text:
\section{Introduction}

Human action recognition from video data data has a wide range of applications in areas such as surveillance and image retrieval \cite{Junejo_Foroosh_2008,Sun_etal_2012,junejo2007trajectory,sun2011motion,Ashraf_etal2012,sun2014feature,Junejo_Foroosh2007-1,Junejo_Foroosh2007-2,Junejo_Foroosh2007-3,ashraf2012motion,ashraf2015motion,sun2014should}, image annotation \cite{Tariq_etal_2017,Tariq_etal_2017_2,tariq2013exploiting,tariq2015feature,tariq2014scene}, video post-production and editing \cite{balci2006real,moore2008learning,alnasser2006image,Alnasser_Foroosh_rend2006,fu2004expression,balci2006image},
and self-localization \cite{Junejo_etal_2010,Junejo_Foroosh_2010,Junejo_Foroosh_solar2008,Junejo_Foroosh_GPS2008,junejo2008gps}, to name a few.

The literature on human action recognition from video data includes both monocular and multiple view methods \cite{Shen_Foroosh_2009,Ashraf_etal_2014,Sun_etal_2015,shen2008view,sun2011action,ashraf2014view,shen2008action,shen2008view-2,ashraf2010view,boyraz122014action,Shen_Foroosh_FR2008,Shen_Foroosh_pose2008,ashraf2012human}. Often, multiple view methods are designed to tackle viewpoint invariant recognition \cite{Shen_Foroosh_2009,Ashraf_etal_2014,shen2008view,ashraf2014view,shen2008view-2,ashraf2010view,Shen_Foroosh_FR2008,ashraf2012human}, although such methods may require calibration across views \cite{Junejo_etal_2011,junejo2006dissecting,junejo2007robust,junejo2006robust,Junejo_Foroosh_calib2008,Junejo_Foroosh_PTZ2008,Junejo_Foroosh_SolCalib2008,Ashraf_Foroosh_2008,Junejo_Foroosh_Givens2008,Balci_Foroosh_metro2005},  image registration \cite{Foroosh_etal_2002,Foroosh_2005,Balci_Foroosh_2006,Balci_Foroosh_2006_2,Alnasser_Foroosh_2008,Atalay_Foroosh_2017,Atalay_Foroosh_2017-2,shekarforoush1996subpixel,foroosh2004sub,shekarforoush1995subpixel,balci2005inferring,balci2005estimating,Balci_Foroosh_phase2005,Foroosh_Balci_2004,foroosh2001closed,shekarforoush2000multifractal,balci2006subpixel,balci2006alignment,foroosh2004adaptive,foroosh2003adaptive}, or tracking across views \cite{Shu_etal_2016,Milikan_etal_2017,Millikan_etal2015,shekarforoush2000multi,millikan2015initialized}. There are also methods that rely on human-object interaction \cite{prest2012weakly,yao2011human,yao2012recognizing}, which often require identifying image contents other than humans \cite{liu2015sparse,wang2016factorized,Cakmakci_etal_2008,Cakmakci_etal_2008_2,Lotfian_Foroosh_2017,Morley_Foroosh2017,Ali-Foroosh2016,Ali-Foroosh2015,Einsele_Foroosh_2015,ali2016character,Cakmakci_etal2008,damkjer2014mesh}.
Other preprocessing steps that may be needed include image restoration \cite{Foroosh_2000,Foroosh_Chellappa_1999,Foroosh_etal_1996,berthod1994reconstruction,shekarforoush19953d,lorette1997super,shekarforoush1998multi,shekarforoush1996super,shekarforoush1995sub,shekarforoush1999conditioning,shekarforoush1998adaptive,berthod1994refining,shekarforoush1998denoising,bhutta2006blind,jain2008super,shekarforoush2000noise,shekarforoush1999super,shekarforoush1998blind},
or scene modeling \cite{Junejo_etal_2013,bhutta2011selective,junejo1dynamic,ashraf2007near}.

In this paper, we look at a very specific problem of determining which body parts play a role in recognizing an action and to what extent. This is a crucial information that may serve as a prior information to any method in the literature, whether video-based or single-image method.

\section{Related Work}\label{sec:bgActionRec}
The literature in human action recognition has been extremely active in the past two decades and significant progress has been made in this area \cite{gavrila1999vah, moeslund2001scv, moeslund2006sav, wang2003rdh}. Human action recognition methods start by assuming a model of the human body, e.g. silhouette, body points, stick model, etc., and build algorithms that use the adopted model to recognize body pose and its motion over time. While there has been many different ways of classifying existing action recognition methods in the literature \cite{gavrila1999vah, moeslund2001scv, moeslund2006sav, wang2003rdh}, we present herein a different perspective. We consider action recognition at three different levels: (i) the subject level, which requires studying the kinematics of the articulated human body, (ii) the image level, which requires studying the process of imaging the 3D  human body both in terms of the geometry and lighting effects, and (iii) the observer level, which requires studying how an observer would interpret visual data and recognize an action. This way of categorizing action recognition is rather uncommon but offers a different point of view of how one can approach this problem.

Herein we are interested in investigating observer level issues from a new point of view. It has been long argued in the applied perception community \cite{Schutz2009} that human observers use a foveated strategy, which may be interpreted as an approach using ``importance sampling''. What this implies is that humans sample only the most significant aspects of an event or action for recognition, and do not give equal importance to every observed data point. Most of existing action recognition methods in the literature have primarily focused on subject level \cite{Blank2005,bb53505,bobick2001rhm,wang2003sab,yilmaz2005asn,parameswaran2003vih,yilmaz2006map} and image level \cite{efros2003rad,laptev2005pmd,schuldt2004rha,zhu2006arb,wang2006awg} issues. A number of methods have focused on the observer level \cite{ahmad2006hbh,schuldt2004rha}, but mostly from a machine learning point of view. An interesting work by Sheikh et al. \cite{sheikh2005esh} recently has perhaps a close connection to what we aim to address in this paper. However, they investigate a holistic approach in an abstract framework of action space. Our goal is to propose an observer level approach with more direct connection to image level features, which we believe would be more ``intuitive''. In other words, we are interested in exploring an idea similar to importance sampling where image level features are directly assigned different importance weights that are derived directly from the extent to which the feature affects the recognition performance for a given action.

\begin{figure}[htb]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=70mm]{weighted_figs/body}
\caption{An example of human poses, with the points used for body representation: head, shoulders, elbows, hands, knees, and feet. A body point triplet is shown.}
\label{fig:body}
\end{figure}

One particular issue that has attracted attention among many of these groups is invariance \cite{campbell1996ifg,gritai2004uai,junejo2008cross,parameswaran2003vih,rao2002vir,Shen2008,Shen2009,rao2002vir}. Invariance is an important issue in any recognition problem from image or video data, since appearance is substantially affected by the imaging level, i.e. the viewing angle, camera parameters, lighting, etc. In action recognition the issue of invariant recognition is compounded with additional complexity introduced by the high degrees of freedom of human body \cite{Zatsiorsky02}.

Our focus in this paper is twofold: to investigate action recognition at the observer level which takes into account how humans recognize actions by paying attention to only the most significant visual cues, and to introduce this approach within an invariant framework

\section{Our Body Model}

We use a point-based model similar to \cite{Shen2008,Shen2009}, which consists of a set of 11 body points (see Figure \ref{fig:body}). We also adopt the idea of decomposing the non-rigid motion of human body into rigid motions of planes given by triplets of body points \cite{Shen2008,Shen2009}. This implies that the non-rigid motion of human body is described by a set of homographies induced by planes associated with the body point triplets . As a result the complex problem of estimating the human body motion is reduced to a set of linear problems associated with the motions of planes.

With the triplet representation of human pose and action, we may consider the relative importance of body point triplets for different actions. For instance, the triplets composed of shoulders and hips have similar motion in walking and jogging, and thus make trivial contribution to distinguish them, while other triplets that consist of shoulder, knee and foot joints carry more essential information of the differences between walking and jogging (See Figure \ref{fig:walkRunDiff}). Understanding the roles of body point triplets in human motion/action could help us retrieve more accurate information on human motion, and thus improve the performance of our recognition methods.

Our problem can be described as follows. We have a database of reference actions. Given a target sequence we are interested in finding out which reference sequence in the database best matches our target sequence. We are interested in performing this task in a manner that is invariant to viewing directions and the camera parameters. Our first step is to align the target sequences to be recognized to the reference sequences in our database, as described in the next section.

\begin{figure}[htb]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{c}
\includegraphics[width=7in]{weighted_figs/walkeg.png}\\
\includegraphics[width=7in]{weighted_figs/jogeg.png}\\
(a) Examples of walking (upper sequence) and jogging (lower sequence)\\
\includegraphics[width=7in,height=1.5in]{weighted_figs/headtriplets.png}\\
(b) Comparison of head-shoulders triplet in walking and jogging\\
\includegraphics[width=7in]{weighted_figs/handtriplets.png}\\
(c) Comparison of head-hand-knee triplet in walking and jogging
\end{tabular}
\caption{Roles of different triplets in action recognition}
\label{fig:walkRunDiff}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Sequence Alignment}
The body motion perceived in two different frames is often referred to as body pose transition. Our sequence alignment method is based on finding corresponding pose transitions in two actions sequences viewed by two different cameras. Our starting point is the view-invariant similarity measure that was proposed in \cite{Shen2008,Shen2009}: Any triplet of body points in one camera iamge and the corresponding triplet of points in a second camera define a homography ${\bf H}_1$ between the two cameras. After a pose transition the triplets move to new positions defining a new homography ${\bf H}_2$. If the triplet motions are similar, then the two homographies become consistent with the fundamental matrix, and as a result the homography defined by ${\bf H} = {\bf H}_1{\bf H}_2^{-1}$ will become a homology, two of whose eigenvalues are equal. The equality of the two eigenvalues of the homography ${\bf H}$, provides thus a measure of similarity for the motion of the two point triplets, which is invariant to viewing angles and the camera parameters \cite{Shen2008}. Given $11$ body points as shown in Figure 1, there are $165$ such triplets, all of which are used to provide a measure of similarity for the two actions being compared. We use the following measure of similarity over all possible triplets for evaluating the similarity of two pose transitions $\mathcal{T}_1$ and $\mathcal{T}_2$:

\begin{eqnarray}
\mathscr{S}(\mathcal{T}_1,\mathcal{T}_2) &=& \sum_{i}\frac{\left|a_i-b_i\right|}{\left|a_i+b_i\right|} \label{eq:costf2}
\end{eqnarray}
where $a_i$ and $b_i$ are the two closest eigenvaluse of the homography defined by the $i$-th triplet, and $i=1,...,165$ for 11 body points. \\

Given a target sequence of $m$ pose transitions $\mathcal{A}_j$, $j=1,...,m$ and a reference sequence of $n$ pose transitions $\mathcal{B}_{j'}$, $j'=1,...,n$, in order to find the optimal alignment $\psi: \mathcal{A}\rightarrow \mathcal{B}$ between the two actions $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$, we build a matching error matrix using (ref{eq:costf2}), and use dynamic programming to find the optimal mapping.
Once two sequences are aligned, the main issue is to determine how similar the two actions are. In the next section, we describe our weighting-based action recognition method.

\section{Weighting-based Human Action Recognition}\label{sec:weightedActRec}
To study the roles of body-point triplets in action recognition, we select two different sequences of walking action $WA = \{I_{1\ldots l}\}$ and $WB = \{J_{1\ldots m}\}$, and a sequence of running action $R = \{K_{1\ldots n}\}$. We then align sequence $WB$ and $R$ to $WA$, using the alignment method described in Section 2, and obtain the corresponding alignment/mapping $\psi: WA \rightarrow WB$ and $\psi' : WA \rightarrow R$. As discussed in Section 2, the similarity of two poses is computed based on error scores of all body-point triplets motion. For each matched poses $\left<I_i, J_{\psi(i)}\right>$, we stack the error scores of all triplets as a vector $\mathbf{V}_{e}(i)$:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:EVi}
\mathbf{V}_{e}(i) =
 \left[\begin{array}{c}
E(\Delta_1)\\
E(\Delta_2)\\
\colon\\
E(\Delta_T)
\end{array}\right],
\end{equation}
where $E(\Delta_i)=\frac{\left|a_i-b_i\right|}{\left|a_i+b_i\right|}$.\\

We then build an error score matrix $\mathbf{M}_e$ for alignment $\psi_{WA \rightarrow WB}$:
\begin{equation}
\mathbf{M}_e = \left[\begin{array}{cccc}
\mathbf{V}_{e}(1) & \mathbf{V}_{e}(2) & \ldots & \mathbf{V}_{e}(l)
\end{array}\right].
\end{equation}
Each row $i$ of $\mathbf{M}_e$ indicates the dissimilarity scores of triplet $i$ across the sequence, and the expected value of each column $j$ of $\mathbf{M}_e$ is the dissimilarity score of pose $I_j$ and $J_{\psi_{WA \rightarrow WB}(j)}$. Similarly we build an error score matrix $\mathbf{M}'_e$ for alignment $\psi_{WA \rightarrow R}$. $\mathbf{M}_e$ and $\mathbf{M}'_e$ are illustrated visually in Figure \ref{fig:compareDiffActions}.

\begin{figure}[htb]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=60mm,height=3in]{weighted_figs/walk-walk} \includegraphics[width=60mm,height=3in]{weighted_figs/walk-run}
\caption{Visual illustration of $\mathbf{M}_e$ (left) and $\mathbf{M}'_e$ (right)}
\label{fig:compareDiffActions}
\end{figure}

To study the role of a triplet $i$ in distinguishing walking and running, we compare the $i$-th row of $\mathbf{M}_e$ and $\mathbf{M}'_e$, as plotted in Figure \ref{fig:compareDiffActions2} (a) - (f). We found that, some triplets such as triplets 1 , 21 and 90 have similar error scores in both cases, which means the motion of these triplets are similar in walking and running. On the other hand, triplets 55, 94 and 116 have high error scores in $\mathbf{M}'_e$ and low error scores in $\mathbf{M}_e$, that is, the motion of these triplets in a running sequence is different from their motion in a walking sequence. Triplets 55, 94 and 116 reflect the variation in actions of walking and running, thus are more informative than triplets 1 , 21 and 90 for the task of distinguishing walking and running actions.

\begin{figure*}[htb]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/triplet_1} &\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/triplet_21} & \hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/triplet_90} \\
(a) Triplet 1 & (b) Triplet 21 &(c) Triplet 90\\
\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/triplet_55} &\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/triplet_94} & \hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/triplet_116} \\
(d) Triplet 55 &(e) Triplet 94 & (f) Triplet 116
\end{tabular}
\caption{Roles of different triplets in action recognition. (a) - (f) are the plots of dissimilarity scores of some triplets across frames in the walk-walk and walk-run alignments.}
\label{fig:compareDiffActions2}
\end{figure*}

In the following experiments, we compare sequences of different individuals performing the same action, and study the roles of triplets in categorizing them in the same group of action: Select four sequences $G0$, $G1$, $G2$, and $G3$ of golf-swing action, and align $G1$, $G2$, and $G3$ to $G0$ using the alignment method described in Section 2, and then build error score matrix $\mathbf{M}^1_e$, $\mathbf{M}^2_e$, $\mathbf{M}^3_e$ correspondingly as in above experiments. From the illustrations of $\mathbf{M}^1_e$, $\mathbf{M}^2_e$, $\mathbf{M}^3_e$ in Figure \ref{fig:compareSameActions} (a), (b) and (c). The dissimilarity scores of some triplets, such as triplet 120 (see  Figure \ref{fig:compareSameActions} (f)) , is very consistent across individuals. Some other triplets such as triplets 20 (Figure \ref{fig:compareSameActions} (d)) and 162 (Figure \ref{fig:compareSameActions} (e)) have various error score patterns across individuals, that is, these triplets represent the variations of individuals performing the same action.

\begin{figure*}[htb]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/golf-golf1} &\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/golf-golf2} & \hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/golf-golf3} \\
(a) $\mathbf{M}^1_e$ & (b) $\mathbf{M}^2_e$ & (c) $\mathbf{M}^3_e$\\
\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/golf-diff-t20} &\hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/golf-diff-t162} & \hspace*{-0.3cm}\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/golf-sim-t120} \\
(d) Triplet 20 &(e) Triplet 162 & (f) Triplet 20
\end{tabular}
\caption{Roles of different triplets in action recognition}
\label{fig:compareSameActions}
\end{figure*}

\begin{definition}\label{def:essentialtriplet}
If a triplet reflects the essential differences between an action $A$ and other actions, we call it a {\textbf significant triplet} of action $A$. All triplets other than significant triplets are referred to as {\textbf trivial triplets} of action $A$.
\end{definition}

A typical significant triplet should (1) convey the variations between actions and/or (2) tolerate the individual variations of the same action.
For example, triplets 55, 94 and 116 are significant triplets for walking action, and triplet 20 is a significant triplet for the golf-swing action.

Intuitively, in the task of action recognition, we should place more focus on the significant triplets while reducing the negative impact of trivial triplets, that is, assigning appropriate influence factor to the body-point triplets. In our approach to action recognition, this can be achieved by assigning appropriate weights to the similarity errors of body point triplets in equation (1). That is, equation (1) could be rewritten as:
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:weightedSimilarity}
\mathcal{E}(I_1\rightarrow I_2, J_i\rightarrow J_j) = \sum_{\mbox{all } \Delta_i}(\lambda_i \cdot E(\Delta_i)),
\end{equation}
where
$\lambda_1 + \lambda_2 + \ldots +\lambda_T = 1, T = \binom{n}{3}$, $n$ is the number of body points in the human body model.

The next question is, how to determine the optimal set of weights $\lambda_i$ for different actions. Manual assignment of weights could be biased and difficult for a large database of actions, and is inefficient when new actions are added in. Automatic assignment of weight values is desired for a robust and efficient action recognition system. To achieve this goal, we propose to use a fixed size dataset of training sequences to learn weight values. Suppose we are given a training dataset $\mathcal{T}$ which consists of $K\times J$ action sequences for $J$ different actions, each of which with $K$ pre-aligned sequences performed by various individuals. Let $\lambda_i^j$ be the weight value of body joint with label $i$ ($i=1\ldots n$) for the action $j$ ($j=1\ldots J$). Our goal is to find optimal assignment of $\lambda_i^j$ which maximize the similarity error between sequences of different actions and minimize those of same actions. Since the size of the dataset and the alignments of sequences are fixed, this turns out to be an optimization problem on $\lambda_i^j$. Our task is to define a good objective function $f(\lambda_1^j, \lambda_2^j, \dots, \lambda_n)$ for this purpose, and to apply optimization to solve the problem.

