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Aduro Biotech reports long-term survival and immune biomarker data from Phase 2 clinical trial of its immuno-oncology regimen in patients with pancreatic cancer
Release1b70b11f-3ec1-4264-8507-3fe94f05410f_2025642.pdf 14.7 KB
- Data Presented at ASCO 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium -
January 20, 2015 05:00 AM Pacific Standard Time
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Aduro Biotech, Inc. today announced that seven pancreatic cancer patients treated with its combination immuno-oncology regimen in a 93-patient Phase 2a clinical trial continue in survival follow-up, with two of those patients remaining on the company's combination therapy for more than two years with no evidence of cumulative toxicity. Furthermore, the company reported data from ongoing immune monitoring analyses of the trial that show a statistically significant correlation in the breadth and quantity of patients' antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses to treatment with overall survival. The analyses also identified a subset of cytokines that, when measured prior to treatment, correlated with longer overall survival. The data were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.
"We are very encouraged and delighted to see long-term survivors in our Phase 2a clinical trial in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, an aggressive disease with particularly high mortality rates," said Dirk Brockstedt, Ph.D., senior vice president, Research and Development at Aduro. "In addition, comprehensive immune and biomarker testing has provided useful insight into some of the characteristics of patients with more durable responses, including certain immune system characteristics that may potentially provide predicative value on how and when patients will respond to our immunotherapy."
Preliminary results of patient blood cells and serum measured at baseline and following treatment revealed candidate biomarkers associated with overall response to treatment. Baseline peripheral blood phenotype and functional status of the patients' immune systems, as measured by expression levels of predictive cellular and protein biomarkers using mass cytometry (CyTOF) and Luminex, were found to be significantly associated with overall survival. Moreover, enhanced tumor mesothelin-specific T cell responses after treatment, as evaluated by ELISpot, were associated with longer overall survival.
In this randomized controlled Phase 2a clinical trial, the combination of CRS-207 with GVAX Pancreas demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared to GVAX Pancreas alone in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who previously received or refused prior chemotherapy.
Results from the study were recently reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Our lead immuno-oncology regimen of CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration based on the data from this study.
Aduro is currently conducting a 240 patient Phase 2b clinical trial, ECLIPSE, in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who received at least one prior chemotherapy treatment in a metastatic setting. The randomized, controlled three-arm trial will involve over 20 clinical trial sites in the United States and Canada and will evaluate the safety, immune response and efficacy of Aduro's immuno-oncology regimen of CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas, compared to both single-agent chemotherapy and CRS-207 monotherapy. The primary endpoint of the trial is overall survival. More information about ECLIPSE can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02004262.
About LADD
LADD is Aduro's proprietary platform of live, attenuated, double-deleted Listeria monocytogenes strains that have been engineered to initiate a powerful innate immune response and drive a targeted, durable adaptive immune response.
About CRS-207
CRS-207 is Aduro's lead LADD product candidate, engineered to express the tumor-associated antigen mesothelin, which is over-expressed in many cancers including mesothelioma and pancreatic, lung, ovarian and gastric cancers.
About GVAX Pancreas
GVAX Pancreas is one of a family of GVAX vaccines derived from human cancer cell lines and is designed to activate specific T cell immunity to cancer antigens including mesothelin, enabling a broad-based immune response.
About Aduro Biotech
Aduro Biotech, Inc. is a private, clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the development of its live, attenuated, double-deleted (LADD) Listeria monocytogenes and cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) technology platforms to initiate powerful innate immune responses and drive targeted, durable adaptive immune responses against cancer. Aduro has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for its lead immuno-oncology regimen, CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas, in pancreatic cancer. The company is evaluating CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas in the ongoing Phase 2b ECLIPSE clinical trial and has additional ongoing clinical trials with its LADD product candidates in mesothelioma and glioblastoma. The company is also developing clinical candidates using synthetic small molecule CDNs that are designed to activate the intracellular STING receptor. For more information, please visit www.aduro.com.
Greg W. Schafer, 510-809-4801
Angela Bitting, 925-202-6211
a.bitting@comcast.net


Bhakti Marga is excited to announce the continuation of the blog series, "Following the Master," that documents the journeys of Sri Swami Vishwananda as he goes on pilgrimage to the world's most sacred places.
The second of these trips is to Vrindavan, India, and takes place from 17 November to 26 November, 2015.
Vrindavan is an ancient city located in the upper part of India near Delhi, where Lord Krishna spent his childhood. The city is associated with many pastimes (leelas) of Lord Krishna, including the famous Ras Leela which he performed with the gopis.
In the Vaishnava tradition, Krishna is considered an Avatar of the Lord and the eighth incarnation of Narayana. Millions of pilgrimages from all around the world flock to the city to pay homage to Krishna and to visit the holy places where his pastimes took place.
Vrindavan is also believed to be the heart of the Bhakti Movement. The Bhakti philosophy is based on viewing the Lord in a personal form and developing a unique relationship with the Lord through that form. In Vrindavan, Krishna takes on many forms in the temples he is worshiped in, including the form of a lover, a child and a friend.
During the next days we will describe many of the holy places around Vrindavan and talk in detail about the various legends associated with each place.
Don't miss the opportunity to follow Sri Swami Vishwananda and the Bhakti Marga devotees as they journey into the heart of Bhakti in India.
Follow along and stay updated with new posts each day.


Jenni bought Wandering Bird a coffee.
Trish and Shelley bought Wandering Bird a coffee.
gabriel and jennifer bought Wandering Bird 5 coffees.
thanks for your blog. we are planing to spend a lot of time traveling in europe and reading about you just pushed us a bit closer to that goal.


The find command in Linux/Unix is extremely powerful and can take some time to learn all of its uses. In previous articles, we have explained how to it to find files greater than or less than a certain size, find number of files in a folder, and finding the largest files on your computer. This article will explain how to use it to find all files/folders owned by one or many users.
These examples should get you started, let me know if you need any further assistance!
Linux - How to find the number of files in a folder?


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Fresno State turns to CSU Northridge for insight on tablets
Fresno State Associated Students, Inc. President Moses Menchaca said the push for making digital tablets a part of the university's curricula – an effort introduced by university President Joseph Castro – remains in its early stages, The Collegian reports.
Fresno State turned to CSU Northridge, which launched the MyCSUtablet Initiative that offers access to digital textbooks and materials to students, to get an idea of how the university operates its tablet program.
Menchaca and 14 school administrators visited the Northridge campus on Oct. 4 and will have a debriefing meeting to further discuss their findings.
Northridge's tablet program is not campus wide. As of this fall, there are seven majors – biology, journalism, liberal studies, public health, physical therapy, kinesiology, engineering and computer science – that are making the switch to digital textbooks in their respective curriculums, according to the university's website.
At Northridge, 70 professors offer "E-study" courses. The school's bookstore offers students the ability to purchase Apple iPads in either full payment or two- or three-semester payment plans.
"The first step is we had an Apple person come out and talk a little bit about their product and what can be done," Menchaca said. "We visited CSU Northridge and looked at CSUN's tablet program, which is just starting. We're just going to continue to meet and look at that."
CSU Northridge President Dianne F. Harrison said in a release that the initiative "represents the university's commitment to explore new technologies to improve student learning and success, as well as reduce costs for students," echoing similar views by Castro.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Florida shopping mall explosion destroys restaurant, leaves 21 injured
Albert Redmore
Aerial views of the Plantation shopping mall show the extent of the explosion's damage. Credits: Reuters
An explosion at a shopping mall in Florida has injured 21 people.
The apparent gas explosion in Plantation, Florida, blew the roof off the building in several places.
Teen's jaw shattered in vape pen explosion
Explosive mud pool opens up in Whakarewarewa, Rotorua
The Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported witnesses said a vacant pizza restaurant appeared to be the source of the explosion. The restaurant was completely destroyed, leaving behind only metal framework.
Video showed the force of the blast scattered debris across a parking lot and blew out several windows at a nearby LA Fitness gym, sending patrons running for the exits.
A witness, Evan Hoffman, said he was working out at the gym when he heard a massive noise.
"A huge, huge bang, thump, almost, explosion," he told the newspaper. "It started shaking back and forth and the roof tiles started crashing down and the power went out."
Two people suffered serious injuries and were taken to the trauma center at a local hospital, Joel Gordon, the city's deputy fire chief, said at a news conference.
"We're relieved - the injuries are not as severe as we thought they would be," he told reporters.
The city of Plantation is about 10km west of Fort Lauderdale.


We're into the final two days of the loan transfer window, and clubs are scrambling to complete late deals.
League One and Two sides continue to search for new faces and, with the window set to close tomorrow, plenty are expected to be finalised today. Make sure you don't miss any of the transfer action by following our live blog - and refresh the page for the latest!


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Eisberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany.

Mountains of Saxony
Lusatian Highlands
Herrnhut

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Docents and visitors at Tar Sands Overlook during breeding season (Photo: CSPA archive)
The docent program at Año Nuevo SP is one of the most respected within the California State Park system. CSPA is proud to support the training and continuing education of the volunteer docents at this park.
The three-month training program to become a docent (most Sundays in the autumn) is one of the most comprehensive within the California State Parks system. Local experts teach classes on a variety of subjects including elephant seals, other marine mammals, the history of Año Nuevo Island, Ohlone Indians, birds and terrestrial animals, geology, and more. Training is also provided on interpretive techniques for educating visitors and logistical skills on working inside the coastal natural preserve.
Training begins in mid-September. For more information review the parks' website and contact the Docent Recruitment Coordinator at 1-650-879-2032 or email anovolcoordinator@parks.ca.gov.
Docents interpret the activites happening in front of the tour group at overlooks. (Photo: courtesy CA State Parks)
Breeding Season Guided Walks
Every winter, over 5,000 elephant seals return to Año Nuevo to give birth and mate along the shoreline and in the dunes. During this time, volunteers trained in the natural and cultural history of the park lead guided walks through the elephant seal rookery. Each year they share this amazing experience with over 60,000 visitors from all over the world and many school groups from northern California.
Bobcats and other wildlife. (Photo: © Cynthia Rocha)
Roving Season Interpretation
During the spring and summer months, the elephant seals return to the rookery to molt, and the juveniles return a second time in the autumn for the fall haul out. During these months, docents are stationed at wildlife overlooks, meeting points or in the park store to greet the visitors as they explore the park and answer questions about the seals, the history of the area and the plentiful wildlife found within Año Nuevo State Park.
Equal Access Boardwalk (Photo: CSPA archive)
Equal Access Docents
Accessibility for all to view and experience the parks' cultural and natural history is paramount for State Parks. At Año Nuevo the visitor center, theater and trails through the terraces are all ADA compliant. To view the elephant seals, an Equal Access Program offers accommodation for those who are mobility challenged. Transportation to the trailhead is made possible with a wheelchair accessible van, Then participants can move along a boardwalk to the viewing area. The Equal Access volunteers receive extra training after they have become a docent.
In addition, there is always a need for American sign language and foreign language docents in all the parks' programs.
The work of volunteers! (Photo: courtesy Cynthia Rocha)
Construction Volunteers
Over the past years, a dedicated group of volunteers have gone above and beyond the duties of interpretation and docent duties.
With the aid of State Parks' staff and construction material funded by CSPA, boardwalks, benches, viewing platforms and staircases have been built with volunteer labor in various parks throughout the sector. No project was bigger and more needed than the Equal Access boardwalks at Año Nuevo. If you have construction skills, please let us know.
The Park Store is the visitor's first contact for interpretation (Photo: courtesy CA State Parks)
Park Store Docent
During the breeding season, the park store at Año Nuevo is staffed with park aides; but once april comes around there are plenty of opportunities to work in the store after some initial training.
The store is the first interpretive contact with the visiting public. You can set the stage for what they will see on their journey through the park. With the store open, visitors can also pick up a souvenir of their visit.
Proceeds from the store's sales supports training all of the volunteers and docents as well as many projects including the construction project noted above.


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Rant and Rave: Through music and love, 'Katips' sheds truth on Martial Law atrocities
Post author By Clarisse Bernal, Laurence Pontejos
No Comments on Rant and Rave: Through music and love, 'Katips' sheds truth on Martial Law atrocities
"How big can one get against a force too much bigger than yourself?"
An outcry of the hopeful, a requiem for the fallen–such is the description of the long-awaited Katips: The Movie. Originally a 2016 theater production staged by Director Vince Tañada, its narrative moves away from the polarization of politics to shed light on tribulations of student activists during the Martial Law Era, portraying the battle for ideals at the crux of youth amid press blackouts and red-tagging.
At the 70th FAMAS Awards, the period musical garnered seven awards out of its 17 nominations including Best Picture, Best Score, and Best Cinematography. Due to its critical acclaim, Katips saw an extended cinema showing period and increased cinema openings. In the name of unfailing democracy, Katips: The Movie holds its ground against suppressive power to uphold truth and justice, carrying on the spirit of the films namesake—the Katipuneros.
Tales of youth
The film opens with a fiery protest led by several student organizations denouncing the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. administration. The portrayal of the First Quarter Storm is laden with unrest, visible in the restless choreography and impassioned singing as they gather more and more people to believe in their cause.
Katips definitely pulls no punches in highlighting the robbery of the people's democratic freedom. With most of the characters being tortured writers and journalists, Marcos Sr.'s silencing of the media through news blackouts is a focal point of the film. The inevitability of being red-tagged as subversives and communists was the cruel reality of not only the fictional characters on-screen, but in Filipinos' history as well. In hindsight, it is a nudge for people to uphold press freedom, as the free press is an indicator of a functioning democracy to hold those in power accountable.
The diverse characterization depicts the dimension of humanity under martial law. There is Jerome Ponce's Greg, who presents the hope found in all protestors for change to come. Meanwhile, Nicole Asensio plays the balikbayan Lara, who arrives at the rise of the turmoil, originally ignorant and clueless to the terrors. Tañada reprises his role from stage to screen as Panyong, an intrepid writer for the newsletter of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Ang Bayan—numb to everything but love. Finally, there is Art, played by Best Supporting Actor Winner Johnrey Rivas, the photographer for the Philippine Collegian who embodies the eagerness of the young to be part of change.
Coming out to a running time of nearly 142 minutes, the film's pacing gives the viewers enough time to firmly grasp what each of the characters' stakes are in their continuous protest. The coinciding narratives have the audience rooting for the entire ensemble, hanging onto the edge of their seats and hoping against all odds that they succeed. With that, the film rounds out with the notion that no matter how long it takes and what lengths are needed to be reached, justice will always prevail in the end.
They are the burning fire
To triumph the plight for justice, actors must take center stage.
Ponce perfectly embodies Greg's character, who is firm and vocal about his ideals and beliefs as a young activist. But his onscreen romance with Lara, seems rushed, which inevitably leads to the lack of strong bond between their characters throughout the film. Although a rookie actress, Ascencio captivates the audience with her soothing vocals—impeccably capturing Lara's emotions.
Another depiction of the youth is through Rivas' portrayal of Art, capturing the character's innocence that turns to intrepidity. Rivas' outstanding acting skill is highlighted when his character goes through a gruesome fate at the hands of the Philippine Constabulary.
Such depictions of police brutality are reflected through Mon Confiado's Lt. Sales. Known for his excellent range as a performer, Confiado is a representation of terror and fear that the Metropol rouses toward civilians. However, most of his dialogue is overtly filled with curse words, which does not give much depth to his character.
Meanwhile, the Katipuneros find solace through the impassioned duo of Tañada's Ka Panyong and Adelle Ibarrientos' Alet. Ka Panyong is the tenacious leader, while Alet acts as the caring mother of the group—the Tandang Sora. Alet and Ka Panyong's love and eventual despair fuel their desires to continue to fight for justice and democracy in a land of hopelessness.
Melody of the past
The traces of the film's stage play origins are still apparent throughout the film, such as in the backdrop pieces, wardrobe, and choreography. However, some of the theatrical elements carried over from the live action play are not as easily translated into the cinematic adaptation.
Stagecraft materials that seem out of place are carried over to the film, mainly when these pieces are situated beyond its fictitious world building. Similarly, the music and dance ensemble are not seamlessly integrated into the film as it only appears to be a reverie between the characters for the sake of retaining these theatrical features. As a result, Katips comes off as a play unripe for a cinematic remake.
But the crown jewel of the film is its music. The melodies are meant to be a striking point of the film, as conveyed by present-day Ka Panyong saying that he wants to recount the story of their past as Katipuneros through the universal language of music. This was made possible thanks to Pipo Cifra, who breathed life into the composition and soundtrack of the film.
The catchy First Quarter Storm effectively narrates the story of civil unrest which triggered the declaration of Martial Law in 1972. Meanwhile, the iconic rendition of Tañada's Manhid is sung with the poignancy of a love that would eventually devolve into deep-seated anger in its reprise toward the end of the film. The subplot of the characters' love stories is perfectly encapsulated in the song Sa Gitna ng Gulo, which justifies its FAMAS award of Best Original Song. Indeed, a playlist of the film's musical pieces would strongly resonate with the film's stricken and captivated audience.
What they don't tell you
As the music fades, Katips reminds us of history not through the conspicuous figures of the Martial Law Era, but through the raw portrayal of the truth. The existence of the dauntless heroes who fought for democracy amid the atrocities cannot be erased, despite what historical revisionism may claim. The film is a wakeup call to those blinded by fanaticism that beyond their stained perception of the "golden age" of Martial Law lies the horrifying circumstances of the people. The tragic fate of these victims and those bodies unfound is a constant reminder that this was once a lived reality of the Filipinos and not just chismis.
Despite the anger and the tears shed, the film's humanizing narrative revolves around a love that blossomed from kindred ideals amid the chaos. The modern-day Katipuneros' undying love for the country, the Filipino people, and the future generation inspire them to champion people's rights and civil liberties.
Although the film is unable to boast of outstanding cinematography, Katips successfully diverts the audience's attention toward the substance of its storytelling. Indeed, a film like this is quintessential in the present, with the result of the recent national elections enabling the proliferation of historical distortion toward the dark days of Martial Law. In the end, Katips imparts a message to the new generation to honor and to never forget Filipinos' history in commemorating those who crusaded for the newfound freedom the Philippines' people revel in today.
By Clarisse Bernal
By Laurence Pontejos
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Q: Modifying a recursive function that counts no. of paths, to get sequence of all paths I've written a simple recursive Python program to find the number of paths in a triangle of characters.
Btw, this is an attempt to solve Project Euler's P18.
triangle = """\
75
95 64
17 47 82
18 35 87 10
20 04 82 47 65
19 01 23 75 03 34
88 02 77 73 07 63 67
99 65 04 28 06 16 70 92
41 41 26 56 83 40 80 70 33
41 48 72 33 47 32 37 16 94 29
53 71 44 65 25 43 91 52 97 51 14
70 11 33 28 77 73 17 78 39 68 17 57
91 71 52 38 17 14 91 43 58 50 27 29 48
63 66 04 68 89 53 67 30 73 16 69 87 40 31
04 62 98 27 23 09 70 98 73 93 38 53 60 04 23"""

grid = triangle.split("\n")
grid[:] = [[int(n) for n in (line.split())] for line in grid]

def find_paths(x,y):

    n = 0
    if x == 14:
        return 1

    n += find_paths(x+1,y+1)
    n += find_paths(x+1,y)

    return n

print find_paths(0, 0)

This successfully prints 16384.
However, how can I modify this same function to simply get a list of all the paths for eg. [[(0,0),(1,0)...(14,0)],[(0,0),(1,0)...]] ?
Or if it takes too much memory, simply print each path instead of storing them in a list..
Thanks!

A: The idea is exactly the same as your function, except that you return a tuple of coordinates instead of increasing a counter by 1 when you reach the bottom. By making it a generator you only create the paths as you need them.
def generate_paths(depth, x=0, y=0):
    if x == depth:
        yield ((x, y),)
    else:
        for path in generate_paths(depth, x+1, y):
            yield ((x, y),) + path
        for path in generate_paths(depth, x+1, y+1):
            yield ((x, y),) + path

Examples.
>>> for path in generate_paths(3):
...    print(path)

((0, 0), (1, 0), (2, 0), (3, 0))
((0, 0), (1, 0), (2, 0), (3, 1))
((0, 0), (1, 0), (2, 1), (3, 1))
((0, 0), (1, 0), (2, 1), (3, 2))
((0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 1), (3, 1))
((0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 1), (3, 2))
((0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 2))
((0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3))
>>> print(len(tuple(generate_paths(14))))
16384

This generates all the paths in less than a second. However, just as the problem suggests, you're encouraged to find a more efficient because the complexity is exponential and for longer depths this will be infeasible.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


English-speaking tourists have trouble navigating cultural and language barriers while visiting Japan.
Odigo's goal for participating in the 2016 Masters of Human-Computer Interaction Capstone Project was to increase their footprint in the Japanese tourism industry.
Odigo's itinerary planning tool is perfect for helping English-speaking tourists plan their trip to Japan, but it didn't provide them with much help once they were in the country. So, Odigo wanted to do something to help tourists while they were in the country and initially came to MCHI Capstone project with the idea of creating a kiosk that could help an English-speaking tourist in some fashion. They wanted a kiosk because it was something they could pilot at a shopping complex near Osaka called Expo City. Their biggest shareholder had just bought the naming rights to a Ferris wheel that was opening that summer at Expo City. Their hope was to introduce the kiosk at the opening of the Ferris wheel to piggyback off of the momentum it would provide.
The Capstone team's goal was to figure out how to provide value to an English-speaking tourist during their journey.
After three months of research, including visiting the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, we found that Expo City appealed to local Japanese tourists but was not enough of a draw for the foreign tourists in comparison with the offerings of cities like Kyoto and Tokyo. We recommend that a physical tool like a kiosk at Expo City would have a little return on investment for Odigo. Our research uncovered some promising opportunity areas for enhancing the English-speaking tourist's journey. Odigo agreed with our findings, and we focused on developing solutions for those opportunity areas.
Abeo, a mobile application that provides just-in-time guides for English-speaking tourists in Japan.
The result of our work leads to the development of a high fidelity prototype and a long term plan for an app called Abeo. Abeo helps tourists get out of sticky logistical tasks that currently cause anxiety and obstruct enjoyment of Japan. It accomplishes this through three key features.
Abeo Guides provide in-the-moment help so tourists can stop digging for information.
When tourists approach an Odigo-recognized spot, they can access the Abeo app to view concise step-by-step instructions called Guides. Abeo Guides walk tourists through tasks at the specific Odigo spot. The app only features Abeo Guides related to the tourist's current situation on the home screen, preventing the tourist from having to dig.
Abeo Snap lets tourists use their camera to ask questions and get answers.
Western tourists visit Japan to participate in Japanese culture. However, a lack of knowledge about what is in front of them often impacts their ability to participate. They often see things in the environment that they cannot translate, name, or identify which makes entering keywords into search engines very difficult. Abeo Snaps uses image recognition technology to help tourists find related Guides. Tourists can take a photo with Abeo Snap to instantly identify objects and places to get the answers they need.
Abeo Notifications let tourists spend less time glued to their devices.
Tourists do not want to sift through their travel guides and apps in every confusing situation only to find a lack of relevant information. Abeo Notifications alert users when a relevant Guide is available. Tourists can explore Japan freely and refer only to their phones when Abeo detects they need help at their current location.
Below are pages from the App Map & Wireframes document we provided to Odigo as part of our final deliverable, and a copy of the Service Blueprint from our Summer Booklet which you can find below. You can view the full App Map & Wireframe PDF here.
Notifications need to evolve and be delivered by ambient triggers through wearables or environmental peripherals.
We found that many users today loath mobile notifications especially when they are irrelevant to the user's context. We can alleviate the burden of mobile notification overload and deliver notifications via an ambient trigger. This trigger could be a smartwatch version of the Abeo app that notifies users when helpful information is available on their phones, allowing users to explore Japan freely without being glued to their phones.
In the more distant future, the trigger could become a wearable device that provides ambient notifications by glowing or changing color. Other services and technologies could be embedded in a custom wearable to make it more valuable to users, such as transportation chips currently embedded in train pass cards or electronic hotel keys. The trigger could also be something in the environment that alerts users when they are near an Odigo spot. A technology-enabled lantern could also pair with a system that alerts Odigo spot owners and service workers when a foreign tourist is near or in the business so that someone who speaks English can greet the tourist at the door.
Understanding tourists visiting Japan and the tourism market helped us identify opportunities.
To understand our target user we needed to dig down into their experience and understand their goals and pain points. A few of my teammates delved into researching tourism data to understand what different nationalities visit Japan and why, and they scraped social media to learn the types of activities tourists document and participate in. My involvement in this part of the research was conducting interviews with tourists who visited Japan, card sorting activities with frequent travelers, and ethnographic research.
English-speaking tourists want to participate in Japanese culture but are hesitant because of the cultural and language barriers.
We started our interviews with individuals who had recently visited Japan. Our goal was to understand their overall experience. We asked questions focused on trip planning, navigating in the country, communication with the locals, and pain points. We also shared a survey with similar questions through social media. While in the country we interviewed any English-speaking tourists we could find. These interviews were shorter and focused on learning their plans while in the country and their pain points. From the interviews, we learned of three big pain points for English-speaking tourists: communication, cultural differences, and not having access to a data connection.
Tourists will avoid the areas that do not have a lot of English signage or speakers.
A scenario exercise taught us about what people expected while visiting Japan and how they would share their journey on social media. First, we presented them with scenarios that could happen to them, for example visiting a temple or getting lost, and asked them to describe how they would react. Then we showed them photos of different places and monuments in Japan and asked them if they would share it on social media and explain why or why not. We didn't learn much from the social media part, but the scenario cards provided a lot of valuable insights. Two of the biggest insights; people will stick to areas where they think there is more English signage or English speakers are available, and that they want to visit Japan for the things it's known for like traditional Japanese culture and food.
Cards from the scenario exercise we conducted.
We confirmed our research findings by visiting Japan.
A large part of our research into the English-speaker's journey in Japan was to live it ourselves. We spent a total of seven days immersed in the tourist experience. We visited three major cities and participated in as many tourist activities as possible. We took notes about our own experiences and the other tourists we observed, and also conducted interviews. The trip verified our findings from our research, and the trip gave us an intimate understanding of the English-speaking tourists' in experience in Japan that the initial research could never provide.
We conducted impromptu interviews with other English speakers we encountered during our trip.
We spent a lot of the trip living the tourist experience firsthand.
Tourists misinterpret Japanese people as cold or uninterested.
To get an expert's perspective, a couple of our team members interviewed a professor of Japanese culture at Carnegie Mellon University. She described Japanese culture from a perspective different from that of foreign tourists. We learned that tourists often misinterpret Japanese mannerisms in negative ways due to a cultural and language barrier. People in Japan are not as open with their private information as English speaking cultures are out of fear of accidentally embarrassing themselves, and they try to keep interactions short to be respectful of others time. To people from English speaking countries, this is often misinterpreted as being uninterested, distant, or rude, which prevents them from asking for help in some instances. In reality, these mannerisms are a result of them being extremely polite, and Japanese will go out of their way to help someone if asked.
The tourism market is extremely competitive, but the services are limited once you are in Japan.
We studied Odigo's competitors from TripAdvisor to Lonely Planet and developed a competitive analysis. All the services are ideal for planning trips, but they only provide reviews of places. Lonely Planet was the only one to offer any cultural tips, but we found them lacking when trying to use them in Japan. The best tips we got were from an Odigo blog post and the interview with the professor of Japanese culture. Through our review and use of the services for our trip, we identified that in country help with cultural tips as a huge opportunity area for Odigo.
Information design for public spaces needs to stand out to be effective.
We interviewed experts in theme park and museum exhibit design to understand the methodologies, goals, and concerns of those developing interactive and educational experiences in public places. We learned that to communicate relevant information in public spaces you need to draw people's attention to it. We visited the Carnegie Science Center and the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh to see first hand.
Odigo's real goal was to expand their user base.
Odigo came to us with only one direction, that it should be something like a kiosk, and didn't give a lot of insight as to why. Except for the fact they had locations, they knew it could be piloted at. We needed to have a better understanding of what their motivation for the kiosk was and understand any potential ideas they had. We facilitated two co-design workshops with Odigo employees, one in Pittsburgh and one in Japan and conducted interviews with the majority of their employees.
The workshops offered us insight into the different ideas they were envisioning. For the most part, their ideas were large scale multi-media interactive experiences but focused on creating something fun for locals instead of something useful for English-speaking tourists. The interviews provided us with insight into their needs, values, and knowledge. From which we learned that the most important thing was the need to grow Odigo's user-base. This information helped us pivot away from the idea of a kiosk and focus on a solution that made sense for their target users.
We conducted interviews and workshops at Odigo's office.
We took all the data we had gathered from our interviews, observations, and experiences and turned them into users stories and affinity diagramed them. Through the affinity diagram, we identified themes and discovered relationships buried within the data. It also made it clear that the English-speaking Western Tourist's journey provided the best opportunities for Odigo. We distilled what we learned from the affinity diagram into four key insights and identified opportunity areas for each.
We affinity diagramed data from our interviews, observations & experiences and distilled them down into key insights.
For Westerners, a trip to Japan is high stakes. Tourists often have a safety net in place before they visit such as a personal connection, cultural familiarity, or knowledge of the language.
Tourists visit Japan for its unique culture and value participating in quintessentially Japanese experiences.
The cultural barrier inhibits the foreign tourist's participation. Fear of embarrassment drives them to seek familiar surroundings.
The language barrier makes routine tasks like navigating or ordering food extremely difficult for tourists.
We wrapped up our research with the Spring presentation and booklet.
We used our Spring presentation and booklet, both requirements of the Capstone Project, to show Odigo the data supporting our insights. The booklet lays out our research findings, how we got there, and explains the opportunities we identified. The presentation was a summary of what was in the booklet with the addition of some anecdotes from people we interviewed and our own experiences.
I was the designer for the booklet and occasional editor. The rest of the team worked on creating separate bits of content, including models, illustrations, and copy, and I had to tie it all together in the booklet. The team was a big help providing useful feedback as I developed the overall style of the book.
The Western Traveler's Journey Map, from the Spring Booklet, provided Odigo with an in-depth look at what a Western Tourist experiences during a visit to Japan from planning to returning home.
This model of pain points experienced by the Western Tourist, from the Spring Booklet, provided Odigo with all the hurdles Western Tourists face during a visit to Japan from planning to returning home.
The Spring Booklet communicated the insights gathered from our research and the data that supported them.
Iteratively prototyping enabled us to continue our exploration of tourist expectations.
People want help, but they don't want always be looking at their phone and are worried about their privacy.
We collected a range of pain points from our research and brainstormed ways of addressing them quickly. We started by focusing on our opportunity areas and listing as any contexts we could. Then we moved on to sketching out concepts in a visioning session. The team would verbally develop scenarios and solutions, using the context list as inspiration, as one of us would sketch them out. We alternated drawing, and in the end, we developed a lot of different concepts.
We narrowed down to 12 ideas to move forward with and created short video vignettes to encapsulate each one. We used the videos to conduct speed dating sessions with users and the Odigo team to gather feedback. From the feedback back we learned that people don't want their privacy compromised, they don't want to have to be constantly looking at their devices while exploring, and they want help in the moment.
During the visioning sessions, we would improv solutions to different scenarios tourists experience while one of us sketched the developing concept.
This a playlist of the vignettes used in the concept speed dating sessions.
Nobody wants a barrage of notifications.
In response to our speed dating feedback, we decided we needed to learn about privacy, notifications, and medium. We created a variety of low fidelity prototypes that would utilize different levels of technology to explore these themes. Our big takeaways from testing these prototypes were: People don't like having their information on display and worry about how much personal data they give to applications. Tourists find notifications intrusive when they do not lead to clear actions. In-depth procedural tasks are hard for tourists, and instructional information needs to be short and easy to comprehend.
We used a variety of lo-fi prototypes to explore technologies and refine concepts.
Odigo needed a solution that they could move on quickly.
Using the results from our speed dating sessions, market research, and low fidelity prototypes we initially judged our solution concepts based on the following criteria: value to Odigo, market opportunity, feasibility, and value to users. This decision took a bit longer than anticipated. We didn't have a clear direction on time to market from Odigo, and we couldn't agree on what provided the most value to Odigo. So we ended up gauging our concepts twice. The second time around we included an estimation of time to market for each concept and got a clear direction from Odigo on their preferred time to market schedule.
Odigo is a small startup, a product that could get to market quickly provided them with the most value. So, we moved forward with prototyping a mobile application that would deliver in the moment help, and if time allowed, we would also explore expansions to peripheral devices that would act as triggers. The triggers would be ambient notifications to inform a user that there was relative information available.
Providing a sense of continuity when the team is focusing on different tasks was important.
We had an idea of what the interface could be from our low-fidelity prototyping, but it needed fully fleshed out which included developing content. The team was split up into two smaller groups. One focusing on the interface design and the other on developing the content and usability test. I worked across both groups, acting in more of a mentor role because of my experience writing and facilitating usability tests along with developing the click-through prototypes for the testing.
I participated in white-boarding sessions to brainstorm the flow of the app and gave feedback on the wireframes and usability test protocol. We created click-through prototypes and completed two rounds of usability testing with mid-fi prototypes. The goal was to learn if people could understand the purpose of the app and how to use it. We observed the successes and failures and made improvements between each iteration.
We collaboratively sketched out our initials ideas for the app's interface.
We iterated through the wireframe sketches until we had enough of the had a good base to use for the click-through prototype.
The app needed to focus on delivering one type of content clearly and communicate the value it provided.
The first iteration of the mid-fi prototype provided both informational and procedural information. When we tested the app with users, we discovered that the inconsistency of information made users question what exactly they were getting from the mobile app. The app needed to focus on one delivering one type of content to provide clear value. The feedback from the participants was that procedural information was the most valuable. Which also aligned with the feedback we got in our concept speed dating sessions.
In the first round of iteration, we also learned that the labels used for the main features were too generic and that our onboarding process was confusing. We needed to use more accurate labels and streamline our onboarding process. Participants also indicated they wanted onboarding to teach them how to use the app and communicate its value as well. We fine tuned the labeling and onboarding through the second and third rounds of iteration.
We conducted multiple rounds of usability to refine our concept.
Odigo wanted the app we designed to stand alone apart from their app.
Odigo wanted to treat this as a separate service from their itinerary planning service. So, we needed to develop a name and visual style for the app. During the last two iterations of click-through prototyping and testing, Angela and I also worked on choosing a name and developing a visual style. We had three goals: pick a name that made sense, develop a visual style that was bright and soothing, and use typefaces that read well on screens.
We each came up with some color palettes and type choices and applied them to the wireframes. Then we critiqued them together and chose a few of the strongest options for Angela to explore more. At this time I was working on the summer book and didn't have the capacity to help with more iterating. Once Angela was ready we reviewed the new options, and I provided feedback. We iterated like this a few times before we were both happy with the results and then applied the styling to all the wireframe. We used the styling in our final prototype too, which was a working iOS prototype.
For the name, we researched the tourism market to make sure we didn't use something similar to a product that already existed. It was pretty tough to find something that was unique, made sense, and that everyone on the team liked. We ended up using our team name Abeo, a Latin verb meaning to depart, go away, or go forth. I the found word while researching gods of travel.
We had to present to the client one final time and produce a booklet focused on our solution.
Again I was the designer for the booklet and sometimes editor, but we took a different approach to the content. Katherine and Katie developed all the copy and recruited the rest of us to develop visual models as needed. I worked on some of the models with Katie. Also like the last time, the team was instrumental in the design of the booklet. They provided useful feedback as I developed the overall design.
We modified the content from the book to use in the presentation. I helped with cleaning up the slide design, but Ajayan did the majority of the work. During the presentation, we did a small of the working iOS prototype developed Angela, Ajayan, and Katherine. The app had tasks near the school. After the presentation, we took the Odigo representatives out for a live demo around campus.
The Summer Booklet showcases our concept and how we iterated to the solution.
Everyone on the team was willing to adapt to any situation and play different roles. Initially, I was actually against this idea, but the rest of the team's willingness to work outside of their comfort zones convinced me to do the same. Also, we didn't always get along with each other, but it never affected the work, and in the end, we had a great solution that excited Odigo.
We had a difficult time coming together on the direction we should take the solution. I think a lot of that was a result of the clash between MHCI Program's push to be experimental and the reality of developing a solution for a client. While most of the team wanted to go really blue sky, I was always concerned about how realistic was it for Odigo. Eventually, we came to a good compromise, but only after we asked Odigo about what would be best for them. We should have reached out to Odigo about that much earlier in the process. It would have saved us all a lot of time.
We provided Odigo with a working prototype that they could use as a starting point, and a plan to expand the service in the future. That ended our role in the process. While we were working on our project, Odigo did a massive redesign of their itinerary planning app to make it more usual in country. The redesign included an improved navigation tool. It would be easier for them to manage one app rather than two. Based on expanded features in the redesign, if I were in their shoes, I would start integrating some of the features from the Abeo app into a future release of their app.


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Q: Is it thread safe using variables between closures in javascript? I was reading an article about private/protected members "emulation"
with javascript ( i know it's not a best practice but it's for research purpose )
For example, in this code we've:

var Class = (function() { // Open closure

var caller = null;

//[...]

var mayAccessWrapped = false;
function wrapmethod(method) {

    mayAccessWrapped = true;
    if (method.__getWrappedMethod) {
        method = method.__getWrappedMethod();
    }
    mayAccessWrapped = false;

    var wrapped = function wrapper() {
        var prevCaller = caller;
        caller = wrapper;
        var returns;
        try {
            returns = method.apply(this, arguments);
        }
        finally {
            caller = prevCaller;
        }
        return returns;
    };
    wrapped.__getWrappedMethod = function() {
        if (mayAccessWrapped) { return method; }
        throw "Error: only the wrapping function may access the wrapped method";
    }
    return wrapped;
}

//[...]

return Class;

})(); // End Class closure

"wrapped" method is used multiple times from same object and it uses caller variable to "inject" informations about the "caller" with "called" method ( alternative to deprecated arguments.callee).
But, in a concurrent scope, is this way thread safe? Is it possible that another method can change the value of caller variable invalidating data consistency?

A: If you literally mean "thread-safe," I think that the first question must be ... is your JavaScript interpreter thread-safe?  Does it allow two or more threads to own their own interpreter-context?  Is it designed with the necessary internal mutual-exclusion mechanisms to permit two or more threads to simultaneously access an interpreter's internal context/state? (And if so, are you using these facilities in exactly the prescribed way?)
If not, your program is quite certain to crash.  The threads will wind up scribbling on the interpreter's internal state and "down she goes."


