text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Mar 8, 2011
|Priority date
|Dec 19, 2006
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Kevin R. Krause
|Original Assignee
|General Motors Llc
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (15), Classifications (19), Legal Events (12)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The invention relates generally to wireless communications to and from mobile vehicle telematics units, and more particularly relates to a system and method for dynamically updating a preferred roaming list for use by a telematics unit.
By virtue of the fact that mobile wireless communications devices are mobile, it is sometimes complicated to ensure continued connectivity. For example, there are many carriers and providers, and a user may well venture into areas where their chosen provider does not have equipment available to provide the desired service. In these instances, the user is said to be "roaming." Roaming entails the use of a network other than the user's assigned or chosen primary carrier and network.
When a device is roaming, the user may be charged a different, and potentially much larger, fee than they typically pay to their primary network. In addition, since they generally are still required to pay their primary network, this situation can result in the incurrence of exorbitant fees in a short amount of time. To ameliorate this situation, network providers typically have certain partners that they prefer to use for roaming services. The use of the partner facilities will enable the mobile user to incur lower charges, and in some cases receive better service, than they otherwise would have.
With respect to CDMA, PCS and other services for example, the selected partner networks are typically listed in what has come to be known as a Preferred Roaming List (PRL). The PRL is a data file that lists alternative networks for use when a primary wireless network is not reachable, by listing bands, sub bands and service provider identifiers a device should accept. A mobile wireless, e.g., cellular, device may or may not be able to obtain service outside of a home area without the PRL, and in addition, if the device is able to roam, the incurred fees may be significant. The PRL allows the mobile device to select the best carriers when roaming. For example, roaming partners may provide discounted roaming rate agreements, and so it is desirable to use such carriers when possible and to avoid carriers that may not be affiliated with the primary network and which may therefore charge a premium roaming fee to users.
Thus, it is generally advisable that the PRL for a mobile device be maintained in a reasonably up-to-date state. This is especially important for users that travel and use their device outside of their home area frequently. Not only are such mobile users more likely to use other networks, but they are more likely to make substantial use of such carriers and thus to incur significant overcharges if lack of an appropriate PRL prevents them from using preferred roaming partners.
However, currently available PRL updating systems require substantial use of airtime, at a considerable cost, to provide PRL updates. For example, since each carrier has its own PRL, when a new wireless subscriber activates their account and receives a hands-free/personal calling phone number (MIN/MDN), a new PRL must be loaded in the device to support the new network/carrier. Current update systems use a combination of air interface functions (AIFs) and the carriers' over the air (OTA) provisioning platforms to accomplish such updates using reduced and full versions of PRLs. Unfortunately, it is disadvantageous to use AIF transmissions in this context due to the relatively lower data transfer rate and associated airtime charges.
This disclosure describe a system for providing PRL updates while minimizing the expense involved in associated data transfers.
While aspects of the invention will be discussed in detail below, this brief summary of the disclosure provides an overview of certain elements of the described examples.
The invention relates generally to a system for providing an updated PRL to a remote wireless device such as a vehicle telematics device, while largely overcoming several shortcomings of prior techniques. In one example the disclosed system significantly reduces airtime requirements for initial configuration transmissions by eliminating or minimizing the time required for PRL download. In a further example, the process uses a collection of information to determine the best PRL download content and method. Such information can include the network that a device is accessing, the associated vehicle's current ignition status, the device's call mode, and other information. In an alternative example, the location of the vehicle is derived and is used to select an appropriate PRL.
According to one example, a call center places a configuration call to the telematics unit. The call center then reads certain vehicle information and uses this information to determine an appropriate PRL. The selected PRL may then be loaded onto the telematics unit by the call center. The method of loading of the PRL and indeed whether or not the PRL is immediately loaded is based in one example on the vehicle information.
In an example, the process of determining an appropriate PRL and download methodology entails determining if the device is roaming, e.g., whether the current SID belongs to the home carrier. If the device is not roaming and the vehicle ignition is on (or it is off, but the device call mode is analog), then a partial PRL is loaded. Similarly, if the device is roaming but it is in a region supported by the carrier, then the partial PRL is loaded. However, in a further example, if the device is roaming and is in a region not supported by the carrier, then a full carrier PRL is loaded. Moreover, if the device is not roaming, the vehicle ignition is off, and the device call mode is digital, then the absence of an up-to-date PRL is flagged but no supplemental PRL is loaded at that time.
This system allows, in many examples, for the carrier to save airtime costs by minimizing the circumstance in which a full PRL is transmitted and loaded. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings.
Before describing the invention in detail, an exemplary environment in which the invention may operate will be described. It will be appreciated that the described environment is for purposes of illustration only, and does not imply any limitation regarding the use of other environments to practice the invention.
With reference to
Vehicle 102 is preferably a mobile vehicle such as a motorcycle, car, truck, recreational vehicle (RV), boat, plane, etc., and is equipped with suitable hardware and software that enables it to communicate over system 100. Some of the vehicle hardware 110 is shown generally in
The telematics unit 114 is an onboard device that provides a variety of services through its communication with the call center 108, and generally includes an electronic processing device 128 one or more types of electronic memory 130, a cellular chipset/component 124, a wireless modem 126, a dual antenna 160 and a navigation unit containing a GPS chipset/component 132. In one example, the wireless modem 126 is comprised of a computer program and/or set of software routines executing within processing device 128.
The telematics unit 114 provides too many services to list them all, but several examples include: turn-by-turn directions and other navigation-related services provided in conjunction with the GPS based chipset/component 132; airbag deployment notification and other emergency or roadside assistance-related services provided in connection with various crash and or collision sensor interface modules 156 and sensors 158 located throughout the vehicle. Infotainment-related services where music, Web pages, movies, television programs, videogames and/or other content is downloaded by an infotainment center 136 operatively connected to the telematics unit 114 via vehicle bus 122 and audio bus 112. In one example, downloaded content is stored for current or later playback.
Again, the above-listed services are by no means an exhaustive list of all the capabilities of telematics unit 114, as should be appreciated by those skilled in the art, but are simply an illustration of some of the services that the telematics unit is capable of offering. It is anticipated that telematics unit 114 will include a number of known components in addition to those listed above.
Vehicle communications preferably use radio transmissions to establish a voice channel with wireless carrier system 104 so that both voice and data transmissions can be sent and received over the voice channel. Vehicle communications are enabled via the cellular chipset/component 124 for voice communications and a wireless modem 126 for data transmission. In order to enable successful data transmission over the voice channel, wireless modem 126 applies some type of encoding or modulation to convert the digital data so that it can communicate through a vocoder or speech codec incorporated in the cellular chipset/component 124. Any suitable encoding or modulation technique that provides an acceptable data rate and bit error can be used with the present method. Dual mode antenna 160 services the GPS chipset/component and the cellular chipset/component.
Microphone 116 provides the driver or other vehicle occupant with a means for inputting verbal or other auditory commands, and can be equipped with an embedded voice processing unit utilizing a human/machine interface (HMI) technology known in the art. