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首页 > 最新消息	> Patents > Directivity Color Calibration Filter - English
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Patented & Patent Pending Technology for camera/video recorders
RAYNAULD™ DIRECTIVITY COLOR CALIBRATION FILTER
雷诺指向式色彩定位镜
What is "RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filter"? (DCC Filter)
"RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filter" is a newly invented external camera optical filter, which allows the most demanding professional photographers to capture a scene's "Absolute Color" or "Visual Color" using the camera's manual white balance system to achieve the highest photographic color accuracy in all lighting condition. This dramatically reduces the steps and the time required in post-processing for color enhancements. It helps to remove the doubt and uncertainness on photo color accuracy. This also benefits general photography public by shooting the near-to-perfect color photos or videos at profession levels anytime anywhere!
"RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filter" is a most advanced optical filter for calibrating the camera color system on site. It is used to pin-point calibrate the camera gray system against various scenes with exact accurate compensation value before the shooting. As a result, we have a high-precision and rich in detail photo with well-structured rich colors. Despite its complex physic and optical theory, the DCC Filter has an elegant and simple design. It is easy to use with and works with remarkable results.
"RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filter" is used to limit the range of photographic field to proceed with the color compensation towards the camera gray card system. In return, it achieves the highest color accuracy and an unprecedented life color reproduction of photos. It does not only achieve the simple white color balance to restore the photos to the standard color temperature (e.g. 6500K or 5500K) afterwards. By doing so, all the colors in the photo will be twisted to inaccurate color when the rendered white color is forced to the standard white color!
Under different lighting conditions, the absolute standard white color is rendered into different color gradation of white as being affected by ambient lights. The "RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filter" is very effective to achieve the most accurate color reproduction under this shooting scene. Based on its design, DCC Filter works very well with either JPG or RAW form on all brands of cameras.
Features of RAYNAULD Directivity Color Calibration Filter
Purposes and users of RAYNAULD™ DCC Filter
What is the main function of RAYNAULD™ DCC Filter?
How to use RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filter ?
☉ What is RAYNAULD™ Directivity Color Calibration Filterr?
☉ What is the working theory behind?
☉ What is the " Visual Color"photo?
☉ What is the "Absolute Color" of object?
☉ What does the Full-Color Balance mean?
☉ How to take Visual Color photo with the Filter?
☉ What's wrong with Gray Card or White Card?
☉ What's wrong with the white balance lens cap?
☉ What's wrong with my camera AWB?
☉ Why should I use RAYNAULD™ DCC Filter for?
☉ What is the "Photo with Mirror Image Quality"?
☉What kinds of camera/videorec can use the DCC Filter
☉ Does RAYNAULD™ DCC Filter work with a camera flash?
BARREL-BASED WHITE BALANCE FILTER
(a.k.a. DIRECTIVITY COLOR CALIBRATION FILTER)
DCC FILTER
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to image pick-up technology, and more particularly, to a barrel-based white balance filter, which comprises an opaque barrel, and a white balance component axially adjustably mounted in the opaque barrel. The invention uses the opaque barrel to isolate the color temperature beyond the viewing scene, and allows adjustment of the proportion of the amount of the color temperature of the main light source using the light transmissive property of the white balance filter of the white balance unit, achieving the effect of increasing or reducing the average color temperature like the functioning of the eyelid to adjust the intraocular pressure subject to the brightness of the main light source so that the color is closer to the human eye visual sense and personal preferences
Description of the Related Art:
White a balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6) with a filter (61) may be used with a camera (2). During application, as illustrated in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15, the balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6) is attached to the camera lens (21) of the camera (2), and then the shutter is pressed to run the manual white balance mode, getting the average white balance value of the viewing scene. This average white balance value is used as a single color temperature for photographing.
Red, blue and green are three most basic colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. For human applications, these three primary colors are usually used, since human color vision is trichromatic. Only the values of these three primary colors are equal to each other, R = B = G, the correct white can be presented in the human vision. If white is accurately corrected or displayed, all other colors of photos or videos can be presented correctly in the human vision.
The manual white balance mode of a camera is to accurately measure the average color temperature of the viewing scene for use as a color temperature reference value so that accurate colors can be exhibited in the artworks, greatly reducing further software color temperature revising works. Because the colors of photos or videos having an incorrect color temperature are inconsistent with the scene of the photography site, the high-precision human visual system can easily senses the differences, all camera artworks in incorrect color are failed artworks to all people.
Each single picture of photos, videos, or live videos is presented in the human vision based on a single color temperature. The human vision can instantly senses any change or error of the color temperature. Therefore, getting the color temperature value of the scene is one of the most important works of the success of the artwork.
However, attaching a conventional white balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6) for a manual white balance operation cannot accurately get the color temperature and colors of the photography scene due to poor overall design of the white balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6). When facing the white balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6) toward the viewing scene, all the surrounding lights and colors non-selectively fall upon the filter to make an incorrect average color temperature value.
Actually, every color of a physical object has its particular color temperature value under every light source. When changing the shooting direction of the camera during photographing, the composition of the photograph range and color ratio are relatively changed, and the average color temperature value of each picture is also changed. So, only focus on the area of the scene to be photographed can get the most precise average white balance value.
In an outdoor operation, the scene taken by the camera (2) depends upon the view angle and distance of the focus of the camera lens (21). Photographing has its scene range. During application of the white balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6), unnecessary ambient light beyond the viewed range will be received, such as sunlight, reflected light from the blue sky and white clouds can fall upon the white balance filter plate (7) or white balance lens cap (6) to mix with the incident light from the viewing scene, causing the camera (2) to get an incorrect average color temperature value for photographing. Based on this incorrect average color temperature value, a color shift problem will occur in the photos or videos thus obtained.
During an indoor photography operation, all the outdoor or indoor main light source and other ambient and reflected light rays and colors from all directions will fall upon the white balance filter plate (7) or the filter (61) of the white balance lens cap (6) and enter the color temperature sensing range of the light transmissive structure thereof, giving an incorrect average white balance value to the manual white balance system, resulting in photo color distortion.
In addition to general photography purposes, getting the accurate colors of objects is also very important in scientific research, color management, typography or recording works, for example, to obtain a reference color of an object at different locations or under different light source environments for color calibration to achieve consistency.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a measure capable of getting the correct average white balance in a simple, rapid and low-cost manner. A barrel-based white balance filter of the present invention comprises a white balance unit that comprises a barrel and a white balance component axially adjustably mounted in the barrel. The barrel is prepared from an opaque material and attachable to a camera lens of a camera directly or by means of an engagement thread thereof. The white balance component is a milky white or gray filter having a milky white or gray annular rim axially extended from the periphery thereof, and mounted in the barrel and axially movable relative to the barrel between an extended position and a fully received position. Thus, adjusting the position of the white balance component relative to the opaque barrel causes change in the received color light gradually. When the white balance component is moved to the position where the annular rim suspends outside the opaque barrel, the amount of ambient color light received by the milky white or gray filter is greatly increased, and the surrounding color light beyond the viewing scene that falls upon the annular rim is guided into the milky white or gray filter to regulate the color temperature value.
Further, when the white balance component is in the fully received position, the milky white or gray annular rim is completely received in the barrel and protected by the opaque barrel against the radiation of vivid light or reflected light during a manual white balance operation, enabling a manual white balance system of the camera using the barrel-based white balance filter to measure the average white balance value of the viewing scene accurately.
Further, by means of the high precision white balance filter, the barrel-based white balance filter of the present invention can accurately measure the color temperature value accurately from a far distance for adjusting the color balance and color density, achieving perfect color temperature setting in JPG or RAW files so that the user can instantly upload perfect color photos for sharing.
Further, the design of the barrel of the barrel-based white balance filter facilitates convenient use. When using the manual white balance mode, the barrel-based white balance filter can be directly attached to the camera lens, preventing intake of vivid light and color beyond the viewing range to affect color temperature measuring accuracy.
RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a barrel-based white balance filter in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates the barrel-based white balance filter of the first embodiment of the present invention attached to the camera lens of a camera.
FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional applied view of the first embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the white balance filter adjusted relative to the opaque barrel.
FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an alternate form of the first embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the opaque barrel provided with an engagement thread for engagement with an engagement groove around the periphery of a front end of a camera lens of a camera.
FIG. 5 is a sectional installed view of an alternate form of the first embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the use of a flat glass type white balance filter.
FIG. 6 is a sectional installed view of a barrel-based white balance filter with a telescopic barrel in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 corresponds to FIG. 6, illustrating the telescopic barrel of the barrel-based white balance filter fastened to a camera lens of a camera.
FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 7, illustrating the telescopic barrel in the received status.
FIG. 9 is an elevational view of a barrel-based white balance filter fastened to a smart phone in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 illustrates the barrel-based white balance filter of the third embodiment of the present invention fastened to a tablet computer.
FIG. 11 illustrates a detachable type barrel-based white balance filter used in a camera in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 illustrates the detachable type barrel-based white balance filter of the fourth embodiment of the present invention equipped with a wireless circuit and a battery and mounted at a camera tripod for wireless communication with a camera or smart phone.
FIG. 13 illustrates a white balance device for use with a camera according to the prior art.
FIG. 14 corresponds to FIG. 13, illustrating the white balance device attached to the camera lens of the camera.
FIG. 15 illustrates the use of another prior art design of white balance device with a camera.
Referring to FIG. 1, 2 and 3, a barrel-based white balance filter in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The barrel-based white balance filter comprises a white balance unit (1) that comprises a barrel (11) and a white balance component axially adjustably mounted in the barrel (11). The barrel (11) is made from an opaque material, and configured to be directly pres-fitted onto the lens (21) of a camera (2). Alternatively, the barrel (11) can be configured to provide an engagement thread (113) for engagement with an engagement groove (211) around the periphery of the front end of the camera (2) (see FIG. 4). The white balance component is a milky white or gray filter (12) having an annular rim (121) axially extended from the periphery thereof and insertable into the bore (111) in the barrel (11) for allowing adjustment of the position of the milky white or gray filter (12) relative to the barrel (11) in axial direction. When pushed the milky white or gray filter (12) to the position where the annular rim (121) is completely received in the bore (111) of the barrel (11), the milky white or gray filter (12) is received in and shielded by the opaque barrel (11). Thus, during the operation of the camera (2) under the manual white balance mode, the milky white or gray filter (12) is well protective by the opaque barrel (11) against the radiation of vivid light or reflective light, and thus, the manual white balance system of the camera (2) can measure the average white balance value of the viewing area accurately. Further, the milky white or gray filter (12) can be configured having a six-star sword head protrusion at the center to assist focusing of the lens (21). Further, the closer the position of the milky white or gray filter (12) to the core (111) of the barrel (11) is, the larger the amount of color light received will be. Adjusting the position of the milky white or gray filter (12) relative to the barrel (11) causes change in the received color light gradually. When the white-balance filter (1) is moved axially toward the outside of the bore (111) of the barrel (11) to have the annular rim (121) suspend outside the bore (111) of the barrel (11), the amount of ambient color light received by the milky white or gray filter (12) is greatly increased, and the surrounding color light beyond the scene of the viewing window that falls upon the annular rim (121) outside the bore (111) of the barrel (11) is guided into the milky white or gray filter (12) to regulate the color temperature value. Further, stop flanges (122)(112) are respectively provided at the rear side of the milky white or gray filter (12) and the orifice of the bore (111) of the barrel (11) for stopping against each other to prohibit the milky white or gray filter (12) from falling out of the barrel (11). Further, the milky white or gray filter (12) can be made a flat glass filter mounted in the bore (111) of the barrel (11) for receiving the color light of the scene viewed through the viewing window of the camera (2), obtaining an accurate average white balance value (see FIG. 5).
Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, a barrel-based white balance filter in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this second embodiment, the barrel (13) is a telescopic design, comprising a plurality of barrel components (131) that slide one inside another. The milky white or gray filter (12) with the annular rim (121) is slidably coupled to the front side of the barrel (13). Thus, the barrel-based white balance filter can be adjusted axially to extend or shorten the length for carrying or storage conveniently. Further, stop flanges (132)(133)(122)(123) are respectively provided at opposing front and rear sides of each of the barrel components (131) and the milky white or gray filter (12) to prohibit the barrel components (131) and the milky white or gray filter (12) from disconnection.
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, a barrel-based white balance filter in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention is shown. The white balance unit (1) formed of the barrel (11) and the milky white or gray filter (12) having an annular rim (121) is mountable at the front side of a camera lens (31)(41) of a smart phone (3) or tablet computer (4). When using the smart phone (3) or table computer (4) to take pictures under the manual white balance mode, the milky white or gray filter (12) is well protected by the barrel (11) against the radiation of vivid light or reflective light, enabling the manual white balance system of the smart phone (3) or tablet computer (4) to measure the average white balance value of the scene viewed. Further, the barrel-based white balance filter of this third embodiment comprises a fastening device (5) for securing the barrel (11) of the white balance unit (1) to the front side of the camera lens (31)(41) of the smart phone (3) or tablet computer (4).
Referring to FIG. 11, a barrel-based white balance filter in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown. This fourth embodiment is used in a detachable white balance color temperature measurement device (8). The detachable white balance color temperature measurement device (8) comprises a color temperature sensor (81) mounted in an outer shell thereof, and a plug (811) disposed outside the outer shell for transmitting power supply and signals. The plug (811) can be plugged into a mating jack (221) at the camera body (22) or camera lens (21) of a camera (2), vivid camera, smart phone (3) or tablet computer (4). The white balance unit (1) formed of a barrel (11) and a milky white or gray filter (12) having an annular rim (121) is mounted in the front side of the detachable white balance color temperature measurement device (8). When using the camera (2), video camera, smart phone (3) or table computer (4) to take pictures under the manual white balance mode, the milky white or gray filter (12) is well protected by the barrel (11) against the radiation of vivid light or reflective light, and the color temperature sensor (81) senses the color temperature, enabling the manual white balance system of the camera (2), video camera, smart phone (3) or tablet computer (4) to measure the average white balance value of the scene viewed.
Further, a wireless circuit (82) and a battery (83) can be mounted in the detachable white balance color temperature measurement device (8). During application, the detachable white balance color temperature measurement device (8) is mounted on a tripod (84) for measuring the average white balance (color temperature) value of the scene and transmitting the measured average white balance (color temperature) value to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of a camera (2), video camera, smart phone (3) or tablet computer (4) for processing through a white balance arithmetic process to get an accurate white valance (color temperature) value (see FIG. 12).
In conclusion, the invention provides a barrel-based white balance filter comprising a white balance unit that comprises an opaque barrel and a white balance component axially adjustably mounted in the opaque barrel. The invention uses the opaque barrel to isolate the color temperature beyond the camera scene, and allows adjustment of the proportion of the amount of the color temperature of the main light source using the light transmissive property of the white balance filter of the white balance unit, achieving the effect of increasing or reducing the average color temperature like the functioning of the eyelid to adjust the intraocular pressure subject to the brightness of the main light source so that the color is closer to the human eye visual sense and personal preferences
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
What the invention claimed is:
1. A barrel-based white balance filter, comprising a white balance unit, said white balance unit comprising a barrel and a white balance component axially adjustably mounted in said barrel, wherein:
said barrel is prepared from an opaque material and attachable to a camera lens of a camera directly or by means of an engagement thread thereof; the white balance component is a milky white or gray filter having a milky white or gray annular rim axially extended from the periphery thereof, and mounted in said barrel and axially movable relative to said barrel between an extended position and a fully received position, said milky white or gray annular rim being completely received in said barrel and protected by said opaque barrel against the radiation of vivid light or reflected light during a manual white balance operation when said white balance component is in said fully received position, enabling a manual white balance system of the camera using the barrel-based white balance filter to measure the average white balance value of the viewing scene accurately.
2. The barrel-based white balance filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said milky white or gray filter comprises a six-star sword head protrusion located at the center thereof to assist camera lens focusing.
3. The barrel-based white balance filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said barrel comprises a stop flange located at an orifice thereof; said milky white or gray filter comprises a stop flange located at a rear side thereof stoppable against the stop flange at the orifice of said barrel to prohibit said milky white or gray filter from falling out of said barrel.
4. The barrel-based white balance filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said milky white or gray filter is a flat glass filter mounted in said barrel for enabling said white balance component to measure the average white balance value of the color light within the viewing area.
said barrel is a telescopic barrel prepared from an opaque material, comprising a plurality of barrel components coupled to one another and axially slidable relative to one another and attachable to a camera lens of a camera directly or by means of an engagement thread thereof; said white balance component is a milky white or gray filter having a milky white or gray annular rim axially extended from the periphery thereof, and axially slidably coupled to said telescopic barrel; said barrel components and said milky white or gray filter each comprise two stop flanges respectively located at opposing front and rear sides thereof and adapted to prohibit said barrel components and said milky white or gray filter from falling out of one another.
6. The barrel-based white balance filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said white balance unit further comprises a fastening device for securing said barrel to a front side of a camera lens of a camera, video camera, smart phone or tablet computer so that when the camera, video camera, smart phone or tablet computer runs a manual white balance mode, said milky white or gray annular rim is protected by said opaque barrel against the radiation of vivid light or reflected light during a manual white balance operation, enabling a manual white balance system of the camera, video camera, smart phone or tablet to measure the average white balance value of the viewing scene accurately.
7. The barrel-based white balance filter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said white balance unit further comprises an outer shell holding said barrel therein, and a color temperature sensor mounted in said outer shell, and a plug electrically connected to said color temperature sensor and extended out of said outer shell and electrically detachably connectable to a jack at a camera body or camera lens of a camera, video camera, smart phone or tablet computer for transmitting power supply and signals so that when the camera, video camera, smart phone or tablet computer runs a manual white balance mode, said milky white or gray annular rim is protected by said opaque barrel against the radiation of vivid light or reflected light during a manual white balance operation, enabling a manual white balance system of the camera, video camera, smart phone or tablet to measure the average white balance value of the viewing scene accurately.
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A barrel-based white balance filter includes an opaque barrel attachable to a camera lens of a camera and a white balance component in the form of a milky white or gray filter having a milky white or gray annular rim and axially adjustably mounted in the opaque barrel so that the milky white or gray annular rim is protected by the opaque barrel against the radiation of vivid light or reflected light during a manual white balance operation when the white balance component is completely received in the opaque outer barrel, enabling the manual white balance system of the camera to measure the average white balance value of the viewing scene accurately.
For any inquiry, please contact: sales@raynauld.com
Patent Pending PCT/CN2014/000209 March 7, 2014
CHINA PATENT NO. ZL 2014 2 0104131.X
TAIWAN PATENT NO. M481554