Traveling teaches you to live an adventurous and fun-filled life.
Traveling helps you encounter different people.
Traveling allows you to get some culture and know the world.
Travel wide and far. Travel boldly.
Traveling has a lot of advantages; not only for fun but also for your mental well-being – and not just in the short-term. No matter what you're traveling for, be it a business, a one-week family holiday, or have sold everything to pursue a life on the road, traveling can bring you smile and helps you become a happier person by developing self-confidence, acquiring new experiences and fun-filled memories, breaking routine and giving you opportunities to meet people from around the world.
Cape Town is one of the premier tourist destinations in the world. In fact it has been named the best destination in Africa and the Middle East and as recently as 2018 the 'World's Leading Festival and Events Destination'. When you combine this with stunning scenery, vibrant nightlife and an attractive exchange rate it is no wonder that this city at the foot of Africa continues to draw increasing numbers of tourists year in and year out.
However, those tourists are also beginning to realize that there is much more to this destination than stunning beaches and scenery, as well as excellent dining choices. Cape Town is filled with a history that, while often painful for many of its inhabitants due to Apartheid the years of hardship have left the city and its outlying area with some of the most fascinating tourist destinations in the world. Many of the experiences that can be enjoyed by the visitor can be found in the townships where communities were forced by Apartheid laws to make their homes.
For those interested in exploring the townships with their vibrant cultures a township tour is a must when visiting Cape Town.
1. Explore History and Culture in Langa.
Langa is the oldest of Cape town's townships and a tour will expose the visitor to how the residents coped during the Apartheid years. It also involves trips to projects that show how the residents are coping with modern day challenges such as a lack of basic amenities. There are also numerous cultural showcases that explore the incredibly vibrant culture that is still a mark of this fascinating township. Personal guides are available to provide extra insight.
There are a number of township experiences that will expose the visitor to some of the most vibrant cuisine on Earth. Spent a balmy summer's evening in the Imizamo Yethu Township in Hout Bay only a short trip from the city center. Here the guest will enjoy dancing and singing with the locals – and also enjoy a great dining experience. For those who want to explore cooking a half day exploration of Kayamandi in Stellenbosch – home to some of South Africa';s best vineyards. The walking tour provides the opportunity to visit the homes and kitchens of local residents. After buying ingredients at the 'Spaza' (local small goods dealer) a pro chef will create a meal that will live in the memory. there are many who say that you can judge the mood and complexity of a culture as well as its hopes and fears through experiencing their cuisine – and this is a township tour that will prove that true.
South Africa has so much to offer and leaving the beaten track to explore what traditionally have not been tourist hot spots can be a tremendously rewarding experience – and one that will provide insight into the vibrant cultures of the country.
Most people dream of traveling, but a lot of people are held back by their limited funds. You should not let this hold you back because there are a lot of ways that you can travel when you have no money. You just need to know what to do and how to make the most of the money you do have.
There is nothing stopping you from flying and you do not need a lot of money to do this. This is due to the fact that you can get free flights if you put the time into it. The first step will be to sign up for an airline card or a general rewards card that lets you collect air miles.
Once you have the card, you can start to build up your air miles. Some of these cards will give you a sign-up bonus which helps you get your free ticket faster. After this, you need to do some smart spending on everyday items, complete online surveys and other methods offered by the card. You will find that you soon have enough air miles to get a cheap flight to a holiday destination.
Accommodation is one of the major expenses that you face when you are traveling. To reduce this, you should look at staying with some local people for free. There are a number of websites that will help you connect with locals who are willing to let you stay with them for free. Of course, you will need to be careful with this and also do some due diligence.
When you use these websites, you may be offered an extra room that someone has or their sofa for the night. One of the bonuses of doing this is the fact that you make a connection in the place you are visiting. The local you stay with will generally be better than any website or guidebook when it comes to what you should see and do.
Many of these websites will also have group meetups in different cities. This means that you will be able to meet other travelers who are on a budget and you can learn a lot from them. Making new friends who share your enthusiasm for travel will make it easier for you to travel in the future.
The sharing economy is great for any traveler who is tight on funds. This can help you find cheap accommodation, unique tours, home-cooked meals and ride-shares to get you from one place to another. You will be able to completely bypass the more expensive traditional travel industry with sharing economy websites and gain access to locals in the area.
When you meet up with these locals, you will be able to find out where all the deals are. The locals will know which supermarkets are the cheapest and which stores have the best sales. If they are part of the sharing economy, they are going to be happy to share this information with you.
When you travel it can be tempting to eat out all the time, but this will cost a lot and you can save your money by cooking yourself. A lot of accommodation that you can get will have a kitchen and you need to make use of this. If there is no kitchen, you can make food that does not require a stove.
Making your own food will save you a lot of money when you consider how expensive restaurants are. You can also get an appreciation of the local food when you see what is in the stores and what the locals are buying.
When you are looking to stay motivated to travel, there are plenty of things that you can do to ensure that you are able to do so effectively. In this article, we will discuss some of the major things that you are going to be able to do to stay properly motivated to travel.
Instagram can be one of the best tools to use in order to stay motivated to travel. When you use something like Instagram to stay motivated, it is going to allow you to really be inspired by other people's travels. Whether you are looking at your friends and family's Instagram posts or travel hashtags. This is a great way to get inspired because you are going to be able to see all kinds of different people travels anytime you are feeling the need to get motivated. You will even be able to see some amazing travels that you otherwise wouldn't be able to.
Believe it or not, but Facebook is still a great place to get the proper motivation that you might need to go on your travels. By using something like Facebook to get motivated, it is going to make it much more likely that you are able to continually motivate yourself through your friends and family member's posts and stories. This is a great way to remain as motivated as possible if you have friends and family members that continually travel to new places and see new things. After all, you will be seeing their posts on your new's feed.
Snapchat is another good social media network that you are going to be able to subscribe to in order to stay as motivated as possible. The good thing about Snapchat is the ability to see people's stories in real time which is going to help some gain even more motivation than a story after the fact might provide.
Another good option would be to continually stay subscribed to and read different travel blogs. By locating some travel blogs of people that you connect with and that you are interested in reading about, you should be able to continually get inspired to travel to new places and do new things. This is a great way to get inspired because they are generally going to be much better at inspiring you through words and pictures than simply looking at a social media network.
Another great way to gain inspiration is to watch travel vlogs and videos of people experiencing different things throughout the world via YouTube. This is a really good idea for those that are looking to gain inspiration and stay motivated to travel as much as possible because videos tend to really offer a connection that you simply cannot get from still pictures or written words. Because you might be able to immerse yourself much more into the travels with a video, it is going to offer a good way to stimulate your senses in a way that you wouldn't be able to get with other platforms.
Overall, there are a lot of different ways that you can ensure that you are able to stay properly motivated at all times. By following the tips above, you should be able to continually motivate yourself and offer yourself a good amount of motivation throughout your journey of life. You want to subscribe to people that frequently travel and experience new things if you are not friends or family with anyone that does so. That way, you can surround yourself with inspirational people to help motivate you to travel yourself.
There are so many reasons to visit Thailand. First, it is a bucket list travel destination. Thailand features some of the most beautiful beaches and most exotic attractions. You will find that vacationing in the country isn't so expensive either. Thai food is yet another reason why you want to travel there. Let's talk specific places of interest so that you can start building that vacation itinerary.
You've been given good reasons for taking a trip to Thailand. Yet now you're going to discover 7 reasons that are in the form of top-ranked attractions. For example, you have got to check out Bangla Road. This area of Phuket is also known as the place to party, so keep that in mind. People say that you will be propositioned time and time again to go to certain bars and clubs. Perhaps this is reason #1 only for the travelers looking for nightlife entertainment in Thailand.
Patong Beach is another reason for you to travel Thailand. There are plenty of great beach activities there, and you will also find lots of vendors. Evidently Patong Beach is also known for its nightlife. The reviews point to this beach being a lot like Bangla Road.
Thailand has something for everyone. There are the clubs and the nightlife entertainment. There are the beautiful natural attractions, and there are the historical places of interest as well. Plus you know you are going to find some great restaurants, food vendors and wonderful beaches. Thailand is absolutely gorgeous, and there are so many different types of entertainment available.
Have you heard of the Jim Thompson House? This house was owned by an American, and it has everything to do with the silk industry in Thailand. This is one of those historical places of interest that is tied to the culture of Thailand. There is a gift shop on site. Just a heads up, too, a shopping mall is also right nearby if you are looking for a nice place to get some shopping done while traveling Thailand.
You want to see the wildlife of Thailand while you're there, right? Start with the elephants that are at the Maeklang Elephant Conservation Community. This attraction is found within the Chiang Mai Province. According to the reviews, the elephants housed there have been rescued. You get to feed the elephants while you are there, and you know that's going to be a lot of fun.
There is also the Phang NGA Elephant Park. Then there is Wildlife Friends of Thailand. The latter is a rescue center that features all kinds of animals. You will get to see monkey, birds, wild cats and more. Reviews point to the fact that there is a full day tour available, and that means there must be quite a lot to see and do there at Wildlife Friends of Thailand.
Sukhothai Historical Park is an area of Thailand with all kind of historical ruins. There are even royal palaces there. It seems like it would be quite an interesting area of the country to explore. It is an ancient capital, meaning it was the capital during the 14th century. That is quite a long time ago, and so you know these buildings have some history.
What do you think about my 7 reasons to visit Thailand? It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. You are going to discover some great food there. You are going to see historical ruins. You will get to see all kinds of wildlife, and you get to enjoy great beaches. You have all kinds of great reasons to book a vacation to the great country of Thailand.