\subsection{Weights on Triplets versus Weights on Body Points}
Given a human body model of $n$ points, we could obtain at most $\binom{n}{3}$ triplets, and need to solve a $\binom{n}{3}$ dimensional optimization problem for weight assignment. Even with a simplified human body model of 11 points, this yields a extremely high dimensional ($\binom{11}{3} = 165$ dimensions) problem. On the other hand, the body point triplets are not independent of each other. In fact, adjacent triplets are correlated by their common body points, and the importance of a triplet is also determined by the importance of its three corners (body points). Therefore, instead of using $\binom{n}{3}$ variables for weights of $n$ triplets, we assign $n$ weights $\omega_{1\dots n}$
to the body points $P_{1\dots n}$, where:
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:omega}
\omega_1 + \omega_2 + \ldots + \omega_n = 1.
\end{equation}
The weight of a triplet $\Delta = \left< P_i, P_j, P_k\right>$ are then computed as:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:weightAvg}
\lambda_{\Delta} = \frac{\omega_i + \omega_j + \omega_k}{\binom{n-1}{2}}\\
                 = \frac{2(\omega_i + \omega_j + \omega_k)}{(n-1)(n-2)}.
\end{equation}
Note that the definition of $\lambda$ in (\ref{eqn:weightAvg}) ensures that
$\lambda_1 + \lambda_2 + \ldots +\lambda_T = 1$. Using (\ref{eqn:weightAvg}), equation (\ref{eqn:weightedSimilarity}) is rewritten as:
\begin{eqnarray}\label{eqn:weightedSimilarity2}
\mathcal{E}(I_1\rightarrow I_2, J_i\rightarrow J_j) = \frac{2}{(n-1)(n-2)}\nonumber \\
\med_{1 \leq i < j < k \leq n}((\omega_i + \omega_j + \omega_k) \cdot E(\Delta_{i,j,k})),
\end{eqnarray}
By introducing weights $\{\omega_{1\dots n}\}$ to body points, we reduce the high dimensional optimization problem to a lower dimensional, and more tractable problem.

\subsection{Automatic Adjustment of Weights}
Before moving on to the automatic adjustment of weights, we first discuss the similarity score of two pre-aligned sequences.
Given two sequences $A = \{I_{1\dots N}\}$, $B = \{J_{1\dots M}\}$, and the known alignment $\psi : A \rightarrow B$, the similarity of $A$ and $B$ is:
\begin{equation}
\mathscr{S}(A,B)=\sum_{l=1}^{N}{S(l,\psi(l))}
                = N\tau - N \sum_{l=1}^N{\mathcal{E}(I_{l\rightarrow r_1}, J_{\psi(l)\rightarrow r_2})},
\end{equation}
where $r_1$ and $r_2$ are computed reference poses, and $\tau$ is a threshold, which we set as suggested in \cite{Shen2008,Shen2009}. Therefore, the proximate similarity score of $A$ and $B$ is:
\begin{eqnarray}\label{eqn:seqSimilarity}
\bar{\mathscr{S}}(A,B) = N\tau - \frac{2\cdot N}{(n-1)(n-2)} \sum_{l=1}^N \sum_{1 \leq i < j < k \leq n}\nonumber \\
(\omega_i + \omega_j + \omega_k) \cdot E^{l,\psi(l)}(\Delta_{i,j,k}).
\end{eqnarray}
Considering that $N$, $\tau$, $n$ and $E^{l,\psi(l)}(\Delta_{i,j,k})$ are constants given the alignment $\psi$, equation (\ref{eqn:seqSimilarity}) can be further rewritten into a simpler form:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:seqSimilarity2}
\bar{\mathscr{S}}(A,B) = a_0 - \sum_{i=1}^{n-1}{a_i \cdot \omega_i},
\end{equation}
where $\{a_i\}$ are constants computed from (\ref{eqn:seqSimilarity}).

Now let us return to our problem of automatic weights assignment for action recognition. As discussed earlier, a good objective function would reflect the intuition that, significant triplets should be assigned higher weights, while trivial triplets should be assigned lower weights. Suppose we have a training dataset $\mathcal{T}$ which consists of $K\times J$ action sequences for $J$ different actions, each of which with $K$ pre-aligned sequences performed by various individuals. $\mathcal{T}_k^j$ is the $k$-th sequence in the group of action $j$, and $\mathcal{R}^j$ is the reference sequence of action $j$. To find the optimal weight assignment for action $j$, we define the objective function as:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:weightObjectiveFunc}
f^j(\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{n-1})
= \mathcal{Q}_1 + \alpha\mathcal{Q}_2 - \beta\mathcal{Q}_3 ,
\end{equation}
where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are non-negative constants and
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:weightObjectiveFuncTerms1}
\mathcal{Q}_1 = \frac{1}{K}\sum_{k = 1}^{K}{\bar{\mathscr{S}}(\mathcal{R}^j, \mathcal{T}_k^j)},
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}
\mathcal{Q}_2 =
\frac{1}{K}\sum_{k = 1}^{K}{\bar{\mathscr{S}}(\mathcal{R}^j, \mathcal{T}_k^j)^2} - \frac{1}{K^2}\left(\sum_{k = 1}^{K}{\bar{\mathscr{S}}(\mathcal{R}^j, \mathcal{T}_k^j)}\right)^2,
\end{equation}

\begin{equation}
\mathcal{Q}_3 =
\frac{1}{K(J-1)}\sum_{1 \leq i \leq J, i \neq j}\sum_{k = 1}^{K}{\bar{\mathscr{S}}(\mathcal{R}^j, \mathcal{T}_k^i)}.
\end{equation}

The optimal weights for action $j$ are then computed using:
\begin{equation}
\label{eqn:weightSolution}
\left<\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{n-1}\right> = \underset{\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{n-1}}{\operatorname{argmax}}{f^j(\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{n-1})}.
\end{equation}

In this objective function, we use $\mathcal{T}_1^j$ as the reference sequence for action $j$, and the term $\mathcal{Q}_1$ and $\mathcal{Q}_2$ are the mean and variance of similarity scores between $\mathcal{T}_1^j$ and other sequences in the same action. $\mathcal{Q}_3$ is the mean of similarity scores between $\mathcal{T}_1^j$ and all sequences in other different actions. Hence $f^j(\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{n-1})$ achieves high similarity scores for all sequences of same action $j$, and low similarity scores for sequences of different actions. The second term $\mathcal{Q}_2$ may be interpreted as a regularization term to ensure the consistency of sequences in the same group.

As $\mathcal{Q}_1$ and $\mathcal{Q}_3$ are linear functions, and $\mathcal{Q}_2$ is quadratic polynomial, our objective function $f^j(\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{n-1})$ is quadratic polynomial function, and the optimization problem becomes a quadratic programming (QP) problem. There are a variety of methods for solving the QP problem, including interior point, active set, conjugate gradient, etc. In our problem, we adopted the conjugate gradient method, with the initial weight values set to $\left<\frac{1}{n}, \frac{1}{n}, ..., \frac{1}{n} \right>$.

\section{Experiments}
In this section, we apply the proposed weighting based approach to the action recognition problem, and compare its performance with non-weighting methods proposed in \cite{Shen2008,Shen2008-2,Shen2009}. For comparison, we use the same MoCap testing data as in \cite{Shen2008,Shen2008-2,Shen2009}, and build a MoCap training dataset which consists of total of $2 \times 17 \times 5 =  170$ sequences for $5$ actions (walk, jump, golf swing, run, and climb): each action is performed by $2$ subjects, and each instance of action is observed by 17 cameras set up different random locations. The same 11-point human body model in Figure 1 is adopted in the training data. We use the same set of reference sequences for the 5 actions, and align the sequences in the training set against the reference sequences.

To obtain optimal weighting for each action $j$, we first aligned all testing sequences against the reference sequence $\mathcal{R}^j$, and stored the similarity scores of triplets for each pair of matched poses. The objective function $f^j(\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{10})$ is then built based on equation (\ref{eqn:weightObjectiveFunc}), and the computed similarity scores of triplets in the alignments. $f^j(\cdot)$ is a 10-dimensional function, and the weights $\omega_i$ are constrained by
\begin{equation}
\begin{cases}
0 \leq \omega_i \leq 1, i = 1 \ldots 10,\\
\sum_{i=1}^{10}{\omega_i} \leq 1.
\end{cases}
\end{equation}
The optimal weights $\left<\omega_1, \omega_2, \dots, \omega_{10}\right>$ are then searched to maximize $f^j(\cdot)$, with the initialization at $\left<\frac{1}{11}, \frac{1}{11}, \dots, \frac{1}{11}\right>$. The conjugate gradient method is then applied to solve this optimization problem.

\begin{figure}[htb]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{cc}
\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/weight_walk1} &\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/weight_jump1} \\
(1) & (2)\\
\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/weight_walk2} &\includegraphics[width=60mm]{weighted_figs/weight_jump2}\\
(3) &(4)
\end{tabular}
\caption{Examples of computed weights. (1) and (2) are computed weights for walking and jumping correspondingly based on fundamental ratio invariant; (3) and (4) are computed weights for walking and jumping correspondingly based on eigenvalue equality invariant.}
\label{fig:weightResult}
\end{figure}
After performing the above steps for all the actions, we obtained a set of weights $\mathcal{W}^j$ for each action $j$ in our database. In order to compare our results with existing unweighted methods, we then carried out full comparisons with two methods proposed recently in the literature: action recognition using the fundamental ratios \cite{Shen2008-2}, and the method proposed in \cite{Shen2008,Shen2009}. As these methods behave differently, the objective functions we obtain for estimating weights may contain slightly different sets of coefficients. Figure \ref{fig:weightResult} shows the computed weights for walking and jumping when using for the two methods. Although the weights were slightly different, as shown in the figure similar patterns emerged in terms of significant and trivial triplets: same triplets have relatively high weights in both results.

\begin{table}
\caption{Confusion matrix using eigenvalue equality invariant: Large values on the diagonal entries indicate accuracy.}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{||l||c|c|c|c|c||}
\hline
\multirow{2}{*}{Ground-truth} &\multicolumn{5}{c||}{Recognized as}\\
\cline{2-6}
 &Walk&Jump&Golf Swing&Run&Climb\\
\hline
Walk& 46& 1  & & 1 & 2\\
Jump& 1 & 48 & & &1\\
Golf Swing&1 & & 48 & 1&\\
Run & & 2 & & 48 &\\
Climb& 4 & 1 &1 & & 44\\
\hline
\end{tabular}\label{tab:confusionWeighted}
\end{table}

\begin{table}
\caption{Confusion matrix using fundamental ratios invariant: Large values on the diagonal entries indicate accuracy. }
\centering
\begin{tabular}{||l||c|c|c|c|c||}
\hline
\multirow{2}{*}{Ground-truth} &\multicolumn{5}{c||}{Recognized as}\\
\cline{2-6}
 &Walk&Jump&Golf Swing&Run&Climb\\
\hline
Walk& 45& 1  & 1 & 2 & 1\\%5
Jump& 2 & 47 & & 1&\\%3
Golf Swing& &1 & 47 & 1&1\\%3
Run & 3& 1 & & 45 &1\\%5
Climb& 4 & 1 & 1&2 & 42\\%8
\hline
\end{tabular}\label{tab:confusionWeighted2}
\end{table}
We repeated all the action recognition experiments reported in \cite{Shen2008-2} and \cite{Shen2008,Shen2009} using the CMU MoCap data and compared our performance. Results are summarized in Tables \ref{tab:confusionWeighted} and \ref{tab:confusionWeighted2} for the two methods. The overall recognition rate is 93.6\% using a weighted eigenvalue method, and 90.4\% using a weighted fundamental ratios method, which are improved by 2\% and 8.8\% compared to the unweighted cases, respectively.

