If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is very likely that you will be able to claim compensation. You will need expert legal advice from a solicitor who is a specialist in mesothelioma claims. Many solicitors, even those that work in personal injury, may not be specialists in mesothelioma claims. A specialist will help you get the right amount of compensation without charging you for the work that they do so that you get 100% of what you are owed.
You may know how your asbestos exposure occurred. But frequently, people don't recall where they were exposed. It may not have been you who handled or disturbed the asbestos you were exposed to, but you may have been nearby when someone else did.
A specialist solicitor will see you at home and go through your work history to find out when, where and how you had exposure.
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In order to get compensation you have to prove that you had exposure to asbestos at a time when you ought not to have been and that your mesothelioma was caused by asbestos fibres. It has been known for many decades that asbestos was dangerous and from the mid 1960s that it caused mesothelioma even after breathing only small amounts of asbestos dust. Mesothelioma is almost always due to asbestos exposure. A solicitor will be able to advise you as to prospects of winning.
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Compensation does not compensate for what has been lost but it can and does make a difference. The aim of compensation is to put you in the same financial position as though you hadn't developed mesothelioma. Although the amount awarded in each case is different, the amount of compensation is usually substantial. Younger people who are in work with dependents are likely to get much more than an older person on a small pension. You will probably get at least £100,000 and often more than that.
How long should your case take to conclude?
Mesothelioma cases should be dealt with swiftly. There are fast track procedures in courts to allow cases to be concluded within 3-6 months of contacting a solicitor. Some cases will take longer than this if complications arise. Your solicitor should advise you if your case has unusual features which may mean it will take longer.
Can you get compensation if my employer has gone out of business?
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Yes. You will be able to bring a similar compensation claim in the courts.
A claim should be brought within three years of the date of diagnosis or within three years of the date of death. However, if there are good reasons as to why the claim was not brought in time then it may be possible to bring a successful claim but you need to get legal advice quickly.
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If the case is successful then the person paying your compensation will also pay your legal costs. If your case is unsuccessful then you shouldn't have to pay a bill. You must check with your solicitor that this is the position.
The vast majority of cases settle before you get to court. However, court proceedings should be started to put pressure on the defendants to settle, you may even get a date for trial. There is likely to be opportunity for your solicitor to apply to the court to get a decision about whether the defendant should pay you compensation before trial. This is known as the 'show cause' procedure.
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It is important to find a solicitor that specialises in asbestos claims. Click here to download a leaflet on 'Choosing the right solicitor'.
We think it is important that if you decide to take legal advice that you use solicitors that specialise in asbestos disease claims. Asbestos disease law is a distinct area of law and the procedures and practice are specific. Specialist solicitors have dealt with asbestos claims in the past and can handle your case swiftly and sensitively.
You can locate asbestos solicitors via your local asbestos support group, your lung cancer nurse or through your Union.
How many mesothelioma cases has the law firm dealt with?
Has the law firm taken any cases like yours to settlement and if so, how many?
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How will you be kept informed of your claim's progress and how often will you be updated?
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Will you receive 100% of the sum of compensation agreed or awarded?
Disclaimer: Mesothelioma UK does not accept any responsibility relating to the appointment of a law firm following the use of this list of questions. These questions are suggested only.


Senior attackman Dylan Vitale scored four goals and added two assists and senior attackman Dominic Waltonowski had a goal and four assists to lead the Lions (3-0, 2-0) past the Griffins (0-3, 0-2).
Mike Long notched a hat trick, Chris Augustine had a goal and an assist and Brett Spafford scored once. Gustavo Baxes made eight saves to earn the win in goal.
Trevor Barber led Donovan Catholic with three goals and one assist, and also went 11-for-16 on face-offs. Will Duddy and Andrew Schlendorf each scored once and Peter Rao made 12 saves.
Ryan McGee scored a game-high four goals to lead the Bucs (2-2) to a win over the Green Wave (0-3). Brady Gilmartin added a goal and two assists, Tor Haugenes had a goal and an assist and Nick Walsack scored once.
Isaiah Gonzalez scored Long Branch's goal and Scott Taverner made 14 saves.


text:
Back to Gallipoli
May 1, 2015 May 1, 2015 Andrew R. Cameron1 Comment
We were fortunate to be able to return to Gallipoli the day after Anzac Day to have a more leisurely look at some of the battlefields on the peninsula. Although Garreth and I already had a pretty good idea of the challenges faced by the Anzacs due to the topography of the region, the opportunity to walk around gave us a new perspective on the campaign.
A map of the Gallipoli peninsula
Image credit: Anzac site
Our tour group were still tired after Anzac Day – being awake for almost forty hours had taken its toll, and we crossed the Dardanelles on the ferry back to Eceabat in weary silence. Once we arrived on the peninsula, without the enormous crowd and numerous security checkpoints, it was much easier to be able to observe our surroundings.
One of the most frequently cited reasons for the failure of the Anzac landings is that the forces were landed on the wrong beach. (There were numerous reasons, of course, but coming ashore at Ari Burnu, rather than Kapatepe, certainly hindered the beginning of the campaign.) The stretch of land between Eceabat (on the Dardanelles) and Kabatepe (on the Aegean coast) is a flat plain – perfect for landing a large force. If the Anzacs had landed there, as planned, it may have been possible to sweep straight across to the Dardanelles, thus cutting off the Turkish forces on Cape Helles from any reinforcements and forcing them to fight on two fronts.
We started at the Anzac Commemorative Site on North Beach, where the grandstands from the previous day were in the process of being dissembled. We scrambled down to the waterline and looked back at the cliffs. They seem to wrap around the beach, starting from Ari Burnu in the south, giving a very claustrophobic feeling to this section of sand.
Dad and I on North Beach
Walking southwards along the road, we visited Ari Burnu Cemetery and Beach Cemetery, before catching a bus back up to Lone Pine, which was now empty of people.
Dad and I at Anzac Cove
Just northwest of Lone Pine is Johnston's Jolly, a part of the ridge where Anzac and Turkish trenches were only separated by seven metres. It was close enough for soldiers to be able to lob bombs back and forth between the trenches. The trenches are still visible in the dirt – narrow gullies covered with pine needles that wind between the trees.
The network of trenches at Johnston's Jolly
Looking back from Johnston's Jolly, we could see the rocky peaks of the first ridge that overlook Anzac Cove, including the back section of the Sphinx. In that valley between the ridges was some infamous places, such as Quinn's Post, where the Anzac troops eked out a precarious existence as the Turkish soldiers rained bombs and bullets down on them. Standing up there, looking down on those vulnerable places, it was incredible to think that the Anzac forces held out for so long.
But hold out they did. On one night, the Turkish offensive of 19 May, the Anzac force of 17,500 managed to defend against 42,000 attacking Turks.
The memorial to John Simpson, at Beach Cemetery
On the ridge between Johnston's Jolly and Chunuk Bair is The Nek, a narrow stretch of land that Charles Bean famously described as the size of two tennis courts. And it truly is precipitous – the ground drops away on either side. It amazes me to think that anyone can scale up the side of this thing, especially under fire. The barbed wire is still clustered around the trenches. It was here on 7 August 1915 that the soldiers of the 8th and 10th Light Horse Regiment charged the Turkish trenches in one of the most futile attacks in modern military history. Ordered to fix their bayonets and empty their rifles of bullets (firing would only slow them down), the Anzacs attacked in three successive waves. Virtually all of them were killed or wounded. Charles Bean wrote, regarding the 10th Light Horse, "With that regiment went the flower of the youth of Western Australia, sons of the old pioneering families, youngsters – in some cases two or three from the same home… Men known and popular, the best loved leaders in sport and work in the West… rushed straight to their death."
Barbed wire in the trenches at The Nek. (And Dad in the background.)
It's only at the top of Chunuk Bair that I could truly appreciate the strategic significance of this mountain. It overlooks the entire peninsula, from Suvla Bay in the north to the Dardanelles in the east. It is a sacred site for the New Zealanders, where they assaulted the summit during the August offensive, actually managing to hold it for a day before being driven back by the forces by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk). And it was here that Kemal gave his famous order: "I don't order you to fight, I order you to die."
The view northwards to Suvla Bay from Chunuk Bair.
The real tragedy of Chunuk Bair was that the British reinforcements in Suvla Bay decided to stop on the beach for a spot of tea and a swim rather than racing inland to assist the New Zealanders. Even Atatürk would later admit that if the Anzac forces on Chunuk Bair had been able to hang on to the mountaintop, the whole campaign would have turned out differently.
All of the places I've described are within easy walking distance of each other. The Anzacs only held 400 acres of land on the peninsula. It couldn't be described as a foothold, but a toehold. Those soldiers spent eight months clinging to the side of cliffs. It's sobering to think of how many soldiers died – on both sides – for this desolate piece of coast.
I had mixed feelings as we left the Gallipoli peninsula that day. I feel privileged to have been there, in that particular place at that particular time. It felt like a sacred pilgrimage, as I visited those sites whose names have become part of Australian folklore. Finally, I was overcome with a great sense of sadness. These cliffs are a mass grave, a memorial not just to the soldiers who rest here, but a memorial to human folly, desperation, and the futile ambitions of old empires.
Anzac Centenary, Anzac DayAnzac Day, Gallipoli, history, travel, travel blog, world war one
Lest We Forget, 1915-2015
"I could pour into your ears so much truth about the grandeur of our Australian army, and the wonderful affection of these young soldiers for each other and their homeland, that your Australianism would become a more powerful sentiment than before. It is stirring to see them, magnificent manhood, swinging their fine limbs as they walk about Anzac. They have the noble faces of men who have endured. Oh, if you could picture Anzac as I have seen it, you would find that to be an Australian is the greatest privilege the world has to offer."
– Keith Murdoch, "The Gallipoli Letter", 23 Sept 1915
We could see them across the gulf of a century. They huddled together in the boats in the bitter grey twilight as they approached the shore. We stood on the beach, cliffs at our back, eyes cast out to sea, waiting for them. When they came ashore, amidst a maelstrom of bullets and shrapnel, they were disoriented and scared. Imposing cliffs rose above the thin strip of sand and rock. This wasn't where they were supposed to land! It was the wrong place! Across the span of time, we welcomed them in silence, here on this dismal shore in the biting cold, standing shoulder to shoulder with their former enemies. We stood here with them, here at Anzac Cove.
Nothing I've experienced in my life can compare to commemorating the centenary of Anzac Day at Gallipoli. We arrived on the Gallipoli peninsula in the early afternoon of Friday, 24 April. There was a great sense of migration, an inward press of people converging on the same place. We were fortunate to cross the Dardanelles so early in the day; we heard that over 300 buses were waiting in line at a crossing further up the channel. After passing through the bus registration point and various security checkpoints, we arrived at the holding area at Kabatepe.
Looking south towards Kabatepe, April 1915. Photo taken by William Henry Cameron
It was our first view of the desolate Gallipoli coastline. Kabatepe was where the Anzac soldiers were supposed to land – a flat beach leading to the inland plains. To the north, we could see the beginnings of the Sari Bair range – rugged ridges rising up from the beach.
Walking north from Kabatepe, 25 April 2015
The walk to the commemorative site took forty minutes. The cluster of grandstands and stages were nestled under the cliffs, looking down onto the beach. The imposing rock edifice known as the Sphinx towered over us. It's only now that I truly understand just how steep the cliffs are – photos don't do justice to their sheer scale. This was the worst possible place along this entire peninsula to attempt a landing. How the Anzac troops managed to even establish a beachhead is entirely beyond my comprehension. We settled down on the grass (and my parents settled down in one of the grandstands) and watched night fall over the Aegean. A long night was ahead.
Dad, Mum, myself, and Garreth at the Anzac Commemorative Site
Because we'd arrived so early (bus number 87 out of an estimated 500), we were lucky to be able to lie down for the first few hours. But around midnight, the continued influx of people meant that we had to first sit up, then stand to make room. At 2am, there were still 1,500 people waiting to enter the site.
But it was a night full of simple moments too. Walks with Garreth and my parents along the promenade. Watching the spotlights play over the Sphinx. Chatting to the New Zealand Prime Minister, taking a selfie with Kochie. Having a joke around with Eddie McGuire and telling him that I'm a huge Eagles supporter. And an interview I did for ABC radio. The cove felt like a little slice of home, here on his distant shore.
The Sphinx spotlighted above the crowd in the night
"In no unreal sense it was on the 25th of April, 1915, that the consciousness of Australian nationhood was born."
– Charles Bean
The dawn was announced by a dusky red glow above the cliffs. As the service began, the sky changed to a grey twilight above us. Dignitaries made their speeches, and a procession of naval ships passed by the coast. There was a palpable swelling of emotion from the crowd. The Last Post has never sounded so haunting as it did in that morning twilight.
When the main commemorative service had finished, the Australians hiked up Artillery Road to Lone Pine, while the New Zealanders continued on to Chunuk Bair. The Australian ceremony at Lone Pine was so much more relaxed than the main service, for which we were all pretty grateful, because most of us had been awake for over 30 hours at this point. The view from Lone Pine was also quite stunning, with a sweeping vista up the second ridge to Chunuk Bair. During the minute of silence, the chirping and whistling of birds sounded across the hilltop – it was hard to believe this peaceful place had once been a site of ferocious battle.
Lone Pine, 25 April 2015
Seeing the memorial at Lone Pine was a sobering way to end this day of remembrance. The Dardanelles campaign was a disaster for the Allies. 43,921 dead, 97,112 wounded. The Turkish losses were even more staggering: 86,692 dead, 164,617 wounded. We were constantly reminded that every step we took was on a grave of our ancestors.
A century after the landings, it's worth asking what the Anzac legend means to my generation, and what role it plays in defining our nation. It's something that is hard to articulate, because it is something that exists inside us, something that is part of our identity as Australians. Gallipoli is Australia's foundation myth. It is the story we learn in school – the story of Simpson and his donkey, the story of brave Hugo Throssell, the story of a desperate clamour up the side of cliffs, and the story of a withdrawal that didn't cost a single life. It is our French Revolution, it is our War of Independence. It is the single moment when we became aware of ourselves as a nation – a moment when we stood up and announced ourselves to the world. As long as Australia endures, the word Gallipoli will resonate in its people. And as I grow older and think about one day having children of my own, it seems more and more important to remember the sacrifices of our ancestors, to commemorate and celebrate their lives.
Atatürk's famous address to the mothers of Anzac soldiers is a prominent part of the Anzac memorial
And what about those Australian values that crystallised in these trenches – mateship, bravery, larrikinism? It seems to me that those values are more important than ever. Having spent the last ten days on a tour with a group of Australian and New Zealanders, the sense of camaraderie we shared by the time we reached Gallipoli was only possible because of these shared values.
As our nation continues to grow into the next century, it becomes increasingly important for our leaders to reflect on the values and lessons learnt at Gallipoli. Australia is a different place to what it was in 1915, but many of the challenges are the same. After spending the last week experiencing gracious Turkish hospitality, and hearing about how this country has made room for millions of their neighbours fleeing from religious and political persecution, my feelings on some of Australia's issues have been reinforced. The second verse of our national anthem says that "for those who've come across the seas, we've boundless plains to share", and I would like to see the current leaders of Australia remember these words and be as welcoming as our Turkish hosts have been.
Dad and I at the Anzac Commemorative Site
Sitting at the commemorative site, I thought about my grandfather as the dawn blossomed above me. I remembered visiting Albany, all those months ago, to commemorate the departure of the first convoy. (And how similar the coastlines of Albany and Gallipoli!) It had been the start of a long road, a journey that bridged across a century. And now I was standing in the place that had been the end of that road. My grandfather had been here, scrambling up the side of these cliffs, gasping and shouting into the dawn light. He was only here a few days before he was shot in the leg and evacuated. His story was short and furious, a mere drop in the tidal wave that washed up on this shore in 1915.
My grandfather, William Henry Cameron
I am humbled and honoured to be here. I know that, no matter where I go or what I do, I will always carry today in my heart. On those quiet mornings, when I lie awake and listen to the birdsong through my window, or on those tranquil evenings at Cottesloe, when the breeze is cool and the waves lap contentedly at my feet, my thoughts will return to this desolate stretch of coast and the profound and desperate events that occurred here. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
Anzac Centenary, Anzac DayAnzac Centenary, Anzac Day, Australia, Gallipoli, New Zealand, travel, travel blog, Turkey
The Sons of Gallipoli
As our tour makes its way through Turkey, we've seen some incredible sights – the urban sprawl of Istanbul, the olive groves of Sirince, and the surreal Moonscape of Cappadocia. We've seen the mausoleum of Atatürk, the ruins of Hierapolis, and the ancient chapels of Göreme. We've explored the tunnels and chambers of Kaymakli underground city. We've watched demonstrations of the Whirling Dervishes, the ancient art of pottery, and the weaving of carpets. We spent an afternoon wandering the ruined city of Ephesus, where Garreth performed a Shakespearean sonnet in the Great Theatre. And we've watched the sunrise from a hot air balloon above the calcium terraces of Pamukkale. Each day has brought a wealth of experiences.
Sunrise over the calcium terraces of Pamukkale
Something we're rapidly learning is what Gallipoli means to the Turkish people, and the significance it played in inspiring a revolution and developing the modern Turkish nation. This isn't something we could pick up from a text book: it's something we've gathered from conversations with locals, watching adverts and documentaries on Turkish television, and seeing how the nation is approaching the centenary of the battle.
As soon as we're recognised as Australians, there's an instant kinship with our new Turkish friends. More than one local has used the term brother to describe the relationship. Australians are welcomed here – we fought in the same battle, we were forged in that same crucible. It doesn't matter that we fought against each other; all has been forgiven. There is a distinct sense that we are travelling to Gallipoli to remember not just the Australians and New Zealanders, but the many Turkish soldiers who also lost their lives.
The Turkish experience of Gallipoli was an entirely different narrative to what we hear in Australia. The soldiers were repelling an invasion of their homeland. In many cases, they were fighting for land that had belonged to their families for generations. Many of them sacrificed their lives to protect their nation. It requires a strange sort of cognitive shift to think of Australia as an invading force, but that's what happened.
Anzac soldiers in Cairo, 1915. Photo taken by my grandfather, William Henry Cameron
When the First World War began, the British Empire may have been at the height of its powers, but the Ottoman Empire was in a state of decline. The Committee of Union and Progress were removing power from the Sultan and placing it in the hands of the people. An empire that had lasted for over 600 years was close to imminent collapse. And suddenly they found themselves embroiled in a war between the empires of Europe. The people knew that defeat could signal the end of the Ottoman Empire. So they were fighting not just for the defence of their homeland, but for the preservation of their way of life – their traditions, their culture, their very history.
As I've previously written, the Turkish commemoration of Gallipoli occurs on 18 March, the day when frantic Turkish forces defeated one of the largest naval fleets ever assembled, as the British tried to storm the Dardanelles. It was an incredible victory for Turkey. A declining empire had defeated the mighty British fleet.
It's not hard to draw parallels between Australia and Turkey in the development of nationalism after the events of the war. Gallipoli was the place that crystallised those traits that defined what it meant to be Australian – mateship, bravery, larrikinism, and a healthy disrespect of authority. It sparked the birth of our national consciousness. But in that same crucible, the modern Turkish nation was born. It was the final defence of the motherland, even as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. When Mustafa Kemal said to his soldiers "I don't order you to fight, I order you to die," the willing sacrifice of those soldiers bespoke of great loyalty to Turkey.
The Atatürk mausoleum, Ankara
Finally, part of the kinship between our two nations is due to one man. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the commander of Turkish forces at Gallipoli, who later became founder of the Republic of Turkey, singled out the Anzacs in his letter to the mothers of the fallen soldiers in 1934:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours… you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
By separating Australia and New Zealand from the British, Atatürk created a bond between the nations. Our sons became their sons. The blood that had fallen on the Gallipoli peninsula was mixed between all soldiers, regardless of nationality.
When we gather on the shores of Gallipoli in just a couple of days, I will be proud to be standing side by side with our Turkish brothers. The legacy of Anzac isn't confined to Australia and New Zealand – it is still alive here in Turkey, where it all began.
Anzac Centenary, Anzac DayAnzac Day, Australia, travel, travel blog, Turkey
München through Munich
The snow swirled unexpectedly in cold cotton drifts. The German gods were having some Wagnerian pillow fight in the skies above Munich as Andrew and I took our first steps beyond the hostel wall. In other words perfect beer hall weather!
Before that it was necessary to take the pilgrimage to Europe's most over rated tourist attraction, the glockenspiel.
Marienplatz was crowded with tourists all waiting expectedly as this marvel was to unfold above us. The glockenspiel itself placed into the neo-gothic architecture of the nues rathouse (an appropriate name for a building filled with politicians) looked down upon us, it's mediaeval romantic figures carved from wood standing ready to begin the spectacle. Then at 5pm (well, about 5:07, no auto mechanism here, it's all reliant on someone climbing to the top and flicking the on switch) the spectacle began. The wooden figures roared into a sudden flurry of slow motion activity, before two Knights one from Baveria and the other from Austria came charging toward one another at what can only be described as a grind of hooves. The bells beating out a tune, completely out of tune, were the perfect accompaniment to this craptacular display of clockwork. The Bavarian knight triumphant in his victory over the Austrian, it seemed like all was done. But then out of a very predictable nowhere the cooper figures below the joust began their dance to celebrate the end of the plague that had once ravished Munich. When the tiny owl above the glockenspiel finally flapped his wings, as if to say "show's over, move along", an inexplicable cheering and clapping erupted from the crowd. My only thought on why this happened is, having suffered through the glockenspiel together the people of the Marienplatz would now not have to endure the performance again until 10am the following morning. That's if the operator could be arsed climbing to the top of the Rathaus to torture the unfortunates below once more.
If there is one thing to be said about Australians and Germans it's that we share a common love of beer. Munich is the beer capital of the world and Andrew and I both understood that some heavy drinking was about to ensue. We started with the Mecca of beer halls the Hoffbrauhaus.
It certainly lived up to its reputation for rowdiness and intoxication. The warm, sweet, cosy atmosphere as you wander in combined with the oom pah pah band playing leaves you in no doubt about where you have come to. The beer in its heavy 1L stein is sweet and gentle, like many of the Bavarians we have met along the way. We eventually found our way into the infamous festall, the beer hall in which Hitler announced the birth of the NSDAP and unveiled the swastika.
Munich for all its fun and frivolity makes no attempt to hide the scars of its 12 years of national socialism. It is a sobering thought that Munich with its romantic cathedrals, jovial beer halls and Bavarian kitsch was the birthplace of something so terrifying as the NAZI party.
In Munich we also found the quiet signs of German resistance. Munich is where a small group of university students known as The White Rose Society were beheaded for distributing Anti-NAZI pamphlets.
Also a little lane with a thin line of brass cobblestones remains as a monument to those, who seeking to avoid having to salute a Nazi shrine to the 1923 beer hall putsch, were beaten or killed for this small act of resistance. The Putsch shrine was guarded by two SS men 24hrs a day to ensure that passers by saluted as they were supposed to, an alley behind the shrine meant that people could quietly slip by without saluting, a small but important act of defiance. I was told that being aware of the alley way the Gestaupo placed a man there to catch those who used the alley more than once a day. If you got off lightly you were beaten to a pulp or sent to Dachau, if the officer was just in a bad mood you were executed on the spot. Despite all this the people of Munich continued to use the alley. A very quiet, but in my opinion, very proud and German act of defiance, lending a touch of irony to the name of the lane, which translates as "shirkers alley".
The Brass trail is a monument to the German resistance of the Nazis
Andrew and I did visit Dachau whilst in Munich. I won't go into great detail aside from to say, it is a place everyone should visit. Having passed through the horror of the camp itself, when you stand inside the little low ceilinged concrete box with its fake shower heads and feel the chill that seeps into your bones, you will know that if hell had a centre you are truly standing in it.
Below are some photos I took in the camp. I offer no commentary on them, other than asking you to take a moment to look and reflect.
I felt changed in some unalterable way by my experience here. There was an almost "there but for the grace of God, go I" sense. Given my political viewpoints, my love of the arts and some (1/8th) Jewish ancestry it is likely that, if I were a German or invaded by Germans, somewhere between 1933 & 45, I would have found myself in such a place. I walked away feeling saddened, but so much more steadfast in my belief that all human beings must be afforded their dignity and rights.
As has been said before Germans make no effort to disguise their past, but having acknowledged it and continuing to do so, quietly and respectfully they are able to enjoy those things that make Germany great.
The people of Munich are extremely friendly. On our last night in Munich, we found ourselves drinking at the Augustiner Keller. If the Hoffbrauhaus is the Mecca of beer halls then a pint from the Augustiner Keller is the holy grail of beers! So popular that allegedly it doesn't have a marketing department, Augustiner is seldom exported beyond German borders. Sitting beneath the budding chestnut trees, we got talking with four of the local university students. We struck up an instant friendship as we discussed Australia and Germany and our many similarities. At which point the lights in the beer garden went to black and we found ourselves locked in!
A quick limbo under the wooden gates though and we were out! It was then decided that no trip to Munich would be complete without a visit to the old town to ride the boar outside the gaming and fisheries ministry and to pay a visit to the statue of Juliet… As in Romeo and Juliet… There is nothing stranger in Munich than the statue of a shakesperian character gifted from Verona to a German city.
Legend has it if you touch her breast you will meet a lover that night, but if you bring her a flower your love that you meet will stay with you forever!
Though perhaps here a point. Food, language, geography may change, but people remain the same. All capable of horrors, friendship, love and getting locked inside the Augustiner Keller. It is possible for us all to find the common ground and see our past not as something particular to Australia, Germany or Turkey, but a shared past, a communal pool from which we must drink and together seek a brighter future.
Anzac Centenary, Anzac Day, Bavaria, MunichAustralia, germany, travel
Australia to Berlin.
April 7, 2015 g4rre7hLeave a comment
It's an odd feeling you get burning away in your belly; when you leave the world you know behind and when you return you won't quite be the same person who left.
In just under a month Andrew and I will stand in the place where thousands of our countrymen lost their lives and the notion of Australian nationhood was born. But what is Australian nationhood and what is the ANZAC spirit?
It is a beautiful mythology, our very own Iliad. Young men and women called to serve an empire only to find who they truly were in the heat of battle. They held on against insurmountable odds against an enemy defending its homeland. And in the face of enmity they created a special bond with the men in the trenches opposite. They saw themselves through the hardships with laughter and mate ship. Then when it came to retreating our very own Odysseus, Lt. Col. Charles Brundell White hatched a plan truly worthy of Trojan horse fame and not one man was lost.
It's the stuff of glorious paintings, plays, movies and legend. It's quite a daunting thought to think that we will forever be a part of that mythology, in the smallest of ways as we remember those who fell in a foreign land.
But before all that… Berlin, Munich, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg. There will be drinking and carousing and many many museums.
Yesterday, we left Berlin behind us. It was a sad leaving as it seems to be a city that can crawl under your skin and beg you to stay. I read a quote from the Dali Llama that said
We can let the circumstances of our life harden us, so we become increasingly resentful and afraid. Or we can choose to let them soften us, so we become kinder …
It seems Berlin chose the latter of these two options. The people of the city are exceedingly polite and tolerant. Perhaps it's because they purge themselves through art? Everywhere you look in Berlin, people's voices are being heard, even if it is in the uninteresting scrawl of graffiti adorning a train carriage that you pass by, it's still there and for some reason so permissible.
This is the way the city chooses to engage with the horrors of its own past, it turns them into art.
The East side gallery, a poignant expression of division and reconciliation.
You can't help but be overawed by the way Berlin uses art to express and heal its wounds. They have the truth of art itself, as a medicine and a hammer with which one can affect change. This is of course one of the central lessons of my great theatrical idol and it seems only appropriate to me now that this is the city in which he would choose to create his theatre and leave behind his legacy.
Brecht and I out the front of his Berliner Ensemble
Dem Deutsches Volk, "The German People", simplicity itself adorns the German parliament. A glorious reminder that in a true democracy the people are governed by the people and for the people. It seems to sit there as an almost ironic statement given the division the city has passed through over the last 100 years or perhaps it is a very timely reminder of those words from Primo Levi:
"It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere."
At the end of the day Berlin and Germany makes me think a lot about Australia. At the moment there is a very strong, very nationalistic ideal amongst many Australians. To be fair it has always been there, but perhaps a little obscured or glanced over. In the 30's there were race riots in Kalgoorlie, the Italian population was sent packing into the desert, we had instances on the gold fields of white prospectors scalping Chinese immigrants and we as a nation still struggle to find reconciliation with the treatment of indigenous peoples. And now we also have a media blackout on the fate of people who come to Australia seeking asylum, what is worse is we are taking those people and subjecting them to the terror of detention centres; men, women and children.
It all catalysed for me as Andrew and I visited the very solemn grey concrete rectangles of the holocaust memorial. Soaring above you and always at a slightly different angle, they reminded me of the irrationality of persecution, but being laid out in a grid it spoke of the regularity with which it happens. Again here is an artwork that invites you to engage with it, to play an active part in remembrance.
I found myself questioning when we may have to erect such memorials of our own. To remind ourselves that our past as a nation is bloody and fraught with injustices, but that knowing our past we as a nation can come together and seek a brighter future.
So, where does this all fit in along the Road to Gallipoli? Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to that yet. It'd be nice to tie it off with a little bow, but there's still a long way to go.
Anzac Day, BerlinAustralia, berlin, travel
Borne Back Ceaselessly into the Past
April 6, 2015 April 6, 2015 Andrew R. CameronLeave a comment
Memory plays an important role in Berlin. It serves a dual purpose: to remind us of the past, and to prevent that past from happening again. It is embedded in the foundations of the city, where brand new bars and cafés exist alongside buildings that have survived two world wars. Monuments and memorials are scattered across the skyline. And on the streets, a double line of bricks mark where a wall once divided the world.
We arrived in Berlin on Wednesday night, amidst a freezing torrent of snow and rain, dazed and exhausted after the long flight from Perth. Berlin was our first stop on our long journey to Gallipoli, and it seemed like an appropriate choice.
Standing at the East Side Gallery
Berlin occupies a unique position in the history of the twentieth century. No other city helped to shape the events of that century – and was subsequently shaped by the events – than Berlin. It was here in the heartland of Europe that the feuds and alliances that inflamed the First World War were formed. And it was here, in the decade after that war, as Germany struggled to repay its debt, that the foundations of the next war were also laid. Berlin still bears the scars of the Nazi occupation of Germany – in many ways, it defines what the city has become. For almost thirty years, between 1961 and 1989, Berlin was the physical manifestation of the divide between East and West, as the two sides faced each other, sabres rattling, over the wall. And when that wall came down and Germany was reunified, Berlin was finally able to achieve the prosperity that it long deserved.
As students of history, it was easy for Garreth and I to lose ourselves in the past of Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate. The Reichstag building. Checkpoint Charlie. The Holocaust Memorial. The East Side Gallery. Everywhere we looked, history was beckoning. And since the reason for our trip is indelibly linked with that history, we felt an obligation to explore these sights and contextualise those events. Gallipoli is still far away, but the reason why Australia went to war can be traced right here to Berlin.
The Holocaust Memorial, Berlin
There's no escaping Berlin's past. It follows you around whether you want it to or not. It's the big things – the imposing stretch of the East Side Gallery, or the field of rectangular monoliths of the Holocaust Memorial. But it's also the small things. Shrapnel damage to statues. Old facades showing through fresh paint. Those eastern industrial districts that still don't have the affluence of the former West.
But after a few days, the sheer number of memorials and museums we had visited began to blur into one. We were always looking into the past, always seeing Berlin through the lens of history, rather than focusing on the city that currently stands. I am reminded of a city from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, one that is always looking backwards, never forwards, one that is entrenched so deeply in its own history that the present has ceased to have meaning.
Moonrise over Friedrichshain
It was with great effort that we pulled ourselves away from the tourist traps and tried to seek out Berlin of today. It wasn't hard to find. It was visible in the back streets of Friedrichshain, where a blooming art movement has sprung up around the host of small bars and clubs. It was visible in the enormous number of cranes that dotted the horizon, the number of streets that had been cut open to lay new U-Bahn tracks. And it was visible in the people we saw – the smiling football fans on the train, the bartender at the Easter Markets.
Perhaps that's the greatest thing about this city – no matter how dark the past, new memories are being made every day. And it this wild melange of old and new that shapes Berlin for a new century.
BerlinAnzac Day, berlin, germany, travel, travel blog

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Android Studio - org.json.JSONObject cannot be converted to JSONArray Could anyone tell me what I am doing wrong in my code?
I have this format in my PHP:
....//Some query from mysql table
foreach($data as $row) {
   $response["error"] = FALSE;
   $response["notification"]["_id"] = $row["id"];
   echo json_encode($response);
}

In my Java, I have this:
try {
   JSONObject json = new JSONObject(response);
   JSONArray jArray = json.getJSONArray("notification");
   JSONObject json_data = null;
   for (int i = 0; i < jArray.length(); i++) {
      json_data = jArray.getJSONObject(i);
      String iid = json_data.getString("_id");
      .... //Use the requested id here
   }
} catch(Exception e) {
   Log.e("EE", String.valueOf(e));
}

I didn't get the expected result.  In my log, it says:
EE: org.json.JSONException: Value {"_id":1} at notification of type org.json.JSONObject cannot be converted to JSONArray

I have no idea on what is wrong since I'm just a newbie.  Could anyone help me please???

A: Ok, so here what i did to fixed my problem:
PHP
....//Some query from mysql table
$posts = array(); //Added
foreach($data as $row) {
    $posts[] = array('post'=>$row); //New
}echo json_encode(array('posts'=>$posts)); //then print here

ANDROID JAVA
JSONObject json = new JSONObject(response);
JSONArray jArray = json.getJSONArray("posts");

for (int i = 0; i < jArray.length(); i++) {

   JSONObject e = jArray.getJSONObject(i);
   String s = e.getString("post");
  JSONObject jObject = new JSONObject(s);

   String iid = jObject.getString("id"); //Put the id here or you can add more if you have more than 1 column
   Log.w("THE REQUESTED ID ARE",iid);
    .... //Use the requested id here
}

Thanks for this link:
Send and Receive JSON between Android and PHP Web Service
Thanks.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Projects Cammo Cammo Project
Cammo
Cammo Project
Cammo map showing the estate and basis for project
As you will know 2017 is the 'Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology'. In order to mark this year in an appropriate manner the EAFS Committee has, with encouragement from our President John Lawson, embarked on planning a programme of investigation based on the Cammo Estate.
It is hoped that this will allow us the opportunity for historical research, field walking, landscape survey, geophysical survey, building recording, photographic recording and also excavation.
Although it will be an EAFS project, we would be working in partnership with the appropriate members of City of Edinburgh Council staff and with the Friends of Cammo conservation group.
The Cammo Estate is in the north-west of Edinburgh. The original house was built in 1693 and added to over the subsequent years. In its heyday it was a fine country mansion with more than fifty rooms looked after by twenty two domestic servants. The last family to own the house were guilty of 'wilful neglect'. At the end Percival Maitland-Tennant was living in the farm house and keeping about thirty dogs in the once fine rooms.
In 1975 the estate and remains of the house were left to the National Trust for Scotland in the will of Percival Maitland-Tennant. The house was destroyed by fire in 1977 and in 1979 the estate and remains of the house were gifted by the National Trust for Scotland to the then Edinburgh District Council in a feu charter, with a conservation agreement attached.
Unfortunately the house was in such a dangerous condition that it was partly demolished and consolidated. The estate currently consists of a walled garden, remains of offices and a piggery, stables, a canal and a standing stone. Cammo Lodge, built in 1789, is now the visitors centre for the estate and contains a sundial (1795) and stone vase (1843). There are remains of landscaping including a Pinetum and in a nearby field the remains of a 'Portugal Garden'. The remains of the original gateways and avenues of the estate can be traced.
Previous articleBig Roman Week
Next articleEdinburgh, Lothians and Borders Conference 2016
Christine McPherson
FREE TOURS OF CAMMO
EAFS 50th ANNIVERSARY
2021 May 10th Cammo Excavation


Burberry, Unilever and TNT are among 250 employers that will begin offering degree-level apprenticeships for the first time under a new scheme to make the on-the-job training programme a viable alternative to university, the Government revealed on Thursday.
Vince Cable, Business Secretary, announced he is embarking on creating 19,000 degree-level apprenticeships, costing £18.7m. The scheme is set to alleviate employers' concerns that apprenticeships lack quality and are not seen as a real alternative to university by many youngsters, making it hard to fill places with quality applicants.
Sectors including construction, advanced engineering, insurance and financial services are set to benefit, with a range of big-name employers already signed up to the deal, Mr Cable said.
The funding is not "new money", but comes from a £25m pot for higher apprenticeships announced in July.
The Government said 250 employers would take part in the scheme initially – the winning bids were announced as Mr Cable visited distribution company TNT in Cornwall on Thursday.
The Business Secretary said: "Investing in skills is central to our drive to boost business and productivity and make the UK more competitive. By expanding the number of degree-level apprenticeships for young people, we will put practical learning on a level footing with academic study."
In Tuesday's Autumn Statement, the Government announced it would review the apprenticeships system to explore how to make the scheme more useful for employers. The scheme was criticised recently after it emerged thousands of new apprenticeship places went to existing employees over 25, instead of creating new jobs for young workers.
Experts have also warned the Government's targets mean nothing unless employers actually ramp up the number of schemes they offer – currently just one in eight companies runs the scheme.


text:
Die Fußball-Oberliga Nord 1987/88 war die vierzehnte Spielzeit der vom Norddeutschen Fußball-Verband durchgeführten drittklassigen Oberliga Nord.

Zweitligaabsteiger Eintracht Braunschweig wurde Meister und qualifizierte sich wie Vizemeister VfL Wolfsburg für die Aufstiegsrunde zur 2. Bundesliga. Dort belegten die Braunschweiger in der Nordgruppe den zweiten Rang und kehrten nach einjähriger Abwesenheit in die 2. Liga zurück. Wolfsburg dagegen wurde Fünfter und verblieb in der Oberliga.

An der deutschen Amateurmeisterschafts-Endrunde nahm der Drittplatzierte VfB Oldenburg teil, wo die Mannschaft im Finale im heimischen Stadion Donnerschwee gegen Eintracht Trier nach Elfmeterschießen verlor.

In eine der untergeordneten Verbandsligen stiegen TSR Olympia Wilhelmshaven und Atlas Delmenhorst ab. Durch den Aufstieg von Eintracht Braunschweig in die 2. Bundesliga stieg im Gegenzug zur Folgesaison neben TuS Hoisdorf und SFL Bremerhaven auch der VfL Herzlake in die Oberliga Nord auf.

Abschlusstabelle

|}

Kreuztabelle
Die Kreuztabelle stellt die Ergebnisse aller Spiele dieser Saison dar. Die Heimmannschaft ist in der linken Spalte aufgelistet und die Gastmannschaft in der obersten Reihe.

