V2.7
Arctic
User Manual
V2.7
User Manual
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Arctic Support |
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Danish Maritime Authority |
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Maritime Analysis, Technology and business development, e-navigation |
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E-mail: |
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Carl Jacobsens Vej 31 |
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2500 Valby |
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72 19 61 47 |
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91 37 60 01 |
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Web: |
Arctic - an effort to improve safety of navigation in the Arctic.
Arctic is combining:
AIS data collected by national and commercial satellites and base stations in the Arctic region.
GREENPOS and COASTAL CONTROL reporting.
Coordinated Voyage through the sharing of routes and schedules.
Sharing of routes and schedules with Arctic Command.
Ice charts from Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).
Inshore ice reports from Danish Meteorological Institute.
Satellite images from NASA provided by Danish Meteorological Institute.
Navigational warnings and notices to mariners from Arctic Command and Danish Maritime Authority.
Weather forecasts from Danish Meteorological Institute including weather forecasts for a planned route.
Forecasts for ice, current and waves provided by DMI and Defence Centre for Operational Oceanography (FCOO).
SAR functionality including the ability to calculate search areas and patterns based on standards and as coordinator assign search and rescue units to tasks during the effort.
Voyage Risk Management Tool to evaluate risk before and during a voyage, primarily based on the work of Captain Leif Skog.
The platform is intended for use by:
Ships
Shipping companies operating vessels in the area.
Arctic Command
Other shore authorities
Any
Recommended browsers are Google Chrome, Firefox (latest), Opera (latest) or Safari (latest), Edge or Internet Explorer 11.
All communication between the Arctic web application and the DMA e-Navigation servers are performed using HTTPS protocol on port 443.
JavaScript must be enabled in the used browser. See if you have JavaScript enabled and how to enable it at this internet site: http://enable-javascript.com/
Cookies must be allowed, at least for the domain arcticweb.e-navigation.net, core Arctic functionality will otherwise not work.
See more at:
Internet Explorer: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/block-or-allow-cookies
Firefox: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences
Chrome: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/61416?hl=en
The browser cache is utilized for caching web resources (HTML, CSS and JS files) as well as all ice chart data and other data fetched from DMA e-Navigation servers. This will lower the amount of data transferred over the internet connection. To make best use of the browser cache it is therefore recommended to:
Always use the same computer and browser for Arctic.
Not to clear the browser cache.
Not to clear hosted application data/offline web application data in the browser.
At first login an initial download of approximately 1 MB is made (basic chart and other data). A low cost connection may be preferred for this.
After first login and provided the cache is not cleared, Arctic data volumes will be approximately 100 KB per hour when logged in (primarily from the regular update of AIS targets).
Ice chart, iceberg and forecast download sizes are given in the irrespective windows. They will typically be between 20 and 250 KB each. Please note that an ice chart, iceberg or forecast is cached once downloaded by the browser and thus not fetched from the server again on next download click, unless the browser cache has been cleared.
Satellite images are downloaded as image tiles depending on the zoom level - the higher the level the more detailed are the downloaded image tiles. The data volume used is thus dependent on the map usage while viewing the satellite image. Already downloaded images are cached in the browser until no longer needed.
On the front page Ice Charts in pdf format, weather information and information on Safety of Navigation is available. In the future more information will be added.
Click on Vessels or Log in as user.
If you are not a registered user, you may request access by clicking Request Access (only first visit on page). You will be prompted for required information to create an Arctic user. When a user has been created, you will receive an email with your new user credentials.
Log in with user name and password.
If you have been registered as user in Arctic but forgotten your password, click Forgot password and enter the e-mail address you have registered. Password will then be forwarded.
When logging in, user is linked to own vessels AIS target (marked by green ring). Vessel positions are updated every 15 minutes. Vessel positions obtained from satellite may however be older due to the time between satellite passings (recent analysis have shown that in 95% of the time, positions are updated at intervals less than 2 hours, in 99% of the time less than 6 hours.
It is possible to see positions of all other vessels in the Arctic Region equipped with an AIS transponder.
Click Zoom all Arctic to return to overview
Click Zoom to Your Vessel to zoom to own vessel
Own vessel is marked by green ring when logged in.
The vessels page shows primarily AIS data, i.e. other vessels in the area. On the left are a number of possibilities:
Your Vessel:
- AIS Information: Basic information obtained from AIS.
- Arctic Reporting:
Vessel Information: additional information expanding AIS information.
Schedule: sharing of schedule and routes with other vessels and authorities.
Reporting: send Greenpos reports to Arctic Command and Coastal Control to Aasiaat Radio
- Additional information:
Nearest Vessels – the distance in nm and time from the 5 vessels nearest to own vessel. “Nearest” is based on the time to reach your vessel from other vessels in the area and is calculated by using Arctic Max Speed if this exists, if not we use Service Speed and if that does not exists then we use SOG.
3-6-9 hour distance circle based on SOG – portrayal of the distance own vessel can reach in 3-6-9 hours based on present SOG.
Search Vessels: search other vessels by name or MMSI.
Selected Vessel: Information on selected vessel.
Legends: Explanation of symbols and coloring (vessels, ice, etc.).
By clicking Nearest Vessels view the distance in nm and time from the 5 vessels nearest to your own vessel are displayed. “Nearest” is based on the time to reach your vessel from other vessels in the area and is calculated by using Arctic Max Speed if this exists, if not we use Service Speed and if that does not exists then we use SOG.
Click Hide button on Nearest Vessels to hide lines.
In later versions it will be possible to search and see distance to nearest vessel with medical personnel on board, distance to hospitals, helicopters, etc.
By clicking 3-6-9 hour distance circle based on SOG view the distances own vessel can reach in 3-6-9 hours based on Arctic Max Speed if this exists, if not we use Service Speed and if that does not exists then we use SOG.
Click the Hide button on 3-6-9 hour distance circle s to hide circles.
By clickingSelected Vessel, information on selected vessel is shown.
Vessel is selected by click on target in chart area or searching vessel by name or MMSI in Search Vessels menu.
Selected vessel is marked on chart by red brackets.
By clicking view all in Your Vessel or Selected Vessel menu it is possible to see all available information on your/selected vessel.
In the bottom of the View All window it is possible to search vessel at MarineTraffic.com, see pictures and other available data.
Extra information on the map such as nearest vessels, distance circles, historical track and other routes than your active route can be removed from the map again in one click. Both the Your Vessel and Selected Vessel views contain an Extra Information on Map section in which the clear link can be clicked.
The list of Ice Charts is by default shown.
All available Ice Charts are listed, sorted by area; most recent Ice Chart first.
It is also possible to choose Icebergs
All available Iceberg charts are listed, sorted by area; most recent Iceberg first.
Ice chart legends are shown in the legends menu.
Ice Charts and Iceberg charts are downloaded by clicking download. File sizes are indicated to make it possible for the user to choose whether or not to download the chart and thereby minimize vessels data usage. Once downloaded an Ice Chart / Iceberg chart is cached by the browser and thus not fetched from the server again on next download click, unless the browser cache has been cleared. When an Ice Chart or Iceberg chart has been downloaded, the download button changes to zoom. Click zoom to zoom to chart area. Click hide to hide chart.
Details for Ice areas are shown in the left menu by clicking colored Ice areas on chart.
Details for an Iceberg are shown in the left menu by clicking on the Iceberg on chart.
After having chosen the Ice tab in the top menu, it is possible to choose the Inshore ice report window on the left. The Inshore ice report window contains information on the data provider, a list of locations for which observations are available and in the bottom some extra information from the data provider. To see one or more observations you may click view or choose an inshore ice report icon on chart.
Reports are currently only provided by the Danish Meteorological Institute in Danish.
One or more inshore ice report observations are shown when you click an inshore ice report icon on chart.
After having chosen the Ice tab in the top menu, it is possible to view satellite images positioned on the map on their actual geographical location. Each satellite image covers an area of the Arctic region. The satellite is often not able to obtain a full image for the intended region, and images may as a consequence become smaller than the desired area. Several images may be available for each region but on different days and time of day.
NB. Images are supplied in Arctic in a fully automated fashion, which does not allow for any manual removal of images that are distorted or that contain little image data.
General information about satellite images is shown when you click the General Information link in the Satellite Images window.
The list of available satellite images may be long and therefore hard to choose from. You may filter this list to only contain satellite image entries for your desired region. The Satellite images windows contains the Select satellite image by area link - click this link and then choose the desired region on the map.
You may display a satellite image by clicking the display link in the Satellite images window. You may remove the satellite image from the map by choosing hide. Zoom to the displayed image by choosing zoom.
By clicking the Maritime Safety tab in the top menu, the Maritime Safety Information window is opened on the left.
Here all Navigational Warnings and Notices to Mariners are listed, sorted by area.
All Maritime Safety Information for the area is displayed by purple NM and white with purple border NW symbols.
By clicking a symbol/geometry in the chart area or under the Active Warnings in left menu, details are shown.
Messages can be filtered by main type (NW, NM), main area (Denmark, Greenland) and whether they are presently active.
The GREENPOS system applies to all ships on voyages to and from Greenlandic Waters and inside the Greenlandic Continental Shelf or EEZ. The ships are to report weather information and their position, course and speed every 6 hours.
The COASTAL CONTROL system applies to all ships greater than 20 BT on voyage to and from Greenland ports and places of call. The ships are to report their position, course, speed and persons on board at least every 24 th hour.
Additional information may be required depending on the report type send. See ‘Mandatory Ship Reporting Systems’ document found on front page for report types and when to send them.
Click edit button under Reporting in the left menu. Here it is possible to enter and send reports to Arctic Command (Greenpos) and/or Aasiaat Radio (Coastal Control) by a few clicks.
First choose where to send the report; Greenpos and/or Coastal Control, then which report to send; Sailing Plan, Position Report, Final Report or Deviation Report. Fill in the blank fields. Other required information is filled in automatically based on information from AIS (Remember to keep AIS data up to date) and on reported Schedule (see Schedule). Click Send.
Acknowledgement of successful transmission is indicated and a copy of report is send to your Arctic e-mail address. An acknowledgement mail is also sent from ArcticCommand mail server to your Arctic e-mail address upon report reception.
Note: In the event a transmission acknowledgement e-mail is not received from ArcticCommand you must use other means of communication in accordance with the relevant rules.
Vessel Information
All information available via AIS is collected automatically in the AIS Information window. Additional information relevant in the Arctic area, for Search and Rescue and assistance is given and shared in the Vessel Information window, e.g. Ice class, maximum speed, Maximum Rescue capacity, vessel equipped with Helipad, communication capabilities, etc.
Vessels schedule is entered, uploaded and kept up to date in the Schedule menu.
Enter location, position (filled in automatically for ports in Greenland), arrival and departure times, crew and passengers on board at departure and if doctor or medical personnel is on board.
Positions are entered in following format: DD MM.MMMN ; DDD MM.MMMW
Detailed routes between a location and the following location may be either uploaded by clicking Upload route or created manually in the system by clicking Create route.
Schedules and routes are shared with other vessels and authorities enabling coordinated passage and for resource planning, e.g. rescue resources.
It is possible to upload schedule from an Excel sheet in following format:
Certain restrictions and comments regarding this format:
As of now, only the “old” Excel format (.xls) is supported. The “new” format (.xlsx) may be supported in a future version.
The columns “Site”, “Arrival” and “Departure” (and their corresponding headers) are mandatory. The columns “Crew”, “Passengers”, “Doctor” and “Id” may be omitted. The case (upper, lower) is irrelevant, and so is the order of the columns.
The system will try to locate the coordinates of the sites automatically. If this is not possible, you are required to enter them manually or choose another site.
All times are in UTC, in the format shown above (dd-mm-yyyy hh:mm).
If an Id value is not present, the system will automatically generate one. The advantage of using your own Ids is that if you upload a new schedule containing lines with the same Ids, those lines will replace the existing ones in the system. This is convenient for making batch schedule adjustments.
“New” lines (i.e. without Ids) will be required to have an arrival (and departure) date no earlier than the latest departure date in the current schedule.
When uploading a schedule, the data from the Excel sheet is not saved until you explicitly press the “Save” button, so you will be able to review it and make adjustments.
Routes may be uploaded to Arctic and used by own vessel, e.g. when assessing Maritime Safety Information and when navigating in ice. At the same time routes in Arctic are shared with other ships and authorities for planning and improved situation awareness.
Routes may be exported from ships ECDIS systems on a USB-stick.
The following ECDIS systems are currently known to be supported:
Transas Navi-Sailor 4000
Transas Navi-Sailor 4000 MDF
Sperry Marine “VisionMaster FT”
SAM ChartPilot 1100
Support for the following ECDIS systems are to be added in the near future:
FURUNO FEA 2107
Note: If ECDIS system on board is not supported by Arctic, then please let us know (Arctic Support , Danish Maritime Authority<EMAIL_ADDRESS>).
When route is uploaded it is possible to edit waypoints and other route details by clicking Edit route.
By clicking Create route it is possible to create and save a route in Arctic. This functionality may be used if it is not possible to export route from ECDIS system and import into Arctic.
The active route of own vessel is shown at all times on chart page (red route).
Other vessels active route can be seen by selecting the vessel and click the Route view link in the Selected Vessel view. The active route of other vessels is dark green.
Own and other vessels planned routes can be viewed on chart by selecting the vessel and click on the Schedule view link in the Selected Vessel view. Select the routes to view and choose View on Map.
Own vessels planned route are orange. Other vessels planned routes are light green. If a detailed route is not available then a line is drawn connecting the departure and arrival locations from the Schedule. The line is black for own vessels and gray for other vessels.
Routes are only available from vessels participating in Arctic. This is indicated by the letters AW below the target symbol.
By clicking the Weather tab in the top menu, the Weather window is opened on the left.
Weather forecasts and warnings will be available here.
The forecast districts will also be outlines on the map. Districts with one or more warnings are highlighted with red.
Click a view link in the Weather window or click on a district on the map to see a detailed weather forecast and warnings for that district.
After creation/uploading and activation of a route it is possible to get a weather forecast (METOC information) on the route. The forecast consists of wind, waves, current and tidal level values and these values can be expected up to 45 hours from current time.
Click on the Forecast on route window and thereafter on the Active route view link.
It is also possible to view forecast on routes of other vessels. Select the routes using the functionality in the Vessel tab and thereafter navigate back to the Weather tab, choose Forecast on route and thereafter the Selected routes view link.
The view link will only be AVAILABLE if you have an active route / have selected routes and route(s) in question are scheduled within current time to 45 hours ahead.
Details for specific forecast points are shown when click the symbols on the map. They are also displayed on the map when zooming in.
Arctic provides forecast data for several metrics such as ice concentration, ocean currents, ice accretion risk etc. The Forecasts tab in the top menu opens the window for serving these data.
The Forecasts page contains four windows; one for wave related forecasts, one for ice related forecasts, one for ocean current related forecasts and a legend window explaining how data is visualized. All forecast windows show the most recent forecasts available from the various forecast providers, sorted by the name of the area. When a forecast is selected, a slider appears to conveniently move forward and backwards in time in order to see how the forecast predicts the weather over time. The forecasts themselves are represented as squares or arrows on the map, typically with an interval of 0.4 degrees whenever data in the area is available, encased in a frame to show the area the forecast covers.
Note that some forecasts might contain lots of information, resulting in an increased amount of data to download (and thus bandwidth usage) and slower graphical updates in browsers on older systems.
Wave forecasts provides three metrics: significant wave height, mean wave period and mean wave direction. Forecast locations are shown as arrows, and the directions of these arrows indicate the mean wave direction. The color of the arrow indicates the significant wave height (see the legend window for more information) and the length of the arrows will increase with the mean wave period.
Ice forecasts are split up into different relevant metrics: ice concentration, ice thickness, ice speed and ice accretion risk. Some providers may not provide all of these data.
Ice concentration, thickness and accretion risk are shown as squares on the map, with the color representing the level of concentration/thickness/risk (again, see the legend window). Ice speed is shown as arrows, the direction indicated by the arrow rotation and the speed indicated by the color.
Ocean current forecasts are shown using arrows, just like ice speed. The direction of the arrow shows the current direction and the color of the arrow shows the current speed.
Arctic provides AIS data from vessels in the whole Arctic region - vessels being above latitude 57 degrees. Displaying data from the whole Arctic region however results in a high data usage. The Arctic platform therefore provides functionality to the users, which can be used select the geographical areas from which to receive data. This is done by configuring one or more geographical areas, called Areas of Interest.
You have no Areas of Interest by default, in which case vessels are instead shown within a circle around Greenland.
Configuration of Areas of Interest allows you to see data in a fine-grained matter, hence exactly the vessels you have interest in.
NB. Configurations to Areas of Interest made beneath latitude 57 degrees will not be applied.
Create a new area of interest by clicking the New Area button. Draw on or more areas on the map, from where to fetch data. Each area is drawn by pushing the left mouse button dragging and releasing the button again. When finished drawing, then click the done button.
Below is shown an Area of Interest for Norwegian data consisting of several drawn areas.
If you want to retrieve data from the new area of interest, then put a checkmark to activate the area of interest and click Save Groups.
You may edit any existing area of interest by clicking the show button. You will then have the options to:
Change the logical name of the Area of Interest, e.g. Norway
Delete – deletes the entire Area of Interest.
Clear – clears the areas/squares of the Area of Interest.
Done – exit edit-mode.
Activate/Inactivate – activates or inactivates the Area of Interest. This will have effect on the geographical areas from where to load data and thereby also on your data usage.
Before any changes made in edit-mode are applied, you have to save your work by clicking the “Save Groups” button.
The SAR feature facilitates coordination and cooperation between SRU's during an SAR operation using terminology and methods from the IAMSAR manual.
The feature supports search area calculations for five different SAR operation types.
For all of the operation types the coordinator can manage effort allocations by including other vessels and calculating sub areas and search patterns for them.
A message log is available to all SRU's in a operation allowing clear communication.
Rapid response should be used when the rescue vessel is within the designated search area in a relatively short time span, i.e. 1-2 hours after last known position (LKP).
Datum point is a calculation method used when the rescue vessel arrives to the designated search area two hours or more later than the last known position (LKP) was reported.
Datum line is used when an object is missing and the last known position (LKP) is unknown, but an assumed route is known.
Back track is used when an object connected to the missing vessel has been located. By reversing the objects movements a possible search area can be established.
Track line search is normally employed when an aircraft or vessel has disappeared without a trace while en route from one point to another. The track line search consists of a rapid and reasonably thorough search along the intended route of the distressed craft.
The coordinator can add any number of Search and Rescue Units (SRU) to the operation.
For each SRU a sub area and search pattern can be calculated.
SRU Sub areas can be moved around by dragging it. The area can also be deformed by dragging the dots on each side of the box. Please note that the area will always remain constant.
The tool is primarily targeted at vessels operating in remote areas and intended as a support for fulfilling tasks required by a vessel operators Polar Water Operating Manual (PWOM).
The Voyage Risk Management Tool (VRMT) is primarily based on the work of Captain Leif Skog and his thoughts on Risk Management. The product design line (Interaction Design) on the Technical University in Trondheim has also given valuable suggestions on how to implement the tool in Arctic.
To make a risk assessment a number of locations along the route is chosen and each of them assessed according to the risk factors proposed by Leif Skog. Currently the assessment of most risk factors are done manually but the vision is to automatically calculate all scores based on various sources such as weather forecasts.
Risk Factors:The result of an assessment is a risk score. A number indicating whether the risk of being in an area is low, medium or high
Assessment locations are added by clicking the desired location on the route. An appropiate name can be assigned to the location.
A route is always assigned default assessment locations at the first waypoint and last waypoint. These assessment locations can not be deleted.
Note that the source of the risk factor assessment is indicated.
Any previous assessment can be viewed in the log.
The score value of a risk factor often depends on the type of vessel and all scores is therefore configurable.


This is an early prototype of a travellers' community for sharing, hosting and getting people together. Built with hitchhikers in mind.
Travel anywhere and easily find great people who want to meet you as well. See where other travellers are and help each other out, whether through welcoming them to your home, sharing your stories or becoming friends.
You can trust us. We think it's a shame that former non profits have been sold to venture capital. We've been running other free and open projects for a decade now and we hope our deeds so far speak for us. This is not a startup.
Trustroots is owned and operated by Trustroots Foundation, a non-profit Limited by Guarantee (LBG) under section 60 exemption, registered in the United Kingdom since March 2015.
 We are long time hospitality exchange enthusiasts with backgrounds in some other notable projects.
We appreciate a hard working, getting things done attitude. We'll aim to keep the entry level for volunteers as low as possible. No bureaucracy. Pragmatic approach. Trust.
By optional connection to other social networks (e.g. Facebook), you can see where all your friends are on the map, what you have in common and show others who you are even without filling your profile.
Trustroots is being built at first with hitchhikers in mind but we will expand later for other target groups.
We're building tools to let you find like minded people from your communities and the other way around; let only people from your communities to find you.
When travelling by hitchhiking, searching for a host in the hitching community makes sense.
These are features still in planning.


JICUnit TestRunner
JICUnit TestRunner
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jicunit.org


"House on Haunted Hill" Review by Fontaine Lien
"I had nothing to do with this! I was adopted!"
I had an epiphany today. It occurred to me while I was watching "House on Haunted Hill."  Chances are, there *is* truth in advertising.
Too bad I didn't trust my own instincts when something-or-the-other possessed me to see this movie. I blame it on my sudden craving for a scare and my anticipation of "Sleepy Hollow." That and "Dogma" started too late in the afternoon for my schedule. An hour of "Angel" or "Buffy" is scarier than this doozy that tries to be scary and shtick but falls flat on its face. I wish I'd seen it when it was Halloween. At least I would have been forgiving. Hey, tis the season.
The movie was scary (albeit very confusing, dizzying, and nauseating) at first, but soon the horror got repetitive and downright laughable because the film obviously wasn't going anywhere. Now I truly appreciate films like "Scream," "Halloween," or any old Hitchcock film where the scariness stems from situations that are at least somewhat realistic. That's what spooks people out, the fact that it could happen to them or someone they know. There has to be a logical precedent for the situations they want to scare us with. Sure, utterly unpredictable is good, too, but that's different from utterly nonsensical. HOHH (House on Haunted Hill), on the other hand . . .  Riiiiight. Y'know, that just sends chills down my spine. Yeah.  Ooooooo. Hint: blood and guts only work a few times. Sooner or later people start to tell themselves that it's just ketchup and props and you've got to come up with something better than that. There were just too many things in this movie that we've all seen before; from the inevitable "plot developments" of strangers unwittingly trapped together; strangers turning against each other; the evil manifesting itself; the dead coming back for a last scare. Each was more predictable than the last. Why didn't these fools just stay together in one place anyways? Sheesh. Was I grossed out? Yes. Did I get spooked a few times? Yes. But WHY? I get really disturbed when there is no why. When there weren't random scares that were there for no other reason than for the visual effect (which wasn't that good either, trust me) and the scare, the film was filled with drab, laughable dialogue.
The characters were incredibly flat and cliched. Not to mention downright annoying.  Jeez, I thought no one fell for those "You may already be a winner" things anymore. And of course, all three gals are babes. I wonder how on earth the Geoffrey Rush of "Shine" ended up in this movie. Keep that up, Geoff, and you'll qualify for the next Batman venture.  And Famke Jansen (sp?) because she reminds me of the delectable Brosnan. Pierce Brosnan (hey, I willingly endured "Dante's Peak" three times for him :).
All right, I concede. There were a couple of things I enjoyed. That perverted little amusement park at the beginning. I probably won't ride a rollercoaster for a while. And the machine they used to drive Geoffrey's character mad (see, I don't even remember their names).  I kept waiting and waiting for that inevitable twist at the end of the movie. It wouldn't have redeemed the film, but at least it would have made me feel better. But no, they opted for the beautiful sunrise ending. Thank God they didn't add a kiss at the end or I would have puked. God, there is no hope.
Rating: D (First viewing, 11/13/99)
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews


There is a lot of interesting history behind belladonna. When my friend offered me a few leaves he had found while wandering around a neighborhood, I was very interested in trying it.
Four of us decided to do it together in an abandoned coca cola bottling factory we were squatting. We set up two mattresses on the ground, some rugs, and rolled a ton of cigarettes because we figured we would be too messed up to want to roll cigarettes.
We each ate a leaf or two of medium size in the early evening. I'm not sure how long it took to take effect because we kind of fell in and out of sleep, napping, and we continued that pattern all throughout the night. The squat is completely dark all the way in the back so we couldn't tell whether it was night or day for the entire trip.
At some points we are all awake, talking, smoking cigarettes, and drinking beer together, passing them around to each other. Sometimes other people show up and bring more to drink. Sometimes someone drops a cigarette or drink and it's gone as soon as it hits the ground. We look around for it but it can't be found. Sometimes someone falls asleep for a little while and they look so peaceful they could be dead. Sometimes I fall asleep and I wake up, then five minutes later I wake up again, then five minutes later I wake up again. I lose track of whether I am sleeping or awake and it doesn't seem to matter. I lose track of whether I am alive or dead, but I feel good, not freaked out. I forget that I am even tripping and just feel relaxed.
At one point I get up to go out and go to the bathroom. I see people in the hallways, and then when I try to figure out what they are doing, they turn into graffitti on the walls. When I come back there are twice as many mattresses on the floor and they are full of sleeping people. I'm very frustrated because I want to lay down, so I lay down on the ground and sleep for a little while. When I wake up, there are only two mattresses again and only my three friends. I climb up on the mattress and find a guy lying on the ground next to the mattress. He kind of startles me and then I start to talk to him. We talk for hours. I start to fall in love with him. He seems to understand me more than anyone else I've ever met in my entire life. I feel like I'm going to explode I'm so happy that I found this person. Then one of my friends asks me who I'm talking to, and when I slowly look back on the ground, he is gone.
The next day when we get up around 2 pm we all feel pretty sober. We realized that no one had come over, we hadn't drank anything, and that all the cigarettes we had rolled were still sitting there waiting. We had imagined things ourselves and then by acting them out, made it possible for the others to experience it too. If I turned away for a second or stopped focusing on something, it disappeared. Anything I wanted to exist would, and anything that bored me would disappear.
We went and got coffee when we woke up and felt completely normal all that day except that it was hard to read small print that day, it would get blurry like we were squinting. but the second day our eyesight was back to normal.
I really enjoyed the trip. Everything seemed very realistic. As real as my dreams do while I am dreaming them.  With belladonna I forgot that I was on drugs. I didn't feel panicked at any point. I was able to sleep fine. The next day I was completely functional.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the individual authors who submit them.
Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid.


THE BUTCHER'S WIFE A film review by Craig Good Copyright 1991 Craig Good
THE BUTCHER'S WIFE is a romantic film based on the age-old conflict between heart and head. What isn't so old is the intriguingly- structured plot which drops Demi Moore, as the butcher's wife, as a pebble into a pond of characters. She plays a clairvoyant who simply tries to be helpful as she "sees what others want sometimes before they know themselves."
The pond is Greenwich Village in New York, and her innocence and caring combine with her vision to instantly touch the hearts of a group of people whose heads are all messed up. The ripples in the pond reflect back onto their psychiatrist, played by Jeff Daniels. The main conflict of the film then becomes that between the scientist and the clairvoyant. And so, naturally, does the main love story.
But the cagey script also swirls with the interwoven love stories of a dowdy music teacher, a soap opera actress, a shop keeper and a teenage boy -- all of whom are Jeff Daniel's patients -- and of course the butcher. Following the advice of the butcher's wife feels right at first and seems to make them all happy. Then they find that it has turned their world topsy-turvy. Daniels' character winds up confused and shaken to his core, and even Moore's character finds out something about herself that she never suspected. Since this is a romantic comedy, after all, I'm spoiling nothing by telling you that it all works out in the end , but the way and the speed with which the stories all resolve is satisfying and sometimes surprising (in fact, this must be about the shortest third act in modern film).
Even if Demi Moore's accent doesn't quite hold up, the movie sure does.  And just in case you find yourself put off by the way off-base reviews of a couple of guys from Chicago, let me quote the butcher's wife herself: "What I say and what people hear aren't always the same thing."
--Craig
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews


Chelsea warn Jody Morris after he mocked Jose Mourinho on social media
Chelsea have reportedly spoken to Jody Morris about his social media behaviour after he mocked former manager Jose Mourinho
by Rich Jones, https://www.mirror.co.uk/authors/rich-jones/Chelsea have reportedly warned assistant manager Jody Morris over his use of social media.
It comes after he hit the headlines for posting a video on his Instagram story last week mocking former manager Jose Mourinho in response to comments made by the Portuguese boss about the Blues.
Mourinho stated he was worried about Chelsea's defence despite their fine form in recent weeks.
Morris quoted a tweet of the video, adding: "Jose is still worried" followed by a string of laughing emojis before posting a video pretending to cry on Instagram accompanied by Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve.
The former player, now a key member of Frank Lampard's backroom staff, is active on social media and, according to the Daily Mail, Chelsea believe some of his activity is inappropriate for a senior member of coaching staff.
He has been asked to show more restraint moving forwards, although they have no plans to ban him from social media.
Morris, who played over 100 games for Chelsea between 1996 and 2003, returned to Stamford Bridge to begin his coaching career in the youth system after retiring in 2013.
He worked his way into the role of Under 18s head coach in 2016/17 and led the club to their fifth straight FA Youth Cup win in 2018.
He departed for Derby, working as assistant manager under Frank Lampard last season, before the pair returned to Chelsea this season.
They have enjoyed a strong start to life in charge at Stamford Bridge, with their youthful side sitting third in the table after a run of six straight Premier League wins.


Warning: this demo won't work in all browsers due to patchy support for processing audio from MediaElements
var video = document.querySelector('video'); var sound = sono.create(video); sound.play();


In October 2018, Moog Music released the Moog One synthesizer, their first polyphonic analog synthesizer in over 35 years. Aside from its classic analog backbone, the Moog One features a handful of innovative digital audio effects. As a freelance DSP developer, I ported a couple of these effects from a high-level programming environment into a fast C++ framework. For this project, I wrote digital delay, mixing, panning, and other audio algorithms. While not included in the initial release of the Moog One, my code forms part of the company's library of real-time audio effects that may be used in future Moog products.


Add Recipe
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{% extends "base.html" %} {% load staticfiles %} {% block content %}
Other NPOs in the domestic space: Fair Vote, Electology, Californians for Electoral Reform
Other NPOs in the international space: Electoral Reform Socity (UK)
Technical Infrastructure: Liquid Feedback, Loomio, Pirate Feedback, Kudocracy, DemocracyOS.
From 2012: American's Elect


NCRPO unit pulled out from LRT, MRT
by Edd ReyesPOLICE territorial units in Metro Manila have been ordered to help secure the Light Rail Transit and Metro Railway Transit stations as National Capital Region Police Office director, Brigadier General Debold M. Sinas ordered the pullout of NCRPO Regional Mobile Force Battalion personnel from their LRT and MRT duties.
The official said that members of the NCRPO-RMFB would return to their camps ready to respond to emergency calls 24/7.
Henceforth, members of the Quezon City Police District would be securing the MRT North Avenue to Santolan stations while the Eastern Police District will man the MRT Ortigas to Boni stations and the LRT Santolan station.
The Southern Police District will be helping secure the MRT Guadalupe to Buendia stations.
The Manila Police District on the other hand will help secure the LRT stations in their jurisdiction. The LRT and the MRT have their respective private security contractors securing their facilities.
Uniformed police officers assigned at the main entrances of the two facilities in the past have been instrumental in arresting MRT and LRT clients who tried to sneak in contraband including drugs and illegal weapons and explosives.


POWER Imagines Tommy Taking Out Ghost For Good: “Did He Finally Settle The Score”
by Biz JonesThe “Power” marketing team is out here playing with people’s emotions. The STARZ series has teased the idea of character Tommy Egan being the mystery gunman in the mid-season finale.
This week, the show shared a promo clip suggesting Egan had reason enough to take out James “Ghost” St. Patrick.
Recently, rap artist Pete Rock flamed “Power” character Tasha St. Patrick with some major trolling.
Over the past few days, “Power” has pitched the idea of everyone from Tasha and other key characters possibly taking out James in the mid-season finale.
Earlier this month, “Power” executive producer 50 Cent went online with some savage memes and hints at the personal responsible for taking out Ghost in the mid-season finale.


Problem Set 5 Blood
Goals: back-of-the-envelope estimation, scale, google search
Many complex problems in biology can be broken down into a series of smaller problems and a common smaller problem is the estimation of some number, such as the number of bacteria per cell. Estimation problems range from back-of-the-envelope estimations that are imprecise but useful in that they give one a general sense of the magnitude of a phenomenon to more precisely modeled estimates that are used for making decisions under uncertainty. Back-of-the-envelope estimations are called that because most can, literally, be done with a pencil and the back of an envelope. They can be done with pencil because the computations uses rounded instead of exact numbers like 10 or 300 that are easily multiplied/divided. In this module, you will compute some back-of-the-envelope estimations.
A problem like “how many bacteria can colonize a cell” depends on the distribution of the sizes of the bacteria, the size of the cell, and how packed the cell is with its own molecules and organelles. Here, I simply want to get you started on addressing a problem like this with very simple models of the problem. Along the way, solving the problem should give you a sense of scale of what it is like to be a bacterium or a virus living in a cellular world.
5.1 How to solve an estimation problem
I’ll solve an analogous problem: How many beach balls can fit in a barn? If a barn has Volume \(V_{barn}\) and a beach ball has volume \(V_{ball}\) then the number of balls that could fit into the barn would be approximately, \(N_{balls} = \frac{V_{barn}}{V_{ball}}\). To solve this, I need to paramaterize the model by assigning numbers to these variables. And, the answer is dependent on what numbers I choose for the size of the beach balls and the shape and size of the barn and how filled the barn is with hay (or furniture or horses or whatever) – that is how much of the volume of the barn is available for beach balls. A back-of-the-envelope calculation simply uses a reasonable value for the parameters. So, here are my numbers.
- the barn is a typical vermont barn. I have a sense of what “typical” is because I live in New England and see barns every day. But what if I were a martian, and had never seen a barn? Then I would need to find this information from a reliable source. So, to find “typical”, I used a google search and found what looks like a reputable source that says a typical hay barn is 30 feet wide by 40 feet long. I estimated wall height from the figure as half the width and I used a 12/12 pitch for the roof, so the peak is centered and 15 feet (half of the width) high.
Again – if you don’t have to look up information to parameterize your model, don’t!
 I didn’t need to look this up!
10% of the barn is filled with hay.
I use Google Sheets to compute the number of balls for each room (the main room and the attic) and then add these. Here is my sheet
My column labels include the units of the measure. Do not add units to the measure itself because this makes the format of the cell “text” instead of “number” and you cannot refer to the cell in an equation. I also cite the source of the parameterization below the table (I cite the source for the size of the barn. The size of the beach ball I just made up).
5.2 Problem set
Do these on the same sheet. Name the sheet “1. Blood”.
- How many red blood cells in a drop of blood?  You don’t need to look up the volume of a drop of water if you are able to use available information in your head to derive a reasonable volume for a drop of water.
For the next three questions, assume the host cell is “empty”, that is, it contains no organelles or molecules that take up space.
How many bacteria could colonize a red blood cell?
How many bacteria could colonize a macrophage?
How many virus particles could colonize a red blood cell?
– These should all be on the same google sheet.
– Do not hardcode parameters, that is, if a virus is 30 feet wide do not put “30” in an equation but instead make your equations reference the cell with this information.
– You may need to google search information to parameterize the model, such as, how big a virus is. Part of the goal of this is for you to develop your skills finding reliable information using a google search. There is variation in virus size or cell size so use something in the middle or “typical”. Again – these are back-of-the-envelope estimates so you don’t need to be very precise – in fact all of these problems could be computed by most working biologists without looking up any information. We all have a pretty good sense for how big a virus, a bacterium, a blood cell, and a drop of water is. But you can look up this information because you are at the beginning of your biology career.
– Cite a webpage giving the source of the information, as I’ve done for the barns. There is no “right” or “wrong” place to get this information, only more or less reliable. I’m not grading you on where you get it, but I want to see where you get it! And all I want for a citation is the webpage, this is not a formal citation that you put in a scientific paper.


---
title: Soniei's Contemporary Art
date: '2009-04-30T16:15:13+05:30'
tags: []
tumblr_url: https://sureshshanmugam.com/post/101817937/sonieis-contemporary-art
---
Soniei's Contemporary Art
Art can inspire you and let you make some money on the side as well. Read Soniei’s blog here.


This is an artwork classifier, which determines the artist of a painting based on a deep neural network. The neural network has been trainined with paintings of well-known artists such as Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.
The classifier is based on a deep neural network implemented and trained with tensorflow. The model architecture is constituted by a multi-layer convolutional neural network, which is followed by a fully connected layer and completed with a softmax readout layer.
Training was done based on a cross-entropy error function.


|
newstring length [char]
Creates a string of the given length.
|
>(newstring 5 #\a)
"aaaaa"
|
|
whitec c
Predicate to test if a character is whitespace (space, newline, tab, or return).
|
>(whitec #\tab)
t
>(whitec " ")
nil
|
|
nonwhite c
Predicate to test if a character is not whitespace (space, newline, tab, or return).
|
>(nonwhite #\tab)
nil
>(nonwhite #\a)
t
|
|
letter c
Predicate to test if a character is alphabetic. New in arc3.
|
>(letter #\A)
t
>(letter #\2)
nil
|
|
alphadig c
Predicate to test if a character is alphabetic or a digit.
|
>(alphadig #\A)
t
>(alphadig #\2)
t
|
|
punc c
Predicate to detemine if c is a punctuation character in the set: .,;:!?
|
>(punc #\.)
t
>(punc #\a)
nil
>(punc ".")
nil
|
|
downcase str
Converts a string, character, or symbol to lower case. This only converts ASCII; Unicode is unchanged.
|
>(downcase "abcDEF123")
"abcdef123"
>(downcase #\A)
#\a
>(downcase 'abcDEF123)
abcdef123
|
|
upcase str
Converts a string, character, or symbol to lower case. This only converts ASCII; Unicode is unchanged.
|
>(upcase "abcDEF123")
"ABCDEF123"
>(upcase #\a)
#\A
>(upcase 'abcDEF123)
ABCDEF123
|
|
ellipsize str [limit]
If str is longer than the limit (default 80), truncate it and append ellipses ('...').
|
>(ellipsize "Too long" 6)
"Too lo..."
|
|
rand-string n
Generates a random string of alphanumerics of length n.
|
>(rand-string 10)
"FPEMMZuVrt"
|
|
string arg [...]
Converts the args into a string. The args must be coerce-able to a string.
|
>(string 2 'a '(#\b #\c))
"2abc"
|
|
recstring f string [start]
Recursively steps through the string until f returns a non-nil value, and returns that value. Returns nil otherwise. The values passed to f are integer indices; the indices start at 0, or start if specified.
|
>(let str "abcde"
(recstring
(fn (idx) (if (is (str idx) #\c) (+ 10 idx)))
str))
12
|
|
w/bars [statement ...]
Executes each statement and collects the output. A vertical bar is placed between the output of statements producing output.
|
>(w/bars (pr "a") 42 (pr "b") (pr "c") nil)
a | b | c
nil
|
|
bar*
The separator string used by w/bars .
|
>bar*
" | "
|
|
tokens str [sep]
Splits str into tokens based on the separator (default whitec ). sep is either a predicate function on a character, or a character.
|
>(tokens " cat dog bird lizard\nrat\tmouse")
("cat" "dog" "bird" "lizard" "rat" "mouse")
>(tokens "foo.bar..baz" #\.)
("foo" "bar" "baz")
>(tokens "a!bc%de@f" (fn (c) (pos c "!@%")))
("a" "bc" "de" "f")
|
|
urldecode str
Decodes a string in URL encoding. The string is assumed to be UTF-8
|
>(urldecode "abc+def %c2%a9")
"abc def ©"
|
|
litmatch pat seq [start]
Tests if seq starting at offset start begins with pat .
Because of the macro expansion, pat must be a literal string or list of characters and not a variable. seq can be a string or list of characters.
|
>(litmatch "abc" "abcde")
t
>(litmatch "abc" "xabcde")
nil
>(litmatch "abc" "xabcde" 1)
t
>(litmatch (#\a #\b #\c) "abcde")
t
|
|
endmatch pat seq
Tests if seq ends with pat .
Because of the macro expansion, pat must be a literal string or list of characters and not a variable. seq can be a string or list of characters.
|
>(endmatch "abc" "abcde")
nil
>(endmatch "cde" "abcde")
t
>(endmatch (#\c #\d #\e) "abcde")
t
|
|
posmatch pat seq [start]
If pat is a string or list of characters, return the index (from start ) where pat appears in seq . If pat is a predicate function on one character, it is applied to the characters of seq (starting from start ), and returns the index of the first true result. seq is a string or list of characters.
|
>(posmatch "abc" "junk")
nil
>(posmatch "a" "banana" 2)
3
>(posmatch (fn (c) (in c #\a #\b)) "foobar")
3
>(posmatch '(#\a #\b) '(#\c #\a #\b))
1
|
|
findsubseq pat seq [start]
Finds the index where pat is a subsequence of seq , starting at start . Both pat and seq can be strings or lists of characters. findsubseq is similar to posmatch , except it doesn't accept a function for pat .
|
>(findsubseq "abc" "fooabcbar")
3
>(findsubseq "abc" "x")
nil
>(findsubseq "an" "banana" 2)
3
|
|
headmatch pat seq [start]
Tests if seq from offset start onwards starts with pat . pat and seq can be strings or lists of characters. headmatch will die if pat is longer than seq and matches up to the end of seq .
|
>(headmatch "abc" "abcde")
t
>(headmatch "cd" "abcde")
nil
>(headmatch "cd" "abcde" 2)
t
>(headmatch '(#\a #\b) '(#\a #\b #\c))
t
|
|
begins seq pat [start]
Tests if seq begins with pat . begins is the same as headmatch with the first two arguments reversed, except begins doesn't die if matching goes past the end of seq .
|
>(begins "abcde" "abc")
t
>(begins "abc" "abcde")
nil
>(begins "abcde" "cd" 2)
t
|
|
subst new old seq
Substitutes new for old in seq . new can be any printable object. old and seq can be strings or lists of characters.
|
>(subst "bar" "foo" "catfood dogfood")
"catbard dogbard"
>(subst '(1 2) "a" "banana")
"b(1 2)n(1 2)n(1 2)"
|
|
multisubst pairs seq
Performs multiple substitutions on seq . pairs is a list of pairs of old and new values.
|
>(multisubst '(("a" 1) ("b" "B")) "banana")
"B1n1n1"
|
|
blank str
Tests if str is blank (whitespace).
|
>(blank "a b")
nil
>(blank " ")
t
>(blank '(#\space #\tab #\newline))
t
|
|
trim str where [test]
Trims whitespace (or arbitrary expression) from str . where can have the value 'front , to trim the front of the string (currently broken); 'end , to trim the end of the string; or 'both to trim both ends of the string. If specified, test is either a character or a predicate function on characters.
|
>(trim " abc " 'end)
" abc"
>(trim " abc " 'both)
"abc"
>(trim "aabcaa" 'both #\a)
"bc"
>(trim "aabcaa" 'both (fn (_) (in _ #\a #\b)))
"c"
|
|
num m [digits [trail-zeros [init-zero]]]
Formats a real number. digits is the number of digits after the decimal point, trail-zeros is a Boolean indicating if trailing zeros should be included, and init-zero is a Boolean indicating if there should be a 0 before the decimal point.
|
>(num 123456)
"123,456"
>(num -123456)
"-123,456"
>(num 1.2345 2)
"1.23"
>(num 1.2 4 t)
"1.2000"
>(num 0.3 4 t t)
"0.3000"
|
|
pluralize n str
Returns str pluralized; if n is 1 or a list of length 1, str is returned unchanged; otherwise an 's' is appended. Renamed from plural in arc3.
|
>(pluralize 2 "fox")
"foxs"
>(pluralize '() "fish")
"fishs"
|
|
plural n str
Returns n and str pluralized. New in arc3.
|
>(plural 2 "fox")
"2 foxs"
>(plural '() "fish")
" fishs"
|
|
halve str
Splits a string in two on whitespace. New in arc3.
|
>(halve "ab cd ef")
("ab" " cd ef")
>(halve "abc")
("abc")
|
|
positions test seq
Returns a list of positions in seq where test is true. Works on sequences in general. New in arc3.
|
>(positions #\a "That abacus")
(2 5 7)
>(positions odd '(1 2 4 5 7))
(0 3 4)
|
|
lines str
Splits str into lines. New in arc3.
|
>(lines "a b\nc d\n\ne f")
("a b" "c d" "" "e f")
|
|
urlencode str
Completely url-encodes str. Doesn't work with unicode. New in arc3.
|
>(urlencode "abc")
"%61%62%63"
>(urlencode "☃")
"%2603"
|
|
nonblank str
Returns str if it is nonblank, nil otherwise. New in arc3.
|
>(nonblank "a b")
"a b"
>(nonblank "\n\t ")
nil
|
Copyright 2008 Ken Shirriff.


Post-16 statistics team
Email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Telephone: Sally Marshall 0114 274 2317
National Statistics
Statistics about young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
PDF , 599KB , 10 pages
MS Excel Spreadsheet , 52.8KB
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MS Excel Spreadsheet , 58.3KB
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MS Excel Spreadsheet , 49KB
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MS Excel Spreadsheet , 51.9KB
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MS Excel Spreadsheet , 31KB
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MS Excel Spreadsheet , 59.2KB
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PDF , 233KB , 7 pages
ZIP , 119KB
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Plain text , 2.08KB
The data comes from:
The publication includes:
Labour market status refers to people who are:
Email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Telephone: Sally Marshall 0114 274 2317
Published: 26 May 2016
From: Department for Education
Part of: Statistics: NEET and participation


Battled hundreds of other Josh's in the great fight of 2021 and became the world's top ranked Josh.

And this is my girlfriend Lilly. She is a goofball who barks a lot but is too cute to be mad at.


a stacking context contains 5 element with zindex=0
zindex=-1
after block
block
z-index=0
z-index=7
another stacking context with zindex=6


TABLE OF CONTENT
A. GS1 Related Geography 1. Antarctica’s ice-free islands set to grow 2. Sunderbans mangrove cover at risk B. GS2 Related Polity 1. Minister calls for quota in cricket team International Relations 1. Why Bhutan is special to India 2. Xi draws ‘red line’ in Hong Kong C. GS3 Related Economics 1. Indians’ money in Swiss banks hit record low at Rs. 4,500 crore 2. BIZ-GDP-ANANT 3. One lakh suspect firms deregistered Science and Technology 1. New material uses sunlight to detoxify water 2. The pursuit of app-iness 3. Cheaper, indigenous TB test enters final validation phase D. GS4 Related E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn F. Bills/Acts/Schemes/Orgs in News G. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam
UPSC Current Affairs 2017: News Analysis
1. Antarctica’s ice-free islands set to grow
Context: Climate change and impact on biodiversity
In news:
Antartica’s ice-free islands:
- Within the Antarctica’s continent one can find isolated ice-free nooks — nunataks (exposed mountain tops), scree slopes, cliffs, valleys and coastal oases — which cover less than 1% of the area.
- These ice-free areas support almost all of the continent’s biodiversity.
- A paper published in Nature indicates the possibility of expansion of these ice-free islands over 17,000 sq.km (a 25% increase) due to climate change
- Much of the life thrives in Antarctica’s ice-free pockets: small invertebrates (nematodes, springtails, and tardigrades) vascular plants, lichen, fungi, mosses and algae. They also serve as breeding ground for sea birds (including the Adelie penguins) and elephant seals.
Possible impacts:
- Positive: good news for Antarctica’s biodiversity that is likely to find larger habitats.
- Negative :
- Biggest threats from an increase in ice-free area appears to be the spread of invasive species
- As ice-free islands expand and coalesce, biodiversity could homogenise, less competitive species could go extinct and ecosystems destabilise from the spread of invasive species
- The species that will lose will most likely be those that are not very competitive and can’t cope with the invasive species.
Climate change:
- The greatest change in climate is projected for the Antarctic Peninsula by the end of the century, and more than 85% of the new ice-free area is believed to occur in the north Antarctic Peninsula.
Basic information: Invasive species: An invasive species is a plant, fungus, or animal species that is not native to a specific location (an introduced species), and which has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health
2. Sunderbans mangrove cover at risk
Highlights of study by Jadavpur University
- Study: Mangrove Forest Cover Changes in Indian Sundarban (1986-2012) Using Remote Sensing and GIS, a publication by the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University
- Depleting Mangrove forest cover in the Sunderbans at an alarming rate over the past few decades.
- From 1986 to 2012, 124.418 sq. km., or about 5.5% of the mangrove cover, was lost.
- Climate change and sea level rise has contributed to the phenomenon of losing land, including mangrove forests in the Sundarbans, in the last part of the 21st century. Mean sea level rise can be considered a driving factor for coastal erosion, coastal flooding, and an increase in the number of tidal creeks.
- Sunderbans has lost 3.71% of its mangrove and other forest cover, while losing 9,990 hectares of its landmass to erosion in one decade.
Threats associated with mangrove damage:
- The continuation of this process(damage to mangroves) in response to climate change and sea level rise poses a serious threat to the carbon sequestration potential and other ecosystem services of this mangrove forest in future.
- A critical minimal inflow of freshwater is necessary for the luxuriant growth of mangroves. When freshwater inflow is missing, there is a change in mangrove succession, and freshwater loving species of mangroves are replaced by salt-water loving ones. Immediate impact of salinity will be on the fishing community, where commercially sought after fish species will be replaced by fish that does not have as much market value.
Basic information:
Carbon sequestration
Carbon sequestration is the process
involved in carbon capture and the long-term
storage of atmospheric
carbon dioxide.Carbon sequestration involves
long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of
carbon to mitigate or defer global warming. It has been
proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine
accumulation of greenhouse gases, which are released by
burning fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological,
chemical, and physical processes. Artificial processes have been devised to produce
similar effects, including large-scale, artificial capture and sequestration of
industrially produced CO2 using subsurface saline aquifers, reservoirs, ocean water,
aging oil fields, or other carbon sinks.
1. Minister calls for quota in cricket team
In news:
- Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale demanded 25% reservation for Dalits and Adivasis in the cricket team and other sports.
- Reason: Dalits and Adivasis don’t get proper representation in sport.
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1.Why Bhutan is special to India
Context: standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Doka La (Doklam)
India’s role in Bhutan’s security:
- 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty:
- The two sides have agreed to “cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither Government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.”
- India to “guide” Bhutan on foreign and defence policies.
- The 2007 treaty, is meant to respect the sensitivities of Bhutan regarding its sovereignty.
- Indian military is virtually responsible for protecting Bhutan from the kind of external threat that the Chinese military poses.
- The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), headed by a Major General, plays a critical role in training Bhutanese security personnel.
- The Eastern Army Command and the Eastern Air Command both have integrated protection of Bhutan into their role.
2.Xi draws ‘red line’ in Hong Kong
In news:
- China’s President Xi Jinping warned that any challenge to Beijing’s control over Hong Kong crossed a “red line”.
Background:
- tens of thousands calling for more democracy marched through the city 20 years after it was handed back by Britain.
Situation in Hong Kong:
- Many are angry at Beijing’s tightening grip on the freedoms.
- Young activists have emerged calling for self-determination or even full independence for Hong Kong
Beijing’s warning:
- Any threat to China’s sovereignty and security or to the power of the central government “crosses the red line and is absolutely impermissible.”
- Warned against anyone endangering Hong Kong’s Constitution or using the city “to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland.”
Basic Information: Hong Kong: Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of China. Hong Kong ranks as the world's fourth most densely populated sovereign state or territory. Hong Kong and China: After the First Opium War (1839–42), Hong Kong became a British colony. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945. In the early 1980s, negotiations between the United Kingdom and China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China with a high degree of autonomy. Under the principle of "one country, two systems",Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers. In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".
1. Indians’ money in Swiss banks hit record low at Rs. 4,500 crore
In news:
- Money parked by Indians in Switzerland’s banks nearly halved to 676 Swiss francs (about Rs. 4,500 crore) in 2016 to hit a record low.
- In comparison, the total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks somewhat rose to CHF 1.42 trillion or about Rs 96 lakh crore (from CHF 1.41 trillion a year ago).
- The total money of Indians fell by 45 % during 2016 to CHF 675.75 million, marking the biggest ever yearly decline in such funds.
- Swiss banks have also said Indians have “few deposits” in Swiss banks compared to other global financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong amid stepped-up efforts to check the black money menace.
Automatic exchange of information:
- A new framework for automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India, to help check the black money menace.
- Adopting the dispatch on introduction of the AEOI, a global convention for automatic information exchange on tax matters, the Swiss Federal Council said on June 16 that the implementation is planned for 2018 and the first set of data should be exchanged in 2019.
- There have been several rounds of discussions between Indian and Swiss government officials on the new framework and also for expediting the pending information requests about suspected illicit accounts of Indians in Swiss banks.
Possible transfer:
- SNB’s official figures also do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.
- There is a view that the Indians alleged to have parked their illicit money in Swiss banks in the past may have shifted the funds to other locations after a global clampdown began on the mighty banking secrecy practices in Switzerland.
In News:
- The base year of the new GDP series has been fixed at 2017-18
- The current base year is 2011-12
Why revision?
- It is necessary to review the base year every five years or so
- Change of base year to calculate GDP is done in line with the global exercise to capture economic information accurately
- This ensures capturing latest information and hence accurately reflects the current economic situation in the country
- The new series is compliant with the latest United Nations guidelines in System of National Accounts-2008
3. One lakh suspect firms deregistered
Context: Demonetisation.
In news:
- The government has cancelled the registration of one lakh companies.
- These companies had suspicious and questionable operations, identified on the basis of data mined from the deposit of bank notes following last November’s demonetization policy of the govt.
Who has the power to cancel the registration?
- The Registrar of Companies has removed these one lakh companies
Quote: Quoting Chanakya, the Prime Minister held out a sombre warning to accountants: “After the time to do the right thing has passed, time itself consumes those who didn’t act.”
Basic information:
The Registrar of Companies
The Registrar of Companies (ROC) is an office under the Indian Ministry of
Corporate Affairs that deals with administration of the Companies Act 1956
and Companies Act, 2013.
There are currently 22 Registrars of Companies (ROC) operating from offices in
all major states of India.
Some states, such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, have two ROCs each. Section 609
of the Companies Act, 1956 tasks the ROCs with the primary duty of registering
companies and LLPs- limited liability partnership, floated in the respective
states and the union territories under their administration.
Administrative control:
The Union Government maintains administrative control over ROCs through Regional Directors.
There are 7 Regional Directors, and they supervise the functioning of ROCs within their respective
regions.
Function: The Registrar of Company takes care of company registration (also known
as incorporation) in India, completes reporting and regulation of companies and
their directors and shareholders, and also oversees government reporting of
various matters including the annual filling of various documents.
Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. New material uses sunlight to detoxify water
In news:
- Novel approach: Scientists have developed a new non-toxic material that uses solar energy to degrade harmful synthetic dye pollutants which are released at a rate of nearly 300,000 tonnes a year into the world’s water.
- The novel, non-hazardous photocatalytic material removes dye pollutants from water, adsorbing more than 90% of the dye and enhancing the rate of dye breakdown by almost ten times using visible light.
Technical details: (not required)
- Catalyst synthesis: By heating the reaction mixture at high pressures inside a sealed container, the composite is synthesised by growing ultrathin “nanowires” of tungsten oxide on the surface of tiny particles of tantalum nitride.
- The composite provides a huge surface area for dye capture(incredibly small size of the two material components- typically less than 40 billionths of a metre in diameter)
- The material then proceeds to break the dye down into smaller, harmless molecules using the energy provided by sunlight, in a process known as “photocatalytic degradation.”
- Having removed the harmful dyes, the catalyst may simply be filtered from the cleaned water and reused.
iBobbly app :
- Developed by researchers at Black Dog Institute, a mental health organisation in Australia, and launched in the country in 2014.
- The world’s first suicide prevention app
Target group:
- The app is specially targeted at young people from the indigenous communities, who are at four times the risk of suicide compared to the rest.
- iBobbly doesn’t need the Internet to be accessed once downloaded.
How does it operate?
- It allows a person to keep a ‘mood diary’ after self-assessment, and teaches the user to manage thoughts — especially suicidal thoughts — and feelings and create a personalised action plan with tools to monitor progress.
- The programme maintains patient confidentiality and is password-protected.
Results:
- Participants from the Kimberley region in Western Australia who used the app over a six-week period reported a 42% reduction in symptoms of depression, 30% reduction in suicidal ideation and 28% reduction in distress.
iBobbly app and Lessons for India:
Key fact:
- As per World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest suicide data, nearly 1,00,000 people commit suicide.
- The country’s suicide mortality rate is 20.9 per 1,00,000 people, among the highest in the world, with majority of the vulnerable groups not able to get the help they need.
- The use of technology has increased among youth and the app allows mental experts to reach them anonymously
‘Atmiyata’:
- Similar project like iBobbly in India
- Meaning: Compassion in Sanskrit.
- This project involves using short films loaded on a basic Android app as a training tool to enable a bunch of villagers to identify mental health disorders.
- The project was rolled out in the Peth block of Nashik district, Maharashtra, in December 2013, making mental health care accessible to many in this part for the first time.
3. Cheaper, indigenous TB test enters final validation phase
Context:
- Truenat MTB is being tested in 100 microscopy centres in 10 States
- It’s validation and operational feasibility testing is being done by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
What is Truenat MTB?
- Truenat MTB, a chip-based nucleic acid amplification test which uses sputum samples for diagnosingMycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)
What is its speciality?
- It’s a cheaper and indigenously developed molecular diagnostic test for TB.
- The samples were also tested for resistance to the drug rifampicin which is an antibiotic used chiefly to treat tuberculosis and leprosy
- It is a battery-operated, hand-held machine allows detection of TB in approximately one hour
- In Truenat MTB only about 0.5 ml sample is required compared to it’s counterpart GeneXpert in the US which requires 1ml sample.
Truenat MTB V/S GeneXpert.
- Truenat MTB is 50% cheaper than GeneXpert
- Truenat MTB is chip-based and will be more environment-friendly compared to GeneXpert which is cartilage-based
- Truenat MTB can be expanded to primary health centre level, which cannot be done using GeneXpert which needs uninterrupted power supply and air conditioning
D. GS4 Related
Nothing here for Today!!!
PIB Articles Editorials Roundup
E. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn
Nothing here for Today!!!
F. Bills/Acts/Schemes/Orgs in News
Nothing here for Today!!!
G. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam
Question 1: As per the Agreement on Consular Access between India and Pakistan, lists
of nationals lodged in jails are to be exchanged.
- Once a year
- Twice a year
- Thrice a year
- None of the above
Question 2: ‘Atmiyata’ was in news recently, it is
- A basic Android app used as a training tool to enable a bunch of villagers to identify mental health disorders.
- A basic Android app used as a training tool to enable a bunch of villagers to identify health disorders.
- A basic Android app which provides government service at door steps.
- None of the above
Question 3: The Registrar of Companies which deals with registration of companies, comes
under which ministry
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Ministry of Corporate Affairs
- Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise
- Ministry of Heavy industry and Public enterprise
Question 4: The Rashtriya e-market Services Ltd. (ReMS) is a
- Joint venture created by the Government of India and the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) in order to create a national common agricultural market
- Joint venture created by the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture in order to create a national common agricultural market
- Unified Market Platform offering single licensing system for around 50 agricultural markets in Karnataka
- Joint venture created by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and NCDEX Spot Exchange in order to create a unified state agricultural market
Question 5: Consider the following statements:
- In India, magnetite is the most important industrial iron ore in terms of the quantity used
- The iron ore produced in Goa is of lower grade when compared to the other major iron ore producing states
Which of the statements above is/are correct?
- 1 Only
- 2 Only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
“Proper Current Affairs preparation is the key to success in the UPSC- Civil Services Examination. We have now launched a comprehensive ‘Online Current Affairs Crash Course’. Limited seats available. Click here to Know More.”
Practice More: Enroll for India’s Largest All-India Test Series


Start adding an organisation
Explain why they need to add their organisation. It will be used on the contract and there for needs to be accurate.
Maybe you want to call something out about how adding a legal entity also needs a contract signed against it.
You will need:
- Your organisations name
- address
- unique reference number if applicable
- Someone will need to sign the agreement now or at a later date


The Hardest Language?
One of the most contentious questions in the world of language learners is, “What is the hardest language to learn?” On Wikipedia, people have tried creating articles about Most difficult language to learn, Hardest language and Difficulty of learning languages, but these were removed or their content was merged with the article Second-language acquisition.
- Tongue twisters, The Economist, 17.12.2009.
- Poser, Bill:
Difficult languages,
Language Log, 02.01.2010.
This blog post was written in response to the article in The Economist. - Lewis, Benny: What’s the hardest language to learn in the world?. Benny Lewis finds the concept of the “hardest language” ridiculous and that it exists only to discourage language learners.
- La langue la plus difficile du monde, Apprenti polyglotte, 15.01.2016.
- Langues faciles, langues difficiles : mythes et réalités, Le monde des langues. This article claims that there is no such things as the easiest or hardest language in the world.
- Mark Biernat: Hardest language to learn, Discussions about languages, 22.04.2007.
- Mark Biernat: Polish is the hardest language to learn Discussions about languages, 15.08.2007. This article claims that Polish is the hardest language to learn.
- One Hour Translation: Hungarian: One of the Most Difficult Language for Foreigners to Learn, 15.01.2014.
- Paal, Gabor: Welches ist die schwierigste Sprache der Welt?, SWR2, 29.01.2014.
-
What’s The Hardest Language to Learn? Weekly Edition,
Language Bug, 07.12.2014.
This article says that the question about the hardest language is irritating and redundant. - Wang, Yanfang:
Top 10 hardest languages to learn,
People's Daily Online|, 13.09.2013.
This article contains a list of 10 candidates from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Chinese, Greek, Arabic, Icelandic, Japanese, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Danish and French. - What Is The Hardest Language To Learn?,
Zidbits, 30.04.2011.
This article contains an infographic that categorises languages into three levels of difficulty, with Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean in the hardest category. The infographic is mainly based on data from the Foreign Service Institute and applies only to native speakers of English. - Gendreau, Sam: What are the hardest languages to learn?, Lingholic (no date).
- Language Difficulty Ranking on Effective Language Learning (no date). This page just rehashes the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) list, which is mainly relevant to native speakers of English.
- Pravet, Irina: Can you learn the hardest language in the world?, a talk at TEDxOtaniemiED in 2015. According to this talk, the hardest language is Finnish, but the main topic is how to learn a difficult language.
- Skultety, Vladimir: The most difficult language I ever had to learn. For this polyglot who speaks 15 languages, the most difficult language was Mandarin.
- Tramper, Lena: Top 10 Hardest Languages in the World. According to this video, the hardest languages are Arabic, Chinese / Mandarin, Amharic, Korean, Thai, Georgian, Finnish, Hungarian and Danish. (It is not clear what her criteria are; she has no second-hardest language in her list; and the audio sample for Chinese is played against a background that shows Japanese katakana.)
- Clugston, Christophe: The Hardest Language in the World. Clugston points out that the hardest language is relative to your native language and that most such discussions only consider languages that are well-known. For a native speaker of English, the most difficult language is a polysynthetic tonal language.
- Lindsay, Robert: More On The Hardest Languages To Learn – Indo-European Languages (01.12.2009, updated 20.06.2016)
- Why is Icelandic considered harder to learn for English speakers than other Scandinavian languages?, discussion on StackExchange (started in May 2016).
- Philipson, Joseph: Why the Hardest (or Easiest) Language in the World Doesn't Exist, The Lingua File, 19.08.2015.
- Powers, Brian:
This is Without a Doubt the Most Difficult Language to Learn,
Languages Around the Globe, 21.08.2016.
Sentinelese has never been studied by linguists, since the Sentinelese people kill anyone who tries to reach their island. - What Is The Hardest Language To Learn?, Zidbits, 30.04.2011. This article contains an infographics based on the Foreign Service Institute's categorisation of languagese based on difficulty for native speakers of English.
- Kroulek, Alison:
What is the Hardest Foreign Language to Learn?,
K International blog, 29.05.2014.
Another blog post based on the Foreign Service Institute's categorisation of languagese based on difficulty for native speakers of English. - Language Learning Difficulty for English Speakers on Wikibooks.
- Which is harder? Japanese or Chinese?, Tae Kim's Blog, 20.07.2006.
- Which is harder? Japanese or Korean?, Tae Kim's Blog, 12.08.2006.
- WatchMojo.com: Top 10 Difficult Languages to Learn (12 minutes, YouTube, June 2016). From 10 to 1: Hungarian, Khoisan (not a written language; WatchMojo.com does not seem to know that this is a language family), Korean (a language isolate), Icelandic (no loanwords), Sanskrit, Finnish, Japanese, Arabic (WatchMojo.com does not seem to know that this is a language family), Russian, Chinese language (WatchMojo.com does not seem to understand that Mandarin is a dialect group, not an alternative name for Standard Chinese). (Honourable mentions: Dutch, Welsh, Greek, Hebrew.)
The Most Popular Languages
- Matty Edwards: German is world's fourth most popular language, The Local, 15.04.2015.
- Rebecca Ruiz: Most Popular Foreign Languages, Forbes, 22.02.2008.
- The 3 most studied foreign languages worldwide, Antimoon, 26.12.2009.
- Most popular languages being learned around the world, Atlas & Boots, 14.03.2016.
- reddit: Most popular languages being learned around the world (archived thread from 2016).
- Madore, David: Que demanderiez-vous au génie des langues ?, David Madore's WebLog, 29.01.2011.
The Language(s) of the Future
- Gobry, Pascal-Emmanuel:
Want To Know The Language Of The Future? The Data Suggests It Could Be…French,
Forbes, 21.03.2014.
See also Le français, langue la plus parlée en 2050 ?, France 24, 26.03.2014, and Das wird bis 2050 die meistgesprochene Sprache werden, Galileo TV, 27.07.2017. - Schneider, Inja: Die begehrtesten Fremdsprachen bei Arbeitgebern – Wer Japanisch spricht, ist klar im Vorteil!, Adzuna blog, 12.12.2014. A study of 60,000 job advertisements on Adzuna (Germany), 17% of which required knowledge of foreign languages, resulted in the following top ten of most wanted foreign languages in Germany: English (75%), French (5.67%), Japanese (4.33%), Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Chinese (1.04%), Russian, Czech and Norwegian. However, the demand for specific foreign languages varies between the bigger cities.
- katharina: Studium Übersetzung: Diese Sprachen sind besonders gefragt, Hochschulen-Liste.de, 29.04.2013. Article about the languages that are most in demand for translators and interpreters. The most important category are the other languages used in the EU, but few translators know Czech, Hungarian, Finnish, Romanian or Bulgarian. Ukrainian, Russian and Serbian may become more important in the future. Greek and Swedish are still in demand. Among non-European languages, Chinese and Japanese are particulary interesting.
- Kroulek, Alison:
The Top Languages to Learn in 2018,
K International blog, 14.12.2017.
This blog post is written from a British point of view. According to the author, the top ten languages to learn are Mandarin (strictly speaking, Standard Chinese), Arabic (the variant or dialect is not specified), Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, French, Japanese, Hindi and Bengali.
According to this article, the following five language are difficult but worth learning for Germans: Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Russian and Japanese. - Andersch, Bernd:
Englisch, Französisch, Chinesisch – welche Fremdsprache ist wichtig?,
ingenieur.de, 27.06.2008.
According to this older article, engineers in Germany should learn English. The French language skills of German engineers are usually subpar, so knowing the language is a plus on your CV. To a lesser extent this also applies to Spanish. The author adds that it makes less sense to learn languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Russian or Japanese, because it takes too long to reach a proficiency level that can be useful in, e.g. contract negotiations. - Schmidtgen, Tom:
Sprichst du Karriere? Diese Fremdsprachen bringen dich weiter!,
Unicum, 27.10.2016.
This article has the following ranking: English, French (which will become less important), Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic. The author adds that Japanese will be the world's third most important language in 2025. - Jelich, Laura
Languages That Will Get You HIRED & Where You Should Learn Them,
GoAbroad.com, 31.07.2017.
This articles says that the following languages are most beneficial for job applicant (however, without specifying in which countries): English, Standard Chinese, German, French and Spanish, with Arabic, Japanese and Portuguese as bonus languages. The author also claims that immersion is the best learning method. - Aleson, Carlos:
Welche Fremdsprachen fördern Ihre Karriere?,
i-diom, 09.01.2017.
Aleson leads i-diom, a language school in Austria. At the end of his article he provides the following recommendations:- Perfect your English until you reach at least level C1.
- Then learn a Romance language such as Spanish.
- A basic knowledge of a Slavic language would enable access to new markets; the author recommends Russian.
- Arabic and Chinese are the two most important non-European languages for business. However, since it takes years to learn them, they needn't be top priorities.
-
Die Karriere mit Fremdsprachen pushen – so wichtig sind Sprachkenntnisse für den Job,
business-netz.de, 04.03.2018.
This article tries to predict which foreign language skills will be most important in Germany in 2025. English will still be the most important foreign language, while French will become less important. Chinese will become very important, but Germany has few teachers of Chinese. Japanese will become more important due to the growing Japanese economy. People who would rather learn less exotic language should learn Spanish. - Zeitler, Maria:
Englisch kann ja (fast) jeder: Mit diesen Fremdsprachen machen Sie Karriere,
Bewerbung.com, 18.09.2018.
This article is based on a report by Joblift.de, which analysed 15 million job advertisements published over the course of two years in order to find out which languages were most frequently required. English was required in 25% of all job advertisements and its importance was increasing more strongly than that of other foreign languages. The second most important language was French, followed by Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Polish, “Mandarin”, Arabic, Danish and Japanese. However, the importance of these languages varies according to job type: for clerks, French, Italian and Polish are most important; Dutch is more important in jobs for consultants, while Chinese and Arabic are more important for marketing jobs. Arabic is the most important foreign language for social workers. Japanese is most frequently requested in software engineering jobs. French is especially important in companies near the German-French border and companies whose parent company is based in France. - Joblift:
Französisch bündelt ein Drittel der Nachfrage: Diese Sprachen werden auf dem deutschen Stellenmarkt nach Englisch am stärksten gesucht,
Joblift, 16.07.2018.
The German job vacancy site Joblift analysed 15 million job ads that had been posted over the course of 24 months. The authors found that English language skills were required in a quarter of these ads, i.e. more frequently than the next ten languages combined. Demand for the ten most requested languages after English rose by 2% on average, while the demand for English rose by 17%. The next ten languages were the following (including increase or decrease in demand):- French (-3%)
- Spanish (+3%)
- Dutch (+9%)
- Italian (-13%)
- Russian (0%)
- Polish (+14%)
- Chinese (“Mandarin”, +10%)
- Arabic (-17%)
- Danish (+7%)
- Japanese (+7%)


Personal Profile
I am currently working for the DOE as a software engineer for network automation at ESnet. I am a former DAAD research fellowship recipient at the UC Berkeley Netsys Lab group, the ICSI, and the EIT Digital Silicon Vally hub. I received a Dr.-Ing. degree (PhD equivalent) from the faculty of EECS at TU Berlin in 2015 for my dissertation on Software Defined Networking based Data Center Services, while I was working for the Complex and Distributed IT Systems department. My research focus is in scope of network technologies and SDN/NFV based data center solutions. I have a total of 10 years experience in academic and industrial research.
Career Profile
Highly motivated, hardworking, and keen to learn. Good team working and organizational qualities achieved through various projects within academia. Strong research experiences in Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Cloud Computing, demonstrated by the listed peer-reviewed scientific publications. Excellent knowledge of SDN, Cloud Computing, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Edge Computing applications, frameworks, hardware, and software platforms and emulators.
Experiences
-Reducing the router deployment time by developing several network automation services for ESnet 6 by implementing multiple Cisco NSO services, actions, and automated tests.
- Enabled new service release for a customer VPN by designing and deploying a WireGuard based VPN solution in the Equinix Silicon Valley 1 data center
- Achieved around 60% deployment cost reduction by delivering a hardware / software architecture and integration proposal by using open source components. This work includes implementation of Proof of Concept (PoC) prototypes and the production-ready software stack.
- Developed 3rd party app API for the Join OpenFlow controller by implementing a RabbitMQ connector.
- Developed a test suite for conformance tests for the Join OpenFlow controller.
- Scientific publications and reviews
- DAAD reporting
DAAD postdoctoral fellowship (FITweltweit):
- Enabled edge application deployment on NFV infrastructures, resulting in a performance improvement of up to 80% latency and up to 95% bandwidth reduction by implementing an open source edge computing framework (Open Carrier Interface).
- Verified an edge computing resilience library by validating 100% state & data consistency by implementing and testing a mock IoT sensor value aggregation client-edge-server (CES) application.
- Scientific publications and reviews
- Organisation of the SDNCC Workshops
- Expanded and upgraded an open NFV experimentation platform for network researchers by restructuring and updating the EIT Digital open SDN/NFV testbed.
- Project work on management and operational level: EU Projects ASCETiC, OFELIA and BMBF Project Forschungscampus
- Reduced average power consumption of cloud computing by up to 35% by deploying an innovative cloud testbed installation and software stack on a 201 nodes cluster.
- Enabled seamless device interoperability regardless of the underlying communication standard for a Smart Home IoT cloud computing approach by developing a generic device integration platform.
- Project cooperation with T-Systems: LTE
- Collaboration on several EU project proposals
- Scientific publications and reviews
- Teaching: Distributed systems (project) and operation of complex IT systems (course)
- Supervision of Bachelor-, Diploma- and Master-Theses
- Development of a mobile devices optimized visualization environment for the Berlin public transfer internal statistic data visualization
- Implementation of an advanced document administration application based on OpenCMS
- Review and assessment of a system specification for the Berlin Police department document management system(POLIKS)
- Improved a navigation system prototype for Daimler vehicles by implementing additional search modules for the PoI queries for the GUIDE state machine execution environment.
- Enabled the control of the navigation system prototype via Daimler’s central vehicle control unit by developing a CAN to TCP/IP message translation application.
- Implemented an Android point of interest visualization application by augmenting the camera live stream with information from a database.
- Teaching: Augmented Reality Android Student-Project
Projects
This section provides an overview of the projects I was involved in:
Publications
This section lists some selected publications. Please find the complete list on google scholar.


one fish?
if only there were two fish!
two fish?
well now that we have two fish, don't you wish ...
red fish?
... for a blue fish!
blue fish?
ahhh.. that's the ticket
if only there were two fish!
well now that we have two fish, don't you wish ...
... for a blue fish!
ahhh.. that's the ticket


Logical Interfaces
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--- layout: post title: Privatise the air date: 2004-06-10 00:00:00 category: personal ---
I'm rather middle class. But is it just me, or do other people find the assumption that "if you don't have money, there's nothing for you to do", a bit weird? It seems to be the cornerstone of John Reids defence
When I look at the spectrum of people I know - from those on the dole to those in high-paid jobs - there are individuals at each end of the spectrum who do little with their time, and there are individuals who do an awful lot.
And on a vaguely related note, Dave is right: vote. And if you don't know who to vote for, why not take some easy steps to keep tabs on your MP?


Flight Price Prediction
Enter Details
Airline
Date of Departure
Source
Delhi
Kolkata
Mumbai
Chennai
Departure
Cochin
Delhi
New Delhi
Hyderabad
Kolkata
Departure Time
Arrival Time
Stopage
Non-Stop
1
2
3
4
{{ prediction_text }}


By Willie Brown
The 1995 contest for mayor had a major issue: homelessness. Everyone was asking “Does the Jordan administration’s ‘Matrix’ program work?” My answer was a loud and forceful “no.” After all, this was a political campaign. My answer tracked with what the public opinion survey showed.
I, of course, in the pursuit of votes and with the true belief that the problem was solvable, campaigned on the promise that I could solve it — ASAP. I called for a summit on homelessness shortly after taking the oath of office. Then, a series of meetings with city staff, neighborhood representatives, small-business owners and homeless advocates led me to the conclusion that the summit was not needed.
This is what I learned:
The homeless population was more complicated than my campaign rhetoric had acknowledged. This population was composed of military veterans, victims of drug addiction, persons with mental challenges, people with serious health issues, persons suffering from poverty, and families displaced by multiple uncontrolled circumstances. We addressed all of these populations as best as we could, given the legal limitations.
Governments — national, state, county or city — did not have the power legally to address homelessness. When you can’t force people to accept shelter or medication — even for their own benefit — it renders you helpless.
My only option was to manage — not end — the problem. This included:
Contracting with nonprofit care organizations, partnering with faith-based groups, supporting community and neighborhood food and health care programs and, of course, operating city homeless shelter and drop-in facilities — all subject to only voluntary use by homeless people.
Washing down the downtown streets, at hours recommended by city staff.
Dismantling and removing campsites (a staple of our program). Also effective was hiring an ex-homeless person to be the homeless program troubleshooter.
Each of these steps was designed to legally control the issue. In my judgment, they worked but we did not wipe out homelessness. I said — to my regret to this day — homelessness cannot be solved.
My conclusion was — and is — that to solve homelessness requires massive change of many laws, rules and regulations which, without careful control, could impact the general population’s cherished freedoms.