\section{Conclusion}

We propose a generic method of assigning weights to body points using a small set of training set, in order to improve action recognition from video data. Our method is motivated by the studies in applied perception community on selective processing of visual data for recognition. Our experimental results strongly support our hypothesis that weighting body points differently for different actions leads to significant improvement in performance. Furthermore, since our formulation is based on invariant features, our method shows outstanding performance in the presence of varying camera orientations and parameters. Finally, we believe similar frameworks can be applied to other body models such as silhouette, motion flow, and stick-model.

\bibliographystyle{plain}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Digital Euro Association Blog
Privacy and CBDCs - DEA Working Group Paper
by Digital Euro Association on Jan 19, 2023 2:30:00 PM
Privacy is regarded as a crucial factor in the investigation and development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and is therefore thoroughly researched by monetary authorities, academia, and the private sector. Academic research indicates that CBDC transactions may involve processing significant amounts of identity and transaction-related information (Lee et al., 2021), raising privacy concerns for future users. While there exist countless definitions for privacy, such as "the right to be left alone" (Warren and Brandeis, 1890), in this document, the definition of Nissenbaum (2010) - "the appropriate flow of information" - will be followed.
There is preliminary evidence that suggests that the level of privacy associated with CBDC use will be a key determinant of CBDC adoption and usage. In 2021, the European Central Bank (ECB) issued a report on the public consultation on a digital euro that included 8221 respondents. The report revealed that privacy was the most important feature required by individuals although results varied depending on the country analysed. Nonetheless - on average - privacy was ranked higher than all other features such as security or usability (ECB, 2021). Other central banks have also actively discussed privacy in the development of CBDCs, with a myriad of potential solutions being proposed. For example, the Bank of Canada notes that a decision on the level of privacy that a CBDC might possess is a crucial public policy issue. It adds that a CBDC could be designed to implement a form of privacy rather than cash-like anonymity, allowing it to satisfy anti-money laundering (AML), combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), and other regulations that require disclosure of certain levels of private information (Bank of Canada, 2020). Even the digital yuan - the Chinese CBDC - has included levels of privacy in its pilot and has tiered privacy to balance, transfer and activity limits. It presents five levels, two of which do not require a user's identity, but rather just a phone number or email address. Therefore, there isn't a one-size-fits-all privacy design for CBDCs and there are factors affecting privacy (such as regulation) that extend beyond the central bank's remit or control.
Academic research has also confirmed the importance of privacy for individuals on a hypothetical digital euro in qualitative research with experts and non-experts from Europe (Tronnier and Biker, 2022). The results of the research indicate the crucial role of trust in central banks and the significant negative effect that privacy concerns may have on the intention to adopt and use a CBDC. To mitigate these concerns, technological solutions are currently being discussed and piloted to ensure privacy protection in CBDC payments (Gross et al., 2021; Chaum and Moser, 2022).
In this document, we aim to follow the call of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB, 2022) to shape the public debate on the topic of privacy by providing an overview of privacy in CBDC development and use. To this end, we discuss the possible degrees of privacy in CBDC payments, the relevant actors, technologies, and concerns regarding regulation. The paper concludes with a set of well-considered, actionable recommendations for ensuring privacy in CBDCs.
Download the full paper here (pdf, 10 pages, 3mb).
Topics: CBDC Privacy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
I'm sick of how "transphobephobe" is
Post number #557116, ID: 30d16e
| I support minorities and transgenders, there should be no shame on being what you want to be and i understand that they are oppressed by many. But i'm legit sick of people kinda overusing the word in social media. I just wish that i could see that word less or just for a day without seeing it. a dumb rant it is but thats just what i feel. I feel like "transphobia" has been used so much that it doesn't have as much value as it did before.
| Oops fucked up the title, meant to say "I'm sick of how "transphobe" is overused in social medias"
Post number #557120, ID: 6e56e6
| I didn't understand the point of your rant. Are you "sick" of people overusing the word, making it feel less powerful? or that they are just throwing it at everything they dont like?
Post number #557136, ID: 2df967
| you just realized the one big difference between USA and Europa. Europa realizes that people are inherently unequal and different but that everybody is a citizen capable of doing good and that if someone gets somewhere on their own, credit to them.
the USA is basically so obsessed about race, discrimination and racism that it ends up being discriminating and racist. it's at the point where it's trying to fix the titanic with some flex tape.
IT DOESN'T WORK and it will never work. people are different, races stick to themselves and discrimination is natural. Europa is saying "to each people their place" while the USA is saying "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH". and Europa is basically not racist, unless you try to forcefully wedge in immigrants and 'refugees', because it destabilizes societal homogeneity and peace.
by the way, this multiculturalism thing is an US. import. look how well it's turned out in the USA...
| >>557136 >>557138
relating this to what OP was saying: being obsessed about discrimination is an USA thing. it still hasn't understood that to stop discrimination, you have to stop talking about it. many people end up racist because of anti-racist witch hunts. the same thing applies to faggers in the west.
>dixie more lanky
>an USA
fuck me i guess i'll a hero now
Post number #557146, ID: 9d07bd
| I still don't even fucking know what rights they want apart from choosing which restroom to use and to compete in sports of the gender they choose, one is insignificant and the other will harm current athletes
There was that weirdo in another thread that wanted doctors to do procedures that go against their beliefs what's a breach of someone else's rights and that expected the middle east to stop killing trans people what's virtually impossible they kill anyone over there (1/2)
| So can someone please tell me what rights the trans are actually fighting for? I simply can't see any right a non-trans have over trans people other than "gender specific" rights that were actually made considering sex and not gender, rights that seriously need to be reworded to avoid this kind of misunderstanding
| >>557147 that was to be (2/2)
So I guess, now this one is (3/2)?
| Transphobes and TERFs are going to go down in history just as shamed and reviled as those pathetic angry whitest-as-white-can-be racist motherfucks who protested de-segregation. You know the ones in the history books waving protest signs at the black girl trying to go to school? How they look so disgusting and filled with nothing but hate, like their souls have long since disintegrated? It's just sad that some people willingly let themselves become a vessel for that sorta thing.
Post number #557208, ID: 0d5f7e
| Speaking as a trans g/u/rl, I can see that people can overuse and falsely accuse others of being transphobic. I also think that there's still a really big amount of transphobia present in people's day to day lives. TERFs and groups like that def contribute to that. So, yeah, it can be overused and placed on people or things that don't deserve it, but trans people aren't always as safe or accepted as some people think. IDK, maybe I'm overthinking it.
Post number #557212, ID: 52a090
| Trans people are more likely to be discriminated against when it comes to housing and employment opportunities, more likely to be harrassed at work, and more likely to be raped.
| >>557212 yeah because everyone dreams of raping a tranny... Lol
http://www.ustranssurvey.org/reports
My bad, the figure is that 47% of transsexuals have been sexually assaulted. Compared to the 33% of cisgender women and 17% of cisgender men. You can look up statistics from the CDC,or the NSVRC too. LGBTQ people in general are more likely to be victims of sexual assault.
| >>557222 are they really, or are they just the ones that report more when it happens?(and maybe when it doesn't happen, too)
Also who the fuck made the term 'cisgender', makes it sound like a terrible thing to not be trans, it sounds like a slur
| And let's all be honest, being trans is no fucking excuse to act like a weirdo, don't complain you didn't get a job if didn't behave on the interview or focused more on your "condition" than on your qualifications for the job
It's the same shit I always said during the gay fad, the problem is not your sexuality the problem is when you want to act like a weirdo to "show off" your identity like a trophy, a company wants to know wht you have to offer not about ypur sexuality
The organizations who publish these studies typically gather data from organizations that offer aid to rape/sexual assault victims. It's in the best interest of these organizations to file the most credible claims to help victims most effectively. The term cisgender is a technical term with no negative connotations. The prefix, "cis" is derived from Latin and most directly translates to "on the side of" as opposed to trans meaning "across"
I haven't found any statistics about trans people acting weird during job interviews. What does it mean to "show off" your identity in this context? It's not like these people carry around neon signs declaring that they're trans or gay.
| >>557227 ok so your research is probably right, a 47% of a group that represents less than 3% of the world population means they are targeted more than 33% of a group that's probably around 49% of the population
Do the math, even if most rapists went after women the percentage of women who were raped would probably still be lower
And there's also a huge number of women who were raped and never reported it for whatever reason they had not to
| >>557228 then how the employer knows? I was NEVER asked if I was trans or homossexual im any job interview, because that's not a relevant information
You're missing the point of percentages. These are per capita measurements. Yes, transsexuals have a higher percentage value per individual, but that's because there's less of them to rape. The fact that the ratio of of trans rape to cis rape is so vast means that they're targeted disproportionately. More often then not, easier to exploit a minority. The same safety nets don't exist for them.
And yes, many victims don't report their assualts, but it's hard to gauge, and doesn't invalidate these statistics. If anything, that fact means that these figures are underinflated and are even bigger issues.
A lot of employers do. Especially in states where trans people aren't a protected class. The protected class status also doesn't extend to privately owned businesses. Plus, not all people who transition can physically embody the traits associated with their gender, which could tip an employer off.
| phobic is a silly word to use because it implies fear. same with homophobic and xenophobic.
im considered transphobic because i dont like that children are being used in their political war and being given puberty blockers when they arent always even trans.
when it comes to restroom politics i think instead of burdening businesses by mandating construction of new bathrooms we might as well just make all of them unisex because everyones poop is equally gross
Post number #557262, ID: 60ca1d
| most boys who think they're girls are just repulsive whining fags imo
the world doesn't want you
Post number #557271, ID: 1a05bd
| >>557262 exactly!
>>557258 then that's a US specific problem, what makes me even madder that the trans rights people bother me, that's not a problem where I live, except idiots from where I live love to imitate whatever movement is happening in the US even when our laws already cover the discrimination stuff(unintentionally but they do)
When you're looking at the word through the most literal etymological lense sure, but again these are technical terms and are never used that way in any serious setting.
Most cases of childhood gender transexuality are diagnosed by professional psychologists and neurologists, and the child's behavior is monitored for years. The effects of puberty blockers can be reversed btw. If their behavior and neurology is consistent to the age of 16, they start hormone treatment
Transexual children who don't receive this kind of attention, they're more likely to be depressed or self mutilate to resemble the gender they want to transition to
I'm not sure you'd like to divulge where you live, but if you do I could look at some statistics and policies.
Nobody said activists can't be abrasive or uninformed, but that has nothing to do with the bigger issues here. Even if a problem is US specific, it's still a problem.
Post number #557328, ID: 94ec78
| Society demands things of all of us. Asking the rest of the world to change to accommodate the way you want to look & act is just narcissistic.
I don't really know you, but I'd assume you wouldn't say something like that about the black civil rights movement or the end of serfdom.
Trans people and other minorities who are taken seriously aren't asking for special accommodations, they're asking for equal footing to get by. It just looks like they get special treatment with these new policies being enacted because our society has ignored these issues for so long.
>you get 2 scoops of ice cream
>she gets 1 scoop of ice cream
>REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE NOT FAIR
Post number #557389, ID: 139d61
| >>557116 yeah IDK OP you kinda sound like those angry conservatives who are always mad that the homeless have too much money and cellphones. Like, really? That's....that's what you're doing with your time?
| >Real discrimination in the world
>Lefties call people transphobes
RRRRREEEEEAAAALLLLL SHHHHHHIIIIITTTTTT?!?!?!?!
Post number #557513, ID: a82b12
| >>557332 I don't mind people having their rights, but wanting to force harmful hormones into kids, wantig doctors to do procedures that go against their beliefs and getting gold medals in women's divisions of sports because your fucking body is that of a man are a breach of other people's rights
And don't tell me the hormones thing is not a breach of the child's right to grow healthy unless you have a 100% foolproof method to know they are definitely trans, not just confused
| You people are so obsessed with your "rights" that at this point you just want to trample everyone else to get what you want
That kid actually wasn't trans and now their life is ruined? "It's no big deal, we have our rights"
A woman that trained her whole life lost to a muscly dude who decided to identify as female? "not my problem"
That doctor lost their job because the transitioning goes against their religion? "It's the doc's fault"
You people are disgusting
I've already explained the transitioning process for minors on this thread. No respected professional forces kids to take hormones. And why are you demanding a 100% foolproof method? No scientist or doctor will ever say that their method is absolutely perfect, but that doesn't make it any less comprehensive.
| https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/enforcement_protections_lgbt_workers.cfm
In the face of statistics like these, fringe issues like trans women winning at sports, and a doctor losing his job for not doing his job, seem like a pretty minor things to me.
| I'm not unsympathetic to cis athletes or fundamentalist doctors, but this is just a diversion from the actual issues and what trans people are actually asking for.
| Yeah, trans people are the most important, everyone else is secondary
Go kill yourself, I hate idiots like you that think sacrifices for a "greater good" are ok
I'm not saying that trans people are more important, or that scrafices even need to be made. I'm saying that systemic discrimination and the issues you presented are false equivalencies.
In cases where trans people competed in sports, their opponents agreed to compete.
These doctors are refusing to do their jobs. Most of the cases that are rejected aren't even gender re assignment surgeries, they're to correct mishaps afterwards. Rejection can mean dire consequences.
| I'm showing you gaping wounds and you're showing me papercuts.
Reals over feels bro.
Post number #557635, ID: 67700f
| god damn this thread really shows you how little people actually know about trans people (but love to act like they know anyway). it's just beating up the same strawmen used in every discussion about transgenderism
| All I see from trans people is a bunch of petty idiots who get mad and call out oppression on things that are either minor and not worth wasting time over or just a general problem that's not specific to trans people and should be solved for everyone(like the rape thing)
Or the job thing, that I honestly don't buy, a true capitalist doesn't care about details that won't affect productivity and profit
I feel like we're treading old ground here. We've already established that the only one whining about pointless issues is you.
Nobody said that trans issues were the only ones that needed solving, we're just not having that conversation yet. I'm honestly all for having it since you're obviously clueless about this one.
To say that a true capitalist doesn't discriminate assumes that "rational actors" will always act rationally, and ignores the history of capitalism.
| >>a82b12
Honestly dude, just take the L and get on with your life
Total number of posts: 48, last modified on: Wed Jan 1 00:00:00 1556919879