Torschützenliste

Zuschauer
In 305 Spielen kamen 401.721 Zuschauer (ø 1.317 pro Spiel) in die Stadien.
 Größte Zuschauerkulisse
15.784 Eintracht Braunschweig – VfL Wolfsburg (12. Spieltag)

 Niedrigste Zuschauerkulisse
130 SV Atlas Delmenhorst – Altona 93 (23. Spieltag)

Oberliga Nord-Meister

Aufstiegsrunde zur Oberliga Nord

Gruppe A

Gruppe B

Entscheidungsspiel um den dritten Aufsteiger

|}

Literatur

Weblinks

1987
Fußballsaison 1987/88

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


It is not uncommon for people to feel hesitant about the idea of preplanning a funeral. Although it can be difficult to make these preparations, funeral preplanning is an important task that benefits both you and your family. Firstly, you are ensuring that your wishes will be carried out and that your life will be honored the way you like. More importantly though, a prearranged funeral takes away the burden of having your family scramble to make plans after you have passed. By not having to worry about making arrangements, your family is able to focus their energy on grieving and celebrating your life. We believe that prearranging a funeral is one of the most selfless things you can do since you have done something for your family even after you have left them.
At Jones Family Mortuary, we are committed to making the funeral prearrangement process simple and straightforward. Our knowledgeable and caring team will take the time to help you plan a service that not only celebrates your life, but also allows your family to begin the healing process and say a meaningful goodbye. Our staff will be there to assist you every step of the way from selecting a casket or urn, to providing advice about advance directives, and writing a will.
Throughout the sections below, you will be able to find further information about our preneed services and what is involved in preplanning a funeral. We invite you to browse through these different resources and when you are ready to begin the funeral prearrangement process, you can schedule a time to meet with a member of our staff by giving us a call at (317) 831-0200 or by sending an email jeffjones0007@yahoo.com.
Take a look at how we give you the opportunity to begin making funeral arrangements online.


text:
President Masaryk takes inspiration from George Washington
https://english.radio.cz/president-masaryk-takes-inspiration-george-washington-8602599#player=on
Length of audio 5:21
Tomas Garrigue Masaryk
Over the next six months we'll be looking at some of the most fascinating recordings to be found down in the Czech Radio basement. Czech - and previously Czechoslovak - Radio has been archiving its material since way back in the 1920s, and has built up one of the richest radio archives in the world, surviving war, invasion and even a German aerial torpedo in May 1945. We start the series with our very earliest recording, the first Czechoslovak President, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, talking 79 years ago, on 28th October 1928. President Masaryk was born as far back as 1850, so the recording really is a bridge to another era.
In a crackly but clear recording, the president is addressing Parliament on the tenth anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia, and you can hear the coughs of some of the parliamentary deputies in the background. After centuries of authoritarian rule, he says, democracy is something that we are only now learning how to live with. There are plenty of forces that are trying undermine it and it cannot be taken for granted. Subsequent Czech history certainly proved the president right.
Interestingly Masaryk also talks about the specifics of "Slav democracy", suggesting that it should differ from the models of Northern and Western Europe.
Our earliest recording in English is also of President Masaryk. He was a great admirer of the United States, where he also lived in exile during the First World War, and here he is addressing the American people on February 22nd 1932. A radio presenter announces the president.
ANNOUNCER: "This is Prague, Czechoslovakia, calling the United States. We are giving you tonight a broadcast in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. The commemorative address will be delivered by His Excellency Tomas G. Masaryk, President of the Czechoslovak Republic, through the courtesy of the Czechoslovak Broadcasting Company."
MASARYK: "[...] When we severed the bonds binding us to the old Habsburg monarchy, I was aware that our decision must not be less motivated than the resolution taken by the founder of American liberty, and having recovered our liberty, we again follow the example of Washington in that we must no longer feel the old antagonism and anger, which originated in the suppression of our liberty. It is one of the great experiences of my life that I was allowed to claim the principles of our revolutionary liberation in the Independence Hall, the place where Washington and his friends used to meet. [...] My hearty wishes to the American people."
ANNOUNCER: "You have just heard Tomas G. Masaryk and you will now hear the Hon. Frederick P. Hibbard, Chargé d'Affaires of America."
HIBBARD: "Dr Masaryk needs no introduction to Americans, as he has spent much time in the United States, where he has become thoroughly familiar with our institutions and our peoples, for whom he has always expressed the greatest sympathy and affection, and I think it is singularly fitting that he has graciously consented to broadcast a message today, when we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. For in his own successful struggle for the independence and welfare of our sister republic, Czechoslovakia, he has paralleled the ideas and ideals of Washington."
Superlatives there from the American Chargé d'Affaires in Prague in February 1932, in praise of Czechoslovakia's first President, Tomas Masaryk. In next week's From the Archives, we'll return to President Masaryk and to his death in September 1937.
Author: David Vaughan
Independence Day celebrations in Czechia mark country's 104th birthday
Freshly digitised recordings bring T.G. Masaryk's funeral to life
The health of Czech of heads of state throughout history
Giant of Czech history T.G. Masaryk born on this day in 1850


The admission is granted strictly on merit basis. This school is, primarily, for girls' education. Therefore, preference for admission is given to girls if they qualify on merit.
Admission process varies depending on the class and academic section of the potential student. The process is explained below separately for each section.


This one owner, California car is very clean and has been well maintained. It has a fuel injected V12 engine, 4 wheel anti-lock brakes and a 6 speed automatic transmission. The vehicle is equipped with suicide doors, Bluetooth, park assist cameras and 21" alloy wheels.


I've also launched a print store selling a number of my landscape and travel works taken in various locations throughout the world. All printed on beautiful, thick fine art paper that looks great displayed on a wall. To celebrate the launch I'm offering a 20% discount off the full price over there for a limited time, go check it out!
We should now be returning to a little more of a regular schedule with a bunch of cool posts planned over the next few weeks. But for now, here's a few of my favourite images from the last few months.
Stay tuned for more over the coming weeks and as always, feel free to leave your comments and/or feedback down below.


The Certificate of Achievement in Agripharmatech is organized in two tracks: Plant Biotechnology and Ethnopharmacognosy. Each track consists of 30-32 credits, and requires a unique capstone class (see table below). The plant biotechnology track deals with developing and improving plant production in order to supply the world's need for healthier (decreased use of pesticides) and more nutritious food crops, novel ornamentals, and plant-derived pharmaceuticals. Ethnopharmacognosy is the study of traditional medicines derived from natural sources (medicinal/nutritious plants).
Apply knowledge gained in plant sciences: identify plants, propagate/cultivate/maintain plants in vivo and in vitro.
Conduct plant biotech and/or pharmacognosy research.
Graduates will be skilled as plant biotechnicians, microbial biotechnicians. tissue culturists, assistant researchers in plant biological sciences, orchid molecular phylogenetic technicians, orchid hybridizers, plant biology teachers, plant nursery managers, plant conservationists, horticulturists, and agriculture inspectors.
Graduates should be able to transfer their credits to any higher degree institution and major in plant/microbial/general biotechnology, plant molecular taxonomy, agriculture, botany, horticulture, biology, bioinformatics, and pre-med.
Graduates should be able to operate their own agribusiness enterprises such as tissue culture laboratory, plant/orchid nursery, and agriculture farm.
Graduates will be skilled as plant-based product technicians, pharmacognosy research technicians, nutraceutical specialists, plant biology teachers, plant nursery managers, organic farmers, plant conservationists, ethnobotanists, agriculture inspectors, food product managers/inspectors, and dietician/health food specialists.
Graduates should be able to transfer their credits to any higher degree institution and major in ethnobotany, agriculture, horticulture, biology, pharmacognosy, and pharmacy.
Graduates should be able to operate their own bioproduct enterprises such as plant-based product manufacturing, green pharmacy laboratory, food pharmacy enterprise, organic health food product/store, and organic hydroponic/farm.
The Certificate of Achievement in Agripharmatech was approved by the Board of Regents on May 17, 2012. It was granted a "Permanent Status" on August 21, 2014.
Copyright © 2019 Windward Community College. All rights reserved. Last modified: November 29 2018 16:42.


Stage Europe Network » Blog Archive » Eins, Zwei, Drie, Fjouwer!
Eins, Zwei, Drie, Fjouwer! is a special German-Dutch project with young musicians, photographers and video makers.
There will be young creative participants from the Netherlands and Germany that go along to Leeuwarden (NL), Rotterdam (NL), Bremen (DE) and Hamburg (DE). In each city there will be a long weekend organized with workshops, performances, master classes, acoustic sessions, recordings etc.
The Popfabryk (Leeuwarden) and RockCity Hamburg e.V. (Hamburg) participate in the European network Excite. The Popunie (Rotterdam), and Musikszene Bremen e.V. (Bremen) participate in the European network Stage Europe Network. With this project, we want not only stimulate the cooperation between two Dutch and two German organisations, both at home and abroad with the neighbouring country, but also it is a pilot project between two European networks.
Eins, Zwei, Drie, Fjouwer! has been made possible by the Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, Fonds Soziokultur, VSBfonds, Cultuurfonds Fryslân and Het Nieuwe Stads Weeshuis.


text:
Q: Interpreting parameters of a differential equation to predict sea urchin growth I need to use this growth model fairly urgently. It should be simple but it has me (and everyone in my research institute) very confused. I have not worked with differentials for years so I assume I am misinterpreting something.
Basically, I what to have the model tell me how much the urchin has grown from a certain starting size and over a certain amount of time.
The formula given is the differential of the johnson growth equation:
$$
dS = k·S_t·dT\,·\,(\ln(S_∞) -\ln(S_t))^2
$$
And the other parameters are explained as:
where $S_t$, is the size on day $t$; $t =$number of days since the first new recruited urchins were spotted each year; $b$ is a scaling factor, equal to $(S - S_∞)/S_∞$; $k$ is the instantaneous growth rate coefficient; $S_∞$ is the asymptotic size; and $t_0$, in extrapolation, the time when $S_t= 0$ (Ebert, 1975)
Where:

*

*$k = 2.92$ (growth constant)

*$S_∞ = 90$ (asymptotic size)

The way I understand this (which  must be incorrect) is that $S_t$ is the starting size and $dT$ is the number of days the urchin grows for. But if this is inputted the answer does not make sense.
According to this paper, if a $10mm$ urchin growths for $60$ days, it should increase by about $20mm$.
We have tried all different things to work this out, but nothing makes sense. Does anyone understand how to use this equation? I have attached a screenshot of relevant parts of the paper and you can find the paper (DAFNI 1992) here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00212210.1992.10688663?journalCode=tiee19
Thank you in advance
enter image description here
enter image description here
enter image description here

A: Too long for a comment :
All I can say is that, given Johnson's growth equation (transcribed from your image)
$$\tag{1}
S_t=S_\infty\,b\exp\Big(-\frac{1}{kt}\Big)
$$
we clearly have
$$\tag{2}
\frac{dS_t}{dt}=S_\infty\,b\,\exp\Big(-\frac{1}{kt}\Big)\,\frac{1}{kt^2}\,.
$$
By (1),
$$
-\frac{1}{t}=k\,\ln\Big(\frac{S_t}{S_\infty\,b}\Big)=k\,\Big(\ln S_t-\ln S_\infty-\ln b\Big)
$$
so that we can write (2) as
$$
\frac{dS_t}{dt}=S_t\,k\,\Big(\ln S_t-\ln S_\infty-\ln b\Big)^2\,.
$$
For $b=1$ and $dT=dt$ this is what you called the differential of the Johnson growth equation.
Please consider this and rewrite you question to meet MSE standards:

*

*no images to "display" formulas

*instead MathJax

*no links to inaccessible papers

A: The abstract says that $k$ is the yearly growth coefficient. So if $t$ is in days, one needs to change the formula to $S=S_\infty\exp(-365/(kt))$. Then size 10 occurs at day 57, and at day 117 the size via formula is about 31, indeed a growth by about 20.

