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Waterproofing a railway bridge with polyurea
In this story, we describe the transformation of a concrete bridge used for the railway that needed to be coated with more than 6.000 m² polyurea. The bridge showed some damages and general lesions due to exposure to the elements for over 50 years with, as a consequence, cracks and water seepage in certain areas.
Complete mobility
The technical solution carried out first consisted of cleaning the external surface with high pressure water. Then, a primer, Floor Fix 63 from Italchimica, was applied, followed by 4 mm of Elastorapid VK 260 polyurea. Finally, the surface was coated with an adhesion accelerator for asphalts, on top of which the final layer of asphalt was laid.
To finalize the job in a short time frame, an integrated Graco Reactor E-XP2I was used. Thanks to the unit's mobility and capability to spray polyurea at the right pressure and temperature, the job was completed within 14 working days. The local Graco distributor, Le SAS, decided to rent this configuration as well as to provide an expert technician responsible for the operations overall. A total amount of 24.000 kg of polyurea was applied with no technical issues. Luckily, the weather conditions were good throughout the operations.
A reliable plural-component system
The pre-treatment of the external surface of the bridge and the application of the primer before the polyurea provided the complete waterproofing of the external platform.
The client found that the Graco Reactor E-XP2I was accurate and reliable, easy to use and provided an assured ratio mix. The mobility of the unit was highly beneficial, as well as the data log provided on completion of the job. The expert advice of the on-site technician resulted in a fast and professional execution of the job, highly appreciated!
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The Boy Can Spit: Short Dawg (Young Money Artist) OnDaSpot Freestyle! (Spittin Over Waka Flocka Flames & Cash Money Beat)
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There were two main objections, which my atheist opponents defended during the VT debate on the existence of God. One of the objections was from the problem of gratuitous evil, particularly natural evil, which I have already responded to here. The other objection raised during the debate was presented first after my opening statements. The argument was that because me and my debate partner were Christian theists the Christian God cannot exist because of the supposed atrocities in the Bible and other doctrines such as hell.
The argument began with the problem of predisposition. In other words, why you must approach your faith of choice with objectivity and skepticism and not confirmation bias. However, in response, in order to identify and affirm the discovery of a truth one must not exhaust all possibilities. Additionally, it works both ways. If the criterion is applied fairly how can one deny the proposition, in this case, God exists, without examining all possibilities? This criterion is untenable. Also, to suggest that one is a Christian because of environment or spatiotemporal location is to commit the genetic fallacy.


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There are certain consumer-ish milestones people hit on the way to Adulthood. My list included buying a car, owning measuring cups, and coveting a Dyson. By the time I was out of law school, I had reached 99% of the benchmarks. But even after I got the Dyson and managed to have a closet dedicated solely to shoes, there was one seminal Adulthood Marker that eluded me: The Big Girl Bed.
I have this theory that as soon as a person:
- Supports themselves;
- Quasi-regularly makes whoopee (or at least aspires to); and
- Has any self-respect;
then they will acquire a mattress set, any mattress set, bigger than a Twin. It doesn't matter if it's purchased from a mattress mega mart, a parental cast-off or from IKEA. As long as it is sized-out of the Transformers sheet set option, it will do.
And for many years, I was the exception to my own rule. Sure I was self-respecting, financially solvent and getting some; I just got it in a Twin bed. Until I was 26. So scratch that self-respecting claim. Anyway, for various reasons I never acquired a larger bed. Things like my shoe collection and vodka took precedent. When I finally did upgrade from the Twin, it wasn't because I was motivated enough to go purchase a mattress set for myself. Instead, I inherited my brother's girlfriend's old bed.
The new-to-me mattress was a Full and I suspect that several generations had previously slept on it. Aside from the sagging and smoke-smell, it came with a rip in the mattress where the stuffing was popping out, forming a bump that never seemed to go away no matter how I flipped it. There were also the broken box springs to contend with. Each night, I had to delicately lie down and avoid shifting around too frequently in my sleep. Because if I didn't position myself just right, I'd be jolted awake as the bed collapsed into a V-formation centered on where the box springs no longer held together. It got to the point where sex in became a race against the inevitable bed collapse. And with my active sleepover schedule, I was highly motivated to fix the problem. I tired everything from two-by-fours to plywood, but despite my best efforts, in the middle of an intimate moment, the bed would go down. After about five months, some combination of hormones, alcohol and desperation lead to a moment of genius because I finally thought to stack a few law school books under the weak spot. And no matter how much I tried thereafter, the bed never collapsed again.
In retrospect, that bed was craptacular and I might have been better off keeping the Twin. But I didn't. After all, it still achieved that vital step up the Adulthood Ladder and ultimately, that's all that matter to my vodka-loving bank account. Until recently. Because something happens after a person turns 30. It's like a switch flips and all the vitality of youth is sapped from the body. It's one of those strange things that everybody knows about but science has yet to explain. And at 31, my ability to withstand hangovers, wear four-inch heels and sleep on a horrible, saggy mattress are all things of the past. I'm still willing to give up my entire Sunday to the misery of a hangover. And who in their right mind would give up cute shoes? But the mattress had to go.
This morning, my new, $2500, memory-foam-core and fancy, individually wrapped coil dream bed arrived. When the deliverymen saw my old mattress, one of them started laughing. And as they lifted the infamous box springs, a thud was followed by a yowl and some sort of growl-panting combination. Apparently Number Two was hiding admits the coils. When I finally ripped open the box spring covering to where she was, Number Two flew out, hissing and twice her size. I also found a repository of cat toys, pens and used Kleenex. It seems Number Two is a hoarder.
This new mattress set is everything a Big Girl Bed should be: firm, level, and Queen-sized. Laying on it is akin to orgasmic bliss. Plus, I suspect it can go a few rounds of nighttime fun without the possibility of imminent collapse. I guess that finally, at age 31 and a half, I have reached the last Adulthood milestone. Well, maybe aside from having a robust 401k.


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Where Festergut is more about raw dps, Rotface is all about add control and survival. Everyone in the raid should focus more on handling adds and staying alive than anything else.
- 1 Main Tank
- 1 Kiter (preferably with taunt and ranged attacks)
- 2-3 healers
- 5-6 DPS; useful if one is a hunter for ranged misdirect
- at least one person capable of dispelling disease
Oozes spawn when a player's Mutated Infection disease debuff wears off or is dispelled. They initially spawn as little oozes.
Little oozes:
- Are immune to taunt.
- Have a ton of threat against their host (pulling aggro off is pretty much unlikely). This threat is there regardless of whether the disease was dispelled or allowed to tick itself out.
- Have a (relatively) light damage aura.
- Occasionally throw painful, evil slime puddles at people that you want to avoid ever standing in.
- Are supposed to want to go merge with another nearby ooze, but sometimes they just want to beat on you instead for a while.
Whether your raid chooses to dispel the disease debuff immediately or wait until the player is out of the raid before dispelling is up to your raid, but I recommend dispelling it immediately.
Before it is dispelled, the debuff has a significant DoT damage on the target while also reducing healing received by 50%, and quite often this player will be caught in slime floods, slime sprays, and other oozes' damage auras. The AoE damage each ooze causes to the raid when the debuff is dispelled is significantly easier to heal through than the debuff itself. It can also make ooze merges happen more quickly as the player is then running to the big ooze with a little ooze already in tow, rather than needing to stop and wait for it to be dispelled.
It is highly suggested that, if your raid wants to control when the infection is dispelled, your priests avoid using abolish disease due to it lasting as a cleansing buff on the target that could dispel a successive disease when you aren't ready for it.
The first player to get an infection in the fight should move to the side of the room and tank their little ooze themselves until a second person gets an infection. The second person will move over to join the first, and they'll coax their oozes to merge together into one big ooze, while at the same time trying to be move away from that big ooze before it slaughters one of the two of them and the tank tries to pick it up.
NOTE: Mages should avoid using mirror images on this fight. Recently there has been a bug where mirror images will cause little oozes to choose a different player--such as your main tank--to aggro themselves on, making it very difficult to merge them with the big ooze or just generally confusing your raid.
Anyone with a new little ooze should move it out of the raid immediately and coax it to merge with the big ooze:
Big oozes:
- Are tauntable.
- Have a normal threat table: they go after the healers first.
- Do about 45-50k damage in a single hit to a non-tank.
- Kiter should avoid ever being hit by them, too.
- Should be kited around the outer edge of the room while the kiter avoids melee contact.
- Are immune to concussion-shot/mind-flay's slowing effects.
- Get bigger and angrier each time they get another small ooze added to them.
- Explode when they contain 6 little oozes; this drops more slime puddles on random players.
- Combine stacks when they merge with other big oozes.
Any two little oozes can merge to form a big ooze: be aware of this when there are multiple little oozes running around the raid, because any newly formed big ooze will have a normal threat table and gun down your highest-threat healer immediately. Avoid letting them merge near healers, and pick them up before they kill someone. I highly suggest having a hunter misdirect a newly formed big ooze onto the offtank.
The kiter should pull these big oozes around the outer wall of the room, avoiding slime sprays and slime pools as much as possible. The kiter will need to watch EVERYTHING going on involving who has a new little ooze and where the oozes are, while avoiding getting ever hit by one of the big oozes, while also making sure they don't loose threat to the healers. They will probably be one of the most vocal people in the raid as they give out instructions regarding new merges, misdirects, loss of aggro, changes in expected kite path, additional damage they may need heals for (slime floods), and when to expect an explosion!
Big oozes are destroyed one of two ways:
- By containing 6 little oozes, the ooze will then explode, sending a deadly rain of globs rocketing through the air at the raid like a missile strike. When the ooze explodes, it does an emote, and the entire raid should relocate themselves to a spot away from where anyone else had previously stood: moving towards the far wall is a good option. Do not return until the globs have landed, as they do take time to cruise through the air.
- By merging big oozes with each other. When it was first released on live, it resulted in the oozes simply canceling each other out, which is how many early achievements were earned. Within the first week, the oozes had been fixed to "merge correctly," instead combining their stacks as they merge into one single big ooze. These will still explode when they reach maximum capacity.
Around the oozes, you have to deal with these other things:
- Putricide slime-flooding 1/4 of the circular room with a relatively mild poison slime (you can run through it if necessary, but avoid doing so as much as possible, especially if you are not the kiter). If you are not the kiter, avoid standing in it; if you are trying to merge a little ooze with an ooze that is currently in a flood, wait for the flood to dissipate or for the ooze to reach the edge of the flood. The flood does not reach the center of the room.
- Every ooze has its own general damage aura hurting everyone around them.
- VERY BAD slime puddles cast by the oozes at particular people; you want to always avoid touching them because they hurt a lot more than the room flood. They hurt more because they slow you more, and their damage/slow effect extends 6 yards out from their graphic. Avoid them, they are death traps.
- Rotface himself will periodically spin towards someone and cast a slime spray aoe. Anyone in the line of fire should move away; the spray reaches all the way to the far wall. Sometimes it will face people who are trying to merge oozes along the wall. It's a pain. Most of the raid should cluster up on Rotface himself, and while they are damaging him, watch where he's facing and move out of the way when he casts the spray in your direction. Your raid may find it helpful to have a single dps dedicated purely to calling out that slime spray is about to be cast.
It can be two-healed, though if you're having trouble, you can try three. Assign one healer to the MT and one healer to infections/ooze tanks, as their primary heal targets. A resto druid will work best on the ooze tanks due to being able to move while casting many of their HoTs and being able to put HoTs on the players to counteract the ticking damage auras, and swiftmend for unexpected chunks. Of course, both healers will need to cross-heal and keep up the entire raid for incidental damage as much as possible, and cover for each other when one of them gets infection themselves.
Once Rotface reaches 30% health, the infections will start coming faster and faster. Bloodlust/major cooldowns should be saved for after 30%. There will then be more people with infections running around and, once dispelled, there will be many more oozes running around, which can easily form new big oozes inside the raid. Healers should be especially alert of new big oozes forming near them, and moving away from them, becoming kiters themselves until they are picked up. The raid will be taking significantly more damage from all of the oozes' auras, but it is still easier to heal a cleansed raid with no healing-reduction debuffs and a lot of oozes than one with a ton of infections. The original live release of this boss used the 25-man spawn timer on infections, something that has since been corrected. It should now be easier. Just avoid panicking, keep your heads, and survive!
This is the point in time where a raid is most likely to merge big oozes together to cancel each other out, if they aren't already trying for the achievement.
Burn through this last 30% as quickly as possible; if your raid's cleanser dies, be sure a new cleanser picks up the job.
Good luck!


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In 2004, the scientific journal Age and Ageing found that older adults are highly knowledgeable about the health benefits of physical activity, yet many remain inactive due to certain barriers to participation. So for this month's column, I decided to examine 10 of the barriers and suggest ways you can reduce or eliminate them.
- Barrier: Lack of interest
Solution: Prior to starting a program, have your older member or potential member examine all their options. Would they prefer taking a class or going solo? Are they a morning or night person? Does indoor fitness appeal to them, or would they prefer to play outside? Could they dedicate large blocks of time to physical activity or shorter, more frequent intervals into their schedule? Young or old, people tend to enjoy things that interest them, that help them reach a goal or that is fun and social. By simply asking them what they like to do, you can break down this barrier.
- Barrier: Lack of daily access to a car
Solution: This barrier may seem daunting, but it can be overcome. Depending on how many older members you have, you may be able to arrange carpools or hire a bus service. You may also wish to offer intergenerational programs in which you find a younger relative to drive and exercise with the older member. Another option is to bring the facility to them. In-home personal training is an opportunity to grow your business outside of your four walls, especially since 51 percent of all personal training clients are 45-plus.
- Barrier: Shortness of breath
Solution: Shortness of breath can be caused by a variety of health issues beyond being out of shape. Meet with the member's healthcare provider to see whether you should consider any special modifications before starting an exercise program. If necessary, get clearance to begin. Educate the member that addressing this issue will improve their quality of life. Research shows that, even after a 30-year layoff, after six months of endurance training, mid-life males were able to achieve a 100 percent reversal of age-related declines in aerobic power.
- Barrier: Joint pain
Solution: According to the Arthritis Foundation, regular, moderate exercise offers benefits to people with arthritis. By exercising, they can reduce joint pain and stiffness, build strong muscle around the joints, and increase flexibility and endurance.
- Barrier: Dislike of going out alone
Solution: Find the member an exercise buddy. Whether it's a friend or a personal trainer, that buddy makes it more likely they'll do the workout.
- Barrier: Dislike of going out in the evening
Solution: Depending on where they live, going out at night may be unsafe. Or they may have problems with night vision. Arranging for transportation or helping them rearrange their schedule to fit in daytime workouts may help.
- Barrier: Perceived lack of fitness
Solution: Ensure they know that they can start slowly with short walks throughout the day. With resistance training, start them with only a couple of exercises and build up. Do not overwork them or you will never see them again. Set long-term goals, and show them how they will build their fitness level one workout at a time.
- Barrier: Lack of energy
Solution: Lack of energy can stem from a low fitness level or from the interaction of prescription drugs. First, establish why they have a lack of energy. Then, explain that being active will give them more energy. For many it can also reduce the number of drugs they take and the expense that goes with it. Depression can create low energy levels, especially if the person is a caregiver. In treating depression, research shows that exercise may be more effective than drugs.
- Barrier: Doubting that exercise can lengthen life
Solution: Ask them about their quality of life. Are they able to do the things they want to do? Explain how exercise can improve this, no matter how long they live. Exercise will offer them the ability to age on their own terms. The number one reason that most people get admitted into a skilled nursing home is lack of leg strength. One out of three people over the age of 65 fall every year. We lose 50 percent of our strength between the ages of 35 and 70 if we lead a sedentary life. All of these factors impact our ability to lead a quality lifestyle. However, a simple exercise program can impact all of these positively.
- Barrier: Not belonging to a group
Solution: Group exercise is one of the best ways of creating a social network. Get together a support network of friends and family, and ask for their support and encouragement of the member. Involving others often helps seniors keep their commitments.
Whether you want to capture a small share of the older market or make it the centerpiece of your business model, one thing is certain, you need to eliminate as many barriers as possible to achieve the success you deserve.
Colin Milner is chief executive officer of the International Council on Active Aging™. An award-winning writer, Milner has authored more than 100 articles on aging-related issues. He can be reached at [email protected].


text:
- Full Description
DetailsThe 150L Rattan Wicker Effect Polybutt Water Butt in blue is strong and durable and comes with two pre-drilled holes for taps and two for the downpipe connector.
These cylinder-shaped Rattan Wicker Effect Polybutt Water Butts are strong, durable and now available in seven other colours: black, red, green, oak, orange, pink and purple.
With two pre-drilled holes for taps and two for the downpipe connector, you can display this cylinder-shaped water butt however you want. Caps are included to fill the holes not in use.
Manufactured from UV stabilised LLDPE (linear low-density polyethylene), the Polybutt will not degrade over time and will retain its strength throughout a 10-15 year working life.
Comes complete with a tap, lid, rain diverter and matching colour stand.
Capacity: 150 Litres
Height: 127cm (with stand)
Diameter: 52cm
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South African Journal of Science
On-line version ISSN 1996-7489
Print version ISSN 0038-2353
S. Afr. j. sci. vol.104 n.5-6 Pretoria May./Jun. 2008
Modelling the dynamics of animal groups in motion
Christophe LettI, *; Vincent MirabetII
IInstitut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UR GEODES, and Oceanography Department, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
IICNRS; UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université de Lyon, 43 boulevard du 11 novembre 1918, Villeurbanne F-69622, France; IRD, UR GEODES
Animal groups in motion, examples being fish schools, bird flocks, insect swarms and mammal herds, can exhibit spectacular collective behaviour. Attempts at formalizing the basic individual behaviour that accounts for the complex dynamics of an animal group began over 50 years ago. Numerous models of these dynamics have since been published. We review this information, starting with an overview of various approaches that have arisen from mathematical, physical, and computer-modelling methods. Our focus is on individual-based models of animal groups. Individuals are assumed to exert three types of local interactions with their neighbours in these models, namely attraction, alignment, and repulsion. We review these models according to their main objectives: to compare modelled results with observational data; to analyse the influence of model parameters on simulated group properties; and to investigate group response to any change in environment, or to divergent behaviour of some of the group members.
Animal groups, such as fish schools, bird flocks, insect swarms and mammal herds, can exhibit spectacular collective behaviour.1,2 Being part of a group induces multiple changes in individual links with the environment and to siblings.3 Some of these changes are associated with the 'many eyesmany mouths' trade-off,4,5 namely collective benefits (many eyes, and hence a reduced risk of predation) and collective deficits (many mouths, creating increased competition for food). Complex group behaviour may emerge from simple local interactions between individuals. A fish school is not regarded as having a social leader, and individuals do not perceive the school as an entity of which they are a part, yet fish schools display complex coordinated collective behaviour.6 Attempts to formalize basic individual behaviour leading to complex group dynamics began over 50 years ago.7 Numerous models of the dynamics of animal groups have since been reported in the literature.
Models of animal groups in motion have been published in ecological8,9 and fish dynamic modelling reviews,10 and in reviews1,2 or theoretical notes1113 on collective animal behaviour. Several examples of these models have also been reported in books on individual-based models14 or self-organization.15 To our knowledge, however, there is no specific review on modelling of the dynamics of animal groups. This paper addresses this shortcoming. We present an overview of various modelling approaches that arise from mathematical, physical, and computational methods. We then focus on individual-based models of animal groups, and report on these studies according to their main objectives: to compare model results with observational data; to analyse the effects of model parameters on the simulated group properties; to investigate group response to a change in its environment, or to divergent behaviour of some of its members.
Different modelling approaches
A simple mathematical model used to describe aggregative movements is the 'aggregationdiffusion equation'16:
in which u is the density of individuals at time t and space location x along a line. Different shapes of the ø(u) function correspond to different types of interactions between individuals: a linear function ø(u) = Du corresponds to the absence of interaction, resulting in diffusion dynamics, the continuous-time equivalent of a discrete-time random walk; a convex (conversely concave) function results in over-dispersion (conversely under-dispersion), and corresponds to a repulsive (conversely aggregative) interaction. But these dynamics are all 'diffusion-like', in the sense that a steady state of the system has a uniform density u = u0 along the line, where u0 is specified by the boundary conditions u(0,t) = u(L,t) = u0, L being the length of the line. But when ø(u) functions are such that the equation ø(u) = ø(u0) has three roots (Fig. 1, left panel), then the aggregationdiffusion equation gives rise to 'clumping-like' dynamics, where the steady state of the system consists of a succession of both low density and high density zones along the line (Fig. 1, right panel).
Other terms can be added to the aggregationdiffusion equation, in particular, advection and 'reaction' terms, to take into account any environmental (such as sea currents) and demographic (such as growth and mortality) factors, respectively.1719 For example, see the advectiondiffusionreaction models that have been developed as representing the dynamics of tuna.2022
Vicsek et al.23 developed a model of 'self-propelled particles' in which 'at each time-step a given particle driven with a constant absolute velocity assumes the average direction of motion of the particles in its neighbourhood of radius r, with some random perturbation'. The position of each particle i is given by
Its velocity is given a constant value and a direction determined by the angle
In Equation (3), 〈ν(t)〉 denotes the average direction of the velocities of particles located in radius r around particle i, and ξ is a random number chosen from a uniform distribution.
Transitions from disordered motion in this model to discrete groups moving coherently in random directions (Fig. 2, left panel), and thereafter, completely ordered motion (Fig. 2, right panel), occur as particle density increases.23 A model similar to this one has been applied to examine the transition from disorder to order occurring in populations of desert locust nymphs at critical densities.24 Evidence of a similar transition has also been reported for schools of young fish.25
Originally developed in two dimensions, the model23 has been extended to three dimensions,26 and a synthesis of the results obtained from experiments conducted in one to three dimensions has also been published.27 The density of particles in these models has been kept constant by using closed simulation domains, and collective motion does not occur in an open domain because the systems are in a disordered state at low particle density. This argument has led to the addition of an attractionrepulsion 'force' to the alignment component in Equation (3).28
Computer science
Reynolds29 is often cited as the first exponent of a computer model applied to the simulation of the dynamics of animal groups. His model is individual-based, where he considers a collection of individuals, whose behaviour is explicitly executed at the individual level. Focusing on bird flock simulation, Reynolds introduced the concept of a bird-oid, or 'boid', as a virtual equivalent to a real bird. The three fundamental individual behaviours used in Reynolds' model, namely cohesion, alignment and separation,30 are related closely to those used afterwards in most individual-based models (IBMs) of animal groups: attraction, alignment, and repulsion. These behaviours reflect the different types of interaction that an individual j may exert on an individual i. This is illustrated in Fig. 3 by the directions of the vector . This vector is orientated towards (conversely away from) j in the case of an attraction (conversely repulsion) behaviour, and is aligned on the velocity vector, , of j, for the alignment behaviour. Generally, each individual i has several influential individuals j in its neighbourhood (termed influential neighbours). In most IBMs the (potentially conflicting) influences of these are weighted by functions of the distance between i and j, and are summed. The resulting vector is used to determine the displacement direction of the individual i at the next time-step (Fig. 3d), and its position is updated using Equation (2). Different types of weighting functions have been used with different IBMs. These functions share some common properties, particularly reflecting the tendency for attraction, alignment and repulsion behaviour to be predominant at large, medium and small distances, respectively. But they also differ in a number of aspects, and the consequences on simulated group characteristics of favouring one type of function over another have been reported in a number of papers.6,3134
Most IBMs rely on the fundamental principles discussed above, and are therefore conceptually similar to the reported model of self-propelled particles.28 But most IBMs also use additional parameters or processes to improve their biological realism. These are detailed below.
Individual-based models of animal groups
Of 31 papers on individual-based models of animal groups examined in this review, 20 deal with the dynamics of fish schools.6,3553 The tendency to select fish in these models has already received attention.54 Individuals in most fish-school IBM studies have been given some specific characteristics of fish, such as dead angle limitation of their field of perception,36,40,43,44,46,4953 varying fields of perception related to different sensory systems (vision and lateral line)36,44 or a fairly sophisticated spring-mass sub-model for locomotion.49 Seven papers have dealt with animal groups in general,31,33,34,5558 leaving one paper on animal herds,59 one on human crowds,60 and two previously-mentioned publications on bird flocks29 and insect swarms.24
The objective of early work was to demonstrate that use of IBMs, with simple individual behaviour, allows for simulation of various types of group behaviour40,45,46 and can create realistic animations.29,49 The publications that we examine can be assigned to four categories in terms of their main objectives: a comparison of model results with experimental data, an analysis of the effects of model parameters on the simulated group properties, and an investigation of the simulated group response to a change in its environment, or to divergent behaviour of some of its members.
Comparison of model results with data
The evolution with time of variables that characterize the alignment of particles in a model, and the alignment of locusts in field observation, have been compared for three different densities.24 Impressively similar patterns of low alignment at low density, high alignment at high density, and shifting lowhigh alignment at intermediate density (Fig. 4a and b), are obtained. Moreover, the transitions between the different states occur at approximately the same critical densities. Similarly, the evolution of polarity, another variable characterizing the coherence of the displacement of individuals, has been measured over time, in 8-fish real groups and virtual groups.50 A strong alignment behaviour in the model results in a fast increase of polarity over time, which is not evident from the data. Weak alignment behaviour produces patterns more in accordance with data (Fig. 4c). Several characteristics of simulated fish schools (the distances to nearest neighbours, the degree of polarity, the frequency of the time spent by a fish at the front of a school) are in general good agreement with observed data.42 A good fit is also obtained for the number of fish per group, and for the number of groups, as observed in laboratory experiments and in a model.37 But the fit is poor in the field where there are much fewer and much larger schools than predicted by the model. Video analyses of fish schooling in a tank have been used to estimate the parameters of an IBM that included attraction and repulsion behaviour towards the tank wall and central structure.48 Use of video recording provides information on the long-distance attraction and short-distance repulsion behaviours that are the core of IBMs.61
Effects of model parameters on group properties
Analyses of the effects of different types of attractionalignmentrepulsion weighting functions on the simulated group properties31,33 reveal that functions resulting in a smooth transition from one type of behaviour to another (for example, from attraction to repulsion) lead to more cohesive33 and more homogeneous31 groups. A shift from slow moving groups (swarms) to highly polarized, faster-moving ones (schools) has been reported as increasing the strength of the alignment behaviour,55 or decreasing strength of randomness in movement of individuals.45 Only a tiny alignment force can create highly polarized groups, whereas a large degree of randomness is required for a group to disintegrate.52 Groups with higher polarity are also obtained when the alignment zone used in a model is enlarged.40 Increasing the number of influential neighbours (i.e. the number of j individuals that influence the behaviour of individual i, Fig. 3) results in smaller and more-polarized groups.6,40 A larger variability in individual spacing within the group is obtained6 for large numbers of influential neighbours, and may arise from the structures (concentrations of individuals in subgroups or lines) observed under such conditions.31 An asymptotic relationship between simulated group size and the number of individuals has been established,51 which suggests that increasing the number of individuals will result in several groups of similar size, rather than a single large group.
Group response to environment
Simple additions to the basic rules used in IBMs allows for the simulation of fish schools when feeding,35,41 swimming along environmental gradients,38,41 avoiding obstacles,38,41,48 and escaping predators.43,53,57,58 A decrease in speed and an increase in the random movement of individuals located in the vicinity of food patches allows one to simulate schools shifting from straight polarized dynamics, while cruising, to loose swarm-like dynamics, while feeding.41 A decrease (conversely increase) in individual speed within (conversely outside) food patches leads to individuals reacting collectively to the distribution of food, and thus spending a significantly longer time in favourable areas than in the case of solitary individuals.35 Another additional rule states that if a fish perceives an improvement in the environmental conditions, it will maintain its direction and will accelerate slightly,41 resulting in simulated fish schools swimming along a region that offers the best conditions (Fig. 5a). A similar approach has been used to simulate the migration of fish schools between spawning and feeding grounds.38 Repulsion from obstacles has been added to individual behaviour in order to simulate fish schools swimming around obstacles,41 and potentially being split by such obstacles (Fig. 5b).
Obstacles can also be represented by unfavourable and avoidable environmental conditions for fish schools.38 Individual attraction and repulsion behaviour towards a tank wall is needed to account for small groups of fish observed swimming along such wall.48 Similar behaviour has been modelled to simulate the dynamics of a crowd escaping out of a room.60 Finally, adding repulsion behaviour away from a predator enables one to investigate the dynamics of animal groups in the presence of predators.43,53,57,58 Typical patterns of fish school responses to predators described in the literature have been identified through simulations.43 Movement of the predator will influence the group response:57 a split-type response is obtained when the predator has a direct movement (Fig. 5c, right); a herd-type response arises when the predator has a more erratic movement (Fig. 5c, left). The interplay between collective escape and 'selfish escape' (when a fish ceases to interact with its neighbours, due to the proximity of the predator) has also been examined.53 The group dynamics of predators chasing groups of prey has been investigated by means of an evolutionary IBM that includes scores for individuals, based on the number of predatorprey encounters and a selective process, where only the most successful individuals are able to reproduce.58
Group response to individual differences
IBMs have also been used largely to study the effects on the group dynamics of some members with different properties, or different behaviour from the others. Various speeds, maximum turning rates, sizes of alignment and repulsion areas, have influence on the positions of individuals relative to the front and/or centre of a group.55 Some individuals that have different attractionrepulsion functions exert an impact on the turning rate and velocity of whole group.47 Two categories of individuals have been introduced in an IBM,36 having properties such that individuals were more attracted towards, less repulsed by, and aligned more with individuals from their category. This has led to sub-groups of homogeneous categories becoming randomly distributed within a group. However, when the two categories differ in specific properties (the attractionalignmentrepulsion functions, in this case), sub-groups acquire privileged locations within the group. Groups that are initially composed of fast and slow individuals eventually fragment into a fast and a slow sub-group.59 Group fragmentation has not been obtained in another similar experiment; instead, the result has been fast individuals circling around slow ones.47 Several authors have used IBMs to investigate the effects of a few individuals with biased movement direction on group dynamics.39,47,56,59 In a modelling experiment where only a small proportion of the fish is attracted towards the source of a stimulus, a critical transition occurs at ~5% of stimulated individuals.39 At a lower percentage, almost no fish reach the stimulus source, and above this value, almost all fish succeed. The effects of conflicting preferred movement directions have also been studied.56 N1 and N2 individuals have a biased direction towards 0° and x° (x є [0º, 180º]) respectively in a group of 100 individuals moving in a two-dimensional area. With N1 = N2 = 5, and under a critical value of x, the group as a whole is most likely to follow an in-between direction x/2°, whereas above this critical value, it is equally likely to move collectively towards 0° (the preferred direction of the N1 individuals) or x° (the preferred direction of the N2 individuals). In contrast, with N1 = 6 and N2 = 5 there is minimal chance for the group as a whole to move towards x°, and no chance with N1 = 6 and N2 = 4.
We have considered models of the dynamics of animal groups using mathematical, physical, or computational methods. Because we focus on individual-based models, our review is biased towards the computational approach (most IBMs considered here have been developed and used in a context of numerical ecology). Spatially explicit IBMs typically employ continuous variables for space. For this reason, we have excluded models that use discrete space, most of them being cellular automata networks developed from physical6265 or computational6670 methods.
The effects of changing parameter values in most IBMs on simulated group properties have been assessed. This review devotes a particular section to research in which this assessment was the main objective. Sensitivity analysis is crucial, but time-consuming, as it is based on series of simulations that use various sets of parameter values. There is a lack of theoretical background with respect to IBMs, compared with mathematical and physical modelling. Research that aims to establish links between mathematical or physical models and IBMs32,7174 is thus of importance.
Individuals are assumed to move at constant speed with most IBMs that we have reviewed, or at a speed randomly chosen from a constant statistical distribution. A Newtonian description of movement has been used for a few IBMs, where the acceleration of each individual has been calculated as the sum of forces applied to it, divided by its mass.6,32,4852,57 Forces have included social forces (attraction, alignment and repulsion), a drag force that impedes individuals when moving too quickly, and other potential attractionrepulsion forces for individuals that interact with their physical environment48 or with predators.57 On first impression, the acceleration approach would seem to be more satisfactory, as it allows individuals to vary their speed, and this relates to real life. Including a drag force, however, effectively sets a constant velocity. Individuals initially change in relative positions until they are at locations where all forces cancel. This steady state is likely to correspond to a condition where attraction and repulsion on one side, with alignment and drag on the other side, cancel one another, as these forces have opposing influences on movement.
It is often claimed that parameters and variables used in IBMs are more biologically meaningful, and easier to estimate than those used for mathematical models. A reason is that IBMs deal with individuals, which are entities that are generally easier to identify than populations, the level at which most mathematical models operate. This said, some parameters and functions used in IBMs of animal groups are notably difficult to estimate. Finding evidence for the existence of attractionalignmentrepulsion zones has already been a challenge.61 Determining attraction alignmentrepulsion weighting functions from data is difficult. Video analysis24,25,37,48,50,61 is expected to play a major role in this regard. The number of influential neighbours has been identified as a crucial parameter in many projects. Estimating such a parameter from data remains an open question. The number of individuals in a group is also an important parameter. Laboratory research thus far confines its work to small groups of individuals. Comparison of these results with larger groups in the field is complex.37 It is encouraging, however, to see how well model and data comparisons can agree.24 The fact that simulated groups avoid predators with dynamical patterns similar to observed ones43,57 is also a valuable qualitative validation of the models.
We have detailed investigations of a group's response to a change in its environment, and to the different behaviour of some of its members. Individuals with potentially different properties or behaviour exert local interactions with one another, and with their environment. Accounting for local interactions and the diversity of individuals have been two main reasons that have been advanced for the need of IBMs.75 Results that show how a few individuals can influence the behaviour of a whole group39,56 reinforce the view that IBMs are an appropriate method. IBMs of animal groups can also be used to explore other group phenomena. One is a fish school's reaction to shipping. This behaviour has been well documented, and compares the reported responses: avoidance,7678 attraction,79 or no reaction.80 Another scenario is individuals that try systematically to avoid particular positions within a group. Location at the periphery of a group, for example, will lead to larger exposure to predators, or to adverse environmental conditions (for instance, colder temperatures in penguin colonies). This affords methods that explore not only the manner in which an individual influences a group, but also how the group has influence on individuals. In the South African context, one can consider the spectacular collective marine fish migration phenomenon named 'the sardine run' (a series of papers on the subject are in preparation for the African Journal of Marine Science). The step from the current models that simulate groups of hundreds of individuals to modelling a school of hundreds of millions of sardines is a massive challenge.
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* Author for correspondence. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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In computer science, a data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently.[1][2]
Different kinds of data structures are suited to different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to specific tasks. For example, B-trees are particularly well-suited for implementation of databases, while compiler implementations usually use hash tables to look up identifiers.
Data structures are used in almost every program or software system. Data structures provide a means to manage huge amounts of data efficiently, such as large databases and internet indexing services. Usually, efficient data structures are a key to designing efficient algorithms. Some formal design methods and programming languages emphasize data structures, rather than algorithms, as the key organizing factor in software design.
- An array stores a number of elements of the same type in a specific order. They are accessed using an integer to specify which element is required (although the elements may be of almost any type). Arrays may be fixed-length or expandable.
- Record (also called tuple or struct) Records are among the simplest data structures. A record is a value that contains other values, typically in fixed number and sequence and typically indexed by names. The elements of records are usually called fields or members.
- A hash or dictionary or map is a more flexible variation on a record, in which name-value pairs can be added and deleted freely.
- Union. A union type definition will specify which of a number of permitted primitive types may be stored in its instances, e.g. "float or long integer". Contrast with a record, which could be defined to contain a float and an integer; whereas, in a union, there is only one value at a time.
- A tagged union (also called a variant, variant record, discriminated union, or disjoint union) contains an additional field indicating its current type, for enhanced type safety.
- A set is an abstract data structure that can store specific values, without any particular order, and no repeated values. Values themselves are not retrieved from sets, rather one tests a value for membership to obtain a boolean "in" or "not in".
- An object contains a number of data fields, like a record, and also a number of program code fragments for accessing or modifying them. Data structures not containing code, like those above, are called plain old data structure.
Many others are possible, but they tend to be further variations and compounds of the above.
Basic principlesEdit
Data structures are generally based on the ability of a computer to fetch and store data at any place in its memory, specified by an address—a bit string that can be itself stored in memory and manipulated by the program. Thus the record and array data structures are based on computing the addresses of data items with arithmetic operations; while the linked data structures are based on storing addresses of data items within the structure itself. Many data structures use both principles, sometimes combined in non-trivial ways (as in XOR linking)
The implementation of a data structure usually requires writing a set of procedures that create and manipulate instances of that structure. The efficiency of a data structure cannot be analyzed separately from those operations. This observation motivates the theoretical concept of an abstract data type, a data structure that is defined indirectly by the operations that may be performed on it, and the mathematical properties of those operations (including their space and time cost).
Language supportEdit
Most assembly languages and some low-level languages, such as BCPL, lack support for data structures. Many high-level programming languages, and some higher-level assembly languages, such as MASM, on the other hand, have special syntax or other built-in support for certain data structures, such as vectors (one-dimensional arrays) in the C language or multi-dimensional arrays in Pascal.
Most programming languages feature some sorts of library mechanism that allows data structure implementations to be reused by different programs. Modern languages usually come with standard libraries that implement the most common data structures. Examples are the C++ Standard Template Library, the Java Collections Framework, and Microsoft's .NET Framework.
Modern languages also generally support modular programming, the separation between the interface of a library module and its implementation. Some provide opaque data types that allow clients to hide implementation details. Object-oriented programming languages, such as C++, Java and .NET Framework use classes for this purpose.
Many known data structures have concurrent versions that allow multiple computing threads to access the data structure simultaneously.
See alsoEdit
- Concurrent data structure
- Data model
- Dynamization
- Information architecture
- Knowledge structure
- Linked data structure
- List of data structures
- Persistent data structure
- Plain old data structure
- ↑ Paul E. Black (ed.), entry for data structure in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures. U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. 15 December 2004. Online version Accessed May 21, 2009.
- ↑ Entry data structure in the Encyclopædia Britannica (2009) Online entry accessed on May 21, 2009.
Further readingsEdit
- Peter Brass, Advanced Data Structures, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming, vol. 1. Addison-Wesley, 3rd edition, 1997.
- Dinesh Mehta and Sartaj Sahni Handbook of Data Structures and Applications, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press, 2007.
- Niklaus Wirth, Algorithms and Data Structures, Prentice Hall, 1985.
External linksEdit
| Data structures]]
- UC Berkeley video course on data structures
- Descriptions from the Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures
- CSE.unr.edu
- Data structures course with animations
- Data structure tutorials with animations
- An Examination of Data Structures from .NET perspective
- Schaffer, C. Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis
Template:Data structures Template:Data types
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


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'The Drunken Botanist': author Amy Stewart explores the plants we love to drink
The role that grapes or barley play in creating spirits may be a given, but what about plants such as corn, rice, sorghum or sugarcane? We may be onto a new drinking game here – one author Amy Stewart would likely approve of. In The Drunken Botanist (Algonquin Books, March 2013), she takes a fun and lighthearted look at the botanical world and the integral part it plays in what we imbibe.
Stewart has authored six books on the natural world, including Wicked Bugs (Algonquin Books, 2011), and Wicked Plants (Algonquin Books, 2009), the latter which contains a section called "The Devil's Bartender" exploring poisonous plants that have been used over the centuries to make alcohol. Stewart says she could mix a "decent" drink before working on The Drunken Botanist, but honed the craft throwing the many parties involved in her research and writing process.
The inspiration for the book came in the form of the jalapeño-based Mamani Gin & Tonic (recipe below), which Stewart mixed in an effort to convince a fellow garden writer of the virtues of gin. A trip to a Portland liquor store for supplies opened her eyes to the many plants in the bottles lining the shelves: Zea mays in bourbon, Humulus lupulus in beer, and Solanum tuberosum in Polish vodka. Stewart writes in The Drunken Botanist, "Suddenly we weren't in a liquor store anymore. We were in a fantastical greenhouse, the world's most exotic botanical garden, the sort of strange and overgrown conservatory we only encounter in our dreams."
When deciding on the more than 150 plants, flowers, fruits and trees included in the book, a global scope was important. "I think it's easy for us to talk about North America and Europe when we talk about spirits and drinks but there are all of these global drinking traditions that most of us don't think that much about," Stewart says in an interview. "When you look at Africa and India, and of course Asia, and South America, you realize that there's hardly a plant anywhere that people have not figured out how to turn into alcohol," she adds with a laugh.
Stewart offers the example of the "unglamorous" sorghum grain, one of her favourite plants in the book, which is widely used throughout Africa to homebrew beer and in China to make baijiu – a distilled alcoholic beverage. Its use is so widespread in these regions that Stewart estimates sorghum rivals grapes or barley as "one of the world's most-imbibed plants." The drought-tolerant grain is also grown extensively in the American South, where farmers have long known it makes a fine moonshine.
As for the taste, Stewart explains that if you've eaten Ethiopian food, you may have had sorghum; the Ethiopian flatbread injera is often made from either sorghum or teff flour. "I've had sorghum beer and it's good. And the Chinese spirit is an adventure," she says with a laugh. "It's not for everybody and like anything, there's a high-end and a low-end, and I've had the high-end and it's pretty amazing actually."
Knowing more about what goes into the glass – the origins, history, stories and traditions – can lead to better-made drinks. The reason being, Stewart explains, is if you know what ingredients are in something, you will likely have a better idea of what to pair or mix it with. For example, if you know that a liqueur is made with grapes, then you might mix it with a brandy, which is also made from grapes rather than a whiskey, which is made from grains. "There are certain ways that you can pair compatible ingredients if you just know what those ingredients are, but for me, the benefit is really just being able to sit around a bar with your friends and go, 'You know, Christopher Columbus brought this plant to the New World. It didn't even exist…'" she says. "That kind of stuff just fascinates me. So for me, it's having a richer understanding of what you're putting in the glass."
The Drunken Botanist includes 50 drink recipes, as well as 13 recipes for syrups, infusions and garnishes such as refrigerator pickles and maraschino cherries. The drink recipes are intended to be simple and classic, with an emphasis on variations that best highlight the particular plant's use in liquor, "The recipes are really nothing fancy. The subtitle is, 'The plants that create the world's great drinks' and by the world's great drinks, I really mean the drinks that we all know and anybody can make or could learn how to make," Stewart says. "I was really asking myself, 'What is the best expression of this particular plant in the glass?' so if I'm writing about corn – corn is used to make bourbon – I think an Old Fashioned is the best way to appreciate bourbon if you're going to have a mixed drink."
"Grow your own" sections appear throughout the book, offering gardeners tips for growing plants such as elderberries, lemon verbena and wormwood. Stewart started a cocktail garden at her home in Eureka, California a couple of years ago where she grows a variety of edibles including herbs, lemongrass, hops, blackcurrant – intended for crème de cassis – and sloe (or blackthorn, which have yet to bear fruit). "It's a very nice hangout space and of course I use some of those things for cooking as well," she says. "It's nice to have something like sage or rosemary or cilantro right outside the kitchen door but actually a lot of them just get used for drinks."
Stewart recommends that gardeners think about what they like to drink before they plant, and also work with their climate. "I am really bad about zone denial. I'm the one who always wants to grow things that don't grow in my climate zone," she says with a laugh. She adds that many of the plants that would suit a cocktail garden also do well in containers – such as small fruit trees like citrus trees – and help create a balcony, deck or garden space that would be perfect to hang out and drink in. Above all else, taking an active hand in plants can help us become better drinkers. "Life is short and there's no reason to drink bad drinks, so I think once you know what goes into a drink maybe you're more likely to seek out fresh ingredients and stay away from artificial flavourings and colourings," Stewart says. "There are only so many drinks that you can have, right? So why not make them count? Make them good."
Excerpted from The Drunken Botanist (Algonquin Books, March 2013) by Amy Stewart
The Frank Meyer Expedition
This combination of straight spirits, sugar, and Meyer lemon showcases the fruit perfectly. The Champagne float gives it a nice effervescence. Mix up a batch for friends and drink a toast to Mr. Meyer and his daring adventures.
1 1/2 oz vodka3/4 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz Meyer lemon juice
Dry sparkling wine (Spanish cava works well) or sparkling water
Lemon peel
Shake the vodka, simple syrup, and lemon juice over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Float sparkling wine on top and garnish with lemon peel. For a less intoxicating variation, strain into a tumbler over ice and top with sparkling water instead of sparkling wine.
The Mamani Gin & Tonic
Jalapeños and tomatoes, two South American natives, pay tribute to Manuel Incra Mamani, the man who lost everything to bring quinine to the rest of the world.
1 1/2 oz dry gin (try Aviation or Hendrick's)
1 jalapeño (or, if you prefer, a milder pepper), seeded, cored, and sliced
2 to 3 sprigs fresh cilantro or basil
1 cucumber (1 chunk and 1 swizzle-stick-shape slice needed)
High-quality tonic (look for a brand without high-fructose corn syrup, like Fever-Tree or Q Tonic)
3 red or orange cherry tomatoes
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the gin with 2 slices of jalapeño, 1 sprig of cilantro, and the chunk of cucumber.
Fill a highball glass with ice; layer in 1 or 2 slices of jalapeño, a sprig of cilantro, and the slice of cucumber.
Strain the gin and pour over ice. Fill the glass with tonic water; garnish with cherry tomatoes on a pick.


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Hulu's long-awaited premium service "Hulu Plus" just went live.
The premium, HD service is available on the iPhone, iPad, and even certain TVs and costs $9.99 a month.
Hulu Plus allows subscribers to watch every episode aired from the current season of top shows, whereas Hulu's free service limits the number of shows from the current season it makes available.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
The service is technically a "preview" — you can click to request a preview invite now — it'll roll out wide in coming months.
Hulu, which is co-owned by NBC Universal, News Corp, Disney and Providence Equity Partners, has been talking about a subscription service for year. The site has the premium service costs $9.99 a month and will offer a wider variety of shows in high definition. Subscribers will for the first time be able to access the full current season of shows on the air right now. Hulu's free site will continue to operate.
Whereas Hulu is just a website, Hulu Plus is also an application subscribers can download for free to the Apple's iPad, iPhone, and certain Samsung internet-connected Blu-ray players, and TVs. In the next few months it'll also be available on a range of Sony PlayStation 3, TVs and Blu-Ray players and in 2011 Hulu Plus will launch on Microsoft's XBox 360.
This changes the game in terms of mobile content distribution — making Hulu a player like Netflix, whose free app for subscribers has been a huge hit on Apple's platform. The big question is whether Hulu's loyal users decide to pay the ten bucks a month? And will Hulu drastically scale back how much content it offers for free?
Hulu Plus will include advertising — Nissan and Bud Light are the lead advertisers on board. It's odd to include ads on a subscription service, but presumably it's to offset what would be a higher fee.
CBS has resisted joining Hulu, saying it's simply not profitable. The network has said it may get on board once a subscription service is in place, if it makes CBS' involvement remunerative.
Questions? Comments? email@example.com


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By: Nick DeRiso
Billy Sherwood, both with Yes and on his recent helming of the Prog Collective, has already established himself as a staunch advocate for the 1970s' signature rock style. So why shouldn't he do the same with 1970s jazz?
The forthcoming Sherwood-produced Fusion Syndicate, set for release by Purple Pyramid/Cleopatra on October 16, 2012, recalls all of the genre-busting triumphs of Mahavishnu Orchestra — and even includes a pair of former members in Billy Cobham and Jerry Goodman. Elsewhere, Jimmy Haslip of the Yellowjackets, Jay Beckenstein of Spyro Gyra and Eric Marienthal of Chick Corea's Elektric Band appear, as well. Heck, there's even a wow-man cover image, very much in the style of Miles Davis' classic recordings of the period.
And why not? Fusion jazz, like its polyester-era counterpart prog, has been just as wrongly maligned in the intervening decades — cursed for its excesses far more than it has been rightly praised for the times when it pushed the envelope.
What's interesting is the way that The Fusion Syndicate makes cases for both. In a tip of the hat to Sherwood's history as a member of Yes in the 1990s, there are appearances by members of King Crimson, Soft Machine, Dream Theater and (of course) Sherwood's old band, to boot.
Goodman begins by creating a tornadic swirl of violin on "Random Acts of Science," even as Rick Wakeman's keyboards trickle across the song like a rushing stream. Meanwhile, Sherwood's guitar creates this Middle Eastern-inspired mystery, working in an intriguing contrast to the propulsive groove from bassist Jimmy Haslip. Steve Stevens, of Billy Idol fame, adds the kind of heavy crunch that marked the legendary Lifetime recordings on "Stone Cold Fusion," before Mel Collins' sweetly conveyed saxophone opens the door for a series of swift moving retorts from keyboardist Jordan Rudess and acrobatic drummer Billy Cobham.
Beckenstein tangles with Sherwood's guitar on the space-funky "Molecular Breakdown," which features an open-ended rhythm signature from bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Gavin Harrison. The song's secret weapon is keyboardist David Sancious, however, whose contemplative gurgles provide the perfect juxtaposition. Derek Sherinian's whooshing synth figures gives way to a plucky rumination from guitarist Larry Coryell on "Particular Accelerations," and their interactions perfectly echo the space-age science of this song's title. Drummer Chester Thompson responds with a funky cadence, before Eric Marienthal arrives with a wailing aggression.
Trumpeter Randy Brecker and guitarist Steve Morse follow with a similarly engaging exchange on "At the Edge of the Middle," with Brecker offering a series of flourishes while Morse simply takes flight. Co-founding Yes organist Tony Kaye works in fleet tandem with his current Circa bandmate Sherwood, this time on bass, for "Atom Smashing," with a titanic contribution by Frank Zappa drummer Chad Wackerman pushing them along.
Then there's "In the Spirit Of …," which boasts perhaps the most approachable hook — but also the most brain-meltingly psychedelic guitar presence yet, courtesy of Steve Hillage. Theo Travis' bluesy saxophone grounds things, at least briefly, before Scott Kinsey's soaring synth sends the track skyward again.
The Fusion Syndicate tracklist and players:
- 1. Random Acts Of Science – Rick Wakeman (Yes) ; Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra) ; Nik Turner (Hawkwind) ; Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets / Alan Holdsworth)
- 2. Stone Cold Infusion – Steve Stevens ; Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater / Liquid Tension Experiment) ; Mel Collins (King Crimson) ; Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) ; Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra)
- 3. Molecular Breakdown – Jay Beckenstein (Spyro Gyra) ; Billy Sheehan (Steve Vai) ; Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) ; David Sancious (The E Street Band)
- 4. Particle Accelerations – Larry Coryell ; Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater / Black Country Communion) ; Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea Elektric Band) ; Chester Thompson (Genesis / Brand X)
- 5. At The Edge Of The Middle – Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs) ; Jim Beard (Mahavishnu Orchestra) ; Randy Brecker (Blood, Sweat & Tears) ; Percy Jones (Soft Machine / Brand X)
- 6. Atom Smashing – John Etheridge (Soft Machine) ; Tony Kaye (Yes) ; Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa)
- 7. In The Spirit Of… – Steve Hillage (Gong) ; Scott Kinsey (Tribal Tech) ; Theo Travis (Steven Wilson Band) ; Justin Chancellor (Tool) ; Asaf Sirkis (The Orient House Ensemble)
source: somethingelsereviews.com
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Apple put more smartphones in the hands of punters than any other vendor during Q4 2011, and was the third most purchased brand in the mobile phone market as a whole.
The iPhone maker's chart position comes from market watcher Gartner. Unlike other handset business stats released by other research companies, Gartner's numbers focus on sales to end users, not shipments out of manufacturers' warehouses. So they give a better picture of phone ownership.
In Q4 2011, then, some 35,456,000 people received an iPhone - some 7.4 per cent of the quarter's total mobile phone purchases, and a healthy increase on the 3.5 per cent share Apple took in Q4 2010.
Nokia topped the chart, selling 111,699,400 phones - 23.4 per cent of the total - followed by Samsung, the vendor favoured by 92,682,300 buyers - 19.4 per cent. Both companies increased their share by a few percentage points.
For 2011 as a whole, we see the same top three: Nokia, Samsung and Apple, selling, respectively, 422,478,300, 313,904,200 and 89,263,200 handsets to real people.
LG and ZTE filled out the top five, followed by RIM, HTC, Huawei, Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
Gartner didn't provide comparable figures for smartphone suppliers, focusing instead on platforms. In Q4, Apple's iOS was second only to Android, with 35,456,000 units in punters' hands to the Google OS' 75,9061,100 units. Those figures give Android and iOS shares of 50.9 per cent and 23.8 per cent, respectively.
Given the numbers put in by HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, it's clear that while Samsung accounted for a big chunk of those 75m Android sales, it didn't sell more than Apple did, making the Cupertino company the biggest selling individual smartphone seller.
Symbian put in a respectable share of 11.8 per cent, ahead of BlackBerry's 8.8 per cent and Bada's 2.1 per cent.
Microsoft's combined Windows Mobile and Windows Phone share amounted to just 1.9 per cent. So just over two-and-three-quarter million people bought an MS smartphone in Q4 2011, showing how few of Nokia's colossal quarterly sales to end users were Windows Phone devices. But it's still betting the farm on the platform. ®


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162. SIR KEN ROBINSON: Full body education
Sir Ken Robinson is a leading authority on education and creativity. A former professor of education, he now advises governments and businesses around the world and is one of the most sought-after speakers on education. The quotes used in the comic are taken from Robinson's now-famous 2006 TED talk How schools kill creativity. It is the most viewed TED talk ever, and also one of the funniest in my opinion (gotta love that dry British humour). If you haven't seen it, then stop what you're doing and go watch it.
Robinson explains that the school system was invented in the 19th century to meet the needs of rapid industrialisation and is extremely outdated, focusing way too much on left-brain academic learning. "If you think of it, the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they're not, because the thing they were good at at school wasn't valued, or was actually stigmatised." He gives the example of Gillian Lynne, a world-renowned dancer and choreographer, who as a student was terrible at school and most likely would have been diagnosed with ADHD today. Luckily, a specialist noticed that Lynne wouldn't sit still and was naturally dancing to the music playing in the office and suggested to Lynne's mother that she send the child to dance school. (Robinson explains it a lot better than I just typed it).
In his best-selling book The Element, Robinson gives many more examples of how famous artists found their life's calling (or 'element' as Robinson calls it). For instance, he interviews Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, who tells Robinson that he was always drawing crude cartoons as a student and knew he wanted to do it for the rest of his life, even if it meant working a crappy job forever. "My vision was that I'd be working in a tire warehouse. I have no idea why I thought it was a tire warehouse. I thought I'd be rolling tires around and then on my break, I'd be drawing cartoons." Everyone tried to convince Groening to give up the cartooning dream (even his father, who was a cartoonist), but he persisted and only remembers one teacher fondly that encouraged him (he later named the character of Ms. Hoover after her). It's a fascinating book and Robinson interviews big names like Paul McCartney, Ridley Scott, Aaron Sorkin, Meg Ryan and Richard Branson about how they embraced their creativity. This year, Robinson released the follow-up book Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life.
RELATED COMICS: Alan Watts What if money was no object? Taylor Mali What teachers make. Erica Goldson Graduation speech. Amy Poehler Great people do things before they're ready.
– Follow Sir Ken on Twitter.
– Big news, I announced the Zen Pencils book this week! All the details and pre-order info here.


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St. Lawrence County Ranks 6th in Nation
St. Lawrence County has been ranked as one of the best places to live in the country. Editors from Progressive Farmer magazine recently rated the area as the sixth best rural area nationwide.
The magazine recently scoured rural America to find the 10 best counties to live out the American dream. Among the statistical criteria for ranking were household income, household spending, home and land prices, crime rates, air quality, education, and access to health care.
Some of the highpoints of the area, as noted by Progressive Farmer Managing Editor Joe Link include:
- A Recreation Paradise – The proximity to the Adirondack Mountains and the more than 200 rivers and ponds makes St. Lawrence County ideal for hiking, hunting, boating, fishing, camping, and everyday sightseeing.
- Frederic Remington's Home – Remington's action-laden sculpture and unique painting style have captivated generations of art enthusiasts and North Country residents alike. The Frederic Remington Art Museum is dedicated to his work and to advancing art appreciation is located in Ogdensburg.
- The TAUNY Tradition – Just down the road from SUNY Canton is a cozy museum embodying the very spirit of North Country Art. Traditional Arts of Upstate New York (TAUNY) is a not-for-profit organization that celebrates basket weavers, woodworkers, rug makers, folk musicians, and other traditional artists.
It would be nearly impossible to see all of the attractions of St. Lawrence County in just one day, like all of the unique vendors in downtown Canton, the Dairy Princess Pageant Parade, or families selling their home-grown foods at the Farmer's Market. Perhaps the best part is the people who call the county their home.
The complete Progressive Farmer article is available atwww.progressivefarmer.com/farmer/bestplaces/top10.html.


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Meldreth History > http://www.meldrethhistory.org.uk/
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The 6th Annual Brazilian Summer Beauty Pageant, a charity event produced by RioBela Productions, takes place on Saturday, August 24th, 2013 at BelleVarado Studios– Stage 22 in Los Angeles from 6 pm to 1:30 am. The beauty pageant is the centerpiece of the event, but the evening is filled with live Brazilian music and dance groups, featuring some of the finest Brazilian musicians & dancers in the United States, an authentic Samba Show with beautiful Samba Dancers and Drummers, delicious food by Mesticos Afro Latin Cuisine, celebrity judges, Capoeira demonstration and an after party with DJ. Funds raised by the Pageant will be donated directly to a charitable organization chosen by the Board of Directors each year. Learn more about RioBela Productions.
This year's event features 10 beautiful ladies, representing many different countries, who have all come together to raise funds for charity and have an opportunity to become the 2013 Brazilian Summer Beauty. The event features Latin musical artist Alonso Diaz, Sambala Samba School, who has performed in the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Annual Tournament of Roses Parade, Dance group Samba Samba and Capoeira demonstration.
This year's celebrity judges include: Producer/Director Mr Latino LA/Mr. Hollywood Oskar Rivera, Actor/Director Gareth Williams, Jiu Jitsu Champion Rigan Machado, and others.
Event founder and Brazilian native, Valeria Ruggieri, created the event to raise awareness to the world of difficulties faced by a large percentage of women and children in Brazil and to raise funds for specific charities that directly help the children in Brazil. As a native of Brazil, she has personally experienced some of the hardships faced by thousands of women and children in Brazil on a daily basis, including not being able to afford a proper education. Twenty five years later, she is an American Citizen and successful business women, who has been given many opportunities in life to achieve the "American Dream", and realized it was time to "Give Back" so that others may have the same chance.
In years past the Pageant has worked with international humanitarian groups World Vision and Heifer International, as well as locally based organizations in Brazil and the United States. This year, the board of directors has partnered with charity group, Brazil Without Barriers, whose mission is to build dreams, transform lives, and increase social and economic equality in Brazil. Brazil Without Barriers is a volunteer base, U.S. non-profit organization that has partnered with ABCR, a local association that operated a neighborhood outreach program in a "favela" community in Salvador (Bahia) Brazil. They provide international support and resources to ensure the program grows and continues making positive changes in their community. Additional information on Brazil Without Barriers beautiful work. In addition a portion of the proceeds will also be donated to Brazilian Day LA.
The event takes place on Saturday, August 24th, 2013 at BelleVarado Studios – Stage 22 in Los Angeles, California from 6 pm until 1:30 am. Advance tickets are $30 which includes 6 pm VIP red carpet walk, cocktail and hors d'ouvres, free cocktail, VIP table seating, sit down dinner by Mestico Afro Latin Cuisine and after party entrance. Advance general admission tickets are $15 and will provide entry for pageant at 8 pm and after party. General Admission tickets will be $20 at the door. For more info call 562-221-8861 or email Valeria. For ticket information on the 6th Annual Brazilian Summer Beauty Pagent.
Brazilian Summer Beauty Sponsors & Board of Directors
Published on Aug 22, 2013