text:
Q: Python library "Crypto" conflict I'm trying to integrate two frameworks, and I'm installing requirements for both of frameworks, but it seems like the library 'Crypto' used in both frameworks and have different versions of use, so if I install requirements for one of the frameworks, it returns me the first error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dapp_bdb.py", line 134, in <module>
main()
File "dapp_bdb.py", line 112, in main
blockchain = LevelDBBlockchain(settings.chain_leveldb_path)
File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/neo/Implementations/Blockchains/LevelDB/LevelDBBlockchain.py", line 190, in __init__
self.Persist(Blockchain.GenesisBlock())
File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/neo/Implementations/Blockchains/LevelDB/LevelDBBlockchain.py", line 691, in Persist
account = accounts.GetAndChange(output.AddressBytes, AccountState(output.ScriptHash))
File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/neo/Core/TX/Transaction.py", line 121, in AddressBytes
return bytes(self.Address, encoding='utf-8')
File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/neo/Core/TX/Transaction.py", line 111, in Address
return Crypto.ToAddress(self.ScriptHash)
File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/neocore/Cryptography/Crypto.py", line 103, in ToAddress
return scripthash_to_address(script_hash.Data)
File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/neocore/Cryptography/Helper.py", line 78, in scripthash_to_address
return base58.b58encode(bytes(outb)).decode("utf-8")
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'decode'

and with the second requrirements of the  framework, it returns me other error:
exception in thread Thread-1:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/threading.py", line 916, in _bootstrap_inner
self.run()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.6/threading.py", line 864, in run
self._target(*self._args, **self._kwargs)
  File "dapp_bdb.py", line 95, in custom_background_code
put_bdb("Hello world")
  File "dapp_bdb.py", line 68, in put_bdb
    fulfilled_creation_tx = bdb.transactions.fulfill(prepared_creation_tx, private_keys=private_key)
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/bigchaindb_driver/driver.py", line 270, in fulfill
return fulfill_transaction(transaction, private_keys=private_keys)
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/bigchaindb_driver/offchain.py", line 346, in fulfill_transaction
signed_transaction = transaction_obj.sign(private_keys)
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/bigchaindb_driver/common/transaction.py", line 823, in sign
PrivateKey(private_key) for private_key in private_keys}
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/bigchaindb_driver/common/transaction.py", line 823, in <dictcomp>
PrivateKey(private_key) for private_key in private_keys}
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/bigchaindb_driver/common/transaction.py", line 817, in gen_public_key
public_key = private_key.get_verifying_key().encode()
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-  packages/cryptoconditions/crypto.py", line 62, in get_verifying_key
return   Ed25519VerifyingKey(self.verify_key.encode(encoder=Base58Encoder))
 File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/nacl/encoding.py", line 90, in encode
return encoder.encode(bytes(self))
 File "/home/ubuntu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/cryptoconditions/crypto.py", line 15, in encode
return base58.b58encode(data).encode()
AttributeError: 'bytes' object has no attribute 'encode'

Is there any ideas how I can avoid it?

A: Looks like cryptoconditions library is doing it wrong.
You should file a bug asking to update required version of base58 and review all the calls to it. Usual behavior for Python3 is to return bytes on some_encoder_library.encode() and str on some_encoder_library.decode(). New versions of base58 module follow this rule although base58-encoded objects never contain any special symbols of course. cryptoconditions are still using previous version where b58encode were returning str.
Meanwhile you can make local modifications to the installed library or for it and install your fork instead.
It is likely that everything will work OK with encode() call removed from this line.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Being an early adopter of the latest tech is essential to creating a positive client experience. For those itching to expand into the indie business community, Stylie One will serve as your favorite resource. Salon Today, a leader in reporting on the latest business and technology trends, dissects through Stylie One's most advantageous features in its roundup of the best and most intuitive software and tech solutions on the market.