To compare, the other model with the associated parameters has a faster start, but still raises from 10 at time 23 to 30 at time 83 in time difference 60.


Hebei Giant Metal Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the Cheap High Security 358 Prison Fencing leading brands in China. It is the factory & supplier specializing in manufacturing Cheap High Security 358 Prison Fencing. Offer high quality Cheap High Security 358 Prison Fencing at a cheap wholesale price.


I'll never regret knowing you.
Hello all. Using the Waifux2 program(and some anisotropic filtering) Waifu2x-Caffe and noise filtering, I've decided to upscale the bosses in the game. With this mod, it will help get rid of most of the pixelation and bring out more detail. I believe you'll notice the difference better by turning off the Linear Filtering if you like using that.
3. Extract the file provided and place "bo" into the "textures" folder.
4. Place "Apocalypse_hm" into the "hashmap" folder.
Some of it is still a little rough around the edges, but nothing that can't be improved upon later down the line.
Note: This also upscales field versions of certain bosses as well.
Not every field version is upscaled due to glitches.
Certain animations won't work while using this mod.
Thanks for all your hard work fated courage, looks great.
Thank you. I appreciate it. I haven't forgotten about the battle backgrounds, either. It's just been stressful the last few months. But with all that taken care of and with releasing this, I hope to get some of my drive back.
Great job. Really glad momentum is still being made.
Thank you very much. Same here. I'm not the type to let FF8 go dormant for too long. I also forgot to mention that the six GF battles- Ifrit, Diablos, Brothers, Odin, Cerberus, and Bahamut won't be included in this since those will be a part of your Project Hellfire.
Thanks for this mod. Its been quite some time since i played FF8 and i don't remember seeing that boss in the second before picture, who is he?
You're welcome. I assume you're talking about Griever. He's one of the bosses in the final battle of the game.
Updated my boss upscale. Reupscaled everything using Waifux2-Caffe and tried my best to smooth out the edges in places that needed them. I also updated the before and after pictures to represent the reupscaling. If there are any noticeable problems, be sure to let me know.
Wanted to say I made another update a couple days ago. Reupscaled and tried to produce more detail/depth to the bosses. I also redid the field models using neutral textures for consistency. (Meaning they aren't tampered by lighting.) And if you aren't satisfied with them, I left v1.1 up. Enjoy.
If we compare the 2 pictures: your background is way more detailed than mine, but my boss is more "sharp" than yours.
To be clear: i don't have GeDoSaTo, and I have ProjectWing installed. Not sure if that has something to do with it.
I believe the image of mine is the "before" image and not the "after". Plus, I use Linear Filtering. As for the backgrounds... In my screenshot, I was using an earlier, unreleased version of the battlefield pack. All upscaled by me. And I have slightly better upscales sitting on my computer than in that picture. In yours, you're using the latest version of the pack. Mcindus and mine are mixed together in the latest version. He picked which ones he thought looked best depending on the field.


text:
import "../polymer/polymer-legacy.js";
import "../paper-styles/default-theme.js";
import { IronMenuBehavior } from "../iron-menu-behavior/iron-menu-behavior.js";
import { Polymer } from "../polymer/lib/legacy/polymer-fn.js";
import { html } from "../polymer/lib/utils/html-tag.js";
/**
Material design:
[Menus](https://www.google.com/design/spec/components/menus.html)

`<paper-listbox>` implements an accessible listbox control with Material Design
styling. The focused item is highlighted, and the selected item has bolded text.

    <paper-listbox>
      <paper-item>Item 1</paper-item>
      <paper-item>Item 2</paper-item>
    </paper-listbox>

An initial selection can be specified with the `selected` attribute.

    <paper-listbox selected="0">
      <paper-item>Item 1</paper-item>
      <paper-item>Item 2</paper-item>
    </paper-listbox>

Make a multi-select listbox with the `multi` attribute. Items in a multi-select
listbox can be deselected, and multiple item can be selected.

    <paper-listbox multi>
      <paper-item>Item 1</paper-item>
      <paper-item>Item 2</paper-item>
    </paper-listbox>

### Styling

The following custom properties and mixins are available for styling:

Custom property | Description | Default
----------------|-------------|----------
`--paper-listbox-background-color`   | Menu background color |
`--primary-background-color`
`--paper-listbox-color`              | Menu foreground color |
`--primary-text-color`
`--paper-listbox`                    | Mixin applied to the listbox | `{}`

### Accessibility

`<paper-listbox>` has `role="listbox"` by default. A multi-select listbox will
also have `aria-multiselectable` set. It implements key bindings to navigate
through the listbox with the up and down arrow keys, esc to exit the listbox,
and enter to activate a listbox item. Typing the first letter of a listbox item
will also focus it.

@group Paper Elements
@element paper-listbox
@demo demo/index.html
*/

Polymer({
  _template: html`
    <style>
      :host {
        display: block;
        padding: 8px 0;

        background: var(--paper-listbox-background-color, var(--primary-background-color));
        color: var(--paper-listbox-color, var(--primary-text-color));

        @apply --paper-listbox;
      }
    </style>

    <slot></slot>
`,
  is: 'paper-listbox',
  behaviors: [IronMenuBehavior],

  /** @private */
  hostAttributes: {
    role: 'listbox'
  }
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


In the event that a child requires medical attention at any time during their cruise holiday, Royal Caribbean International needs to ensure that the responsible adult with whom the child is travelling has the legal right to authorise that any medical treatment be administered.
In the event that a child is travelling without their custodial parent/legal guardian, Royal Caribbean International needs to ensure that the child's custodial parent/legal guardian has authorised the responsible adult to take their child on holiday; particularly as in the majority of cases, this will be out of their primary country of residence. This applies even when the responsible adult is a member of the child's extended family (i.e. Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles etc.). Additionally, when a child does not share the same surname as their custodial parent/legal guardian, Royal Caribbean International requires that the custodial parent/legal guardian produce legal documented evidence that the child is in their primary care; this includes, but is not limited to: birth, marriage, divorce, adoption certificates, local government authority, as appropriate.
These measures are in place to protect children and to ensure no child is taken on board a Royal Caribbean International vessel without the knowledge and consent of their custodial parent/legal guardian. We want you to have a happy and healthy cruise holiday experience with us and this is just one of the ways we ensure this is possible.
In most cases, a legal guardian must be appointed by a court. There are some exceptions to this rule. Parents of a minor child are assumed to be the child's legal guardians, unless the court has taken parenting privileges away out of concern for the child's well-being. It is also possible for someone to designate a legal guardian in a will, as in the case of a single parent who specifies that an aunt will become the child's legal guardian in the event of the parent's death or incapacitation. We will only accept that a minor is travelling with an official legal guardian and this does not include a parent wishing to pass this power on to a friend or family member.
An adult (Guests over 18 or over 21 for sailings from the USA & Canada) who is not the parent or legal guardian of a minor travelling with them must present an original legally affirmed or notarised letter at check-in. This letter is only required for guest's aged 17 or younger as of the first day of the cruise. It must be signed by the minor's parent(s) or legal guardian and the adult taking the minor on the cruise. It must authorise the adult to take the minor on the specified cruise, supervise the minor and give them the permission to authorise emergency medical treatment to be administered to the minor.
Please see below the attached template which can be used for all details required on the letter. This is required as per our terms and conditions. It must be signed by either a Notary, Commissioner for Oaths or a Solicitor for it to be suitable to take to the pier for boarding. It should show an official stamp or be on headed paper to show the authority of the party affirming the letter. Please note, the official affirming the letter may charge a fee, so please ensure that the details are correct at time of request. The letter can be checked for suitability by sending to our Special Service Team by email to specialistservicesuk@rccl.com.
Parent travelling with a child where surnames are different.
In the situation where a parent is travelling with their child, who is 17 or younger where they do not have the same surname, the parent must present proof of parentage which may include but is not limited to full birth certificates, marriage certificates or divorce papers etc. The documents should show the trail of any name changes which prove the guests are parent and son/daughter.
Please note: An individual's age on the date of sailing determines his or her status for the entire cruise holiday. Royal Caribbean International does not accept reservations for student groups. Please consult a travel agent for Royal Caribbean's group policies.
Infants sailing on a cruise must be at least 6 months old as of the first day of the cruise and/or Cruisetour. HOWEVER: For transatlantic, transpacific, Hawaii, select South American and other selected cruises and/or Cruisetours, the infant must be at least 12 months old as of the first day of the cruise/Cruisetour. For the purposes of this policy, any cruise that has three or more consecutive days at sea will require infants to be 12 months old on the first day of the cruise/Cruisetour.
No Guest younger than age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult of twenty-one (21) years old or older. A guest's age is established as their age upon the first day of sailing.
This policy will be waived for children sailing with their parent(s) or official Legal Guardian, when the children are in a stateroom which is directly next door or opposite the stateroom of the parent/Legal Guardian. There are no exceptions to this policy.


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The gaming world is going to help save the Notre Dame
YES, you read right, GAMING is going to be a key player in the restoration of the World Renown French Cathedral. Ok, so not so much "gaming" but close enough to the fact that the game, assassins creed: Unity, which was based in France has a highly detailed model of Notre Dame which will be used to assist in the rebuild of the iconic structure. The level developer Caroline Miousse spent days, months and years fine detailing the biggest building in the game and was dedicated to its almost exact replication in digital form, she pored over countless photos to match each detail down to the last brick face and piece of glass and with the help of 3D mapping the French Cathedral's repair will be underway soon. It is unknown at this point the extent of the damage nor the initial cause of the blaze but like with every good game, the story will unfold, many precious artworks were removed from the premises to the Louvre museum for preservation and safekeeping. Many companies and private Citizens have donated exorbitant amounts of money into the fund to rebuild the cathedral and to date, the amount donated stands at a staggering 601 MILLION euros. This I feel is a huge Victory for the gaming community as it shows the level of appreciation we as gamers and developers alike share, I would like to personally thank each and every developer who puts in the same dedication and hard work into creating all the wonders in game allowing us to see and marvel at every building and structure we visit, maybe we should all revisit our old titles and truly take the time to admire the fine attention to detail that not only makes for an epic game but also…an amazing visual of the modern world we live in


After four years in the starting lineup for Byrnes' softball team, Briana Hamilton is a known player in the area. The shortstop has now begun to let others across the country learn of her talent.
Over the weekend, Hamilton took part in an invitation-only event called the Adidas Top 100 Recruits Showcase in St. George, Utah.
"It was pretty awesome," Hamilton said. "A once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Hamilton, a junior, was selected for the event after she took part in a regional showcase earlier this summer.
She left last Wednesday and spent some time with family in Las Vegas before she took the two-hour drive to the showcase.
There she went through a day of hitting, fielding and base running drills as 30-40 college coaches watched the group on Saturday.
On Sunday, the group was split into teams and played four games.
"She was definitely noticed by a lot of college coaches," said Byrnes coach Debbie Holcombe, who also attended the showcase. "She represented our school and state really well."
The showcase was open to players who had not committed to a college, and the girls wore different-colored uniforms based on their year in high school (Hamilton wore royal blue).
Hamilton saw time at shortstop, second base and third base during games and said her hitting was better than normal.
"The competition was good," Hamilton said. "It made me realize what is out there and how hard I have to work to get better."
While some girls may have been nervous because of the college coaches in attendance, Holcombe said it didn't look like Hamilton was fazed by the attention.
"She looked very comfortable. She's in her element on the softball field," Holcombe said.
"She hustled, worked hard and met a lot of new friends. I'm proud of how she played."


text:
Entelechy Asia
From gadgets to enterprise technologies
Category: Big data
Enterprise by entelechyasia Nov 11, 20199:30 am November 29, 2019
Fintech startup ABC Technology makes Singapore its international HQ
Singapore's vibrant fintech community has scored another first with Beijing-headquartered strtup ABC Technology making Singapore its international base.
Continue reading Fintech startup ABC Technology makes Singapore its international HQ
Gadgets by entelechyasia Oct 25, 20195:40 pm
Infineon inks 3 MOUs to accelerate innovations in Singapore
SM Tharman: Keep pushing the frontiers of innovation
Inventing the future together was the theme of this year's OktoberTech Asia Pacific conference in Singapore organised by Infineon Technologies. And the semiconductor giant certainly walks its talk. At the opening of the event, it inked three memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to help accelerate innovations in Singapore.
Continue reading Infineon inks 3 MOUs to accelerate innovations in Singapore
Enterprise by entelechyasia Oct 22, 201911:10 am
NVIDIA announces EGX edge supercomputing platform for AI, IoT and 5G
NVIDIA has announced the NVIDIA EGX Edge Supercomputing Platform which lets organisations deliver next-generation AI, IoT and 5G-based services at scale and with low latency. Along with annoucing this at his keynote address at the opening of Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles, NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang declared that we have entered a new era, where billions of always-on IoT sensors will be connected by 5G and processed by AI.
Continue reading NVIDIA announces EGX edge supercomputing platform for AI, IoT and 5G
Artificial intelligence by entelechyasia Oct 19, 20192:49 pm
Singapore Polytechnic first to offer AI diploma course
It's a case of preparing them early as Singapore Polytechnic (SP) became the first polytechnic in the country to offer a full-time diploma in applied artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics from April next year.
Continue reading Singapore Polytechnic first to offer AI diploma course
Enterprise by entelechyasia Sep 17, 201912:45 pm
IBM keeps betting on mainframes with z15 launch
The mainframe computer is not quite going the way of the dinosaur. Even in today's age of Intel-based servers, there's still room and relevance for the mainframe. This explains why IBM has launched the z15, its 15th generation of the mainframe.
Continue reading IBM keeps betting on mainframes with z15 launch
Enterprise by entelechyasia Jan 29, 20197:45 pm
Data scientists to get certification
Data scientist is one of the hottest jobs in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) where big data is king. IBM and The Open Group have come together to provide a certification programme for this highly-sought after job.
Continue reading Data scientists to get certification
Events by entelechyasia Nov 15, 20187:08 pm
Ecozen impresses at inaugural Rabobank Food Loss Challenge
Prateek Singhal, Co-founder and COO of Ecozen Solutions (fourth from right) with Rabobank executives and the panel of judges
Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are not usually associated with food and agriculture but five startups have shown that such technologies can play a major role in minimising food loss. Some 1.3 billion tonnes of food are lost worldwide each year.
Continue reading Ecozen impresses at inaugural Rabobank Food Loss Challenge
Artificial intelligence by entelechyasia Nov 1, 201810:19 am
Taiwan hospital deploys NVIDIA DGX-2 for next-generation medical services
Taiwan's Chinese Medical University Hospital (CMUH) has become the first healthcare provider in Asia to deploy and operate the NVIDIA DGX-2 AI supercomputer.
Continue reading Taiwan hospital deploys NVIDIA DGX-2 for next-generation medical services
Infineon gives startups a heads up with first Co-Innovation Space
Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Dr Koh Poh Koon (front row, second from right) with the German Ambassador to Singapore Dr Ulrich Sante (front row, right) at the Co-Innovation Space.
Names such as Ampotech, Plunify, SHADO, and XNERGY may not ring a bell today but with a little help from Infineon, they may well become the successes of tomorrow.
Continue reading Infineon gives startups a heads up with first Co-Innovation Space
Artificial intelligence by entelechyasia Oct 2, 20184:14 pm
Facebook to give SEA startups a leg up
Social media giant Facebook is partnering with Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore to give Southeast Asia startups a head start in developing data-driven technologies.
Continue reading Facebook to give SEA startups a leg up
Enterprise by entelechyasia Aug 23, 20181:51 pm August 23, 2018
NVIDIA AI Conference keynotes: Transforming industries, creating AI infrastructure
The first NVIDIA AI Conference in Sydney on September 4 will kick off with two keynote addresses. Marc Hamilton, Vice President of Solutions Architecture and Engineering, NVIDIA, will talk about Transforming Industries With AI. Jason Humphrey (right), Head of Retail Risk, ANZ Bank, will then share on Creating the Infrastructure to Undertake Deep Learning.
Continue reading NVIDIA AI Conference keynotes: Transforming industries, creating AI infrastructure
Gadgets by entelechyasia Jul 10, 20189:47 am
Suning Tesco opens first UAV logistics route in Wuhan
China e-commerce firm Suning Tesco has opened the first pilot route for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) logistics and transportation in Wuhan, China. Its logistics arm Suning Logistics and Ewatt Aerospace jointly developed two UAVs for this purpose.
Continue reading Suning Tesco opens first UAV logistics route in Wuhan
Enterprise by entelechyasia May 30, 201811:32 am
NVIDIA unveils first unified AI and HPC platform
NVIDIA has introduced the NVIDIA HGX-2, the first unified computing platform for both artificial intelligence (AI) and high performance computing (HPC).
Continue reading NVIDIA unveils first unified AI and HPC platform
Gadgets by entelechyasia May 28, 20184:56 pm
ICT spending in APAC (sans Japan) to hit US$1.5t in 2021
Drones are expected to be in greater demand.
Information and communications technology (ICT) spending in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) will hit US$1.5 trillion in 2021, according to IDC.
Continue reading ICT spending in APAC (sans Japan) to hit US$1.5t in 2021
Enterprise by entelechyasia Apr 17, 20182:22 pm
Canon Medical Systems accelerates deep learning in healthcare with NVIDIA DGX
Canon Medical Systems will use NVIDIA DGX systems to process large volumes of medical data generated by Abierto VNA, its proprietary, in-house, medical data management system launched in January.
Continue reading Canon Medical Systems accelerates deep learning in healthcare with NVIDIA DGX
Mobile by entelechyasia Apr 2, 20182:52 pm
The taxi that looks for you
Where's a taxi when you need one? That's the bane of passengers from around the world, except possibly in Taipei where taxis somehow seem to be just where you need them.
Continue reading The taxi that looks for you
Enterprise by entelechyasia Mar 31, 20182:48 pm March 31, 2018
Project Clara is truly amazing
One of the most eye-catching demo during NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's keynote address at GTC 2018 is Project Clara.
Continue reading Project Clara is truly amazing
Enterprise by entelechyasia Mar 29, 20189:09 am
NVIDIA DGX-2: Insanely powerful
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang (above) dubbed it the "world's biggest GPU". And he certainly wasn't kidding as the NVIDIA DGX-2 is a massive 350-pounder that delivers an amazing two petaflops of computational power.
Continue reading NVIDIA DGX-2: Insanely powerful
Enterprise by entelechyasia Mar 28, 20181:25 pm
GTC hits new highs
The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) has hit new highs with a record of more than 8,000 participants, and filling the entire San Jose McEnery Convention Center.
Continue reading GTC hits new highs
Enterprise by entelechyasia Feb 26, 20189:15 am February 26, 2018
Xjera Labs zooms in to AI to enhance security
Chu: "NVIDIA GPUs compared to CPUs are much more cost effective."
Security is a growing concern among governments and organisations of all sizes. They must balance the need to provide access to the right people while keeping suspicious folks at bay. Any lapse can result in dire consequences that impact confidence in the country or company.
Continue reading Xjera Labs zooms in to AI to enhance security
Enterprise by entelechyasia Feb 14, 201811:47 am February 26, 2018
ViSenze takes visual search and image recognition to the next level
Li: "The better the GPU, the more advantage we can gain to accelerate our R&D"
Every day, around three billion images and videos are uploaded online, creating a massive need to make them discoverable and searchable.
Continue reading ViSenze takes visual search and image recognition to the next level
Enterprise by entelechyasia Feb 8, 201810:08 am
Emtech Asia: AI, quantum computing and more
Leonard wants to see more research become productised and commercialised.
Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre was a hive of activities of a different sort as more than 700 technologists from 21 countries converged for EmTech Asia on January 30 and 31.
Continue reading Emtech Asia: AI, quantum computing and more
Dathena transforms data from liability to asset
Muffat: "The GPU is a great technology."
It's been said that more data was generated in 2017 than in the previous 5,000 years. According to Statista, this figure will increase 10 times in less than a decade.
Continue reading Dathena transforms data from liability to asset
Enterprise by entelechyasia Feb 1, 201810:37 am February 1, 2018
Towards a longer life
Mariusz Kozlowski, Research Associate of Asia Genomics: "Track biological age and help prevent high-risk diseases."
Throughout the ages, men have always been searching for the mythical Fountain of Youth and ways to extend life. Needless to say, many have tried and failed.
Continue reading Towards a longer life
Enterprise by entelechyasia Jan 30, 201810:25 am January 30, 2018
Alibaba and Google drive SEA transportation initiatives
Most Southeast Asian capitals and major cities are notorious for its traffic congestion. In separate developments, Alibaba and Google have taken steps to be more involved in the transportation industries in Malaysia and Indonesia respectively.
Continue reading Alibaba and Google drive SEA transportation initiatives
Enterprise by entelechyasia Jan 25, 20189:52 am
Mindset change needed for an AI future
Think artificial intelligence (AI) and the advent of powerful thinking machines and images of Arnold Schwarzenegger of The Terminator come to mind.
Continue reading Mindset change needed for an AI future
Enterprise by entelechyasia Oct 25, 201712:23 pm October 25, 2017
Singapore's AI agenda gets double boost!
NVIDIA Fellow Dr David Kirk delivers the keynote address at the NVIDIA AI Conference.
Singapore's aim to be an artificial intelligence (AI) hub has been boosted with two initiatives — the setting up of a shared AI platform for researchers and the awarding of scholarships to develop AI talents.
At the NVIDIA AI Conference in Singapore yesterday, NVIDIA and Singapore's National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) agreed to establish a platform to bolster AI capabilities among its academic, research and industry stakeholders and in support of AI Singapore (AISG), a national programme set up in May to drive AI adoption, research and innovation in Singapore.
Called AI.Platform@NSCC, it will provide AI training, technical expertise and computing services to AISG, which brings together all Singapore-based research and tertiary institutions, including the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore University of Design and Technology (SUTD), Singapore Management University (SMU), as well as research institutions in the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
Continue reading Singapore's AI agenda gets double boost!
Enterprise by entelechyasia Oct 19, 20171:52 pm November 1, 2017
Tantalising line-up of speakers at NVIDIA AI Conference
More than 1,000 participants attending the NVIDIA AI Conference in Singapore next week are in for a treat as the organisers are bringing in a tantalising line-up of speakers.
The two keynote speakers are Dr David B Kirk, NVIDIA Fellow and inventor of more than 60 patents and patent applications relating to graphics design; and Dr Wanli Min, AI scientist of Alibaba Cloud, who will touch on A Revolutionary Road to Data Intelligence.
Besides these two, there are special guest-of-honour Chng Kai Fong, Managing Director of Singapore's Economic Development Board, and a panel discussion on AI for the Future of Singapore Economy.
Continue reading Tantalising line-up of speakers at NVIDIA AI Conference
Enterprise by entelechyasia Sep 26, 201710:56 am November 1, 2017
China's tech giants bet on NVIDIA Volta
China's top technology companies are betting big on the NVIDIA Volta platform.
Alibaba Cloud, Baidu, and Tencent are incorporating NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPU accelerators into their data centres and cloud-service infrastructures to accelerate AI for a broad range of enterprise and consumer applications.
At the heart of the new Volta-based systems is the NVIDIA V100 data centre GPU. Built with 21 billion transistors, it provides a 5x improvement over the preceding NVIDIA Pascal architecture P100 GPU accelerators, while delivering the equivalent performance of 100 CPUs for deep learning. This performance surpasses by 4x the improvements that Moore's law would have predicted over the same period of time.
Inspur, Lenovo and Huawei are using the NVIDIA HGX reference architecture to offer Volta-based accelerated systems for hyperscale data centres. Using HGX as a starter "recipe," original equipment manufacturer and original design manufacturer partners can work with NVIDIA to more quickly design and bring to market a wide range of qualified GPU-accelerated AI systems for hyperscale data centres to meet the industry's growing demand for AI cloud computing.
Continue reading China's tech giants bet on NVIDIA Volta
Enterprise by entelechyasia Sep 13, 20171:30 pm September 14, 2017
NVIDIA to hold first AI-focused conference in Singapore in October
With artificial intelligence (AI) being a hot topic this year, NVIDIA is organising its first AI-focused regional conference in Singapore on October 23 and 24.
The event will be held in two parts with the first day focusing on Deep Learning Institute (DLI) workshop where participants will received hands-on training on deep learningl and the second day filled with keynote addresses, panel discussion and three tracks. It is targeted at data scientists and senior decision makers in the field of AI in both public and private sectors.
"Singapore is aiming to be the world's first smart nation and AI is playing a critical role. NVIDIA is well positioned to help drive the government's Smart Nation initiative with the development of solutions based on AI. Our GPUs are making headlines across the world by enabling many breakthroughs in various industries using deep learning," said Raymond Teh, Vice President of APAC sales and marketing at NVIDIA.
Continue reading NVIDIA to hold first AI-focused conference in Singapore in October


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Home » News » Secularists criticise supposed EU dialogue with non-believers as biased
Secularists criticise supposed EU dialogue with non-believers as biased
This year's Secularist of the Year winner, Sophie in 't Veld MEP, stormed out of a meeting at the European Parliament on Wednesday saying that it was biased against secularists and others who had no religious faith.
Sophie in 't Veld MEP
In an open letter to the Parliamentary President Jerzy Buzek after the meeting she explained:
"Today I attended the Seminar organised by you on "European Parliament implementation of Article 17 Lisbon Treaty". In your absence, the meeting was chaired by Vice President Tokes [who is also a bishop of the Reformed Church of Romania], charged by the Bureau with relations with churches and secular organisations.
"I have to protest against the way this meeting was organised. I am afraid it does not qualify as an open and transparent dialogue, as required by Art 17 of the Treaty. I am appalled at the lack of respect for, and recognition of secular voices in Europe. The seminar does not reflect European values such as the freedom of conscience and freedom of religion and belief.
"The panel of speakers was made up of three representatives of different Grand Lodges, and the President of the European Humanist Federation. Though not in any way challenging the qualities of the panellists, the composition of the panel was limited and one sided, and not in any way representative and inclusive. The criteria for selecting the speakers and other participants remain unclear, despite repeated requests for clarification to your Cabinet. Many of the participants got their invitation just days before the meeting took place. I left the meeting, as I do not feel in these conditions a meaningful and sincere exchange could be held.
On December 13th 2010 and on July 12th 2011 I have written to you on behalf of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics, regarding the implementation of Article 17 in the European Parliament in such a way that it reflects the full diversity of life stances in Europe. Please find the last letter attached again. I have yet to receive an answer to those letters.
I must state my strong disappointment at the way in which secular voices — whether of an atheist, agnostic or indeed religious background — are treated in this House. Indirectly it is an affront to those millions of citizens who are not represented in the Article 17 Dialogue."
Michael Cashman MEP — like Ms in't Veld, an honorary associate of the NSS — then criticised Bishop László Tőkés for having accepted responsibility for overseeing the dialogue because of the clear perception that any religious functionary (and indeed anyone with strong non-religious views) would be unable to fulfil the role objectively. He also attacked the Parliament's lack of transparency by neither making available minutes of its meetings with religious leaders nor publishing the text of relevant speeches.
The baton was picked up at the meeting by Veronique de Keyser MEP who bemoaned the paucity of engagement with non-religious citizens compared with that of religious organisations. She clearly thought that Vice President Tőkés was being insensitive and he didn't seem to understand the points that Sophie in 't Veld and Michael Cashman had made.
Bishop Tőkés responded to these criticisms by saying that he did not have executive responsibility for this dialogue but had been tolerant. His critics on the other hand, he said, were intolerant, and had discriminated against him because of his clerical profession, something very dear to him, and he had not objected to anyone else's occupation.
President Buzek had been seriously delayed so was only able to attend the last few minutes of the meeting. Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, who was also at the meeting, challenged him over these complaints. Mr Wood told the President of the level of anger expressed at the meeting before he arrived over the choice of the cleric to oversee this dialogue. Keith suggested that the choice had been particularly insensitive, doubly so given the already wide perception that the dialogue is heavily weighted in favour of the religious.
Keith then called on President Buzek to make sure that in future there was neutrality, presumably by appointing separate representatives to oversee the religious and non-confessional aspects of the dialogue, unless someone could be found who would be regarded as neutral by both camps, but that the latter seemed unlikely.
At a formal luncheon earlier that day, with Presidents Barroso, Buzek and Van Rompuy (of the European Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers, respectively), Keith had made some remarks in anticipation of the later meeting, suggesting how the dialogue could be improved. He said:
"The clear spirit behind Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty is for community policy to be informed by the perspectives of those from the full spectrum of belief and indeed non-belief. The reality is quite different; the non-religious have relatively little influence in this dialogue. Despite their large and growing numbers, they are almost disenfranchised from it by not being, by their very nature, a homogenous or structured group. The many religiously unconcerned fare no better.
"Article 17 dialogue is dominated by the largest church, and to a degree other churches and religions. The influence of the largest churches is further strengthened by well-oiled and well-financed lobbying and communications, building on powerful historic links with decision makers. Crucially though, the positions taken by the largest churches on topics on which they lobby EU institutions the hardest are almost the opposite of the views of the millions in their pews. Polls conducted during the Pope's visit to the UK last year showed, for example, that just 4% of UK Catholics agree with their hierarchy's position on contraception and 11% on abortion and homosexuality.
"Policy should not be built on this misrepresentation and lack of representation, but should be evidence-based. I suggest an expansion of Eurobarometer surveys to establish a reliable basis for views on these sensitive social issues including sexual matters, start and end of life, and bioethics. Such survey data should to play a much greater role in policy formation."
He repeated a summary of this at the later meeting.
See also: Secularists say EU privileging believers over non-believers