I was beyond thrilled when I realized that Paperless Post offers actual Friendsgiving invitations. I decided to take it a step further and order the paper version - I am a huge proponent of sending real invitations whenever possible. And Paperless Post makes it so easy and fun - they offer all of the customization choices in print that they do online, including different colors and even a choice of envelope liners. (How adorable are these grandma chic liners?! I'm in love). And you can order quantities as few as 10, which was perfect for our 8 person dinner party.
I chose seasonally inspired postage with these apple stamps. This design is only offered in 33 cent increments, so I doubled up and put two on each envelope.
Our Friendsgiving invitation style is also offered online or in print for Thanksgiving, as pictured below.
For the place cards, I chose letterpressed calligraphy cards with envelopes from Paper Source. During dinner, each guest jotted down what they were thankful for and sealed up their envelopes. At the end of dinner we swapped envelopes and everyone read someone else's card out loud. A little corniness never hurt anyone, right?
I didn't print individual menus, because I felt that the place settings already had enough going on visually between the napkins, baguettes and place cards. So instead I wrote out the menu on one of these Bon Appétit paper place mats by Cake Vintage.
Somehow I forgot to get a photo of the menu, but here it is from one of my friend's Instagram accounts. I made sure to note which dishes were made by guests, so that everyone got credit for their contributions. I used gold washi tape to post the menu above my bar cart - which we'll get to tomorrow along with the signature sparkling Friendsgiving cocktail!


As first time home buyers the process of buying a home can be overwhelming. Ian did a fantastic job with his knowledge, experience and passion for the business to help us find exactly what we were looking for.
I have known Ian 4 three decades now and he has been my go-to guy for knowledge in the Ottawa real estate market. Ian represented me when purchasing my current home and also when we had to sell my Mother s condo when we needed it sold in a timely manner and at for market value. I have no problem giving Ian a high recommendation as he has never failed to be available when needed with market information that is accurate and current. A true Pro.
Ian Sterling is as professional as they come in Real Estate. His knowledge of the market, the property, and the process is second to none. Ian gets everything done in a quick no nonsense manner, and the confidence in what he does, instills confidence in the client, so they know they're in good hands.There were no surprises in my transaction, everything was laid out in "layman" terms.Mr Sterling is personable and upbeat with a great sense of humor. Unlike, some agents, he didn't have a slew of homes for us to see, but rather had carefully selected them so as not to overwhelm us with too many choices.
Ian and his team are very patient taking us to several showing before finding us our dream home. Helped with getting our home inspection done by one of the leaders in the industry in Ottawa. Would recommend the Stirling Service to anyone whether it is your first time buying or adding to your real estate portfolio.


If you are interested in building up your muscles, the following article holds much helpful advice and many tips you will want to take note of. These areas can range from changing your diet to varying your workouts. Read on to learn some easy hints to help you work out more efficiently.
TIP! Three exercises you should do on a regular basis are bench presses, squats, and dead lifts. This trio is thought to be the best foundation for muscle building success.
Too many people botch their muscle development efforts by rushing them. Focusing on technique while doing your repetitions more slowly will significantly improve your results, regardless of the exercise you are working on. Do not rush, and be sure to properly do these exercises.
For the best results, you should focus on the deadlift, squat and bench press. Those three make up the foundation of any good exercise routine. Not only do they increase bulk and strength, but they increase overall conditioning. You should consistently integrate them into your routines.
Switch up your workout routine. As you repeat any particular workout routine, it could become boring, which can prevent you from working out. Make sure to keep your exercise routine regularly by using different pieces of equipment at the gym or taking advantage of different exercise classes. This will keep you motivated by staving off boredom.
TIP! When trying to add muscle, eat an adequate amount of protein each day. Protein is a basic ingredient from which muscles are constructed.
If you are trying to build large muscles, do not attempt it while doing any form of intense cardio training. If you engage in too much cardio, it may hurt your ability to gain muscle. The best way to build your muscles effectively is by concentrating on a strength-training routine.
Try to limit your workouts to around sixty minutes. After you have worked out for sixty minutes, your body starts to produce a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol interferes with testosterone and will, therefore, stop you from building muscles. Making sure workouts don't go over one hour is the perfect way to optimize your fitness plan.
When your exercise workout is complete, be sure to engage in a series of stretches to ensure the best environment for your muscles to build and repair themselves. Any individual under forty years of age should strive to hold every stretch for thirty seconds at the least. If you are a little older, try to keep your stretch for about a minute total. Stretching properly protects you from injuries related to working out.
Make sure you are eating enough calories. You can find a number of body mass indexes online to help you figure the amount of calories you need to consume to reach your target weight. Use an online calculator, and adjust your intake accordingly with protein and other nutrients.
Crafting a workout schedule for muscle building will allow your success to continue and will help prevent injuries. Anyone who is new to weight lifting should workout only two times a week, while those who are more experienced can workout three times or more each week.
As you read in the above article, there are various ways to boost your muscles. Hopefully, this article offered you a lot of helpful advice you can use. Add just a few to your routine to gauge their effectiveness. Try to mix them up to see what works best.


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Students that failed classes last semester will be getting a letter in the mail that requires them to come to school in person
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Administration cracking down on tardiness, IDs
Shriya Vanparia
Recently, Coppell High School has started implementing consequences for not wearing your school ID during school hours. These measures are enforced to ensure safety and security for all students and staff.
Karen Lu, Daily News/Assignment Editor
With the start of the new semester comes the return of tardy and ID sweeps. Either caught in the hallway after the tardy bell rings or seen without their IDs, students at Coppell High School face new consequences for these actions.
If CHS associate principals Sean Bagley or Melissa Arnold see a student without an ID around their neck or late to class, they will issue a Keep Coppell Beautiful assignment, which is a 30-minute long detention for students to pick up trash around the campus after school.
Students are given a choice of attending detention Tuesday or Thursday of the week they are issued a Keep Coppell Beautiful.
"IDs are all about safety," CHS Principal Laura Springer said. "Especially with what's happening around our world, we have to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep our school safe. And for students who are tardy, putting them in [Keep Coppell Beautiful] lets them give some time back to the building of helping us take care of it since they didn't get here on time."
These checks occur sporadically throughout the school day by the CHS administration.
"We look at a wave of what days we're having more tardies, what periods we're having the most tardies, and watch [students] come in," Springer said. "There's a reason why we stand in the hall and watch in the mornings and afternoons. Then, we decide which period we need to do the tardy sweep because we have too many students coming in late."
Both tardy sweeps and ID checks were introduced at the start of the school year, and their reinstatements are due to the increase of both students without IDs and being late to class.
"We're starting back with tardy sweeps because [students] are doing such a horrible job of getting to school on time, getting to class on time," Springer said. "Our teachers want to start teaching when it's time, and we want to use the full 90 minutes of class to give [students] what [they] need. We're trying to teach responsibility, and to do that, sometimes we have to be a little harsh."
Even if Bagley or Arnold do not catch tardy students or those without IDs, a student's own teacher can issue their own detention, which is encouraged by administration to last at least half an hour but can be extended however long the teacher wishes. If the issue persists, the student may receive an office referral.
If students have their IDs — either in their backpack or stuffed in their pockets — but isn't wearing it around their necks, they can still receive a detention.
"The whole purpose of wearing an ID is so we can wear it and identify you," CHS assistant principal Chase Vaughn said. "Sometimes in an emergency situation, if it's in your pocket or around your bag, we can't clearly see it. We need kids to wear it, so we can identify them on the spot. That extra time of getting it out can be all the difference in the time we need to identify the student."
For students, the new policies may be a stark contrast to before, but while stringent, they are still understandable.
"It's justifiable because with the things going on in our nation, we need our IDs to know who's who," CHS sophomore Rishi Bushigampala said. "I understand why the school's doing [Keep Coppell Beautiful], but at the same time, I understand why people don't like that because it's an ID, and a lot of people think it doesn't make that big of a difference."
Follow Karen (@_karenlu_) and @CHSCampusNews.
Karen is a senior and the Daily News/Assignment Editor on staff. In her free time, she enjoys painting, spending time with her family and going out to...
Shriya Vanparia, Staff Designer
Shriya Vanparia is a senior and a second year staffer on The Sidekick. In her free time, she loves to draw, paint and listen to music. With comments and...
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Cut the top and bottom off the watermelon so it makes two flat surfaces. Set the watermelon on large board, then cut in between the melon and skin to form a neat cylinder of watermelon, then chill in the fridge.
Whip the cream with the icing sugar until thick but spreadable.
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text:
Regression Trees (optional)
4.9 (1,691 classificações)
Curso 2 de 3 no Aprendizagem Automática Programa de cursos integrados
8 de jul de 2022
Measuring purity7:37
Choosing a split: Information Gain11:51
Putting it together9:07
Using one-hot encoding of categorical features5:25
Continuous valued features6:53
Regression Trees (optional)9:50
So far we've only been talking about decision trees as classification algorithms. In this optional video, we'll generalize decision trees to be regression algorithms so that we can predict a number. Let's take a look. The example I'm going to use for this video will be to use the this three features that we had previously, that is, these features X, In order to predict the weight of the animal, Y. So just to be clear, the weight here, unlike the previous video is no longer an input feature. Instead, this is the target output, Y, that we want to predict rather than trying to predict whether or not an animal is or is not a cat. This is a regression problem because we want to predict a number, Y. Let's look at what a regression tree will look like. Here I've already constructed a tree for this regression problem where the root node splits on ear shape and then the left and right sub tree split on face shape and also face shape here on the right. And there's nothing wrong with a decision tree that chooses to split on the same feature in both the left and right side branches. It's perfectly fine if the splitting algorithm chooses to do that. If during training, you had decided on these splits, then this node down here would have these four animals with weights 7.2, 7.6 and 10.2. This node would have this one animal with weight 9.2 and so on for these remaining two nodes. So, the last thing we need to fill in for this decision tree is if there's a test example that comes down to this node, what is there weights that we should predict for an animal with pointy ears and a round face shape? The decision tree is going to make a prediction based on taking the average of the weights in the training examples down here. And by averaging these four numbers, it turns out you get 8.35. If on the other hand, an animal has pointy ears and a not round face shape, then it will predict 9.2 or 9.2 pounds because that's the weight of this one animal down here. And similarly, this will be 17.70 and 9.90. So, what this model will do is given a new test example, follow the decision nodes down as usual until it gets to a leaf node and then predict that value at the leaf node which I had just computed by taking an average of the weights of the animals that during training had gotten down to that same leaf node. So, if you were constructing a decision tree from scratch using this data set in order to predict the weight. The key decision as you've seen earlier this week will be, how do you choose which feature to split on? Let me illustrate how to make that decision with an example. At the root node, one thing you could do is split on the ear shape and if you do that, you end up with left and right branches of the tree with five animals on the left and right with the following weights. If you were to choose the spit on the face shape, you end up with these animals on the left and right with the corresponding weights that are written below. And if you were to choose to split on whiskers being present or absent, you end up with this. So, the question is, given these three possible features to split on at the root node, which one do you want to pick that gives the best predictions for the weight of the animal? When building a regression tree, rather than trying to reduce entropy, which was that measure of impurity that we had for a classification problem, we instead try to reduce the variance of the weight of the values Y at each of these subsets of the data. So, if you've seen the notion of variants in other contexts, that's great. This is the statistical mathematical notion of variants that we'll used in a minute. But if you've not seen how to compute the variance of a set of numbers before, don't worry about it. All you need to know for this slide is that variants informally computes how widely a set of numbers varies. So for this set of numbers 7.2, 9.2 and so on, up to 10.2, it turns out the variance is 1.47, so it doesn't vary that much. Whereas, here 8.8, 15, 11, 18 and 20, these numbers go all the way from 8.8 all the way up to 20. And so the variance is much larger, turns out to the variance of 21.87. And so the way we'll evaluate the quality of the split is, we'll compute same as before, W left and W right as the fraction of examples that went to the left and right branches. And the average variance after the split is going to be 5/10, which is W left times 1.47, which is the variance on the left and then plus 5/10 times the variance on the right, which is 21.87. So, this weighted average variance plays a very similar role to the weighted average entropy that we had used when deciding what split to use for a classification problem. And we can then repeat this calculation for the other possible choices of features to split on. Here in the tree in the middle, the variance of these numbers here turns out to be 27.80. The variance here is 1.37. And so with W left equals seven-tenths and W right as three-tenths, and so with these values, you can compute the weighted variance as follows. Finally, for the last example, if you were to split on the whiskers feature, this is the variance on the left and right, there's W left and W right. And so the weight of variance is this. A good way to choose a split would be to just choose the value of the weighted variance that is lowest. Similar to when we're computing information gain, I'm going to make just one more modification to this equation. Just as for the classification problem, we didn't just measure the average weighted entropy, we measured the reduction in entropy and that was information gain. For a regression tree we'll also similarly measure the reduction in variance. Turns out, if you look at all of the examples in the training set, all ten examples and compute the variance of all of them, the variance of all the examples turns out to be 20.51. And that's the same value for the roots node in all of these, of course, because it's the same ten examples at the roots node. And so what we'll actually compute is the variance of the roots node, which is 20.51 minus this expression down here, which turns out to be equal to 8.84. And so at the roots node, the variance was 20.51 and after splitting on ear shape, the average weighted variance at these two nodes is 8.84 lower. So, the reduction in variance is 8.84. And similarly, if you compute the expression for reduction in variance for this example in the middle, it's 20.51 minus this expression that we had before, which turns out to be equal to 0.64. So, this is a very small reduction in variance. And for the whiskers feature you end up with this which is 6.22. So, between all three of these examples, 8.84 gives you the largest reduction in variance. So, just as previously we would choose the feature that gives you the largest information gain for a regression tree, you will choose the feature that gives you the largest reduction in variance, which is why you choose ear shape as the feature to split on. Having chosen the year shaped features to spit on, you now have two subsets of five examples in the left and right side branches and you would then, again, we say recursively, where you take these five examples and do a new decision tree focusing on just these five examples, again, evaluating different options of features to split on and picking the one that gives you the biggest variance reduction. And similarly on the right. And you keep on splitting until you meet the criteria for not splitting any further. And so that's it. With this technique, you can get your decision treat to not just carry out classification problems, but also regression problems. So far, we've talked about how to train a single decision tree. It turns out if you train a lot of decision trees, we call this an ensemble of decision trees, you can get a much better result. Let's take a look at why and how to do so in the next video.


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text:
Bexley Elementary celebrates its formal dedication
October 18, 2017 By B.C. Manion
Bexley Elementary was formally dedicated last week.
Members of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce join administrators from Pasco County Schools and members of the Pasco County School Board during a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the formal dedication of Bexley Elementary School. (B.C. Manion)
It was a festive event, with Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning making some remarks, the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce marking the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the Sunlake High School band performing a few numbers.
There was cake, of course.
And, cupcakes, too.
The cafeteria was crowded with families celebrating the new school, and many of the guests took advantage of the opportunity to go on self-guided tours to see the classrooms and meet school staff.
The school, at 4380 Ballantrae Blvd., opened in August to relieve overcrowding at Odessa and Oakstead elementary schools. The formal dedication was on the evening of Oct. 10.
In a tour before the school open, Principal Vicki Wolin described Bexley's emphasis on research, enrichment opportunities and collaboration.
Bexley, which is in a subdivision developed by Newland Communities, is the largest elementary school that Pasco County Schools has ever built.
Its design was the result of a collaboration between architect Harvard Jolly, four elementary principals and David Scanga, assistant superintendent for elementary schools.
Wolin was one of the principals weighing in on that design — which is intended to facilitate enriching learning opportunities for children.
Published Oct. 18, 2017
Filed Under: Land O' Lakes News, Local News, News Stories Tagged With: 4380 Ballantrae Blvd., Bexley Elementary, Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, David Scanga, Harvard Jolly, Newland Communities, Oakstead Elementary, Odessa, Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning, Principal Vicki Wolin, Sunlake High School


text:
package InterviewBit.BinarySearch;

import junit.framework.TestCase;

/**
 * Created by prasad on 5/27/16.
 */
public class PowerFunctionBinSrcTest extends TestCase {

  public void testPower() throws Exception {
    PowerFunctionBinSrc object = new PowerFunctionBinSrc();
    assertEquals(2, object.power(2, 3, 3));
    assertEquals(1, object.power(10, 0, 5));
    assertEquals(3, object.power(8, 1, 5));
    assertEquals(1, object.power(-2, 3, 3));
    assertEquals(7, object.power(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 1, 10));
    assertEquals(1, object.power(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 2, 31));
    assertEquals(25, object.power(Integer.MAX_VALUE, 2, Integer.MAX_VALUE - 5));
    System.out.println(Integer.MIN_VALUE);
    System.out.println(Integer.MAX_VALUE);
    assertEquals(2147483646, object.power(Integer.MIN_VALUE, 3, Integer.MAX_VALUE));
//    assertEquals(1, object.power(Integer.MIN_VALUE,3,Integer.MIN_VALUE+1));
    assertEquals(0, object.power(Integer.MIN_VALUE, 3, Integer.MIN_VALUE));
    assertEquals(3235401, object.power(66796977, 78775956, 59481060));
  }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


What happens when you bring live jazz, fine art, and great food to the "South Side" of Mt. Airy? Why you get Jazz On The Sidewalk where area businesses are turning it out to greet you on the 6600 – 6700 Blocks of Germantown Ave.
For Jazz on the Sidewalk, MAAG is featuring local fiber artist Denise Benrahu. Check out her glorious jazz pillows!
On Saturday, June 17 (rain date June 24) from 3 till 6 pm expect a host of activities. Just to give you flavor of what's happening, you'll hear live jazz in front of the Mt. Airy Art Garage (MAAG) brought to you by Tank Keitt and friends from Passage Jazz Band. Are you an emerging or professional artist that wants to join in? Then "bring your ax baby!" Looking for original fine art and handcraft? You'll find MAAG members, all local artists, both outdoors on the block and and indoors in our fine art and handcraft gallery.
Our favorite local eateries Little Jimmie's Bakery and Café and Malelani will turn it out with delicious, mouthwatering foods. Expect more businesses to join us! Plus there's live music to be had at Malelani too. And, you didn't hear if from me, but there's going to be mouth-watering barbecue to lure your senses. So why not dive into all our local businesses have to offer and stroll down the avenue on a beautiful summer Juneteenth day!
If you've run your errands, gone to the gym, gone to the Juneteenth festival, or just plain newly moved into the neighborhood, what better time to stop by the 6600 – 6700 blocks of Germantown Ave. before your Saturday night begins. It's time to take your late afternoon stroll on the South Side of Mt. Airy. You'll be glad you did, and you'll be supporting your local businesses as well.
For more information, call 215.242.5074 or info@mtairyartgarage.org.
It's a fabulous space for Quilters.
To all Quilters! We're back and relaunching Quilt Time in a new and exciting venue! So you plan on devoting a little personal time to yourself and your quilt work.
Bring a snack and your sewing stuff, and join us this Sunday, October 23. Come work on your own project, bring a quilt to be basted, join my Fusible Web Appliqué Postcard class ($30 includes admission) or get help on a quilt problem that has you stumped. Our group is for all levels of quilters and even those who are just interested in the craft.
Of course, at Quilt-Time, you can work on ANYTHING you want to. Come join the fun!
Quilt-Time will be held at 6700 Germantown Avenue, lower level, at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Westview, the door on street level to the left of the main entrance. It is a GORGEOUS space, with tons of room and everything that we need!
We're ready to show off our new Handcraft Gift Shop! And we promise you, you're going to like what you see.
Think of this new location as our hub. The place where you can delight in original work by local artists, and find out about our upcoming activities. Want to shop for unique original fine art and handcraft? We've got that. Want to find out what we're up to? Where MAAG will be doing POST? Where'e the Holiday Art Market? We can tell you. Want to find out more about the Community of Pride Mural Project? Stop on in.
So, this weekend, come on by from noon till 6 pm. We'll have some music, some wine, some food, and a whole lot of artists. Share your ideas, share your enthusiasm, and check out our new digs.
Wednesdays, Sept. 14 and 28, 6:30 pm. Look for us in the plaza of Lutheran Theological Seminary on Germantown Ave. across from Valley Green Bank.
We've finished our move! Now we're getting ready for our Grand Opening Sat., Sept. 24 from noon till 6 pm at 6622 G'town Ave. But we couldn't stay indoors for long. When MAUSA reached out to us, we said sure! We'd just LOVE to do a Plein Air Mt. Airy Paint Nite on Wednesday nights in September. #MAAGPopsup!
So, for all of you who loved working with painter and MAAG member Stephanie Amma Young, she will be teaching Plein Air Paint Nite. Your canvas will be filled with the gorgeous orchids above, your palate will be satiated with dinner outdoors along the Avenue. You can do it all. Drink wine, paint, savor wonderful local foods, make new friends.
Skill not required, only passion for creativity. Class starts at 6:30 pm. We'll be socializing from 5 pm on. $30 per person. All materials are provided.
Painter, designer, dancer, and educator, Amma received her BFA in Fine Art from the Philadelphia University of Art. For more than 20 years, she has worked as a multidisciplined resident artist teaching visual and performing art to children and adults at PA schools and organizations. Educating people young and old about the importance of experiencing and developing creative skills and talents has been the driving force for her dedication in the Arts.
Stephanie Amma has worked as a Freelance Illustrator & Graphic Artist for more than ten years. She has owned and operated a T-shirt Design Shop for 8 years and is an artist member of the Mt. Airy Art Garage. Her paintings, drawings, textiles and performances have been presented in residencies and exhibition venues with: The African American Museum of Philadelphia 2001 to present, Academy of Music, Kimmel, Dupree Gallery, UARTS, National Constitution Center, public, private and parochial schools and colleges. Amma is a grant recipient from the Leeway Foundation, the Council on the Arts, and Philadelphia Board of Education.
Saturday, July 30 @ 8 pm. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Dance to the beats of De Tierra Caliente!
Philadelphia Folksong Society (PFS) and MAAG are teaming up yet again to keep rockin' the house. So, we're going to dance up a storm and salsa the night away to the sounds of De Tierra Caliente, as they rev up their motors getting ready for the Philly Folk Festival.
We're going to eat, drink and party. Tickets are $15 at the door. Are you a member of PFS or MAAG? Get in for $12 at the door too! And it's all happening at 11 West Mt. Airy Avenue.
It's going to be a night of spice, sabor, and alegria!
A Latin party band whose music fills the air with bright colors and gets everybody up and dancing. Catchy melodies and unaffected lyrics fuse with Latin, Caribbean and Brazilian rhythms to inspire an irresistible North/South American party. Since its formation in 2014, this flavorful group from Philadelphia and Puerto Rico has released 2 full-length albums and played over 125 shows in cities throughout the US and Colombia. De Tierra Caliente delivers the sabor, spice and alegría of warm-weather countries to American audiences, where formidable winters and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic sometimes overshadow simple pleasures like sharing a meal with friends or going out dancing. At a show you can't help but heat up as intoxicating songs in Spanish, English and Portuguese sing out the bright colors and familial warmth of a South American kitchen.


text:
Absolut releases dazzling limited-edition Electrik bottles to close 2015
Idris Elba + Superdry Collection, comprising 250 menswear pieces, launches at Regent Street store
Op–ed: Kiribati's waking nightmare
November 27, 2015/11.22
Rt Hon John Key, MP, Prime Minister
Hon Bill English, MP, Deputy Prime Minister
Parliament Buildings
Dear John and Bill,
I'm having a nightmare. I want to tell you guys about it—to tell you to wake me up; shake me if you have to. Scream me awake, and when I am, I want you to tell me it's not as bad as it seems.
I've landed in Tarawa, Kiribati, where news from New Zealand awaited me that John has declared his faith that climate change can be addressed with technology—scientists have told him the technology isn't far off.
At an official dinner, people look at me as though I have some glorious technology news to pass on. I don't. I went to bed that evening feeling hollow; figures screaming through my head, the voice of that pesky Jim Salinger uttering the most terrifying words I've heard in many years: 'The world has now entered abrupt climate change.' You know Jim right, the guy with the Nobel Peace Prize? Gosh, I wish he would shut up with all that sense he talks.
In the same nightmare I wake the next day to be told that 90 per cent of drinking water wells have been contaminated with E. coli, that the crops at vital plantations are no longer growing due to saltwater poisoning the ground. That lagoons which once fed villages have become infested with E. coli, killing a large bounty of marine life. That the ocean-warming and acidification has killed a majority of the coral atoll that forms the very ground I'm stood on. It's like a really bad apocalypse video game—I'm anxious that zombies are going to duck out from behind the door. I look around at homes whose front doors the ocean now laps, at dead fruit trees once laden with produce killed by the salt seeping into the soil. I'm failing to see what Tony Abbott found so comical about this situation.
In this nightmare I wonder what kind of technology could possibly solve this. I then remind myself of John's track record of absolute reliability, and I feel comforted. The law can't solve this. I mean, even if it could and there were laws to protect these people, there are no lawyers, and they'd be unaffordable for these people if there were. So, technology must be the saving grace.
I visited the hospital to witness first-hand what an infant mortality rate 10 times that of New Zealand's looks like. Have you ever seen such a thing? It's completely shocking; it hit me with a force a hundred times that of any image of a child lying washed up on a shore a world away. I tried to fight back the tears, and the numbing coldness that consumed my body. I tried not to vomit—but later in the privacy of my room I did find solace in a Fiji Airways sick bag. I sat there and waited for the moment I'd be shaken awake. I desperately wanted John to ride in and tell me that the threat of climate migration is many years off and not something to be worried about. I wanted Bill to sit down and tell me that none of it was real, and the sea levels were not rising.
John, could you go tell that mate of yours Obama to stop being a bloody alarmist; that according to Bill, there's no proof Alaskan villages are vanishing into the ocean. That entire nations are not facing forced-extinction from the ocean swallowing them alive. You go tell that puffed-up American know-it-all that he's alarming the masses, causing me nightmares and unwanted anxiety.
Bill, could you go tell all those apparently credible scientists who've won those fancy awards, that 2015 is not the hottest year in history and they're just plain wrong. Round them up with Malcolm across the ditch (because they give him a hard time as well) and be done with them. Bully them into submission a bit harder. Just shut them up.
I imagined the response coming back something a little like this.
Dear Pearl,
You are far too much of a pretty wee thing to be travelling to such far-flung and irrelevant places like Kiribati in your nightmares; to spend time worrying about such things. Why don't you pay heed to the advice I gave Keisha Castle-Hughes: try visiting the salon for a bad blow-dry instead?
Don't worry about other people. By the time New Zealand starts feeling the full effect of climate change we'll have the technology available to deal with it.
I've also got Malcolm under control—he's going to share Nauru so we've got somewhere to put all those helpless fellow human beings in the Pacific fleeing the rising sea-levels and food shortages. The ones who think they're right to turn to us for help. I'm going to stop the boats.
Meanwhile, the Kardashians have a new season, vote for the fern, and use our new buzz word: technology.
In the meantime, here's a Live Lokai bracelet. Hold on to it, because before long the Dead Sea and Everest will be things for the history books.
That's kind of how this piece came about. I thought I'd write a wee letter. The problem is, the more I wrote and decried the blind buying-in of the latest spin to come out of the ninth floor, the more ridiculous it felt, and the more scared I became in turn. If I'm completely honest, the realization that many—possibly even some reading this piece—didn't know how absurd the spin had become, worried me to the point of physical sickness. Thanks again Fiji Airways, your sick bags are truly first-class.
I'm writing this from Kiribati. I'm fully awake. I'm awake in a nightmare. I went to the hospital. I waded through water at high-tide to cross the road infested with human fæces to get there before what they call the 'morgue' closed. In a bag at the other end of the room was a pile of clothes and a pair of trainers I never want to see again. I was going to turf them out, but a young woman tasked with showing me around asked if she could have them, since for her wading through the stench of death and fæces was an everyday reality.
Don't get me wrong, Kiribati is absolutely beautiful and if it weren't for the damage wreaked by rising sea levels and climate change, I would focus only on its beauty, but the reality is these threats make the situation people face here far from idyllic. It's a dire situation, it's a nightmare.
A real-life nightmare, there is no amount of shaking that can wake me; though shaking I am, believe me. Shaking from incredulity at the sheer scale of the situation. The problem is I'm not the who needs to be screamed awake. That's right: if you have ever for one moment entertained the illusion that sea-levels are not rising; that climate change is not the single biggest threat facing humanity; that you can carry on shirking the responsibility to aid in the fight for human survival and dignity, you need to be screamed awake. Will the humanity in you please wake up?
I'm not saying this with any political leaning. I believe that most of our politicians are drastically failing us all. Who knows what will happen if we leave this to them. I mean, half of those reading this may freak out at the thought of the Green Party controlling the economy, but don't blink an eyelid at them leading on the issue defined as 'the single greatest threat to mankind' by every serious world leader. Why is that? How will the economy exist without our planet?
Climate change is no longer some far-off theory or problem. It is happening right here and widely through our Pacific backyard. Right now. As you read this climate change is already disrupting our agriculture and ecosystems, our food and water security, our energy, our infrastructure, our health, our safety. Today. Tomorrow. Some more than others but make no mistake it is happening to all of us. It is the issue. An issue that affects all issues, economic included. Everything is and will be impacted. And it becomes more damning with each passing year.
This matter is far too important to be surrendered to the political domain. This is about humanity. If you think the devastation wreaked by ISIS is as bad as it gets, then please contemplate Mother Nature.
If the images of parents putting their children into boats because the water was safer than the land left you reeling, then please consider that in the not-too-distant future this will become a reality for many small island states; that many nations in the Pacific will not survive the two-degree cap that Paris is gearing up to gain commitment for in the coming week. They will have to put their children into boats because the water is safer than the land. We have already signed them up for that, and every moment that each of us stands by maintaining the status quo we sign them up for worse—exponentially.
They will have to flee their homes, forced to migrate due to the lack of food security. Rising sea-levels, along with drastic weather disturbances will make a boat safer than their homes, and these boats will head for our shores.
Despite this cold hard reality our leaders head into Paris in support of watering a climate agreement down. There's talk of steps to make the agreement not legally binding. Not many would agree to a marriage or business deal on such terms, I wonder why we are willing to let them negotiate humankind's survival on such flippant terms.
During the explosion of the refugee crisis into mainstream media we witnessed both the most hopeful and depraved responses to others' suffering. I couldn't help but wonder about the rationale for stopping the boats, for refusing the asylum and migration of those most in need—those least at fault in the destruction of our ecologies, but who will continue to pay the highest price. What possible excuse will we give to keep them out? Do we convince ourselves they're all terrorists, rapists and murderers to render them exempt from the right to our sympathies, to human dignity? It's a sad state of affairs that anyone would have to wonder such a thing.
Leading into the sustainable development goals, New Zealand took a step towards supporting the Pacific, coming out strong and vocal on Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14), which focuses on the conservation and sustainable use of ocean, sea and marine resources. This focus was well warranted, and an open acknowledgement of our responsibility within the region, and our understanding of how many lives depend on the ocean ecologies. I was proud to stand in the General Assembly and hear John Key announce the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary. It was an important step, but we must be clear that it was but one step in the marathon of steps we need to build a better world.
In the words of Jim Salinger and virtually every other expert of climate science in the world, the world has entered abrupt climate change. We have already reached tipping-points we cannot mitigate. We are already signed up for things that are going to drastically change life as we know it, this is a cold hard fact. The question that remains now is whether we can summon the courage to turn around and fight for survival. Life is already going to change; but whether we tumble over yet more tipping-points points and the scale of the consequences we face from them is up to us. Sometimes we have little option but to wake ourselves up.
We have a choice. We can surrender that choice to those who hold offices of power, or we can take that choice into our own consideration. Some say the whole endeavour to pull back from this is hopeless. I'm not willing to accept that. I simply refuse to stand by and let life go without a fight.
John Key used very interesting rhetoric this week. He used the word 'faith'. He is placing his faith in technology. Instead I am going to place my faith in humankind—the creators of technology. I am going to place my faith in our ability to comprehend the magnitude of what we face, and choose survival. I ask you to join not just myself, but others around the world in doing so. We still have a fighting chance to make things better. They won't get better unless we take action and inspire others to do the same. No one is without power: everybody has the capacity to take a few steps.
I've written this for those who know how to challenge the status quo intelligently. The doers, the thinkers, the problem-solvers. I'm not asking anyone to climb something or break laws, just that each person reading this ponders for a minute about how they can contribute, what steps they can take.
So as we lead into the COP21 talks, billed as a defining moment in human history, at a time when recent events have given us ample reason to desert our faith in our own kind, I encourage every single person reading this to ask themselves what they can do to take action. This weekend millions of citizens around the world are exercising their rights, their freedoms, using their voices and taking to the streets to send world leaders an imperative to act and take meaningful action.
Mark my words: a decade or possibly two from now it won't be the Rugby World Cup final you remember with pride. What will be etched in your memory is whether you answered humanity's call for survival, whether you were one of those who actually did something. Sometimes that something is simply the act of showing up to show solidarity with humankind. In Paris where world leaders have gathered there can be no march, because the worst of humanity put on a display that has left millions of innocent people terrorized. So in the coming week I will be keeping my eyes firmly on Paris, I am marching, I am lending my effort to reinforce the very best in humanity, because if there's one thing the world needs right now, it's more of the good.
It's only so big, it goes around and we are all on it—Earth. I believe it's worth saving, do you?—Pearl Going
Disruption, excerpt: 'Tipping Points' from Disruption on Vimeo
Above Kiribati President Anote Tong with his TED discussion, 'My country will be underwater soon—unless we work together'. Click above to watch.
Guest contributor Pearl Going is a global communications' strategist who has worked broadly across entertainment, human rights and environmental issues. Her most recent work includes the Mercy Campaign, Rohingya Slavery and SIDS. She is an avid climber and has climbed five of the seven summits.
Summer Rayne Oakes's Extinction shown in full, online, for a limited time
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Views from the Medinge Group's Brands with a Conscience 2009 ceremony
Twenty years of the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace
Stockholm is Europe's first Green Capital
Five days in New Zealand with Summer Rayne Oakes
A sense of belonging
Travel news: rocking the French quarter; Paul Gauguin Cruises' lecture series; Air France's new destinations
ecology / environment / health / history / Lucire / New Zealand / society / travel / Volante / Zeitgeist
2 thoughts on "Op–ed: Kiribati's waking nightmare"
iconickevin says:
November 29, 2015 at 1.11
" I'm having a nightmare. I want to tell you guys about it—to tell you to wake me up; shake me if you have to. Scream me awake, and when I am, I want you to tell me it's not as bad as it seems." "I've landed in Tarawa, Kiribati, where news from New Zealand awaited me that John has declared his faith that climate change can be addressed with technology—scientists have told him the technology isn't far off."
I too am having a nightmare and that is that John Key and TPPA and climate minister Tim Groser are in charge of our sinking ship at the very moment that our biosphere slips down the cliff and into the abyss with Grosser's foot firmly on the TPPA accelerator.
When collapse arrives and sooner than we all think they will all end up on pitchforks but it will be little compensation for the loss of the biosphere and most life on it.
A curse on you #GroserKey.
I will be interviewing Professor Jim Salinger on his recent concession to me that we are now in abrupt climate change. The interview will be uploaded to Robin Westenra's blog Seemorerocks and Martyn Bradbury's " The Daily Blog in the next few days.
February 14, 2016 at 16.57
In this interview myself, Robin Westenra from the Seemorerocks blog and myself interview Dr Jim Salinger on Abrupt Climate Change.
http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/drjim-salinger-on-rapid-climate-change.html


Posted by Dolfans NYC in Events | Comments Off on Buy Your 2018 #MetLifeTakeover Tickets!
Posted by Dolfans NYC in Video | Comments Off on 2017 #MetLifeTakeover Video!
#MetLifeTakeover Partners With Urban Tailgate!
We hope you're as excited about #MetLifeTakeover as we are!! In a little over 3 weeks we will fill our sections with aqua and orange, giving our Dolphins a TRUE home field advantage!!
If you haven't signed up it's not too late! Sign up here! If you have signed up and haven't paid yet get your money in ASAP!
Dolfans NYC is excited to announce a new partnership with Urban Tailgate! As you know, in the past we have done our own tailgates and while they've been fun, they've grown so big that it's beyond the bandwidth of what we can put together. We almost decided not to do one this year, but then we were approached by Urban Tailgate to do something custom JUST FOR DOLPHINS FANS.
Urban Tailgate has built up a very cool brand and they have a great relationship with the stadium. They have all the permits needed to set up a full-service tailgate with tons of food and various drink options and they've been doing this at quite a few stadiums for different teams.
They are setting up a custom Dolfans NYC tailgate in the bus lot and are giving us a promo code for $20 off each ticket just for Dolfans NYC members!! Plus, a portion of each ticket sale will go to our charity.
The tailgate is all you can drink and eat! Fully Catered hot food including sausage and peppers, chicken marsala, BBQ pulled pork, penne a la vodka, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken scarpiello, veggie burgers, and more!
Plus there will be tons of games set up, music from DJ Tropic and all the other stuff you associate with the #MetLifeTakeover only taken to another level.
They will be set up in the bus lot, next to where our buses will be parked and they will have everything up and running by the time we get there.
Now this is a lot more expensive than in years past but we think this is still a great deal. Instead of a hamburger you get some serious food and instead of a couple of beers we will have a bar set up with beer, liquor and wine. The regular price is $75 per ticket ($45 for kids/non-alcoholic option), BUT, if you USE THE PROMO CODE DOLFANSNYC YOU WILL GET $20 OFF!!! And part of each ticket sale goes to our 501(c)(3) for charity!
For more details and to purchase your tickets, please click here!
REMEMBER – Promo code is DOLFANSNYC to get your $20 off!!!
Can't wait to see everyone at the game!! GO DOLPHINS!!!
Posted by Dolfans NYC in Events | Comments Off on #MetLifeTakeover Partners With Urban Tailgate!


Damn still delish after all this time!! Farewell my last can of love!!
Tony B.: Man how long ago did I give you this?
Earned the Middle of the Road (Level 8) badge! Earned the Pucker Up (Level 5) badge!
Earned the Cheers to Independent U.S. Craft Breweries (Level 81) badge! Earned the For the Can (Level 55) badge!


text:
Si Yuus Maase` Eloy
By John S. Del Rosario Jr.
Tag: casino, CNMI, people, Si Yuus Maase
Our appointment came on the same day, though different roles. He took care of finance while I took charge of indigenous affairs. We took our oath of office together. It was the beginning of a long personal and professional relationship in and out of government.
The highlight of his career was the instrumental role he played in the transition from the old TTG to what is now the Federated States of Micronesia and Republics of Belau and Marshalls. It also took him to many hearings before the U.S. Congress in Washington.
It was also during his charge as head of finance that we announced to the U.S. Congress in the early '90s to discontinue any further grant funds from Washington. This took Congress by surprise, for no other territory has done this except the CNMI.
Inos was a master of figures and knew exactly how to juggle funds for the local government. But he also knew as well as others in key fiscal positions that the Retirement Fund would bankrupt the CNMI in no time. It has happened and has sent us limping every which way imaginable. I may not have been enamored by some of his decisions but I also remember the fighter in the ring.
At the personal level, he was a very compassionate friend who'd offer help to people that matter to him. He generously shared what he had, from income to the fish he caught in the open waters. Enjoyed the many discussions we had where he demonstrated his analytical forte and thoroughness.
Eloy fought his own battles and has succeeded where others have failed. Even in his health condition he fought like an old warrior in hopes of returning home soon. He's back home to rest in peace in an archipelago and its people he loves so dearly. Si Yuus Maase` Ñao for the wonderful and unique memories we've shared for many years. Our prayers! Kuñao JR and family.
Destiny: It's up to us!
Over the last year I've listened intently to the sentiments of our people young and old on important issues that matter to them. The young are revolting, itching and radically incensed to inflict change on sitting ducks or incumbents.
The discontent is fueled by the stagnant economy where salaries haven't moved an inch for 15 long years. It suffocates decent opportunities at home.
Then there's news that corruption has spread like wildfire among the elected elite who now cater to their rich donors trashing their constituents.
It is also rumored that two firms are ready to bankroll the re-election of their legislative lapdogs to protect their turf: single casino license and tax-free protection under the current law.
Appalling the air of superiority, lack of self-reflection and the view as being sacrosanct (too important to be bothered) and beyond scrutiny. Nah! We'd scrutinize them this midterm election.
This agenda piqued my curiosity why would the two firms interfere with NMI politics, the sole preserve of the indigenous people. If the firms were committed to improving the wellbeing of our people as good corporate citizens then they would have done two things from the outset:
1). Surrender the single license deal to grant another firm the same privilege to rake in more revenues or money.
2). Volunteer some 10-12 percent in annual taxes from backroom counting to shore up more funds for the local coffers. But these never happened which is a tale of their motives so distant from a commitment to making lasting difference here. Well, they are into gambling and are playing their cards right at this juncture. It has succeeded controlling the elected elite in its game plan.
It's obvious the hidden grand scheme behind a plan of hiring locals as their front people conditioned to spread good tidings of the industry. This agenda will crumble! So we're supposed to abandon over 500 years of indigenous heritage that held us together all these years? Is instant gratification a more lasting approach over the true and tried time-honored traditions of these isles?
The voice of our young people reveals a commitment to principled and high-minded ideals ready to take over the reins of leadership. They know they are permanent stakeholders on this journey and are imbued with the right values and attitudes to meet the challenges of the future with humility and responsibility. They know that innovation and initiative are central issues in their vision to allow the NMI to realize its potential.
One of the more scholarly young college graduate related that he knows the competitive advantage of a "clean, efficient, rational, and predictable or stable government." He said it ensures that government makes firm decisions so that there can be certainty and stability in the affairs of the people. "What's happening today is a design for permanent derailment of our livelihood and this isn't my vision of the future of our people." He's optimistic of the opportunity to reunite "so we decide our destiny."
Guardrails abandoned
Over the last 37 years we've made progress in the concept of self-government. Public officials that took the exit had to deal with a temporary setting or federal penitentiary.
We assumed the attitude that the NMI, under its self-government, is a fully sovereign state. The feds came in and said "nah".
In 1979 politicians wanted a program for political reasons as to ignore critical review of its fiscal implications. It is now gift-wrapped in some $789 million in unfunded liability.
We were warned of the abuse of foreign workers but chose to ignore it. The feds came in and took over control of immigration.
We further learned we're not sovereign when the feds came in and investigated the Tinian Dynasty for unpaid taxes.
Our people, via a plebiscite, shot down casino twice. Our men of wisdom on imperial Capital Hill decided otherwise.
John S. Del Rosario Jr. | Contributing Author
John DelRosario Jr. is a former publisher of the Saipan Tribune and a former secretary of the Department of Public Lands.
Relativity and chaos
Ralph DLG Torres
The Lore and Lure of Liars
, By (JOEY 'PEPE BATBON' CONNOLLY (Special to the Saipan Tribune)
Year of the Rabbit/ Remember Bugs Bunny?
, By JOEY CONNOLLY
DFEMS found noncompliant with CNMI public law
, By Kimberly Bautista Esmores
Flying colors for CNMI va'a in 2022
, By Leigh Gases
New start dates for Medicare Part B coverage in 2023
A 9th century Chinese poem for Ukraine
Cats or rats?


In late March we first announced that PortKeys, based in China, was taking the leap into the EVF world with their new OEYE-3G. cinema5D caught up with PortKeys team at NAB 2019 for an inside look into the new 0.7″ 1080P OLED display Electronic Viewfinder. All the details are below including pricing and availability.
The EVF is built with all aluminum construction and the OEYE-3G EVF weighs in at a very manageable 400 grams. Three custom user buttons are available and you can mount the EVF using the ARRI Rosette or two provided 1/4″ holes. There is also a headphone port on the back for monitoring audio.
You are limited to a single 7-24V Lemo port for power and some may miss having a battery option. After a quick run-through the menu/UI seems especially intuitive and the peaking seemed great.
Beyond the listed tools you can also add up-to 30 selectable LUTs into the EVF.
Finding more information about PortKeys as a company is a little tricky as we haven't been able to locate much information on the web about them, but the EVF does look promising at first glance.
Pricing and Availability: The price for the OEYE-3G EVF is $1,199.00 and the device is expected to ship in early May.
Will it handle progressive segmented frames? My camera sometimes outputs EVF video in 1080 60p, but depending on the mode may switch to 24 PsF which is a different format than 24p (I found out). Some EVFs do not support PsF video.
I have to say I bought one of their 2000NIT 7″ monitors and found the build quality to be very good… I will definitely looking at one of theses as a backup to my Gratical Eye… perhaps it will be my main EVF. Time will tell.


This is what you get when I've been in the house too long due to rain..
Intensely Chocolate By Carole Bloom Vlog Review..
Chocolate lovers have more and more ways to get their fix with high-cacao, high-quality chocolate beckoning from grocery shelves all over the country. Intensely Chocolate offers luscious recipes for cakes, brownies, muffins, tarts, cookies, custards, candies, and frozen desserts that will make any chocolate lover drool. Here, you'll find new ideas, and classics even better than you remember them. From bittersweet high-cacao content to chocolates mixed with fruits, nuts, spices, and more-there's almost no limit to what you can do with chocolate. Intensely Chocolate gives you the ideas and guidance to turn this beloved ingredient into splendid desserts.
100 recipes cover beloved favorites like Individual Molten Mocha Cakes and exciting new ideas like Chocolate-Passion Fruit Ganache Tart.
This lushly illustrated book also includes helpful information on available ingredients and how to use them.
These recipes are perfect for today's high-quality chocolate, but simple preparations put these unforgettable treats within easy reach.
For anyone looking for a new twist on their favorite dessert or creative ideas for using high-quality artisan chocolates, Intensely Chocolate is the essential guide to the world's favorite confection.
Carole Bloom is a European-trained pastry chef and confectioner, as well as the author of ten cookbooks on desserts, including Bite-Size Desserts and The Essential Baker. She has worked as a pastry chef at renowned hotels from Switzerland to California and writes frequently for such websites and publications as Epicurious.com, Culinate.com, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking, Eating Well, Cooking Light, and Chocolatier, among others.
I really enjoyed the video review. That recipe is something I would definitely make. I am going over to Amazon to put the book on my wish list right now. Although it won't last long on the wish list because I will probably cave and buy it.


We must thank the forefathers of Neo-Protestantism (a return to authentic Protestantism) for creating the infamous Cross Chart. Nothing depicts Protestant orthodoxy better. Basically, there is only one difference between the lost and the saved; "If You're evil and You Know It Clap Your Hands"…that makes the cross bigger, viz, degree of gratitude for our original salvation draws us close and closer to "final justification." By the way, this is also the basis for John Piper's "Christian Hedonism" which is just another way of stating Protestant soteriology. If you really understand the gospel, you will rejoice in your evil, or, hedonism if you will. Please don't criticize Piper if you are a Protestant; he knows what he is talking about and you don't. If you are going to be a Protestant, at least know what one is.
The apostle Paul said it: "Love does not delight in evil." But any claim that church is a venue for love makes the cross smaller. It doesn't add up.
Look, if you go to church, I understand why you do, but bless your heart, and I know you don't mean to, but you are worshiping evil and how different you are from your Father.
I watched the video clip. Sheesh, Satan in the flesh . . . or drugs at work, or maybe there was something in his mushrooms at breakfast? My word. Blasphemous guff.


You said "Here, my dear"
"Let's make hay while the Sun shines!"
General CommentI think this song has a nostalgic quality. Looking back on a period of time with a smile having grown up since then.
Thrown out to make better space " whereby a youth transgresses and abandons the toys and playfulness of childhood to become preoccupied with being a sexual man more interested in relationships and work; and in respect to the latter becomes a slave to the machine, as a janitor in Baltimore. The joyful aspirations of childhood are supplanted by the harsh realities of adulthood. In this respect making a 'better space' is viewed somewhat with irony - yes it is a right of passage but the narrative just laments what was left behind at that turning point.
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World Trade Center Miami, Inc.
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Click on the image to view the training slides.
A fellow volunteer found a handbook for teaching Afghan women. It's full of thoughts and research that may help those of you who teach in this particular community.


Obama's been really bad for privacy, due process, and discretion when it comes to a litany of topics. Many of these issues aren't really discussed in the mainstream media and it's beginning to really bother me. I take that back, it's been bothering me for quiet some time, but I'm going to be talking about it a lot more now. In fact, many of these issues have dated back to before this past election. I was extremely close to voting for a third party candidate for president because I find it repugnant that the US president would kill US citizens abroad without a trial by jury, because the Bush administration created a legal gray zone called "enemy combatant." I'm not a fan of conjecturing what our founding fathers think about modern day issues, however, I feel that this one is pretty obvious. People were being imprisoned and killed without trail under British rule. The right to a trail was to ensure this wouldn't happen to a citizen.
The next area that's really starting to disturb me is the efforts to shut down some types of DDoS activities. It was just discovered within the past few days that the FBI has backdoor access into a company that does DDoS for hire. Which likely means that they're used as part of the US Cyber Security Defense League of National Homeland Safetiness. It also means that anyone that uses a service like this can be tracked and arrested for using the service, if the FBI decides to – essentially if the FBI feels that the use would have been justified from their perspective the customer wouldn't be bothered. However, this isn't the case at all when it comes to teenagers, young adults, or whatever age you are if you're in Anonymous, Lulzsec, or just Kim Dot Com. According to a great Guardian article, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/04/security-alert-war-in-cyberspace, there's a general all out attack on people that decide to use the internet in new ways to do different things. These are people that are notifying others of risks to their own security. For example, Weev, was just sentenced to 3 years in prison for alerting AT&T that the had some email addresses associated with iPads exposed, sure he went through Gwaker, but this information was easily accessible and in plain text. This creates a risk to all security researchers, the people that are called "white hats" that are the good Samaritan hackers which find security exploits, inform the firm give them 30 days or so to fix the issue and then release the information into the public to force the fix. Many cases of hacking are "Black hat" hackers that are really up to no good, but as the generation younger than mine continue to explore the web there will be continued clashed of culture of what is right and wrong on the internet. To me, these prison terms (and attacks that lead to Aaron Swartz's suicide) is the old guard trying to assert authority in an area they don't understand and cannot control.
The final area of DOJ assault is on whistle blowers and journalists. I've long been an advocate for releasing more information to the public and applying more scrutiny to the government. The scandals with the IRS, Benghazi, and military leaderships only indicate we need more transparency not less. The Obama administration has taken the idea of national security needs to new heights and this has created a pervasive atmosphere throughout the US that governments can simply do as they please. For example New York City, which famously said privacy is off the table, refuses to respond to legally binding Freedom of Information Requests. They are simply ignored. If it's good for the federal government then it's good for state and city government! Greater transparency to the public is the only way to prevent corruption throughout the government. I believe the only reason we learned of the IRS fiasco is because it was a government issued report to the public. Otherwise, it would have been buried for years and we wouldn't have heard of it for some time, and even then there would have been a nasty fight over getting the information public.
Back to my main point of the assault on journalism – the DOJ secretly sopenaed phone records from the AP, then charged an investigative reporter from Fox as a co-conspirator which allowed the DOJ to access emails and other records skirting typical judicial oversight when dealing with the press. Furthermore, nearly all aspects of the US Government feel they can just access whoevers email they want without a warrant.
All of these things are setting really bad precedents and we need to hold people accountable to them. I know that many of you out there are apathetic towards voting. Instead of not voting, vote for a third party. Aside from Obama and the guy that ran against Lamar Smith, I voted third party for anything I could. I knew it wouldn't have much of an impact, but I'm starting to do that and I plan to continue to do so. I also plan to support activities to get money out of our government. You should too.
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