One of the most rewording academic activities for me is work with my graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visitors. I like learning from them and enjoy observing their progress over time. Many of my former students are in touch. Professional and social interaction offered by FIDS seems to last for a long time. We have a tradition – summer picnic – where the families meet, tasty food is shared and some serious games played.
Mr. K.W. Nandalal (2003) Professor, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Mr. A. Schardong (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) Research Associate, Escola Politecnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Mr. K. Neuwirth (2013) Ph.D. candidate, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
Mr. N. Bathia (2015) M.E.Sc. candidate, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
Mr. B. Yia (2015), Research Scientist, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, China.
Miss. H. Jiang (2016), Ph.D. candidate, Hohai University, Nanjing, China.
Mr. A. Schardong, (2014, 2015) Post Doctoral Fellow, Senior Research Scientist, Escola Politecnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Mr. R. Srivastav, (2014, 2015) Professor, VIT University, Chenai, India.
Mr. T. Kokas, (2017)(co-advised with Prof. A. Binns, Junior engineer, Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority, Exeter.


Discussion in 'Nginx, PHP-FPM & MariaDB MySQL' started by SneakyDave, Jun 2, 2016.
Got about 3 notices in the last 24 hours from NodeQuery that disk usage usage was at 80%. The only change was updating Nginx from 1.9 to 1.11.1.
Only time this has happened in the past is during a restore, or some other high intensity disk usage situations.
It seems one of your servers is consuming a lot of resources.
notification settings for your server.
Anything I can do to check to see what the issue is, if anything?
Never mind, I realize that this isn't disk swap or disk speed, it appears to be just a disk "space" issue, lol.
Are there some old backups of centmin mod installations that I can safely remove if everything is running ok?


Jeff standing on one foot throwing boiling water into the air on a subzero day of January 2014.
It's that slippery time of year, when each time we leave the house we risk slipping on the ice and having a fall. We may not have as much snow or the subzero temps like last year, however it's still icy out there!
One thing you can do everyday to help your balance is simply stand on one foot. You can stand on one foot at a time while brushing your teeth each morning to make it a part of your routine. Consistently working on your balance is going to help you tremendously as you navigate the slick sidewalks, parking lots, and driveways.
Working on balance at home – big and small balances.
A great one to start with is Vrksasana or Tree Pose. Standing on one leg and placing the opposite foot along the inner ankle, calf, or thigh of the standing leg.
Working on strength and flexibility in Yoga class – Yoga for all.
Work at home or in class on strength, flexibility, and balance. Join us anytime at the Aurora Yoga Center. There are many classes for all levels of students each week.
Tummy Time at the AYC.
See you at the studio and stay standing!
A place to start the new year…. with your toes!
Happy 2014! Welcome to Aurora Yoga Center's new blog! We are hoping to share helpful & healthful information, stories about AYC students & teachers, photos, videos. All in an effort to bring awareness and inspiration for a healthier life style. We all have things we like and don't like about ourselves… it's easy to get caught in a negative cycle of wishing we were not so out of shape, not so heavy, not so stiff and sore, etc.
You can start by focusing less on weight and fitness and more on how you feel. Your weight will fluctuate with the seasons and other factors – but what can you do to feel better, less achey, when you move around.
Here's a tip for starting 2014 on the right foot: spread your toes! That's it. 20 times a day, preferably with your shoes off… spread those piggies apart. Spread toes and hold open for 5 seconds.
Please join us for class at the Aurora Yoga Center. All are welcome! – we come in all shapes, sizes, & ages. The studio is fully stocked with mats and props, you just have to bring yourself in comfortable clothing & preferably on an empty stomach.
Hope to see you soon at the AYC!


I use a wide range of books and material to assist me with local history research. I am aware that owing to a tight word limit I am not able to give referencing and bibliography at the end of each article I write. On this occasion I will try to put that right by giving credit to the sources I have used in the course of writing the history articles for this magazine. I hope that this will encourage you to start you own research into the history of Milton Parish.
An interesting booklet from 1998 is called Focus on Milton. It was written by Eric Handscombe for the New Milton, Barton and district Ratepayers and Residents association. It contains a potted history of New Milton and Barton on Sea. It is illustrated with a number of black and white photos. Although no longer in publication if you can obtain one from an on line auction it is worth doing. In addition New Milton library have a copy.
Another book by Arthur Lloyd is titled New Milton in Old Picture Postcards. This is an excellent book of postcard images of our Milton village, New Milton, Barton on Sea and district.
A more easily available book, which I recommend is entitled Images of England, New Milton. It is by Malcolm Bailey and Catherine Lake. It was published in 2003. It is lavishly illustrated with black and white postcards and photos. Each image has a sizeable caption containing a great deal of history relating to the picture. In addition Malcolm Bailey runs a website dedicated to local history in our area. Go to : http://www.newmilton.org.uk in order to see some fascinating 'then and now' images of the whole district.
Even if you are not that interested in trains, if you want to understand the history of New Milton, you have to know about the story of the railway and how the building of the station created our town. An excellent, recently published book is called Treacle Mines, Tragedies and Triumphs by renowned historian Jude James. This book is available from Waterstones in Lymington. A photo of New Milton railway station graces the cover.
If you wish to see a striking image of Milton parish through the ages, one historical map I recommend to you is a four in one reprint by Cassini maps. It is 1:50,00 scale. The maps of our district are dated 1811, 1897 -1909, 1919 and the present day. This map is still available from the publisher.
I would urge you to visit our local library, both in New Milton and Lymington. The New Milton library has a large range of books in the local studies section. All of the books and the map I have mentioned in this article are available there. In Lymington Library they have a good selection of local books but importantly they have every copy of the New Milton Advertiser and Times available to view on microfiche.
Whilst you are in Lymington take the time to visit the St Barbe museum which contains a wealth of artefacts and research material.
Slightly further afield in Lyndhurst, The Christopher Towers New Forest Reference library can be found on the mezzanine floor of the New Forest visitors centre. This is an excellent reference library containing all sorts of research material not only for the New Milton area but for the whole of the New Forest.
Even further afield but worth a visit is the Hampshire Records office in Winchester. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/archives I would advise that you use there online search facility prior to making a visit. Review there website for there ID requirements for new visitors.
These are just a few of the local history books and resources available to you. I hope that you take the time to obtain a copy and that they give you as much pleasure as they have given me.


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text:
Winners of the 2nd edition
Researcher Raúl Zamora Ros, from the private foundation of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology, and teacher and researcher Salvador Aznar Benitah, of the Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and the Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IRB Barcelona), have been chosen by the jury for the Fundación Jesús Serra Research Awards as the winners in the clinical and basic research categories, respectively.
Raúl Zamora Ros
Private foundation of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute and of the Catalan Institute of Oncology
Raúl Zamora Ros is part of the team of researchers from the private foundation Bellvitge Biomedical Research institute (IDIBELL). He received this award for his research work in the field of clinical research, and in particular for his research work "Dietary polyphenols and their effects on obesity markers", which assesses the association between exposure to polyphenols and obesity markers, as well as their effect on health parameters and weight loss during a slimming treatment.
Salvador Aznar Benitah
Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IRB Barcelona)
Salvador Aznar Benitah, from the Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and the Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IRB Barcelona), was chosen for his extensive work in the field of basic research, and in particular for his research on the "Impact of dietary fatty acids on metastasis-initiating cells". This project aims to delve into recent discoveries on metastasis-initiating cells with high levels of the fatty acid receptor CD36. The research team hopes to obtain essential information on the mechanisms of metastasis and how they are influenced by diet. This point is important since Western diets have a large intake of fatty acids, and metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
Winners of the 1st edition
Guadalupe Sabio Buzo
Scientist and professor, she holds a Bachelor's Degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Extremadura with an Extraordinary Prize (2000) and a PhD from the Medical Research Council.
She worked as a research associate at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Massachusetts (Worcester, United States), until 2009 when she returned to Spain under a Ramón y Cajal contract to study diseases associated with obesity, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. In 2011 she joined the CNIC, where she leads the research group on this subject. In 2018 she received the Fundación Jesús Serra Research Award for her professional career, presenting a project on the role of mitogen-activated protein kinases in regulating the signalling pathways involved in metabolism, cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis.
Pablo Pérez Martínez
Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Córdoba (1997), specialist in Internal Medicine at the Reina Sofía University Hospital.
Professor of Medicine at the University of Cordoba, he is currently working as a principal investigator at the Maimonides Institute for Biomedical Research. His scientific activity has focused on the study of clinical nutrigenomics, focusing on gene-environment interaction, including intestinal microbioma and somatic genomes, biomodulation of cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. He won the Fundación Jesús Serra Research Award for his professional career with a project on the role of the Mediterranean diet in improving mild cognitive impairment through the modulation of neuropeptides, fatty acids, markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in the microbiota, intestine and brain.
Fundación Jesús Serra 2020
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Acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) are produced by a number of bacterial species and are used by them to regulate the expression of virulence genes in a process known as quorum-sensing. Each bacterial cell has a basal level of AHL and, once the population density reaches a critical level, it triggers AHL-signalling which, in turn, initiates the expression of particular virulence genes. Plants or animals capable of degrading AHLs would have a therapeutic advantage in avoiding bacterial infection as they could prevent AHL-signalling and the expression of virulence genes in quorum-sensing bacteria. This quorum-quenching enzyme removes the fatty-acid side chain from the homoserine lactone ring of AHL-dependent quorum-sensing signal molecules. It has broad specificity for AHLs with side changes ranging in length from 11 to 14 carbons. Substituents at the 3'-position, as found in N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, do not affect this activity.
Lin YH, Xu JL, Hu J, Wang LH, Ong SL, Leadbetter JR, Zhang LH.
Sio CF, Otten LG, Cool RH, Diggle SP, Braun PG, Bos R, Daykin M, Camara M, Williams P, Quax WJ.


