Rollingsons Solicitors: Will the Home Office's Immigration Proposals Burden your Business?
Will the Home Office's Immigration Proposals Burden your Business?
Tougher sanctions on the employment of illegal migrants are being proposed by the Home Office. The proposals, currently in the consultation phase, should be noted by businesses as they look likely to tighten up the law and extend the liabilities of directors.
The broad aims of the proposals are to make it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the UK while simplifying the way the civil penalty scheme currently operates.
What is the Home Office Proposing?
The Home Office has proposed a doubling of the maximum penalty per illegal worker from £10,000 to £20,000 and making it easier to enforce unpaid penalties. Moreover, directors or partners of limited liability partnerships would be held personally liable when fines remain unpaid by their business.
Clearly then, the government is taking its clamp-down on rogue businesses seriously, but will it have wider effects?
More Red Tape and More Costs?
The proposals may be costly for businesses even if they do not break the rules. For example, HR staff will need to be brought up to speed with the new procedures causing businesses to incur further administrative costs.
Additionally, the Home Office wants to encourage employment checks based on biometric residence permits (BRPs) - micro-chipped cards containing biographical and immigration information. While already in use, BRP's would be issued to all non-EEA overseas applicants that reside in the UK for more than 6 months. Thus, industries employing non-EEA workers, including those employing non-EEA's applicants based on Government-recognised 'strategically important skills', could be affected.
These cards also make it easier to track visa expiration forcing businesses to be particularly vigilant in maintain up-to-date, accurate employment records in order to avoid hefty fines. As such, firms with small HR teams may struggle.
The proposals do include measures designed to assist businesses; fewer documents would be needed to establish an employee's status, for example. Also, fewer follow-up checks for non-EEA nationals would be required, possibly resulting in long term efficiency and faster turnaround times.
Finally, the effects of the revised procedures are limited in scope. Sectors employing primarily EU Citizens would be unaffected by the proposals.
Where penalties are incurred, they may have a disproportionate effect on small businesses as the Home Office report suggests there will be fewer opportunities to minimise the fines. Although new legislation would retain some of the current mitigating factors, they would be restricted in scope.
Evidence of a partial check on an employee's status would no longer reduce the penalty fee and, although cooperation with investigations would still result in penalty reduction, a prompt and accurate provision of information would be required.
Businesses with a high number of non-national workers and inadequate HR teams may find active cooperation difficult to achieve, making them less likely to receive a reduction.
Evidently, some businesses will need to be more prepared than others, not only to minimise additional costs but to avoid fines too. For specialist advice contact Peter Gourri today by email PGourri@rollingsons.co.uk or telephone 0207 611 4848.


text:
Alex Tilley
David Pollino
Danny Carrasco
Acronis SCS
Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks , Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Governance & Risk Management
Analysis: Did Anthem's Security 'Certification' Have Value?
Insurer Was Certified as HITRUST CSF Compliant Before Its Mega-Breach Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) • October 23, 2018
Health insurer Anthem announced in September 2013 that it had been certified as compliant with the HITRUST Common Security Framework. Then it revealed in February 2015 that it had fallen victim to a breach that exposed data on nearly 79 million individuals. And in a report released last week, federal regulators said the cyberattackers likely began their intrusions in February 2014, about five months after the insurer achieved HITRUST certification.
Now that the insurer has agreed to a record $16 million HIPAA settlement with federal regulators, who spelled out in detail the company's security shortcomings - including the lack of a risk assessment - it's worth scrutinizing the value of adopting a security framework.
"I'm not aware of any hacker that has been thwarted by an organization that had a set of well-written policies."
—Tom Walsh, tw-Security
While many security experts say compliance with frameworks, such as HITRUST's and others, has value in helping to demonstrate an organization's security maturity, they caution that such compliance is no assurance of immunity from a breach, much less verification that an organization has taken all the right security precautions.
No Guarantees
"The HITRUST certification is about a framework for compliance. Compliance is evidence driven: Policies, procedures, plans, forms, etc." says Tom Walsh, founder of consultancy tw-Security.
"I'm not aware of any hacker that has been thwarted by an organization that had a set of well-written policies. Compliance and risk management are not the same thing. An organization can be in compliance or meet a framework and still be at risk for a breach. Compliance and frameworks help organizations reduce their risks, but they cannot eliminate all of the threats."
Security consultant Mark Johnson, a shareholder at LBMC Information Security and a former healthcare CISO, notes: "The HITRUST CSF Certification is not a guarantee, and no audit can provide absolute assurance.
"It says your cyber program has attained a certain level of maturity. It doesn't say that you are impervious to attacks. A certification says your processes have reached a certain level of maturity, but no cybersecurity program is without improvement possibilities."
Certifications, Johnson argues, "are just one of many things to consider when understanding our risk related to protected data we share with third parties."
Big Achievement?
On Sept. 30, 2013, Anthem - then still known as Wellpoint - issued a press release celebrating its achievement of reaching CSF certified status from HITRUST, which at the time was still known as the Health Information Trust Alliance.
"WellPoint is the largest health benefits company to achieve HITRUST CSF Certified status under 2013 assurance criteria," the statement said.
"The CSF Certified status under new 2013 assurance criteria assures WellPoint's members, clients, and business partners that the company is meeting the highest standards within the healthcare industry for managing security risks and protecting health information. CSF assurance criteria is reviewed annually and modified based on changing regulations and loss data analysis," according to the statement.
The Cost of Certification
In general, it's not easy or cheap for organizations to achieve CSF certification. HITRUST's fees to become certified are typically based on an organization's revenue. Then there are fees for third-party firms working with the organizations seeking certification. Some prices listed on websites of CSF assessors range from $40,000 to $60,000, and the costs can go up from there.
Organizations seeking CSF certification generally need to be assessed by third party "CSF assessors" - organizations that have been approved by HITRUST for performing assessment and services associated with the CSF Assurance Program and the HITRUST CSF, a comprehensive security framework that incorporates the existing security requirements of healthcare organizations, HITRUST notes on its site.
"The HITRUST CSF Assurance Program includes the risk management oversight and assessment methodology governed by HITRUST and designed for the unique regulatory and business needs of various industries," HITRUST says on its website.
Breach Timeline
Anthem's resolution agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services announced last week notes that HHS' Office for Civil Rights' investigation into the mega-breach asserted that Anthem failed to implement some basic good security practices.
"This breach illustrates how hard cybersecurity is in our modern world."
—Mark Johnson, LBMC Information Security
For instance, OCR said the health plan failed to conduct an enterprisewide risk analysis, had insufficient procedures to regularly review information system activity, failed to identify and respond to suspected or known security incidents, and failed to implement adequate minimum access controls to prevent the cyberattackers from accessing sensitive ePHI, beginning as early as Feb. 18, 2014. That's about five months after Anthem announced its HITRUST CSF certification.
"OCR's investigation also revealed that between Dec. 2, 2014, and Jan. 27, 2015, the cyberattackers stole the ePHI of almost 79 million individuals, including names, Social Security numbers, medical identification numbers, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, and employment information," OCR notes in its resolution agreement.
Lobbying Effort?
Anthem declined to comment to Information Security Media Group on its HITRUST CSF certification. It also declined to comment on an account shared with ISMG by someone "with deep knowledge" of a meeting that took place in 2013 or 2014 between HITRUST leaders, former Wellpoint CISO Roy Mellinger - who at the time was a HITRUST board member - and several OCR officials.
During the meeting in Washington, D.C., HITRUST leaders proposed to have OCR agree to deem the use of the HITRUST CSF by covered entities and business associates as evidence of being compliant with the HIPAA Security Rule, including in situations where OCR might be investigating a health data breach or other security incident, according to the source.
Ultimately, OCR rejected that HITRUST proposal, in part because HITRUST is a private entity, and also because OCR was supportive of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's cybersecurity framework, the source tells ISMG.
Without commenting specifically on HITRUST, an OCR spokeswoman tells ISMG: "OCR has meetings with many outside groups and stakeholders in order to stay informed on issues within the regulated community and develop future rulemaking and guidance."
Although OCR does not endorse credentialing or accreditation programs, some entities may find such programs useful in assessing their compliance with the HIPAA rules, she notes. "However, the use of these programs does not guarantee compliance with HIPAA, and entities using these products or services may still be subject to enforcement by OCR."
Blended Framework
By its own description on its website, HITRUST says its CSF represents a mix of standards, including those from NIST.
CSF leverages "nationally and internationally accepted standards including ISO, NIST, PCI and HIPAA to ensure a comprehensive set of baseline security controls. The CSF normalizes these security requirements and provides clarity and consistency, reducing the burden of compliance with the varied requirements that apply to organizations."
On a frequently asked questions section on the HITRUST website, one question posted asks, "If I'm HITRUST CSF Certified, does that mean I'm HIPAA compliant?"
HITRUST's response on its website says, "In principle yes, but it is not black and white. To be HIPAA-compliant, an organization must conduct a risk analysis and implement a reasonable and appropriate set of information safeguards - a.k.a. information security controls - to provide for the adequate protection of electronic protected health information against all reasonably anticipated threats. In practice, organizations that want to demonstrate HIPAA compliance must generally show that it has addressed each standard and implementation specification in the Security Rule, including risk analysis. Organizations must therefore design or select multiple information security controls to provide the level of prescription necessary for implementation in the system or within the organization."
HITRUST Statement
In reaction to an ISMG inquiry about the alleged meeting between HITRUST leaders and OCR to lobby the agency to deem CSF certification as evidence of compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule, Carl Anderson, HITRUST chief legal officer and senior vice president of government affairs says: "Since it was founded in 2007, HITRUST frequently meets with industry groups, Congressional leaders and government agencies, including the HHS OCR, to share insights and educate on the design of the HITRUST CSF and CSF Assurance programs and how adoption and implementation addresses information risks and compliance, including with the HIPAA privacy and security rules."
Anderson also tells ISMG: "The HITRUST CSF and CSF Assurance programs have been used successfully to demonstrate compliance with the HIPAA privacy and security rules by organizations as part of OCR investigations."
Mellinger - who is now CISO at Sabre Corp. - did not immediately respond to ISMG's request for comment on the meeting he allegedly attended between HITRUST and OCR.
As for Anthem's (Wellpoint's) HITRUST CSF certification prior to the company's massive cyberattack, Anderson contends: "In its 2015 breach, Anthem did not have a control failure within the scope of its HITRUST CSF Certification. A HITRUST CSF Certification is issued based on a defined scope, which can include a single system or multiple systems and associated infrastructure and processes that are documented in the certification report."
He also points out, however, that "it should be noted ... that no information security controls framework is capable of eliminating breaches entirely given the pace of emerging threats and sophistication of nation-state supported threat actors."
Lots of Leeway
Many security experts stress that even a good implementation of a security framework doesn't necessarily eliminate all risks because so many variables are involved.
"A tool, unfortunately, can only be as good as the people using it," says former healthcare CIO David Finn, an executive vice president at security consultancy CynergisTek.
"Without knowing what was actually done [at Anthem/Wellpoint], I will say that HITRUST is less a risk-based security framework than the NIST CSF, for example. HITRUST is more a collection of standards, regulations and pieces from other frameworks."
Achieving CSF certification "can also be rather expensive, so it has some inherent weaknesses," Finn says. "In some ways, because of the certification goal, there may be some 'assessing to the test' or checking to see that you are 'compliant with the HITRUST model' rather than a risk-based approach to assessing the current situation."
Other Frameworks
While no security framework is perfect, the NIST CSF "is the most flexible, the most up to date and built on best practice models across the entire range of threat vectors," Finn contends.
"It addresses everything from medical software to biomedical devices to third-party risk and governance of the risk management function. It is also free, so cost is not an issue for even small providers. It is our national standard and is the most broadly used security framework in healthcare," Finn says.
"As our points of connection across sectors continue to expand, the NIST CSF will allow healthcare to more easily assess another groups' cyber readiness. It will allow for more effective sharing of security status and information. And as we become more global, the NIST CSF is being widely adopted by governments beyond the U.S."
Other IT related frameworks, including the Information Technology Infrastructure Library - or ITIL, and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology - or COBIT, "are a little more focused and tend to look at building metrics to drive improvement and are generally free to members or relatively inexpensive," Finn adds. "They are not 'standards' but do reflect business approaches to security and security risk."
Steep Climb
As for Anthem suffering the massive cyberattack despite having achieved HITRUST CSF certification months earlier, Johnson, the consultant with LBMC, says: "I also don't think it implies anything about the HITRUST CSF. Rather, this breach illustrates how hard cybersecurity is in our modern world. While the HITRUST CSF is detailed, how you meet the controls objectives and how they are implemented can produce variations that may introduce risk. You can't produce the perfect framework that if perfectly implemented says, 'OK, we're safe now; nothing can happen to us.'"
Furthermore, Johnson notes that news reports that China is suspected in the attack against Anthem further complicate the challenges faced by the health insurer, regardless of the security framework used.
"I would say it's next to impossible for any company to be 100 percent resistant to that kind of attacker. A national level attacker has the time, resources and capabilities to draw upon to defeat the most robust defenses."
NIST Standards
Where Is the Secret Spying Chip Reported by Bloomberg?
Yahoo Class Action Settlement: A $50 Million-Plus Sting
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
Executive Editor, HealthcareInfoSecurity, ISMG
McGee is executive editor of Information Security Media Group's HealthcareInfoSecurity.com media site. She has about 30 years of IT journalism experience, with a focus on healthcare information technology issues for more than 15 years. Before joining ISMG in 2012, she was a reporter at InformationWeek magazine and news site and played a lead role in the launch of InformationWeek's healthcare IT media site.
PSA Buyer's Guide Checklist: What Every Service Provider Needs to Know Before Buying a Business Management Platform
https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/analysis-did-anthems-security-certification-have-value-a-11634

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Oh my gosh. I just love these two! They are so much fun! They were married in the Ogden LDS Temple and then held their reception later that evening in Katelyn's parent's backyard in Mountain Green, Utah. We were chasing the rain all day (just like all their other shoots), but the day could not have turned out more perfectly with just a little bit of rain during their first dance. It was all quite lovely really. I hope I get to work with these two again in the future!


The Company are a leading independent manufacturer and distributor of alcoholic beverages in the United Kingdom, with businesses in South Africa, China and Thailand, exporting to over 100 countries. It has a strong portfolio of products, with Whitley Neill being the flagship premium gin, supported by a collection of artisanal spirits products such as JJ Whitley, Liverpool Gin, City of London Gin, Dead Man's Fingers rums, in addition to whiskeys, craft beers including the Hawkshead Brewery range and Sadler's Peaky Blinders, as well as legacy brands Crabbie's and Lambrini.
Support Brand Manager and Marketing Director with NPD pipeline, ensuring the relevant information is dispersed to the UK and international sales teams in a timely manner.
So, what are they looking for?
The ideal candidate will be educated to degree level or equivalent in a marketing or business discipline, with a willingness to learn and get stuck in from day one. You will be a commercially focused self-starter with the drive to succeed and take personal responsibility for your work. Exceptional communication, planning and organisational skills are essential. Previous experience in a fast paced, entrepreneurial environment preferably within wine/drinks industry or FMCG is desirable.
Due to the amount of applications received, only those who our client wishes to progress will be contacted. If you have not received correspondence within 21 days, then please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. Thank you for reading this advertisement.


Zhangjiagang ARD Elevator Guide Rail Co.,Ltd is a professional manufacturer for producing all types of guide rails,fishplates,rail clips and elevator counterweight.Mideast,Southeast Asia,North Ameriaca and South America are our main markets.
Our factory is located in the Yangzi River Delta, beside the international trade port of Zhangjiagang and near the eastern entrance of Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone in China.
We mainly produce different types of elevator guide rails, such as T45/A, T50/A, T70-1/B, T75-3/B, T78/B,T82/B,T89/B,T90/B,T114/B,T127-2/B ,T127-1/B, T140-1/B,T140-2/B and T140-3/B. If you want non-standard products, we will also be able to produce for you with your detail specifications. Moreover, we provide accessories for them, such as fish plates, clips and screws.
Our manufacture site is always eager to bring new technology to our products. We not only source abundant raw materials, but also we execute strict quality control during rolling and hard-drawn process, in order to ensure high quality of hard-drawn elevator guide rails.
Regarding creativity as our top target, we are always willing to provide excellent products and services for our customers all over the world. It is our job to provide you with surpassing ARD elevator guide rails. As our slogan is "Quality is our life", we have passed ISO9001:2008 and our products follow ISO7645:2007. We have passed the evaluation of several domestic quality certifications, which ensures us to meet customers' different needs.
Looking into bright future perspective, in order to catch market development opportunities, we will definitely keep on improving our ability of providing high quality products as usual.
Finally, we are looking forward to establishing business relationship with you in the near future and making a win-win result for both of us.


Give your air conditioner a break by helping to reduce the time it needs to cool your home. Set the thermostat at … movement and typically cost very little to operate. Keep in mind, only use ceiling fans in rooms that will be occupied.


The people who bring meaning to your life may not know how much they mean to you. Brighten the day of that special someone in Windsor Heights, IA with a gorgeous bouquet or gift from Flowerama Windsor Heights just because. Love doesn't always need a reason or a holiday. The best kind of love is expressed just because. We offer same-day delivery to get right to the heart of the matter and right to their door!
Brighten their day with a beautiful gift just because. Our florist at Flowerama Windsor Heights will help create a breath-taking arrangement that will be sure to make your loved one smile. You don't need a special occasion to show you care, with same-day delivery in Windsor Heights, IA, you can make every day feel special.


When we sat down to put together our Top 10 Craft Beers of 2017 list, there were so many amazing beers that didn't quite make the cut that we decided to expand the list – so here's the rest of the beers which made up our Top 20.
A one-off collab, limited edition release in response to all the click-bait articles which said IPAs give you moobs. This was a full-on fruity, hazy, juicy affair – a wonderful beer on its own but it gets bonus marks for my favourite artwork of the year.
This was when they upped the BTD ABV to 9.5% – it received a lot of mixed reviews but this intensely bitter, super dry variation was my favourite version to date.
The bottled version was great but the nitro keg on tap was another level – a thick, luxurious, creamy, Irish coffee stout. Super smooth, easy drinking, tons of flavour.
Very much an Omnipollo stout but this one wasn't as sweet as some of the others (Noa, Anagram etc) with a strong, bold, coffee flavour setting it apart.
Cloudwater never fail to deliver when it comes to big, murky, DIPAs but they took it one step further with this Triple IPA brewed in collaboration with The Veil. The first few sips were extremely boozy and bitter but once accustomed, it's basically 10% ABV fruit juice.
Some porters are too thin – not this one! Thick, creamy, very sweet. Perfect dessert beer from the only Estonian micro-brewery to make our Top 20 list.
Another Cloudwater collaboration, this time with Brooklyn, NYC's Other Half. It's another big, bold DIPA – this time featuring a more bitter, piney, backbone – although still very much a juicy, hoppy banger.
A stunning 10% porter, bursting full of cherry and coffee flavours. Another A+ effort as part of the Patrons Project.
Super smooth, intense coffee flavours. We like coffee flavoured beers, can you tell? Hate coffee though. No, really.
Another 'typical' Cloudwater beer… a boozy, piney, fruity juice bomb. They do it so well – and this was one of the best of a great bunch released in 2017.
So there you have it – not quite in our Top 10 for 2017 but some mighty fine beers rounding out the Top 20. Have you tried any of the above? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.


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Wonderful "Musical Dialogue of Culture" Concert in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN, February 17, 2017 (EIRNS) — They came from around the world. They came bearing gifts. Not gifts you could touch with your hands. But gifts that touched your soul. Gifts of beautiful music, and beautiful dance.
And the people came to hear them. And they kept coming, and they kept coming till none of the 120 seats were left. And after there was no more room for extra chairs, they stood in the aisles, and they stood in the lobby, and they sat behind the curtains. They were Danes, and they were diplomats, and other people, from many nations, maybe 180-200 in total. The hostess said that there had never been so many there before.
The dialogue of cultures between the sponsors of the concert, itself, led to the great success – The Schiller Institute, The Russian-Danish Dialogue organization, The Russian House in Copenhagen, and the China Culture Center of the Chinese Embassy (about to open, which also provided intermission food). And the concert was held in The Russian Center for Science and Culture, representing the Federal agency for the Commonwealth of the Independent States (of the former Soviet Union), compatriots living abroad and the international humanitarian cooperation (Rossotrudichestvo).
Firstly, the people were told by Schiller Institute chairman Tom Gillesberg that we have a unique moment in world history, where the potential is there for the U.S. to join the new paradigm of economic development sweeping the world. Secondly, they were told by the spokeswoman for Russian-Danish Dialogue, Jelena Nielsen, that a dialogue of culture can lead to peace in the world. They were also the interchanging hosts for the evening. Thirdly, the director of The Russian Center for Science and Culture, Artem Alexandrovich Markaryan, welcomed the people.
Then the procession of gift-givers began.
Bai Claire Jie/Schiller Institute in Denmark
From Russia came children playing Russian folk songs on balalaikas, (the "Svetit Mesjac" (The Moon is Shining) ensemble from The Russian House, conducted by Igor Panich), including Katjusha, with soloist Valerij Likhachev (left), baritone, who has sung on 200 stages. He also later performed Leperello's list aria, from the opera Don Giovanni by Mozart, and Mephistopheles' couplets, from Gounod's opera Faust, together with his pianist Semjon Bolshem.
From China's Mongolia came a very musical young science student, Kai Guo, who played many flutes, and charmingly sang the Kangding Chinese love song, as a duet, with Feride Istogu Gillesberg from The Schiller Institute.
From Indonesia came a traditional dancer, Sarah Noor Komarudin, who filled the room with her graceful Jaipong dance.
From Ghana came two young men, Isaac Kwaku and Fred Kwaku, who sang and played a religious song, and a song about when we work together, we are stronger than when we stand alone.
Kai Guo (Bai Claire Jie/Schiller Institute in Denmark)
And from Denmark and Sweden came three outstanding female opera singers, whose tones, and dramatic intensity, moved the audience profoundly. Their offerings were songs and arias from Schubert, Verdi, Dvořák and Sibelius. Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, an international bright star of a soprano, who recently retired from The Royal Danish Opera, sang Rusalka's Song to the Moon by Dvořák. Idil Alpsoy, a fantastic mezzo soprano with roots in Hungary and Turkey, who is also a member of the Middle East Peace Orchestra, sang songs from Sibelius' Op.37 and 88. And a soprano, Leena Malkki, we have heard for many years blossoming into a truly magnificent artist, sang Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (spinning wheel), and Desdemona's prayer Ave Maria, from Verdi's opera Othello. The first two were accompanied by Christine Raft, an extremely talented young Danish pianist, and the later by The Schiller Institute's own Benjamin Telmányi Lylloff.
He, and his mother Anika, poignantly played Beethoven's Romance for violin and piano, continuing the legacy bequeathed by their ancestor from Hungary, the violin soloist Emil Telmányi Lylloff.
For the finale, all the singers (but one), sang Verdi's chorus of the Hebrew slaves longing for freedom, Va, pensiero, with the addition of four members of The Schiller Institute's future chorus. See the program at: www.schillerinstitut.dk/si/?p=17637
Sarah Noor Komarudin (Bai Claire Jie/Schiller Institute in Denmark)
And the people were uplifted, with each presentation by itself, and with the succession of one piece of music, or dance, after the other, one country after another, traditional music in dialogue with classical music, weaving a tapestry of sound, sight and delight, not reaching their senses, but their soul.
And the people were asked to be in contact with us, and to consider joining The Schiller Institute's chorus, some of whom wrote that they would.
Fred Kwaku (piano) and Isaac Kwaku (singing, with a drum).
As they left, they all expressed the most sublime joy and thankfulness for having had the privilege to have received all of these precious gifts, which they took home in the memory of their minds, to be opened again, and again.
A musical testament to the paradox of the unity and diversity of mankind, expressed by human creativity, and a powerful statement of the dialogue of cultures was declaimed.
We will go forth with this statement, in the form of professional video and audio recordings, to spread its ripples throughout the world.
Schiller Institute in Denmark
J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor
Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D, BWV 243
Ludwig van Beethoven: "Die Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre"
W.A. Mozart: Requiem Mass in D Minor KV 626


This ice cream shop was established by two brothers. One with an never ending passion for ice cream and a dream to one time have his one ice cream shop while the other one with the huge generosity and believe in his brother. Today, Jordi Roca and his wife Ale are not only owners of 4 ice cream shops in Spain, but also ice cream mans, pastry chefs and the creative mind behind Rocambolesc. They have the overall objective to evolve, learn from mistakes, grow with experience and last but not least, make this world a sweeter place.
Their shop in the middle of La Rambla is colorful, stylish and decorated with lovely details. In the middle of the shop you can find an installed cart where they sell all their different types of ice cream. They offer delicious sorts such as Chocolate, baked Apple and Cherry and Lime Sorbet and also a specialty that is called Panet. It is basically ice cream with topping filled into a Brioche. In addition, they sell ice cream that you can take home, chocolate and funny popsicles in the shape of Darth Vader, a finger or a bear.
It is definitely not a normal ice cream shop, but this is also the strategy of Rocambolesc. Be different, be better but definitely; be sweet!
You can check other suggestions of Ice cream and food & restaurant types here in Barcelona.


text:
Q: Remove unnecessary text? I currently have this:
$population = '1,601 (2001 census){{Census 2001 AUS|id=SSC12856|name=Palm Beach (State Suburb)|accessdate=30 June 2007|quick=on}}';

I want this:
$population = '1,601 (2001 census)';

I've tried using preg_match to remove everything after what I want, but I can't figure out the regex.
How would I accomplish this?

A: Is removing after the first { okay?
substr($population, 0, strpos($population, '{'))
# This would be better written strtok($population, '{'), as @mario points out.

Or, to remove everything between {{ and }}:
preg_replace('/{{.*?}}/', '', $population);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
\section{Introduction}
Next-generation wireless systems are expected to achieve unprecedentedly high data rates by combining the large bandwidths available at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies~\cite{swindlehurst14a} with the high spectral efficiency provided by massive multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)~\cite{larsson14a}.
Unfortunately, base-station (BS) architectures for MU-MIMO systems, with hundreds of antenna elements, operating at the extreme sampling rates needed for wideband mmWave communication require excessively high power consumption and complex digital circuitry.
To keep the power consumption within acceptable bounds, research has mostly focused on hybrid analog-digital architectures~\cite{roh2014millimeter,sadhu20177,alkhateeb14b}.
Such hybrid BS architectures are, however, limited in their beamforming capabilities~\cite{alkhateeb14b,bjornson2019massive,dutta2019case}, which leads to reduced spectral efficiency.
Per contra, all-digital BS architectures~\cite{mo15b,roth2017achievable,jacobsson17b} do not suffer from such limitations.
While it is natural to believe that all-digital solutions are more power-hungry than hybrid architectures, recent results show that---by reducing the data-converter resolution---the radio-frequency circuitry and data-converters in an all-digital BS (i) have similar power consumption as in a hybrid BS \cite{dutta2019case} and (ii) enable superior spectral efficiency~\cite{roth2017achievable}.
Besides these recent results, the power consumption and silicon area of baseband processing in all-digital BS architectures are largely~unexplored.

\vspace{-0.03cm}
\subsection{Finite-Alphabet Equalization}
In our recent paper~\cite{castaneda19fame}, we investigated the power consumption and silicon area required for spatial equalization in the mmWave MU-MIMO uplink, i.e., when the user equipments (UEs) transmit to the BS.
We considered a system with $16$ UEs and $256$ BS antenna elements operating at a sampling rate of $2$\,G\,vectors/s.
For such system, our implementation results in $28$\,nm CMOS technology showed that, even when considering data converters with only $7$ bits of resolution,
a simple, single-tap linear equalizer already requires $28$\,W and $129\,\text{mm}^2$~\cite{castaneda19fame}.
For higher sampling rates or systems with more BS antenna elements, UEs, or taps,  power consumption and area will increase even further.
Hence, to reduce both power and silicon area, we proposed \emph{finite-alphabet equalization}~\cite{castaneda19fame}, which uses coarsely quantized numbers to represent the entries of the equalization matrices, while minimizing the post-equalization mean-square error (MSE).
In summary, we showed that finite-alphabet equalizers enable a reduction in power and area by a factor of $3.9\times$ and $5.8\times$, respectively, while offering competitive error-rate performance to conventional, high-resolution equalizers~\cite{castaneda19fame}.

\vspace{-0.03cm}
\subsection{Contributions}
Similar to the case of equalization in the uplink, the power consumption and silicon area of precoding in the all-digital mmWave MU-MIMO downlink (BS transmits to UEs) is expected to be a major bottleneck, as high-dimensional data has to be processed at extremely high rates.
In order to reduce power consumption and silicon area of the precoding operation, we apply the concept of finite-alphabet matrices used for linear spatial equalization in~\cite{castaneda19fame} to linear precoding.
We propose two finite-alphabet precoding schemes to compute Wiener filter (WF)-optimal matrices, which are matrices that best mimic
the linear WF precoder.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework that we call \emph{finite-alphabet WF precoding} (FAWP), we evaluate its performance in terms of uncoded bit error-rate~(BER) and error-vector magnitude (EVM) for i.i.d.\ Rayleigh fading, and for line-of-sight~(LoS) and non-LoS mmWave channels.

\subsection{Notation}
Uppercase and lowercase boldface letters denote matrices and column vectors, respectively.
For a matrix $\bA$, its Hermitian transpose, Frobenius norm, real part and imaginary part are $\bA^H$, $\|\bA\|_{F}$, $\Re\{\bA\}$, and $\Im\{\bA\}$, respectively.
The $M\times M$ identity matrix is $\bI_M$.
For the vector $\bma$, its $k$th entry, $\ell_2$-norm, and entry-wise complex conjugate are $a_k$, $\vecnorm{\veca}_2$, and $\bma^*$, respectively.
The $k$th standard basis vector is $\bme_k$.
The set $\reals_+$ contains the non-negative real numbers.
The signum function~$\text{sgn}(\cdot)$ is defined as~$\text{sgn}(a)=+1$ for~$a \in \reals_+$ and~$\text{sgn}(a)=-1$ for $a\not\in\reals_+$, and is applied entry-wise to vectors.
The expectation operator with respect to the random vector $\bmx$ is $\Ex{\bmx}{\cdot}$.

\section{System Model and WF Precoding}
\subsection{System Model}
We focus on the downlink of a mmWave massive MU-MIMO system in which a BS with~$B$ antennas serves~$U<B$ single-antenna UEs in the same time-frequency resource.
We consider a narrowband scenario modeled by $\bmy = \bH \bmx + \bmn$,
where $\bmy\in\complexset^U$ is the received vector,
$\bH\in\complexset^{U\times B}$ is the channel matrix,
$\bmx\in\complexset^B$ is the precoded vector,
and $\bmn\in\complexset^U$ is i.i.d.\ circularly-symmetric complex Gaussian noise with variance~$\No$ per complex entry.
We assume that the channel matrix $\bH$ is perfectly known to the BS, and that the precoded vector $\bmx$ is subject to the following  average power constraint:
\begin{align}\label{eq:powerconstraint}
 \Ex{\bmx}{\|\bmx\|^2_2}\leq P.
\end{align}

\subsection{WF Precoding}
\label{sec:wfprecoding}

The goal of precoding is to simultaneously transmit constellation points $s_u\in\setO$ to the $u=1,\ldots,U$ UEs while reducing MU interference.
Here, $s_u$ is assumed to have zero mean and variance $\Es$, and $\setO$ denotes the constellation set (e.g., $16$-QAM).
The BS maps the vector $\bms$ into the precoded vector $\bmx$ with the aid of channel state information.
The precoded vector $\bmx$ is crafted such that the UEs can form an estimate $\hat s_u \in \opC$ of the transmitted symbol $s_u$ simply by scaling the received signal $y_u$.
Specifically, as in \cite{jacobsson17d,jacobsson16d}, we assume that each UE forms an estimate as $\hat s_u = \beta y_u$.
Here, $\beta\in\reals_+$ is a precoding factor that can be estimated at the UE using pilot-based transmission~\cite{jacobsson16d}.

In what follows, we focus on linear precoders for which it holds that $\bmx=\bP\bms$, where $\bP\in\complexset^{B\times U}$ is the precoding matrix.
While the literature covers a range of optimization criteria for linear precoding~\cite{fatema2017massive}, in this work we limit ourselves to the design of linear precoders that attempt to minimize the MSE between the estimated symbols $\hat\bms$ and the transmitted symbols~$\bms$:
\begin{align}
\textit{MSE} & = \Ex{\bms,\bmn}{\|\bms-\hat\bms\|^2_2} =  \Ex{\bms}{\|\bms-\beta\bH\bmx\|^2_2} + \beta^2 U \No. \label{eq:MSE}
\end{align}
Minimizing~\fref{eq:MSE} subject to the power constraint in \fref{eq:powerconstraint} results in the so-called WF precoder~\cite{joham05a}, where the precoding matrix is given by $\bP^\text{WF}=\frac{1}{\beta^\text{WF}}\bQ^\text{WF}$ with
\begin{align} \label{eq:originalQmatrix}
\bQ^\text{WF} = \left(\bH^H\bH + \kappa^\text{WF} \bI_B \right)^{-1}\bH^H,
\end{align}
\vspace{-0.6cm}
\begin{align} \label{eq:precodingfactor}
\kappa^\text{WF} =  \frac{U\No}{P}, \quad \text{and} \quad \beta^\text{WF}  = \sqrt{\frac{\tr\big((\bQ^\text{WF})^H\bQ^\text{WF}\big) \Es}{P}}.
\end{align}

It is important to realize that the matrix $\bQ^\text{WF} \in \opC^{B \times U}$ in \fref{eq:originalQmatrix} is the solution of the following optimization~problem:
\begin{align}\label{eq:preFAWPproblemMatrix}
\bQ^\text{WF} = \argmin_{\tilde\bQ\in\complexset^{B\times U}} \|\bI_U-\bH\tilde\bQ\|_F^2 + \kappa^\text{WF} \|\tilde\bQ\|^2_F.
\end{align}
We can also obtain the columns~$\bmq^\text{WF}_u\in \opC^B$ , $u=1,\ldots,U$, of the matrix  $\bQ^\text{WF}$ by solving
\begin{align}\label{eq:preFAWPproblem}
\bmq^\text{WF}_u  = \argmin_{\tilde\bmq\in\complexset^{B}} \|\bme_u-\bH\tilde\bmq\|_2^2 +  \kappa^\text{WF} \|\tilde\bmq\|^2_2.
\end{align}
By applying the Woodbury identity \cite{petersen12a} to \fref{eq:originalQmatrix}, we also have that
\begin{align} \label{eq:woodburyQmatrix}
\bQ^\text{WF} = \bH^H\left(\bH\bH^H + \kappa^\text{WF} \bI_U \right)^{-1},
\end{align}
which is the solution to the following optimization problem:
\begin{align}\label{eq:postFAWPproblemMatrix}
\bQ^\text{WF} = \argmin_{\tilde\bQ\in\complexset^{B\times U}} \|\bI_B-\tilde\bQ\bH\|_F^2 + \kappa^\text{WF} \|\tilde\bQ\|^2_F.
\end{align}
Thus, the rows~$\bmq_b^\text{r,WF}$, $b=1,\ldots,B$, of $\bQ^\text{WF}$ (where the superscript $\text{r}$ denotes a row vector) can be computed as
\begin{align}\label{eq:postFAWPproblem}
\bmq_b^\text{r,WF}=\argmin_{\tilde\bmq^\text{r}\in\complexset^{1\times U}} \|\bme_b^H-\tilde\bmq^\text{r}\bH\|_2^2 +  \kappa^\text{WF} \|\tilde\bmq^\text{r}\|^2_2.
\end{align}
The alternative optimization problems in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblem} and \fref{eq:postFAWPproblem} to compute the matrix $\bQ^\text{WF}$ will become useful in the next section.

\section{Finite-Alphabet WF Precoding~(FAWP)}

WF precoding computes $\bmx=\bP^\text{WF}\bms=\frac{1}{\beta^\text{WF}}\bQ^\text{WF}\bms$ for each transmitted vector $\bms$.
Unfortunately, digital precoding circuitry will be power hungry and large as mmWave MU-MIMO systems operate with high-dimensional data and extremely high sampling rates.
As a remedy, FAWP proposes to represent the matrix $\bQ^\text{WF}$ using coarsely quantized numbers, with the objective of reducing the hardware complexity of the matrix-vector product $\bQ^\text{WF}\bms$.
Unfortunately, a direct quantization of the matrix $\bQ^\text{WF}$ typically leads to a significant error-rate degradation.

In order to design low-resolution matrices that are WF-optimal, i.e., that best mimic the infinite-precision WF-precoding matrix $\bQ^\text{WF}$, we propose to use the so-called \emph{finite-alphabet matrices}, initially proposed in~\cite{castaneda19fame} for spatial equalization in the mmWave MU-MIMO uplink.
Since we will apply finite-alphabet matrices to imitate the WF-precoding matrix $\bQ^\text{WF}$, we will refer to them as \emph{FAWP matrices}.
FAWP matrices introduce a \emph{few} high-resolution scaling factors that help to bring a low-resolution matrix to the right scale.
While the work in \cite{castaneda19fame} studied one form of finite-alphabet matrices, we will now consider two distinct FAWP matrix structures, namely pre-FAWP and post-FAWP matrices.

\subsection{Pre-FAWP Matrix}
\begin{defi}\label{def:preFAWPmatrix}
We define a \emph{pre-FAWP matrix} as a $B\times U$ matrix with the structure
\begin{align} \label{eq:preFAWPmatrix}
\bQ=\bA\,\mathrm{diag}(\boldsymbol\alpha^*),
\end{align}
where $\bA\in\setX^{B\times U}$ is a low-resolution matrix with entries taken from the finite alphabet $\setX$ and $\boldsymbol\alpha\in\complexset^U$ is a vector with per-UE scaling factors.
\end{defi}

By using a pre-FAWP matrix, the matrix-vector product $\bQ\bms$ becomes $\bA(\mathrm{diag}(\boldsymbol\alpha^*)\bms)$.
We call such matrix pre-FAWP as the~$U$ entries of the transmitted symbol vector $\bms$ are scaled by the entries of $\boldsymbol\alpha^*$ \emph{before} getting multiplied with the matrix $\bA$.
Pre-FAWP reduces hardware complexity of $\bQ\bms$ since the matrix~$\bA$ has low-resolution entries.
Consider, for example, the case in which the entries of~$\bA$ are chosen from the $1$-bit alphabet $\setX=\{\pm1\pm j\}$; multiplying this matrix $\bA$ with the vector $\mathrm{diag}(\boldsymbol\alpha^*)\bms$ does not require hardware multipliers, but only adders and subtractors.

To calculate pre-FAWP matrices that are WF-optimal, we solve the problem in~\fref{eq:preFAWPproblem} by assuming that $\bQ$ has the form given by~\fref{eq:preFAWPmatrix}.
By doing so, we arrive at the following procedure:
\begin{lem} \label{lem:preFAWPequivalent}
The problem in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemMatrix} is equivalent to solving the following optimization problem for each UE $u=1,\ldots,U$:
\begin{align}\label{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact}
\bma_u = \argmin_{\tilde\bma\in\setX^B} \frac{\|\bH\tilde\bma\|_2^2+\kappa^\textnormal{WF}\|\tilde\bma\|_2^2}{|\bmh_u^\textnormal{r}\tilde\bma|^2 }.
\end{align}
Here, $\bma_u$ is the $u$th column of $\bA$, $\bmh_u^\textnormal{r}$ is the $u$th row of $\bH$, and the associated optimal scaling factor is given by
\begin{align}\label{eq:preFAWPscaling}
\alpha_u(\bma_u) = \frac{\bmh_u^\textnormal{r}\bma_u}{\|\bH\bma_u\|^2_2+\kappa^\textnormal{WF}\|\bma_u\|^2_2}.
\end{align}
\end{lem}
\fref{lem:preFAWPequivalent} can be established by first plugging \fref{eq:preFAWPmatrix} into \fref{eq:preFAWPproblem}.
Then, we obtain \fref{eq:preFAWPscaling} by taking the Wirtinger derivative with respect to $\alpha_u$.
Substituting \fref{eq:preFAWPscaling} in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblem} gives \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact}; the proof is analogous to that in \cite{castaneda19fame} for finite-alphabet equalizers.

\subsection{Post-FAWP Matrix}
\begin{defi}\label{def:postFAWPmatrix}
We define a \emph{post-FAWP matrix} as a $B\times U$ matrix with the structure
\begin{align} \label{eq:postFAWPmatrix}
\bQ=\mathrm{diag}(\boldsymbol\zeta)\,\bZ^H,
\end{align}
where $\bZ\in\setX^{U\times B}$ is a low-resolution matrix with entries taken from the finite alphabet $\setX$ and $\boldsymbol\zeta\in\complexset^B$ is a vector with per-BS-antenna scaling factors.
\end{defi}

By using a post-FAWP matrix, the matrix-vector product $\bQ\bms$ becomes $\mathrm{diag}(\boldsymbol\zeta)(\bZ^H\bms)$.
We call such matrix post-FAWP as the $B$ scaling factors in $\boldsymbol\zeta$ are applied \emph{after} multiplying the matrix $\bZ^H$ with the vector $\bms$.
Post-FAWP reduces the hardware complexity of $\bQ\bms$ since the $B\times U$ matrix-vector product $\bZ^H\bms$ can be implemented using exclusively low-resolution arithmetic units.
The results of $\bZ^H\bms$ are then entry-wise scaled by $\boldsymbol\zeta$, which requires only~$B$ high-resolution scalar multiplications.

Akin to the case of pre-FAWP matrices, we obtain post-FAWP matrices that are WF-optimal by solving the problem in \fref{eq:postFAWPproblem} with a matrix~$\bQ$ that has the form given in \fref{eq:postFAWPmatrix}.
By doing so, we arrive at the following procedure:
\begin{lem} \label{lem:postFAWPequivalent}
The problem in \fref{eq:postFAWPproblemMatrix} is equivalent to solving the following optimization problem for each BS antenna $b=1,\ldots,B$:
\begin{align}\label{eq:postFAWPproblemCompact}
\bmz_b = \argmin_{\tilde\bmz\in\setX^U} \frac{\|\bH^H\tilde\bmz\|_2^2+\kappa^\textnormal{WF}\|\tilde\bmz\|_2^2}{|\bmh^H_b\tilde\bmz|^2 }.
\end{align}
Here, $\bmz_b$ is the $b$th column of $\bZ$, $\bmh_b$ is the $b$th column of $\bH$, and the associated optimal scaling factor is given by
\begin{align}\label{eq:postFAWPScaling}
\zeta_b(\bmz_b) = \frac{\bmh_b^H\bmz_b}{\|\bH^H\bmz_b\|^2_2+\kappa^\text{WF}\|\bmz_b\|^2_2}.
\end{align}
\end{lem}
\noindent The proof of \fref{lem:postFAWPequivalent} parallels  that of \fref{lem:preFAWPequivalent}.

In summary, both pre-FAWP and post-FAWP matrices are composed by a low-resolution matrix and a set of scaling factors.
The difference is that a pre-FAWP matrix applies its~$U$ scaling factors \emph{before} the multiplication with the low-resolution matrix, whereas a post-FAWP matrix applies its $B$ scaling factors \emph{after} matrix multiplication.
As $B\gg U$ in typical massive MU-MIMO systems, a pre-FAWP matrix performs fewer high-resolution scaling operations than a post-FAWP matrix.
However, the matrix-vector product is simpler with a post-FAWP matrix than with a pre-FAWP matrix, since the vector has a lower resolution as the symbols in $\bms$ are not scaled yet.
Thus, neither pre-FAWP nor post-FAWP matrices have a clear advantage over the other in terms of hardware complexity.\footnote{In contrast, for the uplink considered in~\cite{castaneda19fame}, post-equalization scaling requires fewer scaling factors \emph{and} does not increase the resolution of the received~vector.}
Nonetheless, both FAWP matrix structures are expected to reduce hardware complexity when compared to traditional precoding, as the low-resolution matrices in both structures have \emph{coarsely quantized} entries.

\section{Computing FAWP Matrices}
We now propose different methods to compute pre-FAWP and post-FAWP matrices defined in \fref{eq:preFAWPmatrix} and \fref{eq:postFAWPmatrix}, respectively.
We also discuss means to estimate the precoding factor $\beta$.

\subsection{FAWP by Quantizing the WF-Precoding Matrix}
For pre-FAWP and post-FAWP matrices, the scaling factors are computed by means of \fref{eq:preFAWPscaling} and \fref{eq:postFAWPScaling}, respectively, regardless of how the low-resolution matrix ($\bA$ for pre-FAWP and $\bZ$ for post-FAWP) is computed.
Instead of solving the problems in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact} or \fref{eq:postFAWPproblemCompact}, a simple approach is to directly quantize the infinite-precision matrix $\bQ^\text{WF}$.
We call this approach \emph{FAWP-WF}; more specifically, pre-FAWP-WF and post-FAWP-WF when applied to pre-FAWP and post-FAWP matrices, respectively.

We quantize $\bQ^\text{WF}$ following the method put forward in \cite{castaneda19fame}. For pre-FAWP-WF,  we first find the maximum value $w_\text{max}$ of $[|\Re\{\bmq^\text{WF}_u\}|; |\Im\{\bmq^\text{WF}_u\}|]$ for each column $\bmq^\text{WF}_u$ of $\bQ^\text{WF}$.
We then divide the range $[-w_\text{max},w_\text{max}]$ into uniform-width bins, where each bin is represented by its centroid value.
The centroid values are scaled by the same factor so that they are integer numbers, which preserves the objective value in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact} and results in the low-resolution entries of the column~$\bma_u$.
For post-FAWP-WF, we apply the same procedure on a per-row basis: Each quantized row of $\bQ^\text{WF}$ corresponds to one row of~$\bZ^H$.

Since the problems in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact} and \fref{eq:postFAWPproblemCompact} are NP-hard, FAWP-WF significantly reduces complexity.
Concretely, FAWP-WF requires the same complexity of $\setO(BU^2)$ as computing the infinite-precision $\bQ^\text{WF}$ in \fref{eq:woodburyQmatrix}.
As a result, we will use FAWP-WF as a baseline to evaluate the performance of the algorithm proposed next, which tackles the problems in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact} and \fref{eq:postFAWPproblemCompact}.

\subsection{FAWP via Forward-Backward Splitting (FBS)}
Similar to finite-alphabet equalization matrices in~\cite{castaneda19fame}, we can also approximately solve the FAWP problems in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact} and \fref{eq:postFAWPproblemCompact} using forward-backward splitting (FBS), an approach dubbed FAWP-FBS.
In what follows, we will present pre-FAWP-FBS, an algorithm for computing the low-resolution part of a pre-FAWP matrix starting from the problem in \fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact}.
The algorithm for post-FAWP matrices, dubbed post-FAWP-FBS, can be derived in a similar way starting from \fref{eq:postFAWPproblemCompact}.

As in \cite{castaneda19fame}, we assume that the optimal objective value $\gamma_u$ of~\fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact}, $u=1,\ldots,U$, is known.
Then, solving the problem in~\fref{eq:preFAWPproblemCompact} is equivalent to solving the following problem:
\begin{align}\label{eq:FAWP2solve}
\bma_u = \argmin_{\tilde\bma\in\setX^B} \frac{1}{2}\|\bH\tilde\bma\|_2^2+\frac{\kappa^\text{WF}}{2}\|\tilde\bma\|_2^2 - \frac{\gamma_u}{2}|\bmh_u^\text{r}\tilde\bma|^2.
\end{align}
As $\gamma_u$ is unknown, we will use it as a parameter that can be tuned to empirically improve the performance of our algorithm.

We next relax the finite-alphabet constraint $\tilde\bma\in\setX^B$ in \fref{eq:FAWP2solve} to $\tilde\bma\in\setB^B$, where $\setB$ represents the convex hull of $\setX$.
By doing so, the all-zeros vector $\bm0_{B\times1}$ becomes a trivial solution.
To avoid this solution, we follow the approach in \cite{shah2016biconvex} and include in \fref{eq:FAWP2solve} the term $-\frac{\delta}{2}\|\tilde\bma\|_2^2$, with $\delta>0$, to encourage large entries in the vector~$\tilde\bma$.
The resulting optimization problem is
\begin{align}
\label{eq:FAWP_BCR}
\bma_u=\argmin_{\tilde{\bma}\in\setB^B}\frac{1}{2}\|\bH\tilde\bma\|_2^2-\frac{\gamma_u}{2}|\bmh^\text{r}_u\tilde\bma|^2+\frac{\kappa^\text{WF}-\delta}{2}\|\tilde\bma\|_2^2.
\end{align}

We are now ready to apply FBS~\cite{goldstein2010high,goldstein14a}.
FBS is an efficient procedure for solving convex problems of the form $\hat{\bma} = \argmin_{\tilde\bma} f(\tilde\bma) + g(\tilde\bma)$, where both functions $f$ and $g$ are convex, but $f$ is smooth and $g$ is not necessarily smooth or bounded.
FBS is an iterative method that runs for $t_\text{max}$ iterations or until convergence~\cite{goldstein14a}. In each iteration $t$, FBS computes
\begin{align}
\tilde\bmv^{(t+1)} & =\tilde\bma^{(t)}-\tau^{(t)}\nabla f(\tilde\bma^{(t)}) \label{eq:fbs_z},\\
\tilde\bma^{(t+1)} & =\text{prox}_g\left(\tilde\bmv^{(t+1)};\tau^{(t)}\right)\!,
\end{align}
where $\nabla f(\tilde\bma^{(t)})$ is the gradient of the function $f$ and $\lbrace\tau^{(t)}>0\rbrace$ is a sequence of step sizes.
The proximal operator of the function $g$ is defined as $\text{prox}_g\left(\tilde\bmv;\tau\right) = \argmin_{\tilde\bma} \left\lbrace \tau g(\tilde\bma) + \frac{1}{2}\|\tilde\bma-\tilde\bmv\|^2_2\right\rbrace$~\cite{parikh14a}.

Since the problem in \fref{eq:FAWP_BCR} is non-convex, FBS is not guaranteed to converge to an optimal solution.
Nevertheless, we use FBS to approximately solve \fref{eq:FAWP_BCR} by setting
\begin{align}
f(\tilde\bma) & = \frac{1}{2}\|\bH\tilde\bma\|_2^2-\frac{\gamma_u}{2}|\bmh^\text{r}_u\tilde\bma|^2,\\
g(\tilde\bma) & =  \mathbb{I}_{\setB^B}(\tilde\bma)+\frac{\kappa^\text{WF}-\delta}{2}\|\tilde\bma\|^2_2,
\end{align}
where $\mathbb{I}_{\setB^B}(\tilde\bma)$ is the indicator function, which is zero if $\tilde\bma\in\setB^B$ and infinity otherwise.
We use the indicator function to incorporate the convex constraint $\tilde{\bma}\in\setB^B$ in \fref{eq:FAWP_BCR} into the function $g(\tilde\bma)$.
These choices for $f(\tilde\bma)$ and $g(\tilde\bma)$ result in:
\begin{align}
\nabla f(\tilde\bma) = &~\bH^H\bH\tilde\bma-\gamma_u(\bmh^\text{r}_u)^H\bmh^\text{r}_u\tilde\bma \label{eq:fbs_grad}\\
\text{prox}_g\left(\tilde{v}\right) = &~\text{sgn}\mathopen{}\left(\Re\lbrace\tilde{v}\rbrace\right)\min\left\{\nu^{(t)}|\Re\lbrace\tilde{v}\rbrace|,1\right\} \nonumber\\
& + j~\text{sgn}\mathopen{}\left(\Im\lbrace\tilde{v}\rbrace\right)\min\left\{\nu^{(t)}|\Im\lbrace\tilde{v}\rbrace|,1\right\} \label{eq:proxgFAME},
\end{align}
where $\nu^{(t)}=(1+\tau^{(t)}(\kappa^\text{WF}-\delta))^{-1}$ and \fref{eq:proxgFAME} is applied element-wise to $\tilde\bmv$.
Pre-FAWP-FBS can be summarized as follows:

\begin{oframed}
\vspace{-0.25cm}
\begin{alg}[Pre-FAWP-FBS]\label{alg:pre-FAWP-FBS}
Initialize $\tilde\bma^{(1)}$ with either the maximum-ratio transmission (MRT) solution $(\bmh^\textnormal{r}_u)^H$ or the pre-FAWP-WF solution $\bma^\textnormal{WF}_u$, and fix the sets of parameters {$\{\tau^{(t)}\}$}, {$\{\nu^{(t)}\}$}, and {$\{\gamma^{(t)}\}$}.
Then, for each iteration $t=1,2,\ldots,t_\textnormal{max}$, compute
\begin{align}
\tilde\bmv^{(t+1)} &= \left(\bI_B - \tau^{(t)}\bH^H(\bI_U-\gamma^{(t)}\bme_u\bme_u^H)\bH\right) \tilde\bma^{(t)} \label{eq:step1}\\
\tilde\bma^{(t+1)} & = \mathrm{prox}_g (\tilde\bmv^{(t+1)}). \label{eq:step2}
\end{align}
The result $\tilde\bma^{(t_\text{max}+1)}$ is projected onto the finite alphabet $\setX$ to obtain $\bma_u$.
The optimal scalar $\alpha_u$ is computed using \fref{eq:preFAWPscaling}.
This procedure is repeated for each UE $u=1,\ldots,U$.
\end{alg}
\vspace{-0.25cm}
\end{oframed}
\vspace{-0.1cm}

To tune the algorithm parameters $\{\tau^{(t)}\}$, $\{\nu^{(t)}\}$, and $\{\gamma^{(t)}\}$, we use a neural-network-based approach as put forward in~\cite{balatsoukas-stimming19a}.
Note that we have replaced $\gamma_u$ with $\gamma^{(t)}$ in \fref{alg:pre-FAWP-FBS} in order to (i) keep the algorithm general for different user locations and (ii) to increase flexibility during optimization.

We now summarize post-FAWP-FBS, which can be derived following similar steps as for the derivation of pre-FAWP-FBS.
\begin{oframed}
\vspace{-0.25cm}
\begin{alg}[Post-FAWP-FBS]\label{alg:post-FAWP-FBS}
Initialize $\tilde\bmz^{(1)}$ with either the MRT solution $\bmh_b$ or the post-FAWP-WF solution $\bmz^\text{WF}_b$, and fix the sets of parameters {$\{\tau^{(t)}\}$}, {$\{\nu^{(t)}\}$}, and {$\{\gamma^{(t)}\}$}.
Then, for each iteration $t=1,2,\ldots,t_\text{max}$, compute
\begin{align}
\tilde\bmv^{(t+1)} &= \left(\bI_U - \tau^{(t)}\bH(\bI_B-\gamma^{(t)}\bme_b\bme_b^H)\bH^H\right) \tilde\bmz^{(t)} \label{eq:step1}\\
\tilde\bmz^{(t+1)} & = \mathrm{prox}_g (\tilde\bmv^{(t+1)}). \label{eq:step2}
\end{align}
The result $\tilde\bmz^{(t_\text{max}+1)}$ is projected onto the finite alphabet $\setX$ to obtain $\bmz_b$.
The optimal scale $\zeta_u$ is computed with \fref{eq:postFAWPScaling}.
This procedure is done for each BS antenna $b=1,\ldots,B$.
\end{alg}
\vspace{-0.25cm}
\end{oframed}
\vspace{-0.1cm}

We note that both FAWP-FBS algorithms have the same complexity order of $\setO(BU^2)$ as WF and FAWP-WF.

\subsection{Estimating the Precoding Factor $\beta$}
\label{sec:est_beta}
While the BS is  able to compute the precoding factor $\beta$ via~\fref{eq:precodingfactor} with a FAWP matrix $\bQ$ instead of $\bQ^\text{WF}$, the UEs need to estimate such precoding factor in order to correctly estimate the transmitted symbols in $\bms$.
As shown in \cite{jacobsson16d}, estimation can be achieved in a block-fading scenario by transmitting a pilot symbol that is known at the UE side.
Specifically, the BS will transmit the pilot $s_u=\sqrt{\Es},~u=1,\ldots,U$.
Then, the $u$th UE will receive ${y}_u=\beta^{-1}\bmh^\text{r}_u\bmq_u {s}_u+\check{e}_u+n_u$, where $\check{e}_u$ represents residual interference from the other UEs.
The objective now is for the UE to find a $\hat\beta_u\in\reals_+$ such that it generates an unbiased estimate $\hat{s}_u$ of $s_u$, i.e., $\hat{s}_u=\hat\beta_u y_u \approx s_u$.
By taking into account that the transmitted pilot symbol $s_u$ is known to be $\sqrt{\Es}$ and by assuming that $\check{e}_u+n_u$ is zero-mean Gaussian distributed and independent of $s_u$, the UE can compute a maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of $\hat\beta_u$ as \cite{jacobsson16d}:
\begin{align}\label{eq:betamle}
{\hat\beta}^\text{MLE}_u=\reals\{\sqrt{\Es}/y_u\}.
\end{align}
While more pilots could be transmitted to form a better estimate ${\hat\beta}^\text{MLE}_u$, our results in \fref{sec:results} show that one pilot is sufficient to achieve reliable downlink communication.

\section{Numerical Results}\label{sec:results}

We now present simulation results for both pre-FAWP and post-FAWP matrices generated by either FAWP-WF or FAWP-FBS.
We perform a comparison in terms of BER and EVM versus normalized transmit power, which we define as $P/\No$.
For simplicity, we restrict our evaluation on a mmWave system with $B=256$ BS antennas serving $U=16$ UEs.

\subsection{1-bit FAWP BER Performance and $\beta$-Estimation}
\begin{figure}[tp]
\centering
\subfigure[Perfect  knowledge of $\beta$.]{\includegraphics[width=.48\columnwidth]{plots/PerfectBeta_Rayleigh_256x16_16QAM_BER_1bit.pdf}\label{fig:beta_perfect}}
\hfill
\subfigure[Estimated $\beta$ using one pilot.]{\includegraphics[width=.48\columnwidth]{plots/Rayleigh_256x16_16QAM_BER_1bit.pdf}\label{fig:beta_estimated}}
\caption{Uncoded bit-error rate (BER) for a $B=256$ BS-antenna, $U=16$ UE, $16$-QAM system operating over an i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channel. All the FAWP-based approaches use $1$-bit FAWP matrices. Pre- and post-FAWP-FBS run for $t_\text{max}=10$ iterations starting from the MRT solution $\bH^H$.}\label{fig:beta_all}
\vspace{-0.3cm}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure*}[tp]
\centering
\subfigure[$1$-bit FAWP.]{\includegraphics[width=.64\columnwidth]{plots/Rayleigh_256x16_1bit_EVM.pdf}\label{fig:evm_1b}}
\hfill
\subfigure[$2$-bit FAWP.]{\includegraphics[width=.64\columnwidth]{plots/Rayleigh_256x16_2bit_EVM.pdf}\label{fig:evm_2b}}
\hfill
\subfigure[$3$-bit FAWP.]{\includegraphics[width=.64\columnwidth]{plots/Rayleigh_256x16_3bit_EVM.pdf}\label{fig:evm_3b}}
\caption{Error-vector magnitude (EVM) for a $B=256$ BS-antenna, $U=16$ UE system operating in an i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channel. The red dashed lines represent the EVM requirements established by the 3GPP 5G NR technical specification \cite{3gpp19a}. We consider FAWP using $\{1,2,3\}$-bit alphabets. For $\{2,3\}$-bit FAWP, pre-FAWP-FBS is initialized with the MRT solution $\bH^H$ and runs for $t_\text{max}=5$ iterations. The details for $1$-bit pre-FAWP-FBS are given in \fref{fig:beta_all}.}\label{fig:evm_all}
\vspace{-0.2cm}
\end{figure*}
\fref{fig:beta_all} shows the uncoded BER for the considered system when using $16$-QAM in an i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channel.
For the FAWP-based approaches, we use a $1$-bit alphabet.
In \fref{fig:beta_perfect}, we consider the case where the UEs have genie-aided access to the exact $\hat\beta_u$ precoding scaling factor.
Here, we can see that both FAWP-WF approaches result in an error floor.
In fact, the FAWP-WF precoders are significantly outperformed by pre-FAWP-FBS, which computes WF-optimal pre-FAWP matrices.
However, post-FAWP-FBS is unable to outperform post-FAWP-WF, a surprising behavior that we observe consistently across all our experiments---a detailed investigation of this behavior is left for future work.
Hence, we exclude post-FAWP-FBS in the ensuing discussion.

In \fref{fig:beta_estimated}, we consider the same scenario as before, but this time $\hat\beta_u$ is estimated from a single pilot transmission as described in \fref{sec:est_beta}.
We can see that all precoders (including the infinite-precision WF) suffer from roughly a $2$\,dB loss.
In what follows, we assume that $\hat\beta_u$ is estimated using a single pilot.

\subsection{Multi-Bit FAWP EVM Performance}
\fref{fig:evm_all} shows the EVM performance for the different FAWP precoders and $\{1,2,3\}$-bit alphabets.
The red dashed lines represent the per-modulation EVM requirements as specified by the 3GPP 5G NR standard~\cite{3gpp19a}.
\fref{fig:evm_1b} confirms what we previously observed in \fref{fig:beta_all} for the $1$-bit alphabet:
While FAWP-WF suffers a high error-floor that prevents such approach from reaching the EVM requirement even for QPSK, pre-FAWP-FBS almost meets the EVM requirement for $64$-QAM.
By increasing the number of bits used for the finite alphabet, the gap between the FAWP approaches and the infinite-precision WF decreases---to the point shown in \fref{fig:evm_3b} where all FAWP approaches meet the $64$-QAM EVM requirement when using a $3$-bit alphabet.
It is interesting to observe that post-FAWP-WF outperforms pre-FAWP-WF when using finite alphabets with more than $1$ bit.
Nonetheless, post-FAWP-WF is unable to outperform \mbox{pre-FAWP-FBS}.

\begin{figure}[tp]
\centering
\subfigure[QuaDRiGa non-LoS.]{\includegraphics[width=.48\columnwidth]{plots/NLOS_256x16_16QAM_BER.pdf}\label{fig:quadriga_nlos}}
\hfill
\subfigure[QuaDRiGa LoS.]{\includegraphics[width=.48\columnwidth]{plots/LOS_256x16_16QAM_BER.pdf}\label{fig:quadriga_los}}
\caption{Uncoded bit-error rate (BER) for a $B=256$ BS-antenna, $U=16$ UE, $16$-QAM system operating in realistic mmWave channel models. $1$-bit pre-FAWP-FBS runs $t_\text{max}=10$ iterations; $\{2,3\}$-bit pre-FAWP-FBS run no more than $t_\text{max}=5$ iterations. Pre-FAWP-FBS is initialized with $\bH^H$ for all cases but the $\{2,3\}$-bit LoS ones, which use $\bA^\text{WF}$ from pre-FAWP-WF.}\label{fig:quadriga_all}
\vspace{-0.2cm}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Performance Under Realistic Propagation Conditions}
We now evaluate FAWP under more realistic mmWave propagation conditions.
We use the QuaDRiGa channel model \cite{jaeckel2014quadriga} to simulate communication in the ``mmMAGIC\_UMi'' scenario when using a $60$\,GHz carrier frequency for both non-LoS and LoS propagation conditions.
We randomly place the UEs $10$\,m to $110$\,m away from the BS in a $120^\circ$ circular sector, with a minimum angular separation of $4^\circ$.
Furthermore, we assume perfect power control, i.e., all the users receive the same signal power.
Our simulation results are shown in \fref{fig:quadriga_all}.
The trends  we observed in the i.i.d.\ Rayleigh fading scenario are confirmed:
Pre-FAWP-FBS is able to outperform both FAWP-WF precoders, although the gains of the former (as well as the gap to the WF precoder) reduce when using more bits for the finite alphabet.
An interesting observation is that, for the LoS scenario illustrated in \fref{fig:quadriga_los}, the performance of pre-FAWP-WF is on par with that of post-FAWP-WF, which was not the case for the non-LoS and i.i.d.\ Rayleigh fading scenarios.
Regardless, the results in \fref{fig:quadriga_all} demonstrate that FAWP remains to perform well with realistic mmWave channels, which holds the promise of FAWP enabling low-power and area-efficient precoding~circuitry.

\section{Conclusions}
To enable energy- and area-efficient circuitry, we have proposed FAWP, an approach that replaces part of the linear WF precoder with a low-resolution matrix.
We have developed two structures for FAWP matrices, pre-FAWP and post-FAWP, as well as two methods to craft such matrices.
Our simulation results have shown that the sophisticated pre-FAWP-FBS algorithm is able to significantly outperform a simple quantization of the WF-precoding matrix, especially when using extremely low-resolution alphabets, and that it approaches the performance of the infinite-precision WF precoder with as few as $3$ bits of resolution.
Pre-FAWP-FBS accomplishes such feats while exhibiting the same asymptotical complexity as the WF precoder.
As for post-FAWP matrices, our simulation results have shown that post-FAWP-FBS does not outperform the simple quantization of the WF precoder.
We have verified these results under realistic conditions, such as LoS and non-LoS mmWave channels, as well as with estimation of the precoding factor $\beta$.
Thus, FAWP matrices are a promising approach to reduce hardware complexity and power consumption of precoding in mmWave MU-MIMO systems.
However,  in order to quantify the real-world benefits of FAWP, a hardware-level evaluation is necessary---such an evaluation is part of ongoing work.
Since our FAWP approach performs matrix-vector products with coarsely quantized numbers, corresponding hardware implementations could benefit from emerging processing-in-memory architectures, such as the one proposed in~\cite{castaneda2019ppac}.

\balance

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


I've been working from home a little over a year now and I love it. My business is really growing and in some ways this blog is turning into a business too. It's all very exciting.
But I have a toddler and I am going to have another baby very soon and I know that my life and the way I run my business will change.
So I wanted to share with you five ways I save time at work.
Three Ways I save Time "At Work"


Dell manufactures quality laptops and computers, but that does not imply that there won't be any occasional problems with them. When anything goes wrong, it is crucial for users to take some specific troubleshooting measures so as to detect and possibly get rid of the issues problems. If the issue with software it can be taken care of with troubleshooting steps. The users can undertake the troubleshooting on their own or take help experts by calling at Dell Technical Support Number!
Laptop users can solve most common issues with a few easy troubleshooting procedures. The initial step would be to restart the computer but it does not for sure solve the problem. Another step is to rest the computer to a previous state, running diagnostics as well as clearing the cache.
If a Dell computer starts working oddly, restarting it could be of some help. This often works for freezes, slow processing, and software-related issues. While recovery is a not the same procedure but it comprises of resetting all the setting of the computer to an earlier time.
Dell computers have an outstanding diagnostic tool operators can use for finding out the exact problem. When switching the Dell computer on the users should press F12 as soon as the Dell logo is shown on the screen. As soon as the menu appears, select Diagnostics. This program examines the hardware to see if any problems exist. Furthermore, the diagnostics tool runs several other tests users can select to identify computer problems.
There are other ways like clearing the cache and history for solving the problem. If you are not able to perform the task on your own you can call on the Dell Technical Support Number: 1-888-296-9079 for further assistance.


April 5 - 17, 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
April 23 - May 3, 8:00 a.m. - 9:00p.m.
Reception: April 26, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
April 24 - 27, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Industry Opening: April 24, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Friends & Family Night: April 26, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
May 7 & 8, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. | 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Reception: May 7, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
May 8, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.


text:
• (n.) A sudden stroke; an unexpected device or stratagem; -- a term used in various ways to convey the idea of promptness and force. • (n.) Among some tribes of North American Indians, the act of striking or touching an enemy in warfare with the hand or at close quarters, as with a short stick, in such a manner as by custom to entitle th...
Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning/coup/
(koo) French word meaning a blow or attack. coup de sabre (dә sahb´) linear scleroderma on the forehead or scalp, so-called because of its resemblance to the scar of a saber wound.
[bridge] In contract bridge, coup is a generic name for various techniques in play, denoting a specific pattern in the lie and the play of cards; it is a special play maneuver by declarer. There are various types of coup which can be effected. == Pure Coups == There are many coups which the opponents can do little to prevent. The original c...
Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_(bridge)
[Noun] Short for the French term coup d�etat. It is a word for when a government is suddenly or violently overthrown.
Example: The rebels staged a successful coup.
Found on http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/glossary/
Coup (kō) noun 1. A single roll of the wheel at roulette, or a deal at rouge et noir. [ Cant] 2. Among some tribes of North American Indians, the act of striking or touching an enemy in warfare with the hand or at close quarters, as with a short stick, in such a manner as by...
Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/C/174
Coup noun [ French, from Latin colaphus a cuff, Greek .............] A sudden stroke; an unexpected device or stratagem; -- a term used in various ways to convey the idea of promptness and force. Coup de grace (k......' d e gr...s') [ French], the stroke of mercy with whi...
Coup intransitive verb To make a coup. « Woe to the Sioux if the Northern Cheyennes get a chance to coup !» F. Remington.
A coup is a unit of coppice that is felled at one time. For example a coppice rotation with a 6 year cycle may have 6 coupes which are felled in order so that there is a harvest of timber every year for the coppice worker to market.
a sudden and decisive change of government by force
also Cut-Over. Another indirect attack, being an attack or deception that passes around the opponent's tip. Following a feint, the blade is pulled up and over the opponent's parrying blade. Use of the fingers and wrist ONLY is permitted, since moving the blade backwards at any time during this move invalidates the established right-of-way. Done in ...
Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_fencing
coup (kOO) [Fr.,=blow], among Native North Americans of the Plains culture, a war honor, awarded for striking an enemy in such a way that it was considered an extreme act of bravery. Generally, coups were awarded according to the degree of difficulty and danger involved; the most extreme, such as st...
Found on http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0813792.html
to exchange.
Found on http://www.telelib.com/authors/S/ScottWalter/prose/pirate/glossary.html
[n] - a brilliant and notable success
Found on http://www.webdictionary.co.uk/definition.php?query=coup
meaning of holistic
meaning of apparently
meaning of llc
meaning of network
meaning of Coup
meaning of Violette
meaning of registration
meaning of Abacinate
meaning of Leif
meaning of Holotelencephaly
meaning of Violation
meaning of Port
meaning of neverland
meaning of validness
meaning of Sirdar
meaning of omental
meaning of Earning
meaning of cryoprobe
meaning of podalic
meaning of Alton
meaning of Dishonesty
meaning of maieutics
meaning of Holstered
meaning of xldb


text:
A view from the middle of America
The Worst Deal Ever Gets Even Worse
July 29, 2015 By The Central Standard Times in Politics Tags: accord, constitution, disturbed, International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, mike pompeo, nuclear, public opinion, side deals, taunting, terrorism, treaty	Leave a comment
Several weeks ago we reached the conclusion that the nuclear accord the Obama administration has reached with Iran is the worst deal ever struck in the history of diplomacy, and since then it looks even worse. There have been revelations of contingent side deals between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran that the administration has signed on to without reading, constant taunts by the Iranians about how they have defeated the western powers and are now free to continue their sponsorship of international terror and pursue nuclear weaponry, and proof that the administration is going headlong into this disastrous deal despite the opposition of a majority of the American public and its elected officials.
The existence of the two side deals was discovered by our very own Kansas' fourth congressional Rep. Mike Pompeo during a fact-finding mission in Vienna, although he he wasn't able to learn what the side deals say, just that the administration has apparently agreed to them even though it was also unable to learn what was involved, and given how very awful the known facts of the deal are we're going to assume the worst about the unknown. In the highly unlikely event that the deals ultimately prove more or less benign there's still the worrisome fact that the administration is signing off on them without notifying Congress, which strikes us as pretty darned unconstitutional even by the degraded standards of the moment, and the relative lack of attention being paid to this alarming development is an an alarming development in itself.
Then there's all that gloating by apocalyptic suicide cult running Iran about how it's nuclear programs and international sponsorship of more low-tech terrorism and general global trouble-making will continue unabated with the blessings of the Americans and their equally gullible western partners. One of the "tweets" by Iran's "supreme leader" featured a illustration of President Barack Obama committing suicide along with text about predicting the futility of western resistance to Iran's ambitions of global dominance, which is certainly more extreme than anything the "Tea Party" or any domestic opponents of the administration have ever dared. Even Secretary of State of John Kerry, whose enthusiasm for anti-American barbarism dates all the way back to this days as a hippie protestor of the Vietnam War, admits that he's "disturbed" by such imagery and language. He's not so disturbed that he'll reconsider the disastrous deal he's made, of course, but it's a telling admission nonetheless.
Given that this is supposed to be a representative democracy there's also something troubling about the fact that all the disastrous known deal and the possibly even worse unknown deals are all proceeding despite the fact that a clear majority of the country seems to know better. There are polls that ask the country if they support a deal that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting the economic sanctions against that country, with the predictably supportive response, but even those reveal that most Americans somehow understand that this particular deal won't achieve that that response. There's perhaps still a slight chance that Israel and the Sunni Arab countries and the western powers within reach of the inter-contentinental ballistic systems that Iran is free to develop under the proposed agreement will somehow survive this awful agreement, but it's far less likely that our constitutional system of representative democracy will be unscathed.
— Bud Norman
« Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
About that Dead Lion »
Partying with Cheerleaders
John Paul Stevens, RIP
Love It, Leave It, or Stick Around and Try to Make It More Lovable
Back Where They Came From
The New Trump Media vs. the Old Media
Steyn On Line
Voice for Liberty in Wichita


Andrea Marchant has been a wedding photographer for over 20 years, both in the Toronto area and for destination weddings all over the world. Andrea came to Haiti with us for the first time in February 2016 and volunteered her excellent photography skills when Floriana hosted 64 weddings....in one day!
Andrea became our very first corporate sponsor - so when you book As It Happens Photography for your wedding, you are helping a bride and groom in Haiti, too.


text:
Sophie Taylor (born 2 February 1996) is a former international swimmer who swam breaststroke. She won a gold medal for England in the women's 100 metres breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games.

Personal life
Sophie Taylor was born on 2 February 1996 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. She lived in Harrogate, Yorkshire in 2014.

Swimming career

Taylor trains at the London Aquatics Centre, where she is coached by Lisa Bates.

At the Berlin International Swim Meet when Taylor 14 years old, (in 2010) she swam a personal best in the 100 metres breaststroke, and finished in third place to "show her potential". In 2012, her first domestic "breakthrough" was at the London held 2012 British Gas Swimming Championships, where she finished fourth. She soon performed at an international level, at the 2012 European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. This was Taylor's first European Junior Swimming Championships, but she ended with a silver medal and a bronze medal, from the 50 metres breaststroke and the 200 metres breaststroke respectively. Taylor finished in third place in the 50 metres, 100 metres, and 200 metres breaststroke in 2013 at the British Gas Swimming Championships. Later in the year, at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, she won another bronze, this time in the 200 metres breaststroke, but coupled with two silver medals in the 4 × 100 m Medley Relay, and the 100 metres breaststroke.

On 28 July 2014, Taylor won the women's 100 metres breaststroke at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland with a time of 1 minute and 06.35 seconds, a "massive British record". She broke the previous record, which she had set herself. For much of the race Taylor was just behind leader Alia Atkinson, but a sprint in the last half length meant that Taylor finished first, Australian Lorna Tonks finished second, 0.99 seconds behind, and Jamaican Atkinson third, 1.79 seconds behind Taylor.

On 17 July 2015 Taylor announced she was taking a break from competitive swimming, and withdrew from all events at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. Taylor has not competed domestically or internationally since that date, and indicated she has retired from elite competition.

References

1996 births
Living people
English female swimmers
British female swimmers
Female breaststroke swimmers
Sportspeople from Sheffield
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming
20th-century English women
21st-century English women
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


My client, based in Grenoble are looking for a Validation Manager to help build and grow their Prototyping and Validation team.
Within the Validation Manager role you will have a number of core competencies that include; Leading the prototyping activities within the lab, definition and implementation of test plans, debugging systems and managing all lab related activities.
In order to be considered for the Validation Manager position you must have demonstrable experience in prototyping electronics, experience testing a range of sensor technology and a strong track record academic achievement.
If you would like further information about this role or have interest in applying, please contact Luke Ord.


Nathan Fulton, Cyrus Omar and Jonathan Aldrich. "Statically Typed String Sanitation Inside a Python"
Jonathan Gallagher, Robin Gonzalez and Michael Locasto.	"Verifying Security Patches"
Lucas Waye. "Privacy Integrated Data Stream Queries"


When every aspect of a room design harmonizes with every other, the effect is one of cohesiveness and unity. In certain cases, creating a design that works involves adding accents and embellishments to various elements. When architectural domes are installed in foyers, stairwells, libraries, pool areas, or expansive master baths, for instance, there are several ways to make them appear even more elegant or connect them to the rest of the decor. A few of the more popular accompaniments for these grandiose architectural elements are outlined below.
Trim and molding: Adding trim or molding is an elegant way to surround domes and mark their borders. Trim and molding can be designed to work with the color scheme of either art glass domes or the surrounding ceiling. Companies that supply trim for custom stained glass domes will often offer a range of widths and textures to meet the needs of individuals looking for a subtle addition as well as those who desire a more dramatic look.
Columns: In the vast majority of cases, a dome installed in any type of space is impossible to miss. Columns, however, will ensure the eye is drawn upward towards the ceiling and the stained glass dome. They are also stunning additions to entryways and other spaces in their own right. Some of the most popular styles for columns are Greek Corinthian, Roman Corinthian, Composite, Greek Doric, and Ionic. Bases and crowns in matching or different colors can also be added to embellish column bottoms and tops.
Chandeliers: Chandeliers of all sizes and styles can be suspended from the centers of domes with art glass. The supplier will usually add a hole to the center panel while the dome is being crafted, so it's especially important to decide whether a chandelier will be hung from a dome before placing an order.
Medallions: These are small, opaque accent pieces that can be added to the center of a custom stained glass dome, to one or more of the stained glass panels, or to the surrounding ceiling. Available in a number of materials, shapes, and textures, there are medallions on the market to embellish every type of dome imaginable.
If any of the above elements or others will be used in conjunction with stained glass domes, it's best to make this decision before the stained glass dome is crafted and installed. That way, determinations about the proper size, color, material, and finish for any complimentary elements can be made as part of the art glass dome ordering process.
Our strong and shatter-resistant stained glass domes are ideal for conservatories, restaurants, resorts, and a variety of other settings. We can also supply custom trim, medallions, columns, and more. Visit us online at [http://stainedglassdome.com]Stained Glass Domes to learn more.


"You're the same people who go to a hockey game to see a fight breakout and go to Nascar to see somebody wreak in a car and g.
. chances are it will make little difference to the rate you pay for auto insurance. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers who.
Our International auto insurance policies automatically adjust whether you are in the UK or Mexico, our international auto insurance is worldwide.
LA Zoo Animals Pay A Visit to KCAL9 For Boo At The Zoo!. half a dozen LAPD squad cars are on the scene of Dona Evita Drive in Studio City, where neighbors.
Sep 30, 2014. When your car is totaled, you're probably anxious to settle the car insurance claim so you can get a check and purchase a new set of wheels.
Jan 23, 2018. No injuries resulted from the latest crash involving Tesla's advanced driver assistance system.
A heartbroken mum says she cannot afford to pay for her son's burial. She said: "Because it is a car crash and there's a p.
Tailored insurance safeguards for successful individuals and families. John Hancock, one of the most recognized names in life insurance, has. read more. 21.
1. Does the seller have the right to sell the car? This overwhelmingly applies to private sales rather than cars bought from and independent or franchised dealer. If someone has used finance to buy a.
Oct 4, 2013. There is no other coverage on your auto policy that will cover a hit and run;. For all the money paid to insurance companies they should ALL operate. driving on the highway in New York, somebody cut me while im doing.
Insurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to obtain a fraudulent outcome from an. In the United Kingdom, the Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates that the loss due to insurance fraud in the United. Examples of soft auto-insurance fraud can include filing more than one claim for a single injury, filing claims for.
Across the UK, the average. month on general insurance to protect their home and car. Two-thirds (66%) of people say they.
3 Cars Set On Fire Within 5 Huntington Beach BlocksAt least two vehicles were destroyed between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. Monday morning. Jeff Michael reports.
Jul 17, 2018. If you pay the towing company at the time of service, your insurance. from your car dying on a highway with a sizable median or shoulder.
Whether you have a legal, tax, insurance, management or. some of the farm animals damaged their car. The email included a.
The inquest heard there were five passengers in the car, which was using dipped headlights. She had a valid driving licence and insurance. A post mortem said Mr Flintoff's medical cause of death wa.
The car insurance market is particularly competitive. As Batchelor points out, the business remains highly cash generative.


The U.S. job market reached a notable turning point in July: By one more metric, it has officially recovered from the recession.
After accounting for changes in the population, the United States regained the same level of employment in July that it had before the recession began nearly a decade ago in November 2007, according to a new report published Friday morning by the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project.
The United States actually long since regained the same number of total jobs that it had before the recession. It hit that mark in April 2014, the researchers say.
But because of changes in the U.S. population, the overall proportion of Americans who were employed continued to lag behind the level before the recession. As the U.S. population grew, more jobs were needed to ensure that the nation was at the same level of employment.
With the publication Friday of jobs market data for July, the United States officially closed the jobs gap with November 2007, the last month before the recession officially began.
The milestone is important, though it does not indicate the economy is unblemished, said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, one of the report's authors. "It does not mean there's no slack in the economy, [or] that we're at full employment. But it does mean the job losses from the Great Recession are behind us," she said.
The researchers have been tracking a measure that they call "the jobs gap," or the number of jobs needed to return to the pre-recession level of employment after accounting for the growth and aging of the U.S. population.
The Brookings report highlights just how long of a process this has been. While the United States closed the jobs gaps created by the 1981 and 1990 recessions within five years, it took nearly a decade after the onset of the Great Recession to reach the same level of employment seen in 2007.
Schanzenbach points out that the job market never fully recovered from the 2001 recession, which may mean the economy went into the 2008 crash with additional slack in the labor market.
While the employment level as a whole looks similar to that of November 2007, some groups of Americans are still feeling the recession's pain more keenly.
The data show that whites are also in a worse position relative to their pre-recession employment rates than blacks and Hispanics. Even so, African Americans still experience much higher levels of unemployment (7.4 percent in July) than whites (3.8 percent).
The recovery also varies by education. Those with a graduate or bachelor's degree have long since closed the pre-recession employment gap, while those with less education still lag far behind.
These trends probably reflect larger changes in the economy over the past decade, such as the rise of automation, which has displaced less-skilled workers and decimated jobs in the male-dominated field of manufacturing.
Brookings doesn't have solid data on how much of these effects is due to automation. "But you and I could both look around at the world and say that's part of this," Schanzenbach said.
Ana Swanson covered the economy, trade and the Federal Reserve for The Washington Post. She left The Post in August 2017.


text:
package org.typedsolutions.aws.kinesis.model

case class MergeShardsResponse() extends Event

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The secrets of the Legion are revealed at last! The Legion's mentor and financial backer R.J. Brande, is on his deathbed due to a rare infection known as Yorrigan fever. Realizing the secret to Brande's cure could be within the Legion's computer files, Brande's old friend, Marla Latham begins to research the origins of nearly every Legionnaire!


A consumer notices an ad in a mall, sees it again later on Twitter, a few days later he remembers about it and visits the website, and finally and makes the purchase there. Who gets the credit for this conversion?
Marketing attribution is the art of assigning the right amount of credit to all the touch points involved in the sales cycle. In this day and age, the internet is bubbling with the rise of new channels to reach out to your customer, and everyone has multiple devices to access these channels on the internet.
But here's the flip side: The presence of multiple channels may help increase conversions, but it also makes it increasingly difficult for marketers find out which touch points are doing well, and where to invest their marketing budget in.
Multi Channel Attribution is hard work – from a plethora of online and offline marketing channels, it is no mean feat to identify exactly which touch point led to a conversion. You could say that, at this point of time, it is impossible to identify which touch point contributed how much to the conversion.
But why bother with Multi Channel Attribution in the first place? If you're getting returns, people are converting left, right and center, why drill down?
Two reasons. First of all, to give credit to someone/something when it's due, and secondly, to optimise marketing spend – basically to invest more on the marketing campaigns that work and utilize the budget more effectively.
A perfect multi-channel attribution model is the holy grail of all marketers. It is extremely cumbersome for marketers to build even a partially decent attribution model. In fact, it is so frustrating for marketers to deal with the variety of ways in which we interact with their marketing strategies, that they start to wish the worst for our online lives!
Imagine this scenario: A marketer struggling to build the perfect attribution model meets a genie who grants him three wishes. What do you think he would ask?
As long as the consumer uses the same browser on the same computer, digital marketers can track their click-paths for as long as they want. They do this using cookies – tiny text files placed on your computer by the websites that you visit.
But here's the deal. We are the four-screen generation – TV, Desk/Laptop, smartphone and tablet.
The average consumer sees an ad on TV, Googles it on her smartphone on the way to work. Later at night after work, she visits the website directly on her laptop, and makes the purchase.
So what is the aim of multi-channel attribution here?
To rightly apportion credit to the TV ad, the mobile ad, and also the website.
As you might have guessed, it is extremely difficult, even impossible, to track the journey of one user across devices. Because consumers can switch between devices – cookies cannot.
If the genie did grant this wish, the marketer would get a complete idea about the effects of his campaigns across different devices, and which ones work best. But the reality is that, this is never going to be true.
It is increasingly difficult – almost impossible – for a marketer to understand how their advertising and marketing efforts reach consumers across multiple devices. Targeting consumers and collecting their data across multiple devices are rising concerns among marketers today.
Owing to these concerns, tech-giant Google itself has now come to the scene with a new feature in Google AdWords – 'Estimated Cross-Device Conversions'. Using anonymous, aggregated data from previously signed-in users, Google calculates an estimate of the total number of conversions, including conversions that happened across devices – it helped to identify 16% more conversions.
However, this feature is still in its conception – in 2013, it was introduced for AdWords, and in 2015 it was rolled out to DoubleClick advertiser products.
Marketer Wish #2. I wish my customers were forced to make online purchases in one step.
If this were true, one would see an ad, click it, and purchase it rightaway.
Here, there's only one step in total, so he assigns all credit for this conversion to the ad. He is happy and sleeps peacefully.
Wait, wut? The average consumer doesn't blindly purchase – she sees something on twitter, directly visits to the website to learn more about the business, did a Google search, clicked through a referral, again went to the website and finally made a purchase.
So how does the marketer apportion credit?
Web analytics tools use many attribution models: A common one is the Last Click Attribution Model, which assigns all credit to the last step just before conversion. In the case mentioned above, if the marketer applies the Last-Click model, the final direct search would get all the credit for this purchase.
What?! That is unfair – What about the social media channel that introduced her to the brand in the first place? What about the referral – it probably steered this conversion the most.
So, no surprises there, any attribution model that puts all its weight on a single touch point is flawed. The idea is to do exactly the opposite – assign weights to all touch points or the view-through, so that the model is balanced. This, again is more of guesswork than perfection. Trying to build the perfect attribution model, even if the different channels are all online AND on a single device, is a wild goose chase.
Multi-Channel funnels in Google Analytics also help a great degree in assigning credit and getting insights into what drove each conversion.
Yes, it is possible to track the click-path of a consumer who uses the same device on the same browser. But finding an attribution model or multi-channel report that has the perfect algorithm to apportion right amount of credit to the right touch point? Next to impossible.
As we discussed earlier in this post, tracking web traffic on a single device/multiple devices is difficult in itself. Tracking foot traffic is even more cumbersome. And mind you, foot traffic is increasing with each passing day.
Contrary to what this distressed marketer wishes, most humans like human interaction – especially when it comes to purchasing things using their hard-earned money. Consumers are switching between the online and the offline spaces so frequently that the line between the two worlds are blurring. They now live in a 'non-line' world.
The strongest seed for the non-line world is this: Calls. The smartphone revolution has ensured that anyone who wants to make a call today does it easily without much hassle.
Websites have click-to-call buttons that facilitate instant calls. Google search results in your smartphone display a call button that takes the consumer straight to the dialpad with the number on it, all ready to dial – how convenient is that?! Also, call rates have gone down and people do not look at phone calls as a luxury anymore.
Conduct controlled experiments – Take two sets of people, with all the variables same but one. Perform tests on these sets, analyse the results from both sets.
Call Tracking – Track all calls coming in to business. Assign a unique phone number for each channel, which is not available on any other channel.
The perfect attribution model does not exist.
Multi Channel Attribution is complicated, and is still in its genesis. The three pain points described in this post will continue to bother marketers for a while, and the best solution is to forget perfection, and work on what's optimal for the business. Excessive nitpicking on your attribution model is a fool's errand.
And even when you decide on the perfect working attribution model that gets you enough ROI for your marketing spend – don't stop there. Attribution merely assigns a value to a touch point – the responsibility of increasing the value of each touch point still lies on you!