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cnn
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Sign says: "Almost homeless. Looking for employment"
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Paul Nawrocki says he's beyond the point where he cares about humiliation.
Paul Nawrocki, jobless since February, stands on New York corners with a sign announcing his job search.
That's why he weekly takes a 90-minute train ride to New York, where he walks the streets wearing a sandwich board that advertises his plight: The former toy-industry executive needs a job.
"Almost homeless," reads the sign. "Looking for employment. Very experienced operations and administration manager."
Wearing a suit and tie under the sign, Nawrocki -- who was in the toy industry 36 years before being laid off in February -- stands on Manhattan corners for hours, hoping to pass resumes to interested passers-by.
"When you're out of work and you face having nothing -- I mean, having no income -- pride doesn't mean anything," Nawrocki said. "You need to find work. I have to take care of my family." iReport.com: Have you lost your job? Tell us your story.
People look but don't often stop. A woman in the jewelry business paused as Nawrocki stood with his sign outside Grand Central Station recently.
"I feel sorry for him. I wish I could help him," she said. "I'll pray for him. I'll give him a prayer card."
Nawrocki will take the prayers. His wife is partially disabled and on 15 medications, his daughter has student loans, and he's running out of money, he says.
He tried more traditional approaches at looking for work, but nothing came through. His daughter eventually suggested handing out résumés on the street.
Getting the right person's attention is tough. Competing with him for the eyes of passers-by are charity groups and homeless people seeking donations.
But there was one hopeful moment as CNN was interviewing him. A man identifying himself as the head of a New York executive recruiting firm took one of Nawrocki's résumés.
The man, Steve Warren, was asked whether employers are looking for people with Nawrocki's expertise.
"It's very difficult," Warren said. "The operations pieces are all exported to overseas, and the problem that we face is, guys like Mr. Nawrocki have a problem finding work here."
Warren was asked whether someone could find a job using Nawrocki's walking-the-streets tactic.
"Well, I found his résumé here, so I'm going to try to find him [something]," he said.
Nawrocki has plenty of competition. The U.S. government said 533,000 jobs in the country were lost in November, and more than 1.9 million jobs have been lost in 2008.
But he retains hope that he and his sign will attract the right opportunity.
"There has got to be a job out there, and hopefully there's one for me," he said.
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2019-04-26T11:12:30Z
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/unemployed.sign/index.html
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Porn
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Business
| 0.737751 |
columbia
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Natasha Lightfoot teaches Caribbean, Atlantic World, and African Diaspora History focusing on the subjects of slavery and emancipation, and black identities, politics, and cultures. She received her B.A. in History from Yale University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from New York University. She has received fellowships from the Yale Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Emancipation & Resistance, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Ford Foundation. She has published articles in the CLR James Journal and Slavery & Abolition. Her forthcoming book, Troubling Freedom: Antigua and the Aftermath of British Emancipation, 1831-1858 focuses on black working people’s struggles and everyday forms of liberation in Antigua after slavery’s end.
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2019-04-21T21:04:54Z
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https://www.socialdifference.columbia.edu/faculty-/natasha-lightfoot
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Porn
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Society
| 0.368053 |
moonfruit
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What can a Great SEO company do for me?
Do Google pick up textes on my website page front? YES!
Do you have an E-commerce or a couple sites that need OPTIMIZING?
Let us know and we will make things happen for a good price!
Already a member? send us your keywords so we can do some research on them.
Can Google follow links from Twitter,Facebook, and Myspace?
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2019-04-19T18:54:25Z
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http://www.paytorank.moonfruit.com/contact/4552115937
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Porn
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Business
| 0.189027 |
wikipedia
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↑ William Lee Adams (June 22, 2011). "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future – Monica Seles". TIME. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
↑ "Grossly Abbreviated". Canadian Online Explorer. 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
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2019-04-21T18:45:01Z
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https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A9%87%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%87%E0%A8%B8
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.953235 |
wordpress
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Chef Jamie Oliver is doing something awesome for our kids and I caught some of his TV show the other day to see for myself. He’s single-handedly teaching kids and schools how to make food exciting, healthy, affordable and fun by using REAL ingredients.
If you care about the health of our children and the food they eat, take 30 seconds to sign this petition now.
The chicken nuggets… they still ate the chicken nuggets…….. gross.
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2019-04-25T14:30:49Z
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https://mommysalright.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/something-borrowed-food-revolution-campaign/
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Porn
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Kids
| 0.707718 |
cnn
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KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a message to the American people and the audiotape aired on Al-Jazeera, the Arab language network. But is it really Osama bin Laden's voice? That's a question not yet answered.
CNN's Martin Savidge is in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, and with him is our international producer Octavia Nasr.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the newsroom at Al- Jazeera where the alleged tape came from Osama bin Laden came in, late last evening. In fact, we were with Al-Jazeera officials when that tape came in.
Al-Jazeera, in case you don't know, is a 24 hours news network broadcast over the satellite in Arabic and has become a major powerhouse in the Arab world sit since it began. It's also been the conduit to the West for messages from bin Laden.
Two things about this tape. Number one, it's incredibly short: only two minutes long, unusual for bin Laden. And second, it's an audiotape, meaning we don't know who is really speaking, and that begs the obvious question.
I'm joined by Octavia Nasr. She was a correspondent for CNN and also an Arab affairs expert.
You've heard this tape in its original form. Is it him?
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no one can say for sure, and of course, we did not get any confirmation, independent confirmation, that it is him. The line of thought here in the Middle East is that it is him, it sounds like him. The message is very much like his. And it's interesting that you said this is very unusual of bin Laden.
I think this is the new bin Laden; I think we're going to see more of this in the future, if indeed he is alive, if indeed al Qaeda is going to release more tape in the future. This a very direct message to the American people. It's short and concise and straight to the point. He's sending them a clear message: He wants them to understand why the attacks on Washington and New York occurred. And this is a beginning for the al Qaeda network.
SAVIDGE: Any way to know when this tape was made? Anything in the words about what time frame?
NASR: Nothing in the tape indicates a time frame. This cannot be used as a proof of life, obviously. Some people believe that because it was mention of the U.S. administration preparing to attack and divide the Islamic world, that this could be a direct mention of Iraq, possible attack on Iraq, which puts this in a couple of months' time frame from today.
But this really vague. Whoever did this tape didn't want to pin themselves down to dates. There's no way we can tell if this was made last week, last month, or any time after 9/11.
SAVIDGE: CNN's Octavia Nasr, thank you very much.
The people here at Al-Jazeera believe it's the real deal. They also think it was made in the last two to three weeks. There are others who say that say an audiotape with a vague message doesn't prove anything as far as Osama bin Laden.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Doha, Qatar.
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2019-04-24T12:20:55Z
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http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0210/07/se.08.html
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Porn
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News
| 0.462543 |
wordpress
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No fancy helmet-cams are used to produce this video blog. Just a camcorder, mini tripod and some cable ties.
This early version included shock absorbtion with duct tape and a sock. It didn’t work.
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2019-04-23T02:16:34Z
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https://shanghaicrashtest.wordpress.com/how/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.489306 |
wordpress
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From tomorrow Southampton Crematorium will be offering a “pay-per-view funerals” service, allowing family members who are unable to make it in person the chance to watch the service online. The Guardian reports that for £75 a family will be able to purchase a password that will give them access to a live webcast of the ceremony.
Critics believe the webcasting of ceremonies from a suburban crematorium in the UK to the world is macabre. But from tomorrow, Southampton crematorium will begin the £75-per-family service.
A digital camera discreetly set up in a corner of the crematorium’s east chapel captures the service. For £75 a family is given a user name and password.
These can be passed on to people who cannot get to the ceremony and they can watch the service as it takes place. DVDs of funerals are also being offered for £50 and audio recordings for £25.
THE WORLD’S 50 MOST POWERFUL BLOGS… REALLY??
The Observer magazine this weekend offered their list of the World’s 50 most powerful blogs with the Huffington Post, Boing Boing and Techchrunch unsurprisingly taking the top three spots. There is however no explanation as to how the blogs have been judged, and with lolcat site icanhasacheezburger ranking at 8th on the list ahead of Gawker and Engadget, it can only be assumed that it is down to page views rather than any defined power or societal impact. The list makes for an interesting read, with a range of sites from the expected: Perezhilton, Drudgereport, Treehugger, to the less-exposed Studentsforafreetibet, and intellectual superblog Crookedtimber, as well as PSFK friend and conference speaker Hugh MacLeod’s Gapingvoid in at no 31. But mostly it’s a list of fashion, gossip and personal lives- a sad but true reflection on what the world is choosing to read.
UK teen mag Sugar has launched a new social boomarking tool for teenage girls called Sugarscape. Sitting alongside its already existing sugarmagazine.co.uk, the new site, currently in beta, is aiming to be an aggregator of cool gossip, music, quizzes and ‘stuff’ linked to by the sugar team and the readers themselves.
Users can register and download the sugarscape toolbar, then customise their personal page or ‘scape’, and add anything they find on the web by ‘sugaring’ things with comments and opinions. Involving more of a networking aspect than other bookmarking tools, ‘scapers’ can enhance their status by earning points for their actions – where they can either ‘sugar’ things they like, ‘shove’ things they hate, or ‘share’ things with their friends, and in a kinder version of the facebook poke can ‘squeeze’ their friends- sending a virtual hug that comes with the added bonus of 10 extra points. The site also encourages users to import all existing Bebo, MySpace and YouTube profiles to sugarscape, aiming to create a one-stop social networking experience.
In the dwindling sales of teen mags, Sugar is still standing strong as market leader (average circulation during the January-June 2007 period of 187,059 copies, which is down 6.6% on 2006, versus the 43.5% sales drop of the nearest competitor, Panini’s Bliss which fell to 120,506 copies) and with this site clearly hopes to enhance its identity as a brand that understands teenage girls.
Hammer are of course promoting across the social networks through their pages on Facebook and Bebo as well as MySpace, and by creating the film as an online serial are completely bypassing the box office- although they will offer the film on DVD after it’s online debut. The question now though, is how does MySpace plan to act as a regulator- despite Oakes’ insisting that the online version will not be too violent to be shown to a general audience, the DVD will most probably be classified as an 18.
Described as ‘a website dedicated to self-expression in music, fashion and the arts’, www.anewmovement.com is actually a clever picture-based networking site set up by UK retailer French Connection.
Unlike previous retail offshoots, this site is not overly heavy on product promotion, relying instead on attracting customers through building a young network of music and fashion afficionados and offering them access to niche gigs and secret fashion events around the UK.
Will the movement take off and the brand regain cool status or will teens see the free gigs and parties for the marketing ploy they really are? Either way it’s a unique and clever attempt by a brand to connect with and understand it’s customers.
Taking the idea of Digg and creating a social shopping site where users can publish any interesting finds that they want to share, iliketotallyloveit.com was founded by four students in Germany who wanted to create a community-based website for cool product recommendations. Quoting Paris Hilton may not make for the most eloquent name, yet it’s a perfect way to to describe this great new site where every user can upload short reviews of their chosen items, vote on other people’s postings and comment on products shown, which vary from iPod alarm clocks to gold cassette belt buckles, plus of course a wide array of cool t-shirts.
Products are grouped in areas- accessories, art, entertainment, fashion, food, furniture, gadgets, personal care and toys- and can also be searched by price range, with the added bonus that every item has a direct link to an online shop where it can be bought. Having only launched at the beginning of the year and still in beta mode, users have already uploaded an array of products from all over the world- with more being added at an increasing rate. Although it may well get targeted as a free advertising exercise by many small designers/ manufacturers, ultimately only the best designs will achieve front-page accolade.
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2019-04-21T08:22:48Z
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https://amandagore.wordpress.com/category/life-online/
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Porn
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Society
| 0.252852 |
wordpress
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It’s up on the website! I’ll be running a new course at Chelsea College of Arts in November – a three-day course to allow students to develop their Mixed Media Photography project: from proposal writing to shooting, editing and manipulating. All the details can be found here.
July will see me go back to Chelsea College of Arts to deliver this fun and exciting one day course in Mixed Media Photography, for which I believe there are a couple of places left! More information on the course and how to book can be found here.
A big thanks to Martin Parr (above) who let us into his home yesterday and allowed us to film him talking about the influence Bill Jay had on the early development of his work. Our conversation centered around a particular talk Bill gave at Manchester Polytechnic that Martin attended in the Autumn of 1971, whilst still a student and where Bill introduced Martin and his fellow students to the work of Tony Ray Jones.
Taking part in this staff exhibition with four photo-etchings on show, private view this Thursday 9th February – all welcome!
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2019-04-18T10:25:16Z
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https://estellevincentphotography.wordpress.com/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.423573 |
wordpress
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Join CoRe and Mediate BC at the Vancouver Fringe Festival!
Thanks to Pinterest.com, a not-so-recent blog post in Cute Food For Kids has been making the rounds. Back in October, Vancouver mom and blogger Tiffany 楊茜茹 showed “How to Draw on a Banana.” Thanks to the amazing connectedness of everything on the internet, Tiffany’s blog for a very specific audience was picked up first by the slightly more broadly aimed Come Together Kids craft blog, and from there by the much more mainstream and widely read The Bloggess. And suddenly banana writing is everywhere! And hence the inspiration to consider its application to mediation.
Banana writing is simple: take a banana, lightly scratch your words (or a picture) onto it with a toothpick or similar sharp object, and allow the letters to darken. Over the course of an hour or two (depending on the initial ripeness of the banana), the letters will become more and more visible. You can cover bananas in a fruit bowl so that the words emerge suddenly, or leave them out on the table to see who spots the emerging words first. Or write only on the underneath layer of a bunch of bananas, so that the words are seen only as time goes on and bananas are consumed. However the writing appears, it’s a quick pattern interrupt! and a chance to refocus a discussion on problem solving.
I imagine a variety of approaches to banana writing in mediations. Here are a few ideas for how and where to introduce a little banana jolt.
The commercial mediation has been dragging on all morning, and it’s clear that parties will be taking a quick working lunch together at the table. As a mediator who is comfortable evaluating but has a preference for solutions arising from the parties themselves, you take a quick break to come up with a number of possible approaches to resolution and to jot them on the bananas that will sit on the table as dessert.
Keeping with the triggering notion of idea generation through social media, it so happens that another facebook friend chose to post a series of links to music that have been formative for her musically and ideologically. Given that she was born in the early 60s, it will not be too surprising that she has posted a number of peace songs.
So, you’re mediating a family dispute between baby boomers; maybe your bananas have some catchy 60s and 70s folk song lyrics on them? The parties both are infected by “ear worms” that keep lyrics like “Imagine all the people, living life in peace…” or “A time for love, a time for hate. A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late” running through everyone’s head as they discuss parenting plans.
Of course, music can be very generational, and tastes vary considerably. My favourite artists all have great advice about negotiation in their lyrics, but my personal mission to expand the fan bases of Todd Snider and Marian Call might be more effectively accomplished by playing the music than by including their lyrics on bananas. In other words, you do need to think about your audience – as always.
The idea of having conflict resolution quotes visible during a mediation, perhaps only as a subliminal message on the pens or notepaper that the mediator hands out, becomes much more overt when the quote appears mysteriously on food! Check out John Ford’s Conflict Management Quotes as a great place to start the search for ideas. I liked the Lily Tomlin quote below. It requires a bit of thinking, and might just lead to conversation; especially if you’re as unpracticed in your banana writing as I am, and you need to help with the reading.
And let us not forget that banana writing might simply be funny. The Bloggess speculates on the best phrases to carve into supermarket bananas to startle unsuspecting shoppers. While I don’t see myself writing “Act natural. You’ll be contacted soon.” on a mediation banana, I can imagine quite a few things that would strike me as funny if I were a party, and would help me to break out of a pattern of frustrating deadlocks. What about a quote from television mediator Kate Reed of Fairly Legal?
And I’m sure there’s a great banana split joke to be made!
Do add your own ideas as comments below!
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2019-04-22T10:05:22Z
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https://corejolts.wordpress.com/tag/marian-call/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.418235 |
wordpress
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This blog is supposed to be “textile specific”, meaning we try to keep the topics restricted to those things that apply to the growing of fibers, or the manufacture of synthetic fibers, and the processing of those fibers into cloth.
But society seems to have tunnel vision about many things, such as chemical use. Bisphenol A (BPA) is supposed to be bad for us, so it has been prohibited in baby bottles by legislation. And manufacturers of water bottles advertise that their bottles are “BPA free”. But BPA is used in many other products, from dental sealants to paper cash register receipts – and in textiles, its used in printing ink emulsions.
And then I found Fritjof Capra.
Fritjof Capra, a physicist and systems theorist, is a co-founder of the Center for Ecoliteracy, which supports and advances education for sustainable living. Dr. Capra says that we are all part of an interconnected and self-organizing universe of changing patterns and flowing energy – the “web of life”. Everything is interrelated. He suggests that a full understanding of the critical issues of our time requires a new ecological understanding of life (a new “ecological literacy”) as well as a new kind of “systemic” thinking – thinking in terms of relationships, patterns, and context.
…In a nutshell: nature sustains life by creating and nurturing communities. No individual organism can exist in isolation. Animals depend on the photosynthesis of plants for their energy needs; plants depend on the carbon dioxide produced by animals, as well as on the nitrogen fixed by bacteria at their roots; and together plants, animals, and microorganisms regulate the entire biosphere and maintain the conditions conducive to life.
Sustainability, then, is not an individual property but a property of an entire web of relationships.
It always involves a whole community. This is the profound lesson we need to learn from nature. The way to sustain life is to build and nurture community. A sustainable human community interacts with other communities – human and nonhuman – in ways that enable them to live and develop according to their nature. Sustainability does not mean that things do not change. It is a dynamic process of co-evolution rather than a static state.
The fact that ecological sustainability is a property of a web of relationships means that in order to understand it properly, in order to become ecologically literate, we need to learn how to think in terms of relationships, in terms of interconnections, patterns, context. In science, this type of thinking is known as systemic thinking or “systems thinking.” It is crucial for understanding ecology, because ecology – derived from the Greek word oikos (“household”) – is the science of relationships among the various members of the Earth Household.
What exactly does this mean? In what sense is the whole more than the sum of its parts? The answer is: relationships. All the essential properties of a living system depend on the relationships among the system’s components. Systems thinking means thinking in terms of relationships.
Once we become ecologically literate, once we understand the processes and patterns of relationships that enable ecosystems to sustain life, we will also understand the many ways in which our human civilization, especially since the Industrial Revolution, has ignored these ecological patterns and processes and has interfered with them. And we will realize that these interferences are the fundamental causes of many of our current world problems.
It is now becoming more and more evident that the major problems of our time cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems, which mean that they are all interconnected and interdependent. One of the most detailed and masterful documentations of the fundamental interconnectedness of world problems is the new book by Lester Brown, Plan B (Norton, 2008). Brown, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, demonstrates in this book with impeccable clarity how the vicious circle of demographic pressure and poverty leads to the depletion of resources – falling water tables, wells going dry, shrinking forests, collapsing fisheries, eroding soils, grasslands turning into desert, and so on – and how this resource depletion, exacerbated by climate change, produces failing states whose governments can no longer provide security for their citizens, some of whom in sheer desperation turn to terrorism.
When you read this book, you will understand how virtually all our environmental problems are threats to our food security – falling water tables; increasing conversion of cropland to non-farm uses; more extreme climate events, such as heat waves, droughts, and floods; and, most recently, increasing diversion of grains to biofuel.
A critical factor in all this is the fact that world oil production is reaching its peak. This means that, from now on, oil production will begin to decrease worldwide, extraction of the remaining oil will be more and more costly, and hence the price of oil will continue to rise. Most affected will be the oil-intensive segments of the global economy, in particular the automobile, food, and airline industries.
The search for alternative energy sources has recently led to increased production of ethanol and other biofuels, especially in the United States, Brazil, and China. And since the fuel-value of grain is higher on the markets than its food-value, more and more grain is diverted from food to producing fuels. At the same time, the price of grain is moving up toward the oil-equivalent value. This is one of the main reasons for the recent sharp rise of food prices. Another reason, of course, is that a petrochemical, mechanized, and centralized system of agriculture is highly dependent on oil and will produce more expensive food as the price of oil increases. Indeed, industrial farming uses 10 times more energy than sustainable, organic farming.
This is even more perverse in view of the fact that 20 percent of our grain harvest will supply less than 4 percent of automotive fuel. Indeed, the entire ethanol production in this country could easily be replaced by raising average fuel efficiency by 20 percent (i.e. from 21 mpg to 25 mpg), which is nothing, given the technologies available today.
The recent sharp increase in grain prices has wreaked havoc in the world’s grain markets, and world hunger is now on the rise again after a long steady decline. In addition, increased fuel consumption accelerates global warming, which results in crop losses in heat waves that make crops wither, and from the loss of glaciers that feed rivers essential to irrigation. When we think systemically and understand how all these processes are interrelated, we realize that the vehicles we drive, and other consumer choices we make, have a major impact on the food supply to large populations in Asia and Africa.
All these problems, ultimately, must be seen as just different facets of one single crisis, which is largely a crisis of perception. It derives from the fact that most people in our society, and especially our political and corporate leaders, subscribe to the concepts of an outdated worldview, a perception of reality inadequate for dealing with our overpopulated, globally interconnected world.
The main message of Lester Brown’s Plan B, is that there are solutions to the major problems of our time; some of them even simple. But they require a radical shift in our perceptions, our thinking, our values. And, indeed, we are now at the beginning of such a fundamental change of worldview, a change of paradigms as radical as the Copernican Revolution. Systems thinking and ecological literacy are two key elements of the new paradigm, and very helpful for understanding the interconnections between food, health, and the environment, but also for understanding the profound transformation that is needed globally for humanity to survive.
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2019-04-22T04:03:42Z
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https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/tag/columbia-university/
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Porn
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Science
| 0.214035 |
wordpress
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In games automatic exposure or eye adaptation is an algorithm for simulating eye reaction to temporal changes in lighting conditions and for selecting optimal exposure for a given scene and lighting conditions. The main challenge here is that optimal settings are hard to define. Should we expose for sunlight, shadows or something in between? Should the image be normally exposed, underexposed or overexposed? This is main reason why some people dislike automatic exposure and prefer to set exposure manually.
In photography exposure is something that’s carefully selected by a photographer during the shot or afterwards during photo processing and for many linear games with static lighting exposing manually is indeed a good solution. Even for some games with changing lighting conditions this can be done manually by placing virtual luminance meters and selecting one using manually placed triggers or exposure volumes (post process volumes).
In some cases manual exposure won’t be enough; dynamic levels, big open worlds, a lot of lighting variation or simply when we can’t afford to spend time manually tweaking exposure volumes.
Then we multiply all pixels by exposure, add tone mapping, color grading and gamma.
This standard approach is still used in many games – even high profile titles like The Order 1886, but it also has many downsides and requires a lot of manual tweaking [NP15]. Lighting artists need to manually place multiple exposure volumes, which define optimal key value and min/max luminance values per region. Let’s see how we can improve over the standard approach.
We could also take one step further and implement a physically based camera by parameterizing exposure equation using camera aperture, shutter time and ISO. It’s not important for this article and you can find all the required details in excellent course notes by Sébastien Lagarde and Charles de Rousiers [LR14].
Simple average metering is rarely used in real cameras. Usually the center of the screen is most important for the viewer and should be well exposed. We can take it into the account by metering in the small circle in the center of the image or by giving more influence to luminance values located in the center of the screen [Hen14]. Additionally we could also use a compute shader for computing averages [Pet11]. This is usually simpler and more efficient than repeated texture downsampling.
Unfortunately, using either of the averages as described above has its issues. Small dark or bright spots (e.g. very bright specular reflections) can strongly influence the average. For example, if a player hides behind a dark tree, metering will result in very low average scene luminance and as a result will overexpose the entire image. Furthermore usually we don’t want to expose for some kind of average lighting condition. Instead we want to expose for the dominant one.
A nice solution here is to use histogram, so we can adapt to some kind of median luminance instead of average. Valve used that approach for HL2: Episode One. They calculated one histogram bin per frame using occlusion queries and built the full histogram on the CPU side [Vla08]. Nowadays we can easily and efficiently build a histogram using a compute shader. More importantly with a compute shader a single texel can influence two nearby bins by some fractional amount. This allows us to cover the entire EV step with just a few log2 space bins. Using just 64 bins we can cover a large range of 16 steps and 128 bins are enough to cover entire range of real world exposures. We could also do a “sliding” histogram, just like we pre-expose the image (multiply shader outputs by adaptation from a previous frame, so we can store HDR data in R11G11B10Float buffers without any precision issues). By the way scene pre-exposure was also introduced by Valve in HL2: Episode One. This way they were able to have a full HDR pipeline using just LDR render targets.
Finally after computing the histogram we skip a large percentage (50%-80%) of the darkest pixels, a smaller percentage (2%-20%) of the brightest pixels and calculate the average from the remaining ones. Metering this way stabilizes automatic exposure and helps to focus exposure on something important.
This curve may be a bit too extreme for games, as high key results in a really bright image, but we can just roll our own function or even better – allow artists to tweak the exposure compensation curve directly and store it in a small lookup 1D texture.
It’s impossible to balance the luminance of FX (particles, beams, trails…) for various times of a day while using real world enormous ranges of luminance values for lighting. FX artists want their effects to be well visible and have some glow in direct sunlight (~100000 LUX) and at the same time they shouldn’t be overblown in full moon lighting (~0.25 LUX).
Similarly unlit debug meshes like transparent lines, planes and other editor meshes, should maintain constant brightness on screen despite varying exposure and scene lighting. Some debug meshes could be rendered after the HDR pipeline (after tone mapping), but most have to go through the HDR pipeline in order to get proper translucent sorting. This is important not only for translucent debug meshes, but also for all antialiased opaque debug meshes.
This problem was solved in the game Infamous Second Son by applying manual exposure offset per time of a day [Vai14], but the developers weren’t happy with this solution, as it requires a lot of manual tweaking. A simpler and more robust solution is to negate exposure by dividing color by an estimated exposure. This estimated exposure can be our exposure from a previous frame, can be calculated from a virtual light meter placed at camera position, can be estimated from lightmap values at the center of the screen or can be estimated from light probes at camera position. In any case we usually don’t want to totally negate exposure, but we want to give the artists a slider which blends in log2 space between those two values. This way FX will be darker in low lighting and brighter in high lighting, while still being easily controlled by the artists.
It makes no sense to adapt to a hacked luminance (pixels with a constant brightness on screen) and in some cases it can even introduce a feedback loop. Additionally, some FX like weapon muzzle flashes or explosions shouldn’t influence automatic exposure. As a rule, we want to adapt to something that’s constant on the screen like fire particles, but don’t want to adapt to temporary FX like muzzle flashes or explosions. Debug meshes also shouldn’t influence automatic exposure, so it’s possible to set up automatic exposure in editor or draw debug meshes without changing the final image’s brightness. We could try selectively picking what influences automatic exposure and what not, but it requires storing extra data per pass.
A simple solution to both issues is to compute automatic exposure basing on scene luminance just after the main opaque pass. This way we can skip all translucents, emissive and debug meshes and they won’t influence automatic exposure. Additionally, this fixes feedback loop issues (at least if you don’t want to hack lights). The downside is that it won’t adapt to things like big emissive panels, but we can easily fix it by marking such surfaces in G-buffer or stencil buffer and adding emissive to automatic exposure input only for the marked surfaces.
Automatic exposure works with the final pixel luminance values and ignores the material reflectance (information about how dark materials are). For example, after automatic exposure a wall painted in white will just look just like a wall painted in black. We had this kind of issue in dark corridors, where part of them were covered in snow – either walls were too bright or snow was too dark.
Naty Hoffman in his talk proposed to adapt to illuminance instead of final pixel luminance [Hof13]. This way material reflectance won’t influence automatic exposure – dark corridors will remain dark and snow will be pure white as expected. Additionally it will remove specular from automatic exposure input and further stabilize the automatic exposure.
Most deferred engines have either a separate illuminance (diffuse lighting) buffer or some form of lighting buffer with additional information in alpha channel, which allows to approximately reconstruct plain illuminance. Usually this is motivated by very popular SSSSS algorithm (screen space subsurface scattering) which requires a separate illuminance buffer [JZJ*15].
Having the illuminance, we just need to add skybox and (lit) fog to create the final buffer for automatic exposure calculation. It’s not obvious how to treat skybox. One constant color per skybox? Convert it to illuminance? Just sample skybox texture (luminance)? We settled on luminance, as we want exposure to change depending on camera direction (bright white clouds near sun should have different exposure than darker parts of the skybox at the opposite side). In any case we additionally need a manual exposure compensation for the skybox, so lighting artists are able to manually set the optimal skybox brightness on screen, as the nighttime skybox should be much darker on screen than a daytime one.
In reality, the time of adaptation differs depending on whether we adapt to light or to darkness and on lighting conditions as cones and rods have different adaptation speeds.
Furthermore rod and cones have different characterics and different light sensitivities. For example, when adapting to dark, colored surfaces appear colorless after the rod-cone break. Full light adaptation takes around 5 minutes and full dark adaptation is around 20-30 minutes [Wika]. This lengthy times are the reason why pilots and (possibly) pirates used eye patches [Wikb]. This way they were able to remove the eye patch and instantly see clearly in the dark without having to wait 20 minutes.
For games these are unreasonably long time frames and exact temporal adaptation details aren’t important. Maybe in titles like Metal Gear Solid it would be interesting to use an eye patch for instant dark adaptation or speedup dark adaptation by eating rich in vitamin A foods (e.g. carrot or fish). For most games interesting takeaway here is to differentiate speeds of light adaptation and dark adaptation.
What are other possible ideas we could try? One very appealing idea is to adapt to a single dominant lighting condition. Possible implementation would be to bucket lights by tags, pick the most popular bin and use it for automatic exposure.
We could also build a RGB histogram and use it for automatic chrominance adaptation which allows the human visual system to adapt to lighting of a particular color (in photography it’s called automatic white balance [Wro15]).
Many cameras feature a multi-zone metering modes for tracking moving subjects – usually for sports photography. The idea here is to track a moving subject and try to expose based on its luminance. In games we have more information and we could extend this approach. We could expose based on important objects in a scene like enemies, player in third person view or predefined objects.
Using automatic exposure more complex operations are possible than with manual exposure. For example, we could expose different parts of the image differently based on Ansel Adam’s Zone System [YS12]. This approach could simulate real movie lighting pipeline or advanced photo processing, where often HDR lighting is compressed using various tricks like placing additional lights in the dark interiors or placing neutral density gels on the windows. This would fix gameplay issues caused by too wide range of luminance values. For example, when a player being indoors can’t see enemies outside in sunlight, because that part of image is overexposed.
Finally I’d like to thank Bartłomiej Wroński for an interesting discussion about automatic exposure.
Nice article & good summary! Quick remark: while you are using photometry terms for your article, you are using radiometry terms for describing Naty’s proposal. This could be a little bit confusing. I would suggestion you to replace irradiance by illuminance for consistency.
Good point. I still live in a world of unit-less oldschool gfx hackers :). I’ve replaced irradiance with illuminance and radiance with luminance for consistency. BTW kudos for the Frostbite PBR paper. It’s an incredible resource, which influenced many renderers.
Do you have any thoughts on how to deal with metallic surfaces when constructing an illuminance buffer? In my buffer those materials return black because they have no diffusion. I’m not sure if I should just treat them as diffuse because depending on their roughness they can become quite bright.
The idea here is to compute separately light diffuse and specular. Light diffuse is multiplied by material’s diffuseColor in a final GBuffer composition pass – after computing exposure. This way, from PoV of automatic exposure, every object is treated as a white diffuse surface and material’s diffuseColor or specularColor doesn’t influence automatic exposure.
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2019-04-25T10:58:32Z
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https://knarkowicz.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/automatic-exposure/
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wordpress
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The Walking Dead ‘No Way Out’…..is this the end for Rick Grimes?
Just to round off this months Walking Dead coverage, another ‘No Way Out’ teaser – and the most dramatic yet. Adlard is, again, at the top of his game with this fantastic image. Appetite well and truly whetted…..
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2019-04-26T00:10:15Z
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https://5mudg3.wordpress.com/category/no-way-out/
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Remember that Curly PerfectNet I Made a few months back?
Hi Beauties! I haven’t had time to post pics of my do! I made a wig and sewed it on. My great friend Diane colored it for me. Here it is black…. Red and Ravishing!!! Out to dinner, this picture shows the color better!
Not after her Perfect Net Weave!!!
I’ll keep you guys updated on how it turns out.
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2019-04-20T05:11:15Z
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https://weavemastertam.wordpress.com/tag/wig/
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Porn
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| 0.810214 |
tripod
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Amazingly, this Cool Tag Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine Microtimer Digital with White Dial AAA Watches [N1W2] is a concentrated blend of strength and style designed for those with a taste for powerful sensations. Equipped with high-performance and excellent materials, this watch features user friendliness, readabillity and functionality as well. Showing off the supreme value, it is wonderful and remarkable in all angles and all details. Moreover, to amaze anyone who just take a quick glance Rolex Replica Watches at it, this Cool Tag Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine Microtimer Digital with White Dial AAA Watches [N1W2] highlights its glamorous presence and elaborate craftmanship, thus stylishly gracing your wrist and complementing your unique style.
more selections. While the hour markers and Tag Heuer Replica subsidiary dials remain carbon fiber style, the dial is given one more color option. The Arabic numerals and the hands become colorful, with blue, white, Swiss Replica Watches red, Tag Heuer Replica Watches and yellow and black.
When it comes to designer luxury watch brands, the existence of 5122 is never Tag Heuer Replica ignored. This brand was originated from Swiss and it has a long and complicated history. The delicate 5122 watches have been well recognized by a lot of fashion crazes worldwide since Discount Tag Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine Microtimer Digital Watches the beginning of the brand.
In the world of watches Replica Watches Online Tag Heuer Replica Watches there are several companies that seem to Tag Heuer Replica always stay ahead and lead the industry. One Discount Tag Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine Microtimer Digital Watches such company is called the 5122 Watches. This watch company had been in the market for a very long time and they had been creating Replica Watches Online some very beautiful models of watches.
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Replica Watches a Tag Heuer Replica Watches Swiss watch company which was Tag Heuer Replica found by Edouard Heuer with an idea of combining Bell & Ross Replica Watches precise, endurance and technical Replica Watches Online innovation. It specializes in producing sports watches and sports timing instruments. 5122 watches are known in the world as the Tag Heuer Replica representatives for Tag Heuer Replica prestigious sports chronometers.
Walk around the Bell & Ross Replica Watches streets and be keen Tag Heuer Replica on the watches worn by well distinguished people you see around. In a good Tag Heuer Replica Watches number Replica Watches Online of them, several will be Hublot Replica Watches spotting an Tag Heuer Replica Watches 5122 wrist watch. The 5122 Designs have been long at it with their authenticity and sharp creativity in producing a collection of the world's luxurious sporting timepieces you can imagine Tag Heuer Replica Discount Tag Heuer Monaco Sixty Swiss Replica Watches Nine Microtimer Digital Watches Tag Heuer Replica Watches Replica Watches Online Swiss Replica Watches Tag Heuer Replica.
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2019-04-26T02:41:10Z
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http://bbtag-heuerreplicawatches.tripod.com/swiss-replica-watches-online.html
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.636456 |
wordpress
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For the first time, clappers have been found inside ancient Dotaku Bells. The bells were discovered on Awajishima island in Hyogo Prefecture in April of this year.
The bells were dug up at a sand storage location for a cement and stone company. The sand had been brought in from a coastal area of the island.
The bells are still filled with sand. The clappers have been identified using a CT scan.
Researchers are now looking for fibers within the dotaku because they believe the clappers were tied with string.
The interior places that were hit by the clappers showed damage, suggesting that the dotaku were used for long periods.
I find this excavation to be rather interesting. While it’s unknown what the purpose of these bells were, the time period that they were dated back to may hint what they were used for. What I’m most curious about is the purpose of the sand in the bells. Were the bells buried somewhere? Or was the placement of the sand purposeful? And what of the odd oval-like shape? Does it produce sounds that a cylindrical bell would make? There’s little to be known about this artifact, but the questions that can be asked are numerous.
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2019-04-23T19:00:28Z
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https://historyofasianart2.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/miles-chaffin-dotaku-bells-with-clappers/
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Porn
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| 0.368695 |
wordpress
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War has broken out between Russia and the former soviet socialist state of Georgia.
The Georgian Parliament has declared a State of War to exist in the country following Russian attacks on Georgian military bases, airfields and a port on the Black Sea.
The issue is whether Georgia has control of the state of South Ossetia which is recognized internationally as Georgian territory.
A separatist movement has sprung up among the russian population of South Ossetia in recent years and the United Nations allowed Russia to send in ‘peace-keepers’ to monitor the situation.
The immediate stimulus for the onset of hostilities was the artillery fire which has been raining down on Georgian troops over the past week. The Georgian military mounted an operation to silence the fire and re exert control over the territory. Russia claims that six Russian peacekeepers were killed by the Georgian military in this assault.
Russia immediately responded with airstrikes against Georgian military and economic assets while immediately moving armored vehicles and combat troops across the border. The Russian Black Sea fleet is deploying off the coast of Georgia.
Russia’s president and premier vowed retaliation for what they called “the Georgian aggression” and punishment for those who kill Russian nationals in South Ossetia. President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would “not allow the death of our compatriots to go unpunished.” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, on a visit to Beijing, lambasted the Georgian leadership for what he described as “very aggressive actions” that he said killed several Russian peacekeepers.
President George W. Bush called on all sides in the South Ossetian conflict to end hostilities. In his first statement since violence erupted, The US President has said there must be a return to the status-quo. The president said the US is working with its European allies to launch international mediation. He added that his administration was working with all sides in the conflict to restart dialogue.
Russian sources claim the death toll in South Ossetia has reached 2,000 and that the capital of South Ossetia, Tskinvali, is in ruins. Russian air strikes have spread to Abkhazia, another disputed region of Georgia.
Georgia said it had shot down a total of 10 Russian combat aircraft, while Russia says it had lost two planes. Russian Deputy Air Force Commander Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn stated at a news conference on 09 August 2008 that Russian peacekeepers had lost contact with an Su-25 Frogfoot close-support aircraft and a Tu-22 Blinder bomber, and that the fate of the pilots was unknown.
Some photos of the fighting are here.
The UN Security Council remains deadlocked in its attempts to call a cease fire in Georgia. Belgian UN Ambassador Jan Grauls, the council’s president this month, told reporters that several council members expressed “grave concern on the further deterioration of the situation in Georgia.” “It is clear that the conflict has now expanded in other areas than only South Ossetia,” he said. When asked about the council’s attempt to call for a cease-fire, Grauls said it would be nearly impossible for the council to take any actions at the moment. “Regrettably I have come to the conclusion that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to find common ground within the council on a draft statement to the press,” Grauls said.
After Saturday’s consultations, Alejandro Wolff, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, urged Russia to stop its military offensive, withdraw its troops from Georgia and accept international mediation efforts. “The first thing that has to happen is that violence has got to stop and that foreign forces will have to be withdrawn,” Wolff told reporters. But “Russia somehow thinks it is exempt from all the calls to cease violence, from all the calls to withdraw,” Wolff said.
Poland has called for an emergency European Union summit over South Ossetia. French President Sarkozy has demanded an immediate cease fire.
Georgia has been a staunch ally of the United States in the War in Iraq and has a combat brigade of 2,000 men present in-country making it the third largest coalition ally. The outbreak of the war has forced the Georgian government to recall those troops to aid in the defense of their homeland. Half of Georgia’s 2,000 troops in Iraq plan to leave the country by Monday to join the fight against separatists in the breakaway province of South Ossetia, with the rest following as soon as possible, their commander said. “First of all we need to remove 1,000 guys from here within 96 hours, after that the rest of the guys,” Colonel Bondo Maisuradze said. “The US will provide us with the transportation,” he added.
Colonel Maisuradze said that his men were anxious to get home after seeing images on television of the unrest in South Ossetia as Russian forces support separatist militias under assault from Georgian troops. “They want to go home as soon as possible and help,” he said, noting that the experience that Georgian troops have gained of fighting an insurgency in Iraq would benefit them as they tackle the problems in their own country. “We have the same situation in our home as here, though the territory is different, we have no desert,” Colonel Maisuradze said.
Georgia is strategically important as the only independent nation which controls pipelines across its territory carrying oil and gas to Europe from the Caspian Sea area. All other pipelines are controlled by Russia. Control of Georgia would give Russia the ability to cut off that flow at will.
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2019-04-19T07:24:17Z
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https://nygoe.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/war-breaks-out-russia-v-georgia/
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Đỗ Mười (uttales IPA: [ɗǒˀ mɨ̂əj]; født 2. februar 1917 i Thanh Trì, Hanoi, død 1. oktober 2018) var en vietnamesisk politiker som var generalsekretær i kommunistpartiet fra 1991 til 1997 og statsminister fra 1988 til 1991.
^ «Former Party General Secretary Đỗ Mười passes away». vietnamnews.vn (engelsk). Besøkt 6. oktober 2018.
^ «Nguyên Tổng bí thư Đỗ Mười qua đời». BBC News Tiếng Việt (engelsk). 2. oktober 2018. Besøkt 6. oktober 2018.
Corfield, Justin (2008). The History of Vietnam. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313341946.
Europa Publications (2002). Far East and Australasia. Routledge. ISBN 9781857431339.
Gale Research Inc (1998). Encyclopedia of World Biography: Diderot-Forbes. 5. Gale Research. ISBN 9780787622213.
Leifer, Michael (1995). Dictionary of the Modern Politics of South-East Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0415042194.
Staff writers (2002). Vietnam: Current Issues and Historical Background. Nova Publishers. ISBN 978-1590333686.
Stern, Lewis (1993). Renovating the Vietnamese Communist Party: Nguyen Van Linh and the Programme for Organizational Reform, 1987–91. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-9813016552.
Thai, Quang Trung (2002). Collective Leadership and Factionalism: an Essay on Ho Chi Minh's Legacy. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789971988012.
Tucker, Spencer C. (2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851099610.
Võ, Nhân Trí (1990). Vietnam's Economic Policy since 1975. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789813035546.
Denne vietnam- og politikkrelaterte artikkelen er foreløpig kort eller mangelfull. Du kan hjelpe Wikipedia ved å utvide eller endre den.
Denne siden ble sist redigert 3. jan. 2019 kl. 10:44.
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2019-04-18T22:30:05Z
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https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90%E1%BB%97_M%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Di
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wikipedia
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Kanal 5 (Channel 5) is a Swedish commercial television channel established in 1989. It is owned by the media corporation SBS Discovery Media, changing its ownership from ProSiebenSat.1 Media in April 2013.
Swedish headquarters for Kanal 5 in Stockholm.
After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s (decade) that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people. The channel's slogan is "Roligare TV" ("More Entertaining TV") and it only broadcasts entertainment, such as series, movies, reality series and infotainment documentaries. In 2006, the channel was the most popular channel among Swedes aged 15–24.
On 8 March 1989, businessman Matts Carlgren announced that he intended to start a new commercial television channel, as Jan Stenbeck had done with TV3. The channel was called Nordic Channel and launched on 27 March 1989.
The channel made heavy losses during its first years. In 1991, it was sold to Scandinavian Broadcasting System, headed by Harry E. Sloan, who had already bought Kanal 2 in Copenhagen and TV Norge in Norway. He renamed the channel TV5, but the French language TV5 complained and the channel had to be called TV5 Nordic. This was still in the early years of cable television and French TV5 still had widespread distribution in Swedish cable networks. TV5 Nordic finally had to drop its name in 1994, and became known as Femman ("The Five"). On 4 February 1996, the channel was named Kanal 5.
The Swedish version of Big Brother was launched in 2000 and ran for six seasons. Kanal 5 also had the rights for the American sitcom Friends. The last episode was broadcast on 15 December 2004, and attracted 965,000 viewers, one of the highest rated programmes in the channel's history.
^ MMS Hottop, "Mediamätning i Skandinavien". Archived from the original on December 12, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
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2019-04-22T18:17:02Z
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanal_5_(Sweden)
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.700712 |
wordpress
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No, I haven’t gone crazy. Let’s just get that out of the way. I know what you’re thinking – “She’s gone off the rails. This obsession with Greek yogurt is getting a bit ridiculous.” I know how odd this combination sounds, and I was actually suspicious of it myself. I first encountered it online about a year ago, and dismissed the recipe as something that sounds good in theory, but probably tastes truly strange.
And then the assault began. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was the recipe again, taunting me. I swear at one point, I must have seen it four times in a week. And it started to feel like the universe was asking me to make pasta with yogurt sauce. I reluctantly bookmarked it. And the very next day, opening my pantry to find most of the ingredients staring me in the face (and obviously, there was Greek yogurt sitting in the fridge. Do you not know me yet?), I decided to try it out.
Ohmygod, people. That’s all there is to say. This tastes so completely unexpected, like the best alfredo sauce, only without the cream. Or the parmesan. Or the butter. Or the 5000 calories. The marriage of caramelized onions and tangy yogurt becomes something totally more interesting than it has any right to be. I added some spinach (because I can’t resist tossing it around willy nilly), and some chili oil to give it a touch more pizzazz. But this recipe is genius in every way. Put your doubts aside, and just do it.
Bring a large pot of water to boil with plenty of salt.
Meanwhile, heat ¼ cup of the olive oil or medium heat and add the chopped onions. Season with salt to taste, stir and cook until soft and well browned, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, simmer the remaining olive oil along with the pine nuts, chili flakes and paprika. Stir occasionally until the pine nuts turn golden, 3-5 minutes.
Cook the pasta until a little more than al dente (it should be a bit softer than usual, without much of a bite, but not really overcooked). Add the spinach, turn off the heat, and drain the pasta and spinach in a colander, reserving about ½ cup of pasta water.
Now bring it all together. In a large bowl combine the greek yogurt with about ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water, adding more if needed to thin it further. Toss the drained pasta and spinach with the yogurt mixture. Add the onions and the pine nut-chili oil. Toss to combine. Taste for salt, and add crushed black pepper if desired. Serve with grated cheese and ponder all that is good in the world.
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2019-04-18T18:35:56Z
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https://justabitmorebutter.wordpress.com/category/greek/
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Porn
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News
| 0.190519 |
wordpress
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‘Eat less, better quality meat’ is common advice these days. It’s healthier for you, it’s ‘better’ for the animals you eat, it’s fairer for producers, and it’s sustainable for the environment. Simple? Of course not.
Development, according to our current terms, is unsustainable and needs to, er, develop – a wry wander through current thinking.
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2019-04-25T02:08:04Z
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https://lifelogy.wordpress.com/tag/environment/
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Porn
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Health
| 0.854644 |
wordpress
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Craftumi is an Australian online marketplace for buying and selling craft supplies. It’s the sister site to Made It (handmade Australian) and is a fab spot to pick up whatever crafty supplies your heart desires.
And if your heart desires the sewing pattern for twirling betty visors, you can now pop on over to my newly minted Craftumi shop and buy a copy of Hat Shop – a compilation of fabulous things to put on your head (or your kid’s head or your life partner’s head) including my visor pattern from the wonderful publishers at Stash Books.
All for the very reasonable price of $15.99 (plus postage).
For my US and other side of the world readers, Hat Shop is also available in my US Etsy store.
So that’s the advertising segment of the post over.
Tonight, to be completely honest, and for no precise reason I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed and wrung out. I know this too shall pass (hopefully by tomorrow morning) but I foresee a very large glass of restorative red wine in my near future. And perhaps an episode of Downton Abbey. And if a tipple and an hour with Lady Mary doesn’t fix it, then I really am stuffed!
I hope, au contraire to moi, that you beautiful people – each and every one – are feeling happier than a dog with three balls. And that, as you can imagine, is some kind of happy I am wishing for you.
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2019-04-21T20:52:02Z
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https://twirlingbetty.wordpress.com/tag/visor-sewing-pattern/
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.61494 |
google
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2010-06-08 Assigned to Oracle America, Inc. reassignment Oracle America, Inc. MERGER (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.
A computer readable medium comprising software instructions for managing resources on a host, wherein the software instructions comprise functionality to: configure a classifier located on a NIC, to forward packets addressed to a first destination address to a first HRR mapped to a first VNIC, wherein packets addressed to the first destination address are associated with a first PFC lane; configure the classifier to forward packets addressed to a second destination address to a second HRR, wherein packets addressed to the second destination address are associated with a second PFC lane; and transmit, by the first VNIC, a pause frame associated with the first PFC lane to a switch operatively connected to the physical NIC, wherein the switch, in response to receiving the pause frame, stores packets associated with the first PFC lane in a buffer without transmitting the packets.
Network traffic is transmitted across a network, such as the Internet, from a sending system (e.g., a computer system) to a receiving system (e.g., a computer system) via a network interface card (NIC). The NIC is a piece of hardware found in a typical computer system that includes functionality to send and receive network traffic.
In some networks, a switch is used to receive traffic from the sending system before sending it to the receiving system. Traditionally, the receiving system could exercise some control over incoming traffic sent from a switch. With advances in virtualization technology, computer systems may now include multiple concurrently executing operating systems. Operating systems executing on such systems may be unable to exercise the same control over incoming traffic from a switch without affecting other operating systems executing on the computer system.
In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a computer readable medium comprising software instructions for managing resources on a host, wherein the software instructions comprise functionality to: configure a classifier located on a physical network interface card (NIC), to forward packets addressed to a first destination address to a first hardware receive ring (HRR) mapped to a first virtual network interface card (VNIC), wherein the VNIC is executing on the host operatively connected to the physical NIC, wherein packets addressed to the first destination address are associated with a first priority-based flow control (PFC) lane; configure the classifier to forward packets addressed to a second destination address to a second HRR, wherein packets addressed to the second destination address are associated with a second PFC lane; and transmit, by the first VNIC, a first pause frame associated with the first PFC lane to a switch operatively connected to the physical NIC, wherein the switch, in response to receiving the first pause frame, stores packets associated with the first PFC lane in a buffer without transmitting the packets to the physical NIC.
In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a computer readable medium comprising software instructions for managing resources on a host, wherein the software instructions comprise functionality to: receive, by a classifier located on a physical network interface card (NIC), a first plurality of packets addressed to a first destination address, wherein the first plurality of packets is associated with a first priority-based flow control (PFC) lane; forward, by the classifier, the first plurality of packets to a first hardware receive ring (HRR) mapped to a first virtual network interface card (VNIC), wherein the VNIC is executing on the host operatively connected to the physical NIC; transmit, by the physical NIC, a first pause frame associated with the first PFC lane to a switch operatively connected to the physical NIC, wherein the switch, in response to receiving the first pause frame, stores packets associated with the first PFC lane in a buffer without transmitting the packets to the physical NIC.
In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a system comprising: a physical network interface card (NIC) comprising a classifier and a plurality of hardware receive rings (HRRs), wherein the classifier is configured to forward packets associated with a first destination address to a first HRR and forward packets associated with a second destination address to a second HRR, wherein packets addressed to the first destination address are associated with a first priority-based flow control (PFC) lane; and a host, operatively connected to the physical NIC, comprising at least one virtual NIC (VNIC) configured to receive packets from the first HRR, wherein the at least one VNIC is further configured to transmit a pause frame associated with the first PFC lane to a switch operatively connected to the physical NIC wherein the switch, in response to receiving the pause frame, stores packets associated with the first PFC lane in a buffer without transmitting the packets to the physical NIC.
Other aspect of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a guest operating system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 3A shows a flowchart in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 3B shows a diagram of an example in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 5A shows a diagram of an example in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 5B shows a diagram of an example in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 6 shows a computer system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.
In general, embodiments of the invention relate to managing incoming traffic on a computer system using external network devices to enforce a usage policy. Specific embodiments of the invention relate to mapping priority based flow control (PFC) lanes to a virtual machine executing on a host (as also referred to as a physical host), extending the host's ability to enforce a usage policy associated with the virtual machine. Further embodiments relate to a method and system for issuing PFC pause frames by hardware and software elements on a host in order to manage incoming network traffic on a system associated with multiple destination addresses.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration includes a first system (e.g., system A (100)) operatively connected to a switch (102) via a link (104). System A (100) may be any system configured to receive data in the form of packets, datagrams, etc. Specific embodiments of a system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention are discussed in FIG. 2.
In one embodiment of the invention, the switch (102) provides an interface between system A (100) and other systems or nodes directly or indirectly connected to the switch (102). The switch (102), may include functionality to transmit signals in the form of packets, datagrams, etc. to other devices over the network (106), (e.g., system B (108)). The switch (102) may include ports for each device, memory, and a processing mechanism. The memory of the switch (102) may include configuration data corresponding to configuration settings for the switch (102). The memory may also include a table for maintaining information regarding the location of nodes in relation to the ports of the switch (102).
In one embodiment of the invention, the switch (102) may separate traffic using priority-based flow control (PFC). A PFC enabled switch includes functionality to separate traffic into different virtual lanes for transmission to a PFC enabled receiving device. Data may be separated based on one or more attributes or characteristics described within the frame of each data packet. A PFC enabled switch may also include the functionality to receive and interpret a PFC pause frame associated with a virtual lane. A PFC pause frame may include a request to stop sending traffic associated with one of the virtual lanes. A PFC pause frame may additionally specify a period of time after which traffic on the virtual lane may resume. In one embodiment of the invention, PFC is implemented in accordance with IEEE 802.1.
In one embodiment of the invention, the switch (102) is connected to system A (100) via a link (104). The link (104) corresponds to any physical communication channel (wired or wireless) over which data may be communicated. Further, the link (104) may be divided into virtual lanes (e.g., PFC lanes 1-8 as depicted in FIG. 1). In one embodiment of the invention, the switch (102) separates data traffic based on the destination address. In one embodiment of the invention, all traffic with the same destination address will be transmitted by the switch (102) across the same virtual lane (e.g., PFC Lane 1) to system A (100). A PFC pause frame executed by the switch (102) may delay network traffic on the specified virtual lane without affecting network traffic on other virtual lanes traversing the link (104).
Continuing with the discussion of FIG. 1, in one embodiment of the invention, a second system (e.g., system B (108)) communicates with system A (100) over the network (106). Data sent from system B (108) to system A (100) is received by the switch (102). In one embodiment of the invention, system A (100) may be associated with more than one destination address. The switch (102) may separate traffic intended for system A (100) according to its destination address. In one embodiment of the invention, all packets associated with one destination address on system A (100) are associated with a single virtual lane (e.g., PFC Lane 1).
FIG. 2 shows a system and switch in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the system (200) is connected to the switch (202) via the link (204). The system (200) includes a host (206) operatively connected to a physical network interface card (NIC) (208).
In one embodiment of the invention, the physical NIC (208) provides an interface between the host (206) and a network (not shown) (e.g., a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless network, etc.). The physical NIC (208) may include a network interface (NI) (210), a classifier (212), one or more hardware receive rings (HRRs) (214A, 214N), and one or more hardware transmit rings (HTRs) (216A, 216N). In one embodiment of the invention, the NI (210) refers to the hardware used to interface with the network and may correspond to an RJ-45 connector, a wireless antenna, etc. The packets received by the NI (210) are then forwarded to other components on the physical NIC (208) for processing, etc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that while the NI (210) described above as being part of the physical NIC (208), the NI (210) may be implemented using other hardware configurations (i.e., in hardware other than a “card”).
In one embodiment of the invention, the classifier (212) is configured to analyze the incoming network traffic, typically in the form of packets, received from the network (not shown), via the switch (202). In one embodiment of the invention, the classifier (212) is configured to analyze the incoming network traffic, typically in the form of packets, received from the network (not shown). In one embodiment of the invention, analyzing the packets by the classifier (212) includes analyzing one or more fields in each of the packets to determine to which of the HRRs (214A, 214N) the packets are forwarded. As an alternative, the classifier (212) may use the contents of one or more fields in each packet as an index into a data structure that includes information necessary to determine to which HRR (214A, 214N) that packet is forwarded.
In one embodiment of the invention, the classifier (212) may separate traffic according to the same criteria used by the PFC-enabled switch (202). The classifier (212) may forward all packets associated with one or more PFC lanes to a single HRR (214A, 214N). For example, the PFC-enabled switch (202) may separate traffic based on destination MAC addresses. In such cases, the classifier may also separate traffic using destination MAC addresses in the same manner that the PFC-enabled switch separates traffic. The result of such classification by the classifier (212) is that all traffic associated with a given PFC lane is forwarded to the same HRR. In one embodiment of the invention, each PFC lane may be associated with a different HRR (214A, 214N).
Further, packets received on the same PFC lane may be further separated based on an enhanced transmission selection (ETS) priority. In one embodiment of the invention, ETS priority is implemented in accordance with IEEE 802.1Qaz. In one embodiment of the invention, the classifier (212) may use an ETS priority to determine the appropriate HRR (214A, 214N) to forward packets. Multiple HRRs (214A, 214N) may be associated with the same PFC lane, but each HRR (214A, 214N) associated with the same PFC lane may receive packets with a different ETS priority or group of ETS priorities.
In one embodiment of the invention, the classifier (212) may be implemented entirely in hardware (i.e., the classifier (212) may be a separate microprocessor embedded on the physical NIC (208)). Alternatively, the classifier (212) may be implemented in software stored in memory (e.g., firmware, etc.) on the physical NIC (208) and executed by a microprocessor on the physical NIC (208). Further, in one embodiment of the invention, the physical NIC (208) may include a direct memory access (DMA) engine, which includes functionality to transfer packets from the physical NIC (208) to the host (206).
In one embodiment of the invention, the HRRs (214A, 214N) correspond to portions of memory within the physical NIC (208) used to temporarily store the received packets. In one embodiment of the invention, the HRRs (214A, 214N) are configured to receive packets from the classifier (212). Each HRR (214A, 214N) may receive packets associated with one or more PFC lanes. Packets received by a HRR (214A, 214N) may be transmitted to a virtual NIC (VNIC) (220A, 220N) residing on the host (206).
In one embodiment of the invention, the HTRs (216A, 216N), correspond to buffers on the physical NIC (208), and are configured to receive packets from the host (206) and forward such packets to the NI (210). In one embodiment of the invention, the HTRs (216A, 216N) are configured to receive outbound packets from one or more VNICs (220A, 220N).
In one embodiment of the invention, the physical NIC (208) includes the functionality to determine whether the rate of incoming data associated with a PFC lane violates one or more usage policies. In one embodiment of the invention, the usage policy is violated when a HRR (214A, 214N) on the physical NIC (208) receives data at a rate above a predetermined threshold. In one embodiment of the invention, the usage policy is violated when the number of packets dropped by a HRR (214A, 214N) exceeds a predetermined threshold. In one embodiment of the invention, the physical NIC (208) includes functionality to anticipate a potential or imminent violation of the usage policy. For example, the usage policy may (a) specify that a policy violation occurs when 10 packets are dropped by an HRR and (b) specify that a pause frame should be sent out when 8 packets are dropped. In this scenario, the usage policy may be said to anticipate a potential or imminent violation when (b) is satisfied. In one embodiment of the invention, (b) is set to take into account the response delay (i.e., the time between the issuance of the pause frame and the receipt/implementation of the pause frame/pause by the switch with respect to the corresponding virtual lane), such that even with the response delay, (a) in the usage policy is not likely to be violated. In one embodiment of the invention, the physical NIC (208) may notify a VNIC (220A, 220N) when the usage policy has been violated. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the usage policies are not limited to those listed above. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a different usage policy may be enforced by each HRR (214A, 214N).
In one embodiment of the invention, the physical NIC (208) includes functionality to send a PFC pause frame to a PFC enabled switch (i.e., switch (202)) in response to a violation of a usage policy. The PFC pause frame may instruct the switch (202) to delay transmitting packets associated with a PFC lane. The PFC pause frame may also indicate the length of the delay.
In one embodiment of the invention, the host (206) may include the following components: a device driver (218), one or more VNICs (220A, 220N), one or more virtual network stacks (VNSs) (222A, 222N), and one or more virtual machines (VMs) (224A, 224N). Each of these components is described below. In one embodiment of the invention, the device driver (206) provides an interface between the HRRs (214A, 214N) and HTRs (216A, 216N), and the host (206). More specifically, the device driver (218) exposes the HRRs (214A, 214N) and the HTR (216A, 216N) to the host (206).
In one embodiment of the invention, each VNIC (220A, 220N) is located within the media access control (MAC) layer of the host. In one embodiment of the invention, each of the VNICs (220A, 220N) is associated with one or more HRRs (214A, 214N) and one or more HTRs (216A, 216N). The VNICs (220A, 220N) provide an abstraction layer between the physical NIC (208) and the various packet destinations (not shown) on the host (206). More specifically, each VNIC (220A, 220N) operates like a physical NIC (208). For example, in one embodiment of the invention, each VNIC (220A, 220N) is associated with one or more MAC addresses, one or more Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, one or more ports, and configured to handle one or more protocol types. Thus, while the host (206) may be operatively connected to a single physical NIC (208), packet destinations and other applications on the host (206) operate as if the host (206) is bound to multiple physical NICs. Said another way, each VNIC (220A, 220N) operates like a separate network device connected to the network.
In one embodiment of the invention, each VNIC (220A, 220N) may be associated with one or more PFC lanes. Specifically, each VNIC may receive all packets associated with a PFC lane or a group of PFC lanes, and only those packets associated with the PFC lane or group of PFC lanes. In one embodiment of the invention, each VNIC (220A, 220N) includes functionality to issue a PFC pause frame directing the switch (202) to delay all traffic associated with a PFC lane. In one embodiment of the invention, a VNIC (220A, 220N) may issue a PFC pause frame in response to a violation of a usage policy associated with that VNIC (220A, 220N). A violation of a usage policy may occur when the VNIC (220A, 220N) receives data at a rate above a predetermined threshold. A violation of a usage policy may occur when a HRR (214A, 214N) associated with the VNIC (220A, 220N) issues interrupts to a corresponding CPU at a rate above a predetermined threshold. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the usage policies are not limited to those listed above. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a different usage policy may be enforced by each VNIC (220A, 220N). In addition, in one embodiment of the invention, each VNIC (220A, 220N) may communicate with the associated HRRs (214A, 214N) to determine when a violation of a usage policy has occurred.
Each of the VNICs (220A, 220N) is operatively connected to a corresponding interface (222A, 222N). In one embodiment of the invention, each interface (222A, 222N) includes functionality to forward packets to the corresponding VM (224A, 224N) and to receive packets from the corresponding VM (224A, 224N). Further, the interface (222A, 222N) includes functionality to enable the VMs (224A, 224N) to communicate with the host (206) upon which they are executing.
In one embodiment of the invention, each VM (224A, 224N) is associated with a usage policy. The usage policy may be a set of computing resources available to a (224A, 224N). The usage policy may also dictate a maximum rate at which computing resources by be utilized by the VM (224A, 224N). Information associated with the usage policy may include a combination of metrics that, when combined, indicate a potential or imminent violation of the usage policy. Those skilled in the art with appreciated that the usage policies are not limited to those listed above. In one embodiment of the invention, one or more usage policies associated with a VM (224A, 224N) may enforced by other elements on the host (206), physical NIC (208), or switch (202).
In one embodiment of the invention, the host OS (not shown) is configured to provide functionality to create virtual execution environments (e.g., virtual machines) (224A, 224N) in which the guest OSs may execute. Further, the host OS may include functionality to manage the aforementioned virtual environments. The virtual environments may be provided using well known techniques in the art. An example of virtual execution environment is a Solaris™ Container. In such cases, the Solaris™ Container may execute in the host OS, which may be a Solaris™ OS. Solaris™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other virtualization technologies such as VMware® Server (VMware® a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.) and Xen® (Xen® is a trademark overseen by the Xen Project Advisory Board) may also be used to provide virtual execution environments.
In one embodiment of the invention, each virtual execution environment includes functionality to execute an operating system (i.e., a guest OS). Further, each virtual execution environment may be isolated such that processes within a virtual execution environment may not communicate with other processes in other virtual execution environments. In addition, each virtual execution environment may be associated with a portion of the total hardware and processing resources of the host. In one embodiment of the invention, the host OS may include the functionality to send messages to, and receive messages from, elements within each of the virtual execution environments, including the guest OSs. In one or more embodiments of the invention, VNICs appear as physical NICs to the VMs. In one embodiment of the invention, the VMs (224A, 224N) include functionality to communicate with other elements within the host (206).
FIG. 3A shows a flow chart for receiving packets by a classifier configured accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. In one or more embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps shown in FIG. 3A may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order than that shown in FIG. 3A. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG. 3A should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
In Step 310, the host receives a request to initialize a virtual machine. In Step 312, the host creates a VNIC. In Step 314, the host maps the VNIC to the virtual machine. In Step 316, the host maps the VNIC to a HRR on the physical NIC. In Step 318, the host assigns a PFC lane to the VNIC. In Step 318, the host configures the classifier on the physical NIC to direct traffic from the PFC lane to the HRR associated with the virtual machine. The resulting data path is discussed in FIG. 3B.
FIG. 3B shows an example data path created once the steps in FIG. 3A have been performed in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The exemplary data path is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Further, some elements unnecessary for the purposes of the exemplary data path may have been omitted.
As depicted in FIG. 3B, in one embodiment of the invention, executing the steps described in FIG. 3A results in a data path (330) from a switch (332) to a VM (344), where the data path (330) includes a classifier (334), a HRR (336) and HTR (338), a VNIC (340), and an interface (342). The classifier (334), HRR (336), and HTR (338) reside within the physical NIC (346). The VNIC (340), interface (342), and VM (344) reside within the host (348). In one embodiment of the invention, the VNIC (340) includes functionality to enforce a usage policy associated with the VM (344) across the entirety of a data path (330) created in accordance with the invention. In addition, in one embodiment of the invention, actions taken by the VNIC (340) to enforce the usage policy associated with one VM (344) and one data path (330) do not affect the traffic or resource usage of other data paths (not shown) between the same switch (332) and a different VM (not shown) executing on the same host (348).
FIG. 4 shows a flow chart for receiving packets by a classifier configured accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. In one or more embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps shown in FIG. 4 may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order than that shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG. 4 should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.
In Step 410, the data traffic information received by the VNIC is compared to a usage policy associated with the VNIC. In Step 412, a determination is made regarding whether the usage policy has been violated. If the usage policy has not been violated, then in Step 414, the VNIC waits to gather more data traffic information. If the data traffic information indicates a violation of the usage policy, then the process proceeds to Step 416. In Step 416, the VNIC sends a PFC pause frame on the PFC lane associated with the VNIC to the switch. In one embodiment of the invention, a PFC pause frame is sent in response to a violation of the usage policy, or in anticipation of a violation of the usage policy. Further, in one embodiment of the invention, a PFC pause frame is sent in response to a set of metrics that, when combined, indicate a potential or imminent violation of the usage policy.
FIGS. 5A and 5B show an exemplary configuration and timeline in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The exemplary system is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Further, some elements unnecessary for the purposes of the exemplary figure may have been omitted.
As depicted in FIG. 5A, the exemplary configuration includes three systems: system A (500) system B (502), and system C (504). System A (500) is operatively connected to the switch (506), and system B (502) and system C (504) are connected to the switch (596) via the network (508).
The switch (506) includes the PFC functionality described above. Specifically, the switch (506) includes functionality to separate traffic based on a characteristic or attribute of the traffic (e.g., the destination MAC addresses of the packets), and transmit each category of traffic along one of the virtual PFC lanes (PFC lane 1 (510A), PFC lane 2 (510B)) to system A (500). Assume, for the purposes of the example, that the switch (506) is configured to separate traffic based on the destination MAC address of each packet. Traffic addressed to VM A (526A) is associated with PFC lane 1 (510A). Traffic addressed to VM B (526B) is associated with PFC lane 2 (510B).
As depicted in the exemplary configuration of FIG. 5A, system A (500) includes a host (512) operatively connected to a physical NIC (514). The physical NIC (514) includes a NI (516), a classifier (518), two HRRs (HRR A(520A), HRR B, (520B)), and two HTRs (HTR A(522A), HTR B, (522B)). The host (512) includes two VNICs (VNIC A (524A), VNIC B (524B)) and two VMs (VM A (526A), VM B (526B)). Assume, for the purposes of the example, that VNIC A (524A) is associated with a usage policy that directs VNIC A (524A) to issue a PFC pause frame in the event that the rate at which packets are received exceeds a predetermined threshold.
Data (typically in the form on packets) addressed to VM A (526A) (or more specifically, includes the MAC address for VNIC A as the destination MAC address) or VM B (526B) (or more specifically, includes the MAC address for VNIC B as the destination MAC address) is received by the NI (516) on the physical NIC (514) and sent to the classifier (518). The classifier (518) determines which HRR (520A, 520B) is to receive the data. Assume, for the purposes of the example, data addressed to VM A (526A) is forwarded by the classifier (518) to HRR A (520A), and data addressed to VM B (526B) is forwarded by the classifier (518) to HRR B (520B).
As depicted in the exemplary timeline depicted in FIG. 5B, in Step 530, a first set of data (data 1 (D1)) is transmitted from system B (502) addressed to VM A (526A). The data (D1) is transmitted through the network to the switch (506). The switch (506) associates the traffic with PFC lane 1 (510) and transmits the data (D1) to system A (500). The data (D1) is received by the NI (516) and forwarded to the classifier (518). The classifier (518) forwards the data (D1) to HRR A (520A). HRR A (520A) then forwards the data (D1) to VNIC A (524A) on the host (512). VNIC A (524A) processes the data (D1) and forwards the processed data (D1) to VM A (526A).
In Step 532, VNIC A (524A) determines that the rate at which packets are being received is above the predetermined threshold, and therefore a violation of the usage policy has occurred. In Step 534, VNIC A (524A) issues a PFC pause frame (PF1) for PFC lane 1 (510A) to the switch (506). The PFC pause frame specifies an amount of time during which no packets associated with PFC lane 1 (510A) are to be sent to system A (500).
Once the switch (506) receives the PFC pause frame (PF1) for PFC lane 1 (510A), the switch (506) stops transmitting packets associated with PFC lane 1 (510A), which would be packets with the destination MAC address associated with VNIC A. Packets addressed to VM A (526A) which were not sent before the PFC pause frame (PF1) is received and executed are stored in a buffer associated with PFC lane 1 (510A). Optionally, in Step 536, the switch may send a notification (Ni) to the sending system (system B (502)) that traffic associated with the destination address of VM A (526A) has been paused.
In Step 538, data (D2) arriving from system B (502) addressed to VM A (526A) after the PFC pause frame (PF1) has been executed, is stored in the buffer associated with PFC lane 1 (510A). In Step 540, the delay specified in the PFC pause frame (PF1) has expired. In Step 542 the data (D2) stored in the buffer associated with PFC lane 1 (510A) is transmitted to system A (500), and arrives at VNIC A (524A). In Step 544, the data (D2) is forwarded to VM A (526A).
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that while a pause frame is sent to the switch for the PFC lane associated with VM A, VM B may continue to receive data from the switch over the PFC lane associated with the VM B.
One or more embodiments of the invention provide a method and system to regulate traffic on a per-VM basis between the switch and a NIC.
An embodiment of the invention may be implemented on virtually any type of computer regardless of the platform being used. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a networked computer system (600) includes a processor (602), associated memory (604), a storage device (606), and numerous other elements and functionalities typical of today's computers (not shown). The networked computer (600) may also include input means, such as a keyboard (608) and a mouse (610), and output means, such as a monitor (612). The networked computer system (600) is connected to a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network via a network interface connection (not shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these input and output means may take other forms. Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more elements of the aforementioned computer (600) may be remotely located and connected to the other elements over a network. Further, software instructions to perform embodiments of the invention may be stored on a computer readable medium such as a compact disc (CD), a diskette, a tape, or any other physical computer readable storage device.
wherein the switch, in response to receiving the first pause frame, stores packets associated with the first PFC lane in a buffer without transmitting the packets to the physical NIC.
2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein packets received by the second HRR are forwarded to a second VNIC executing on the host.
3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the first VNIC and the second VNIC are each associated with a distinct IP address.
4. The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the first VNIC and the second VNIC are located in a MAC layer of the host.
5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first pause frame is transmitted in response to a violation of a usage policy associated with the first VNIC.
6. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the usage policy is violated when the number of interrupts issued by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold.
7. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the usage policy is violated when the number of packets dropped by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold.
8. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein the usage policy is violated when the number of bytes received by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold.
9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the switch, in response to an expiration of a delay specified by the pause frame, forwards packets associated with the first PFC lane to the physical NIC.
10. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein packets associated with the first PFC lane that are assigned a first enhanced transmission selection (ETS) priority are forwarded to a third HRR, wherein the third HRR is associated with the first VNIC.
12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the first pause frame is transmitted in response to a violation of a usage policy associated with the first HRR.
13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the usage policy is violated when the number of packets dropped by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the usage policy is violated when the number of bytes received by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the switch, in response to an expiration of a delay specified by the pause frame, forwards packets associated with the first PFC lane to the physical NIC.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein packets associated with the first PFC lane that are assigned a first enhanced transmission selection (ETS) priority are forwarded to a third HRR, wherein the third HRR is associated with the first VNIC.
wherein the switch, in response to receiving the pause frame, stores packets associated with the first PFC lane in a buffer without transmitting the packets to the physical NIC.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one VNIC is associated with a distinct IP address and wherein the at least one VNIC is located in a MAC layer of the host.
wherein the usage policy is violated when at least one selected from a group consisting of (a) the number of interrupts issued by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold, (b) the number of packets dropped by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold, (c) when the number of bytes received by the first HRR exceeds a predetermined threshold occurs.
a data path comprising the switch, the physical NIC, at least one VNIC, and a virtual machine, wherein the at least one VNIC enforces the usage policy on traffic sent across the data path.
Shieh et al. 2011 Sharing the Data Center Network.
Shieh et al. 2010 Seawall: Performance Isolation for Cloud Datacenter Networks.
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2019-04-20T14:00:00Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US20100303075A1/en
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Porn
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Computers
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wordpress
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Meanwhile, in an alternate universe… | Infotropism: Read Skud’s take on what google+’s announcement re: pseudonyms SHOULD have been.
You can suggest links for future linkspams in comments here, or by using the “geekfeminism” tag on Pinboard, Delicious or Diigo; or the “#geekfeminism” tag on Twitter. Please note that we tend to stick to publishing recent links (from the last month or so).
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged games, harassment, Linkspam, portland, science, truceconf, wiscon on 2014/07/22 by spam-spam.
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2019-04-26T11:44:02Z
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https://geekfeminismdotorg.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/the-large-linkspam-collider-22-july-2014/
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Porn
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Games
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Born in 1870 in the Cloverdale Community to Louisa Beckham and “Whack” Calendar Forester, Mr. Frank was the youngest of five boys and is the only one living today. Jesse David, Edward Jackson, Noah Joseph and John Lee have all passed on, and of his two sisters, only “Aunt Mollie” Amos is still living.
Mr. Frank said his folks only gave him the one name and it belonged to Uncle Frank Killian.
His boyhood days were filled with solid work on the farm nine months of the year with three being spent in school. On Saturdays most of the farm work was put aside to allow time for a romp in the woods with an eye out for rabbits. In those days, a cottontail could be found under most any bush so Saturdays were eagerly looked forward to all week.
The old blue back speller which was the most important book in the little house of learning located just across the branch from the Forester home is still kept by Mr. Frank.
As the youngest he was always assigned the task of carrying wash water from the branch up the hill for his mother, and this little chore often stretched to include other menial tasks abhorred by his brothers.
At the age of fourteen, he joined the Cloverdale Baptist Church and has moved his membership only once. He is at present a member of the New England Baptist Church.
He tamped ties and picked and shoveled along the railroad bed around Rising Fawn and Cloverdale until he was 59 years old, then moved to Morganville when his work demanded. In 1937 he retired following 44 years of service.
In 1893 he and Miss Louanda Blevins of Deer Head Cove were married and became parents of three children – Farris, Fred and Mamie Lou. Fred is the only one living of this union and is working as conductor for Southern Railway, stationed at Birmingham.
All the oldtimers remember the story of the legendary lead mine of Rising Fawn. When asked about it, Mr. Frank said he had helped mold many a bullet from lead the Indians brought from the secret cache. He and his father made the bullets together, and the same pellets were later discharged from a gun which Mr. Frank knew as well as his hand.
His great-grandfather, Francis Forester, drew land around Rising Fawn in the land grants of the early 1800’s and was the first Forester settler in the county. Mr. Frank’s father was one of those who helped move the Indians out, he recalls.
He also recalls with a chuckle the first automobile which came through the Cloverdale community. He can’t remember the date, but says mail carrier John Hammack owned it and every time he came along to deliver the mail, everybody stopped what they were doing and ran down to the road. The roads were a “sight” then, but after more cars were bought in the county, the ruts were smoothed out to make riding a little easier.
The oldest Forester of the old set still living, Mr. Frank was the instigator, with Mr. and Mrs. George Forester, of the traditional Forester reunions. Begun 31 years ago, each year finds more than a hundred of the clan gathered to renew old acquaintances, greet new members of the family and to enjoy church and fellowship together. Mr. Frank says there are so many he can’t begin to name them all.
Two other octogenarians who enjoy tales of the past and who are great friends of Mr. Frank are Mr. Jim Jenkins and Dr. D. S. Middleton, the latter for years the Forester family doctor. If Mr. Frank was able, he would enjoy a visit with both Mr. Jim Jenkins and Dr. D. S. Middleton we have made him promise if the three ever get together, to let us sit in as a fourth.
For the past nine years, he and Mrs. Forester have made their home in Slygo in an attractive little house in full view of the new Slygo Methodist Church which is under construction. When the workmen are not hammering away and the day is too dismal for even the birds to make an entertaining show outside his window. Mr. Frank can find plenty to think about. We are inclined to agree with him that he has had a pretty full life, and we are joining the scores of well wishers whose hope is that he will have many more anniversaries.
|
2019-04-19T20:16:34Z
|
https://dadecountyhb.wordpress.com/from-old-book/frank-forester/
|
Porn
|
Recreation
| 0.410798 |
wordpress
|
Orange juice isn’t just for mimosas. From the bitter orange peels used in the brewing of witbiers to the lemon soda blended with beer to make a shandy, and especially the ever growing citrus IPA style, citrus fruits have often found their way into beer. Citrus fruits and beer make a particularly potent combination during the summer. Citrus has a refreshing character that naturally brightens a beer’s flavor and helps highlight its crisp carbonation. Many varieties of hops actually contain some of the same chemical compounds that are found in the essential oils of citrus fruits. This is why IPAs often have aromas that are reminiscent of grapefruit, orange, and other citrus fruits. Many of the brewers have started adding in different parts of citrus fruits as a way to enhance this natural citrus character of hops, and these days one of the most popular beer trends are citrus IPAs.
The zest or the peel of the fruit is most often used however some brewers will use the fruit juice as well. Usually the only part of citrus fruit that is not used is the pith (that white part between the peel and the fruit) as it contains a harsh, astringent flavor. The aromatics found in citrus peels help bulk up the hop aromas and when the actual fruit is used the acidity helps sharpen the malt character in a beer. Citrus peel is normally added during the final stages of brewing where the hot liquid can extract the essential oils from the peel. Citrus peels are not added during the boiling period of the brewing process because the vigor of boiling liquid will push off the aromatic compounds and run the risk of extracting tannin from the peel. Instead, the fruit peels are often added just after the heat has been turned off on the boiling kettle.
At M.Special Brewing Co., they have been experimenting with a whole melange of different flavors, including citrus fruits. In their cask series, brewer and co-owner, Josh Ellis, has been seeing how a variety of ingredients like raspberries, mangoes, blueberries, and even cucumbers, combine with the flavors of their base beers. Of the different ingredients they experimented with, grapefruit and coffee grabbed their attention most (albeit not in the same beer). They just packaged a coffee pale ale called the Greenstar Special in kegs so expect to see it circulating around the area in the next week or two. While attending the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia in 2016, Josh met someone who was producing a variety of fruit emulsions for brewing. The emulsions are all natural, using agar and honey as an emulsifying agent. He loved the flavor of their grapefruit emulsion and began experimenting with it in his beers.
While these flavor experiments have all been single batches, Josh recently had a chance to use the grapefruit emulsion on a larger scale for the Good Bar Special Grapefruit IPA, a collaboration between The Goodland Hotel in Goleta and M.Special. His first day on the job, Aaron Grinnell, GM of The Goodland, attended an employee party at M.Special. He had always been a huge IPA fan and was impressed by M.Special’s lineup. Being close neighbors, the brewery seemed like the perfect opportunity to design something special for the hotel. The Goodland and M.Special staff began discussing the possibility of a collaboration brew and wanted to craft a beer that was the perfect fit to drink poolside. Josh tasted them on several of the experimental beers but it was the grapefruit character that seemed like the ideal poolside companion.
For the Good Bar Special Grapefruit IPA, Josh uses their Greatland Special IPA as a base beer and then blends it with the grapefruit emulsion in the tank before kegging the brew. The finished beer has a bright fruit aroma of ruby red grapefruits with notes of Meyer lemons, mango, and lime peel coming from the hops. The beer is unfiltered and uses a touch of malted white wheat to give it a firmer body with a hint of sweetness that still allows the fruit character to shine. In addition to being served at the brewery, the beer is available at both the Outpost and Good Bar located inside The Goodland. If feeling peckish while at the hotel, the brew goes particularly well with their pork ribs. The ribs come beautifully charred with meat that falls easily off the bone. A chipotle-pomegranate glaze slathered on the ribs complements the fruitiness of the beer while pickled onions and chives brighten the hop aromas. They even have a cocktail called Easy Like Sunday Morning which blends the beer with Espolon Reposado tequila, Aperol, Ancho Chile, and Fresh Lime. Since introducing the Good Bar Special at the hotel, it has become their number one selling beer and it is definitely worth a visit.
At Telegraph Brewing Co. citrus has found its way into a good amount of their brews. Brewer Patrick Ceriale notes that the Belgian yeast used in the majority of Telegraph’s brews works particularly well with citrus flavors and since many of the hops they use contain these characters as well, adding citrus is a good way of bumping up these flavors. Most of their citrus-containing beers use only the peels. For example, White Ale uses orange peel and Buellton Silent Partner was brewed with Meyer lemon peels. However, some of their beers take the citrus one step further. Recently, they brewed a Blood Orange White Ale which had the blood orange juice added into the beer post-fermentation. This means that the juice does not ferment out and adds a subtle sweetness to the brew. The blood oranges brings out the wheat character a bit more and embraces the soft body of the beer.
One of Telegraph’s year-round brews, Goodland Orange Pale Ale, uses a particularly unique technique. The whole fruit is pureed in a food processor and then added to the fermenter. This means that the sugars in the juice will ferment out, contributing a drier character to the finished beer.
In this case the pith is added to the beer but since the fruit puree is added to cold liquid inside the fermenter, a minimal amount of astringency is extracted and the pith only contributes a gentle bitterness to the beer. Goodland Orange Pale Ale is made year-round which means that the variety of orange changes depending on the season. Sometimes the beer will contain Valencia oranges and sometimes it will be navels or other varieties. This change in orange type results in a fruit character that is subtly different between each batch. While the oranges may change with each season, the Goodland Orange Pale Ale, or any citrus IPA, usually tastes best during summer.
|
2019-04-22T06:21:48Z
|
https://pairbeer.wordpress.com/2018/07/09/citrus-ipas-the-flavor-of-summer/
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Porn
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Science
| 0.584785 |
wordpress
|
Brace yourself! There is a lot of Wisdom.
Satisfaction lies in the effort.
|
2019-04-25T11:44:17Z
|
https://quotegram.wordpress.com/tag/courage-quotes/page/2/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.320993 |
wordpress
|
Surprise surprise, Norton shows this address as a Phishing attack threat.
Therefore, if you receive a similar email, don’t click on their link.
you will not run into any future problems with the online service.
account activity will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.
|
2019-04-25T09:30:09Z
|
https://2tts.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/a-paypal-phishing-scam-2/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.890868 |
somethingpositive
|
05-16-04 Wedding Bells of DOOM!
Rest of June to be added later when Randy has time to catch up.
Early July to be added later when Randy has time to catch up.
10-21-04 I get it! He Hates Mondays!
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2019-04-21T12:35:29Z
|
https://somethingpositive.net/2004archive.shtml
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.549307 |
wordpress
|
Very interesting post. As I have also travelled extensively, I am always interested in the effects of tourism on different countries. Your list of ten points is excellent, and I agree with them all.
Thanks @GeorgieMoon I feel I’ve been guilty of the conqueror mentality at times – travel can be addictive and I love to discover new places, but I’m hoping to challenge myself (as well as others) to re-think the way we travel.
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2019-04-18T18:28:53Z
|
https://slipstitchstory.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/travelling-conqueror-or-guest/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.296052 |
wikipedia
|
Albert Einstein was a noted German-born theoretical physicist.
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Albert Einstein.
This page was last edited on 21 March 2019, at 18:45 (UTC).
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2019-04-24T16:05:16Z
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein_(disambiguation)
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Porn
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Science
| 0.740819 |
drunkcyclist
|
Sunday Cycles Kid’s Bicycle Drive – DONATE NOW.
Sunday Cycles Bike Shop is running an “ADOPT A BIKE” bicycle drive. They are asking customers and friends to “adopt” a kids bike/s to be donated to a local charity and school in an underprivileged area. If you can only afford one, that’s amazing, if you want to donate a sum toward bikes, that’s amazing, if you can step up and donate $200.00, $500.00, or more….. that’s amazing.
They would like to get 250 bikes purchased, built, and donated by Christmas Eve.
Joe is selling these bikes at his cost plus shipping. 12″ bikes are $29.99, 16″ bikes are $44.99, and 20″ bikes are $49.99. These are special prices that Joe has negotiated with the vendor and are only good for adoption purposes, not for purchase.
They have joined with The Fusion Foundation, a great local non-profit, so all donations are now Tax Deductible.
Please call Joe Berman at 480-440-2142, or email him at service@sundayproshop.com to adopt bikes or ask questions. Orders must be in by this Monday.
ALSO – If you are in the area, Joe also needs volunteers to help build the bikes. More info here.
THANK YOU ALL!!!! Let’s rock some kids world!!!
This entry was posted in Cycling and tagged Kids on Bikes by Judi. Bookmark the permalink.
kyds on bykes. Sunday is okay dokay.
@chris, that is awesome. love it.
What’s with that link of yours ??
Firefox flipped out and said it was a scam.
Cool deal with helping the kids. I wish I had coin at the moment to help out but my timing belt says otherwise.
Figured that. Just never seen anyone do that before. Was wondering if it was some new fangled interweb thing I didn’t know about.
alright people – time to donate. i just gave joe my money for a bike, you guys should too. there is only 36 hours left to donate!
the donations are pouring in! with a lot of support coming from DC readers! Thanks to everybody for making this holiday season extra special for hundreds of children!
I’m heading over to Sunday with a couple of wrenches to help put these bike together. Push it forward.
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2019-04-22T16:43:09Z
|
http://drunkcyclist.com/2011/12/16/sunday-cycles-kids-bicycle-drive-donate-now/
|
Porn
|
Kids
| 0.540986 |
wordpress
|
There’s something about Central Texas that invites creativity. Maybe it’s the beauty of the Hill Country, the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit of Austin or merely the history of creativity that’s been present in the area for decades; either way, there’s a lot of creative minds living, working and creating in Austin, and, this November, these creatives are celebrated at Austin’s annual East Austin Studio Tour (E.A.S.T.) – a two-weekend event that showcases the best of local art and craftsmanship in the city.
The East Austin Studio Tour – taking place this year the weekends of November 16th and 17th and November 23rd and 24th – is a free, self-guided tour of the artist studios, galleries and event spaces on Austin’s east side. Hundreds of art spaces open their doors these two weekends, and for many of them, EAST is the only time of the year they are open and available to everyday folk to see. This year, more than 400 artists are participating in EAST, and there are a number of cool events and activities happening both weekends of the event, including out-of-the-box events, projects, art competitions, traveling performances, art parties, site-specific projects and more.
EAST comes with its own catalog, which is a free, full color tour guide that comes with a tour map. They’re out and available on the east side the two weekends of the tour, or can be picked up at all 22 Austin Public Library branches beginning November 6, as well as select other locations around town.
The first ten days of November, New Braunfels will host the city’s largest and most popular event – Wurstfest: an annual celebration of the German heritage and culture that remains in the city from the influx of German immigrants to Central Texas in the 1850s. The ten-day celebration is rich in Alpine and Bavarian culture, with great food, German, Texan and domestic beer, live music, dancing, carnival rides, games and more.
The event runs daily from November 1st to November 10th. On weekdays, Wurstfest opens at 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. on the weekends. Tickets to the event are $8 before Halloween, and $10 after. In addition to the Wurstfest event itself, there are a number of other local events happening in New Braunfels and beyond, including “Frankenwurst,” at the Circle Arts Theater, the ARToberfest art show at the New Braunfels Art League, and the 45th annual Wurstfest Regatta in Canyon Lake.
Wurstfest has been a staple in New Braunfels since 1961 when the event began as a promotional event for the city’s sausage-making industry. Since then, Wurstfest has exploded into one of the largest cultural events in the state. Recently it was rated the #3 event in the state of Texas, behind San Antonio’s annual Fiesta celebration and the Texas State Fair.
|
2019-04-21T19:16:54Z
|
https://go20tx.wordpress.com/tag/events/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.414565 |
wordpress
|
At Bridgewater School of Music we strive to provide a comprehensive and exciting musical education. We provide a structured lesson plan geared towards the individual student. Wether you simply want to play some music as a hobby or you’d like to make it a lifelong endeavor and make a living doing it we can help you get there. We believe at all levels music should be a joyful experience and strive to bring that attitude into all we do.
|
2019-04-19T04:25:34Z
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https://bridgewaterschoolofmusic.wordpress.com/about/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.940641 |
wordpress
|
Conference Hotel Biedermeier is located on Landstraßer-Hauptstraße 28 (1030 Vienna) – just across the street to the conference site. For conference guests single rooms are available at EUR 119.- and double rooms at EUR 128.- per night. Please make your bookings directly with the hotel using the code “music business” until July 31, 2018. Thereafter individual room reservations are possible directly with Hotel Biedermeier if rooms are available.
The registration fee includes conference attendance, reception, coffee breaks and lunch on conference days as well as the Heurigen-Dinner on September 14, 2018.
Admission is free for employees and students of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Free voucher codes for registration are available at ikm@mdw.ac.at by documenting the identity.
|
2019-04-18T23:23:15Z
|
https://musicbusinessresearch.wordpress.com/vienna-music-business-research-days-2/ticketing-and-conference-accommodation/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.886331 |
yellow
|
Quality Sheds - QUALITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE.
Quality Sheds is a business operated in New Zealand, serving customers in the Wairarapa region.
We are experts in the Garage, Carport & Shed Builder industry.
We supply & build farm buildings, barns, woolsheds, covered yards & garages. We understand that the "standard design" doesn't always suit your needs. We have a large range of farm buildings designed with you, the farmer, in mind.
Whatever your needs are, we have a solution.
For more information about what they can offer, give them a call today.
|
2019-04-24T21:52:37Z
|
https://yellow.co.nz/y/quality-sheds-kibblewhite
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Porn
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Business
| 0.995318 |
wordpress
|
So it’s been a year since the release of my title: Gideon and the Crimson Samurai. I never would imagine that other people would take such a liking to the story, the way I imagined it. As it’s my own creation, I would have a biased love for it – however when another person expresses how they enjoyed my work, a great feeling of satisfaction overcomes me.
In total I have obtained 12 shining, 5 star reviews (sometimes 4). I no longer feel the hesitation that I had, a year ago. Now I know for certain that whatever I create, somebody out there… in this big ol world will appreciate it.
Believe in your work… believe in you.
To check out this amazing title, simply head to Amazon!
|
2019-04-22T02:27:45Z
|
https://rickybaxter.wordpress.com/2015/12/17/believing-in-you-work/
|
Porn
|
Games
| 0.485151 |
wordpress
|
Joseph Cotto at the Washington Times has written a screwy article about the Kruidbos lawsuit against Angela Corey for wrongful termination and Sundance’s FOIA request for documents pertinent to the firing. Kruidbos is the naive former IT guy in the State Attorney’s Office who was fired for blowing the whistle on a non-event and was used to feed Wesley White’s desire for revenge against Corey after she fired him for not doing his job. White was an Assistant State Attorney who now represents Kruidbos and filed the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses Corey and Assistant State Attorney Bernardo de la Rionda (BDLR) of withholding exculpatory evidence from George Zimmerman’s defense team. The evidence consists of the inadmissible photographs and text messages stored on Trayvon Martin’s cell phone that were disclosed to the defense in January 2013, five months before trial.
Although I have no sympathy for Corey and BDLR after they basically threw the trial permitting the defense to win, I feel compelled to state that I do not believe there is any basis to this lawsuit.
Cotto’s article is an amusing and irritating example of right-wing-non-sequitur thinking and its strategy of keeping a lie alive.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Conservative Tree House category.
|
2019-04-24T05:59:26Z
|
https://frederickleatherman.wordpress.com/category/conservative-tree-house/
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Porn
|
News
| 0.91615 |
wordpress
|
There is a growing trend to use the term Open-, and the fields where this applies vary from programming, design and even data.
We see a huge opportunity to change the way we work together, how we consume (or prosume) things or even understand the social structures. Even though it is starting and we still do not know if it is an utopia or a plausible reality, we already see how we could create solutions for the every day life and for very complex challenges in a more collaborative, creative and effective manner.
In our research we wanted to find out the current situation in relation to this current trend of opening up. And we found several topics that people are discussing: community, participation, business models, copy and authorship, misuse of the term open-,…. To share our findings with the community, we started a series of episodes that gather these discussion insights and help others to understand what is going on and hopefully trigger some interesting discussions.
How do we create Open Culture?
How do we let the community take part in the process?
How do we structure collaboration?
How do we design complex things involving the user?
Openness is dependent on the community behind it and the content they create. It is a personal choice and a way of living.
Filmed at DMY Makerlab 2011.
You are currently reading Openness: Community & Participation at ENABLE.
|
2019-04-22T00:09:14Z
|
https://enableberlin.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/openness-community-participation/
|
Porn
|
Computers
| 0.542211 |
wordpress
|
I often feel like I’m the only one who makes the same mistakes over and over again. Nice to be reminded that even the rockstars have off days. And you still finished 100-freaking-miles.
|
2019-04-22T14:01:19Z
|
https://jfordwelsh.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/bighorn-2017/
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Porn
|
Reference
| 0.382457 |
tripod
|
Gosh...I haven't got a clue.
Who cares...and shares ...in my dreams.
Say you'd never lie, nor cheat on me.
The words you spoke would all be true.
Were we hidden so far away?
if we'd met on a former day?
Would you have been my hero as you are now?
Would you've held me and made me feel warm?
Sheltering me from all of life's storms.
|
2019-04-22T12:16:55Z
|
http://designsbysydell.tripod.com/UntitledPoem.html
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Porn
|
Reference
| 0.282403 |
wordpress
|
FIRE BARACK: HIRE BOB DYLAN!
Too much politics can be rendered acceptable only when interspersed with incredible music. Take a listen ….. It’s worth while ….. In that it’s 23:59:59 on eternity’s universal clock, here’s another.
|
2019-04-26T05:16:50Z
|
https://josiahe.wordpress.com/tag/dylan/
|
Porn
|
Arts
| 0.987369 |
wordpress
|
In WPF you have the liberty to either create your animation in either XAML (xml format) or you can simply do it in the code behind file using C#. Here, I will also use a code-behind approach to animate the background Color of a button (say, buttonName).
NOTE: you cannot initialize brush to Brushes.Red (for example) because that object is frozen and cannot be animated.
|
2019-04-20T02:48:03Z
|
https://realmpkdotnet.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/wpf-coloranimation-in-code/
|
Porn
|
Reference
| 0.329334 |
typepad
|
Boll Weevil (Lakeside) - mmm-yoso!!!
mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food. Kirk is taking a break and gathering intel for future posts. Cathy is writing.
Back when Kirk, Ed (from Yuma) and I were writing "Burger Week" posts, Kirk wrote about Boll Weevil in 2006, and I wrote about it in 2010 along with another 2010 post. Since then, a Boll Weevil opened (and subsequently closed) only two miles from home. We went there regularly, yet I never posted about it. Now, the closest Boll Weevil is about six miles away, in Lakeside.
This location, approximately a mile from the Lakeside Rodeo grounds, is appropriately themed. It's very large inside and has various areas where parties can be held.
1/2 pound Steerburgers, medium rare, no cheese ($8.69). This is a very satisfying meal when using the (photo at bottom) tabletop condiments.
A 'complete' burger sort of looks like this, before the soft, toasted bun is smashed so as to be able to fit into my mouth.
The Mister got all wild and crazy on the last visit and ordered a Buffalo Chicken Salad ($10.99) with Bleu Cheese dressing. The nuggets of chicken are lightly floured, fried and tossed in a nice Buffalo sauce. The lettuce, crispy, provides a nice cooling effect along with the chunks of bleu cheese in between bites. The Texas toast, slathered in garlic butter, is a nice accompaniment. On that visit, I ordered a half pound steer burger, medium rare. It's what I do.
One day, there was a tabletop special of a double cheeseburger with fries ($10.49). It was two 1/4 pound patties, so sort of the same as our 'usual' order but with cheese. Different for us, anyhow. It was good.
There are plenty of sides to choose from here, but the Frings (fries and rings) ($4.49) are a fallback order when we are hungry.
There are only five locations of (the 1966 founded, originally named Cotton Patch) Boll Weevil. Still a good, unpretentious burger.
Our location (even though it is not in CV) in the Southland Plaza shopping center is where we like to go. We've had that salad (with the blue cheese on the side). We really enjoy their burgers, plain usually or if I am adventurous, with mushrooms or bacon or avocado. Frings are a good choice as well- the best of both!
The plain burger is really satisfying, cc. Being able to taste the ingredients is kind of the point...too much added on detracts from everything. Yes on the frings...salty, crispy, flavorful.
Good looking burger! I went to Fuddruckers for elk burger a few days ago.
The 1/3-1/2 lb burgers here and at Fuddruckers are what The Mister and I order and don't have to share, Soo. I'm signed up to the 'Fudd's Club' and we get coupons for BOGO pretty regularly-I don't post on that but do have 50 or more photos of the same thing with various toppings. The burgers from both of those places really hit the spot.
|
2019-04-22T16:52:10Z
|
https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2019/01/mmm-yoso.html?cid=6a00d83451b81169e2022ad3b3c597200d
|
Porn
|
Reference
| 0.581733 |
yahoo
|
Sony is steadily building its Marvel universe after a failed attempt to launch one with The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Following the release of Venom (which has been a box office hit, despite negative reviews) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the next outing in Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC) – official name – is looking like it will be Morbius, the Living Vampire starring Jared Leto as the titular character.
Michael Morbius is a biologist who attempts to cure his rare blood disorder with vampire-bat DNA which instead – surprise, surprise – transforms him into a vampire-like being forced to drain the blood of others to survive.
Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in 1971, Morbius started off as a villain in the Spider-Man universe, but morphed into an anti-hero – and sometimes selfless hero – in the Marvel Comics world.
But what can we expect of his big-screen debut? Here's everything you need to know about the Morbius, the Living Vampire movie.
Morbius movie release date: When can we expect it?
The movie will be directed by Life's Daniel Espinosa and has been written by Lost in Space reboot writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.
We don't have an official release date yet, but producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach recently revealed that they're hoping to start filming "more or less [in] February" next year. "Yeah, the plan is early part of next year. We're still working on it," Tolmach added.
Sony has scheduled 'Untitled Sony/Marvel' for July 10, 2020 which is looking likely to be the movie's release date, barring any production delays.
Morbius movie cast: Why Jared Leto?
Jared Leto hardly gained critical acclaim for his portrayal of the Joker in the much-derided Suicide Squad, so it could be seen as a tricky prospect to hang an entire movie on him.
But apparently, much like Tom Hardy with Venom, Morbius is a character that Leto loves and wants to do justice to. "This is the great thing for us now, that an actor like him, and an actor like Tom wanted to have their own character. But the character they love," Arad told Collider.
"Both of them, very hard to get them to do a movie. You actually cannot get them. We went in, we sat with them, and everybody told us, 'Oh, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba'. Nothing. That's what he wanted to do... Good actors want to be different than what they are."
He's been preparing for the role by shaving off his beard.
Leto is the only name confirmed so far for Morbius, so it's just speculation at the moment whether it will feature his usual comic book foes such as CIA agent Simon Stroud, Vic Slaughter, Doctor Paine or Bloodbath.
It's unlikely that Blade will feature in the movie, although Wesley Snipes has been teasing upcoming Marvel projects for his vampire hunter.
Morbius movie plot: Will we see Spider-Man?
For now with nothing known about the plot, we'll have to assume that the movie will be an origin story for Morbius, much like Venom turned out to be.
Anyone hoping that Morbius will feature a Spider-Man cameo from Tom Holland may be disappointed, though, as Spidey is still currently very much a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Spider-Man: Far from Home scheduled for release on July 5, 2019.
As far as we know from watching the movie, Venom exists in a continuity separate from the MCU and potentially as part of the wider Spider-Verse instead, meaning that it's likely Morbius will exist within the same timeline and that, therefore, would mean no appearance from Holland.
That means that the most likely cameo at this point would be Tom Hardy as Venom or even from Woody Harrelson as Carnage, given that in the comics, Spider-Man, Venom and Morbius team up to take on Carnage. We think it's unlikely though unless, for some reason, Venom 2 arrives before Morbius.
Who knows, maybe some of the voice actors from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse could reprise their roles, only in live-action, for Morbius.
At this point, it's anyone's guess.
|
2019-04-24T16:06:01Z
|
https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/morbius-living-vampire-movie-know-091600811.html
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Porn
|
Business
| 0.107216 |
wordpress
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Hello All. Ginger Taylor of Adventures In Autism here.
I have been doing an increasing amount of God Blogging lately, so I decided that it should have its own space… so welcome to the new space. It was born out of my growing concern and alarm for all the false teaching and flat out bad ideas that are passing as biblical messages in God’s Church these days. Daily Discernment will be offering resources for good biblical teaching from the reformed perspective of Luther and Calvin, taking a critical look at some of the questionable and outright bad theology that is being consumed in post-modern America, take a look at the lives of those who claim to be disciples of Christ and have taken leadership positions in the church (to see if they are living what they preach, or confessing and repenting when they don’t) and be a place for good (respectful) debate about what the bible really says.
As God is want to do, he brought into our lives a couple of extreme events to get us to where we are now, and that got me writing what I am writing now. The first was the diagnosis we received in 2004 of our two year old son Chandler that brought us back to a seriousness about our lives and the things of God again. The second was seeing corruption in our former church that gave us a wake up call as to what is going on in the church in 21st Century America. Allow me to share how I started down the road of desiring discernment.
We were way, way off.
After several months of trying to navigate through the process with not much success or cooperation from the church, I attended a meeting with the number three and four staff people in the church, and the more senior man gave me a long list of things that he wanted to see happen and wanted me to do. When he was done listing off the actions he expected me to take, almost all of which were out of line with what God teaches in scripture and even a few things that contradicted the sermon that we both had heard from the pulpit only three days prior, I replied, “…that is not biblical”.
I was completely baffled by the exchange. I looked to the ordained pastor that was present, expecting him to be as ruffled by the statement as I was, but he had no reaction what so ever. It was as if his superior had just said, “What a nice day it is today”.
Long story short, we decided to do what the bible said instead of following this administrator’s unbiblical instruction, and he ran us out of the church.
As we were leaving and talking with our friends there about what was happening, almost all of the advice that was being given from other church members consisted of some form of the statements, “Well I think that you should just …”, “Well if you want __________ to happen, then you should ____________” and, “Do whatever you think is best”.
It was not until we had cleared that place and it’s influences for several months before we really wrapped our brains around the fact that no one that we dealt with (except for one person, who bowed out eventually) from the newest attendee to the Senior Pastor with a Ph. D. said, “Here is what God wants, (insert scripture quote here) so lets all do that”.
It was all about man’s desire and man’s wisdom.
Now this was not a controversial church. It was a church with a decent reputation for the last ten years or so. So my husband Scott and I started rethinking all of the messages that we had been just uncritically swallowing and scouring scripture and we honestly were ashamed that it had taken us so many years to wake up and smell garbage that was being packaged as God’s Truth. We were also ashamed that we had ignored all of the red flags that we saw in the lives of the leadership and in our own lives.
The disturbing thing is that this church is operating pretty much the way most large churches are operating these days, and after looking again at the instructions that Christ gives to his disciples, we started to see that Standard Operating Procedure in modern ‘Christian Culture’ today stands in opposition to much of what Jesus taught.
During the conflict, someone gave us a “Christian” book called, “The Bait of Satan” to offer us instruction on how to deal with being wronged by the church. It is a book about forgiveness, and is one of those that sounds good, unless you are really testing all its pronouncements against scripture. Reading this book with my new critical eyes, I was appalled at what I was seeing. One faulty premise in the first few pages of the book detached it from what God actually said, and the rest of the book, which is based on this premise, falls apart because of this flaw.
It claims in the first few pages that Jesus forgives everyone, so we must forgive everyone.
Except that He doesn’t. He is pretty clear that some people are not forgiven and will spent eternity separated from Him because of it.
The strangest thing… the book was given to us by a man who was a foreign missionary. He firmly believes that the population that he is preaching the gospel to is trapped in sin and will not see heaven, and he loves them, so he turned his life upside down in the hopes that they will respond to the message that he has brought to their little part of the world. But He praises a book that preaches that Jesus forgives everyone.
If Jesus forgives everyone, then he can pack it up and bring it all home, because all those people he is preaching to are forgiven and will go to heaven!
I scribbled notes on pretty much every page of the book point out the scripture that the author contradicts and the faulty reasoning and gave it back to him, but rather than saying, “man… I had not thought about this… I am going to check this out and see if you are right”, we just never heard from him again.
So what has happened to discernment in the church? Are we swallowing dirt and calling it dinner?
This blog will taking a critical look at the popular messages in the church today, some of the bad messages that we have gotten from people who claim to be speaking for God, and connecting the dots between lessons that need to be brought together and balanced in order to receive the WHOLE counsel of scripture.
One… I seek to be teachable here, so not only will I not be offended by people challenging me, I am soliciting it. Because we are flesh, criticism can be unfun sometimes, by my goal is to become a woman who comes to love correction. To receive it well is to become refined, and sanctified and more and more like Christ.
Two… I seek to maintain a liberal comments policy. I don’t think that it is many peoples best interest to suppress speech, and it is not something that I see Jesus doing in scripture (He just gave amazing responses), so I really try not to remove comments.
Comments will not be edited, merely removed if they violate the comments policy. When I remove one, I usually encourage the person to repost their comment, but with less mean.
Thank you for visiting and make yourself at home.
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2019-04-26T08:41:53Z
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https://dailydiscernment.wordpress.com/tag/mans-wisdom/
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Porn
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News
| 0.199301 |
wordpress
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The muscles in my back contracted.
And my heart turned hollow.
I didn’t trust my ears.
Was I paying the price?
Of being patient and staying loyal.
I suffered and stayed silent.
Like a pathetic little tool.
I didn’t feel sad, I couldn’t.
I wasn’t angry, just lost.
But the comfort was nowhere near.
Time to end the race?
lot of pain in this poem ,emotions beautifully expressed.; a lovely poem !!
Thankyou so much, my darling. I thought the poem was a little childish, but that’s how I was feeling- vulnerable and sad. Hence, the heading.
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2019-04-20T14:56:15Z
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https://moonymadness.wordpress.com/2016/04/10/little-girl/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.780928 |
wordpress
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WELCOME to BBNT! We are Dani and Em, and as we are sure you guessed, we are book buddies with never-ending TBR lists. We primarily read romance books, we love them too much to stop. We enjoy many different romance tropes and love to talk books and book boyfriends constantly.
We both have decided to start our own journeys as authors, as well. Em’s journey is further along and she will be publishing her first book in August 2018. Dani’s journey is a little slower going, but she hopes to be writing more and sharing (and publishing under a pen name) sooner than later.
We want to share our love of books, writing, the Indie book community, and everything book related with friends, new and old. We are happy to post reveals, reviews, teasers, do take overs in our FB group, and more. Please feel free to DM/email us with requests, questions, comments, etc.
Along with sharing our love of stories and everything that has to do with those amazing books we read, we will also share snippets of our own stories and words here with you too.
This community is one that we absolutely love and we want to spread as much of that love for everyone; authors, readers, and other bloggers alike, as possible!
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2019-04-21T04:37:50Z
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https://bbntbookblog.wordpress.com/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.232813 |
tripod
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1-2: 'I do not draw my conclusions from the stars, and yet I think I understand astrology; 3-4: 'but (astrology) has never forecasted (to me) good or bad luck, or of plagues, or of dearths, or of the quality of the forecoming seasons:' 5-6: 'Nor can I prognosticate (from the stars) every single minute, assigning to each minute [that is, whether or not it will] thunder or rain or wind,' 7-8: 'Or say that all will be well by signs (of the stars), which looking to the sky (for answers) is my habit:' 9-10: 'only from your eyes do I form my knowledge, and, in your eyes (which are constant stars), do I see such art' 11-12: 'As truth or beauty thriving together, if you would convert from yourself to store [as in store cattle]:' The paraphrase for the three quatrains may not seem necessary, as it is fairly straightfoward in its meaning; however, the couplet provides ambiguity. The couplet is where Shakespeare usually makes an antithesis of the three quatrains or presents some ambiguity, the latter of which is this one. I have found three ways to read this couplet, more specifically the last line: 1) your death is both doom and date for [of] truth and for [of] beauty (where truth and beauty are either possessive of the man or just in general), 2) your death is truth (it will happen) and destruction of your beauty is inevitable as a result of time, and 3) your end is truth (it will happen) and beauty is the destructor and finisher of you.
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2019-04-26T06:44:23Z
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http://matteohead.tripod.com/s14.html
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.74786 |
wordpress
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Say what you will about Kunitz, he is the possessor of a truly exceptional ear. He has the fastidious and hypnotic ability to pick the precise words ("scavenger angels", "nimbus-clouded voice") that will both enhance the image and round out the sound. He is also, as this poem makes apparent, a proficient phrase maker – capable of delivering lines that are as radiant and as perfect as tiny gems set in a larger ornament. The repetition, of "I turn, I turn", for instance, or the delightful comeback of that second line ("some of them mine"), or that glorious question placed strategically in the very centre of the poem ("How shall the heart be reconciled / To its feast of losses?").
If there is one difficulty I have with Kunitz, it's that his poetry tends to get too fussy for my taste, too overwrought. That, fortunately, does not happen here – this poem has the true simplicity of the spoken voice, as practically all of Kunitz's better poems do. It is a lovely poem, a joy to read aloud, and a fitting tribute to one of our oldest and most venerable bards, a man who lived through many, many changes, and now, at the age of 100, is finally done.
Stanley Kunitz died last week (May 14th). My post on his death can be found here. Some biographical information can be found here. See another fine poem by Kunitz on Minstrels.
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2019-04-26T13:52:12Z
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https://audiopoetry.wordpress.com/category/poet/stanley-kunitz/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.523079 |
wz
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See if there's someone who a smile a small icebreaker to, work extra, hard to!!!
Date Asian Women In Australia - Interracial Dating Sites. https://www.
Find Couples Meeting Singles Fast: Get Results from Multiple Engines!
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2019-04-23T14:32:42Z
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http://sdnthra.wz.cz/page-259.html
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Porn
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Computers
| 0.696568 |
wordpress
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Value props or zero-content filler?
I am not creative. And what a relief.
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2019-04-20T04:30:14Z
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https://bradcharlesbeals.wordpress.com/2013/05/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.161234 |
google
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A cardiac rhythm management (CRM) system includes an implantable medical device that delivers anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies including anti-tachyarrhythmia pacing (ATP) and at least one hemodynamic sensor that senses a hemodynamic signal. When a tachyarrhythmia episode is detected, the CRM system analyzes the hemodynamic signal to determine whether and/or when to deliver an ATP. In one embodiment, a hemodynamic parameter extracted from the hemodynamic signal is used to predict the potential effectiveness of ATP in terminating the detected tachyarrhythmia episode. In another embodiment, a characteristic feature detected from the hemodynamic signal is used to determine an ATP window during which a delivery of ATP is initiated.
This document relates generally to cardiac rhythm management (CRM) systems and particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a system that controls delivery of anti-tachyarrhythmia pacing (ATP) using one or more hemodynamic sensors.
Tachyarrhythmias are abnormal heart rhythms characterized by a rapid heart rate. Tachyarrhythmias generally include supraventricular tachyarrhythmia (SVT, including atrial tachyarrhythmia, AT) and ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VT). Fibrillation is a form of tachyarrhythmia further characterized by an irregular heart rhythm. In a normal heart, the sinoatrial node, the heart's predominant natural pacemaker, generates electrical impulses, called action potentials, that propagate through an electrical conduction system to the atria and then to the ventricles of the heart to excite the myocardial tissues. The atria and ventricles contract in the normal atrio-ventricular sequence and synchrony to result in efficient blood-pumping functions indicated by a normal hemodynamic performance. VT occurs when the electrical impulses propagate along a pathologically formed self-sustaining conductive loop within the ventricles or when a natural pacemaker in a ventricle usurps control of the heart rate from the sinoatrial node. When the atria and the ventricles become dissociated during VT, the ventricles may contract before they are properly filed with blood, resulting in diminished blood flow throughout the body. This condition becomes life-threatening when the brain is deprived of sufficient oxygen supply. Ventricular fibrillation (VF), in particular, stops blood flow within seconds and, if not timely and effectively treated, causes immediate death. In very few instances a heart recovers from VF without treatment.
Cardioversion and defibrillation are used to terminate most tachyarrhythmias, including AT, VT, and VF. An implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) is a cardiac rhythm management (CRM) device that delivers an electric shock to terminate a detected tachyarrhythmia episode by depolarizing the entire myocardium simultaneously and rendering it refractory.
Another type of electrical therapy for tachyarrhythmia is anti-tachyarrhythmia pacing (ATP). In ATP, the heart is competitively paced in an effort to interrupt the reentrant loop causing the tachyarrhythmia. An exemplary ICD includes ATP and defibrillation capabilities so that ATP is delivered to the heart when a non-fibrillation VT is detected, while a defibrillation shock is delivered when fibrillation occurs. Although cardioversion and/or defibrillation are effective in terminating tachyarrhythmia, it consumes a large amount of power and results in patient discomfort owing to the high voltage of the shock pulses. It is desirable, therefore, for the ICD to use ATP to terminate a tachyarrhythmia whenever possible.
The efficacy of ATP in terminating tachyarrhythmia depends on the type of the tachyarrhythmia and the timing of ATP delivery. To be effective, an ATP therapy is to be delivered to the heart during an excitable gap in the reentrant loop. Inaccurate timing of an ATP delivery is known to contribute to the failure in terminating tachyarrhythmia using ATP.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for determining whether and when to deliver an ATP therapy.
A CRM system includes an implantable medical device that delivers anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies including ATP and at least one hemodynamic sensor that senses a hemodynamic signal. When a tachyarrhythmia episode is detected, the CRM system analyzes the hemodynamic signal to determine whether and/or when to deliver an ATP.
In one embodiment, the CRM system includes a sensing circuit, a tachyarrhythmia detector, a hemodynamic sensor, a hemodynamic parameter detector, a pacing circuit, and a therapy controller. The sensing circuit senses a cardiac signal. The tachyarrhythmia detector detects a tachyarrhythmia episode from the cardiac signal. The hemodynamic sensor senses a hemodynamic signal indicative of hemodynamic performance. The hemodynamic parameter detector detects a hemodynamic parameter from the hemodynamic signal. The pacing circuit delivers pacing pulses. The therapy controller includes a therapy selector and an ATP controller. The therapy selector compares an arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the tachyarrhythmia episode to a normal range of the hemodynamic parameter. If the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter falls within the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter, the therapy selector selects an ATP algorithm. The ATP controller controls the delivery of the pacing pulses by executing the selected ATP algorithm.
In another embodiment, a method for operating the CRM system to determine whether to deliver an ATP therapy is provided. A cardiac signal is sensed. A tachyarrhythmia episode is detected from the cardiac signal. A hemodynamic signal indicative of hemodynamic performance is sensed. A hemodynamic parameter is detected from the hemodynamic signal. An arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter is produced as a value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the tachyarrhythmia episode. The arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter is compared to a normal range of the hemodynamic parameter. If the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter falls within the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter, the ATP therapy is selected.
In one embodiment, the CRM system includes a sensing circuit, a tachyarrhythmia detector, a hemodynamic sensor, a hemodynamic parameter detector, a pacing circuit, and a therapy controller. The sensing circuit senses a cardiac signal. The tachyarrhythmia detector detects a tachyarrhythmia episode from the cardiac signal. The hemodynamic sensor senses a hemodynamic signal indicative of hemodynamic performance. The pacing circuit delivers pacing pulses. The therapy controller includes a characteristic feature detector and an ATP controller. The characteristic feature detector detects a predetermined type characteristic feature from the hemodynamic signal. The ATP controller times the delivery of the pacing pulses using at least the predetermined type characteristic feature.
In another embodiment, a method for operating the CRM system to time an ATP delivery is provided. A cardiac signal is sensed. A tachyarrhythmia episode is detected from the cardiac signal. A hemodynamic signal indicative of hemodynamic performance is sensed. A predetermined type characteristic feature is detected from the hemodynamic signal. A beginning point of an ATP window is located using at least the predetermined type characteristic feature. The ATP delivery is timed using the beginning point of the ATP window.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of a CRM system including a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system and portions of the environment in which the CRM system operates.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of timing for effective delivery of ATP.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a specific embodiment of the hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for controlling ATP using a hemodynamic signal.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system including a heart sound sensor.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system including an arterial pressure sensor.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system including an impedance sensor.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system including multiple hemodynamic sensors.
The relationship between a heart rate and a cardiac cycle length (also known as cardiac interval), as used in this document, is the relationship between a frequency and its corresponding period. If a heart rate is given in beats per minute (bpm), its corresponding cardiac cycle length in milliseconds is calculated by dividing 60,000 by the heart rate (where 60,000 is the number of milliseconds in a minute). Any process, such as a comparison, using a heart rate is to be modified accordingly when a cardiac cycle length is used instead. For example, if a tachyarrhythmia is detected when the ventricular rate exceeds a tachyarrhythmia threshold rate, an equivalent process is to detect the tachyarrhythmia when the ventricular cycle length (also known as ventricular interval) falls below a tachyarrhythmia threshold interval. The appended claims should be construed to cover such variations.
This document discusses a CRM system that delivers anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies including ATP and controls the anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies, including selection and delivery time of the ATP, using one or more hemodynamic signals. In one embodiment, the CRM system uses a hemodynamic sensor to sense a hemodynamic signal and detect a hemodynamic parameter from the hemodynamic signal when a tachyarrhythmia episode is being detected. If the value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the tachyarrhythmia episode falls within a pre-specified range, the CRM system selects the ATP to treat the detected tachyarrhythmia episode. Examples of the hemodynamic signal include a heart sound signal, an arterial pressure signal, and an impedance signal. In one embodiment, the CRM system uses a hemodynamic sensor to sense a hemodynamic signal having a detectable characteristic feature that can be used as a time reference for delivering ATP pulses during the excitable gap in the reentrant loop. Examples of such a detectable characteristic feature in the hemodynamic signal include the peak of second heart sound (S2) in the heart sound signal, the dicrotic notch in the arterial pressure signal, a trough point in the first derivative of the impedance signal, and a zero-crossing point in the second derivative of the impedance signal. In one embodiment, the CRM system uses multiple hemodynamic sensors to sense multiple hemodynamic signals for controlling whether and/or when to deliver the ATP.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of a CRM system 100 and portions of the environment in which CRM system 100 operates. CRM system 100 includes an implantable medical device 101 that is electrically coupled to a heart 199 through leads 105 and 110. An external system 102 communicates with implantable medical device 101 via a telemetry link 103.
Implantable medical device 101 delivers anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies including ATP and cardioversion/defibrillation therapies. In one embodiment, implantable medical device 101 is an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) with cardiac pacing capabilities. In another embodiment, in addition to a pacemaker and a cardioverter/defibrillator, implantable medical device 101 further includes one or more of other monitoring and/or therapeutic devices such as a neural stimulator, a drug delivery device, and a biological therapy device. Implantable medical device 101 includes a hermetically sealed can housing an electronic circuit that senses physiological signals and delivers therapeutic electrical pulses. The hermetically sealed can also functions as an electrode for sensing and/or pulse delivery purposes. In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic circuit senses at least an atrial electrogram and a ventricular electrogram from heart 199 and delivers pacing and cardioversion/defibrillation pulses to heart 199. Lead 105 is a pacing lead that includes a proximal end 106 connected to implantable medical device 101 and a distal end 107 placed in the right atrium (RA) of heart 199. A pacing-sensing electrode 108 is located at distal end 107. Another pacing-sensing electrode 109 is located near distal end 107. Electrodes 108 and 109 are electronically connected to implantable medical device 101 via separate conductors in lead 105 to allow sensing of the atrial electrogram and/or delivery of atrial pacing pulses. Lead 110 is a defibrillation lead that includes a proximal end 111 connected to implantable medical device 101 and a distal end 112 placed in the right ventricle (RV) of heart 199. A pacing-sensing electrode 113 is located at distal end 112. A defibrillation electrode 114 is located near distal end 112 but electrically separated from pacing-sensing electrode 113. Another defibrillation electrode 115 is located at a distance from distal end 112 for supraventricular placement. Electrodes 113, 114, and 115 are electrically connected to implantable medical device 101 via separate conductors in lead 110. Electrode 113 allows sensing of the ventricular electrogram and/or delivery of ventricular pacing pulses. Electrodes 114 and 115 allow delivery of ventricular cardioversion/defibrillation pulses.
Implantable medical device 101 includes a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 120. One or more implantable hemodynamic sensors are included in, and/or connected to, implantable medical device 101. System 120 uses one or more hemodynamic signals sensed by the one or more implantable hemodynamic sensors to determine whether ATP is a suitable therapy for terminating a detected tachyarrhythmia episode and/or to determine a time for an effective ATP delivery. Various embodiments of system 120 are discussed below, with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 6-9.
External system 102 allows for programming of implantable medical device 101 and receives signals acquired by implantable medical device 101. In one embodiment, external system 102 includes a programmer. In another embodiment, external system 102 is a patient management system including an external device in proximity of implantable medical device 101, a remote device in a relatively distant location, and a telecommunication network linking the external device and the remote device. The patient management system allows access to implantable medical device 101 from a remote location, such as for monitoring patient status and adjusting therapies. Telemetry link 103 is a wireless communication link providing for bidirectional data transmission between implantable medical device 101 and external system 102. In one embodiment, telemetry link 103 is an inductive telemetry link. In an alternative embodiment, telemetry link 103 is a far-field radio-frequency telemetry link. Telemetry link 103 provides for data transmission from implantable medical device 101 to external system 102. This may include, for example, transmitting real-time physiological data acquired by implantable medical device 101, extracting physiological data acquired by and stored in implantable medical device 101, extracting therapy history data stored in implantable medical device 101, and extracting data indicating an operational status of implantable medical device 101 (e.g., battery status and lead impedance). Telemetry link 103 also provides for data transmission from external system 102 to implantable medical device 101. This may include, for example, programming implantable medical device 101 to acquire physiological data, programming implantable medical device 101 to perform at least one self-diagnostic test (such as for a device operational status), programming implantable medical device 101 to enable an available monitoring or therapeutic function (such as ATP), and programming implantable medical device 101 to adjust therapeutic parameters such as pacing and/or cardioversion/defibrillation parameters.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of timing for effective delivery of ATP showing an ATP window and several physiological signals over a portion of a cardiac cycle. To be effective in terminating a detected tachyarrhythmia episode, an ATP therapy is to be delivered during the ATP window, which approximately corresponds to the excitable gap in the reentrant loop.
The excitable gap approximately corresponds to the time from the end of the T wave to the beginning of the next QRS complex. The T wave is a period when the heart is “repolarizing”. Most low-amplitude electrical stimulation pulses do not result in cardiac contraction if delivered during the T wave. During VT, it becomes challenging, if not impossible, to reliably detect the T wave. Thus, another measure, such as a hemodynamic measure, is used to indicate the excitable gap. For example, the S2 heart sound corresponds to closure of the aortic valve that signals the end of the ejection phase of a cardiac contraction, which also approximately corresponds to the end of the T wave. Thus, the hemodynamic measure may be used to estimate the end of repolarization, even if the T wave cannot be reliably detected. The hemodynamic measure (such as the S2 heart sound) may also be used to distinguish between VT and VF. During VT, there is still some pumping of blood and hence at least pseudo-normal opening and closing of the valves. However, during VF there is not enough pumping action to open and close the valves. In one embodiment, the discrimination between VT and VF is a factor for determining whether ATP is to be delivered.
The illustrated physiological signal include an electrocardiogram (ECG) and several examples of hemodynamic signals including a heart sound signal, a heart sound envelogram, an arterial pressure signal, an impedance signal (Z), a first derivative of the impedance signal (Z′, i.e., dZ/dt), and a second derivative of the impedance signal (Z″, i.e., d2Z/dt2). One or more hemodynamic parameters are extracted from such signals to indicate a patient's hemodynamic state. The hemodynamic state during a detected tachyarrhythmia episode is predictive of the effectiveness of the ATP therapy in terminating that detected tachyarrhythmia episode. In various embodiments, a range of a hemodynamic parameter is pre-specified, such as by sensing the hemodynamic signal during a normal sinus rhythm (NSR) and establishing a range of values considered as indicative of normal hemodynamic performance. This pre-specified range of the hemodynamic parameter is referred to as the “normal range” of the hemodynamic parameter. The ATP is considered appropriate if the value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode falls within the normal range. If the value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode is outside the normal range, a more aggressive therapy such as a defibrillation shock is considered necessary.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the ATP window has a beginning point at T1 and an end point at T2. The beginning point is temporally associated with the closure of the aortic valve and the closure of the pulmonary valve during the cardiac cycle. These two valve closures occur soon after the T wave of the ECG signal. Various characteristic features in the hemodynamic signals are associated with the closure of the aortic valve and the closure of the pulmonary valve, therefore being usable for indicating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. Such characteristic features include, for example, an S2 peak 222 in the heart sound signal, a dicrotic notch 224 of the arterial pressure signal, a trough point 226 in the first derivative of the impedance signal, and a zero-crossing point 228 in the second derivative of the impedance signal. The end point (T2) of the ATP window occurs before the QRS complex of the next cardiac cycle. In various embodiments, a time interval T starts with the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window, and the delivery of ATP pulses is initiated when time interval T expires (at T1+T).
In one embodiment, the delivery of the ATP therapy includes the delivery of a burst of pacing pulses, with the leading pacing pulse delivered when time interval T expires. In a specific embodiment, the delivery of the ATP therapy includes the delivery of a burst of about 1 to 30 pacing pulses evenly spaced at a pacing interval of about 120 to 750 milliseconds, with the leading pacing pulse delivered at about 0 to 250 milliseconds after the beginning point (T1) of the ATP pacing window. In one embodiment, to account for the heart rate during each specific tachyarrhythmia episode, the pacing interval is set to be a predetermined percentage of measured cardiac cycle length. In a specific embodiment, the predetermined percentage is in a range of approximately 70-95%. The time interval T is chosen such that the delivery of ATP pulses is initiated within the ATP window. In other words, the time interval T is to end before the end point (T2) of the ATP window. In one embodiment, to account for the heart rate during each specific tachyarrhythmia episode, the time interval T is determined as a fraction of the cardiac cycle length estimated for the heart beat during which the delivery of ATP pulses is to be initiated. This cardiac cycle length is estimated, for example, by calculating an average cardiac cycle length using a plurality of ventricular cycle lengths detected before the initiation of the delivery of ATP pulses. In one embodiment, the time interval T is automatically calculated as a predetermined fraction of the estimated cardiac cycle length. In a specific embodiment, the time interval T is calculated to be approximately 15% of the estimated cardiac cycle length.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 320, which is a specific embodiment of system 120. System 320 includes a hemodynamic sensor 330, a hemodynamic parameter detector 332, a sensing circuit 334, a tachyarrhythmia detector 336, a pacing circuit 338, and a therapy controller 340.
Hemodynamic sensor 330 senses a hemodynamic signal indicative of hemodynamic performance. Hemodynamic parameter detector 332 detects a hemodynamic parameter from the hemodynamic signal. An arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during a tachyarrhythmia episode indicates whether ATP is considered potentially effective in terminating that tachyarrhythmia episode. The hemodynamic signal also includes a detectable characteristic feature. In one embodiment, the detectable characteristic feature is a morphological feature temporally associated with the closure of the aortic valve and the closure of the pulmonary valve during each cardiac cycle.
Sensing circuit 334 senses one or more cardiac signals using electrodes in leads 105 and/or 110. Tachyarrhythmia detector 336 detects tachyarrhythmia episodes from the one or more cardiac signals.
Pacing circuit 338 delivers pacing pulses through leads 105 and/or 110. Depending on the pacing mode controlled by therapy controller 340, the pacing pulses are delivered for various purposes such as anti-bradyarrhythmia therapy, cardiac resynchronization therapy, cardiac remodeling control therapy, and ATP therapy.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, therapy controller 340 includes a therapy selector 342, a characteristic feature detector 344, and an ATP controller 346. Therapy selector 342 compares the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the tachyarrhythmia episode to a pre-specified normal range of the hemodynamic parameter and selects an ATP algorithm if the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter falls within the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter. Characteristic feature detector 344 detects a predetermined type characteristic feature from the hemodynamic signal. If the ATP algorithm is selected, ATP controller 346 controls the delivery of the pacing pulses from pacing circuit 338 by executing the selected ATP algorithm, including timing the delivery of the pacing pulses using at least the detected predetermined type characteristic feature.
In other embodiments, therapy controller 340 includes ATP controller 346 and any one of therapy selector 342 and characteristic feature detector 344. In one embodiment, if therapy selector 342 selects the ATP algorithm, ATP controller 346 times the delivery of the ATP pulses using predetermined timing parameters. In another embodiment, if the ATP algorithm is selected according to predetermined criteria such as tachyarrhythmic heart rate (without using the hemodynamic signal), characteristic feature detector 344 detects the predetermined type characteristic feature from the hemodynamic signal, and ATP controller 346 times the delivery of the pacing pulses using at least the detected predetermined type characteristic feature.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 420, which is a specific embodiment of system 320. System 420 includes hemodynamic sensor 330, hemodynamic parameter detector 332, sensing circuit 334, a tachyarrhythmia detector 436, a pacing circuit 338, a defibrillation circuit 464, a template generator 456, and a therapy controller 440.
Tachyarrhythmia detector 436 is a specific embodiment of tachyarrhythmia detector 336 and includes a depolarization detector 450, a cycle-length detector 452, and a comparator 454. Depolarization detector 450 detects cardiac depolarizations from the one or more cardiac signals sensed by sensing circuit 334. Cycle-length detector 452 detects a cardiac cycle length from the one or more cardiac signals. Comparator 454 compares the detected cardiac cycle length to at least one tachyarrhythmia threshold cycle length and indicates a detection of tachyarrhythmia if the detected cardiac cycle length is shorter than the tachyarrhythmia threshold cycle length. In one embodiment, tachyarrhythmia detector 436 detects ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VT). Depolarization detector 450 detects ventricular depolarizations (R waves) from a ventricular electrogram sensed by sensing circuit 334. Cycle-length detector 452 detects ventricular intervals (RR intervals) each being a time interval between two consecutively detected ventricular depolarizations and calculates the cardiac cycle length by averaging a predetermined number of the detected ventricular intervals. In a specific embodiment, the cardiac cycle length detected by cycle-length detector 452 is an average of ventricular intervals of about four consecutive heart beats. Comparator 454 compares the detected cardiac cycle length to a predetermined VT threshold cycle length and indicates a detection of VT when the detected cardiac cycle length drops below the predetermined VT threshold cycle length.
Defibrillation circuit 464 delivers cardioversion/defibrillation pulses through lead 110. System 420 provides anti-tachyarrhythmia therapies including ATP therapy and cardioversion/defibrillation therapy.
where XMAX and XMIN are the boundary values of the normal range, |X|AVG is an average value of the hemodynamic parameter calculated using the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter, |X|SD is a standard deviation of the hemodynamic parameter calculated using the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter, and k is a predetermined constant. In a specific embodiment, the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter includes approximately 15 NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter. Template storage device 462 stores the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter. In one embodiment, template generator 456 regularly updates the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter, such as on a periodic basis.
Therapy controller 440 is a specific embodiment of therapy controller 340 and controls the delivery of the pacing from pacing circuit 338 and the delivery of cardioversion/defibrillation pulses from defibrillation circuit 464. Therapy controller 440 includes a therapy selector 442, characteristic feature detector 344, an ATP controller 446, and a defibrillation controller 472.
Therapy selector 442 includes a parameter comparator 466 that compares the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode to the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter. If the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter falls within the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter, therapy selector 442 selects the ATP algorithm. If the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter is out of the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter, therapy selector 442 selects a cardioversion/defibrillation algorithm or an ATP-before-charge algorithm. If the ATP algorithm is selected, ATP controller 446 controls the delivery of one or more bursts of ATP pulses from pacing circuit 338. If the ATP fails to terminate the detected tachyarrhythmia episode, defibrillation controller 472 controls the delivery of one or more cardioversion/defibrillation pulses from defibrillation circuit 464 until the detected tachyarrhythmia episode is terminated. If the cardioversion/defibrillation algorithm is selected, defibrillation controller 472 controls the delivery of one or more cardioversion/defibrillation pulses from defibrillation circuit 464 until the detected tachyarrhythmia episode is terminated. If the ATP-before-charge algorithm is selected, ATP controller 446 controls the delivery of one or more bursts of ATP pulses from pacing circuit 338 while defibrillation controller 472 prepares defibrillation circuit 464 for delivering a cardioversion/defibrillation pulse by charging a defibrillation capacitor that stores the energy for the cardioversion/defibrillation pulse. If the ATP fails to terminate the detected tachyarrhythmia episode, defibrillation controller 472 immediately causes the delivery of the cardioversion/defibrillation pulse from defibrillation circuit 464. An example of a system executing such an ATP-before-charge algorithm is discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,751, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANTI-TACHYARRHYTHMIA PACING AND DEFIBRILLATION,” filed on Apr. 2, 2004, assigned to Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc., which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
where α is the a weighting factor that is related to the relative stability of the arrhythmic cycle length and has a value between 0 and 1, TCP is the time of the predetermined type characteristic feature, x% is a predetermined percentage, and CL is the arrhythmic cycle length. The weighting factor α equals, for example, e−var, where var is the variance of the ventricular intervals used to calculate the arrhythmia cycle length. ATP timer 470 times the ATP interval (T) from the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window and initiates the delivery of the ATP pulses when the ATP interval (T) expires. In one embodiment, ATP timer 470 initiates the delivery of the leading pacing pulse of a burst of ATP pulses when the ATP interval (T) expires. The ATP interval is chosen within the ATP window (between T1 and T2). In one embodiment, the end point (T2) of the ATP window in a cardiac cycle is the end of a time interval that starts with a ventricular depolarization (R wave) and has a length being a given percentage of the arrhythmic cycle length. In a specific embodiment, the given percentage is about 95%.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for controlling ATP using a hemodynamic signal. In one embodiment, the method is performed by system 100, which includes hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 120, including its various embodiments discussed in this document.
One or more cardiac signals are sensed at 500. Examples of the one or more cardiac signals include atrial and ventricular electrograms. A hemodynamic signal indicative of hemodynamic performance is sensed at 502. Examples of the hemodynamic signal include a heart sound signal, an arterial pressure signal, and an impedance signal. A hemodynamic parameter is detected from the hemodynamic signal at 504. Examples of the hemodynamic parameter include an S2 amplitude being a voltage or energy amplitude related to S2, an arterial pressure measured at a predetermined point of the arterial pressure signal, and an impedance measured at a predetermined point of the impedance signal.
NSR is being detected at 510. In one embodiment, a detection of NSR is indicated when the one or more cardiac signals indicate a cardiac cycle length that falls within a predetermined NSR window and meets a minimum stability criterion. If the detection of NSR is indicated at 512, a normal range of the hemodynamic parameter is produced using a plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the NSR at 514. In one embodiment, the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter is produced using Equation . In one embodiment, the plurality of values of the hemodynamic parameter includes about 15 values. The normal range of the hemodynamic parameter is stored at 516. In one embodiment, steps 514 and 516 are repeated on a regular basis, such as on a substantially periodic basis, when the detection of NSR is indicated at 512, such that the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter is updated to reflect a patient's changing physiologic conditions and metabolic needs. In another embodiment, steps 514 and 516 are repeated as needed, such as determined by a physician or other caregiver.
If the NSR is not detected at 512, tachyarrhythmia is being detected at 520. In one embodiment, tachyarrhythmia is detected using a ventricular electrogram. Ventricular depolarizations (R waves) are detected from the ventricular electrogram. Ventricular intervals (RR intervals) each being a time interval between two consecutively detected ventricular depolarizations are detected. A cardiac cycle length is calculated by averaging a predetermined number of the detected ventricular intervals. A detection of a tachyarrhythmia episode is indicated at 522 if the cardiac cycle length is shorter than a predetermined tachyarrhythmia threshold cycle length.
If the detection of the tachyarrhythmia episode is indicated at 522, an arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the tachyarrhythmia episode is compared to the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter at 530. If the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter is within the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter at 532, ATP is selected at 540. If the arrhythmic value of the hemodynamic parameter is outside the stored normal range of the hemodynamic parameter at 532, another therapy, which is more aggressive, such as a defibrillation therapy, or a pacing/defibrillation therapy using the ATP-before-charge algorithm as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,751, is selected at 560.
If ATP is selected at 540, an ATP window is determined at 542. The ATP window is a time interval during which a delivery of ATP pulses is to be initiated. The beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is located by using a predetermined type characteristic feature detected from the hemodynamic signal. The predetermined type characteristic feature is temporally associated with the closure of the aortic valve and the closure of the pulmonary valve during each cardiac cycle. The end point (T2) of the ATP window is before the beginning of the ventricular depolarization (R wave). In one embodiment, the predetermined type characteristic feature is selected as the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. In another embodiment, the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is located using the predetermined type characteristic feature and an arrhythmia cycle length being the cardiac cycle length detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode. In a specific embodiment, the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is selected from the predetermined type characteristic feature and the end of a timing interval in a cardiac cycle, whichever occurs later. The timing interval starts with a ventricular depolarization and is a predetermined percentage of the arrhythmia cycle length. In another embodiment, the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is located using the predetermined type characteristic feature, the arrhythmia cycle length, and a parameter related to a relative stability of the arrhythmic cycle length. In a specific embodiment, the relative stability of the ventricular intervals used to calculate the arrhythmia cycle length is analyzed to produce the parameter related to heart rate stability as a function of the variance of the ventricular intervals. In locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window, more weight is given to the predetermined type characteristic feature, and less weight is given to the arrhythmia cycle length, when the relative stability of the arrhythmic cycle length decreases.
The ATP is timed and delivered at 544. The delivery of the ATP is initiated at the end of an ATP interval (T), which starts from the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. In one embodiment, the delivery of the ATP includes the delivery of at least one burst of pacing pulses. The leading pacing pulse is delivered when the ATP interval (T) expires (at T1+T). Termination of the tachyarrhythmia episode, i.e., effectiveness of the ATP delivered at 544, is verified at 546. If the ATP fails to terminate the tachyarrhythmia episode at 548, and if the ATP is to be repeated according to a predetermined anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy strategy at 550, steps 542-550 are repeated. If the ATP fails to terminate the tachyarrhythmia episode at 548, but the ATP is not to be repeated according to a predetermined anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy strategy at 550, a more aggressive therapy is selected at 560.
If the more aggressive therapy is selected at 560, the selected therapy is delivered at 562. Termination of the tachyarrhythmia episode, i.e., effectiveness of the selected therapy delivered at 562, is verified at 564. If the selected therapy fails to terminate the tachyarrhythmia episode at 568, steps 562-568 are repeated until the tachyarrhythmia episode is terminated.
In one embodiment, multiple hemodynamic signals are sensed at 502. Steps 504, 514, 516, and 530 are performed concurrently and independently for each of the hemodynamic signals. A therapy selection algorithm applies a predetermined fusion method that uses the results of comparisons each performed with respect to one of the hemodynamic signals at step 532 to determine whether to select ATP at 540 or another therapy at 560. If the ATP is selected at 540, an algorithm for locating the ATP window applies a predetermined fusion method that uses predetermined type characteristic features each detected from one of the hemodynamic signals to locate at least the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
Specific embodiments of hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 420 are discussed below, with reference to FIGS. 6-9. In various embodiments, system 100 includes system elements each being any embodiment or combination of embodiments discussed in this document.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 620, which is a specific embodiment of system 420. In this embodiment, the hemodynamic signal is a heart sound signal, the hemodynamic parameter is an S2 amplitude being the voltage amplitude of an S2 peak or the energy content of an occurrence of S2, and the predetermined type characteristic feature is the S2 peak. System 620 includes a heart sound sensor 630, an S2 amplitude detector 632, sensing circuit 334, tachyarrhythmia detector 436, pacing circuit 338, defibrillation circuit 464, an S2 template generator 656, and a therapy controller 640.
Heart sound sensor 630 senses a heart sound signal being a signal indicative of at least second heart sounds (S2). Examples of heart sound sensor 630 include an implantable accelerometer and an implantable microphone, each included in implantable medical device 101 or incorporated into lead 105 or lead 110. S2 amplitude detector 632 detects an S2 amplitude from the heart sound signal. Examples of the S2 amplitude include a peak voltage amplitude measured at one or more S2 peaks and an S2 energy amplitude representing the energy content of each occurrence of S2.
S2 template generator 656 includes NSR detector 458, an S2 normal range generator 660, and a template storage device 662. S2 normal range generator 660 receives NSR values of the S2 amplitude detected while the NSR is detected and produces a normal range of the S2 amplitude based on a plurality of the NSR values of the S2 amplitude. In one embodiment, normal range generator 660 produces the normal range using Equation , with |X|AVG being the average value of the S2 amplitude calculated using the plurality of the NSR values of the S2 amplitude, |X|SD being the standard deviation of the S2 amplitude calculated using the plurality of the NSR values of the S2 amplitude, and k being a predetermined constant associated with S2. In a specific embodiment, the plurality of the NSR values of the S2 amplitude includes approximately 15 NSR values. Template storage device 662 stores the normal range of the S2 amplitude.
Therapy controller 640 includes a therapy selector 642, an S2 peak detector 644, ATP controller 446, and defibrillation controller 472. Therapy selector 642 includes a parameter comparator 666 that compares an arrhythmic value of the S2 amplitude detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode to the stored normal range of the S2 amplitude. If the arrhythmic value of the S2 amplitude falls within the stored normal range of the S2 amplitude, therapy selector selects the ATP algorithm. If the arrhythmic value of the S2 amplitude is out of the stored normal range of the S2 amplitude, therapy selector 642 selects the cardioversion/defibrillation algorithm or the ATP-before-charge algorithm. S2 peak detector 644 detects S2 peaks from the heart sound signal. ATP window locator 468 uses at least an S2 peak in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. In one embodiment, S2 peak detector 644 also detects S2 and/or S2 peaks for S2 normal range generator 660 to measure the S2 amplitude from the S2 and/or S2 peaks. In various embodiments, S2 peak detector 644 includes an S2 detector to detect occurrences of S2. In a specific embodiment, the S2 detector includes an energy-based S2 detector that produces a heart sound envelogram using an envelope detector. The occurrences of S2 are detected using a threshold amplitude and timing information with respect to ventricular depolarizations (R waves) and/or occurrences of first heart sound (S1). In another embodiment, the S2 detector includes a correlation-based S2 detector that analyzes the correction between a segment of the heart sound signal and a predetermined S2 morphological template. Each occurrence of S2 is detected when the segment of the heart sound signal and the predetermined S2 morphological template substantially correlate. In another embodiment, the S2 detector includes a subspace S2 detector that detects the occurrences of S2 with blind source separation using independent component analysis.
Under some circumstances, detection of the S2 peak in the cardiac cycle during which the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is to be located may be difficult. For example, the ATP interval (T) may be short when compared to the required computation time. Therefore, in one embodiment, S2 peak detector 644 uses a regression-based method to predict the location of the S2 peak that is directly used for locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. Ventricular depolarizations (R waves) and occurrences of S2 are detected, from which ventricular intervals (RR intervals) and intervals each between a ventricular depolarization and an adjacent S2 peak (RS2 intervals) are produced, during NSR. An RS2-RR regression curve is constructed based on least square criterion. During the detected tachyarrhythmia episode, before the ATP delivery, locations of the detected S2 peaks are used to update the RS2-RR regression curve. When the ATP is to be delivered, the location of the next S2 peak is predicted using the updated RS2-RR regression curve and the location of the latest ventricular depolarization (R wave). The predicted location of the S2 peak is used in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 720, which is another specific embodiment of system 420. In this embodiment, the hemodynamic signal is an arterial pressure signal, the hemodynamic parameter is an arterial pressure measured from the arterial pressure signal, and the predetermined type characteristic feature is the dicrotic notch. System 720 includes a pressure sensor 730, a pressure detector 732, sensing circuit 334, tachyarrhythmia detector 436, pacing circuit 338, defibrillation circuit 464, a pressure template generator 756, and a therapy controller 740.
Arterial pressure sensor 730 senses an arterial pressure signal. Examples of arterial pressure sensor 730 include an implantable aortic pressure sensor that senses an aortic pressure signal and an implantable pulmonary artery pressure sensor that senses a pulmonary artery pressure signal. Pressure detector 732 detects the arterial pressure from the arterial pressure signal. In one embodiment, the arterial pressure is the amplitude of the arterial pressure signal measured at a predetermined point of a cardiac cycle. In another embodiment, the arterial pressure is an arterial pulse pressure measured as the peak-to-peak amplitude of the arterial pressure signal over a cardiac cycle.
Pressure template generator 756 includes NSR detector 458, a pressure normal range generator 760, and a template storage device 762. Pressure normal range generator 760 receives NSR values of the arterial pressure detected while the NSR is detected and produces a normal range of the arterial pressure based on a plurality of the NSR values of the arterial pressure. In one embodiment, pressure normal range generator 760 produces the normal range using Equation , with |X|AVG being the average value of the arterial pressure calculated using the plurality of the NSR values of the arterial pressure, |X|SD being the standard deviation of the arterial pressure calculated using the plurality of the NSR values of the arterial pressure, and k being a predetermined constant given for the arterial pressure, In a specific embodiment, the plurality of the NSR values of the arterial pressure includes approximately 15 NSR values. Template storage device 762 stores the normal range of the arterial pressure.
Therapy controller 740 includes a therapy selector 742, a dicrotic notch detector 744, ATP controller 446, and defibrillation controller 472. Therapy selector 742 includes a parameter comparator 766 that compares an arrhythmic value of the arterial pressure detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode to the stored normal range of the arterial pressure. If the arrhythmic value of the arterial pressure falls within the stored normal range of the arterial pressure, therapy selector 742 selects the ATP algorithm. If the arrhythmic value of the arterial pressure is out of the stored normal range of the arterial pressure, therapy selector 742 selects the cardioversion/defibrillation algorithm or the ATP-before-charge algorithm. Dicrotic notch detector 744 detects dicrotic notches from the arterial pressure signal. In one embodiment, dicrotic notch detector 744 produces a derivative signal being a first derivative of the arterial pressure signal and detects the dicrotic notches by comparing the derivative signal to a predetermined threshold. ATP window locator 468 uses at least one dicrotic notch in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
Under some circumstances, detection of the dicrotic notch in the cardiac cycle during which the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is to be located may be difficult. For example, the ATP interval (T) may be short when compared to the required computation time. Therefore, in one embodiment, dicrotic notch detector 644 uses a regression-based method to predict the location of the dicrotic notch that is directly used for locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. Ventricular depolarizations (R waves) and dicrotic notches (D) are detected, from which ventricular intervals (RR intervals) and intervals each between a ventricular depolarization and an adjacent dicrotic notch (RD intervals) are produced, during NSR. An RD-RR regression curve is constructed based on least square criterion. During the detected tachyarrhythmia episode, before the ATP delivery, locations of the detected dicrotic notches are used to update the RD-RR regression curve. When the ATP is to be delivered, the location of the next dicrotic notch is predicted using the updated RD-RR regression curve and the location of the latest ventricular depolarization (R wave). The predicted location of the dicrotic notch is used in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 820, which is another specific embodiment of system 420. In this embodiment, the hemodynamic signal is an impedance signal (Z), the hemodynamic parameter is an impedance measured from the impedance signal, and the predetermined type characteristic feature is a trough point of the first derivative of the impedance signal (dZ/dt) or a zero-crossing point of the second derivative of the impedance signal (d2Z/dt2). In one embodiment, the impedance signal (Z) is a thoracic impedance signal. In another embodiment, the impedance signal (Z) is a cardiac impedance signal. System 820 includes an impedance sensor 830, an impedance detector 832, sensing circuit 334, tachyarrhythmia detector 436, pacing circuit 338, defibrillation circuit 464, an impedance template generator 856, and a therapy controller 840.
Impedance sensor 830 senses an impedance signal. Impedance detector 832 detects the impedance from the impedance signal. In one embodiment, the impedance is the amplitude of the impedance signal measured at a predetermined point of a cardiac cycle. In another embodiment, the impedance is a pulse impedance measured as the peak-to-peak amplitude of the impedance over a cardiac cycle.
Impedance template generator 856 includes NSR detector 458, an impedance normal range generator 860, and a template storage device 862. Impedance normal range generator 860 receives NSR values of the impedance detected while the NSR is detected and produces a normal range of the impedance based on a plurality of the NSR values of the impedance. In one embodiment, impedance normal range generator 860 produces the normal range using Equation , with |X|AVG being the average value of the impedance calculated using the plurality of the NSR values of the impedance, |X|SD being the standard deviation of the impedance calculated using the plurality of the NSR values of the impedance, and k being a predetermined constant given for the impedance, In a specific embodiment, the plurality of the NSR values of the impedance includes approximately 15 NSR values. Template storage device 862 stores the normal range of the impedance.
Therapy controller 840 includes a therapy selector 842, a trough/zero-crossing detector 844, ATP controller 446, and defibrillation controller 472. Therapy selector 842 includes a parameter comparator 866 that compares an arrhythmic value of the impedance detected during the detected tachyarrhythmia episode to the stored normal range of the impedance. If the arrhythmic value of the impedance falls within the stored normal range of the impedance, therapy selector 842 selects the ATP algorithm. If the arrhythmic value of the impedance is out of the stored normal range of the impedance, therapy selector 842 selects the cardioversion/defibrillation algorithm or the ATP-before-charge algorithm. Trough/zero-crossing detector 844 detects a trough point from a signal being the first derivative of the impedance signal (dZ/dt) and/or a zero-crossing point from a signal being the second derivative of the impedance signal (d2Z/dt2). ATP window locator 468 uses at least one of the trough point and the zero-crossing point in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
Under some circumstances, detection of the trough or zero-crossing point in the cardiac cycle during which the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is to be located may be difficult. For example, the ATP interval (T) may be short when compared to the required computation time. Therefore, in one embodiment, trough/zero-crossing detector 844 uses a regression-based method to predict the location of the trough or zero-crossing point that is directly used for locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. Ventricular depolarizations (R waves) and trough or zero-crossing points (Z) are detected, from which ventricular intervals (RR intervals) and intervals each between a ventricular depolarization and an adjacent trough or zero-crossing point (RZ intervals) are produced, during NSR. An RZ-RR regression curve is constructed based on least square criterion. During the detected tachyarrhythmia episode, before the ATP delivery, locations of the detected trough or zero-crossing points are used to update the RZ-RR regression curve. When the ATP is to be delivered, the location of the next trough or zero-crossing point is predicted using the updated RZ-RR regression curve and the location of the latest ventricular depolarization (R wave). The predicted location of the trough or zero-crossing point is used in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hemodynamic sensor-controlled anti-tachyarrhythmia system 920, which is another specific embodiment of system 420. In this embodiment, two or more hemodynamic signals are sensed and processed for controlling whether and/or when to deliver the ATP. Examples of the two or more hemodynamic signals include the heart sound signal, the arterial pressure signal, and the impedance signal discussed above. System 920 includes hemodynamic sensors 930, hemodynamic parameter detector 932, sensing circuit 334, tachyarrhythmia detector 436, pacing circuit 338, defibrillation circuit 464, a template generator 956, and a therapy controller 940. In a specific embodiment, system 920 is a combination of two or more of systems 620, 720, and 820, with the selection and/or the timing of the ATP therapy controlled using two or more of the heart sound signal, the arterial pressure signal, and the impedance signal. Such a system increases the robustness of therapy control because, for example, the performance of each type of sensor varies from patient to patient.
Hemodynamic sensors 930 includes a plurality of hemodynamic sensors to sense a plurality of hemodynamic signals each being a signal indicative of hemodynamic performance. In one embodiment, hemodynamic sensors 930 include two or more of heart sound sensor 630, pressure sensor 730, and impedance sensor 830.
Hemodynamic parameter detector 932 detects hemodynamic parameters each from one of the hemodynamic signals. In one embodiment, hemodynamic parameter detector 932 includes two or more of S2 amplitude detector 632, pressure detector 732, and impedance detector 832.
Template generator 956 produces a normal range for each of the hemodynamic parameters and includes NSR detector 458, a normal range detector 960, and a template storage device 962. In one embodiment, template generator 956 includes two or more of S2 template generator 656, pressure template generator 756, and impedance template generator 856. Normal range generator 960 includes corresponding two or more of S2 normal range generator 660, pressure normal range generator 760, and impedance normal range generator 860. Template storage device 962 stores the normal range of each of the hemodynamic parameters produced by normal range generator 960.
Therapy controller 940 includes a therapy selector 942, a characteristic feature detector 944, an ATP controller 946, and defibrillation controller 472. Therapy selector 942 includes a parameter comparator 966 that compares an arrhythmic value of each of the hemodynamic parameters detected during the tachyarrhythmia episode to the stored normal range of that hemodynamic parameter. The decision of whether to select the ATP algorithm is made by applying a predetermined fusion method using the results each from a comparison between the arrhythmic value of one of the hemodynamic parameters and the stored normal range of that hemodynamic parameter. In one embodiment, therapy selector 942 selects the ATP algorithm when the arrhythmic value of every hemodynamic parameter falls within the stored normal range of that hemodynamic parameter.
Characteristic feature detector 944 detects predetermined type characteristic features from each of the hemodynamic signals. The predetermined type characteristic features are each temporally associated with the closure of the aortic valve and the closure of the pulmonary valve in a cardiac cycle. Examples of the predetermined type characteristic features include the S2 peak in the heart sound signal, the dicrotic notch in the arterial pressure signal, the trough point in the first derivative of the impedance signal, and the zero-crossing point in the second derivative of the impedance signal.
ATP controller 946 controls the timing of the delivery of ATP pulses using the detected predetermined type characteristic features and includes an ATP window locator 968 and ATP timer 470. ATP window locator 968 locates the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window using the locations of the detected predetermined type characteristic features. In one embodiment, the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window is located using each of the hemodynamic signals by using the method performed by ATP window locator 468. The results are applied in a predetermined fusion method that produces the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window that is directly used for the delivery of the ATP pulses. In one embodiment, ATP window locator 968 identifies the median of T1s produced from all the hemodynamic signals to use as the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. In another embodiment, ATP window locator 968 identifies the longest (latest) T1 produced from all the hemodynamic signals to use as the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window.
It is to be understood that the above detailed description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, any hemodynamic or other physiological signal that includes a detectable feature having a known or predictable temporal relationship with the excitable gap of the reentrant loop associated with tachyarrhythmia, besides those specifically discussed in this document, is useable in locating the beginning point (T1) of the ATP window. Other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
an ATP controller, coupled to the therapy selector and the characteristic feature detector, to control the delivery of the pacing pulses by executing the selected ATP algorithm, the ATP controller adapted to select the detected predetermined type morphological feature as a beginning point of an ATP window and initiate a delivery of a burst of the pacing pulses within the ATP window to interrupt a reentrant loop causing the tachyarrhythmia.
a template storage device, coupled to the normal range generator, to store the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter.
3. The CRM system of claim 2, wherein the normal range generator is adapted to produce the normal range using an equation: |X|AVG±k·|X|SD, where |X|AVG is an average value of the hemodynamic parameter calculated using the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter, |X|SD is a standard deviation of the hemodynamic parameter calculated using the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter, and k is a predetermined constant.
4. The CRM system of claim 1, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises a heart sound signal indicative of at least second heart sounds (S2), the hemodynamic parameter comprises an S2 amplitude, the hemodynamic sensor includes a heart sound sensor adapted to sense the heart sound signal, and the hemodynamic parameter detector comprises an amplitude detector to detect the S2 amplitude from the heart sound signal.
5. The CRM system of claim 1, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises an arterial pressure signal, the hemodynamic parameter comprises an arterial pressure, the hemodynamic sensor comprises an arterial pressure sensor adapted to sense the arterial pressure signal, and the hemodynamic parameter detector comprises a pressure detector to detect the arterial pressure from the arterial pressure signal.
6. The CRM system of claim 1, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises an impedance signal indicative of at least one of a thoracic impedance and a cardiac impedance, the hemodynamic parameter comprises an impedance, the hemodynamic sensor comprises an impedance sensor adapted to sense the impedance signal, and the hemodynamic parameter detector comprises an impedance detector to detect the impedance from the impedance signal.
initiating a delivery of a burst of ATP pulses within the ATP window to interrupt a reentrant loop causing the tachyarrhythmia.
producing the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter using a plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter each being a value of the hemodynamic parameter detected during the NSR.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein producing the normal range of the hemodynamic parameter comprises producing the normal range using an equation: |X|AVG±k·|X|SD, where |X|AVG is an average value of the hemodynamic parameter calculated using the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter, |X|SD is a standard deviation of the hemodynamic parameter calculated using the plurality of NSR values of the hemodynamic parameter, and k is a predetermined constant.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein sensing the hemodynamic signal comprises sensing a heart sound signal indicative of at least second heart sounds (S2), and detecting the hemodynamic parameter from the hemodynamic signal comprises detect an S2 amplitude from the heart sound signal.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein sensing the hemodynamic signal comprises sensing an arterial pressure signal, and detecting the hemodynamic parameter from the hemodynamic signal comprises detecting an arterial pressure from the arterial pressure signal.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein sensing the hemodynamic signal comprises sensing an impedance signal indicative of at least one of a thoracic impedance and a cardiac impedance, and detecting the hemodynamic parameter from the hemodynamic signal comprises detecting an impedance from the impedance signal.
an anti-tachyarrhythmia pacing (ATP) controller coupled to the characteristic feature detector, the ATP controller adapted to select the detected predetermined type morphological feature as a beginning point of an ATP window and initiate a delivery of a burst of the pacing pulses within the ATP window.
14. The CRM system of claim 13, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises a heart sound signal indicative of at least second heart sounds (S2), the predetermined type characteristic feature comprises a peak of S2, the hemodynamic sensor includes a heart sound sensor adapted to sense the heart sound signal, and the characteristic feature detector comprises an S2 peak detector adapted to detect the peak of S2 from the heart sound signal.
15. The CRM system of claim 13, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises an arterial pressure signal, the predetermined type characteristic feature comprises a dicrotic notch of the arterial pressure signal, the hemodynamic sensor comprises an arterial pressure sensor adapted to sense the arterial pressure signal, and the characteristic feature detector comprises a dicrotic notch detector adapted to detect the dicrotic notch.
16. The CRM system of claim 13, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises an impedance signal (Z) indicative of at least one of a thoracic impedance and a cardiac impedance, the predetermined type characteristic features comprises a trough point of the first derivative of the impedance signal (dZ/dt), the hemodynamic sensor comprises an impedance sensor adapted to sense the impedance signal, and the characteristic feature detector is adapted to produce a signal being the first derivative of the impedance signal (dZ/dt) and to detect a trough point of the signal being the first derivative of the impedance signal (dZ/dt) in a cardiac cycle.
17. The CRM system of claim 13, wherein the hemodynamic signal comprises an impedance signal (Z) indicative of at least one of a thoracic impedance and a cardiac impedance, the predetermined type characteristic feature comprises a zero-crossing point of the second derivative of the impedance signal (d2Z/dt2), the hemodynamic sensor comprises an impedance sensor adapted to sense the impedance signal, and the characteristic feature detector is adapted to produce a signal being the second derivative of the impedance signal (d2Z/dt2) and to detect a zero-crossing point of the signal being the second derivative of the impedance signal (d2Z/dt2) in a cardiac cycle.
an ATP timer, coupled to the ATP window locator, to time an ATP interval from the beginning point of the ATP window and initiate the delivery of the burst of the pacing pulses upon expiration of the ATP interval.
wherein the ATP controller is adapted to control the delivery of the pacing pulses by executing the selected ATP algorithm.
initiating the delivery of ATP when the ATP interval expires.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein sensing the hemodynamic signal comprises sensing a heart sound signal indicative of at least second heart sounds (S2), and detecting the predetermined type characteristic feature from the hemodynamic signal comprises detecting a peak of S2 from the heart sound signal.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein sensing the hemodynamic signal comprises sensing an arterial pressure signal, and detecting the predetermined type characteristic feature from the hemodynamic signal comprises detecting a dicrotic notch from the arterial pressure signal.
detecting a trough point of the signal being the first derivative of the impedance signal (dZ/dt) in a cardiac cycle.
detecting a zero-crossing point of the signal being the second derivative of the impedance signal (d2Z/dt2) in a cardiac cycle.
wherein timing the delivery of ATP using the beginning point of the ATP window comprises timing the delivery of ATP by executing the selected ATP algorithm using the beginning point of the ATP window.
"European Application Serial No. 06837139.2, Response filed Sep. 1, 2009 to Communication dated Apr. 22, 2009", 15 pgs.
"Japanese Application Serial No. 2008-547229, Amended Claims filed Oct. 26, 2009", (w/English Translation), 10 pgs.
"Partial International Search Report for Application No. PCT/US2006/043459", (Mar. 14, 2007), 1-6.
"PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/043459, International Search Report mailed Oct. 23, 2007", 7 pgs.
"PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/043459, Written Opinion mailed Oct. 23, 2007", 13 pgs.
Steinbach, K. K., "Hemodynamics during ventriclar tachyarrhythmias", American Heart Journal, 127(4 Pt 2), (Apr. 1994), 1102-6.
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2019-04-21T03:17:04Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US7844331B2/en
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Porn
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Science
| 0.223094 |
pagesperso-orange
|
There are numerous guided tours to visit it - no free visit and photos are forbidden ;-( - The guided tours do not go everywhere in the building and important parts of it are not included such as the director-s office, the board room, or the studios. Despite these limitations that for myself do not match at all with the aim of teaching and share ideas about Art, the building still deserves the top mark : 3 stars.
Not far from the Glasgow School of Art, the visit is rather deceptive. You can admire plasters and lights on the ground floor. A tea room on the first floor and a tea room with stain glasses on the second floor and a stairway.
: headquarter of the CR Mackintosh society. Features a tower that shrinks on the top in a shape that had been updated by Art Nouveau (see also the Belgian Art Nouveau). A lot of fine wood work. Rushill Church Hall : entrance through a parish tearoom. few things to see (carved wood and stainglasses) have a look particularly to the toilets.
Build in 2002 after the 14 drawings by Mackintosh for an architecture contest. Mackintosh was eliminated because he did not give the right number of drawings regarding the instructions. It is now a Museum and can be hired as a party room. It is one of the rare places where you are allowed to take pictures. So check the hours for visiting on the web, it can be modified according to party organization. A nice children playground is just beside.The Music room and the dinning room are the most interesting rooms.
I have not been able to visit or see these buildings.
Helensburg is a little town on the western shore of Scotland at 26 miles from Glasgow. The visit is certainly one of the most interesting of the building list. The bedroom, the main room and the hall are really worth the drive. It is possible also to go there by train. The train station is less than one mile down the house.
if you are by car, I would recommend to park your car in the Michell street car park which has a nice view on the Lighthouse from its top floor.
Two rooms including the Chinese room have been reconstructed but not exactly. You may find part of the original decoration in the Kelvingston Museum. Very deceptive.
Very narrow street and so very difficult to have good pictures of the top of the building which is the most impressive.
You may park your car in the Michell street car park which has a nice view on the Lighthouse from its top floor.
It has been restored to its first design (Mackintosh has redesigned it at least twice to turn it a little brighter - and for me better). No picture allowed unfortunately. See particularly the guests- bedroom (seems to be also in Hunterian) and the hall.
Is Mackintosh the only Art Nouveau architect in Glasgow?
A lot of things turn around Mackintosh in Glasgow. A little less around his three fellows (Margaret Mc Donald, Mackintosh-s wife, her sister France Mc Donald and Herbert Mc Nair, France-s husband). But I could hardly see information about their influence on Glasgow architecture. Are there some -pépites- to be found in Glasgow as we have in Bruxelles or Paris beside of Horta-s or Guimard-s masterpieces? The 144, Saint Vincent street that I have founded by chance let me think that yes. (It was built in 1902 by James Salmon junior) Have you got any information on other interesting Art Nouveau buildings in Glasgow?
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2019-04-19T16:25:18Z
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http://artnouveau.pagesperso-orange.fr/en/villes/glasgow.htm
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.234877 |
google
|
Current players: We are keen that all players who played any games in Winter 2018 or Summer 2018/19 let us know what your plans are for this upcoming Winter season.
Senior training for March will be held at Koonung Secondary College, 7pm. All players (regular or fill-in) are encouraged to attend, with an expectation that Firsts players attend each week.
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2019-04-24T02:06:51Z
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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1cuAwjpIvgytlH2N1xQ2Xo_bFCs5vZvGr7pdNmAKBtwE/viewform?edit_requested=true
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.490415 |
wordpress
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Hi everybody. It’s only 4 days til Christmas. My how the time has flown. It’s a little unbelievable.
But in spite of that, have you got your tree up?
Stockings strung up with care?
Christmas wreath on the door?
And don’t forget the mistletoe!
So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours! Enjoy!
Good morning everybody. Have you been watching t.v. lately? There are so many horrible things that have happened recent and not so recently.
For example, I was watching a Barbara Walters special the other night-American Scandal. It was about Jonbenet Ramsey. Remember her? The little 6 year old girl that was found brutally murdered and sexual assulted in her own home December 26, 1996 in Boulder, Colorado? Absolutely tragic. Even worse, they still have not found her killer nearly 19 years later. 😦 I personally think that it was the man dressed as Santa Claus on the night of the Ramsey’s Christmas party that year. He told Jonbenet he would make a special visit to her AFTER Christmas but that she had to keep it a secret.
And then you have all of the bombings and shootings at schools and sportings events and in people’s homes and places of business. It’s all so sad and pointless and I just don’t understand how people can do the horrendous things to each other and live with themselves.
My point is that almost everything you hear anymore is how people harass, hurt, injure, and kill others. It is horrible. And so depressing. Why can’t everyone just stop? Stop tormenting others, stop trying to take what they have not earned, stop destroying lives.
If everyone would live by the golden rule, then all of this tragedy would stop. You know what The GOLDEN RULE is right?
Wow, can you imagine how wonderful our lives, our country, our WORLD would be?
It’s not really that hard of a concept is it?
I mean, everyone is different. We all know that. From their looks to their religions to their cultures. That is something that will never change no matter how much we might want it too. So if it can’t be changed, why not make the best of it?
1. Would I want to be hated, abused, raped, or killed?
2. How would I feel if they did this to me or to one of my family members?
You would feel horrible. You wouldn’t want that to happen to your family or friends. So why do it to someone else or their family or friends?
Respect everyone’s differences and beliefs as long as those differences and beliefs don’t involve hurting or killing others.
Life is too short to be miserable and hard enough without causing disrespect, violence, and death to those around us.
This should be easy for those of us with any kind of a heart and soul. Or with any conscience or shred of human decency.
I know this is an ideallyic wish. But unfortunately not a realistic one. There are so many people in this world that are evil. Warped by those sick people around them or possibly born with defects that cause them to not just care. And those indivuals corrupt others. It’s a never ending circle of tragedy.
But those of us that actually care should never give up trying to treat each other with respect and love.
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2019-04-19T03:29:47Z
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https://amydeason.wordpress.com/2015/12/
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Porn
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Society
| 0.249138 |
wordpress
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← Sept 2014 – mistakes were made!
I think it turned out. Not exactly what I thought it would be like but im actually kind of happy with it.
As you can see recomposing and including more of the bandshell would contribute to the visual appear.
I tried to save the dull gray light but only ended up making things worse.
Kind of dreamy but unnatural.
A bit better but missing the punch of having actually shot with real sunset light.
I didn’t do much to the black and white image for post processing.
I simply opened it twice in photoshop from raw. The first time to get the highlights and white crisp and the second to get the dark sky nice and tonal.
I then blended the two images with layer masks and trimmed a bit. I adjusted the lens correction and used a couple approaches to try and accentuate the height of the model primarily making the image narrower in the horizontal.
Finally I converted to black and white carefully balancing the blues and cyans for the trailing fabric and then sharpened.
Overall I kind of like the black and white image. What do you think?
Would selective color work for this image? Is that overdone?
What do you think of the other post processing attempts overdone?
Any suggestions of things I missed in post production.
This entry was posted in 2014 Photo Project, Photos, post processing and tagged black and white, blue, fill flash, natural light, photo, photography, portrait. Bookmark the permalink.
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2019-04-19T12:22:08Z
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https://landshotphotography.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/sept-2014-lemonade/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.567865 |
wordpress
|
How do I write transitions? I prefer airy prose and I’m often told my work is floaty. I worry that my transitions change the tone of my work or are jarring, so I was wondering if you had any tips for me.
This is such an enticing question. Without seeing samples of your work, my guess is that your issue with transitions—from scene to scene, or from space to space within a scene—is that they can be grounding, reminding readers that they’re reading or anchoring a work to a particular physical space. But grounding isn’t contradictory to floaty, airy work; it’s necessary, and satisfying.
I encourage you to think of transitions as punctuation, just as a comma is a transition between phrases or a period is a transition between sentences. A paragraph break or scene break is no more inherently intrusive than a period or comma. Transitions only become jarring when they come too frequently or have to bear the weight of too great a shift, and even that can be used for dramatic effect.
A transition marks an end that makes space for a beginning. Are you finding it challenging to find the endings in elements of your work such as interactions, events, points of focus, or themes? Don’t be afraid of drawing those elements to an end or a pause when you need to. Airy prose isn’t in opposition to thematic certainty, or moral purpose, or to characters taking incontrovertible action. These moments of grounding are necessary to make a work feel meaningful and satisfying. Otherwise it’s just beautiful meandering.
Read the works of other airy prose stylists to see how and when they use transitions, from the comma level all the way to the choice of where the story begins and ends. Think about what makes those works resonate with you, about the hidden or explicit structure of story that the floating prose hangs from like clouds on a stage set. Consider a work like Sofia Samatar’s “Cities of Emerald, Deserts of Gold,” with its frequent, unsoftened transitions between highly personal moments of vignette; it has a rhythm, no more jarring than the pacing of footsteps, and the reader is left curious and just sufficiently disoriented by the thematic leaps that slowly spiral in to resolution. Listen to ethereal music—to airs, even!—and consider the moments of reorientation to the tonic after a bit of glorious noodling about, the shapes of the phrases, the balance of runs and rests.
Your transitions should change the tone of your work; that’s what they’re for. Use them for that purpose. No work can maintain a single tone throughout; just like that airy music, it will be louder and softer, faster and slower. Transitions are part of that. They are tools in your toolbox. Instead of fearing them, see how you can make them work for you, and use them to do some of the heavy lifting that even light, airy stories need.
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2019-04-26T02:19:56Z
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https://storyhospital.wordpress.com/2018/09/04/109-integrating-transitions-into-story-structure/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.093471 |
wordpress
|
I spent half a day in Chora Sfakion, and used the time to visit nearby Loutro as well.
The seascapes in this area are stunning. I used to say that my favourite colours were blue and turquoise, but I don’t think I had an idea of the intensity of the hues these colours could have until I was in Crete last week. What an amazing feast for the eyes, just to look at the Mediterranean glistening in the sunlight!
I had wanted to go to Loutro lured by the promise of Roman ruins and the opportunity to hike for a short distance towards another nearby beach. I took a ferry from Chora Sfakion and as soon as I descended in Loutro, I walked up a hill. The signposting, again, was missing, so I was not sure whether I was again looking for the E4 in the right place. I suppose it becomes a matter of trusting your instinct, given that there will not be a sign, plaque, or arrow to direct you. There were, indeed, some ruins, both of what seemed a Roman settlement and a Venetian fortress. I took plenty of pictures. There were also kri kri (wild goats) and these were so relaxed in my company, that they even posed for pictures!
I then spent about two hours swimming in the sea before taking the ferry back to Chora Sfakion. Chora Sfakion (Sfakia) is a seaside resort, and has lovely tavernas by the seafront. I had drinks by the beach in a taverna a little up the hill. The owner was chatty and very hospitable. I tried a local speciality, a ‘Sfakian pitta’ which is a pancake filled with soft white cheese and served with honey. Simple and brilliant!
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2019-04-18T14:50:46Z
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https://creteisparadise.wordpress.com/tag/mediterranean/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.870415 |
wordpress
|
Some days back, I happen to see this post which boasts the share of M$ products in market. It is really pathetic to see people using the statistical data in an unscientific way (maybe due to their ignorance) to mislead people. In this case, this person has used the statistical data from W3 Schools, to project the market share of Microsoft Windows. At the first sight, upon seeing the stats given by him you will get an impression that M$ Windows is really ruling the market. But after some analysis is done with the raw data, the picture becomes clearer.
First I have added the Windows family for each month (i.e Win 95+Win 98+Win NT+Win 2000+Win XP+Win 2003+Win Vista). I gave them a moderation (for Win 95 in 2008, 2007, 2006 & 2005 and for Win NT in 2008 & 2007), the maximum value of 0.5% if they weren’t listed in the table. This is because the W3 Schools shows only those platforms with market share greater than 0.5%.
The data was available only for alternate months till January 2008, hence I allotted the previous months data whenever the data was absent. Then I plotted graph between the market-shares of M$ Windows family and the rest (GNU/Linux & Mac) from 2003 to 2008.
It is quite evident that over the years the number of GNU/Linux users are increasing. The improvements in user interfaces, awareness on FREEDOM of free softwares, flexibility and scalability of free softwares, security and stability of GNU/Linux platforms made the crowd to move to GNU/Linux, even in case of F1 racing where precision and speed are both required without any compromise. In the coming years we can see the exponential rise in the usage of GNU/Linux due to the faster development of the GNU/Linux distros compared to the contemporary ones. The best example is, Ubuntu developed by Canonical is released every six months, still offer better stability, security and facilities compared to the 6 year gap between Microsoft Windows XP and Vista.
No wonder in rise of eye candy Mac systems on a web designer fundae site like W3 schools. The data from the W3 Schools may have been collected from the clicks to the site. But there is no way from the data to correlate the decline in Windows family to individual growth of MAC.
GNU/Linux and MAC are steadily growing.
You cannot trust the click tracking from such specialized sites, unless they are from sites like Google or Orkut which attracts all classes of people.
I am quoting the words of Benjamin Disraeli which I found in the W3 schools statistics page.
Future Works: To do some neural network simulation (or some prediction algorithm) to predict the death of Windows. Read this too.
not many wud look at those statistics from this angle…..
jai ubuntu…. jai kubuntu… 😉 :p !!!!!!
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2019-04-18T13:06:05Z
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https://njaan.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/microsoft-will-die-soon/
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Porn
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Computers
| 0.095237 |
wordpress
|
Reaction time is a critical factor in a combat situation. A tiny fraction of a second in who moves first, whether or not someone can react quickly enough to parry a blow, an instant of indecision, or a fractionally swifter strike can easily make the difference between life and death. Ways to improve that time are widely sought.
So lets take a look at the various steps.
The first item is sensory information – mostly visual and kinesthetic. It’s mildly hard to beat the natural systems here: the eyes are too close to the brain for much transmission delay, and – while the visual cortex does a fair amount of processing – it also does it through a series of very well-established rules. While there is some flexibility there, and some provision for rule-changes (1), the fact that this stage is essentially hardwired and relatively short means that there is relatively little room for improvement.
Kinesthesia would normally have a minor timelag thanks to the transmission delay of information through the peripheral nervous system, up the spinal cord, and it’s basic processing through the hindbrain – but the system compensates by projecting the data. That’s why, if you unexpectedly stub your toe, there may be a momentary feeling of your leg being ahead of where it actually is: the projected data does not match the actual data (2). Information from the ears is normally less vital in combat than that from the eyes – but the discussion is otherwise almost identical. Touch is of relatively little importance – many people will not even register a wound until after combat is over – and is subject to many of the same conditions as kinesthesia anyway. Balance comes into play as well, but is primarily a function of kinesthesia and the middle ear – and the information from the middle ear requires very little analysis. There isn’t much of any contribution to the delays there.
Now that the brain has some information, it has to make a decision as to what to do. This is where the biggest delays occur, including “freezing up” – the shocked inaction that occurs under stress when the brain cannot reach a conclusion. There are a couple of ways to speed things up here though. The biggest, and most classic, is practice: learn to stay focused on the fight, and a lot of other considerations – your car keys, what’s to eat, if you’re being cheated on, how much your elbow hurts – will be effectively blocked out. That’s a lot of neurons you don’t have to wait for a consensus from.
Well-established neural patterns are the quickest to trigger and the fastest to act: that’s a big part of the point behind kata, drills, and target practice. If the brain has only a few, well-established, patterns of action to choose between, the process may never get bogged down in conscious considerations at all, and those actions will go off more quickly and smoothly into the bargain. That can occasionally lead to you doing things that you didn’t mean too, but that’s the tradeoff you get for well-honed combat reflexes.
Now that a decision has been made, it has to be converted into action. The motor centers convert the demands of the conscious mind – or its trained reflexes – into a series of motor-control impulses. That’s another tolerably-fast process, since – once again – most of those neural patterns are well established. Still, there’s probably room for improvement there. Of course, this is also one of the oldest, most well-adapted, and vital parts of the brain. Meddling here is very risky.
The spine – while responsible for a number of simple reflexes (most of them related to damage-avoidance, where speed is most critical) and hosting portions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems – primarily acts as the pathway for signals to and from the brain to the rest of the body. Since muscle-control signals must be sent in sequence, and proper control demands that at least the start of return feedback be received before the next sequence is initiated, transmission delays in the spinal cord are a notable part of reaction time.
The peripheral nervous system carries signals from the spine to the muscles and vice versa, as well as regulating a wide variety of autonomic processes through the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. In general, it’s preferable to avoid meddling too much with the nerves regulating digestion, heartbeat, pupil diameter, artery constriction, bronchial responses, and all the other processes that keep the body functioning. Excessive meddling here is usually contraindicated. It’s also fairly difficult: the peripheral nervous system is made up of a network of fibers distributed throughout the tissues of the body. Still, nerve transmission delays in the peripheral nervous system make up a significant component of reaction time – in many cases, as large a component as the spinal delay.
Finally, we have muscle-response/inertial delays: muscle fibers can only contract with so much force, and so quickly. The energy output is limited, thus the force that can be exerted is limited – and every bit of bone and flesh has inertia to overcome. Enhancing the contraction speed will accelerate the response (and result in quicker exhaustion, although – in a fight with modern weapons – that’s not a major worry), but there are severe limits to this process: the faster you try to move the anchoring bones and the flesh around them, the more power is required – and the greater the stress on the muscle, ligaments, tendons, and attachment points involved. Still, a good training regimen may realize substantial gains in this area.
Now, Shadowrun assumes that the characters are – at the least – competent in a fight, and have probably been in a fair number of them. It also defines “Intelligence” more or less as a measurement of how quickly an individual processes information, and “Quickness” as a composite measurement of motor reaction speed and fine control. Ergo, the “Reaction” attribute – equal to (Intelligence + Quickness)/2, rounded down. Neither reaction, nor Initiative (normally equal to Reaction + 1d6 unless other modifiers apply) translate readily into any actual measurement of time, and they don’t really need to, since it only really matters who goes first and how often – which is a fair statement both in the game and in reality.
There are, of course, a fair number of ways to get an edge in combat – augmentations, spells, and treatments, that are described in a number of ways. Notably, the practice effect is not one of them. While I have no way of knowing why the original authors didn’t include it, I wouldn’t either – simply because implementing the down side of trained reflexes (limiting your options to the ones you’ve trained) is pretty much impossible to simulate when you’ve got a bunch of players sitting around a table talking about what their characters ought to do.
So, what can be done – past basic cmobat training – to increase a character’s “Reaction” and “Initiative”?
Not too much in reality, at least as yet. Fortunately, we’re talking about Shadowrun – a setting which has another fifty years worth of technological advancements, functioning neural interfaces, magic, the ability to augment the brain, advanced chemical supplements, and various forms of genetically-modified biotechnological systems. That opens up a lot of options, which I’ll be going over in the next post on this topic.
can give the reference or any other emprical finding of above artical. I am a student of psychology and i am working in the area of vigilance where reaction time use as a most common measure.
Unfortunately for research projects, this particular article is discussing the elements of a game setting. Now, I do like to keep things realistic, and I expect the players to be well informed. Thus this article is firmly based on the general mechanics of the brain and a variety of experiments, but most of the conclusions are simply based on logic and the application of some basic principles of neurology and computation. I did, however, forget the two footnotes I’d meant to add, so here they are.
(1) Is based on experiments involving volunteers who wore goggles that inverted what they saw. After a few days, their brains compensated, again inverting the image. When they took the goggles off, this persisted briefly and then reverted. If they tried again, it took far less time to adapt. A related experiment on visual processing involved raising kittens in an environment that lacked vertical lines. As adults, they failed to perceive such lines in their environments and apparently could not learn to do so, demonstrating that the proper neural pre-processing circuitry had not developed.
(2) Is based on experiments and calculations involving baseball; given nerve-conduction speeds, it is necessary to project the motion of the ball, start the swing, and to continue sending signals based on projected motions – of both the ball and the body of the batter – in advance of neural feedback.
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2019-04-24T06:41:48Z
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https://ruscumag.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/biological-basics-reaction-time/
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Porn
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Science
| 0.18363 |
wordpress
|
It’s heavier than it needs to be because it has both a div wrapping each item and a horizontal rule after. One or the other does the trick. I’m pleased that it manages, even with both tags, to have fewer tags than you’d need for a form with the same elements nestled in a list, which seems to be the cool thing to do these days (myself, I’m in the not every collection is a list camp). I’m curious what a list would offer it that it doesn’t have now. I think this looks better with the CSS stripped out than it would if everything had excess bullets next to it, as well.
I’m still working on it – the CSS could be cleaned up – but it’s nice to know that it can be done. The important things, to me, are that it allows for infinitely expanding labels, as well as notes and examples.
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2019-04-24T22:56:55Z
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https://garann.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/forms-without-lists/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.137003 |
wordpress
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We occasionally write blog posts under the heading of ‘Useful Reading’ when something passes over our desks which makes us reflect on the topic of age at work. We met Sarah Dale at a conference last year when she attended a presentation of our research. When she later asked us, we were very happy to agree to review her book Bolder and Wiser.
The book is an account of Sarah’s reflections (as she approaches 50) on a series of ‘remarkable conversations with older women’. Although she is a practising occupational psychologist and coach, Sarah’s approach is a personal – and very readable – one. Through her analysis of the interviews, she covers a range of topics that touch our lives: e.g. our social networks, money, appearance, domestic responsibilities and, of course, paid and voluntary work.
She (rightly, I think) identifies the women she interviews as belonging to a generation who have lived through some major social changes. These include access to higher education, paid work outside the home, and contraception. She argues for the difficulty in separating out ageing from gender issues and I was especially interested in her comment that ‘women in particular are still in the early stages of developing acceptable or desirable models of ageing’. In the language of discourse analysis, I would say that another way of looking at this is that there are only limited ‘subject positions’ available to older women in our society. There’s a small academic literature, for example, on how older women can be denied the female equivalent of the ‘wise old man’ identity. This book is an excellent contribution to exploring and widening the identities that older women might seek. Not only that, Sarah and her interviewees are very good company on the page, sharing their warmth and distilling wisdom from their lived experience from which we can all benefit.
In respect to work, Sarah highlights the importance of being ready to learn and develop – and in having a belief that you can do so – at all stages of life. This also involves being open to opportunities. She observes how ‘the impact that women can make through work is far from over’ in their fifties – and beyond. She suggests that, for this cohort of women, traditional notions of retirement have less resonance than they might do for men of similar age as the former have been pioneers in combining family and career. Again, this echoes recent research and, at a time when society needs to re-think retirement, the book offers useful ideas for both men and women.
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2019-04-21T10:18:46Z
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https://ageatwork.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/bolder-and-wiser-remarkable-conversations-with-older-women-by-sarah-dale/
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Porn
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Society
| 0.681195 |
google
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Electronic game tables with multifunction legs are described. In one implementation, an electronic multiplayer game table includes a tabletop with player stations for an electronic betting game. Multifunction legs physically support the periphery of the tabletop, while electronic components for playing the betting game are mounted in the multifunction legs. For example, a multifunction leg may contain multiple currency detectors and coinless slot machine-style ticket printers/readers, so that each player at the game table has an exclusive currency detector and an exclusive ticket printer in close proximity. The multifunction legs may also include magnetic or smart card readers for transferring player, banking, and monetary information. In a variation, central control components of the electronic game table are also mounted in the legs. The multifunction legs can eliminate the need for a central support pedestal. This enables efficient under-table cooling schemas and other innovations, such as under-table lighting and a central tabletop holograph space.
Electronic game tables for multiplayer betting games conventionally have a tabletop attached to a central support pedestal that also houses central control components, such as a computing device that acts as a server for peripheral player stations. Or, such conventional electronic game tables have peripheral legs that serve the sole function of supporting the tabletop. With either of these tabletop support schemas, there is limited tabletop area for each player. While it is common to provide each player at an electronic game table with a dedicated touch screen display, it is difficult or impossible to provide each player with other accessories, such as a paper currency detector or a cash-out ticket printer.
What is needed is a way to place more of the desirable components of an electronic game table in close proximity to each player, without cluttering the tabletop to the point of creating distraction or impairing usefulness.
This summary section is not intended to give a full description of electronic game tables with multifunction legs, or to provide a list of features and elements. A detailed description of example embodiments of such an electronic gaming system follows.
FIG. 1 is an elevation diagram of an electronic game table under construction with exemplary multifunction legs.
FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the electronic game table shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an elevation diagram of exemplary construction details of the electronic game table and multifunction legs as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method of including electronic components in a leg of an electronic game table.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a first exemplary game processing system that can be included in game tables that use the multifunction legs.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a second exemplary game processing system that can be included in game tables that use the multifunction legs.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a third exemplary game processing system, components of which can be included in game tables that use the multifunction legs.
This disclosure describes electronic game tables with multifunction legs. The multifunction legs provide many benefits over conventional electronic game tables.
In one implementation, as shown in FIG. 1, an exemplary electronic game table 100 for betting games has multifunction legs, e.g., 102, 104, & 106 attached around the outer perimeter or periphery of a tabletop 108. For example, each leg may be attached at a different outer corner of the tabletop 108. Each leg, e.g., leg 104, contains a vertical support member for supporting the tabletop 108 as well as electronic equipment, e.g., communicatively coupled with central control components to provide some elements of a distributed network.
Besides physically supporting the electronic game tabletop 108 either directly via the vertical support member or indirectly via horizontal rails between the vertical support members of two legs, each multifunction leg 104 serves additional practical functions, such as housing currency detectors 110 & 112 and ticket printers 114 & 116 associated with the electronic betting game. The ticket printers 114 & 116, which can be tickets-in-tickets-out systems, typically create a paper ticket with a barcode representing the player's credit balance or money balance (money balance is used herein to represent either) at the time of cashing-out from the electronic game table 100. Depending on implementation, the same device or a different ticket reader may scan the ticket to input a player's money balance as credits at the electronic game table 100. Currency detectors 110 & 112, which are also known as bill validators, bill acceptors, paper currency readers, and sometimes ticket readers, scan paper currency and/or tickets created by ticket printers 114 & 116 using optical sensors. Upon validation, the currency detector 112 signals the control components of the electronic game table 100 of a player credit via a parallel or serial interface.
Other components, such as power supplies and cooling devices, may also be housed in each multifunction leg 104. The multifunction legs may also include magnetic or smart card readers for transferring player, banking, and monetary information to and from an internal or external system for using and tracking the information. A smart card (chip card, or integrated circuit card) is a pocket-sized card with embedded electronics to process data. The exemplary multifunction legs 104 contrast with conventional gaming tables that group the significant conventional electronic components into a central support pedestal of the conventional table or in the tabletop.
The exemplary multifunction legs 104 provide many advantages for the exemplary electronic game table 100 over conventional electronic game table layouts. In one implementation, besides supporting the tabletop 108, each multifunction leg 104 provides currency detectors 110 & 112 and ticket printers 114 & 116 for two players, one on each side of a given multifunction leg 104. Thus, a game table 100 with four legs provides each of eight players with an exclusive currency reader 110 and an exclusive ticket printer 116 for that player alone. Such multifunction legs 104 provide each player at the game table 100 with an exclusive currency reader 110 and an exclusive ticket printer 116 without adding bulk to the game tabletop 108 or to a central pedestal of the game table 100. The multifunction legs 104 position a user interface for each of the user-accessible electronic components mounted in the legs within close proximity to the adjacent player position and thereby within easy reach of a player seated adjacent to a leg. Thus, each player does not have to reach very far to use a respective currency reader 110 and ticket printer 116 dedicated exclusively to that player.
Housing significant electronic components in the multifunction legs 104 keeps electronic accessories from bulking up a central pedestal—or from requiring a central pedestal at all—and from cluttering the game tabletop 108 with credit processing devices and related user interfaces. The multifunction legs 104 allow the electronic game table 100 to achieve a leaner appearance and cleaner tabletop 108 than conventional electronic game tables, while providing another practical benefit of more leg room. The central housing for central control components can be suspended from the bottom of the tabletop 108, or from horizontal supports attached between the multifunction legs 104 that support the tabletop 108, instead of relying on the support of a central pedestal.
As shown in FIG. 2, the multifunction legs 104 allow an innovative cooling system for electronic game tables, in which a cooling air intake 202 draws air from the open bottom of the central housing 204 (when a central housing 204 is used for central control components) and flows the air through channels in the tabletop 108, or out of a top opening. The central housing 204 can include a relatively large opening 202 at its bottom for air intake, since the multifunction legs 104 eliminate the need for a central pedestal that would conventionally reach to the floor to support the game tabletop 108. Drawing air from the open bottom 202 of the central housing 204 can provide a quieter electronic game table 100. That is, the bottom-located opening 202 enables a quieter placement of electric cooling fans. In another implementation, no cooling fans are needed in the central housing 204. When centrally located electronic components generate heat, the rising heat initiates a spontaneous “thermal siphon” airflow that draws air from the bottom opening(s) 202 of the central housing 204.
In one implementation, either fan-driven air circulation or the spontaneous airflow enabled by the multifunction legs 104 flows through the tabletop 108, which contains airflow channels in an interior layer, and is vented at the edges of the tabletop 108, for example, at points furthest away from any player, or at vents in the multifunction legs 104. Such channels in a tabletop 108 of a game table 100 are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/260,989 to Kuhn, which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 3 shows construction detail of an exemplary implementation of the multifunction legs 104. In the illustrated example, besides providing a vertical support member, the multifunction legs 104 are constructed with various access panels and doors, e.g., 302, 304, and 306, which provide openings for the electronic components 110, 112, 114, 116 housed in the multifunction legs 104 to slide in and out for installation and service. The access doors, e.g., door 304, also allows access to auxiliary components, such as a local power supply 308, local cooling fans if needed (not shown), and support components in the multifunction legs 104, such as support fasteners, retractable “pop-down” transport wheels, leveling mechanisms, and so forth.
A central housing access door 310 typically includes a lock 312 and one or more electric interlocks, to secure the central control components (not shown) and to secure privileged access to game settings.
In one implementation, since the multifunction legs 104 allow an open space under the central housing 204 (when used), or eliminate the need for a central housing altogether, the tabletop 108 is equipped with underside lighting (not shown) to illuminate the entire floor surface under the electronic game table 100. The underside lighting of the entire floor surface under the game table 100 is not possible with conventional pedestal-style game tables. The underside lighting can be colored to attract attention to the game table, or can change color or flash colors to signal game states, such as wins. The underside lighting can also turn on-and-off on a programmed cue, flash, change color, change intensity, display light movement in a patterned or sequential manner, etc., for example, when a player approaches the table or begins to leave.
In an alternative implementation, all the significant electronic components for the electronic game table 100 (except tabletop player stations, such as player station 314) are mounted in the multifunction legs 104. This eliminates the need for a central housing 204 underneath the tabletop 108. In one variation, when electronic components are distributed to the peripherally attached multifunction legs 104, a central display screen, also known as a common display 318, may sometimes be omitted from the game table 100. This leaves an open space to the floor, or an opening for a 3-D object, such as a sculpture or an advertisement, or an opening for a recessed holographic projection space, i.e., a recessed well in which 3-D holographic shapes may be projected and animated. Such a central space may also be used for other game parts and functions, such as a real or holographic roulette wheel, a real or holographic dice pit, or other centrally positioned gaming device.
FIG. 4 shows an exemplary method 400 of including electronic components in a leg of an electronic game table. The operations are represented as individual blocks.
At block 402, a leg is attached to a periphery of an electronic multiplayer game table.
At block 404, one currency detector and one ticket printer and/or reader are mounted in the leg per each player position adjacent to the leg.
At block 406, a first user interface for accessing the currency detector and a second user interface for accessing the ticket printer/reader are mounted in the leg, e.g., within human reach of the adjacent player position.
The currency detectors and the ticket printers/readers are typically communicatively coupled with central control components for executing a betting game on the electronic multiplayer game table.
Multiple legs of the electronic multiplayer game table provide an exclusive currency detector and an exclusive ticket printer/reader for each player position at the electronic multiplayer game table.
The exemplary multifunction legs 104 can be used with electronic game tables and/or tabletops for betting games, such as those game tables, tabletops, and betting games variously described in US. Pat. No. 5,586,766 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,998 to Forte et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,069, U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,629, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,642 to Sines et al., each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Returning to FIG. 3 as an exemplary implementation of an electronic game table 100 that uses the multifunction legs 104, each game table 100 has an arbitrary size that in the illustrated version seats eight participants. Other implementations can seat a different number of participants. The game table 100 has a display screen or touch screen user interface for each participant, i.e., a player station 314. A participant's player station 314 may include an electronic display for presenting visual images and may further consist of a touch screen display for further interactive capability. Depending upon implementation, each participant player station 314 may also include various other forms of interactive interface, such as pointing devices, light sensors, wagering chip sensors, audio speakers, etc.
The illustrated example game table 100 may also include at least one common display 318 in the center of the game table 100, for presenting visual information to all participants. The common display(s) 318 may present general information redundantly in two, four, or more visual orientations so that the displayed information is oriented correctly for each participant.
The example electronic game table 100 of FIG. 3 has an example layout that is useful for unhosted card games, although using a live dealer at such a game table 100 is not ruled out. The example game table 100 as shown typically uses virtual playing cards and virtual chips. However, the game table 100 can be configured to use any combination of real playing cards, virtual playing cards, real wagering chips, and/or virtual gaming chips. When real playing cards are used, a live shoe that reads the identity of each card sends the card identity information to the electronic processor (504 or 604 in FIGS. 5-7) that runs the game. When real wagering chips are used, light sensors, optical sensors, scanning technology, weigh cells, RFID technology, etc., may be used with specially constructed chips or conventional standard chips to sense chip presence and chip values.
FIG. 5 shows an example game processing system 500 that can be included in game tables that use the multifunction legs 104, such as electronic game table 100. Some or all of such a game processing system 500, such as currency detectors 110 and ticket printers 114, can be situated in the multifunction legs 104. The illustrated configuration of the exemplary game processing system 500 is meant to provide only one example arrangement for the sake of overview. Many other arrangements of the illustrated components, or similar components, are possible within the scope of the subject matter. Such an exemplary game processing system 500 can be executed in hardware, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc.
The exemplary game processing system 500 includes a computing device 502, which may be a desktop, server, or notebook style computer, or other device that has processor, memory, and data storage. The computing device 502 thus includes a processor 504, memory 506, data storage 508; and interface(s) 510 to communicatively couple with the participant “1” user interface 314, the participant “2” user interface 316, . . . , and the participant “N” user interface 512. The game processing system 500 includes a gaming engine 514 and game rules 516, shown as software loaded into memory 506.
The interfaces 510 can be one or more hardware components that drive the visual displays and communicate with the interactive components, e.g., touch screen displays, of the multiple participant user interfaces 314, 316, . . . , 512.
FIG. 6 shows another example game processing system 600 that can be included in game tables that use the multifunction legs 104, such as electronic game table 100. Some or all of the game processing system 600, such as currency detectors 110 and ticket printers 114, can be situated in one or more of the multifunction legs 104. The illustrated configuration of the exemplary game processing system 600 is meant to provide only one example arrangement for the sake of overview. Many other arrangements of the illustrated components, or similar components, are possible within the scope of the subject matter, e.g., that shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, such an exemplary game processing system 600 can be executed in hardware, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc.
The exemplary game processing system 600 includes a server computing device 602, which can be a computer or other device that has processor, memory, and data storage. The server computing device 602 thus includes a processor 604, memory 606, data storage 608, and an interface, such as a network interface card (NIC) 610, to communicatively couple over a network 612 with remote computing devices, such as computing device “1” 614 that hosts the participant “1” user interface 616; computing device “2” 618 that hosts the participant “2” user interface 620; . . . ; and computing device “N” 622 that hosts the participant “N” user interface 624. The currency detectors 110 and ticket printers 114 typically interface with the server computing device 602 via serial or parallel ports. The game processing system 600 includes a gaming engine 514 and game rules 516, shown as software loaded into memory 606.
The participant computing devices 614, 618, and 622 may be desktop or notebook computers, or may be workstations or other client computing devices that have processor and memory, but may or may not have onboard data storage. Typically, a player station does not have data storage. Such modules may be “dumb” in that they have no bootable device, but generally receive images and instructions from the server 602. Thus, in one implementation, a player computing device 614 is a visual display with graphics processing power and user interface components.
FIG. 7 shows another example game processing system 700, consisting of a network of gaming machines 100, 100′, and 100″ that each may have “n” players. Electronic components for each game table may be stored in multifunction legs 104 of the individual game table. The game processing system 700 is similar to that shown in FIG. 6, except that the client nodes of the network 612 are multiplayer gaming machines (e.g., 100, 100′, & 100″) instead of individual gaming stations. That is, each node of the network 612 can accommodate multiple players. In another implementation, the network 612 has a mixture of client nodes consisting of individual playing stations as in FIG. 6 and multiplayer gaming stations as in FIG. 7.
wherein the electronic components in each leg include at least one currency detector and one ticket printer for each player position adjacent to the leg.
wherein the user interface is mounted within a human reach distance when a player is seated adjacent to the leg.
3. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronic components mounted in each leg are communicatively coupled with central control components to form elements of a distributed computing device network.
4. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 1, wherein substantially all of the central control components are also mounted in at least one of the legs mounted to the tabletop near an outside periphery of the tabletop.
5. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in 1, wherein the electronic components in each leg include at least one currency detector and one ticket printer for each player position adjacent to the leg.
6. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in 1, wherein the collective electronic components mounted in all of the legs include at least an exclusive currency detector and an exclusive ticket printer for each player position at the electronic multiplayer game table.
wherein each player station has an associated exclusive currency detector and an associated exclusive ticket printer in a leg adjacent to the player station.
8. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 7, wherein N equals one of 3, 4, 5, or 6.
9. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 1, wherein each leg includes one of a power supply, a cooling fan, a card reader, a smart card reader, or a player-identity-card reader.
wherein a central housing for containing control components is suspended from a center part of the tabletop or from a tabletop support member, leaving an open space between the bottom of the central housing and a floor level at the bottom of the legs.
11. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 10, wherein a bottom surface of the central housing includes an opening for air to cool the control components.
12. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 11, wherein air is drawn into the central housing by one of an electric cooling fan or by a thermal siphon of heated air rising from the control components.
13. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 10, wherein an underside light is mounted on at least one of the underside of the tabletop and/or on the bottom surface of the central housing, in order to light an entire floor or ground area under the electronic multiplayer game table.
14. The electronic multiplayer game table as recited in claim 1, wherein substantially all of the central control components are mounted in the legs; and a central area of the tabletop comprises a holographic projection space.
NL2014715B1 (en) * 2015-04-24 2017-01-18 Ben Moussa Adil Game device.
U.S. Appl. No. 12,323,478, filed 2008, Kuhn et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/176,248, filed 2009, Kuhn et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/268,398, filed 2008, Chatellier et al.
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US7922589B2/en
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webcindario
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One more step. What can I do to prevent this in the future. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Cloudflare Ray ID: 371ee37f16595b81 Your IP. 159.148.186.11 Performance security by Cloudflare.
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http://proggy.webcindario.com/num-409065.php
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wordpress
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Studio 5 is the premiere event collective of some of the best event professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are here to help you visualize, build, and create our dream events from the very beginning to end. Our products and services consist of event planning and production, event floral design, photography, props, lighting, rentals, videography, cakes, attire and so much more. Our established team assists in the overall coming-together, so that creativity flows and visions become reality. Clients are welcome to carefully choose one or all of our services offered. We can walk you through this simple and stress-free process. The result is a seamless affaire. We are your ultimate dream team!
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https://claremontartstudios.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/studio-5-events/
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google
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1997-11-05 Assigned to STAT ENGINEERING CO., L.L.C. reassignment STAT ENGINEERING CO., L.L.C. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: MAKHIJA, SURENDER K.
2000-04-20 Assigned to SPX CORPORATION reassignment SPX CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: MAKHIJA, SURENDER K.
2001-02-16 Assigned to SPX CORPORATION reassignment SPX CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: STAT ENGINEERING COMPANY, L.L.C.
An electronic battery testing device and a method for testing batteries are provided. Device applies a small first fixed load and measures the voltage at the end of the first fixed load and then applies a medium second fixed load and measures the voltage at the end of the second fixed load. The device then analyzes the condition of the battery based on these voltage values. A method is also provided involving: (a) applying a first small fixed load to a battery, (b) measuring the voltage at the end of the first small fixed load, (c) applying a second medium fixed load to the battery, (d) measuring the voltage of the battery at the end of the second medium fixed load, and (e) analyzing the condition of the battery based on the voltage values. Preferably the method also involves evaluating the recovery voltage wave form after the second medium load. The device and method allowed for evaluation of deeply discharged batteries without the need to charge the batteries and also allows for the test equipment to be in hand held form.
The present invention relates to battery testers and methods for testing batteries, and more particularly relates to testers useful for testing automotive batteries and methods useful for testing automotive batteries.
Current methods for determining the condition of lead acid batteries (automotive batteries) are based upon the measurement of the internal resistance or dynamic conductance of the battery. Internal resistance or dynamic conductance value as compared to the size and state of the charge of the battery under test to determine its condition. The conventional direct current methods have typically involved measuring the internal resistance of the battery based on Ohm's law. The internal resistance of the battery is calculated by Ri =Vocv -Vload/ Iload. It has been found that internal resistance of the battery measured by a direct current method varies with the current (Iload). Internal resistance of the battery is higher as the current is made smaller. Conventional methods used to measure the internal resistance of the battery have typically used very high direct current for example 50 amps or more. Using very high direct current minimizes the effect of changes in internal resistance due to change in the test current. While the high direct current method has proven to have certain advantages, it has also exhibited certain disadvantages, including typically requiring very bulky and expensive test equipment, requiring that the battery have enough charge in order to perform the test, and requiring the use of very high currents which change the condition of the battery temporarily so that test results are not repeatable. Consequently, there is a desire to provide test methods and equipment which overcome these disadvantages.
Other methods used for determining the condition of lead acid batteries have involved measuring the dynamic conductance/resistance of the battery by charging the battery by a time varying voltage making periodic step transitions at a pre-determined frequency between two discreet levels or exciting the battery by a time varying discharge current making periodic transitions between levels at a pre-determined frequency. Corresponding periodic change in battery terminal voltage is monitored to calculate the battery dynamic conductance/resistance. Battery terminal voltages change periodically and can be separated from the battery direct current voltage and amplified for measurement, thereby allowing the use of very small charge or discharge current and the apparatus required for making the internal resistance measurement typically requires a lesser amount of hardware than the very high direct current method. Thus, the above method allows for determining the condition of the battery and the utilization of hand held testers. However, such conventional dynamic methods involve various disadvantages. These disadvantages include relying on the open circuit voltage to determine the state of charge of the battery which can be very misleading due to several reasons including (a) the presence of surface charge which can greatly affect the open circuit voltage, (b) the battery was under charge or discharge conditions and was not allowed to stabilize for sufficient time, thereby permitting the open circuit voltage reading to be very misleading for judging the state of charge, and (c) variations in the design and construction of the battery can have a great influence on the open circuit voltage which in turn may not be a very good indicator of the state of charge of the battery for the wide population of automotive batteries designed for different applications. Additional problems with dynamic tests include that dynamic conductance/resistance varies significantly with the state of charge, and specifically provides difficulties associated with the measurement of exact state of charge in a deep discharge state, and more specifically cannot effectively diagnosis batteries which are deeply discharged.
Both of the above conventional methods are widely used, however they have exhibited great difficulty in diagnosing battery conditions when the batteries are deeply discharged since both methods depend upon the internal resistance or dynamic conductance/resistance measurement, which changes with the state of charge of the battery. When the battery is completely discharged or deeply discharged, it is very difficult to assess its state of charge by the above methods.
Consequently, there is a need and a desire to provide a device which can be in a light weight, handheld form, and which can provide an accurate diagnosis of batteries in very discharged state.
Klingbiel U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093 issued Jan. 7, 1997 which discloses an electronic battery testing device which utilizes a bridge circuit and amplified output to indicate presence of a loose connection; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,629 issued Aug. 18, 1992 which discloses an electronic tester involving a dynamic conductance method; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170 issued Apr. 25, 1989 which discloses an electronic battery testing device which utilizes a dynamic conductance measurement method; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098 issued Jan. 28, 1997 which discloses an electronic battery tester which uses a dynamic conductance measurements involving; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136 issued Nov. 5, 1996 which discloses an electronic battery testing device which utilizes a time varying current signal measuring internal resistance; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768 issued Mar. 28, 1989 which discloses utilization of an electronic battery testing device for measuring dynamic conductance; Harper, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,270 issued Aug. 1, 1995 which discloses a battery tester comparing load and no load battery voltage utilizing a potential divider coupled to the battery; McShane, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355 issued Nov. 12, 1996 which discloses a method and apparatus for detection and control of thermal runaway in battery undercharged involving determining internal resistance or conductance of the battery undercharge; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728 issued Dec. 17, 1996 which discloses an electronic tester with compensation for low state of charge for measuring dynamic conductance; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708 issued Sep. 30, 1975 which discloses an electronic battery testing device for making dynamic measurements; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911 issued Mar. 25, 1975 which utilizes an oscillator in the measurement of dynamic resistance; Windebank U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,294 issued Feb. 21, 1984 which discloses a method and apparatus for testing a battery by obtaining the dynamic voltage-current characteristic of the battery; Poljack U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,994 issued Apr. 21, 1987 which discloses a battery tester having first and second flip-flop means for testing lithium sulfur dioxide batteries; Windebank U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,880 issued Aug. 2, 1993 which discloses a method and apparatus for charging a battery involving evaluating the dynamic voltage/current characteristic of the battery; De La rosa U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,383 which discloses a battery and starter circuit monitoring system; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038 issued Nov. 14, 1989 which discloses an electronic battery device with automatic voltage scaling to determine dynamic conductance; Ritter U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,248 issued Jun. 10, 1975 which discloses a faulty battery connection indicator; Seyl U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,673 which discloses a method for measuring corrosion rates in a battery; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768 issued Mar. 28, 1989 which discloses an electronic battery testing device for measuring dynamic conductance; Champlin U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416 issued Mar. 27, 1990 which discloses an electronic battery testing device with state of charge compensation; Abert U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,560 which discloses a method and apparatus for determining the maintenance and charge condition of lead acid storage batteries utilizing a heavy current load; Theron, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,021 issued Sep. 15, 1981 which discloses a battery testing method and device; Reni, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,968 issued Oct. 4, 1994 which discloses a method and apparatus for determining the charged state of a battery; Furuishi, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,094 issued Aug. 14, 1973 which discloses a method and device for measuring the internal resistance of a battery; Frailing, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,025 which discloses an automatic battery analyzer; Ottone U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,067 which discloses a battery analyzer utilizing a load bank to maintain a plurality of resisters in selective parallel interconnection; Marion, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,378 issued Dec. 27, 1983 which involves automotive battery test apparatus testing dynamic internal resistance of a battery; Alber, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,795 which discloses battery testing and monitoring system for continuously monitoring a battery voltage; McShane, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355 issued Nov. 12, 1996 which discloses a method and apparatus for detection and control of thermal runaway in a battery under charge, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. As set out above, these prior methods and devices suffer from one or more problems which are overcome by the present method and device.
An electronic battery testing device and a method for testing batteries are provided. The device applies a small first fixed load and measures the voltage at the end of the first fixed load and then applies a medium second fixed load and measures the voltage at the end of the second fixed load (the second fixed load may be in the form of a separate second fixed load or be in the form of the total effect of the first fixed load and an additional fixed load). The device then analyzes the condition of the battery based on these voltage values. A method is also provided involving: (a) applying a first small fixed load to a battery, (b) measuring the voltage at the end of the first small fixed load, (c) applying a second medium fixed load to the battery, (d) measuring the voltage of the battery at the end of the second medium fixed load, and (e) analyzing the condition of the battery based on the voltage values. Preferably the method also involves evaluating the recovery voltage wave form of the battery after the second medium load. The device and method allowed for evaluation of batteries without the need to charge the batteries, and also provides for improved accuracy in the evaluation of the condition of deeply discharged battery and allows for the test equipment to be in hand held form.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of the electrical configuration of the liquid crystal display section of the device of the present invention.
As best shown in FIG. 6, a battery tester device (20) is connected to a battery (22) for testing the battery (22) to determine the condition of the battery (22). The device (20) preferably comprises (a) a microprocessor (microcontroller)(24), (b) a keyboard (26) for manually inputting to the processor (24), (c) a display (liquid crystal display, LCD) (28) for providing alphanumeric information regarding the condition of the battery (22) based on analysis by the microprocessor (24); (d) an analog-to-digital converter (42); and (e) a load circuit (30) for applying a selected fixed load to the battery (22). The load circuit (30) comprises (i) a first resistor (R1) (32) for applying a first small load to the battery (22) when a first switch (gate) (34) is closed and (ii) a second resistor (resistor subcircuit)(R2) (36) for applying an additional second medium load to the battery (22) when a second switch (gate) (38) is closed and first switch (34) remains closed. The switches (34, 38) are selectively controlled by the microprocessor (24) so that the first load is initially applied to the battery (22) to condition the battery (22) prior to applying the larger second load (additional load) to the battery (22). A voltage measurement circuit (40) is used to measure the voltage of the battery (22) at various times in conjunction with the analog-to-digital converter (32) and the microprocessor (24). The voltage measurement circuit (30) comprises a third fixed resistor (R3) (34), a fourth fixed resistor (R4) (36) and a fifth variable resistor (R5) (38). The analog-to-digital converter (42) is connected to the voltage measurement circuit (40) at a point between the third resistor (R3)(44) and the fourth resistor (R4)(46) thereby providing one side of the circuit (40) with the third resistor (R3)(34) and the other side of the circuit (40) having the fourth resistor (R4) (46) and a fifth resistor (R5)(48). The voltage measurement circuit (40) will be utilized for measuring (i) the open circuit voltage (ii) the voltage at the end of the first load, (iii) the voltage at the end of the second load (the end of the first load plus an additional load), and (iv) the voltages associated with voltage recovery wave form after (removal of) the second load (after removal of the first load and the additional load).
The device (20) of the present invention is useful for practicing the method of the present invention. The method is a method for evaluating the condition of a direct current energy storage unit (battery) (22). Broadly, the method comprises(a) applying a first load to the unit (battery) (22), (b) measuring a voltage of the unit (22) at the end of applying the first load, (c) applying a second load (the first load plus an additional load) to the unit (22), the second load being greater than the first load,(the second fixed load may be in the form of a separate second fixed load or be in the form of the total effect of the first fixed load and an additional fixed load)(d) measuring a voltage of the unit (22) at the end of applying the second load, and(e) analyzing the condition of the unit (22) based on the voltage drop between the first load and the second load (between the first load and the combined load of the first load and an additional load). The method preferably involves the first load being between 0.5 and 1.4 amps, more preferably between 1.0 and 1.3 amps, and more preferably about 1.2 amps, and is applied for a time period of between preferably between three seconds and seven seconds, more preferably between 4.0 and 6.0 seconds, and most preferably about 5.0 seconds. The additional load for second load is preferably between 6.0 and 8.0 amps, more preferably between 6.5 and 7.5 amps, and most preferably about 7.2 amps (providing a total second load of preferably between 6.5 amps and 9.4 amps, more preferably between 7.5 and 8.8 amps, and most preferably about 8.4 amps), and is preferably applied for a period of between 1.0 seconds and 4.0 seconds, more preferably between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds, and most preferably about 2.5 seconds. The method preferably also comprises measuring the recovery voltage of the unit (22) for at least one second, preferably at least three seconds, most preferably ten seconds, after removing the second load (removing the first load plus removing the additional load) so that the recovery wave form can be evaluated to determine the capacitive action of the battery (22). In other words, the method preferably comprises analyzing the recovery voltage wave form to determine the condition of the battery (22). In the method, the voltage at the end of the first load is utilized to determine the state of charge of the battery (22). The method also preferably involves comparing the voltage drop from the end of the first load to the end of the second load (end of the first load and the additional load) to determine the condition of the battery (22), and preferably involves comparing the first voltage drop between the open circuit voltage and the end of the first load to the second voltage drop between the voltage at the end of the first load to the voltage at the end of the second load (first load plus additional load). The method also preferably involves determining whether the voltage drop between the end of the first load and the end of the second load is less than a desired level for a given level of voltage at the end of the first load. Where the unit (22) is an automotive battery (22) having a designed full voltage of about 12 volts, the analyzing preferably comprises determining whether the voltage drop between the open circuit voltage and the voltage at the end of the first load is greater than the voltage drop between the voltage at the end of the first load and the voltage at the end of the second load, and determining whether the voltage at the end of the second load is larger than 4.0 volts.
The electronic device (20) of the present invention is useful for determining whether a lead acid automotive battery (22) is defective. The device (20) comprises(a) means for applying a first fixed load to the battery (22), (b) means for applying a second fixed load to the battery (22), the first load being smaller than the second load,(c) means for measuring the voltage of the battery (22), and(d) means for analyzing the condition of the battery (22) based on (i) the voltage at the end of the first load and (ii) the voltage at the end of the second load and/or based on the voltage recovery after removal of the load. The device (20) preferably weighs less than two pounds and is suitable as a hand-held device (20).
The battery testing device (20) of the present invention requires very little hardware, is very accurate and is capable of diagnosing batteries in varied discharge states. The present method instead of just looking at the internal resistance or dynamic conductance of the battery (22), utilizes a symptomatic approach for diagnosing the condition of the battery (22). The present method preferably first looks for some peculiar symptoms which might indicate that there is a gross defect in the battery (22) irrespective of its state of charge or size, and if the battery (22) does not show any gross faults, then the battery (22) is preferably further checked for its relative performance under two different loads as compared against a predetermined value depending on the size of the battery (22). The present method and apparatus provides the ability to diagnose many defective batteries without needing to charge them. The present device (20) and method are especially useful for diagnosing the performance of twelve volt automotive lead acid batteries consisting of six cells and may also be utilized for testing other types of batteries and batteries with various numbers of cells.
The present device (20) and method preferably utilizes two fixed loads (at least two fixed loads) for discharging the battery (22) under test. The first load is a small fixed load (compared to the very large fixed loads used by prior methods) which preferably utilizes a ten ohm resistor (32)(for example 7 ohm to 20 ohm resistor) to discharge the battery (22) for approximately five seconds. The device (20) and method then utilize a second fixed load which is a medium fixed load which preferably utilizes a 1.5 ohm resistor (36) (for example a 0.5 to 3.0 ohm resistor) to discharge the battery (22) for approximately two seconds. The purpose of applying the first load to the battery (22) is to condition the battery (22) before applying the second load and also to make an accurate measurement of the state of charge of the battery (22). The utilization of this first small load with the corresponding voltage determination exhibits several advantages over utilization of the conventional open circuit voltage to assess the state of charge of the battery (22) due in part to the change of the designs of batteries which is making utilization of open circuit voltage as an assessment tool less and less useful. For example, an acid flooded battery can exhibit a deeply discharged condition while maintaining fairly high open circuit voltage since the plates cannot absorb any more acid, thereby making it very misleading when making a determination of the condition of the battery (22) based on the state of charge. The present invention which involves applying a small load, for example, approximately 1.2 amps, to the battery (22) and measuring the voltage (Vsmallload or V1L5Sec) at the end of five seconds by the present invention proves to be a much better indicator of the state of charge of the battery (22) than merely measuring the open circuit voltage. The second fixed load (first load plus an additional load), for example, 7.2 amps, or approximately six times the amperage of the first load, is applied to the battery (22) in addition to the first load for preferably two seconds and the resultant battery voltage (Vmediumload or V2L2Sec) at the end of two seconds is measured. At the end of two seconds, both loads are removed and the battery recovery voltage is monitored for a period of time, for example one second, preferably at least one second, more preferably at least 3 seconds, and most preferably ten seconds. This voltage measurement during the test is recorded and stored and is used later at the end of the test to diagnose condition of the battery (22).
The dual load (two load) testing procedure of the present invention provides a number of advantages over conventional testing procedures. The voltage measurement at the end of the application of the small fixed load (Vsmallload or V1L5Sec) proves to be a much better indicator of the state of charge of the battery (22) than the open circuit voltage of conventional tests. Also, prior conventional tests have had difficulties when relying on internal resistance of the battery because the internal resistance of the battery measured with direct current methods varies with the amount of load current. The present method which utilizes a small load for a few seconds and then utilizes a medium additional load which is significantly higher than the first load provides a much better indicator of the condition of the battery (22). The first load effectively conditions the battery (22) prior to application of the second load. The voltage drop between the first load and the second load when compared to the size of the battery (22) is a good indicator of the condition of the battery (22) and does not require any state of charge correction down to a very low state of charge of the battery (22). Additionally, a relative comparison of the voltage drop between the initial voltage and the voltage at the end of the first load caused by the first load (VOCV -V1L5Sec), and the voltage drop (V1L5Sec -V2L2Sec) caused by application of the second load allows for diagnosis of various defective batteries in deep discharge state.
In contrast to the present invention, various commonly used conventional methods rely solely on measurement of internal resistance or dynamic conductance of the battery. The present invention, however, involves a method and device (20) which provide an analysis of certain symptoms in batteries which might indicate the battery (22) is defective irrespective of its state of charge. The method and device (20) also analyze whether there is a symptom indicating a gross fault.
The device (20) and method of the present invention provide for a diagnosis of whether deeply discharged batteries have gross faults without the need to charge them. Conventional attempts to measure battery internal resistance or dynamic conductance/resistance and applying a state of charge correction in order to diagnose batteries in fairly low state of charge have been in reality ineffective at the deeply discharged or near zero state of charge. In other words, conventionally it has been practically impossible to correctly judge the exact state of charge of a battery when it has been near a zero state of charge and attempting to come up with an expected value of internal resistance or dynamic conductance/resistance at that low state of charge in order to diagnose the battery condition. The only choice available under conventional test methods has been typically to instruct the operator to charge the battery and retest. Unfortunately, many batteries which are in need of testing are in deep discharge states either due to a fault in the battery or due to the vehicle electrical system, and consequently when utilizing conventional testing procedures charging of these batteries is required. The present method which utilizes a test procedure (method) (and the present invention which so involves a device (20) which utilizes the present method) utilizes an initial test which identifies gross defects which are not exhibited by good batteries even at zero state of charge. Thus, the present invention provides a method and device (20) which allows for elimination of most of the defective batteries even in deep discharge state thereby allowing diagnosis of them without needing to first charge them.
After both loads are removed under the present methods (and with the present device (20)), the battery recovery voltage is monitored for a period of time, for example ten seconds. This monitoring provides a recovery voltage wave form which may be analyzed. Gross faults show a very different recovery voltage curve as compared to good batteries in a similar state of charge. Some defective batteries recover most of the voltage very quickly whereas good batteries (always) recover a significant portion of the total recovery voltage very gradually with time and the rate of change of voltage gradually decreases with time. Analysis of this recovery voltage wave form (amount of rapid recovery compared to the recovery after a greater length of time) allows for diagnosis of a lot of defective batteries in a deeply discharged state. Good batteries, even in deep discharge state (always) show a significant amount of total recovery voltage increased gradually due to capacitive action of the battery (22) whereas some of the defective batteries recovered most of their voltage very quickly and show very little capacitive action during the rest of the recovery. A voltage recovery wave form of a good battery is shown in FIG. 1, and has an open circuit voltage of 9.224 volts, a voltage at the end of the first load of 1.944 volts, a voltage at the at the end of the second load (first load plus an additional load) of 0.628 volts, a voltage at 4 milliseconds after removal of the second load of about 3.9 volts, and a voltage at 10 seconds after removal of the second load of 8.896 volts. Batteries exhibiting rapid recovery of voltage are typically either badly sulfated or have an open weld. FIG. 2 shows the recovery voltage wave form of a (defective) sulfated battery and the sulfated battery has an open circuit voltage of 9.172 volts, a voltage at the end of the first load of 2.456 volts, a voltage at the end of the second load of 0.768 volts, a recovery voltage at ten seconds after removal of the second load of 9.908 volts, and a voltage at 4 milliseconds after removal of the second load of about 8.5 volts. FIG. 3 shows the recovery voltage wave form of a (defective) open weld battery and the open weld battery has an open circuit voltage of 10.272 volts, a voltage at the end of the first load of 7.520 volts, a voltage at the end of the second load of 4.420 volts, a voltage at ten seconds after the removal of the second load of 10.200 volts and a voltage at 4 milliseconds after the removal of the second load of about 9.8 volts. The end of the first load means the end of when the first load is the only load applied if an additional load is added to form the second load. In contrast to conventional methods where the deep discharge state of the battery results in the internal resistance or dynamic resistance of the battery being of no value for the purpose of diagnosing the condition of the battery by comparing it to the state of charge and size of battery, the present invention's method provides for a quick determination of whether various batteries are defective even in a deep discharge state. By utilizing the present method and device (20), even when batteries are in deeply discharged state, the behavior of the battery (22) exhibiting a capacitor-like response by the recovery voltage gradually recovering due to the capacitive action of the battery (22) separates many of the batteries from those that are defective which exhibit rapid voltage recovery and lack the capacitor-like behavior. This symptomatic test is useful for diagnosing batteries with gross defect. If a battery passes this test, it does not mean that the battery is a good battery, but it does eliminate some of the defective batteries and if the battery passes this test then it is preferably subject to additional testing.
The recovery wave form analysis (Symptom Check #1), also referred to herein as capacitive recovery factor, is preferably calculated as follows: (Vrecovery -Vshorttime)/(Vrecovery -Vsecondload)=CRF. Capacitive recovery factory (CRF) represents the ratio of the battery voltage recovered gradually due to capacitive action starting from a very short time period after the loads (or load) have been removed, for example 4 milliseconds, to the voltage at a longer time period, for example 10 seconds after the loads (or load) have been removed, to the total voltage recovered (by the battery in the longer period of time (Vrecovery -Vsecondload) (for example 10 seconds). FIG. 4 illustrates a voltage profile of a battery which is subjected to a first load, a second load and then allowed to recover. The profile of FIG. 4, shows the open circuit voltage, the voltage drop due to the application of the first load, the voltage at the end of the first load, the voltage drop due to the application of the second load, the voltage at the end of the second load, and the voltage recovery wave form after removal of the second load.
Good batteries even in deep discharged or completely discharged states always showed a CRF to be greater than 0.25 whereas batteries that had CRF values less than 0.25 were always found to be bad irrespective of their state of charge. This symptom check (Symptom Check #1) is a very successful method of diagnosing a large number of batteries in deep discharged state without needing to charge them. The good batteries in nearly full state of charge always showed CRF to be greater than 0.5, which means that more than half the voltage recovered gradually due to capacitive action, whereas the batteries in near full state of charge that had CRF less than 0.5 were found to be defective.
As set out above, the second load is larger than the first load, consequently a relatively larger voltage drop is expected due to the application of the second load as compared to the voltage drop caused by application of the first load. Additionally, if the voltage under the first load indicates that the battery (22) is in a fairly discharged state, the application of the second load should also support this fact by causing a relatively large voltage drop. An initial condition is preferably tested for and involves determining whether the initial voltage drop (VOVC -V1L5Sec) is greater than the second voltage drop (V1L5Sec -V2L2Sec) and determining whether the voltage at the end of the medium load (second load, first plus additional load) is greater than a predetermined level, for example four volts for a twelve volt battery. Since the second load is significantly higher than the first load, the terminal voltage drop due to the second load should be higher than the terminal voltage drop due to the application of the first load as long as the battery is not completely discharged. This check proves to be very effective for diagnosing batteries which have one or multiple bad cells without needing to charge them.
Additional conditions, Symptom Check #2, which can be used to determine whether batteries are defective involves determining whether the second voltage drop is below a certain level for the first load voltage being within a given range. For example, for a twelve volt battery, if the first voltage (Vsmallload) is between 10.2 volts and 10.7 volts, and the second voltage drop (V1L5Sec -V2L2Sec) is less than 0.6 volts than the battery is defective. If the voltage at the end of the first load (V1L5Sec or Vsmalload) is between 8.0 volts and 10.2 volts and the second voltage drop is less than 1.0 volts than the battery is defective. If the voltage at the end of the first load is between 6.0 volts and 8.0 volts and the second voltage drop is less than 1.2 volts then the battery is defective. In other words, the above condition tests involve determining the voltage of the battery at the end of the first load and determining the voltage drop between the voltage of the first load and the second load, then determining whether the voltage drop between the first load and second load is less than a certain level depending upon the voltage at the end of the first load. Or in other words, if the battery passes most of the above checks, then the incremental voltage drop (V1L5Sec -V2L2Sec), due to the application of the second load, is compared against a predetermined value depending on the size of the battery under test is useful for determining whether the battery is defective. If (V1L5Sec -V2L2Sec) is less than the predetermined value, the battery under test is diagnosed as a good battery. The voltage drop between the first load and second load, when compared to the size of the battery, proves to-be a very reliable factor for assessing the condition of the battery and is not influenced by the state of charge of the battery down to a very low charge level. If the battery passes the maximum allowed voltage drop tests and the above symptom one and symptom two checks, the battery is diagnosed as a good battery irrespective of its state of charge, and if a battery fails the maximum allowed voltage drop and V1L5Sec (voltage of first load) is greater than 12.2 volts, the battery is diagnosed as a defective battery. If the battery passed the symptom one check and the symptom two check, but failed the maximum allowed voltage drop test and the voltage at the end of the first fixed load (V1L5Sec) is less than 12.2 volts, then operator is instructed to charge the battery and retest. Consequently, there is a possibility that charging may be required, but a great majority of the batteries will have been screened even at a deeply discharged level and thereby the percentage of batteries requiring charging for effective testing will have been greatly reduced by use of the method and device (20) of the present invention compared to conventional methods and devices.
As best shown in FIG. 5, the device (20) of the present invention comprises six circuits (sections). The first section (40) is the battery voltage sense front end (voltage measurement circuit) (40). As best shown in FIG. 9, the voltage sense front end (40) comprises a lead connection (50, 51) to the battery clamps (52, 54), as best shown in FIG. 7, which is divided down to 1/4 voltage through a 3.01 kilo ohm resistor (44), 953 ohm resistor (46)and 100 ohm (pot) variable resistor (48), to be adjusted in manufacturing to make LCD readout match a know voltage connected to the battery clamps (52, 54). After the divider, low leakage 1N4148 diodes (56, 58) to ground (GND) and +5 volts protect the divided voltage against transients and over/under voltage conditions. A 470 pf COG ceramic capacitor (60) to ground (GND) is connected to the divided voltage to stabilize the input to the A/D (analog to digital) converter (42).
As best shown in FIG. 10, the second circuit (section) (30), is the battery loading section (30). Two International Rectifier IRLZ14 N-channel MOSFETS (gates, switches) (34, 38) are controlled individually by the microprocessor (24). Their sources are tied together and go to the anode of a General Semiconductor MBR1045GI schottky rectifier (64) for reverse lead hookup protection. The cathode of the rectifier (64) goes to battery negative clamp (52) using a lead (66) separate from the GND circuit lead (51) to the PCB. The low current MOSFET drain of the gate (34) goes to a 10 W 10 ohm wirewound resistor (32) whose other side connects to the battery positive clamp (54) using a lead (62) separate from the sense lead in section 1. The high current MOSFET drain of the gate (38) goes to two 10 W 3.0 ohm wirewound resistors (68, 70) in parallel (which together function as the second resistor (36) (R2)) whose other sides connect to the battery positive clamp (54) using the same lead (62) as the 10 ohm resistor. 1N4148 diodes (72, 74) are across the loading resistors (32, 36) to clamp the voltage at the MOSFETs drain when they turn off quickly.
As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 11, section (42) is the A/D (analog to digital) converter circuit (42). A Maxim MAX186BC 8-channel 12 bit A/D (analog-to-digital) converter element (76) is used with the 1/4 battery voltage signal going into CH0, and a 1/3 supply battery voltage sense going into CH1. All other channels of the converter element (76) are grounded. The converter circuit (42) has ceramic capacitors (caps) (78,80,82) of 0.1 uF, and tantalum capacitors (caps) (84, 86) of 4.7 uF for supply voltage and ref voltage bypassing/filtering. A 3 wire SPI serial link (plus chip select) is used for communication between the A/D converter element (76) and the microcontroller (24).
As best shown in FIG. 12, section (88) is the PCB power supply section (circuit) (88). A linear voltage regulator LM78L05 (90) is used, with 4.7 uF tantalum capacitors (92, 94) filtering on both input and output, to provide a regulated +5V +/-5% to the circuitry on the PCB. A power supply on/off switch (96) is in front of the regulator (90). The input side to the switch (96) takes the 1N4148 diode oring (97) (diodes (98), (100)) of the power supplied from the internal 9V battery (102) and the high current load lead (62) to the battery positive clamp (54). This diode oring (97) (diodes (98), (100)) assures operation when not connected to a test battery, or when the test battery voltage drops below regulator desired minimum input during the loading test. A 1/3 regulator input voltage is formed using three 49.9 kiloohm resistors (104, 106, 108) and 470 pF filtering capacitor (110). This voltage is fed into CH1 of the A/D in case the software wants to read the internal battery voltage when not connected to a test battery.
As best shown in FIG. 13, section (24) is the microcontroller section (microprocessor circuit)(24). A Motorola MC68HC705C8AC microcontroller element (112) is used to perform the testing and to create the display messages. It is an 8-bit CPU with on board OTP PROM and SRAM and an SPI serial port for communicating with the A/D converter (42). The microcontroller element (112)requires a reset RC combination of 49.9 kiloohm resistor (114) and 4.7 uF (microfarads) capacitor (116). The microcontroller element (board)(112) also requires a 4.000 MHZ ECS ECS-40-20-4 parallel resonant quartz crystal (118) connected to two 18 pF ceramic capacitors (120, 122), and a 10 Mohm resistor (120) for proper oscillation. The microcontroller has unused inputs pulled to +5V through a 49.9 kohm resistor (122). The microcontroller power pin also requires a 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor (124) and 4.7 uF tantalum capacitor (126) for bypassing to ground. Two 49.9 Kohm resistors (128, 130) pull down the MOSFET control lines so the loads are off when the microcontroller has not initialized the port control lines yet.
As best shown in FIG. 14, section (26) is the custom input key pad (keyboard) section (circuit) (26). The unit (20) requires input from the user (132), as best shown in FIG. 8, before, during and after the battery test wherein the device (20) is connected to the battery (22) by clamps (52, 54) to the respective battery terminals. Each of the four keys (134, 136, 138, 140) has one side of their switch going to a port line (150, 152, 154, 156) on the microcontroller board (112), for level sensing. Four keys (134, 136, 138, 140) on a membrane keypad have their contacts shorted to GND when the user (132) presses each key. When not pressed, a 49.9 kohm resistor (142, 144, 146, 148) on each of the 4 key sense lines, pulls the floating line to +5V. The keys represent UP (138), DOWN (140), MENU (136) and GO (134). The keys have various definitions depending on where they are need in the test.
As best shown in FIG. 15, section (28) is the liquid crystal (LCD) display section circuit (28). A Samsung two line by 16 position character display panel (158) is used to convey information to the user (138). There is a 1 line interface to the microcontroller, which comprises an eight bit data bus, RS register select line, R/W* read/write line, and E enable line. All eleven lines go to bi-directional port lines on the microcontroller. The LCD power pin also requires a 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor (160) and 4.7 uF tantalum capacitor (162) for bypassing to ground. The LCD display panel has a contrast control pin that must be adjusted at final assembly. This is accomplished with a 10 kiloohm pot (resistor) (164) with a wiper going to the LCD pin3, and the pot's other ends going to +5V and GND.
(f) monitoring a recovery voltage of the unit for a predetermined time period after removing the second load.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said first load is between 0.5 and 1.4 amps and is applied for a first time period of between three seconds and seven seconds, said second load being between 6.0 and 8.0 amps and being applied for a second time period of between one second and four seconds.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of monitoring the recovery voltage of the unit for a predetermined time period includes the step of measuring the recovery voltage of the unit for at least three seconds after removing the second load.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said method comprises analyzing the recovery voltage to determine the condition of the battery.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said recovery voltage is analyzed to determine the capacitive action of the battery.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing comprises utilizing the first voltage to determine the state of charge of the battery.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing comprises comparing a voltage drop from the first voltage to the second voltage to determine the condition of the battery.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing comprises comparing a first voltage drop between an open circuit voltage and the first voltage to a second voltage drop between the first voltage to the second voltage.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein said analyzing comprises determining whether the first voltage drop is larger than the second voltage drop.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein said unit is an automotive battery having a designed full voltage of about 12 volts, said analyzing comprising determining whether the first voltage drop is greater than the second voltage drop, and determining whether the second voltage is larger than 4.0 volts.
determining the condition of the battery using the first voltage or the second voltage, and monitoring the recovery voltage, including determining whether the battery is defective irrespective of the battery state of charge including the steps of determining a capacitive recovery factor, defining a capacitive recovery factor threshold, and comparing the capacitive recovery factor to the capacitive recovery factor threshold.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the capacitive recovery factor threshold is 0.25.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of determining a capacitive recovery factor includes determining the ratio of the second recovery voltage minus the first recovery voltage to the second recovery voltage minus the second voltage.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of defining the second recovery time period as being at least ten times greater than the first recovery time period.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of defining the first recovery time period as less than ten milliseconds and defining the second recovery time period as more then 2 seconds.
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of defining the second time period as less than the first time period.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein the second load is more than 4 times greater than the first load.
18. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of determining an open circuit voltage, and determining a condition of the battery based on whether the open circuit voltage minus the first voltage is greater than the first voltage minus the second voltage.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of determining a second condition includes the steps of defining a threshold voltage and comparing the second voltage to the threshold voltage.
means for determining the condition of the battery using the first voltage or the second voltage, and means for monitoring the recovery voltage, including means for determining whether the battery is defective irrespective of the battery state of charge including means for determining a capacitive recovery factor, means for defining a capacitive recovery factor threshold, and means for comparing the capacitive recovery factor to the capacitive recovery factor threshold.
21. The device of claim 20, wherein the capacitive recovery factor threshold is 0.25.
22. The method of claim 20, wherein the means for determining a capacitive recovery factor includes means for determining the ratio of the second recovery voltage minus the first recovery voltage to the second recovery voltage minus the second voltage.
23. The method of claim 20, further wherein the second recovery time period is at least ten times greater than the first recovery time period.
24. The method of claim 20, further wherein the first recovery time period as less than ten milliseconds and defining the second recovery time period as more then 2 seconds.
25. The method of claim 20, further wherein the second time period as less than the first time period.
26. The method of claim 20, wherein the second load is more than 4 times greater than the first load.
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2019-04-18T20:58:14Z
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https://patents.google.com/patent/US6037778A/en
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Porn
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Science
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salon
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After more than thirty years of terror attacks in Western capitals by Islamic extremists and cultish groups like ISIS, we've all grown accustom to the tired hyperbole that emanates from non-stop cable news coverage, opportunistic politicians who cravenly swoop in to fearmonger and now, sadly, our social media streams.
While ISIS has already claimed responsibility for the attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz reacted to the news by calling on police in the United States to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." His rival and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump used the attacks to, again, call for a return to torture and waterboarding of suspected terrorists.
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2019-04-19T04:29:23Z
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https://www.salon.com/2016/03/22/stopislam_an_ugly_trend_takes_hold_as_right_wing_politicians_rush_to_fearmonger_over_brussels_terror_attacks/
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Porn
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| 0.784087 |
wordpress
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windows – In the shadow of that which was forgotten.
Exactly 2 years ago Seesmic purchased Twhirl and shifted from a video conversation platform to a twitter client, i will continue to make a brief overview of the process as it provides a extremely interesting and relevant case.
I started following Seesmic when it was still a video site, behind it is Loic Lemeur a well known entrepreneur highly involved in social media and the father of the LeWeb conference, when he started Seesmic he even moved to San Francisco getting people like Pierre Omidyar, Reid Hoffman, Stephen Case on board and two series of founding $6M each.
By this time there still was no business model but Loic’s goal was to have a impact and create value and like every investor knows, that eventually blooms into a business, by the end of 2008 however there were already signs of trouble with 1/3 of staff being laid off, early into 2009 a web version of Seesmic’s twitter client was released then silence until early 1010 when Loic used Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference as a platform to launch Seesmic for Blackberry and Android, which signaled the shift toward Windows, Loic himself switching to Windows after complaining about issues upgrading OSX to Snow Leopard.
The mobile and web versions joined the initial desktop Seesmic twitter client that ran on both Windows and OSX courtesy of Twirl’s Adobe Air codebase, so by now you could say that they had everything covered, except one minor thing, the iPhone, and in two days from now the iPad, which brings me to the reason why i started writing this.
Sure, you could argue that they identified the niche in the lucrative and less competitive Blackberry/Windows space, apparently they quickly hired a bunch of romanian windows developers and eventually even partnered with Microsoft to create a windows only flavor of Seesmic for the masses, Seesmic Look, so they could afford to ignore iPhone and the iPad markets, saturated with independent developers and highly competitive, even if Loic had the founds and the levers to give it a edge over anyone else.
Either way Seesmic makes for a extremely interesting case study, i gave up waiting for a native OSX/iPhone client, but things are not looking good for the days ahead, here is how it will look: people opening seesmic.com from a iPhone and more importantly from the iPad will be thrown into a dead-end with broken image links and suggestions to get the Android and Blackberry clients, even if they know the url to the web based Sesmic client they will be unable to access it from mobile browsers, and there is no native Sesmic in the AppStore either, which brings the options to 0.
Seesmic’s web based client does not work on mobile browsers.
I recently replaced my trusty UltraX keyboard and mouse with the Logitech diNovo Cordless Desktop for Notebooks and i had a seroius problem with pressing the Sleep button every time i picked it up so i just had to disable that.
The problem is that you can not disable it from windows if you are on a notebook with ACPI based power management instead of APM and the drivers do you no justice.
And you only have the option of shutdown or sleep for the sleep button in the windows interface , but by directly modifying the registry you can set it to a third “do nothing” action , which i promtly did , it is a dirty hack but it serves its purpose (reg file attached , needs reboot after run).
Next thing was not so much a problem but a nuisance , the mail button mapped to outlook express , the email client nobody uses , so i figured i should at least make that start total commander , so i produce a 3 line app to replace the outlook executable with which starts total commander.
Besides the unconsistency in button placing of Insert and Del and the somewhat tiny mouse this is a good and confortable kit but it sorely lacks some serious key mapping features , just do not jump too soon at the bluetooth version , it seems to be affected by serious lag .
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2019-04-21T00:27:33Z
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https://vladalexa.wordpress.com/tag/windows/
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| 0.914804 |
wordpress
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← Never relax chicken vigilance!
This entry was posted in finances, green landlords, green remodeling, Home energy Saving, sustainable living, transition to eco-plex. Bookmark the permalink.
All this while I am looking for full time work. Friends are harvesting my eggs, tomatoes, green beens, crookneck squash, and cucumbers. I like my 18 hours a week but it won’t keep me from being a bag lady in 5 years. Beautiful photos of the boys picking blueberries and the bountiful supper.
Am I in your delivery area? The dinner looks great and I feel like I’m ballooning to unnatural size due to my change in schedule and inability to keep healthy food at hand…sigh. Hopefully, with the rapid drop in temperature here (once the rain lets up), I’ll get out more with the bike on the weekends and have some adventures… as it is now I only go to the library and back, but the uphill on the way home leaves me icky sticky in the summer. Blech!
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2019-04-20T12:51:31Z
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https://ecolandlord.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/autumnal-abundance-and-dearth/
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| 0.795729 |
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Oh, my is right! What a wonderful surprise! Lovely!
🙂 I am really glad you enjoyed your collage on fabric, giiid. Creating something for someone, choosing the resembling colours during some of our grey Winter days was a pleasure for me. A gift for me too. I appreciate your words and thoughts.And links !
🙂 Oh, I enjoy to have it on fabric, it like to have it close to where I am, perhaps it will become my own security blanket, just like Charlie Brown in “Peanuts” by Charles M. Schulz.
Of all your collages that is one of my favorites. This is a lovely creative response. I especially admire the way the stitching in the lower left block echoes the woodgrain. I love coming to this kaffee-klatch. You meet the nicest people!
The stitching is impressing, it is so interesting to study Isas technic. I agree with you, this is a good place to meet good people. So glad that I once decided to join the WordPress bloggers long time ago.
So she is. Blogging can give many good experiences. 🙂 Thank you for sending your comment.
What a clever girl that Isa is! If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a quilt is worth a million.
Absolutely, and I am now the happy owner and millionaire.
That’s very impressive and the resemblance is remarkable.
What a wonderful gift from the heart…..
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2019-04-19T09:09:49Z
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https://my2008blog.wordpress.com/2011/02/11/a-little-big-something/
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2019-04-19T08:52:41Z
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Within the next few days I’ll be posting the new fall and winter/holiday collection. For my fall collection my inspiration came from the idea of simplicity, but uniqueness and how to infuse both of those ideas. Loving the way geometric shapes look I found a way to blend into something simple with a bit different. I’m completely addicted to things that are textured. It gives a little edge to something that’s modern.
As for the Holiday collection I wanted something more shimmery, but still with a little modern edge. I decided to try out using pyrite, also know as fool’s gold. It has such a shimmer to it that I love, plus I think it looks great against the antique brushed brass.
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2019-04-23T07:12:08Z
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https://thepinklocket.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/fall-and-holiday-peek/
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His father was an Irish immigrant.
Enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army on 9 May 1942 during World War II.
Toured veteran's hospitals in Europe and Africa, 1947-49, with the American Theatre Wing productions of 'The Milky Way' and 'Brigadoon'.
Acted in classical roles on and off Broadway from 1946. Most acclaimed in the role of the father in Peter Shaffer's production of 'Equus'. TV appearances from 1945, in films from 1958.
His father was an insurance salesman and a poet, who transmitted his love of Shakespeare to his son.
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2019-04-22T15:17:36Z
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https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0383449/trivia?ref_=m_nm_dyk_trv
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| 0.994795 |
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^ Chinchilla D, Zipfel C, Robatzek S, Kemmerling B, Nürnberger T, Jones JD, Felix G, Boller T (2007). “A flagellin-induced complex of the receptor FLS2 and BAK1 initiates plant defence”. Nature 448: 479-500. PMID 17625569.
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2019-04-19T07:46:48Z
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2019-04-24T09:48:56Z
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There has been no great divide here. There have been no swords that have sliced through flesh, nobody has touched anything. We have not touched each other, we have not exchanged blows and yet, we sit on the floor in pieces, self combusted. There is something about a love that is never completely realized, the kind that never actually ends because it was never actually started to begin with.
We are addicted to it, forever chasing the high from first touch never to come across it ever again. We know this, know that our souls will fail us as we try to put together puzzle pieces that have been warped by salt water and the inability to say “I’ve changed” and stick with it. We know this when we write letters to each other full of remorse, full of lifetime promises and things that we want to mean but could not possibly put forth to fruition. We are knocking on doors and slamming into walls and exhausted bodies that have had enough and yet enough does not seem to be enough this time so we try one more time.
Bit by bit I must admit that there has become almost nothing left of the person that I was when this started, for better or for worse. My own eyes do not recognize me anymore, my mind has picked apart my image it feels strange in it’s existence, like a word said too many times that gets you all tongue twisted. I said last time was the last time and yet there was a this time and there will be a next time. And I find myself wondering through all of this was there ever really a first time? Where everything was easy and we just existed within one another. I remember there were times where I thought that the world revolved around you.
But revolving around you meant I could not even see myself, could not see anything around me. The world became an unfamiliar blur, a place that knocked me to the ground when I stopped spinning.
Can we say that things should have been better? We know we are broken and we know we will not put each other back together again. We know that there have been moments of the greatest pain here, the greatest being the final loss, the greatest being the absence of all the things that are built on sand at high tide, things that took all you had and just vanished.
And I am so sorry even though sorry means nothing and it’s this little word we use to convey something and absolutely nothing at all. Because in the end though we know there has been no great divide I swear I felt the earth move when we hung up the phone for the last time.
I definitely know what this kind of love feels like. But there are other kinds of love out there, too.
A few years ago, I found one that didn’t fade after the first touch. Or maybe it would have–if I’d ever let go.
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2019-04-25T06:08:40Z
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https://ashortconversation.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/divide/
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Reference
| 0.200336 |
wikipedia
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David Courtnay Marr (19 January 1945 – 17 November 1980) was a British neuroscientist and physiologist. Marr integrated results from psychology, artificial intelligence, and neurophysiology into new models of visual processing. His work was very influential in computational neuroscience and led to a resurgence of interest in the discipline.
Born in Woodford, Essex, and educated at Rugby School; he was admitted at Trinity College, Cambridge on 1 October 1963 (having been awarded the Lees Knowles Rugby Exhibition).
He was awarded the Coutts Trotter Scholarship in 1966 and obtained his BA in mathematics the same year and got his PhD in physiology under Giles Brindley in 1972. His interest turned from general brain theory to visual processing. His doctoral dissertation was submitted in 1969 and described his model of the function of the cerebellum based mainly on anatomical and physiological data garnered from a book by J.C. Eccles. Subsequently, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he took on a faculty appointment in the Department of Psychology in 1977 and was subsequently made a tenured full professor in 1980. Marr proposed that understanding the brain requires an understanding of the problems it faces and the solutions it finds. He emphasised the need to avoid general theoretical debates and instead focus on understanding specific problems.
Marr died of leukaemia in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 35. His findings are collected in the book Vision: A computational investigation into the human representation and processing of visual information, which was finished mainly on 1979 summer, was published in 1982 after his death and re-issued in 2010 by The MIT Press. This book had a key role in the beginning and rapid growth of computational neuroscience field. He was married to Lucia M. Vaina of Boston University's Department of Biomedical Engineering and Neurology.
There are various academic awards and prizes named in his honour. The Marr Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in computer vision, the David Marr Medal awarded every two years by the Applied Vision Association in the UK, and the Cognitive Science Society also awards a Marr Prize for the best student paper at its annual conference.
Marr is best known for his work on vision, but before he began work on that topic he published three seminal papers proposing computational theories of the cerebellum (in 1969), neocortex (in 1970), and hippocampus (in 1971). Each of those papers presented important new ideas that continue to influence modern theoretical thinking.
The cerebellum theory was motivated by two unique features of cerebellar anatomy: (1) the cerebellum contains vast numbers of tiny granule cells, each receiving only a few inputs from "mossy fibers"; (2) Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex each receive tens of thousands of inputs from "parallel fibers", but only one input from a single "climbing fiber", which however is extremely strong. Marr proposed that the granule cells encode combinations of mossy fibre inputs, and that the climbing fibres carry a "teaching" signal that instructs their Purkinje cell targets to modify the strength of synaptic connections from parallel fibres. Neither of those ideas is universally accepted, but both form essential elements of viable modern theories .
The theory of neocortex was primarily motivated by the discoveries of David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel, who found several types of "feature detectors" in the primary visual area of the cortex. Marr proposed, generalising on that observation, that cells in the neocortex are flexible categorizers—that is, they learn the statistical structure of their input patterns and become sensitive to combinations that are frequently repeated.
The theory of hippocampus (which Marr called "archicortex") was motivated by the discovery by William Scoville and Brenda Milner that destruction of the hippocampus produced amnesia for memories of new or recent events but left intact memories of events that had occurred years earlier. Marr called his theory "simple memory": the basic idea was that the hippocampus could rapidly form memory traces of a simple type by strengthening connections between neurons. Remarkably, Marr's paper only preceded by two years a paper by Tim Bliss and Terje Lømo that provided the first clear report of long-term potentiation in the hippocampus, a type of synaptic plasticity very similar to what Marr hypothesized. (Marr's paper contains a footnote mentioning a preliminary report of that discovery.) The details of Marr's theory are no longer of great value because of errors in his understanding of hippocampal anatomy, but the basic concept of the hippocampus as a temporary memory system remains in a number of modern theories. At the end of his paper Marr promised a follow-up paper on the relations between the hippocampus and neocortex, but no such paper ever appeared.
After thirty years of the Vision (1982, W. H. Freeman and Company), Tomaso Poggio adds one higher level beyond the computational level, that is the learning.
I am not sure that Marr would agree, but I am tempted to add learning as the very top level of understanding, above the computational level. [...] Only then may we be able to build intelligent machines that could learn to see—and think—without the need to be programmed to do it.
a primal sketch of the scene, based on feature extraction of fundamental components of the scene, including edges, regions, etc. Note the similarity in concept to a pencil sketch drawn quickly by an artist as an impression.
a 2.5D sketch of the scene, where textures are acknowledged, etc. Note the similarity in concept to the stage in drawing where an artist highlights or shades areas of a scene, to provide depth.
a 3D model, where the scene is visualised in a continuous, 3-dimensional map.
2.5D sketch is related to stereopsis, optic flow, and motion parallax. The 2.5D sketch represents that in reality we do not see all of our surroundings but construct the viewer-centered three dimensional view of our environment. 2.5D Sketch is a so-called paraline drawing technique of data visualization and often referred to by its generic term "axonometric" or "isometric" drawing and is often used by modern architects and designers.
(1969) "A theory of cerebellar cortex." J. Physiol., 202:437–470.
(1970) "A theory for cerebral neocortex." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 176:161–234.
(1971) "Simple memory: a theory for archicortex." Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London, 262:23–81.
(1974) "The computation of lightness by the primate retina." Vision Research, 14:1377–1388.
(1975) "Approaches to biological information processing." Science, 190:875–876.
(1976) "Early processing of visual information." Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B, 275:483–524.
(March 1976) "Artificial intelligence: A personal view." Technical Report AIM 355, MIT AI Laboratory, Cambridge, MA.
(1977) "Artificial intelligence: A personal view." Artificial Intelligence 9(1), 37–48.
(1981) "Artificial intelligence: a personal view." In Haugeland, J., ed., Mind Design, chapter 4, pages 129–142. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
^ Marr D (June 1969). "A theory of cerebellar cortex". J. Physiol. 202 (2): 437–70. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008820. PMC 1351491. PMID 5784296.
^ Marr D (November 1970). "A theory for cerebral neocortex". Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 176 (43): 161–234. doi:10.1098/rspb.1970.0040. PMID 4394740.
^ Marr D (July 1971). "Simple memory: a theory for archicortex". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 262 (841): 23–81. doi:10.1098/rstb.1971.0078. PMID 4399412.
^ Bliss TV, Lømo T (July 1973). "Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path". J. Physiol. 232 (2): 331–56. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010273. PMC 1350458. PMID 4727084.
^ Bliss TV, Lømo T (April 1970). "Plasticity in a monosynaptic cortical pathway". J. Physiol. 207 (2): 51–89. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1970.sp009101. PMID 5511138.
^ Willshaw DJ, Buckingham JT (August 1990). "An assessment of Marr's theory of the hippocampus as a temporary memory store". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 329 (1253): 205–15. doi:10.1098/rstb.1990.0165. PMID 1978365.
^ Marr, D.; Poggio, T. (1976). "From Understanding Computation to Understanding Neural Circuitry". Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. A.I. Memo. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. AIM-357.
^ Dawson, Michael. "Understanding Cognitive Science." Blackwell Publishing, 1998.
^ Uddin, Saleh. "Conventions and Construction of Paralines." In Axonometric and Oblique Drawing: A 3-D Construction, Rendering, and Design Guide, 1–14. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Vaina, L. M., ed. (1990). From the retina to the neocortex: selected papers of David Marr. Boston, MA: Birkhauser.
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2019-04-24T08:36:28Z
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Marr_(neuroscientist)
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Porn
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Science
| 0.797467 |
wordpress
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I make no bones about the fact that I am a bit of an Apple fan. They just have always worked for me, far more so than a PC ever has. To compliment the fact that these computers and accessories work really well in use, they also have amazing industrial design that I cannot resist, right down to their gorgeous packaging, everything about the products are just beautiful.
The new Magic Mouse from the company is what I’d like to think of as the epitome of their design aesthetic. Only what is completely necessary is included in its design and thanks to the touch shell of the mouse, there is no need for a scroll wheel or separate buttons for left and right click.
As a user of the previous mighty mouse I am well used to the touch clicking mechanics, and this is something a new user will get used to in no time. The draw of the mouse is the new scrolling capabilities. They feel completely natural and smooth, I don’t think I could ever go back to a convention scroll wheel after using this baby.
The awesome geek should own one of these because they look great on a desk, supremely modern and beautiful. It can even be a great talking point of the wonders of modern technology and design.
This entry was posted in Technology and tagged Apple, Bluetooth, Magic Mouse, Mouse, Multi-touch by Jonathan Day. Bookmark the permalink.
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2019-04-20T06:32:58Z
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https://awesomegeek.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/apple-magic-mouse/
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Five years ago I started attending an illustrator’s course at the Berchem academy. Now I am in my final year and have to prepare an exhibition.
Only recently I have decided to change tack. Instead of my pen pal project I’ve chosen to illustrate my father’s folk tale De geur van vis (The smell of fish).
This entry was posted on March 1, 2014 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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2019-04-24T16:03:04Z
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https://jaanebe.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/de-geur-van-vis/
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Arts
| 0.980803 |
wordpress
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New surgery table adn light with preroom next door.
get all the spays and neuters done. This space the key to reducing pet overpopulation and treating any number of conditions that arise including ultrasonic scaling of dog and cat teeth to freshen the breath of our canine and feline residents and improve their health.
“Deputy Jeff” Lead fix it guy for all things PAWED at the new shelter.
volunteer crew (Donna D., Bill Smith et al. pretty hard though, and they have even had to resort to weight training to keep up and they will hopefully be able to get some much needed rest for muscles and backs now that the majority of it is done and debugged.
It has been a pretty massive project to extract and adapt equipment from the Mobile Clinic and get it up and running in the new space. Check out this great gallery of photos by “Deputy” Donna that shows all the new equipment purchased through the PAWED Finishing Touches campaign and repurposing the Mobile Clinic equipment. They tell me that removing that decal was super tedious work with a heat gun and progress measured in millimeters per hour – it took a really long time to remove.
Anyway this new space is super duper and will serve our community for decades to come.
The new heated table so the animals do not get cold and shivery from the anesthetic.
Surgery table #2 from the Mobile Clinic into the new space.
Door removal by Jeff and Donna to allow cages to be moved from the Mobile Clinic into the new clinic space.
Jeff and Donna working on that door.
Getting ready to remove the old stuff from the Mobile Clinic.
The last road trip will net another donation from CARS.
Decal removal was really Tough.
John does a tough job with a smile.
The cages were moved into the new clinic prep area and are a great asset.
The dedication plaques moved too.
Electronic scale outside the veterinary clinic area.
The prep table is pretty much ready for its first customer.
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2019-04-23T09:02:13Z
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https://blogforbullet.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/demobileclinicization/
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2019-04-20T02:50:27Z
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tripod
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With the holidays approaching many Corgis are looking for something for the humans in their life. How about an official Phi Beta Corgi sweatshirt by the Lakeshore Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club. Available in large and extra large, and in navy, purple, teal and maroon colors. The price is $20.00 plus $3.00 shipping. If you are interested E-Mail Ms. Mindy Holmes.
You'll find all kinds of Corgi gifts, where else, but The Corgi Shop.
DISCLAIMER: Fozzie has not accepted any treats from the above and, while he has sniffed them all, he won't bite them if you're not happy.
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2019-04-23T18:20:55Z
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http://bunny-butt.tripod.com/fozgifts.htm
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Porn
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Shopping
| 0.981044 |
yahoo
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Sri Lanka's president has given the military sweeping war-time powers to arrest and detain suspects following a series of Easter Sunday bombings that killed at least 290 people. President Maithripala Sirisena's office announced late Monday that the measure would take effect at midnight. On Monday, armed security personnel stood guard on street corners in central Colombo that were largely deserted, with most shops closed.
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2019-04-22T14:38:28Z
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https://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20041213/hl_afp/healthdiseaseworms
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Porn
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News
| 0.863667 |
wordpress
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When it comes to boudoir photography there are several different pathways for you to venture down. With everything from glamour to film noir styles out there it is difficult to cater to every type of boudoir client out there. Just like with wedding and portrait studios, sometimes you have to choose a style of photography and really make your images a signature for your style in your community. There are some photographers who will be able to give their clients any and every style of boudoir they can think of, but for the most part, most photographers will not have the space nor the desire to want to shoot every style of boudoir.
So how do you go about defining your style? It starts with you! It is not just about what style of photography you really enjoy shooting, but your work is also about you and what type of clients you want. Style is more than just the imagery you show, it is a calling card for you and your studio. If you are networking with a lingerie boutique or a gym and there are several other boudoir photographers who are doing the same thing, what is going to make you stand out? For some, honestly, it may who has the best price, but for others it will be who has the style they want to be photographed in.
Stylizing your work does have its advantages. If your clients are booking you based on price alone then they may not fully understand what style of boudoir it is you shoot and they may be expecting that all boudoir photographers are the same. When you stylize your work your clients not only book you based on your work but they are fully aware of what the images may look like at the end of the session. Another advantage to having a unique style is that it brands you and your work. When people see it they may begin to recognize your work over and over!
Creating your own unique style of boudoir can be difficult, a little scary and frustrating at times. But in the end it all comes down to standing apart from the competition and making a name for yourself and your studio.
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2019-04-24T02:26:20Z
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https://theboudoirplace.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/boudoir-style-2/
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Porn
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Business
| 0.822665 |
wordpress
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Recently I’ve been going crazy over the matte look. Matte foundation, matte lipstick and matte eye shadow and my nails are no exception. I recently got the OPI Mattifying Top Coat and I’ve been experimenting with various brands, shades and textures to find my perfect combination! And here is it.
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2019-04-24T15:04:11Z
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https://gemmaplumbblog.wordpress.com/tag/nails/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.510028 |
wordpress
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Residing within the FunGoPlay world are the FunGoPlay All-Stars, your friends and often times your opponents. You can get to know this characters just by exploring the world and clicking on them, but every now and then we want to take a look here on the blog.
Samurai Slugger trained to be a performing martial artist in a traveling circus show. He abandoned that life and pursued competitive sports challenges instead.
Sam was the best player in FGP’s Japanese League and only decided to come to the North American FunGoPlay league after being bested by Pete Bunyan in a charity lumberjacking competition.
Sam isn’t very friendly to most people, but it’s only because he is so focused on living up to the expectations others have for him and he has for himself. To avoid interacting with others, he pretends to not speak English very well, but he really speaks it fluently, in fact, with a British accent.
Personality: Quiet. Noble. Confident. Very focused.
Skills: Superior baseball player, his sword skills also slice and dice at Wild World.
Samurai Slugger can usually be found hanging out around HurleyButt Field, he won’t mind if you stop by and say hello. Don’t forget to look out for other FunGoPlay All-Stars!
Posted by fungoplay on September 21, 2011 in General.
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2019-04-19T02:28:58Z
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https://fungoplay.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/fungoplay-all-stars-samurai-slugger/
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.772995 |
uw
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One of the major overheads in the execution of parallel programs arises from communication of information between processing elements. The cost of communication is dependent on a variety of features including the programming model semantics, the network topology, data handling and routing, and associated software protocols. These issues form the focus of our discussion here.
Startup time (ts): The startup time is the time required to handle a message at the sending and receiving nodes. This includes the time to prepare the message (adding header, trailer, and error correction information), the time to execute the routing algorithm, and the time to establish an interface between the local node and the router. This delay is incurred only once for a single message transfer.
Per-hop time (th): After a message leaves a node, it takes a finite amount of time to reach the next node in its path. The time taken by the header of a message to travel between two directly-connected nodes in the network is called the per-hop time. It is also known as node latency. The per-hop time is directly related to the latency within the routing switch for determining which output buffer or channel the message should be forwarded to.
Per-word transfer time (tw): If the channel bandwidth is r words per second, then each word takes time tw = 1/r to traverse the link. This time is called the per-word transfer time. This time includes network as well as buffering overheads.
We now discuss two routing techniques that have been used in parallel computers - store-and-forward routing and cut-through routing.
In store-and-forward routing, when a message is traversing a path with multiple links, each intermediate node on the path forwards the message to the next node after it has received and stored the entire message. Figure 2.26(a) shows the communication of a message through a store-and-forward network.
Figure 2.26. Passing a message from node P0 to P3 (a) through a store-and-forward communication network; (b) and (c) extending the concept to cut-through routing. The shaded regions represent the time that the message is in transit. The startup time associated with this message transfer is assumed to be zero.
Store-and-forward routing makes poor use of communication resources. A message is sent from one node to the next only after the entire message has been received (Figure 2.26(a)). Consider the scenario shown in Figure 2.26(b), in which the original message is broken into two equal sized parts before it is sent. In this case, an intermediate node waits for only half of the original message to arrive before passing it on. The increased utilization of communication resources and reduced communication time is apparent from Figure 2.26(b). Figure 2.26(c) goes a step further and breaks the message into four parts. In addition to better utilization of communication resources, this principle offers other advantages - lower overhead from packet loss (errors), possibility of packets taking different paths, and better error correction capability. For these reasons, this technique is the basis for long-haul communication networks such as the Internet, where error rates, number of hops, and variation in network state can be higher. Of course, the overhead here is that each packet must carry routing, error correction, and sequencing information.
Packet routing is suited to networks with highly dynamic states and higher error rates, such as local- and wide-area networks. This is because individual packets may take different routes and retransmissions can be localized to lost packets.
In interconnection networks for parallel computers, additional restrictions can be imposed on message transfers to further reduce the overheads associated with packet switching. By forcing all packets to take the same path, we can eliminate the overhead of transmitting routing information with each packet. By forcing in-sequence delivery, sequencing information can be eliminated. By associating error information at message level rather than packet level, the overhead associated with error detection and correction can be reduced. Finally, since error rates in interconnection networks for parallel machines are extremely low, lean error detection mechanisms can be used instead of expensive error correction schemes.
The routing scheme resulting from these optimizations is called cut-through routing. In cut-through routing, a message is broken into fixed size units called flow control digits or flits. Since flits do not contain the overheads of packets, they can be much smaller than packets. A tracer is first sent from the source to the destination node to establish a connection. Once a connection has been established, the flits are sent one after the other. All flits follow the same path in a dovetailed fashion. An intermediate node does not wait for the entire message to arrive before forwarding it. As soon as a flit is received at an intermediate node, the flit is passed on to the next node. Unlike store-and-forward routing, it is no longer necessary to have buffer space at each intermediate node to store the entire message. Therefore, cut-through routing uses less memory and memory bandwidth at intermediate nodes, and is faster.
This time is an improvement over store-and-forward routing since terms corresponding to number of hops and number of words are additive as opposed to multiplicative in the former. Note that if the communication is between nearest neighbors (that is, l = 1), or if the message size is small, then the communication time is similar for store-and-forward and cut-through routing schemes.
Most current parallel computers and many local area networks support cut-through routing. The size of a flit is determined by a variety of network parameters. The control circuitry must operate at the flit rate. Therefore, if we select a very small flit size, for a given link bandwidth, the required flit rate becomes large. This poses considerable challenges for designing routers as it requires the control circuitry to operate at a very high speed. On the other hand, as flit sizes become large, internal buffer sizes increase, so does the latency of message transfer. Both of these are undesirable. Flit sizes in recent cut-through interconnection networks range from four bits to 32 bytes. In many parallel programming paradigms that rely predominantly on short messages (such as cache lines), the latency of messages is critical. For these, it is unreasonable for a long message traversing a link to hold up a short message. Such scenarios are addressed in routers using multilane cut-through routing. In multilane cut-through routing, a single physical channel is split into a number of virtual channels.
Messaging constants ts, tw, and th are determined by hardware characteristics, software layers, and messaging semantics. Messaging semantics associated with paradigms such as message passing are best served by variable length messages, others by fixed length short messages. While effective bandwidth may be critical for the former, reducing latency is more important for the latter. Messaging layers for these paradigms are tuned to reflect these requirements.
While traversing the network, if a message needs to use a link that is currently in use, then the message is blocked. This may lead to deadlock. Figure 2.27 illustrates deadlock in a cut-through routing network. The destinations of messages 0, 1, 2, and 3 are A, B, C, and D, respectively. A flit from message 0 occupies the link CB (and the associated buffers). However, since link BA is occupied by a flit from message 3, the flit from message 0 is blocked. Similarly, the flit from message 3 is blocked since link AD is in use. We can see that no messages can progress in the network and the network is deadlocked. Deadlocks can be avoided in cut-through networks by using appropriate routing techniques and message buffers. These are discussed in Section 2.6.
Figure 2.27. An example of deadlock in a cut-through routing network.
Communicate in bulk. That is, instead of sending small messages and paying a startup cost ts for each, we want to aggregate small messages into a single large message and amortize the startup latency across a larger message. This is because on typical platforms such as clusters and message-passing machines, the value of ts is much larger than those of th or tw.
Minimize the volume of data. To minimize the overhead paid in terms of per-word transfer time tw, it is desirable to reduce the volume of data communicated as much as possible.
Minimize distance of data transfer. Minimize the number of hops l that a message must traverse.
In many message-passing libraries such as MPI, the programmer has little control on the mapping of processes onto physical processors. In such paradigms, while tasks might have well defined topologies and may communicate only among neighbors in the task topology, the mapping of processes to nodes might destroy this structure.
Many architectures rely on randomized (two-step) routing, in which a message is first sent to a random node from source and from this intermediate node to the destination. This alleviates hot-spots and contention on the network. Minimizing number of hops in a randomized routing network yields no benefits.
The per-hop time (th ) is typically dominated either by the startup latency (ts )for small messages or by per-word component (twm) for large messages. Since the maximum number of hops (l) in most networks is relatively small, the per-hop time can be ignored with little loss in accuracy.
This expression has significant implications for architecture-independent algorithm design as well as for the accuracy of runtime predictions. Since this cost model implies that it takes the same amount of time to communicate between any pair of nodes, it corresponds to a completely connected network. Instead of designing algorithms for each specific architecture (for example, a mesh, hypercube, or tree), we can design algorithms with this cost model in mind and port it to any target parallel computer.
This raises the important issue of loss of accuracy (or fidelity) of prediction when the algorithm is ported from our simplified model (which assumes a completely connected network) to an actual machine architecture. If our initial assumption that the th term is typically dominated by the ts or tw terms is valid, then the loss in accuracy should be minimal.
However, it is important to note that our basic cost model is valid only for uncongested networks. Architectures have varying thresholds for when they get congested; i.e., a linear array has a much lower threshold for congestion than a hypercube. Furthermore, different communication patterns congest a given network to different extents. Consequently, our simplified cost model is valid only as long as the underlying communication pattern does not congest the network.
Consider a mesh in which each node is only communicating with its nearest neighbor. Since no links in the network are used for more than one communication, the time for this operation is ts + twm, where m is the number of words communicated. This time is consistent with our simplified model.
Consider an alternate scenario in which each node is communicating with a randomly selected node. This randomness implies that there are p/2 communications (or p/4 bi-directional communications) occurring across any equi-partition of the machine (since the node being communicated with could be in either half with equal probability). From our discussion of bisection width, we know that a 2-D mesh has a bisection width of . From these two, we can infer that some links would now have to carry at least messages, assuming bi-directional communication channels. These messages must be serialized over the link. If each message is of size m, the time for this operation is at least . This time is not in conformity with our simplified model.
The above example illustrates that for a given architecture, some communication patterns can be non-congesting and others may be congesting. This makes the task of modeling communication costs dependent not just on the architecture, but also on the communication pattern. To address this, we introduce the notion of effective bandwidth. For communication patterns that do not congest the network, the effective bandwidth is identical to the link bandwidth. However, for communication operations that congest the network, the effective bandwidth is the link bandwidth scaled down by the degree of congestion on the most congested link. This is often difficult to estimate since it is a function of process to node mapping, routing algorithms, and communication schedule. Therefore, we use a lower bound on the message communication time. The associated link bandwidth is scaled down by a factor p/b, where b is the bisection width of the network.
In the rest of this text, we will work with the simplified communication model for message passing with effective per-word time tw because it allows us to design algorithms in an architecture-independent manner. We will also make specific notes on when a communication operation within an algorithm congests the network and how its impact is factored into parallel runtime. The communication times in the book apply to the general class of k-d meshes. While these times may be realizable on other architectures as well, this is a function of the underlying architecture.
Memory layout is typically determined by the system. The programmer has minimal control on the location of specific data items over and above permuting data structures to optimize access. This is particularly important in distributed memory shared-address-space architectures because it is difficult to identify local and remote accesses. If the access times for local and remote data items are significantly different, then the cost of communication can vary greatly depending on the data layout.
Finite cache sizes can result in cache thrashing. Consider a scenario in which a node needs a certain fraction of the total data to compute its results. If this fraction is smaller than locally available cache, the data can be fetched on first access and computed on. However, if the fraction exceeds available cache, then certain portions of this data might get overwritten, and consequently accessed several times. This overhead can cause sharp degradation in program performance as the problem size is increased. To remedy this, the programmer must alter execution schedules (e.g., blocking loops as illustrated in serial matrix multiplication in Problem 2.5) for minimizing working set size. While this problem is common to both serial and multiprocessor platforms, the penalty is much higher in the case of multiprocessors since each miss might now involve coherence operations and interprocessor communication.
Overheads associated with invalidate and update operations are difficult to quantify. After a data item has been fetched by a processor into cache, it may be subject to a variety of operations at another processor. For example, in an invalidate protocol, the cache line might be invalidated by a write operation at a remote processor. In this case, the next read operation on the data item must pay a remote access latency cost again. Similarly, the overhead associated with an update protocol might vary significantly depending on the number of copies of a data item. The number of concurrent copies of a data item and the schedule of instruction execution are typically beyond the control of the programmer.
Spatial locality is difficult to model. Since cache lines are generally longer than one word (anywhere from four to 128 words), different words might have different access latencies associated with them even for the first access. Accessing a neighbor of a previously fetched word might be extremely fast, if the cache line has not yet been overwritten. Once again, the programmer has minimal control over this, other than to permute data structures to maximize spatial locality of data reference.
Prefetching can play a role in reducing the overhead associated with data access. Compilers can advance loads and, if sufficient resources exist, the overhead associated with these loads may be completely masked. Since this is a function of the compiler, the underlying program, and availability of resources (registers/cache), it is very difficult to model accurately.
False sharing is often an important overhead in many programs. Two words used by (threads executing on) different processor may reside on the same cache line. This may cause coherence actions and communication overheads, even though none of the data might be shared. The programmer must adequately pad data structures used by various processors to minimize false sharing.
Contention in shared accesses is often a major contributing overhead in shared address space machines. Unfortunately, contention is a function of execution schedule and consequently very difficult to model accurately (independent of the scheduling algorithm). While it is possible to get loose asymptotic estimates by counting the number of shared accesses, such a bound is often not very meaningful.
Any cost model for shared-address-space machines must account for all of these overheads. Building these into a single cost model results in a model that is too cumbersome to design programs for and too specific to individual machines to be generally applicable.
As a first-order model, it is easy to see that accessing a remote word results in a cache line being fetched into the local cache. The time associated with this includes the coherence overheads, network overheads, and memory overheads. The coherence and network overheads are functions of the underlying interconnect (since a coherence operation must be potentially propagated to remote processors and the data item must be fetched). In the absence of knowledge of what coherence operations are associated with a specific access and where the word is coming from, we associate a constant overhead to accessing a cache line of the shared data. For the sake of uniformity with the message-passing model, we refer to this cost as ts. Because of various latency-hiding protocols, such as prefetching, implemented in modern processor architectures, we assume that a constant cost of ts is associated with initiating access to a contiguous chunk of m words of shared data, even if m is greater than the cache line size. We further assume that accessing shared data is costlier than accessing local data (for instance, on a NUMA machine, local data is likely to reside in a local memory module, while data shared by p processors will need to be fetched from a nonlocal module for at least p - 1 processors). Therefore, we assign a per-word access cost of tw to shared data.
From the above discussion, it follows that we can use the same expression ts + twm to account for the cost of sharing a single chunk of m words between a pair of processors in both shared-memory and message-passing paradigms (Equation 2.4) with the difference that the value of the constant ts relative to tw is likely to be much smaller on a shared-memory machine than on a distributed memory machine (tw is likely to be near zero for a UMA machine). Note that the cost ts + twm assumes read-only access without contention. If multiple processes access the same data, then the cost is multiplied by the number of processes, just as in the message-passing where the process that owns the data will need to send a message to each receiving process. If the access is read-write, then the cost will be incurred again for subsequent access by processors other than the one writing. Once again, there is an equivalence with the message-passing model. If a process modifies the contents of a message that it receives, then it must send it back to processes that subsequently need access to the refreshed data. While this model seems overly simplified in the context of shared-address-space machines, we note that the model provides a good estimate of the cost of sharing an array of m words between a pair of processors.
The simplified model presented above accounts primarily for remote data access but does not model a variety of other overheads. Contention for shared data access must be explicitly accounted for by counting the number of accesses to shared data between co-scheduled tasks. The model does not explicitly include many of the other overheads. Since different machines have caches of varying sizes, it is difficult to identify the point at which working set size exceeds the cache size resulting in cache thrashing, in an architecture independent manner. For this reason, effects arising from finite caches are ignored in this cost model. Maximizing spatial locality (cache line effects) is not explicitly included in the cost. False sharing is a function of the instruction schedules as well as data layouts. The cost model assumes that shared data structures are suitably padded and, therefore, does not include false sharing costs. Finally, the cost model does not account for overlapping communication and computation. Other models have been proposed to model overlapped communication. However, designing even simple algorithms for these models is cumbersome. The related issue of multiple concurrent computations (threads) on a single processor is not modeled in the expression. Instead, each processor is assumed to execute a single concurrent unit of computation.
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2019-04-21T17:08:19Z
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http://parallelcomp.uw.hu/ch02lev1sec5.html
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Porn
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Computers
| 0.109674 |
wordpress
|
Web 2.0 – about time.
Web 2.0 is the first realization of a great promise of the Web as a great democratizer. While the business communitiy has regarded the Web’s democratization as pertaining to allowing small and micro business to command the same presence on the Web a fortune 500, the true democratization is that of the people.
The people are gaining their voice. User Generated Content. They are learning to harness their collective power, as customers, as believers, as citizens and leaders. “Social Networking” The people are virtually assembling and it’s beautiful.
We’re seeing the beginnings though. Society has much to master. We’re figuring it out. Rather, some are figuring it out. They are Explorers of a frontier in the approach of the medium for collective influence and ultimately cause action. The biggest Town Hall meeting on the planet.
Next post is definitely related.
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2019-04-19T05:22:13Z
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https://lalunablanca.wordpress.com/2007/06/27/web-20-about-time/
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Porn
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Society
| 0.91121 |
wordpress
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The long established, prolific and always dependable Henrik ‘Nordvargr’ Björkk, has teamed up with Margaux Renaudin – a name I do not recognise. Despite this unfamiliarity with one half of the collaboration, from the outset it is worthwhile acknowledging that ‘Anima Nostra’ is not too far removed from the sonic worlds Nordvargr inhabits, but equally that it is slanted towards the ritual/ rhythmic/ sub-orchestral sounds of MZ.412.
The pairing of opening tracks ‘Sunyata’, ‘Spiritus Omni’ take no time in setting the scene with driving tribal/ ritual percussion, guttural vocal chants, ominous sub-orchestral drones and drawling horns of death. Simply magnificent. ‘Morning Star’ is then a surprise feature, (being a reworking of an MZ.412 track), where the driving tribal/ ritual percussion and ominous droning foghorns of the original has been augmented with booming sub-orchestral horns, sweeping noise and additional vocals (both whispered and electronic treated). A further pairing of ‘Kmt’ & ‘Runik Haxagram II’ present high calibre abstract, ritualised/ percussive dark ambient soundscapes, while ‘Gjallarhornet Ljuder’ steps up with a track of sonically forceful, multi-layered power-drones. ‘Lavenement du neant’ functions as a particular album standout, which mixed a lamenting and extremely cinematic neo-classical melody, spoken female French vocals (assuming this to be Margaux Renaudin?) and driving poly-rhythmic tribal percussion. Absolutely sublime. Final album offering ‘Maladia Skandinavia’ sprawls out over a 9 minute expanse, and although ‘drone’ in intent, the tolling church bell and focused melodious chants (which themselves have been further treated into a droning texture), are further offset by rolling ritual percussion and forceful sub-orchestral tones.
Apart from being one of the strongest examples of ritual and neo-classical tinged dark ambient in recent memory (as well as being the closest Nordvargr has come to date in emulating the sound of MZ.412), the 6 panel digipack and 8 pages cover insert are also worthy of individual mention. Courtesy of Margaux Renaudin the cover features stunning graphic presentation of esoteric symbolism in metallic copper on black print. As a final comment, evidently since the release of this album the project has evolved into to more defined band and relabeled under the Anima Nostra moniker. Accordingly further material in this vein is an absolutely welcomed prospect: but in the interim the album ‘Anima Nostra’ is very much worthy of your attention.
This entry was posted in 2016, Cold Spring Records, dark ambient, doom drone, drone, neo-classical by noisereceptor. Bookmark the permalink.
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2019-04-24T19:44:59Z
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https://noisereceptor.wordpress.com/2016/09/08/henrik-nordvargr-bjorkk-margaux-renaudin-anima-nostra/
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.401248 |
yahoo
|
35%53°38°Breezy with a high of 47 °F (8.3 °C). Winds variable at 11 to 17 mph (17.7 to 27.4 kph).Night - Clear. Winds variable at 6 to 14 mph (9.7 to 22.5 kph). The overnight low will be 36 °F (2.2 °C).
70%42°40°Showers today with a high of 42 °F (5.6 °C) and a low of 40 °F (4.4 °C). There is a 70% chance of precipitation.
Today - Breezy with a high of 47 °F (8.3 °C). Winds variable at 11 to 17 mph (17.7 to 27.4 kph).
Tonight - Clear. Winds variable at 6 to 14 mph (9.7 to 22.5 kph). The overnight low will be 36 °F (2.2 °C).
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2019-04-18T21:57:14Z
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather/japan/hokkaido-prefecture/shiriuchi-cho-1118206
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Porn
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Reference
| 0.17698 |
wordpress
|
So the 2nd round of the qualifying match for the FIFA 2014 in Brazil for the Philippines and Kuwait was done last night– the first leg. And so, here’s my thought over this one. This maybe more on the Azkals.
The Azkals without their team Captain, Aly Borromeo and another defending midfielder, Stephan Schrock has to face Kuwait with some missing defenders. The two are among the most prominent team members who shook the field with their skills and momentum. Even before the suspension of these two guys, the Azkalas has some issues regarding their defense due to the fact that they have a lot of players who are attackers. And so, the play that they had against Sri Lanka was good enough due to the fact that they had put a lot of players on the defense but also with great effort on the midfield for penetration for the attack.
With the loss of two mid-defenders, the coach needs to fill in some gaps in the play. And so, the formation was 4-5-1, with only Phil Younghusband on the top and a lot of players on defense. The defense was good, but one can see that the penalty box is a bit crowded, with almost 8 Azkals in front of Ethridge and a mere 5 rivals, making it a good defense but somewhat messy. The counter attacks are also not strong, there are only a few moments on the first half that Phil Younghusband with Angel Guirado or James Younghusband can make it through the penalty box of the opponent– seems impossible for them to beyond the second defender. The clear was good, Phil can get the ball but a lack of support and 2-3 opponents defending for the ball seems impossible for him to make it a goal.
The two prominent attempt for a goal for the Azkals were Phil’s and Angel’s. Phil’s attempt was one of the of the few that seems lucky, outrunning the last man and facing the goalkeeper now but was too early to release the ball, and so was deflected by the keeper. And Angel’s head-shot that went for the bar, it could have been their confidence-booster.
I’ve read some comments after the game saying that Azkal’s a weak team, and for that I would never agree! They had a good game, they played intelligently, if they had lessen the number of defenders, the goal difference could have been wider. On the other side, yes, the Azkal could have scored if they had more attacking midfielders or attackers. But, we cannot deny the fact that when it comes to ball possession Kuwait’s team has an advantage. They had too much space, the Azkals were anticipating for an attack without making one for them.
This is their first time to face the Kuwait’s team, a strong team whose highest ranking on FIFA was 24th, and as of now are 50 slots higher than them, we’re not citing excuses here, what my point is the fact that Azkal is still young and they need a lot of things to learn as a team. And I hope on the 2nd leg, with the home-field advantage they can give us a better game. Last night’s was good, but we need to evolve faster; this is the highest round we had in FIFA.
As for the Kuwait’s team, they had ball possesion, maximization of the field and field switching is faster than the Azkals can anticipate, but they have to agree that it was a bit difficult to penetrate the Azkal’s defense.
During the annual Technology, Entertainment, Design global conference a british professor had told the confereence that he is developing an artificial brain. And he also said that this can be done in the next 10 years. With the aid of this technology many mentally sick person can be given a new way of treatment for themselves.
Though the professor, Professor Henry Markham, told the conference that the human brain is one of the most complex organ in the body making it nearly as a scary organ. But still, he doesn’t think that the project is really impossible. He told the conference that if he think he had completed the idea or the solution for it, he will send a hologram of his project.
Now, he is studying how to complete a rat’s brain. Yet, he told the press that scientist need to stop using animals in their research because it is so cruel, making all the animal rights activists so happ about the news.
If this be true, hmmm…. I’ll just cross my finger and wait.
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2019-04-18T18:45:50Z
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https://fangel2009.wordpress.com/category/globe/
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Porn
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Sports
| 0.620465 |
wordpress
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Csilla Muscan interviews Music Marketing for the DIY Musician author Bobby Borg!
There has never been a greater need for practical DIY marketing advice from a musician who has been there and succeeded than now – at a time when new technologies make it more possible than ever for musicians to attract attention independently and leverage their own careers, and record industry professionals look exclusively for developed artists who are already successful.
Written by a professional musician for other musicians, Music Marketing for the DIY Musician is a proactive, practical, step-by-step guide to producing a fully integrated, customized, low-budget plan of attack for artists marketing their own music. In a conversational tone, it reveals a systematic business approach employing the same tools and techniques used by innovative top companies, while always encouraging musicians to stay true to their artistic integrity. It’s the perfect blend of left-brain and right-brain marketing.
This book is the culmination of the author’s 25 years in the trenches as a musician and entrepreneur, and over a decade in academic and practical research involving thousands of independent artists and marketing experts from around the world. The goal is to help musical artists take control of their own destiny, save money and time, and eventually draw the full attention of top music industry professionals. It’s ultimately about making music that matters – and music that gets heard!
Radio legend Joe Franklin interviews radio legend Bob Elliot, one of the two subjects in David Pollock’s Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons. Enjoy!
Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons traces the origins and development of the pair’s unique sensibility that defined their dozens of local and network radio and TV series, later motion picture roles, Carnegie Hall performances, and hit Broadway show Bob and Ray – The Two and Only.
Together for 43 years (longer than Laurel and Hardy, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis), the twosome deflected all intrusions into the personalities behind their many masks and the dynamics of their relationship, and rarely elaborated on their career trajectory or methodology. Now, with the full cooperation of Bob Elliott and of Ray Goulding’s widow, Liz, together with insights from numerous colleagues, their craft and the culture that made them so relevant is explored in depth.
Dale Sherman, the author of KISS FAQ, can now be seen in these excerpts from a Japanese Documentary Special about KISS. Enjoy!
Since 1973, KISS has recorded over 20 studio albums; been recognized as an innovator in rock presentations; witnessed a firestorm of rumors and controversies; remained a thorn in critics’ sides; and continues to surprise its massive fan-following, the KISS Army, with various career twists and turns. Moreover, many television shows, movies, toys and even comics have kept KISS a bigger-than-life name in entertainment for decades.
Yet with all that has been written over the years, there are subjects that fans have never put to rest when it comes to the “hottest band in the land”: What were the most significant concerts? Why did Phantom of the Park turn out that way? What were the best – and worst – album covers? How did the comics come about? And what the heck is a deuce?
Hal Leonard has started a new video series of author video chats with MusicPro Guides and Quick Pro Guides authors, which you can view at MusicPro Guide’s YouTube channel. Today, we launch the first two with Jake Perrine, the author of Quick Pro Guides books Producing Music with Ableton Live and Sound Design, Mixing, and Mastering with Ableton Live. Here, he is interviewed by Bill Gibson, Hal Leonard editor and author.
Learn to make electronic dance music with the innovative application that started – and is still leading – the revolution! Start producing your own music from the ground up! Ableton Live is a groundbreaking program whose unique nonlinear, incredibly flexible features set it far apart from all the other digital audio applications. It is equally at home with making beats, remixing, live recording, DJing, live looping, sound design, electronic music, hip-hop, and much more.
Go beyond the basics of Ableton Live with this book of audio making and mangling recipes, tips, and mixing/mastering techniques. Ableton Live is undoubtedly the most flexible audio application available today: Use it for sound design for music, film, theater, and games; composition; improvising with other musicians; live looping; DJing; and of course mixing and mastering music. Author, mastering engineer, certified Ableton trainer, and power-user Jake Perrine will inspire you to use Live in new ways, and to improve how you already use it. Striking a delicate balance of artistry and theory, he will expand your repertoire for both the studio and the stage.
How many people have you reached with your message? How many could you have reached? In social media, there are some measurements about as reliable as a print magazine’s circulation, but knowing your potential audience does have value because it represents your potential sales lead pool.
Unfortunately, as of the writing of this book, some of these metrics have to be accounted for manually, so you’ll have to balance the level of effort to track the metrics versus the value you’ll receive from them to determine their importance to your overall strategy.
A good example of where there can be unreliability in social measurement is when isolating unique users for each of your metrics. You want to avoid counting the same person twice in the list below, but realistically it’s difficult to do.
These measurements highlight the number of people you’ve attracted to your brand through social media. To mitigate the potential for duplication of users, track growth rate as a percentage of the aggregate totals. This is where you will find the real diamonds.
Twitter: Look at your number of followers and the number of followers for those who retweeted your message to determine the monthly potential reach. You should track these separately and then compare the month-over-month growth rate of each of these metrics so you can determine where you’re seeing the most growth. A great free tool to use for Twitter measurement is TweetReach.
Facebook: Track the total number of fans for your brand page. In addition, review the number of friends from those who became fans during a specified period of time or during a promotion and those who commented on or liked your posts to identify the potential monthly Facebook reach. Facebook Insights provides value here.
YouTube: Measure the number of views for videos tied to a promotion or specific period of time, such as monthly, and the total number of subscribers.
Music 3.0: A Survival Guide for Making Music in the Internet Age is a completely updated edition of the original best seller, featuring the latest music business and social media concepts as well as brand-new interviews with a variety of the industry’s top movers and shakers.
What has changed? Who are the new players? Why are traditional record labels, television, and radio no longer factors in an artist’s success? How do you market and distribute your music in this new world? How do you make money in this new music world? How do you develop your brand? How do you use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as marketing tools? What are the new technologies that are being introduced that will influence how we sell or market? All these questions are answered in the book. This edition also contains new low-cost high- and low-tech tips for marketing and promotion. Available for purchase here.
For more Hal Leonard Books by Bobby Owsinski, visit his page at musicproguides.com.
With almost 1.4 million upload views and 2,800 subscribers, Hal Leonard’s MusicPro Guides channel on YouTube has become an indispensible resource on the web for musicians, songwriters, music engineers, producers, and other music industry professionals. Named after Hal Leonard Books’ highly respected series MusicPro Guides, this YouTube channel brings together the most experienced and highly regarded authors to teach you everything you need to know about audio engineering, recording, software, songwriting, equipment, and more. These tutorials will help you see, hear, and easily understand the concepts, tools, and procedures you need to master.
Many music industry books from Hal Leonard Books include accompanying DVDs. The MusicPro Guides YouTube channel gives you free access to excerpts of DVDs, as well as web originals.
In celebration of the Audio Engineering Society conference this year, MusicPro Guides will be hosting a giveaway on YouTube. All new subscribers between October 18th and October 26th 2011 will be entered into the drawing. Previous subscribers can enter by making comments on two videos between those dates. Winners will be announced in a video following the end date. Prizes include bundles of books such as a producer pack, an engineer pack, and a music business pack. Winners will receive four books of their choice (up to a $200 value per winner).
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2019-04-24T04:45:29Z
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https://onstageandbackstage.wordpress.com/tag/youtube/
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Porn
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Business
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wordpress
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Many people ask me what it’s really like to be a traveling comedian on the road performing at nightclubs, taverns, and neighbor hood bars 100 nights a year. This podcast is the answer to that question. Each week, I bring you an insider’s look at comedy and bar entertainment. You will hear our struggles and successes, our hopes, dreams, philosophies on life, plenty of arguing and controversial opinions, but most importantly lots of laughs.
Katrina Brown is a stand-up comedian with a loud personality and no filter when it comes to keeping her material real, relat-able, and honest. She currently headlines comedy clubs nationwide and co-stars with JerDog in The He Said She Said Comedy Show.
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2019-04-21T20:35:04Z
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https://jerdogondemand.wordpress.com/2017/05/
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.97488 |
shaw
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today I cannot get SNW or Global TV on either my samsung tablet or Windows laptop. The error on the samsung is 106000 (with a smaller error 5 at the bottom of the screen). I have logged out of my account and back in. Restarted the device. Same thing.
Hey sherjack, thanks for letting us know that you're seeing that error!
Are other channel streams working? And if you log into freerange.shaw.ca, are those streams working there? Once we have more info, we can also escalate this to our app team.
Error 102100.5 is File Not Found.
You've already did all of the troubleshooting that we would ask of you, including logging out of and back into the app and then testing other streams.
I'm going to send you a private message if you could please check your inbox. Once I have your account info, I'll send it up to the video app team for investigation.
SUCCESS!!! Not sure what was done on the backend. This morning I had lost more channels - almost all of them. So I restarted my samsung tablet and they are ALL back. So thank you!!
It looks like General Hospital isn't available through VOD, so on FreeRange you would only have the option to watch it live. Are you getting any error messages when you try to watch it when it's on?
Error 102100.5 loading of the specified resource has failed.
Tried different devices, closed and reopened but still not working.
On channels running video, wrong audio is playing, or no sound, or video is freezing.
Hey rmcgwn! Thanks for reaching out. Searching around the Internet, it appears that this error message may be specific to a DNS issue. Can you please try How to reset the Domain Name System (DNS) per these instructions and let us know if that helps at all?
Unfortunately that did not fix the problem for me. As well I cannot connect to a number of channels on my android tablet. I did try flushing dns and that did not work. I also have, just now, rebooted my modem. Problem remains. I do have a support ticket open so hpefully there will be a resolution.
Thanks for following up on this with us. We did have other customers reporting similar issues with FreeRange TV this evening, so this has been referred up for further investigation at this time. Appreciate your patience while we work towards a full resolution!
No I will wait because everything else is connecting to the internet just fine and some channels are working fine on Shaw Free Range. I don't wanted to play with my settings when I have various types of devices which means likely resetting everyone of them .This is a problem only on your site with Some channels so more likely an issue at your end. I will wait.
I will return later if it continues.
Freerange TV has been offline this morning and technicians were working away at it. I put up an alert at Jul 3 – National | Freerange TV - Outage [In Progress] (this alert will be archived later today so this might be a dead link later).
But I tested it and it seems back up now. If it hasn't been 100% fully restored, it might be intermittent while technicians continue their work.
Hopefully this will be the fix you're looking for too!
I am having similiar problems. I have deleted and re added the app 3x. I have restarted my iPad 4 X. No luck.
Are you not seeing certain channels again on the FreeRange TV App? Do you notice this happen with the web version as well?
I only use it on my iPad. The shows freeze with in sec of starting. When they restart there is no sound or the sound is out of sync with the visual playback. The app doesn't work at all for me, for the last three days.
Going to send you a private message to collect your account information. Please check your community inbox!
Hey there my free range apps on none of my devices works. It keeps saying ""We didn't find a match. Try adjusting your filters to broaden your search."
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2019-04-19T22:32:35Z
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https://community.shaw.ca/thread/36675
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Porn
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Computers
| 0.917207 |
wordpress
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Now summer is officially here! How wonderful. The greens of the world are so deep and lush while still alert and ready for months of photosynthesizing. The fields on my drive out to the farm are highlighted with daisies, hawk weed, clover and seeding grasses –all offering contrast and beauty to my morning and evening commute. Summer clouds roll by the farm on their way to somewhere and fluffy seeds float along below them to somewhere closer. Maybe to get stuck in a row of carrots.
I have been considering lately how lucky I feel to be able to perceive beauty. Not just with my eyes, but with all my senses. Maybe especially visually but also temperature, sound, smell, taste, these are all ways we experience beauty. How wonderful.
I am sure there are people who are out there studying the what and why and what-have-you of humans’ ability or desire to see beauty in the world. I am not one of those people. I can understand why other humans are beautiful. I can understand why strawberries and apples are beautiful. But why clouds? Why rocks? Why flowers? Why the way leaves move in the wind?
Delightfully, their beauty (as far as I know) has nothing to do with humans. Seemingly, they don’t directly affect our survival or well-being. We cannot own or tame the beauty of these things. We probably shouldn’t try to own or tame any beauty really.
I try to take moments during the day to take particular notice of how lovely things are. It is easy to get swept up in to-do lists. Thankfully, all of the things on my farm to-do list are bathed in beauty; I don’t have to try too hard to see or taste it. I’m happy to pass several items from our farm to-do list on to you and your home. Enjoy!
Combine first 6 ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Add additional olive oil to achieve a thick sauce consistency. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
In the growing seasons of my life I end up with a lot of bruises on my legs. I tend to throw my body around a bit and have little grace and take little care when legging up onto a wagon or truck bed. Last week I fell off a new transplanter we were using to put in the 5th planting of brassicas. I have a pretty epic bruise on my left calf. It doesn’t keep me up at night, but it does hurt to put on socks, or pants, and I can’t cross my left leg over my right. I am not trying to impress anyone out at the farm, or anywhere really, so I’m still wearing shorts and skirts. Why hide?
Last week I went to see some UMD students perform Much Ado About Nothing on the grounds of Glensheen. It was a lovely evening for it –I get such a kick out of that play. The little song in the middle of the play is cute and has a simple ring of truth that Shakespeare lends to words: “Sigh no more ladies, sigh no more. Men were deceivers ever. One foot in sea and one on shore, to one thing constant never. But sigh not so and let them go and be you blithe and bonny, converting all your songs of woe into hey nonny, nonny!” Take the role of gender with a grain of late 16th century salt.
And Benedick, having found love after swearing to never marry, has a couple of lines “Serve God love me and mend” and “live unbruised”. I love those lines. They’re also lines set to music in Mumford and Sons first album. A great song.
So, my leg is bruised.
Other parts of me are bruised in a different way.
And I think parts of our country are bruised. It hurts, and it’s ugly and we can’t pull up our socks or turn on the radio or drive down the street without being reminded of the bruises.
I don’t know what it means to “live unbruised” but I long for that. It is not necessarily that the bruises aren’t there anymore –one just doesn’t have to let them dictate one’s path. I can still love my legs and my brain and my country even if it hurts and is dark and unnaturally yellow somehow.
Whatever bruises you might find yourself noticing or acquiring this week, I hope you live out of that place well and that the good food in your belly sustains you through all of it.
Kale-Dusted Popcorn If you’re making the chips with the intention to grind them up for popcorn, I’d use less oil — perhaps half — so they grind without the “powder” clumping. I ground a handful of my chips (about half) in a mortar and pestle and sprinkled it over popcorn (1/4 cup popcorn kernels I’d cooked in a covered pot with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, shaking it about with potholders frequently). I seasoned the popcorn with salt. I liked this snack, but I think Parmesan and Kale-Dusted Popcorn would be even more delicious. Next time!
Bring small pot of water to boil. Lower egg into it and boil for five (for a runnier egg) to six (for a less-runny but still loose egg) minutes.* Rinse egg briefly under cool water and set aside.
Wash your spinach but no need to dry it. Put a small puddle of water in the bottom of a skillet and heat it over medium-high. Once the water is simmering, add the spinach and cook it until it is just wilted, and not a moment longer. Transfer it to a colander and press as much of the excess water out with the back of a fork as possible. No need to wring it out here; we’re hoping to those lovely wilted leaves intact. Keep that fork; you’ll use it again in a moment.
Put your bread in to toast.
Dry your skillet if it is still wet. Heat a pat of butter in it over medium-low heat. Add shallots and cook them for a few minutes, until translucent and a little sweet. Return spinach to skillet and add cream. Simmer them together for one minute, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Put your toast on your plate and spread it thinly with Dijon mustard. Heap the spinach-and-shallot mixture on top, then add the crumbled cheese. Peel your egg; doing so under running water can make this easier. Once peeled, place it on your spinach toast, smash it open with the back of that fork you used a minute ago, and sprinkle it with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Eat immediately.
* When you’re eating a soft-boiled egg right away, six minutes is the way to go. But here, since we boil the egg and then prepare the rest of the toast, it continues to cook and firm up a bit in its shell, so I’ve found that a 5 to 5 1/2 minute egg will give you the equivalent in the end.
Welcome to the first delivery of the season!
Here it is the second week of June already. The greens of the world are a different shade or tint every day, and there are always new flowers opening as old ones drop.
These past weeks the greenhouse has gone from being medium full to super full and now to almost empty feeling as peppers and tomatoes have been planted in the fields. Even with a cool and slow start to the spring, we seem to be almost on schedule. These past couple of weeks our newest crew members, Kate, Lizzy and Michael, have started and are game to learn-while-doing every day. Sam from a couple of years ago is back for the season, along with Teri, Patricia, Dave, Janaki and our wonderful crew of volunteers.
And now, after several weeks of preparation and side projects we’re starting the harvest! I am ready to get back into this routine.
Whether you are new to a CSA model of getting produce, or well seasoned at the ebb and flow of the year, thank you for supporting us. Thank you for being willing to spend time preparing and eating our vegetables. I know there are easier ways to eat – it is counter-cultural and time consuming to use whole food well. In a society that places too much value on being able to say “I’m just so busy”, slowing down to eat well is a pure form of resistance to the status quo of on-demand consumerism.
Perhaps as you start off this new season you have resolutions for the next 18 weeks. Whether it involves more preserving, sharing, fridge rearranging, or sitting down to meals with friends or family, I hope you get off to a good start. Enjoy the lovely week ahead!
Have 4 pint (16-ounce) jars with lids ready. Split rhubarb stalks lengthwise and use a vegetable peeler to remove the stringy skin. Cut rhubarb into lengths that fit into the jars with just a little space at the top; fill jars evenly with rhubarb.
Combine sugar, vinegar, salt, coriander, peppercorns, chiles, bay leaves and 3 cups water in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle liquid into the jars, placing 1 chile and 1 bay leaf in each. Cool, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 day. Will keep refrigerated for a month or more.
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2019-04-25T18:29:48Z
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https://foodfarmcsa.wordpress.com/2018/06/
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Porn
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Health
| 0.589624 |
wordpress
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Although my thinking about economics is more in disarray than it has ever been, I think it’s time for me to put together a collection of posts on the topic. I say “collection” rather than “series” because I am nowhere near being able to organize my thoughts into a nice, neat progression. But those thoughts are now far enough outside the mainstream that they will probably make for reading that is at least thought-provoking, if not instructive.
I am collecting these posts under the phrase “folk economics” for a reason. Back in my early computer career I worked in an artificial intelligence research lab, and one of the topics of study was called “naive physics” or “folk physics”, referring to physics as people intuitively understand it as opposed to physics as a scientific theory. Folk physics would never make it as a scientific theory, since it is not comprehensive and sometimes inconsistent. But folk physics will get you through the day, that is, it is sufficient for navigating everyday life. More important, I think a case can be made that when folk physics clashes with scientific physics, it is not enough to discard our intuitions as unreliable; something reasonable must be said about why people misunderstand, or else we need to take a long skeptical look at what the scientific theory is telling us.
Folk economics, then, is an intuitive as opposed to a scientific understanding of economic behavior. This is not to say, though, that it is simply an account of the average person’s intuitive understanding. That understanding is often mistaken, but I would say the mistakes are due to not having thought things through; one’s intuitions can be corrected, so to speak, by further thinking and observation. Unlike a scientific theory, though, the goal of folk economics is not to give a comprehensive and consistent account of economic behavior, but instead to develop a set of intuitions which will serve a person well in dealing with any economic situation he might encounter.
I am not working out an idea of folk economics because I am too lazy or too stupid to grasp the real, scientific version. I understand scientific economic theory well enough, at least in broad outline. But as I’ve been looking at the history of economic behavior, especially in agrarian cultures, I have found that the standard classical theory developed by Adam Smith and his followers not only does not give a very satisfying account of what actually happens between people, in many instances it makes claims that are simply hard for an average person to swallow. It violates our intuitions about how things are or should be. And so I’ve spent more and more time looking at the various claims of classical economic theory, and asking naive questions about them: is this how people actually behave? Is this how they ought to behave? Is this result a good result?
As I’ve asked these questions, I’ve discovered that others have also had serious questions about classical economic theory, people who are much smarter than me and so have been able to propose alternative theories that address the flaws they claim the classical theory suffers from. None of those alternatives has fully persuaded me, but most of them have taught me something. Although this collection of posts is primarily devoted to raising questions about the classical theory, I will also discuss those alternatives if and when it seems useful.
What I’ve written above sounds way more formal than I hoped it would. If it suggests in any way that I will be formulating some kind of alternative theory, even an informal one, rest assured that I won’t. All I intend to do is to raise some questions about the current conventional economic wisdom, and most of those questions will be wrapped up in stories. For example, I will start out taking a look at how prices are set, doing so by telling a bunch of anecdotes about how my experiences with prices haven’t synced up very well with what the classical theory tells me about prices.
This is not about Henry Hazlitt’s book, but since Cindy raised the specter of economic collapse I thought it might interest folks to look back at some posts I’ve made which link to stories of what life was like in Russia during the 1990s, the most complete economic collapse in recent memory.
Dmitry Orlov has spent a lot of time thinking about the mechanics of the Russian collapse, and this post links to a slideshow and a long three-part article which compares and contrasts how Russian society actually handled collapse with how American society is likely to experience it. Orlov has also written another three-part article, “Thriving in the Age of Collapse” (Part I, Part II, Part III), which gives advice to three different kinds of people on how to prepare for collapse: yuppies, baby boomers, and high school students.
Finally, here are two articles that give contrasting accounts of how rural Russia handled the collapse. In Our Village, Dmitry Orlov paints a warts-and-all picture of a rural village that was fairly well situation to endure the crisis. And in my previous post I comment on an anonymous account by a man about ten years younger than Orlov, who claims that small towns in Russia did well but villages actually did rather badly.
Dmitry Orlov’s publisher sent me the galley proof to get a blurb for the dust-jacket, and I’ll furnish one in short order because Reinventing Collapse is an exceptionally clear, authoritative, witty, and original view of our prospects. The thesis is that the United States is headed for troubles as broad and deep as the ones that brought down the Soviet system in Russia, though we will get there via a somewhat different route. Orlov has been in the privileged position of living under both systems at critical times, and the parallels are striking, but the differences even more so.
The Soviet experience was a collapse of consensual reality as much as of economy. Nobody could continue to support the credibility of a one-party, centrally-planned, “command” economy best represented by the joke: “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.” An economy in which nobody had any real stake other than ideological finally ground ignominiously to a halt. Once the state surrendered its authority, the society was stripped of assets. The social safety net dissolved. A lot of people on the margins slipped through the cracks and died. Eventually, the Russian economy (and government) reorganized on a different basis—largely because its remaining oil resources and annual production exceed its domestic consumption. So, this reorganized new oil-exporting state, with its shocking poles of extreme wealth and poverty, will go on for a while until the oil is gone, and then it will face more transformations.
The comparison with the American situation is chilling. For all its gross faults, Soviet Russia was ironically better prepared for economic collapse and political turmoil than we will be. For one thing, all housing there was owned by the state, and allocated under bare nominal rents, so when the economy collapsed, people just stayed in their apartments. Nobody got evicted. There was scant private car ownership in pre-1990 Russia, so gasoline allocation problems did not paralyze movement. Train service was excellent and cheap, and the cities all had a rich matrix of underground metros, on-street electric trams, and trolley-buses, which continued to run even when central authority flickered out. There was no suburban sprawl to strand and isolate people (in homes owned by banks, that can be taken away after the third monthly failure to make a mortgage payment). Official Soviet agriculture was such a fiasco for half a century that the Soviet people were long-conditioned to provide for themselves. For decades, 90 percent of the food was coming from tiny household gardens, wherever it was possible to grow stuff. When America’s just-in-time supermarket resupply system wobbles, and the Cheez Doodles disappear from the WalMart shelves, few Americans will have a Plan B.
Perhaps most striking is that the Soviet collapse provoked almost no bloodshed (at least in Russia itself). The political failure was so comprehensive that the party leadership didn’t even have the will to defend its prerogatives anymore, and for a while politics simply slipped into a vacuum—until Mr. Putin came along and revived the oil industry and managed to get the police back on a payroll that inspired them to do their jobs. Meanwhile, the tremendous drain of the Soviet armed forces and all their equipment—apart from the nuclear arsenal (as far as we know)—was allowed to wither away, along with its monumental demands on the nation’s resources.
As we wait for Orlov’s book, we can learn a few more things about the Russian collapse from this essay I just ran across. The anonymous writer’s conclusions are not all that profound, but some of the details he offers are helpful.
As I was thinking about this topic, I was struck by the following realization, counterintuitive but supported by evidence. The limiting factor in the survival, on both the level of the individual and the community, was not the ability to produce your own products and not even the available resources or lack of them. It was transport and infrastructure – the ability to trade, deliver your surplus elsewhere and from there get other things you need.
This is why rural areas and small towns in Russia took a very hard hit in the 90s, and may never fully recover, as some say. One would think it should be exactly the opposite—people would have gone into the remote villages and live off the land and the woods. However, even in the most self-sufficient household one cannot produce or make everything needed. And being in a remote location makes it difficult to deliver surplus to others in a timely manner for trading or exchange, especially with the roads being as atrocious as they were (a problem endemic to Russia, but can be an important factor elsewhere as well). Plus, as the government budgets dry up, the collective farms go bust, the village school is closed, the general store (already empty) is closed; there is no library, no cars and no gas for them, no TV reception—in short, absolutely nothing to do other than to drink yourself into oblivion, making bad home-made vodka from your decaying surplus grain. The sense of community is gone, people flee like rats from a sinking ship. The “dachas”, mentioned earlier were a different matter—they were clustered in suburbs and used by town dwellers and they were flourishing, but in the villages there are still many deserted houses to this day.
A similar thing happened in small towns. For example, in the town where my relatives had resided (population 15, 000), the only industrial enterprise—an assembly line for radio-transmitters—had closed; the rest of the industry (a bakery and a milk and cheese processing facility) served local needs only. In a town such as that, the roads are better and one can bring in things to trade—but one can only sell as much as people can purchase, and people can’t purchase much since there is no other way to make money besides the meager salaries of teachers and doctors. Again, the sense of community weakens, people begin to leave.
Those who stayed back and managed to work in the new conditions—reorganizing collective farms efficiently, running their own personal farms, organizing local industries (my relatives had a small fish-smoking plant that was making good profit) and revitalizing their communities through those activities—did well though.
It’s surprising to me that non-local trade played such an important role in keeping the society going. The writer also mentions that many people who either couldn’t or chose not to produce goods for sale survived by transporting goods, i.e. they would travel to border locations where goods were available for purchase, then bring them inland for resale. One critical element seems to have been cheap public transportation; I wonder how they kept it running? And would things unfold differently for us, given that we are much more widely dispersed and don’t have much public transportation to begin with?
And I’m puzzled by the idea that in the villages a loss of modern services—schools, stores, libraries, cars, television—translated into a loss of the will to live. Given that they were surviving, was there no value to spending time in one another’s company?
Sometimes small discoveries can have a huge impact. Here’s one: we like canned greens, and greens as served at restaurants and cafeterias. And we know that greens should be a staple in any Appalachian stalwart’s diet—long growing season, easy to grow, satisfying, good for you. Unfortunately, whenever we cooked fresh greens we hated them: bitter, pungent, overwhelming.
Puzzled but undaunted, we decided to try it again. We bought a bunch of mustard greens and prepared them according to what seemed to be the standard recipe: wash and stem the leaves, fry up some onions and garlic in bacon grease, add some chopped bacon, add water, add the leaves, stir briefly until the leaves wilt enough that the water covers them, then simmer. Everything we read said that twenty minutes was long enough, but at the twenty minute mark the leaves still looked bright green and smelled awfully pungent.
Other things came up, and so we left them simmering for another forty minutes, figuring it wouldn’t hurt. Looking again, the leaves had cooked down completely and had that nice, dark look you expect. I tasted a bit of the pot likker (juice), and it was excellent, mellow and satisfying. As were the greens when we served them. So, the simple answer to our vexing problem was: just cook them longer.
I think I finally understand the source of my frustrations in trying to engage Hazlitt’s arguments. Each of the policies he analyzes is an effort to improve on the behavior of laissez-faire economics, and he is quite right in pointing out that such efforts invariably lead to worse results that simply letting the market operate freely—at least as laissez-faire economics defines “worse”.
I’m also sympathetic to the fact that, wherever the policies that Hazlitt examines are implemented, you are sure to find special interests involved who are unfairly benefiting from them. Thus it is tempting to put two and two together, and conclude that these policies are primarily efforts on the part of unscrupulous people to gain unfair benefits.
But as I run down the list of chapter titles in Hazlitt’s book, it strikes me that every one of these misguided policies can be viewed as a response to human misery that is caused by the operation of the free market. Is it really the case that, after two hundred years of experimenting with laissez-faire economics in various contexts, we simply can’t get it through our heads to just step back and let the machine operate without interference? Or is it possible that we continue to interfere with its operation because we simply can’t stand to see what it does to people when uncontrolled?
In any case, a discussion of Hazlitt’s book isn’t the proper place to confront those particular questions, and so I think I’ll save myself further frustration by dropping out at this point.
Among the most viable of all economic delusions is the belief that machines on net balance create unemployment. Destroyed a thousand times, it has risen a thousand times out of its own ashes as hardy and vigorous as ever. Whenever there is long-continued mass unemployment, machines get the blame anew.
Now it is important to bear in mind that insofar as the rioters were thinking of their own immediate or even longer futures, their opposition to the machine was rational. […] the larger part of the 50,000 stocking knitters and their families did not fully emerge from the hunger and misery entailed by the introduction of the machine for the next forty years.
The next sentence I find disingenuous; exactly how much comfort is a displaced stocking knitter supposed to take from the following fact?
But insofar as the rioters believed, as most of them undoubtedly did, that the machine was permanently displacing men, they were mistaken, for before the end of the nineteenth century the stocking industry was employing at least a hundred men for every man it employed at the beginning of the century.
Here Hazlitt is simply following through with a fundamental assumption of classical economics: the free market tends to reallocate resources and labor within a region such that production is maximized. But as Hilare Belloc points out in Economics for Helen, resources and labor will not be reallocated equally within the region. In the case of the rioting knitters, resources and labor were being reallocated away from them, and in such a case it is cold comfort to know that things will work out “on net balance,” i.e. for someone somewhere, if not for them.
As late as 1970, a book appared by a writer [Gunnar Myrdal] so highly regarded that he has since received the Nobel Prize in economics. His book opposed the introduction of labor-saving machines in the underdeveloped countries on the ground that they “decrease the demand for labor”! The logical conclusion from this would be that the way to maximize jobs is to make all labor as inefficient and unproductive as possible.
Perhaps, if you believe along with Hazlitt (Chapter 10) that “The economic goal of any nation, as of any individual, is to get the greatest results with the least effort. The whole economic progress of mankind has consisted in getting more production with the same labor.” But individuals (and, I suppose, nations) can have other economic goals, e.g. the sustainability of an enterprise. The Amish, for example, recognize that automating away the labor that has traditionally been done by children will result in adults who do not know how to work; therefore, they are very careful not to adopt labor-saving devices that will leave their children without useful work to do, even if they are less productive than a machine might be.
It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy. The tailor does not attempt to make his own shoes, but buys them of the shoemaker. The shoemaker does not attempt to make his own clothes, but employs a tailor. The farmer attempts to make neither the one nor the other, but employs those different artificiers. […] What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
It would be far better … to have maximum production with part of the population supported in idleness by undisguised relief than to provide “full employment” by so many forms of disguised make-work that production is disorganized. The progress of civilization has meant the reduction of employment, not its increase. It is because we have become increasingly wealthy as a nation that we have been able virtually to eliminate child labor, to remove the necessity of work for many of the aged and to make it unnecessary for millions of women to take jobs.
Wait a minute. Aren’t our meals being passed through drive-thru windows to us by our children? Isn’t the percentage of women in the workforce greater than it has ever been? And isn’t this full employment within the family—father, mother, teenaged children—what it takes to generate the income that keeps the engines of consumption running at a speed that can prop up the economy?
But not all predictions of classical economics have proved false, and I think we in this country are about to experience the truth of the maxim we began with, namely that the market tends to reallocate resources and labor within a region such that production is maximized. In our case, though, the reallocation of labor and resources will happen away from us and towards some part of the globe where people still remember how to work, perhaps China or India.
Distributists find themselves in a frustrating situation. We have the remedy for our diseased society’s ills, but nobody is buying — because nobody is aware of the pain. We have medicine, but nobody thinks he’s sick. We have a state of ignorance so profound as to be astonishing. The whole of our society is in a state of denial that appears to be limitless.
Peterson goes on to describe his alternative, listing ten ideals towards which he thinks Urban Distributists should strive in order to escape the bonds of modern industrial living.
I’m not one who thinks that agrarianism is morally superior because of the cow. But since so many folks object to the presence of the cow (and all it implies), I do have to wonder: can agrarianism work without it? So I’m looking at Peterson’s outline of how an Urban Distributist and wondering if it is workable.
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2019-04-22T04:07:31Z
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https://drycreekchronicles.wordpress.com/2008/01/
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Porn
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Science
| 0.124006 |
wordpress
|
So, the weather has been a bit of a roller coaster for us. I personally love it that its mid – high 50’s during these months. It makes winter less ‘meh’ for me. Every year I think I say, ‘I need to move’ and each year its been staying milder and milder so we’ll see.
This Wed. we’ll convene at the lovely Paradise Garage in the Short North where I asked a couple of my favorite bicycle ladies to teach the ladies a thing or two. We’ll meet at our usual time – 6pm at Paradise Garage. You can bring your bike or not. There is a parking lot just South of Paradise Garage as well.
If you have any questions, shoot me an email. My email address is found under the ‘About’ tab of my blog.
New air pumps have been installed at certain bike shelters around Cbus. I LOVE it.
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2019-04-25T00:44:04Z
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https://cbuscyclechic.wordpress.com/2012/11/
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Porn
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Recreation
| 0.943289 |
sfgate
|
IF THIS COUNTRY'S necessary war on terrorism is to succeed, its outlaw jail in Guantanamo Bay must close. The time is long past when the rough treatment and denied rights for prisoners can be justified.
The U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, key U.S. allies and now a United Nations team have all scalded the Pentagon's treatment of some 750 detainees ferried through the military base since 2002. The brig has become a synonym for jail-cell mistreatment and the denial of human rights.
Because the base is in Cuba and off American soil, legal protections in the U.S. Constitution don't apply. The Pentagon says that terrorists aren't part of conventional armies covered by international norms and aren't entitled to the rights given captured enemy combatants.
That sham reasoning shouldn't last another day. Close the base and move the prisoners where public hearings and due process can illuminate their condition and expose their beliefs.
A U.N. report this week shows how low America's image has sunk. Borderline torture treatments, such as solitary confinement, exposure to heat and cold, sleep-depriving noise and light and forced feedings are reportedly used, according to investigators. One rough tactic calls for painfully jabbing of food tubes through the nose of hunger strikers strapped in restraint chairs.
Guantanamo's defenders claim such complaints are exaggerated or untrue. But jailers refuse to give outsiders an unfettered look, furthering the image of the jail as a lawless and cruel outpost. The result undercuts the credibility Washington badly needs in making the case for U.S. norms of democracy and civil liberties.
The war against terrorism will take time, patience and skill. Locking up combatants who would injure this supportable cause makes sense. But mistreatment and the denial of basic rights, courtesy of the Pentagon, is a gift to this country's enemies. It's time to close down Guantanamo in the name of winning the war on terrorism.
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2019-04-24T12:34:27Z
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https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Close-Guantanamo-now-2523011.php
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Porn
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News
| 0.41325 |
indiana
|
Spring 2018 graduating undergraduate seniors and graduating master's candidates of the School of Art, Architecture + Design, are invited to join us for a graduation recognition ceremony and reception to celebrate their accomplishments.
Join us for our annual Fashion Design B.A. Runway Show in Alumni Hall! With mini-collections from 23 of our very own fashion design students, amazing and creative collections will be featured. This event is free and open to the public.
Celebrating a Jazz Icon: 100 Years of Ella Fitzgerald is an exhibition featuring pieces from Ella Fitzgerald’s wardrobe from the Sage Collection, as well as images, albums, sheet music, and books from the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, and the Great American Songbook Foundation. The exhibition and events are part of a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of this treasured American artist.
Indiana University’s School of Art, Architecture + Design is pleased to open its doors to students, families, artists, and visitors for the annual Open Studios event on Friday, October 27 from 6:00pm to 10:30pm.This event is free and open to the public!
Join us at our annual Retail + Design Forum, and sit in on sessions with industry executives from Vera Bradley, Astound Commerce, and College Fashionista.
Join us for a presentation with José Blanco and Raúl J. Vázquez-López: Jíbaros, Masked Soldiers, Militant Youths, and Beauty Queens: A conversation about Puerto Rican Dress, Costume, and Fashion.
Join School of Art, Architecture + Design faculty, students, and fellow graduates of the merged Departments of Studio Art and Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design to celebrate the school during homecoming weekend.
Exhibit Columbus is an annual exploration of architecture, art, design, and community in Columbus, Indiana. The School of Art, Architecture and Design has two installations on display as part of Exhibit Columbus, open through November 26.
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2019-04-26T16:45:02Z
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https://soaad.indiana.edu/news-events/_events/special-events/archive/2017-2018/index.html
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Porn
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Arts
| 0.272647 |
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