text:
Police blotter: Clown sighting in W. Cornwall
Clown Sighting: A resident of Quentin Hunt, West Cornwall, reported seeing a man dressed in a clown costume walking in the middle of Riders Way at 10:45 p.m. Saturday, police said. The subject was last seen as he took off his mask and disappeared between two homes.
Crash: City fire crews and the First Aid and Safety Patrol were dispatched at 7:29 p.m. Sunday to South Cherry and Union streets for a crash with injuries. A police report was not immediately available.
Crash: City fire crews and the First Aid and Safety Patrol were dispatched at 2:35 p.m. Monday to South Second Avenue and East Walnut Street for a crash with injuries. A police report was not immediately available.
Investigation Inside: City fire crews were dispatched at 4:36 p.m. Monday to investigate an electrical malfunction at 377 N. Partridge St.
Fire Alarm: Annville-Cleona Fire District was dispatched at 8:47 a.m. Monday to Friendship House, 194 N. College Ave., at Lebanon Valley College.
Public Drunkenness: Michael Skutlin, 59, of 768 N. 32nd St., was charged in connection with an incident in the 3200 block of Tunnel Hill Road at 1 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Drug Paraphernalia, Public Drunkenness: John Hice, 33, Bethel, was charged in connection with an incident at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 8 on the parking lot of 1604 E. Cumberland St.
Criminal Mischief: Kelsey Spancake, 24, of 616 Park Ave., Lebanon, was charged with damaging a vehicle at 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 21 in the 1100 block of East Lehman Street.
Retail Theft: Michael Pifata, 62, of 122 E. Cumberland St., was charged with taking $137 worth of merchandise from Wal-Mart, 1355 E. Lehman St., on Friday, without paying for it.
Crash: Samantha Farmer, 25, Philadelphia, was charged with a stop-sign violation in connection with a two-vehicle accident at 10 a.m. Saturday at Weavertown Road and North Eighth Avenue. Police said Farmer was traveling south on North Eighth Avenue and failed to yield the right of way to a vehicle driven by Richard Boyer Sr., 69, of 102 Hill St., Lebanon, traveling east on Weavertown Road. A passenger in Farmer's vehicle, Tracy Farmer, 47, of 509 N. Eighth Ave., Lebanon, and Boyer were injured. They were treated at Wellspan Good Samaritan Hospital and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Both vehicles were towed.
Retail Theft: Lennise Fantauzzi, 18, of 136 S. Ninth St., Lebanon, was charged with taking $82 worth of merchandise from Boscov's without paying for it at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Crash: A vehicle driven by Michael Castaldo, 59, Boca Raton, Fla., struck a vehicle operated by Ronald Moyer, 55, of 345 S. 16th St., Lebanon, that was stopped for a red light at 16th and Cumberland streets at 7:21 p.m. Thursday, police said. The impact pushed Castaldo's vehicle into another stopped vehicle operated by Cassandra Kelly, 29, of 532 Maple St., Lebanon. No injuries were reported.
Curfew: Two 16-year-old girls were charged for being at Sheetz, 195 Rocherty Road at 11:20 p.m. Friday, police said.
Crash: A motorcycle traveling south on Route 419 driven by Michael Peters, 25, Manheim, collided with a vehicle driven by Dennis Rothrock, 66, Orefield, when it pulled out from the Bus Lot at 4:54 p.m. Sunday, police said. Peters, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to Hershey Medical Center. His condition was not available.
Deer Struck: A deer that was struck by an unknown motorist on Rexmont Road, near Cornwall Iron Furnace, had to be euthanized at 10:32 a.m Thursday, police said.
Deer Struck: A vehicle driven by Christine Sferco, 24, Horsham, struck a deer on Butler Road, near Philhaven Behavioral Health Center, at 4:46 a.m. Friday, police said. Sferco was not hurt and damage to her vehicle was minor. The deer fled into the woods.
Crash: A vehicle driven by Andrew Fleckenstein, 37, Elizabethtown, struck the rear of a vehicle operated by Erin Wolfe, 56, of 301 Pine Ave., Mount Gretna, that was waiting to make a turn on Route 117 at Boulevard Avenue at 10:29 p.m. Tuesday, police said. No injuries were reported.
Crash: A car driven by Dylan Nesbitt, 20, of 1819 E. Chocolate Ave., Hershey, struck a pickup truck parked in the 600 block of West Main Street at 4:42 a.m. Sunday, police said. No injuries were reported. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
Crash: Eduardo Franco, 39, of 424 N. Sixth Ave., Lebanon, was charged with a lane violation after his SUV struck a car driven by Jonathan Regets, 34, Washington, PA, as he tried to pass it in the 300 block of East Main Street at 11:35 a.m. Saturday, police said. No injuries were reported.
Fire Alarm: Fort Indiantown Gap and Ono fire companies were dispatched at 1:41 p.m. Monday to 74 Harrison School Road.
Fire Alarm: Goodwill and Keystone fire companies, fire police and Myerstown First Aid Unit were dispatched at 4:09 p.m. Monday to Tulpehocken Terrace, 101 W. Richland Ave.


text:
Celebrating the space we gain: unity dialogues and human sexuality
By Cameron Merrill
Bigstock/Rawpixel.com
Just recently my local church hosted another installment in the Unity Dialogues. These dialogues have been an ongoing project in my conference for the past 20 years, in an attempt to both affirm our unity in the midst of intense conversation around human sexuality and homosexuality specifically. Our local Social Concerns team took it upon themselves, ahead of General Conference, to put together one of these dialogues in an effort to educate local congregants regarding the legislative proposals, and for two primary clergy voices to help lead dialogue around these issues.
These dialogues are a wonderful gift. They are wrapped within prayer, reflection, and Eucharist, bringing a deep sacramentality to what could be a divisive conversation. These dialogues have produced a better interaction on the floor of our Annual Conference, as the rancor and vitriol that once colored the debates has given way to greater levels of truthfulness and charity.
And while these dialogues have been a healthy and beautiful space, I continue to feel like some key pieces are missing in the conversation, pieces that I am looking for both in these local dialogues and in the larger dialogue across the connection. Most poignantly, there is a considerable lack of theological nuance, compared to what is clearly yearned for by the people around the table.
What I mean is that so often the presenting voices, generally clergy, give the expected arguments. One posture is articulated from within the lived experience. "I have become friends with a number of LGBTQ people, and I have found that they have taught me so much about what it means to be children of God. I have heard such pain in their experiences, the painful experience of longing for God, longing to be longed for, longing to be a part of the kingdom of God." The other posture (and the dipole should be inherently problematic for Wesleyan people, who have generally avoided bifurcations for the sake of a richer tradition) is the supposedly "orthodox" perspective, relying on scriptural and theological justifications in order to make its claims. "Well, the pastoral argument is certainly important, but like the evangelical and the progressive positions, it ends up being focused on the individual as the fundamental unit. But there is another argument, one that is ecclesial, one that looks to the truth in the teachings of the church."
I should also say, I have significant respect for the clergy people who have represented these postures, particularly in my own conference and our Unity Dialogues. They have carried forward a conversation and a space where there wasn't one before, and that is no small task.
But then the conversation shifts to the one around the tables. It is in that space where lay and clergy voices join together, speaking about family members who have been left behind because of sexual orientations, or the need for better education on the traditions of the church and our historical imagination for human sexuality. There is such an obvious yearning for richer theological reflection, a desire for a better account of desire in those table conversations.[1] One can hear the frustrating lack. "We have this Sunday School class that has been reading and discussing these issues, and we have all of these stories, and we don't know what to do with it all. We want others to join into this conversation, but so many people have said they would leave the church if it is preached about, or we just don't know how to get the conversation going."
And I hear in those questions, those concerns, an honest-to-God yearning for a wider space and a richer language to name what they sense is happening in the church. These dialogues have so often asked the question, "What does the Spirit seem to be doing in the church?" and these people in the seats want to have a way to answer that question. That's the scandal: they have answers, they've seen the Spirit at work, and now they are looking to the church, to the clergy and those with advanced theological formation for the language necessary to name that reality.
We don't need more arguments that draw on pieces of Scripture, dancing here and there, even taking up Jesus' own words, and calling it "the scriptural argument." To do so neglects the very witness of the Gospels, how even the Accuser can cite Scripture to further its own ends. It is simply not nimble enough to lob scriptural citations back and forth, without taking into account the ways that Scripture is used among the gathered people, in worship, in devotion, in prayer, in life.
What we need instead are more arguments that draw on not only the witness of Scripture, but its performance. If Robert Jenson is right, and this diverse collection of ancient Near Eastern documents only finds its purpose among the community who gathers them and calls them "Scripture," then we have to look at how the church has read them.[2] We have to be able to say something about the history of interpretation—rarely a uniform reading—and how that informs our interpretations now. So often "the scriptural argument," tossing around truth-claims and words like "orthodoxy" assumes that interpretation is a monolithic, hardcast thing.
We have to be able to see how the text is performed, how it has been used in the liturgical life of the church, how it has been deployed devotionally, when and where. We need to be able to say something for why Christian worship has long included a Prayer of Illumination before hearing Scripture read and proclaimed. That fact alone draws on the assumption that we can't just, of our own accord, flip open the book and read without divine intervention. It also shouldn't then surprise us that a brilliant interpreter such as Origen kept his students from reading Song of Songs until they were quite far in their formation, likely the same reason for why he urged them not to pray in the same spaces where they engaged in sexual activity. People much smarter and better readers than we are have seen the equal richness and danger in reading Scripture without intense formation.
We also don't need more arguments that draw on the lived experiences of "gay people" as a general category, particularly those witnessed to by well-meaning albeit heteronormative allies. In the so-called postmodern age, our ability to debate through experience is so fractured that we won't likely be able to reach any conclusions together at all. The space quickly collapses under the weight of "Well, this is what I've experienced and how I feel about it, and you don't get to tell me that it's not possible or right for me to feel this way."
What we need is to recover a Wesleyan account of experience. That third rail of our beloved Quadrilateral was never imagined as a general category, but as the particular experience of salvation. This particularity is so key to Methodist thought and practice. To do so is also a return to that fundamental question—"What does Spirit seem to be doing in and through the church?"—from all sides. At the very least, it might mean hearing more from LGBTQ lay and clergy people in these dialogues as primary voices. What does it mean for LGBTQ people to experience sanctification? What are the means of grace that have particular weight in the lives of LGBTQ people? In what ways will the absence of LGBTQ people from the Christian body mean a severing from which we cannot recover? How will the denial of baptismal personhood for some mean the damnation of all? I would be surprised if there are not already those with stories to offer in response.
This recovery of experience means we should also be continually haunted by Eugene F. Rogers Jr.'s question: "Given that same-sex couples are not going to go away, two questions press the theologian: How is the Church under the Holy Spirit going to turn the phenomenon to salvific purposes, that is, under what concrete liturgical form?"[3] Those within the church who are going to affirm the "traditional" teaching as currently articulated in the Book of Discipline cannot merely stop there. No matter the direction taken by General Conference, we will have to begin to articulate a liturgical response. We will have to offer spaces of confession, repentance, thanksgiving, blessing, and affirmation. We will have to recover baptismal renewal in new ways that affirm the powerful diversity that Spirit continues to bring into the body. After all, we affirm this Spirit-led work in the words of one of our own hymns:
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other's pain,
let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
There's a place for deepest dreaming, there's a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit's lively scheming there is always room to spare.[4]
[1] Desire has become a category à la mode in theological work, but that reflects the reality that it is an important and misrepresented category. There are many scholars working today who are giving it the attention and rigor it deserves, including Sarah Coakley (God, Sexuality, and the Self), James K.A. Smith (Desiring the Kingdom), and Eugene F. Rogers, Jr. (Sexuality and the Christian Body). Don Saliers's recent article, "Liturgical Desires," published in Worship, is an excellent and more able voice in the direction I am trying to offer here.
[2] Robert Jenson, "Scripture's Authority in the Church," in The Art of Reading Scripture, ed. Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2003), 27.
[3] Eugene Rogers, "Marriage as a Discipline of Sanctification," n.p. [cited November 3, 2005]. Online: http://covnetpres.org/2005/11/marriage-as-a-discipline-of-sanctification/
[4] Shirley Erena Murray, Come and Find the Quiet Center, © 1992 Hope Publishing Co.
Church identity
Cameron Merrill
Cameron Merrill is the associate pastor of Saint Francis United Methodist Church in Cary, NC. Before his appointment read more…
Where God leads, United Methodists must follow
By M. Kathryn Armistead
Remembering Who We Are: Where covenant, justice and unity meet
By Kenneth H. Carter, Jr.
The 19: Questions to Kindle a Wesleyan Spirit
By Carolyn C. Moore