text:
Science Meets Fiction
My Professional Bio
The Great Silent Treatment
The Wayfarers
The Lacertan Incident
Nonfiction Essays
The Magic Spreadsheet
Reading the Bible
The Definition of a Planet
Dystopia as an Inverted Hero's Journey
Harry Potter Theory: Dumbledore's Plan
The Dark Matter Flowchart, Annotated
The Real Problem with "The Cold Equations"
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The weirdest planets
Posted on September 23, 2012 by Alex R. Howe
At this writing, 838 planets outside our Solar System—exoplanets—have been discovered, with thousands more possible planets waiting to be investigated. Yet the study of exoplanets is one of the youngest fields in astronomy and in all of science. In fact, just over 20 years ago, the number of known exoplanets was zero, and it was considered a little silly even to look for them.
Why? In the 1980s we learned that some young stars, like Beta Pictoris, probably were forming planets when huge disks of gas and dust were found to be orbiting them. Over millions of years, the gas and dust would condense into planets, but those planets, it was thought, would be invisible. Our own Sun is a billion times brighter than the planets that orbit it. From interstellar distances, any planets should be invisible in the glare of their parent star.
So by the early 1990s, very few serious astronomers were looking for exoplanets because even if planets were common in the galaxy, there should be no way to see them. Worse, the scientific landscape was littered with dozens of false alarms all the way back to 1855. Every time some reported finding an exoplanet, it was soon discredited or at least strongly questioned.
Still, a few brave souls kept looking. One idea was not to look for the planets directly, but instead to look for its effect on its parent star. As the planet orbited in a large circle, the star would also move in a small circle, like a counterweight, and it might be possible to observe the changing position of the star on the sky. This method worked great for binary stars, but it didn't turn up any planets. Then, in 1992, a pair of planets did appear, in a place even the planet hunters did not expect.
PSR B1257+12 is a millisecond pulsar—a collapsed star that underwent a supernova at the end of its life. A pulsar packs more mass than the Sun into a space the size of Los Angeles and emits intense beams of radio wave and x-rays. A millisecond pulsar in particular spins incredibly fast at a nearly constant rate. Astronomers found that PSR B1257+12 was spinning at over 9,000 rpm, and its rate of spin was so steady that they could measure it to one part in a trillion.
Except it wasn't quite steady: sometimes the pulses of radio waves would reach Earth a little earlier, meaning that it was closer to Earth, and sometimes a little later, meaning that it was farther away. That meant the pulsar was moving in circles, tugged by the masses of two unseen companion. Many pulsars have companion stars that are not detectable with visible light, but when astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail calculated the masses of these companions they found that they were much too small to be stars. They were planets—the first ever discovered outside our Solar System!
Not only were they exoplanets, but they were tiny, only a few times the mass of Earth. Two years later, a third planet was discovered orbiting the pulsar, which is only the size of our Moon and is still the smallest confirmed exoplanet ever found.
But these planets were weird. It's weird enough that they're orbiting a dead star and are being constantly roasted by x-rays, but they shouldn't have existed at all. The supernova explosion that created the pulsar should have disintegrated any planets it had to start with. So how did they get there? We now believe that these three planets formed after the supernova, condensing out of the debris that was left over.
So the field of planet hunting was partially vindicated in 1992, but these weren't normal planets. They were weird, and they didn't form like normal planets. It would be three more years before astronomers discovered a planet orbiting a star like our Sun, which I'll talk about in a future post, but even then, the weirdness continued. It continues still to this day, so that now we're starting to wonder…if maybe we're the weird ones.
About Alex R. Howe
I'm a full-time astrophysicist and a part-time science fiction writer.
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Alex R. Howe
My blog of science, science fiction, and more.
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In today's world of relationship marketing, it's no secret that customer service is the key to customer experience. Offering customers access to top-notch customer service teams is a box smart companies need to check, no matter their size. The advent of new customer service tools makes an even stronger case for best in class customer service: Agile customer service can do more than save your company money—it can drive revenue.
In order to have agile customer service, companies need tools that enable things like quick response rates and multichannel support. Agile customer service tools move customer care from a "good to have" background function into the center of the action. New tools empower business in several ways. For instance, the ability to monitor your company's customer service allows for important insights. Perhaps your customers are more likely to complete a purchase online after interacting via chat with a knowledgeable agent. It would make sense to move resources to hiring and training additional agents or increase access to existing agents before purchase. The ability to recognize what's working well, and then build upon it, is one of the powerful advantages agile tools bring to customer service.
Another agile quality is the ability for businesses to streamline collaboration across diverse departments. Customer service agents hold valuable institutional knowledge—the challenge is unlocking that knowledge and sharing it with the right people. An agile customer service solution can provide information across departments. Companies can capitalize on the treasure trove of data in a myriad of ways, from implementing more targeted marketing campaigns and enhancing market research to increasing leads and lead conversion rates and decreasing pay-per-click.
When customers leave a game or app to seek information or help, the potential for lost revenue is very real. But how can this be avoided? Enter agile customer service tools, which allow for in-app chat sessions, so consumers get the answers they need in real time. This not only ensures customers literally "stay in the game" as they work through issues, it safeguards the all-important customer relationship by solving problems at the right time, in the right place. Agile customer service tools help support teams respond to unpredictability through iterative work cadences and ongoing feedback. Afterall, agile customer service is good customer service.
To learn more, access the Happy Customers, Happy Bottom Line eBook.


swine flu - Denverite, the Denver site!
The Outlets at Castle Rock is the latest shopping center to announce its plans for Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day.
The CDC reports a light flu season. In Colorado, eight have been hospitalized.


text:
Two Wings Enable Me to Fly
The Lebanese-born, Zurich-based painter and classical musician Ribal Molaeb talks to Artscoops about harmonising his two beloved practices and the pros and cons of having a famous artist as a father
You've spoken about the influence that your musical education has had on your painting. Do you find music and art complement each other or do you find you have to separate them in your creativity?
When I paint, I think as a musician. I compose my paintings very delicately, thinking, as in music, of harmony, dynamics and colour. To me, a painting is a visualised musical composition. I see art as a way of life, an identity, rather than a profession. My musical and artistic output have progressed in parallel, with my paintings and musicality arising from the same inner need for expression. But just as expression can come more easily through a medium in which an artist isn't necessarily traditionally schooled, I found refuge in painting. I feel more free spending long nights in my atelier in Zürich. Having these two disciplines makes me feel rounded. I have two wings – music and painting – which enable me to fly. Arnold Schönberg, who was an Austrian composer and painter, and Paul Klee – a Swiss-German painter and violinist – are two examples of historical artists who mastered both painting and music.
Have your surroundings in Switzerland and Austria influenced you in your art or do you still find yourself drawing on your Lebanese roots?
It was very inspiring to spend eight studying years in Vienna. I was living in a street near where Franz Schubert had lived and Beethoven's house was around the corner – you can feel the energy of historical composers in the city. Vienna is the go-to place for classical musicians. I had a small art studio in Vienna and, after I moved to Switzerland, I opened my art studio which is on a main street. However, wherever I live in the world, my landscape painting remains a Mediterranean Lebanese painting. Those images are deep in my subconscious and come out when I paint. My warm colour palette comes from the unique light and colour which is found in the Lebanese Mediterranean and mountains. No aspect of nature warms my heart in the way that Lebanese nature can. Recently, though, my actual abstract paintings recall musical notations orchestrated on canvas as delicate as a musical composition – harmony, dynamics and orchestration. The Swiss artist Paul Klee is a perfect example of a painter who depicted music in his paintings.
'Lebanese Landscape' 90 x 120 cm, oil on canvas. Zürich 2022
What is it about oils that make them your preferred tool?
When I started working in my father's art studio as a child, he was working solely with oil. I used to help him mix colours and fill certain spaces on the canvas. I loved the texture and the smell! Oil paints have an unparalleled richness – with oil you gain flexibility and richer, denser colour, with a wider range spanning light to dark. In Vienna, I started painting using only oil colour – it feels the most natural material for me to use. When he saw my technique, my father was super pleased and advised me not to paint in any material other than oil.
You were personally trained by your father, Jamil Molaeb, early on. Would you say there were advantages and disadvantages to having a famous artist as a father?
Having a master artist at home was the best thing during my childhood, since I learned my painting technique directly from him and was able to enjoy time spent in an artist's studio. The only disadvantage I face now is that people will always compare my work to his. Whatever I do and however I paint, people will search for similarities. However, I decided not to hide away because of this and I believe I've found my personal painting story and style. I also have daily discussions with my father about art and these are very precious to me.
You name Lebanese 20th century abstract expressionists like Saliba Douaihy, Aref el Rayes and Shafic Abboud as influences. In what ways have these artists inspired you?
I was raised looking at paintings by Lebanese grand artists such as these, with their works among our collection at home. I was, of course, inspired by the Mediterranean works of Saliba Douaihy who, after meeting Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann and Ad Reinhardt, moved towards minimalism. I love his aesthetics, which reveal a deep interest in colour. The rough, wild and mysterious compositions of Aref el Rayes are an inspiration – his crazy character and free way of living alone is inspiring! I remember him often visiting us in Baissour and I once played violin in front of him. My father told me that five days before Aref passed away, he called him and asked him to preserve my future. The balanced harmonious compositions of Shafic Abboud also speak to me. His painting has power in it – his way of life and his relationship with Lebanon. He was a pioneer of the Lebanese abstract painting. I would like, one day, to be considered a part or a continuation of these genres of Lebanese artists.
Your work has been shown in exhibitions and art fairs across Europe. What do you regard as career highlights so far?
Taking part in the Paris Art Fair 2022 at the Grand Palais Ephémère was definitely a career highlight to date, as were my solo exhibitions at Galerie Esther Woerdehoff in Geneva (2022) and Galerie Claude Lemand in Paris (2021). I'm also very proud of my yearly solo exhibitions at various venues in Zürich where I live and was introduced to several Swiss art collectors.
I'm currently working on a new series of paintings titled 'Music Visualised', which involves creating paintings in parallel to musical compositions. I cherish being both a classical musician and painter, and I'm keen to interconnect both practices in my exhibitions. My upcoming solo exhibition will be in Lucerne, Switzerland in December 2022.
'Music Visualized' 120 x 90 cm, oil on canvas.Zürich 2022


text:
Jerks at Ice Cream Bar Are Anything But
Wednesday. Hump Day.
My birthday.
In an attempt to be considerate, I refrained from enticing my friends into a night of debauchery and adult beverages in the middle of the week, and instead pondered a fun, tame, civilized event for my first anniversary of turning 23.
Growing older in body but not in spirit, I wanted to turn the clock back and forget that I was a mere 365 days from reaching the quarter-century mark. I wanted to bring back a childhood memory to offset my first full year of being a real adult.
And then it hit me.
A welcome addition to Cole Valley, a quaint, 1920s-era soda fountain recalls the days of yore when a frankfurter cost a nickel and your grandfather had to walk to school uphill. Both ways. In the snow.
Barefoot.
Ice Cream Bar takes you back in time, and makes even those who weren't around in the proverbial "day" feel like kids in a candy store. This was precisely what I needed.
So, as a few of my closest friends and I descended upon the shop, we were warmly greeted with cool samples of anything (and everything) our hearts desired.
Why yes, we WILL try those!
Here, we sampled some of their signature ice creams, including cherry, butterscotch banana pudding, basil, and my personal favorite, honey buttermilk. The cherry had whole hunks of fruit still inside and retained a tart quality, while eschewing the artificial flavor that plagues so many of its kind. The banana pudding tasted as if it had little chunks of Nilla Wafers inside: a huge bonus. The honey buttermilk was not for the faint of heart - heavy handed honey came together in harmony with the slightly sour buttermilk for a super strong honey-forward offering.
The space is split up into two main areas: the standard ice cream case upon entry, and the more luring, neon lit bar toward the back, complete with stools, tinctures, and your very own jerk.
Chris, Tending the Bar
Chris was tending bar during our visit, shaking up all the goods before our eyes. Since the menu is a tad more eclectic than is typical, Chris happily explained the subtle differences between latcarts and, phosphates (don't ask me to explain - something about imparting different favors. They both turn the drinks fizzy: it's science).
Two such concoctions were "The Valentina" with strawberries, rosewood, rosemary and pineapple, and the "Stalk in the Park" with celery seed and mint. Both fascinating in their own way – The Valentina with a bright strawberry soda flavor that was elevated with the herbaceous rosemary, and the Stalk in the Park with a pungent, unmistakably celery essence that almost made me feel healthy for having tasted it – they were both evened out by the cream and syrups as to not be overwhelming.
Their milkshakes, for example, are made without ice cream as has become custom over the years. Instead, these hold true to their name: milk (and/or cream), shaken with raw egg, house made tinctures, malts, flavors and syrups combine for a surprisingly lighter take on the creamy treats as we know them today.
I know, I know – cream, eggs and sugar hardly sounds like a "light" take on anything. Comparatively, however, these creations are thinner and more easily consumed than the thick, dense, heavy milkshakes we're used to, but not in the watered down kind of way. Full flavor, and rich to be sure, but silky smooth and easy doing down. By far, the crowd favorite was the "Too Good to be True." Living up to its name, butterscotch and blackstrap molasses infused with the raw egg and milk to create a sweet, rich, caramel-laden drink that knocked my socks off.
But all of that "light" business went out the window come to the "The World's Best Pistachio Milkshake." Claimed to be "made for two," it was more accurately made for twelve. Which was great, because there just so happened to be about a dozen of us. Pistachio ice cream buzzed with raw Sicilian pistachio syrup and cream to form a viscous, meaty behemoth of a drink which was deliciously pure in its own right. The kicker here, however, was the hand whipped cherry whipped cream that topped the goblet, and dripped ever so elegantly down the sides.
Chris Pouring the World's Best Pistachio Milkshake
Tart Cherry Whipped Cream
As I do, I wanted to go off menu, and created a milkshake of my own with vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg which turned out to be the most luscious horchata for which I could have hoped.
If these oddities are too much, the traditionalists still have their say here at Ice Cream Bar. Decadent ice cream sundaes and banana splits are piled high with all the typical fix-ins, though they will do you one better. The bananas are lightly coated in sugar and torched for a crispy, caramelized shell atop the soft, warm fruit.
Leeann and her Banana Split
An odd dichotomy exists at the Ice Cream Bar – the décor and ambiance turn back the clock, but the flavors and innovations draw you back into the present.
Yet as we closed down the bar, what struck me most was how much everyone was smiling.
Jacob and Leeann
Dan, Ally and Joe
I'd like to think it was because everyone was so thrilled to celebrate my birthday with me. Getting closer to the truth, it was probably the sugar-induced hyperactivity from the sweets of the evening.
More accurately - I think - was that we too often fail to recognize the simple pleasures in life, like an old fashioned milkshake or a simple scoop of ice cream with friends in a time much less complicated than the present. We always strive to arrive at the next stages in our lives so quickly – getting our drivers licenses, going to college, getting a job, marriage – that we forget to live in the present, or never realize how carefree it was to be a child.
And maybe a dose of the past is just what we need.


Superia 400 in extremely outdated chemicals–developed an extra 1:30 and fortunately turned out well.
So this pretty much convinced me that I'm 2017 I'm going to tackle color film…this is so good!
I mean: you basically have everything you need (Film-handling know-how, and a Pakon) and I don't think you'll be disappointed with the results. If anything, you'll see how easy it all is, and what a fraud I am.
Fraud? You are too humble.
I've been looking at the Anova for quite some time now. Plus it gives me an excuse to try sous vide in the kitchen.
Lovely shot, and beautiful light. It did turn out very well, indeed.
Something weird seems to have happened to the scan, though. Am I just imagining it?


text:
Shakespeare's Rebirth: Performance in the Age of Electro-Digital Reproduction
Anthony R. Guneratne
The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Performance
Edited by James C. Bulman
Literature, Literary Studies - Plays and Playwrights, Literary Studies - 1500 to 1700
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687169.013.13
Public Spheres and Private Cones: Performance in the Context of Emergent Technology
The Matter of Media: Shakespeare, Technology, and Performance
Performance as an extension of the Shakespeare mythology
Performative genres: space, period, and context
Performance traditions and the Shakespeare specialists
Textualities and performativities: Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream as case study
Introduction: Cross-Currents in Performance Criticism
High-Tech Shakespeare in a Mediatized Globe: Ivo van Hove's Roman Tragedies and the Problem of Spectatorship
'It's All a Bit of a Risk': Reformulating 'Liveness' in Twenty-First-Century Performances of Shakespeare
Technology and the Ethics of Spectatorship
Shakespearean Technicity
Performance in Digital Editions of Shakespeare
Making 'Music at the Editing Table': Echoing Verdi in Welles's Othello
'Nobody's Perfect': Cross-Dressing and Gender-Bending in Sven Gade's Hamlet and Julie Taymor's The Tempest
Can the Subaltern Sing?: Liz White's Othello
Shakespeare adaptations are uniquely suited to chart the historical reciprocity between performance traditions and emerging mediascapes. Reframing a classical essay of Walter Benjamin's within the context of contemporary media theory, this chapter draws together archival research, interviews, and observations of performances in related aesthetic forms that have engaged with Shakespeare's texts, including those by such key figures as Giuseppe Verdi, George Balanchine, and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. By focusing on connections between the inventors of audiovisual technologies (from early audio recordings to 'live' HD broadcasts) and key performances by actors, singers, and dancers, and by examining how contemporary performers respond to today's digital technologies in the light of the traditions of performance established by their predecessors, it attempts to resituate the study of adaptations of Shakespeare within broader historical and cultural contexts.
Keywords: Key terms, emerging mediascapes, audio recording, media theory, 'live' HD broadcasts, Verdi, Balanchine, Benjamin, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, adaptation.
Anthony R. Guneratne is a cultural historian whose study of performance practices (particularly as they pertain to Shakespeare) seeks to relate the articulations of words, sounds, images, and gestures as they migrate across aesthetic forms and media. An actor in films and, as a music student, a frequent performer in productions by the Indiana University School of Music, he has numerous publications, including articles on Shakespeare's indebtedness to the aesthetic discourses of his time, an edited collection devoted to Shakespeare and Genre (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), and a thematic history of Shakespeare on film, Shakespeare, Film Studies, and the Visual Cultures of Modernity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).


It's almost the end of October and I can't believe how fast this year is going!! October has been a hectic but good month for me and I have kept my Instagram up to date with what I've been doing. Instagram is easily my favourite form of social media, I love having a place to document the small things that happen in my life! Here is what has happened in October in an Instagram timeline.
It's a little over a month since I returned from Thailand and I have been plunged into the depths of my second year of university. Right now, I'm finding it incredibly overwhelming. The gap between first and second year is a massive leap and I was completely unprepared.
I don't even know where to begin. With a 3 hour boat, 3 hours waiting, 9 hours on a bus, 24 hours in Bangkok, a 4 hour flight followed by a 9 hour flight, it's safe to say the journey home wasn't for the faint hearted and I had a lot of time to reflect about my adventure in Thailand. The past 6 weeks has been one hell of a rollercoaster. Overwhelming, hectic, crazy, mind boggling, the list goes on and on. From being at peace with the elephants in Chiang Mai to being drowned in Bali to weaving manically through the roads of Bangkok in a tuk tuk. I learnt a lot about myself this trip and whilst for some of it I wanted nothing more than my own bed and an English breakfast, I wouldn't change one thing about my experience. For any of you going to Thailand or planning to go to Thailand, here are my best bits. Trust me, all of these are a must!


text:
package com.android.server.usage;

/**
 * A handy calendar object that knows nothing of Locale's or TimeZones. This simplifies
 * interval book-keeping. It is *NOT* meant to be used as a user-facing calendar, as it has
 * no concept of Locale or TimeZone.
 */
public class UnixCalendar {
    public static final long DAY_IN_MILLIS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
    public static final long WEEK_IN_MILLIS = 7 * DAY_IN_MILLIS;
    public static final long MONTH_IN_MILLIS = 30 * DAY_IN_MILLIS;
    public static final long YEAR_IN_MILLIS = 365 * DAY_IN_MILLIS;
    private long mTime;

    public UnixCalendar(long time) {
        mTime = time;
    }

    public void addDays(int val) {
        mTime += val * DAY_IN_MILLIS;
    }

    public void addWeeks(int val) {
        mTime += val * WEEK_IN_MILLIS;
    }

    public void addMonths(int val) {
        mTime += val * MONTH_IN_MILLIS;
    }

    public void addYears(int val) {
        mTime += val * YEAR_IN_MILLIS;
    }

    public void setTimeInMillis(long time) {
        mTime = time;
    }

    public long getTimeInMillis() {
        return mTime;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Vinatge groove Gloss laminate flooring adds a modern, elegant touch to any room decor. The Gloss creates a shiny, texture that gives a unique look to the flooring. V groove Laminate flooring is a synthetic wooden floor which stimulates the texture and look of a real wooden floor. Elite Laminate flooring is an attractive and popular flooring choice. It's available in many colours and designs, with a choice of tile effect as well as the popular strip wood pattern. It's inexpensive and easy to maintain and clean.


text:
Q: Angular2 RC.1 Injections I'm learning Angular2 at the moment and the issue is that it change every time I find a good tutorial (and it's not fit to the latest Angular2 version).
Anyway - I'm trying to inject a service from one file to another, but can't repeat what guy on the tutorial did.
Here's the link to the tutorial: https://egghead.io/lessons/angular-2-injecting-a-service
./main.ts
import {bootstrap} from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic';
import {Component} from "@angular/core";
import {TodoInput} from './todo-input';
import {TodoService} from "./todo-service";

@Component({
    selector: 'my-app',
    directives: [TodoInput],
    template: '
<todo-input></todo-input>
'
})

class App{}

bootstrap(App, [TodoService]);

./todo-service.ts
import {Injectable} from "@angular/core";

@Injectable()

export class TodoService {
    todos:string[] = [];
}

./todo-input.ts
import {Component} from "@angular/core";
import {TodoService} from "./todo-service";

@Component({
    selector: 'todo-input',
    template: `

    I'm a todo input
    <input type="text" #myInput>
    <button (mouseover)="onClick($event, myInput.value)">Click me</button>

`
})

export class TodoInput{
    constructor(todoService:TodoService) {
        console.log(todoService);
    }

    onClick(event, value) {
        console.log(event, value);
    }
}

and I have that in a console:

EXCEPTION: TypeError: Cannot read property 'query' of null
  platform-browser.umd.js:962 EXCEPTION: TypeError: Cannot read property
  'query' of nullBrowserDomAdapter.logError @
  platform-browser.umd.js:962BrowserDomAdapter.logGroup @
  platform-browser.umd.js:972ExceptionHandler.call @
  core.umd.js:3696(anonymous function) @
  core.umd.js:8982ZoneDelegate.invoke @
  zone.js:323NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onInvoke @
  core.umd.js:6075ZoneDelegate.invoke @ zone.js:322Zone.run @
  zone.js:216(anonymous function) @ zone.js:571ZoneDelegate.invokeTask @
  zone.js:356NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onInvokeTask @
  core.umd.js:6066ZoneDelegate.invokeTask @ zone.js:355Zone.runTask @
  zone.js:256drainMicroTaskQueue @ zone.js:474ZoneTask.invoke @
  zone.js:426 platform-browser.umd.js:971EXCEPTION: Error: Uncaught (in
  promise): TypeError: Cannot read property 'query' of null
  platform-browser.umd.js:962EXCEPTION: Error: Uncaught (in promise):
  TypeError: Cannot read property 'query' of
  nullBrowserDomAdapter.logError @
  platform-browser.umd.js:962BrowserDomAdapter.logGroup @
  platform-browser.umd.js:972ExceptionHandler.call @
  core.umd.js:3696(anonymous function) @ core.umd.js:8951schedulerFn @
  core.umd.js:6007SafeSubscriber.__tryOrUnsub @
  Subscriber.ts:240SafeSubscriber.next @
  Subscriber.ts:192Subscriber._next @ Subscriber.ts:133Subscriber.next @
  Subscriber.ts:93Subject._finalNext @ Subject.ts:154Subject._next @
  Subject.ts:144Subject.next @ Subject.ts:90EventEmitter.emit @
  core.umd.js:5996NgZone._zoneImpl.NgZoneImpl.onError @
  core.umd.js:6227NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onHandleError @
  core.umd.js:6096ZoneDelegate.handleError @ zone.js:327Zone.runGuarded
  @ zone.js:233_loop_1 @ zone.js:487drainMicroTaskQueue @
  zone.js:494ZoneTask.invoke @ zone.js:426
  platform-browser.umd.js:962STACKTRACE:BrowserDomAdapter.logError @
  platform-browser.umd.js:962ExceptionHandler.call @
  core.umd.js:3698(anonymous function) @ core.umd.js:8951schedulerFn @
  core.umd.js:6007SafeSubscriber.__tryOrUnsub @
  Subscriber.ts:240SafeSubscriber.next @
  Subscriber.ts:192Subscriber._next @ Subscriber.ts:133Subscriber.next @
  Subscriber.ts:93Subject._finalNext @ Subject.ts:154Subject._next @
  Subject.ts:144Subject.next @ Subject.ts:90EventEmitter.emit @
  core.umd.js:5996NgZone._zoneImpl.NgZoneImpl.onError @
  core.umd.js:6227NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onHandleError @
  core.umd.js:6096ZoneDelegate.handleError @ zone.js:327Zone.runGuarded
  @ zone.js:233_loop_1 @ zone.js:487drainMicroTaskQueue @
  zone.js:494ZoneTask.invoke @ zone.js:426
  platform-browser.umd.js:962Error: Uncaught (in promise): TypeError:
  Cannot read property 'query' of null
      at resolvePromise (zone.js:538)
      at PromiseCompleter.reject (zone.js:515)
      at eval (core.umd.js:8981)
      at ZoneDelegate.invoke (zone.js:323)
      at Object.NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onInvoke (core.umd.js:6075)
      at ZoneDelegate.invoke (zone.js:322)
      at Zone.run (zone.js:216)
      at zone.js:571
      at ZoneDelegate.invokeTask (zone.js:356)
      at Object.NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onInvokeTask (core.umd.js:6066)BrowserDomAdapter.logError @
  platform-browser.umd.js:962ExceptionHandler.call @
  core.umd.js:3699(anonymous function) @ core.umd.js:8951schedulerFn @
  core.umd.js:6007SafeSubscriber.__tryOrUnsub @
  Subscriber.ts:240SafeSubscriber.next @
  Subscriber.ts:192Subscriber._next @ Subscriber.ts:133Subscriber.next @
  Subscriber.ts:93Subject._finalNext @ Subject.ts:154Subject._next @
  Subject.ts:144Subject.next @ Subject.ts:90EventEmitter.emit @
  core.umd.js:5996NgZone._zoneImpl.NgZoneImpl.onError @
  core.umd.js:6227NgZoneImpl.inner.inner.fork.onHandleError @
  core.umd.js:6096ZoneDelegate.handleError @ zone.js:327Zone.runGuarded
  @ zone.js:233_loop_1 @ zone.js:487drainMicroTaskQueue @
  zone.js:494ZoneTask.invoke @ zone.js:426 zone.js:461 Unhandled Promise
  rejection: Cannot read property 'query' of null ; Zone: angular ;
  Task: Promise.then ; Value: TypeError: Cannot read property 'query' of
  null(…)consoleError @ zone.js:461_loop_1 @
  zone.js:490drainMicroTaskQueue @ zone.js:494ZoneTask.invoke @
  zone.js:426 zone.js:463 Error: Uncaught (in promise): TypeError:
  Cannot read property 'query' of null(…)consoleError @
  zone.js:463_loop_1 @ zone.js:490drainMicroTaskQueue @
  zone.js:494ZoneTask.invoke @ zone.js:426

but small change and it's starts working:
./todo-input.ts
import {Component} from "@angular/core";
import {TodoService} from "./todo-service";

@Component({
    selector: 'todo-input',
    template: `

    I'm a todo input
    <input type="text" #myInput>
    <button (mouseover)="onClick($event, myInput.value)">Click me</button>

`
})

export class TodoInput{
    constructor() {
        console.log(TodoService);
    }

    onClick(event, value) {
        console.log(event, value);
    }
}

and I have normal object in the console (without any errors)
SystemJS config

So my question is: Why I can't call that service from constructor argument as it's done in the tutorial? Or how to do that? Am I missing something? Tutorial seems to be really great and can give me very good basics of Angular2 but it's hared to learn when you stuck on something simple like that.
Many thanks!
Tom

A: Get it sorted. TypeScript compiler delivered with PHPStorm was causing these issues. I've set up my tsconfig.json file and run it through npm tsc and it's working all now.
tsconfig.json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es5",
    "module": "commonjs",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "sourceMap": true,
    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
    "experimentalDecorators": true,
    "removeComments": false,
    "noImplicitAny": false,
    "outDir": "./public/admin/js/app"
  },
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules",
    "build",
    "vendor",
    "public"
  ]
}

Only think that I'm still not sure is how to get rid of these compiling errors from the log that seems to coming from excludes folders.
Cheers all!