn't think that he could "learn" the wisdom of the illustrious one. His path then undergoes a metamorphosis and takes a worldly turn (which is perhaps a rendition of Grahasthashrama or Karmayoga). He seeks to experience life through Kamala, the beautiful courtesan, and Kamaswamy the merchant. When at last he is fully immersed in the toxic excesses of the world, his drowning spirit calls out for liberation from it. He finally finds enlightenment and wisdom from the river that he had to cross back and forth in his journeys between the worlds of riches and wisdom.
For one who seeks symbolism, Siddhartha provides it aplenty.
Why is there a Vaishnava temple when Siddhartha decides to forgo the spiritual path for a world one? Is it a coincidence or is it an indication of the philosophical change from an Advaita line to a patently Dwaita line?
Is the name Siddhartha (same as that of the Buddha) a coincidence?
Does the bird in the cage represent a soul imprisoned in Samsara? If so, is its death a sad ending or a happy liberation?
The River of life that has to be crossed — is it Samsara itself? If so, is the ferryman a god who will help you cross it and reach the ultimate salvation? Why is it that Siddhartha has to cross it to reach the world of Kamala and Kamaswamy, and cross it back to his eventual enlightenment? Kamala also crosses the river to his side before passing on.
The affection for and the disillusionment in the little Siddhartha is the last chain of bondage (Mohamaya) that follows Siddhartha across the river. It is only after breaking that chain that Siddhartha is finally able to experience Nirvana — enlightenment and liberation. Is there a small moral hiding there?
One thing I noticed while reading many of these great works is that I can readily identify myself with the protagonist. I fancy that I have the simple greatness of Larry Darrell, and fear that I secretly possess the abominable baseness of Charles Strickland. I feel the indignant torture of Philip Carey or Jay Gatsby. And, sure, I experience the divine urges of Siddhartha. No matter how much of a stretch each of these comparisons may be. Admittedly, this self-identification may have its roots more in my vanity than any verisimilitude. Or is it the genius of these great writers who create characters so vivid and real that they talk directly to the naked primordial soul within us, stripped of our many layers of ego? In them, we see the distorted visions of our troubled souls, and in their words, we hear the echoes of our own unspoken impulses. Perhaps we are all the same deep within, part of the same shared consciousness.
One thing I re-learned from this book is that you cannot learn wisdom from someone else. (How is that for an oxymoron?) You can learn knowledge, information, data — yes. But wisdom — no. Wisdom is the assimilation of knowledge; it is the end product of your mind and soul working on whatever you find around you, be it the sensory data, cognitive constructs, knowledge and commonsense handed down from previous generations, or the concepts you create for yourself. It is so much a part of you that it is you yourself, which is why the word Buddha means Wisdom. The person Buddha and his wisdom are not two. How can you then communicate your wisdom? No wonder Siddhartha did not seek it from the Buddha.
Wisdom, according to Hermann Hesse, can come only from your own experiences, both sublime and prosaic.
advaitaconsciousnessHermann HessePhilosophySiddharthaway to salvation
The Moon and Sixpence
August 1, 2008 manoj 2 Comments
I confess that I had no idea what the title meant after I finished reading the book for the first time. My ignorance persisted even after the second perusal, although the title did suggest something like noble intentions and prosaic realities. Before the third reading, this time specifically for this blog, I decided to look it up. Like all good netizens, I consulted Wikipedia, which told me that the title was a reference to Of Human Bondage (where Philip Carey reaches for the moon while ignoring the sixpence at his feet.)
In The Moon and Sixpence, Maugham chronicles the life and adventures of Paul Gauguin — an artistic genius who stepped outside the bounds of ethics and morality in a single-minded pursuit of an unknown and troubling vision of his soul ("the moon") at the cruel expense of his friends and family (the "sixpence," presumably.)
Unsure of how to create a perfect Frenchman (as he later confesses in The Razor's Edge), Maugham chose to "translate" Gauguin and portrayed him as an Englishman Charles Strickland, a semi-successful, though dull London stockbroker. At the unlikely age of 42 or so, Strickland decides to abandon his family to take up painting. The need to paint is a yearning of the soul for Strickland, and it doesn't matter that he is no good at it — yet — as he explains, "I tell you I've got to paint. I can't help myself. When a man falls into the water it doesn't matter how he swims, well or badly: he's got to get out or else he'll drown." While saving himself from this metaphoric drowning, Strickland is indifferent (beyond cruelty) to the rest of the world. Then again, he is just as uncompromising and cruel to himself as well.
In portraying such a difficult anti-hero, Maugham showcases all the mastery and skill he possesses. To my untrained eyes, it looks as though Maugham builds this character so carefully and painstakingly that each one of the monstrosities Strickland commits is counter-balanced in some fashion. It is indeed a fine chisel that Maugham employs in crafting this masterpiece; none of those broad, confident strokes we would see in his later works.
We find Maugham at cynical and misogynistic best (or worst, depending on the perspective) in the early part of the book, especially in his descriptions of Mrs. Strickland and her children. We should condone this appearance of misogyny as a pardonable foible of a genius, I think. More than that, I see it as an effort, a successful one, to balance the callousness of Strickland's disappearance that soon follows.
Such balancing devices can be found throughout the book. Perhaps to soften the shock of Strickland's seemingly inexplicable renunciation of his family, his son's hypocritical account of his later life is cynically ridiculed right in the beginning of the book. The unfortunate Dirk Stroeve, so cruelly used by Strickland, is also a buffoon who elicits derisive laughter rather than sympathy. Stroeve's groveling adulation of Blanche perhaps serves to iron out the overtones of sexism or misogyny permeating the story. Blanche Stroeve's betrayal is counter balanced with her own abominable indifference to Stroeve, which, in turn, gets evened out in what she receives from Strickland — "What an abyss of cruelty she must have looked into that in horror she refused to live." Strickland, curiously, walks unaffected through all this death and mayhem, larger than life, tortured by his own private agonies of the soul well beyond our comprehension and his own. Even in his callousness, what Strickland invokes in Maugham and even Stroeve is, not merely a natural indignation, but an overwhelming compassion — astonishingly. The misplaced compassion is perhaps a device to prepare the reader for Strickland's sordid and horrible death.
Maugham employs a variety of techniques to make the narration sound natural. If I was a fiction writer, I would study these techniques very carefully and try to employ them myself. To begin with, Strickland is a fictional portrayal of Gauguin, but Maugham takes great pains to pretend that the narration is not fictional. Even the narrator (Maugham himself) is portrayed as fallible, and contritely so, to lend credibility to the narration. For instance, Maugham gets exasperated at Stroeve's weakness and is later ashamed of himself for getting angry.
The book has its elitist moments. When asked if it was better not to have known, Stroeve replies: "The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We must see the beauty of quietness. We must go through life so inconspicuously that Fate does not notice us. And let us seek the love of simple, ignorant people. Their ignorance is better than all our knowledge. Let us be silent, content in our little corner, meek and gentle like them. That is the wisdom of life." It is as though the gift of inquiry and knowledge is given to a precious few — a special club to which Stroeve and Maugham are privy. This elitist attitude permeates not only Maugham's works, but all great works of literature; it is only by masking his sense of superiority that an author or a thinker projects himself as non-elitist.
Perhaps it is some knowledge, or a vision of the world that Strickland's soul yearned to share with the rest of us. Such communication is beyond language — a medium unequal to the task even when masterfully employed. Visual arts come closer. In Strickland's tragic and cruel plight, along with that of almost all characters in the story, we see one eternal question. What is it that we are really after? Is it happiness? If so, Charles Strickland certainly didn't find it. Very few do. Is it glory? Strickland did find that, albeit after his death.
Death is the great equalizer. It brings us back to the nothingness we spring from, however high we may fly or however low we may sink during the brief instant in between. The wisdom of the wise, the ignorance of the masses, the grandeur of the accomplished, the glory, the baseness — all matter very little when faced with such complete finality. In Strickland, Maugham has depicted the heights of glory as well as the nadir of baseness. The Moon and Sixpence — perhaps I have understood its meaning after all.
Photo by griannan
human bondagemaughamPaul Gauguinthe moon and sixpence
Books, Creative, Philosophy
July 16, 2008 manoj
All great books have one thing in common. They present deep philosophical inquiries, often clad in superb story lines. Or is it just my proclivity to see philosophy where none exists?
In 1984, the immediate story is of a completely totalitarian regime. Inwardly, 1984 is also about ethics and politics. It doesn't end there, but goes into nested philosophical inquiries about how everything is eventually connected to metaphysics. It naturally ends up in solipsism, not merely in the material, metaphysical sense, but also in a spiritual, socio-psychological sense where the only hope, the only desired outcome of life, becomes death.
I think I may be giving away too much of my impressions in the first paragraph. Let's take it step by step. We all know that totalitarianism is bad. It is a bad political system, we believe. The badness of totalitarianism can present itself at different levels of our social existence.
At the lowest level, it can be a control over our physical movements, physical freedom, and restrictions on what you can or cannot do. Try voting against a certain African "president" and you get beaten up, for instance. Try leaving certain countries, you get shot.
At a higher level, totalitarianism can be about financial freedom. Think of those in the developed world who have to juggle three jobs just to put food on the table. At a progressively subtler level, totalitarianism is about control of information. Example: media conglomerates filtering and coloring all the news and information we receive.
At the highest level, totalitarianism is a fight for your mind, your soul, and your spiritual existence. 1984 presents a dystopia where totalitarianism is complete, irrevocable, and existing at all levels from physical to spiritual.
Another book of the same dystopian kind is The Handmaid's Tale, where a feminist's nightmare of a world is portrayed. Here, the focus is on religious extremism, and the social and sexual subjugation brought about by it. But the portrayal of the world gone hopelessly totalitarian is similar to 1984.
Also portraying a dark dystopia is V for Vendentta, with torture and terrorism thrown in. This work is probably inspired by 1984, I have to look it up.
It is the philosophical points in 1984 that make it the classic it is. The past, for instance, is a matter of convention. If everybody believes (or is forced to believe) that events took place in a certain way, then that is the past. History is written by the victors. Knowing that, how can you trust the greatness of the victors or the evil in the vanquished? Assume for a second that Hitler had actually won the Second World War. Do you think we would've still thought of him as evil? I think we would probably think of him as the father of the modern world or something. Of course, we would be having this conversation (if we were allowed to exist and have conversations at all) in German.
Even at a personal level, the past is not as immutable as it seems. Truth is relative. Lies repeated often enough become truth. All these points are describe well in 1984, first from Winston's point of view and later, in the philosophically sophisticated discourses of O'Brien. In a world existing in our own brain, where the phenomenal reality as we see it is far from the physical one, morality does lose a bit of its glamor. Metaphysics can erode on ethics. Solipsism can annihilate it.
A review, especially one in a blog, doesn't have to be conventional. So let me boldly outline my criticisms of 1984 as well. I believe that the greatest fear of a normal human being is the fear of death. After all, the purpose of life is merely to live a little longer. Everything that our biological faculties do stem from the desire to exist a little longer.
Based on this belief of mine, I find certain events in 1984 a bit incongruous. Why is it that Winston and Julia don't fear death, but still fear the telescreens and gestapo-like police? Perhaps the fear of pain overrides the fear of death. What do I know, I have never been tortured.
But even the fear of pain can be understood in terms of the ultimate fear. Pain is a messenger of bodily harm, ergo of possible death. But fear of rats?! Perhaps irrational phobias, existing at a sub-cognitive, almost physical, layer may be stronger than everything else. But I cannot help feeling that there is something amiss, something contrived, in the incarceration and torture parts of 1984.
May be Orwell didn't know how to portray spiritual persecution. Luckily, none of us knows. So such techniques as rats and betrayal were employed to bring about the hideousness of the process. This part of the book leaves me a bit dissatisfied. After all, our protagonists knew full well what they were getting into, and what the final outcome would be. If they knew their spirit would be broken, then why leave it out there to be broken?
1984dystopiaGeorge Orwellgreat booksmetaphysicsPhilosophysolipsismtotalitarianism


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As a Consulate Health Care Staffing Coordinator, you are entrusted with the responsibility of caring for our residents, families, co—workers, visitors and all others; as well as demonstrating in all interactions, Consulate Health Care's five core values of Compassion, Honesty, Integrity, Respect and Passion. The primary purpose of your job position is to assist the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse in their day-to-day recording and charging of medical or administrative information in accordance with current federal, state, and local standards, guidelines, and regulations that govern medical records, and as they may be required by the Director of Clinical Services, to ensure that our medical records are maintained in an informative and descriptive manner. You are entrusted to provide innovative, responsible healthcare with the creation and implementation of new ideas and concepts that continually improve systems and processes to achieve superior results.
As Staffing Coordinator, you are delegated the administrative authority, responsibility, and accountability necessary for carrying out your assigned duties. Responsible for assisting the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse in their day-to-day recording and charting of medical or administrative information in accordance with current federal, state, and local standards, guidelines, and regulations that govern medical records, and as may be required. No supervisory responsibilities.
Completes schedule for the Nursing Staff.
Interacts with employees to cover daily staffing requirements.
Secures coverage for vacancy shift, open position, vacations, as dictate by Director of Clinical Services.
Prepares and completes daily nursing hours report for Executive Director.
Calculate nursing hours daily to meet PPD requirements.
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Shares employee vacation requests' with Director of Clinical Services.
May complete applicant flow log, agency usage, and accruals for Nursing Department.
Maintain and updates employees telephone list.
Reviews policy and procedures with all new C.N.A students, and with new employees.
Embrace Consulate Health Care's five core values of compassion, honesty, integrity, respect, and passion, and incorporate them into one's daily job function.
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Business News Politics
Trump Opposes Mail-In Voting Because He's 'Illegitimate'
Stacey Abrams, the woman who has spent the past two years pretending she is the governor of Georgia, accused President Trump of being "illegitimate" and someone who "should not hold office."
Abrams made the comment during an interview with CNN analyst David Axelrod in which she claimed the President is "afraid" of allowing vote-by-mail in the election because it would increase turnout.
Mail-in ballots are considered by many as a means of allowing voter fraud.
Claims No Fraud
Abrams falsely suggested that Trump is afraid of a system that has "no evidence of voter fraud."
"He dislikes it despite the fact that there is no evidence of fraud," she told viewers. "We have had this form of voting for decades."
In reality, a place Abrams has done her absolute best to avoid since 2018, there have been some fairly recent examples of voter fraud involving mail-in ballots – debacles in North Carolina and Texas to name a couple.
Undaunted by the truth, she continued.
"The challenge that he [Trump] sees is that it will increase the likelihood of those that are confined to home actually using that time to participate in the election," Abrams alleged.
"And anytime a leader is afraid of people speaking their minds and making their selections, he is illegitimate and should not hold office."
AUDIO – @staceyabrams: Trump Afraid of Vote by Mail Because He 'Is Illegitimate and Should Not Hold Office' https://t.co/gsw7LfvQwV
— Grabien (@GrabienMedia) April 23, 2020
RELATED: Tucker Carlson Accuses Michelle Obama Of Trying To 'Destroy Democracy Itself' Through Mail-In Voting
Abrams is that rare politician who simply refuses to accept results and pretends things actually turned out otherwise.
She told supporters at a luncheon in Houston last May that she wasn't "delusional" mere moments after declaring "we won" the Georgia gubernatorial race. (Hint: She didn't).
Abrams has made similar claims – that she won the race for governor in 2018, despite election results showing she was soundly defeated by nearly 55,000 votes.
In her mind, everybody is illegitimate.
It's been 18 months and Stacey Abrams still thinks she's the Governor of Georgia.
She's even doing interviews on cable news about what she'd do differently than Gov. Kemp during this pandemic.
It's just sad.
— DeAnna Lorraine 🇺🇸 (@DeAnna4Congress) April 22, 2020
RELATED: Michelle Obama Using Coronavirus To Push 'Vote-By-Mail'
Dems Trying to Take Advantage of Coronavirus
Abrams is just another corruption-loving Democrat trying to interject voter fraud into the 2020 election under the guise of protecting the people from the coronavirus crisis.
Michelle Obama has called for it. Hillary Clinton has demanded it. And Nancy Pelosi has been perpetually trying to sneak it into coronavirus relief packages.
"We are pushing for in the vote by mail compulsion that we are trying to push up, that we are hearing that we need in the next CARES package is this," Abrams said. "Vote by mail is one way to ensure that we have safe, accessible voting and it is coupled with voting in person."
Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently explained vote-by-mail "would instantly destroy the public's faith in election outcomes, and hence our democracy itself."
That's what they want.
← House to vote on $484 billion coronavirus relief package as jobless claims mount
NASA to Host Media Call Today on Contributions to COVID-19 National Response →
'Sonic the Hedgehog' Sequel in the Works (EXCLUSIVE)
Black Lives Matter Founder Admits 'We Are Trained Marxists,' Goal Is To 'Get Trump Out'
Disney's Splash Mountain, criticized for racist roots, getting 'Princess and the Frog' makeover

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Gerhard Klimeck is a German-American scientist and author in the field of nanotechnology. He is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

As the director of nanoHUB, he conducts the technical developments and strategies of nanoHUB, which annually serves million users worldwide with online simulations, tutorials, and seminars.

Education
Klimeck received his Ph.D. in 1994 from Purdue University where he studied electron transport through quantum dots, resonant tunneling diodes and 2-D electron gases. His German electrical engineering degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in 1990 from Ruhr University Bochum was concerned with the study of laser noise propagation.

Career

Klimeck's research interest is in the modeling of nanoelectronic devices, parallel cluster computing, genetic algorithms, and parallel image processing. He has been driving the development of the Nanoelectronic Modeling Tool NEMO since 1994. Klimeck  was the Technical Group Supervisor of the High Performance Computing Group and a Principal Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Previously, he was a member of technical staff at the Central Research Lab of Texas Instruments where he served as manager and principal architect of the Nanoelectronic Modeling (NEMO 1-D) program. At NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Purdue University, Klimeck developed the Nanoelectronic Modeling Tool (NEMO 3-D) for multi-million atom simulations.

Patents
U.S. 6490193: Forming and storing data in a memory cell
U.S. 6667490: Method and system for generating a memory cell
U.S. Patent 2012/0043,607: Tunneling Field-Effect Transistor with Low Leakage Current
U.S. patent No. 9,858,365: "Physical modeling of electronic devices/systems", Ganesh Hegde, Yaohua Tan, Tillmann Kubis, Michael Povolotskyi, Gerhard Klimeck (2017)
U.S. patent 10680088, "Tunnel Effect Transistor Having Anisotropic Effective Mass Channel", Hesameddin Ilatikhameneh, Tarek Ameen, Bozidar Novakovic, Rajib Rahman, Gerhard Klimeck, 2020/6/9
U.S. patent US11093667B2, "Method and system for realistic and efficient simulation of light emitting diodes having multi-quantum-wells", Gerhard Klimeck, Tillmann Kubis, Junzhe Geng. (2022)

Books
Computational Electronics: Semiclassical and Quantum Device Modeling and Simulation (2010) CRC Press,

Honors and awards
Klimeck won 9 NASA Tech Briefs from 2004–2007
2008, Purdue Engineering Team Award "For his role in the creation of nanoHUB and its impact on the cyberinfrastructure for the national nanotechnology initiative leading a cultural change in research and education." shared with Mark S. Lundstrom and Michael McLennan
2011, Elected Fellow Institute of Physics "For the development, application, and dissemination of atomistic quantum simulation tools for nanoelectronic devices."
2011, Gordon Bell Prize Competition Finalist
2011, Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, citation: "For the development, application, and dissemination of atomistic quantum simulation tools for nanoelectronic devices."
2012, Elected Fellow of the IEEE, citation: "for his contributions to atomistic quantum simulation tools for nanoelectronic devices"
Klimeck and physicist Michelle Simmons of the University of New South Wales "devised a way to make a single-atom transistor", which ranked #29 top invention of 2013 by Discover Magazine
2019, Humboldt Foundation Research Prize. Professor Klimeck is a leading expert in the modeling of nanoelectronics devices. He is well known internationally for building and defining the state-of-the-art in atomistic modeling theory and simulation tools for today's most advanced transistor devices. He also guides the technical developments and strategies of the site nanoHUB.org, which annually serves over 1.5 million users worldwide with online simulations, tutorials, and seminars. In Germany, he continues his research on atomic-scale semiconductor devices to explore new concepts in hybrid nanostructures.
2020, R&D 100 award winner in Software and Services category.  "Making simulation and data pervasive", "nanoHUB: Democratizing Learning and Research".  Award winners: Gerhard Klimeck, Alejandro Strachan, Lynn Zentner, Michael Zentner.
2020, Elected Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), "For the quantum mechanical modeling theory and simulation tools to design today's nanotransistors and for leadership of the global nanotechnology community as Director of nanoHUB."

Selected works
Learning and research in the cloud
A single-atom transistor
Ohm's Law Survives to the Atomic Scale
nanoHUB.org: Advancing Education and Research in Nanotechnology
Development of a Nanoelectronic 3-D (NEMO 3-D) Simulator for Multimillion Atom Simulations and Its Application to Alloyed Quantum Dots (INVITED)
Quantum Device Simulation with a Generalized Tunneling Formula
Conductance Spectroscopy in Coupled Quantum Dots

References

External links
Profile of Gerhard Klimeck at Purdue University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Living people
German electrical engineers
21st-century German physicists
Purdue University alumni
Purdue University faculty
1966 births
Engineers from Essen
Fellows of the American Physical Society

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Our "mimosa neighbours" are like a gift from God that keeps on giving. They recently had a family member move into long-term care meaning that they're having to got through an apartment and get rid of furniture, small appliances, etc. They mentioned that they're still early on in the process, but that they might have some things for us if we needed / wanted them. It remains to be seen, but the fact that they're thinking of us is a GoodThing.
A haircut and a shower. Sound trivial? Each, in their own right, are simple pleasures. I cut my own hair (too cheap to pay to have it done… I do the boys as well) and we only have one shower in the house (in Sophie's room) so it was nice to be able to go in & take one without displacing her (she was out… see below). Combine the two in one afternoon and I feel like a whole new (clean & closely cropped) person.
A coffee date with Liz & the kids in Poitiers. We could hardly believe it… Timo mentioned one day that he'd never been to Poitiers. Soph & Dominic are there for school of course and before teaching there, Liz & I had been numerous times for administrative questions at the Prefecture (think: "provincial government), but Timo had never been. So we put him on the train with the other two to spend the afternoon after which Liz & I joined them for coffee & smoothies at t' thé ou café (the swing-seat café).


text:
La station de la rue Yuling (chinois : 玉岭路站 / pinyin : Yùlǐng lù zhàn / zhuang : Camh Roen Yilingj) est une station de la ligne 2 du métro de Nanning. Elle est située de part et d'autre du boulevard Liangyu et de la rue Yuling, dans le district de Liangqing de la ville de Nanning, en Chine.

Ouverte pendant l'extension de la ligne 2 de 2020, elle comprend quatre entrées et une seule plateforme.

Situation sur le réseau

Établie en souterrain, Rue Yuling est située sur la ligne 2 du métro de Nanning, entre la station Rue Dongfeng, en direction du terminus nord , et la station Rue Nafu, en direction du terminus sud Tanze.

Histoire
Le tracé de la ligne est décidé en juin 2014, avec une première phase comprenant 18 stations pour , coûtant environ 15.5 milliards de yuans. Les 18 premières stations ouvrent le .

Le , la construction commence sur à Rue Yuling. Le , les pieux d'enceinte sont posés et le toît est scellé le . La nouvelle extension est inaugurée le  et comprend cinq stations, qui prolonge le terminus de Yudong à Tanze. La salle de rechange pour bébés de 49 stations, dont rue Yuling, est rénovée en 2022.

Services aux voyageurs

Accès et accueil
Située de part d'autre du boulevard Liangyu (良玉大道) et de la rue Yuling (玉岭路), la station est accessible tous les jours, par quatre entrées différentes. On retrouve deux étages souterrains pour une longueur totale de .

Station souterraine, elle dispose de trois niveaux :

Desserte
Les premiers et derniers trains à direction de Xijin sont à 6h30 et 23h06 et ceux à direction de Tanze sont à 7h04 et 23h41.

Intermodalité

La station est desservie par les lignes 21, 48, 108, D108 et Wuming 21 du réseau d'autobus de Nanning.

À proximité

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Métro de Nanning
 Ligne 2 du métro de Nanning

Liens externes
 .
  sur Baidu Baike
 .

Station du métro de Nanning
Station de métro mise en service en 2020


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text:
27 January, 2016 | By - Mark Saldana
Movie News: ROOSTER TEETH'S LAZER TEAM BECOMES #1 WORLDWIDE CINEMA ON-DEMAND RELEASE VIA TUGG'S INNOVATIVE CROWDSOURCING PLATFORM
Source: Rooster Teeth
AUSTIN, TX – January 27, 2016 – Lazer Team, the first feature film created by Fullscreen's pioneering production company Rooster Teeth, has sold over 100,000 tickets in pre-sale grossing over $1 Million USD worldwide to date for the release of the science fiction action comedy, facilitated via the international cinema on-demand distribution platform Tugg. This success has led to Lazer Team becoming the largest worldwide campaign in cinema on-demand history – as well as the platform's highest-grossing film – with screenings across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The film opened worldwide today, January 27th.
With more than 25 million subscribers across its network of channels, Rooster Teeth is one of the most prolific online entertainment companies in the world. The release of the company's original film Lazer Team marks the first time a movie created by online stars has garnered this much success theatrically among today's young audience. Lazer Team is a YouTube Red Original Movie and will debut on YouTube Red in early February.
"Lazer Team's success is a testament to the power of the Rooster Teeth community," said George Strompolos, Founder and CEO of Fullscreen, and Executive Producer on Lazer Team. "We are reimagining what a modern studio can achieve and look forward to bringing more great content like Lazer Team directly to fans worldwide."
Lazer Team is the result of a strategy where fans were integral to the production, promotion, and distribution of the movie. Rooster Teeth's 2014 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the film raised over $2.48M from 37,493 passionate supporters; four times Rooster Teeth's goal, setting the record for the Most Funded Film of all time based on original IP in Indiegogo's history. Additionally, there have been over two times more ticket buyers for Lazer Team than there were Indiegogo backers who crowdfunded its production.
"In making Lazer Team it was always important to us that our fans all around the world would be able to see it as one big community and we are thankful our partnership with Tugg has given them the opportunity to view the film together on the big screen," said Matt Hullum, Rooster Teeth CEO and Director of Lazer Team.
In response to the success of Tugg screenings in the U.K., Lazer Team expanded into over 60 theaters in the U.K. and Ireland through a collaboration between National Amusements, ODEON, Empire, and Vue cinemas. Similarly in the U.S., in conjunction with Amplify Releasing, data-driven weeklong runs of the film were scheduled in cities where Tugg events sold out the fastest. Based on demand, Tugg also added over 150 encore showtimes in February.
"We're thrilled to partner with Rooster Teeth, and Lazer Team's successproves the power of cinema on-demand – a loyal audience really getting behind a movie and making it a box office success," said Nicolas Gonda, CEO of Tugg, Inc. "This is the new blueprint for how the small screen can crossover to the big screen. We salute Matt, Fullscreen and the entire Rooster Teeth team for modeling how creators can embrace Event Cinema and empower their community. We look forward to replicating this success with other creators and video platforms."
As a special incentive, attendees of January 27 and January 28 Tugg screenings received a code for a 25% merchandise discount in the Rooster Teeth store and saw exclusive bonus screening material following the film.
Lazer Team's success shatters Tugg's previous theatrical release record set by Touch the Wall, the documentary about Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin. During the documentary's first seven months of theatrical release, there were a total of 371 screenings and 47,100 tickets sold, a landmark Lazer Team surpassed in under a month.
ABOUT LAZER TEAM
Produced by Rooster Teeth, Lazer Team is a science fiction action comedy directed by Matt Hullum and written by Burnie Burns, Chris Demarais, Josh Flanagan, and Matt Hullum. The film stars English actor and The Slow Mo Guys creator Gavin Free, along with Burnie Burns, Michael Jones, Colton Dunn, Allie DeBerry, and features Alan Ritchson. In the film, four small-town losers stumble across an alien crash site containing an incredible battle suit. One round of bickering and a quick scuffle later, they each find themselves wearing a piece of the suit, which has genetically bound itself to them. Now, they must work together as one to save humanity. With the government chasing after them and desperate to remove their new equipment at any cost, the foursome must learn to use a strange alien device meant for only one person, train for a battle against an omnipotent enemy, and not kill each other in the process. They may not be strong, smart, or talented… but they're Lazer Team.
ABOUT ROOSTER TEETH
Rooster Teeth is a pioneering studio responsible for some of the biggest online series in history, such as the award-winning, longest-running web series in history, "Red vs. Blue." Rooster Teeth also produces the globally acclaimed animated series "RWBY," the first western anime series to be distributed in Japan, the comedy gamer series "The Gauntlet," and "Immersion," a reality format that brings video game theory to the real world. With a massive global footprint of more than 25 million subscribers to its YouTube Network, 3 million unique monthly visitors to its RoosterTeeth.com hub and 1.8 million registered community members, Rooster Teeth was founded by Matt Hullum and Burnie Burns in 2003, and is now a subsidiary of Fullscreen, Inc., a global youth media company that develops online creators and produces multi-platform entertainment experiences. Discover more at http://www.roosterteeth.com.
ABOUT TUGG, INC.
Tugg, Inc. ("Tugg") is a platform that enables individuals, content owners, and brands to turn their passion for movies into action by choosing the films that play in their local theaters and community venues. These individually curated events showcase Tugg's growing library of 1800+ studio and independent films. Users choose the film, date, time, and location for their screening, and then spread the word to their immediate and online community. For additional information visit http://www.tugg.com.
Category: Home Trailers


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Kiwi-born Steve Outrim, estimated by the NBR Rich List to have an $85 million fortune, had a number of tips for kiwi businessmen when addressing the annual Morgo conference for entrepreneurs.
The 42-year-old made his first millions when he became the youngest ever chief executive of an Australian public company at the age of just 23, when he floated Sausage Software on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1996. The programme he wrote, Hotdog, let users put up their own content online and became one of the most popular programmes on the internet at the time.
Last year he floated another company he co-founded, Urbanise, on the ASX, raising A$20 million in the initial public offering. Outrim has retained a substantial shareholding in the building software services company, despite resigning from the board. He also sold his Australian nutraceutical business Aussie Bodies to New Zealand's Healtheries and is an early stage investor in about 50 technology companies including Connect.com and Grid-Net.
Now resident in San Francisco and an ardent conservationist, Outrim is writing a book on the shadow history of technology. "I have 12,000 pages of notes that I want to turn into a compelling narrative. I'm finding it an intellectual challenge and didn't realise how long it takes."
He's also looking for real estate deals to round out his investment portfolio which he said was over-weight in tech companies.
Outrim, described by a former girlfriend in a bitter Australian court battle in 2013 over their relationship split as "a fat slob with body odour, gout, and a drinking problem", has largely avoided the media limelight since selling Sausage.
He doesn't fit that description at the Morgo conference for entrepreneurs. Sporting a suit and with a glass of red wine in hand, Outrim said in an interview when he first went to Melbourne as a 19 year old, he coded an accounting software programme which he tried to sell to local businesses. The problem was back then most of them didn't have a computer.
The Hotdog programme was an idea that came to him in frustration at wanting to make a Web page and post a picture of himself and put up information about the music he liked.
"It took eight hours from the idea to it being up on the Web," he said. He sold his stake in Sausage just before the dotcom bust for about A$60 million to Australia's SMS Management and Technology in 2000.
Born and raised in Wellington, Outrim said successful entrepreneurs have to be persistent and overcome any obstacles put in their way.
"When you're staring at an abyss you have to somehow find a way to keep going, keep persisting and believe in yourself," he said. "When I was a young entrepreneur Scott McNealy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems said to me that 'business wasn't hard, it was just gruelling'. You have to be tough to stick it out."
He said the key to success in the technology industry was knowing something someone else doesn't know and finding a way to exploit that.
Outrim had three other key bits of advice.
The first was to emulate your heroes - in his case, Richard Branson and Donald Trump. He observed that Branson was a master of publicity stunts to get his businesses written about on the front page of every newspaper or website.
"People love gimmicks and I used that strategy when it came to making our mark in the media with Sausage," he said.
Another key strategy was making alliances with well-known brands that can help build the credibility of your start-up. Sausage initially did a deal with Hewlett Packard, Netscape and then Intel.
"Suddenly when Intel came in there was a stamp of credibility on the company and people were willing to put their own money in," he said.
The third strategy is to lean in to your customer and focus on making money for them rather than just yourself. "How can you make money work for others? If you can find that out, it will give you the world," he said.


text:
Jack lands a place in Chitty musical chorus
A NIMBLE-FOOTED youngster from Crewe has realised a dream after landing a part in a smash hit musical at Manchester's Palace Theatre.
Jack Hales beat 600 other hopefuls to appear alongside comedian Brian Conley in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which opens in March.
The 10 year-old from Coppenhall has a singing and dancing chorus role.
He has trained at the Yvonne School of Dancing in Flag Lane, Crewe since he was five.
His mother Anne said: 'We went to see Chitty in London's West End last year and as soon as he saw the flying car and the magical set he said 'Mum, it would be a dream to star in this.' So when his brother brought a flyer home advertsing auditions, he jumped at the chance.'
Jack, who also starred in the Lyceum's Christmas panto Aladdin alongside EastEnders actor John Altman, alias Nasty Nick Cotton, is looking forward to a trip to America
with the rest of his dance school classmates to perform at Disney World in Florida.
Dance teacher Yvonne Chesters said: 'We are delighted for Jack.
'There was a lot of competition but he proved he had what it takes.
'Jack has starred in many of our Showtime productions at the Lyceum Theatre and it's great he has landed a part in a professional show.
'We have been invited to take part in our own show at the Magical Kingdom in Florida.
'It is the seventh time we have been over and as far as I know we are the only English dance group to get an official invite from Disney to go over and perform.'
Coppenhall


text:
← SNB Stops CHF's Growth And Breaks It As An Indicator
EUR/NZD Continuation →
U.S. Virus Cases Hit Record Highs, More Losses Likely in FX
Equities consolidated on Thursday as the deluge of negative COVID-19 headlines were overshadowed by reports that U.S. regulators will relax the Volcker Rule and allow banks to increase investments into venture capital funds and free up capital that would have otherwise been dedicated to derivatives trades. Risk aversion is in full swing with currencies extending their slide on Thursday after the U.S. reported its single biggest increase in COVID-19 cases ever. Despite the Trump Administration's attempt to downplay the risk of a second wave, the numbers tell a very different story. New virus cases in the three most populous U.S. states hit record highs this week and while the death toll remains low, the spike in fatalities typically increases closer to the two-week mark. As much as politicians may be trying to deny it, the curve is moving rapidly in the wrong direction. The president and the governors who rushed reopening don't want to reverse the reopening process but Americans themselves may choose to tighten their own quarantine measures. Restaurant reservations in California, Texas, Georgia and Florida have plunged in the wake and we expect more activities to follow.
The U.S. is not the only country reporting increases in cases (although its trend is among the worst). Australia posted its largest one day increase in two months, prompting a rapid roll-out of mobile testing centers. With that said, they saw an increase of only 33 cases compared with 37,000 in the U.S. on Wednesday. So while White House Advisor Larry Kudlow said he still sees a V-shaped recovery, investors need to tread more cautiously. April and May data will be good but the improvements will begin to wane in June. Durable goods rose more than expected last month but the trade deficit and jobless claims were worse than expected.
Nonetheless, the greenback caught a safe-haven bid that helped extend its gains against the euro, the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc. The resilience of USD/JPY has puzzled many. Stocks are down, Treasury yields have fallen and the most alarming rise in virus case load is in the U.S. Yet, investors are snapping up U.S. dollars because Trump may find that the only way to reinvigorate his supporters is to criticize other countries and hype up protectionism by threatening fresh tariffs. We are beginning to see that already with warnings targeted at Canada, the EU and UK. Friday's personal income and personal spending reports may not provide much direction as the sharp fall in earnings signals lower income while the big increase in retail sales supports personal spending. Ultimately, we don't think USD/JPY could resist broader risk aversion forces and will soon find its way back below 107.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were the best performers. Australia reported its largest drop in job vacancies for the three months to May ever. New Zealand on the other hand reported a narrower trade surplus, although this change was driven by higher imports and exports. Both currencies also avoided losses thanks to market closures in China and Hong Kong. The Canadian dollar on the other hand remained softer after Fitch stripped Canada of its AAA rating. Between weak retail sales, lower oil prices, the threat of fresh aluminum tariffs by the U.S. and now the ratings change, the Canadian dollar is poised for more losses with USD/CAD headed above 1.37.
Euro fell more than sterling despite a bigger improvement in Germany's GfK consumer confidence index and a smaller improvement in the UK's CBI retail sales report. Aside from the US' tariff threat on the EU, the ECB minutes also suggest there's no exit from Quantitative Easing anytime soon. Policymakers see weakening price pressures, downside growth risks and weak demand. As a result "all scenarios might turn out to be too optimistic for the latter part of the projection horizon." ECB member Mersch seem to echo this sentiment when he said the recovery is shrouded in exceptional uncertainty.
This entry was posted in Stock price and tagged euro. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
\section{Introduction}
Coherent states for the harmonic oscillator have long been known and their
properties have frequently been taken as models for defining coherent
states for other systems. Interest has long existed in coherent states
for the hydrogen atom, at least for the bound state portion, and there
have been a number of attempts in the past to define such states. We
shall approach this problem by adopting four postulates. The first two
are standard when dealing with coherent states, while the third and
fourth are rather more physical in nature dealing with a specific
Hamiltonian operator.

The first two postulates are given by: \vskip.1cm
\hskip1cm (1) {\it Continuity of labeling} \vskip.02cm
\hskip1cm (2) {\it Resolution of unity}\vskip.1cm

Indeed, these postulates are the minimal requirements generally
accepted at present to characterize coherent states.~\cite{kla} The
remaining two postulates refer to a specific Hamiltonian ${\cal H}\ge0$,
which, in units where $\hbar=1$, we assume is nondegenerate and
fulfills ${\cal H}\,|n\>=E_n\,|n\>=\omega e_n\,|n\>$.
For convenience we confine our attention to Hamiltonians with an
infinite number of bound states, $0\le n< \infty$.
We set $\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}E_n=E^*$; cases where $E^*<\infty$ and
where $E^*=\infty$ are both of interest.
Note that the $e_n$ are dimensionless numbers which satisfy the
property that
   $ 0=e_0<e_1<e_2<\cdots\,$.

The appropriate coherent states are defined by the expression
  $$|J,\gamma\>\equiv M(J)^{-1}\sum_{n=0}^\infty( J^{n/2}\,
e^{-ie_n\gamma}/\sqrt{\rho_n}\,)\;|n\>\;,$$
for suitable $J\ge0$ and $-\infty<\gamma<\infty$.
The coefficients $\rho_n$ are chosen as the moments of a distribution
$\rho(J)\ge0$ in the manner
  $$\rho_n = \int_0^{J^*} J^n\rho(J)\,dJ\;,\hskip1cm \rho_0=1\;.$$
Here $M$ denotes a normalization constant chosen so that $\<J,\gamma|
J,\gamma\>=1$, namely $M(J)^2=\sum_{n=0}^\infty J^n/\rho_n$,
and we denote by $J^*$ the radius of convergence for this series. Cases
where $J^*<\infty$ and $J^*=\infty$ are both of interest.

For the third postulate we choose\vskip.1cm
\hskip1cm (3) {\it Temporal stability}\vskip.1cm
\noindent which means that the time evolution of a coherent state remains a
coherent state for all time. In particular, for the case at hand,
 $$  e^{-i{\cal H} t}|J,\gamma\>=\sum_{n=0}^\infty (J^{n/2}\,e^{-ie_n\gamma}/
\sqrt{\rho_n}\,)\,e^{-ie_n\omega t}\,|n\>=|J,\gamma+\omega t\>\;.$$
We observe that the expressions $J(t)=J$ and $\gamma(t)=\gamma+\omega t$
are reminiscent of the time dependence of action-angle variables in
classical mechanics. When expressed in canonical action-angle variables,
the classical action functional becomes
  $$I={\textstyle{\int}}[J(t){\dot\gamma}(t)-\omega J(t)]\,dt\;. $$
Recall \cite{kla2,kla} that the quantum action functional restricted just
to coherent states, namely
  $$I={\textstyle{\int}}[\,i\<J(t),\gamma(t)|(d/dt)|J(t),\gamma(t)\>-\<J(t),\gamma(t)|
{\cal H}|J(t),\gamma(t)\>\,]\,dt\;,$$
also expresses the classical action. Thus our fourth postulate is
the\vskip.1cm
\hskip1cm (4) {\it Action identity}\vskip.1cm
\noindent which ensures that $J$ and $\gamma$ are action-angle variables, and
requires that
  $$\<J,\gamma|{\cal H}|J,\gamma\>=\omega J=\omega (\Sigma_ne_nJ^n/\rho_n)\,
/\,(\Sigma_mJ^m/\rho_m)\;. $$
To satisfy the action identity requires that
   $$\rho_n=e_ne_{n-1}e_{n-2}\cdots e_1\;. $$

For the harmonic oscillator, $e_n=n$, $\rho_n=n!$, $E^*=J^*=\infty$,
$\rho(J)=e^{-J}$, $M(J)^2=e^J$, and therefore
  $$|J,\gamma\>=e^{-J/2}\sum_{n=0}^\infty(J^{n/2}e^{-in\gamma}/
\sqrt{n!}\,)\,|n\>\equiv |z\>\;, $$
which is just a standard canonical coherent state with $z\equiv
J^{1/2}e^{-i\gamma}$. In this case it suffices to choose
$-\pi<\gamma\le\pi$.

We conclude with a brief discussion of a one-dimensional hydrogen-atom
analog with spectrum $E_n=E_0-\omega/(n+1)^2$, i.e.,
$e_n=1-1/(n+1)^2$. It follows in this case that
  $$|J,\gamma\>=M(J)^{-1}\sum_{n=0}^\infty(\sqrt{(2n+2)/(n+2)}\,
J^{n/2}e^{-i\gamma[1-1/(n+1)^2]})\,|n\>\;. $$
Here $$M(J)^2=[J(1-J)]^{-1}+J^{-2}\ln(1-J)\;,\hskip1cm 0\le J< J^*=1\;. $$
For the system at hand these states satisfy the four cited postulates
presented in this paper.

In addition, for this example, it is noteworthy that
   $$\<J,\gamma|{\cal H}^2|J,\gamma\>=\omega^2J^2+\omega^2 v(J)\;, $$
where $0<v(J)<6(1-J)$. Thus as $J\ra1$, $v(J)\ra0$, indicative of a
very narrow distribution.

An earlier letter \cite{kl3} discussed the (bound state portion of the)
hydrogen-atom coherent states along the lines of this note without,
however, introducing the action identity. (Some other analyses of
hydrogen-atom coherent states are referenced in that letter as well).
\section*{Acknowledgments}
The author thanks J.P.~Gazeau and K.~Penson for discussions. An
extension of the present work to include continuous and mixed spectra
has been submitted.~\cite{gaz}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Murphy steals the show in 'Tower Heist'
by CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP movie critic
"Tower Heist" is an ensemble, and a strong one at that, led by Ben Stiller, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck and Tea Leoni. But Brett Ratner's blast of an action comedy truly brings out the best in Eddie Murphy, something many of us may have forgotten even existed.
Fast-talking, flummoxed and full of false bravado, Murphy gives a performance as a low-level thief that recalls his signature work in the movies that made him a superstar in the mid-1980s — like "48 Hours" and "Beverly Hills Cop." When Murphy's on screen in his classic comic mode, it's hard to focus on anyone or anything else. It's as if we've turned back time and erased all those family-friendly duds and lame laughers that required him to climb into yet another fat suit or talk to even more animals.
"Tower Heist" deflates a bit when Murphy's not around, but for the most part, Ratner's movie is slick and crowd-pleasing — even more successfully so than his "Rush Hour" films — and it couldn't be more relevant in exploring the disparity between the haves and have-nots. Following "In Time," this is the second week in a row with a new release that plays like "Robin Hood" for the Occupy Wall Street crowd.
Stiller stars as Josh, the longtime manager of a luxury high-rise in Manhattan; it's actually the Trump International Hotel and Tower at Columbus Circle. When the financial guru who lives in the penthouse is charged with stealing billions from his investors — including the hardworking tower staff — Josh comes up with a plan to steal their money back. Alan Alda plays this Bernard Madoff figure with just the right mix of affability and sleaze.
But Josh's accomplices, a posse consisting of residents and employees played by Broderick, Affleck, Michael Pena and Gabourey Sidibe, aren't exactly up to the task. They've never stolen anything in their lives. The fact that the swindler is under house arrest complicates their plan further.
So Josh enlists Murphy's character, Slide, whom he's known since they were kids, to give them some tips. Slide isn't nearly the criminal mastermind he professes himself to be, but these guys don't know that. And the vivid childhood memories Josh and Slide have of each other is a running joke that adds to the movie's absurdity; Stiller is solid and hits just the right tone as the righteously indignant anchor at the center of this increasing mayhem.
; in one amusing montage, he sends them out to shoplift random items at the mall just to prove they can rip off something.
One of the genius elements of the script — credited to Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") and Jeff Nathanson ("Catch Me If You Can") — is that it actually fleshes these characters out, which makes you care about whether they can pull this thing off.
At the same time, Josh strikes up an unlikely flirtation with the tough-as-nails FBI agent on the case, played by Tea Leoni. She grew up in working-class Queens, like Alda's Shaw, and she's disgusted by the flashy swindler he's become. Leoni has one great scene in which her character gets drunk with Stiller's and turns a little too forthcoming; it's a great reminder of what a natural comedienne she is, and it makes you want to see more of her.
The heist itself is, of course, completely ridiculous, but that's part of the point — and part of the fun. Ratner keeps things moving so fluidly that you'll probably just roll with it. And his film is lighted and shot so beautifully (the work of two-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Dante Spinotti) and it feels so substantial in terms of production values, you can't help but be drawn in. These feel like actual people doing actual stunts — especially during the crime itself, which takes place during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade — which sadly seems like a rarity in this age of computer-generated extravaganzas.
"Tower Heist"
PG-13: language and sexual content
HHH stars out of four


Are you and your buddies road tripping to the 2019 Masters? Be sure to make Wild Dunes, Charleston's Island Resort, a stop along the way to get you geared up for the golf trip of a lifetime. Spend some time playing two of the most scenic golf courses along the coast, the Links and Harbor Courses, and then head inland to the Augusta National Golf Course. Whether you're coming from the North or South, Wild Dunes Resort is worth the pit stop, and then the quick drive over to Augusta.
*Valid for stays April 1 through April 21, 2019. Cannot be combined with other offers. Rates are per person, per night, based on availability for new reservations. Restrictions and blackout dates may apply.


text:
Q: What is an estimator and how to construct it? The definition of an estimator "rule that tells how to calculate an estimate " as given here is not clear to me. If I make measurements of some quantity, say age in a group of N people, my outcomes will be $x_1, \dots, x_N$ where $x_i$ represents the age of $i$-th person. One can now talk about the mean as the quantity that gives us "rough idea" about the age of this group.
I want to understand how is the notion of estimator relevant to a situation like above (if at all it is)? What the estimator actually is and how to construct it?

A: The mean age would be the estimator, and the mean value would be an estimate, a statistic from the example you mentioned.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Fundamental Principles of Islamic Finance
ARX Series 27 August 2020
Islamic Finance Webinar Series - Part 1
Naila Firdausi Asa CFA Zeeshan Ahmed PhD Adam Ng PhD Mohammad Shoaib CFA
Webinar presented by CFA Society Indonesia, CFA Society Malaysia, CFA Society Pakistan, and CFA Institute
With a presence in almost 60 countries, approximately 1500 sharia-compliant companies, and total assets under management (AUM) of about USD2.4 trillion, Islamic finance is one of the most rapidly growing segments of the global financial system, as it has been growing at a steady 10-12% per year during the last two decades. As the same time, it serves as a valuable source of financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
CFA Society Indonesia, CFA Society Malaysia and CFA Society Pakistan invite you to join a series of webinars that dive into the basic features, market landscape, as well as the emerging opportunities for Islamic finance. Our inaugural webinar provides an overview of the fundamental principles governing Islamic finance.
The panel includes practitioners from capital markets, banking, and academia who discuss the origins of Islamic finance, the fundamental principles of Shariah law governing Islamic finance, asset-based structure, and risk-sharing.
Naila Firdausi Asa, CFA, Fixed Income Analyst, PT Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia
Zeeshan Ahmed, PhD, Dean and Associate Professor, Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) Pakistan
Adam Ng, PhD, Sustainable Finance Expert, WWF - Malaysia
Mohammad Shoaib, CFA, CEO, Al Meezan Investment Management Limited
Duration: 1 hr 13 min.
Recorded: 26 August 2020.
Islamic Finance Webinar Series:
Part 2: Innovation in Islamic Banking, 21 October 2020
Part 3: Practices and Opportunities in Islamic Capital Markets: 15 December 2020
Part 4: Social and Sustainable Sukuk: 3 June 2021
Naila Firdausi Asa CFA
Naila is fixed income analyst for PT Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia, which manages about $4.5 billion in assets for clients (end-March 2020). Having obtained recommendation from the National Sharia Board- Indonesian Council of Ulemas, she was granted the Sharia Capital Market Expert License by the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia in 2018. In Addition to her role in analysing financial institutions, she is part of MAMI's Sharia Investment Unit that helps ensure Islamic principle compliance across the company's $450 million sharia funds. She holds Bachelor degree in accounting from University of Indonesia and received her CFA charter in 2016. Prior to joining Manulife in 2010, she spent 10 years as journalist covering Indonesian politics and financial markets for Bloomberg News.
Zeeshan Ahmed PhD
Dr Zeeshan Ahmed is the Dean and an Associate Professor at Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) which has won local CFA Institute Research Challenge 4 times in a row.
Dr. Zeeshan has over 20 years of diverse experience in teaching, training, consulting and research. He completed his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University, US in the discipline of Finance. He has also completed 8 years of course work to become a Shariah Scholar.
His two-decade-long experience as an academic comprises teaching and training using a variety of pedagogical techniques (including case method) at top business schools in Pakistan including KSBL, IBA and LUMS. He has also been influential in shaping the curriculum for business education at these schools.
Dr. Zeeshan also serves on the Board of Institute of Financial Markets Pakistan (IFMP) SECP, CPD Committee of Institute of Chartered Accountants Pakistan (ICAP) and academic council of IBA Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance (CEIF).
Adam Ng PhD
Adam Ng is a sustainable Finance Expert at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia, specializes in developing sustainable finance policies, products and solutions for the financial sector in Malaysia.
He was formerly Deputy Director (Research Management Centre) and Associate Professor at the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), Fellow at the London-based Royal Society of Arts (2014-2017), Research Associate at the University of Oxford's Global Economic Governance Programme (2015-2016) and Securities Commission Malaysia-Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Scholar-in-Residence in Islamic Finance (2014-2015) in the UK.
During his service at the Central Bank of Malaysia, he contributed to strategic initiatives in Islamic financial infrastructure development and central banking collaboration, principally the establishment of International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM) by 11 central banks and Islamic Development Bank Group in 2010. He served in the management team of IILM and laid the foundation for the issuance of the world's first A-1 rated USD short-term sukuk.
He has published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Sustainable Development, Energy Economics, Economic Modelling and the Asian Institute of Chartered Banker. He received his PhD in Islamic Finance from INCEIF and Bachelor of Civil Law from University of Oxford.
Mohammad Shoaib CFA
Mr. Mohammad Shoaib, CFA is the founding CEO of Al Meezan Investment Management Ltd., the first and the only full-fledged Shariah Compliant Asset Management Company in Pakistan. Al Meezan is also the largest asset management company in Pakistan managing about USD 950 million on behalf of clients. Shoaib has over 28 years of experience in managing investment portfolios. Shoaib holds an MBA degree from IBA besides being a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder. Shoaib has been a speaker at various conferences on Islamic Asset Management in Middle Eastern and Far Eastern countries. He has also been featured in CFA Magazine with reference to his contribution to Islamic asset management, corporate governance and volunteer leadership roles.
1 PL
Record PL credit
Manage your Professional Learning credits
Published by CFA Institute


text:
Q: How can I use "IF" statement to determine the amount of free disk space to add to a VMDK? The script I am using is below. We are upgrading our 1500 VDI's from Windows 10 1809 to 1909 and we want to automate the process as much as possible since this will be a process that we will have to do regularly with each new version Windows puts out. We are using SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager). The script works perfect for extending disk space for multiple machines. The .csv file it is importing only contains a list of virtual machines the script is to expand disk space on. I want to use an "if" statement to determine if the amount of free space is below 30GB and, if so, to add the needed disk space to bring it up to 30GB free space. Example: "if" free disk space is -lt 30GB, Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB (the difference to make 30GB free space available), "if" free space is -eq to 30GB, do nothing. I have researched Google and this site for anything remotely similar and wasn't able to find what I need. All help accomplishing this is appreciated.
##Task Change Disk Size
##Variable clear
$csvobjects = @()
$cskobject = @()
$network = @()
$isalive = @()

##Import VM name(s)
$csvobjects = Import-CSV -path "C:\Temp\ExpandHDDiskList.csv"

Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -InvalidCertificateAction Ignore -Confirm:$false

connect-viserver -server anyserver.com -User anyuser@anyserver.com

foreach ($csvobject in $csvobjects){
##Variable clear
$network = @()
$isalive = @()
##Pre-change data gathering
$beforechange = (GET-VM -Name $csvobject.vmname | FT -auto CapacityGB|out-string)
##Stop VM
GET-VM -Name $csvobject.vmname | Get-HardDisk -Name 'Hard disk 1' | Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB 75 -Confirm:$false
start-sleep -s 60

# Variable specifying the drive you want to extend
$drive_letter = "C"

# Script to get the partition sizes and then resize the volume
$size = (Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DriveLetter $drive_letter)
Resize-Partition -DriveLetter $drive_letter -Size $size.SizeMax
}

A: You can use Get-VMGuest to get the free space within the guest VM.
Set the target amount of free space in a variable.  30GB (GB = 1024^3)
$gb = 1024 * 1024 * 1024
$space = 30 * $gb

Get the free space from the VM using Get-VMGuest
$vm = Get-VMGuest $csvobject.vmname

Now, assuming a single hard disk in the machine, determine if the free space is less than 30GB.  If it is, increase the hard disk size so that there is 30GB of free space.  The calculation takes the capacity of the disk and adds on the required free space (30GB) and then subtracts the current free space.  This is all done in bytes so convert it into GB and round it to a whole number to avoid weird disk sizes:
if ($vm.Disks[0].FreeSpace -lt $space) {
   Get-HardDisk $vm.Vm | Select -first 1 | Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB ([math]::round(($vm.Disks[0].Capacity + $space - $vm.Disks[0].FreeSpace) / $gb))
}

Take care when running, particularly if you have machines with multiple hard disks.
Assuming Windows VMs, you don't need to stop the VM.  You can resize the filesystem remotely using Invoke-Command or Invoke-VMScript.

A: With PowerShell 5 or newer you can replace
    $gb = 1024 * 1024 * 1024

with
    1GB

And replace
    $space = 30 * $gb

with
    30GB

So, the entire script would look like this
    $vm = Get-VMGuest $csvobject.vmname
    if ($vm.Disks[0].FreeSpace -lt 30GB) {
    Get-HardDisk $vm.Vm | Select -first 1 | Set-HardDisk -CapacityGB ([math]::round(($vm.Disks[0].Capacity + 30GB - $vm.Disks[0].FreeSpace) / 1GB))}


text:
Bastrop man killed in Morehouse Parish crash, impairment suspected
Special to The News-Star
Impairment is suspected to be a factor in a single-vehicle crash that killed a Bastrop man early Thursday, authorities said.
Louisiana State Police Troop F said troopers responded to a crash at approximately 4:45 a.m. Thursday on U.S. 425 south of Louisiana 3051. This crash claimed the life of 20-year-old Ethan J. Nelson of Bastrop, who was not restrained.
Police said Nelson was driving north on U.S. 425 in a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado truck. For reasons still under investigation, the truck left the roadway, struck a driveway and overturned, ejecting Nelson.
Nelson, who was not restrained, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Morehouse Parish Coroner. Nelson's passengers sustained minor injuries, according to police.
A toxicology sample was submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.
Louisiana State Police would like to remind all motorists that alcohol, prescription drugs and other drugs have many effects on the body that negatively affect driving skills. In addition, buckling up is the most effective way to protect yourself in a motor vehicle crash. Louisiana Law requires every person in a vehicle, regardless of seating position, to be properly restrained day or night.
In 2022, Troop F has investigated 10 fatal crashes, which have resulted in 12 fatalities.


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On behalf of Ross, Midian & Breitmayer, LLC posted in trucking accident on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.
Anyone can fall prey to drowsy driving, as this has a way of coming on fast. For example, truckers often stay on the road when they're tired as they have a schedule to keep.
On behalf of Ross, Midian & Breitmayer, LLC posted in trucking accident on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.
If you spend any time driving in or around the Columbus area, you know that you'll always be sharing the road with trucks and/or other commercial vehicles.


text:
Q: How to print the date in dd/mm format in java I want to write a class so that I can print the date in dd/mm format, but I have no idea to start.
Here is the main() part
Code:
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SortMonthDate {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        MonthDate[] mdates = new MonthDate[5];
        mdates[0] = new MonthDate(22, 7);
        mdates[1] = new MonthDate(25, 8);
        mdates[2] = new MonthDate(25, 6);
        mdates[3] = new MonthDate(28, 9);
        mdates[4] = new MonthDate(5, 9);
        print(mdates);
        Arrays.sort(mdates);
        print(mdates);
    }

    static <T> void print(T[] a) {
        for (T t : a) {
            System.out.printf("%s ", t);
        }
        System.out.println();
    }
}

A: There's a class for that!
java.time.MonthDay
Rather than roll-your-own, use the MonthDay class built into Java 8 and later. For Java 6 & 7, use the back-port.
MonthDay[] mds = new MonthDay[5] ;
mds[0] = MonthDay.of( 7 , 22 ) ;
mds[1] = MonthDay.of( Month.AUGUST , 25 ) ;
mds[2] = MonthDay.of( Month.JUNE , 25 ) ;
mds[3] = MonthDay.of( Month.SEPTEMBER , 28 );
mds[4] = MonthDay.of( 9 , 5 ) ;
Arrays.sort(mdates);

Better to use Java Collections generally.
List< MonthDay > mds = new ArrayList<>() ;
mds.add( MonthDay.of( 7 , 22 ) ) ;
mds.add( MonthDay.of( Month.AUGUST , 25 ) ) ;
mds.add( MonthDay.of( Month.JUNE , 25 ) ) ;
mds.add( MonthDay.of( Month.SEPTEMBER , 28 ) ) ;
mds.add( MonthDay.of( 9 , 5 ) ) ;
Collections.sort( mds ) ;

Strings

I want to write a class so that I can print the date in dd/mm format,

To learn about writing the class, check out the source code in the OpenJDK project.
As for generating text representing that month-day class, simply call toString to generate a value in standard ISO 8601 format. I strongly suggest use these standard formats for logging, storing, and exchanging date-time values as text.
MonthDay.of( Month.JUNE , 25 ) )
        .toString()

--06-25

For presentation to the user, specify your desired format with DateTimeFormatter class. Search Stack Overflow for more info, as this has been covered many many times already.
DateTimeFormatter f = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern( "dd/MM" ) ;
String output = mds.get( 0 ).format( f ) ;  // Generate string in custom format.

25/06

Dump to console.
System.out.println( "mds: " + mds ) ;
System.out.println( "mds.get( 0 ) = " +  mds.get( 0 ) + "  |  output: " + output ) ;

See this code run live at IdeOne.com.

mds: [--06-25, --07-22, --08-25, --09-05, --09-28]
mds.get( 0 ) = --06-25  |  output: 25/06

About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?

*

*Java SE 8, Java SE 9, Java SE 10, Java SE 11, and later  - Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.

*

*Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.

*Java SE 6 and Java SE 7

*

*Most of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.

*Android

*

*Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.

*For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….

The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

A: If you are printing an Object to System.out Java uses the Object.toString() method to get a string representation of your Object. So you can overwrite the default toString() method by implementing it in your MonthDate class.
To format the int values you can use the String.format() method. The format %02d pads the value with a 0 if smaller than 10. To get the dd/mm format you can use %02d/%02d.
With that said your toString() method can look like this:
@Override
public String toString() {
    return String.format("%02d/%02d", this.day, this.month);
}

Using new MonthDate(12, 3) this would print:
12/03

Instead of:
MonthDate@42af3438

A: Assuming that your MonthDate class attributes are
private int day;
private int month;

You should always implement a toString() method for every class in java because you will be representing every object differently.
As for sorting your objects by date, you cannot use Arrays.sort() because you're not sorting numbers. You should implement your own sorting method.Here's one i recommend you:
public static void sort(MonthDate[] s) {
    int[] days = new int[s.length];
    int[] months = new int[s.length];

    for (int i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
        days[i] = s[i].day;
        months[i] = s[i].month;
    }

    Arrays.sort(days);
    Arrays.sort(months);

    for (int i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
        s[i].day = days[i];
        s[i].month = months[i];
    }
}

We put the days and months in 2 different arrays and sorted them using Arrays.sort(), then assigned them back to the object instance.
You can also implement this toString() method and then call it in your print() method, because you cannot print an object directly with System.out.println().
public String toString() {
    return "" + this.day + "/" + this.month;
}

In your print() function you should use the toString() method as so:
public static <T> void print(T[] a) {
    for (T t : a) {
        System.out.println(t.toString());
    }
    System.out.println();
}

Finally, you can keep your main like that and it would sort it and print it correcty.
public static void main(String[] args) {
    MonthDate[] mdates = new MonthDate[5];
    mdates[0] = new SortMonthDate(22, 7);
    mdates[1] = new SortMonthDate(25, 8);
    mdates[2] = new SortMonthDate(25, 6);
    mdates[3] = new SortMonthDate(28, 9);
    mdates[4] = new SortMonthDate(5, 9);
    print(mdates);
    sort(mdates);
    print(mdates);
}

Here's the full code:
MonthDate class
import java.util.Arrays;

public class MonthDate {

    private int day;
    private int month;

    public MonthDate(int day, int month) {
        this.day = day;
        this.month = month;
    }

    public static void sort(MonthDate[] s) {
        int[] days = new int[s.length];
        int[] months = new int[s.length];

        for (int i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
            days[i] = s[i].day;
            months[i] = s[i].month;
        }

        Arrays.sort(days);
        Arrays.sort(months);

        for (int i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
            s[i].day = days[i];
            s[i].month = months[i];
        }
    }

    public String toString() {
        return "" + this.day + "/" + this.month;
    }

    public static <T> void print(T[] a) {
        for (T t : a) {
            System.out.println(t.toString());
        }
        System.out.println();
    }

}

SortMonthDate class
public class SortMonthDate {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

            MonthDate[] mdates = new MonthDate[5];
            mdates[0] = new MonthDate(22, 7);
            mdates[1] = new MonthDate(25, 8);
            mdates[2] = new MonthDate(25, 6);
            mdates[3] = new MonthDate(28, 9);
            mdates[4] = new MonthDate(5, 9);
            MonthDate.print(mdates);
            MonthDate.sort(mdates);
            MonthDate.print(mdates);

    }

}

Note that instead of making your MonthDate methods static, you could make them not static and call them in main using, for example, mdates.print();.