text:
Libby Plummer
Journalist, editor, copywriter and consultant
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The wisdom of crowds: How citizen science is helping to unlock the mysteries of the universe 03/04/2020
Moon Mission 2024: The plan to return to the lunar surface — and the tech that'll get us there 03/08/2019
How Neil Armstrong's spacesuit was saved using 3D scanning 20/07/2019
Get into the groove: High-definition vinyl promises to be the next big thing in analogue music 03/05/2019
How technology is making cinema more immersive 03/04/2019
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Tag / Record Store Day
03/05/2019 01/09/2020 by libbyplummer
Get into the groove: High-definition vinyl promises to be the next big thing in analogue music
Metro, Music, Record Store Day, Technology, Turntables
The Cambridge Audio Alva TT
THE big vinyl comeback is no one-hit wonder. In 2018 sales of vinyl LPs rose for the 11th consecutive year to a whopping 4.2 million, according to music industry body BPI. To put that in perspective, just 205,000 LPs were sold when the format was floundering in 2007.
But while you're listening to Arctic Monkeys' retro-futurist triumph Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino — last year's top seller out of the 12,000 LPs released on vinyl, incidentally — consider this: a new format will be amping up the analogue audio party when it hits shops at the end of the year. It's called HD vinyl and it's going to inject some big improvements into the audio quality of those polyvinyl chloride discs.
So with vinyl facing a next-gen upgrade and the dizzy rate at which new turntables are released, it's no wonder that Record Store Day, which sees 200 UK independent record shops band together to celebrate and sell limited-edition releases, is back again this Saturday. Read on to make sure you're ready for the latest high-def debate…
The full article appeared in the 12 April 2019 issue of Metro and can also be viewed in the e-edition.


Y Nexus is coming to the YMCA of Greater Vancouver this November! After recognizing a need for more inclusion based programming within our community, the Y is bringing together Indigenous, settler, and new comer youth leaders to encourage an open dialogue and reciprocal knowledge exchange.
Peter Toppings, Director of Community Health at the YMCA of Greater Vancouver, recently attended a Reconciliation Dialogue Workshop. We welcome him today as our very own guest blogger.
September is a great month for starting something new! Here are some ideas about getting started - and making it stick.


text:
Q: IF statement not being executed I am trying to execute code if a spot in my String array is equal to a String value I pass in.  I know my array is storing the correct values and the method is obtaining the correct value threw the param (I made sure).  When the param value matches a value in the array, the if statement nevers gets hit.  Below is my code
public void checkWordForLetter(String c)
{
    int letterSpotIndex = 0;
    int spotNumber = 1;
    for(int i = 0; i < (wordLetters.length); i ++)
    {
        System.out.println(wordLetters[i]);
        if(wordLetters[i].equals(c))
        {
            System.out.println("Letter being looked at in array is:  " + c);
            letterSpot[letterSpotIndex] = spotNumber;
            letterSpotIndex = letterSpotIndex + 1;
            spotNumber = spotNumber + 1;
        }
    }
}

A:
if a spot in my String array is equal to a String value I pass in

I believe you want to use contains instead of equals.
If I misunderstood this statement, and you really want to use equals then perhaps you want to compare using toLowerCase() on each side.
It's hard to tell exactly without knowing the array values and received argument.


My darling Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds made a fabulous discovery the other day. She was watching an old episode of 'Jambers', a Belgian reporter who made television documentaries on eccentric people and groups. It was always great fun.
The episode Lucy was watching was about an alcoholic called René Jacques. And her discovery was that this guy is almost an exact copy of the legendary character David Brent in the British sitcom 'The Office' (2001-2003). Or rather, Brent looks like a copy of Jacques. Ahh David Brent, who doesn't remember this genius creation by comedian Ricky Gervais? Anyway, if you do remember office manager Brent, you should check out this clip on YouTube. It's eight minutes and you will be stunned.
Unbelievable right? Everything, his facial expressions, his body language, his constant talking, it is all spot on. Even the style of filming is very similar to 'The Office'. It was filmed ten years before the legendary BBC-series, so Gervais could have seen it somehow. Either that, or it is just a bizarre coincidence. This happens sometimes; there is an old interview with Tom Waits in which he sounds exactly like Heath Ledger's Joker in 'The Dark Knight'.
Speaking of Brent, this maniac will return this year in 'David Brent: Life on the Road'. It's a fake documentary, like 'The Office' was, in which Brent – who now fancies himself a rockstar on the road – is followed by a camera crew. Can't wait. Check out the trailer below here.


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Let's invent the future this Youth Skills Day!
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In the dark and freezing cold we cycled our bikes to a square on the edge of Tabriz, propped our trusty steeds up against a wall and waited for the bus to Tehran. We'd been assured several would appear from 10 o'clock. "Tehran?" we asked some bystanders when a large bus rolled up. "Yok," the crowd replied in unison, using Turkish to tell us this bus was going somewhere else. We have yet to meet anyone in Tabriz who claims to be Iranian and not Turkish or some other minority group. Even the city's most famous poet wrote in Turkish.
A momentary silence ensued and then chaos broke out as several men tried to tell us something in a language we couldn't understand. It didn't take long for us to get the distinct impression that there was no bus to Tehran at all. "Hotel," one man said over and over, putting his hands together and next to his head in a sleeping pose.
What bad luck. Not speaking Farsi, we'd been completely oblivious to the snow storms hitting much of the country. There wasn't a flurry in the skies above Tabriz. By now, after standing around in the cold, we could hardly feel our fingers or toes and the thought of a half-hour bike ride back to our hotel was quite depressing. Two security men who'd been watching us from the their little hut on the street corner waved at us to come in and warm up. Of course we accepted, squeezing into their shelter which was hardly more than a meter long on each side. Small it might have been but it was cozy and they had a pot of tea on which they kindly shared with us. We shared a few minutes of chatter about the cold, the snow and gas prices (always a popular topic – petrol is rationed here but costs only about $0.10 a litre) before we said goodbye to start the journey back into town.
We'd just crossed the first intersection, cycling at top speed, when one of the security men appeared in front of us. How did he do that? This man was quick! "Hotel," he said, pointing to a building just ahead. He must have run in the dark for a few blocks to point out a place where we could stay. We thanked him and checked the price but it was out of our budget so we returned all the way into Tabriz where the staff of Hotel Mashad were surprised to see us again. Happily they still had rooms so three hours after our adventure began we collapsed back into the very same bed we'd slept in for the previous two nights, hoping for clear roads.
and fortunately, you are finally with us now! Great!


text:
ASNSW may refer to:

 Ambulance Service of New South Wales
 Astronomical Society of New South Wales

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia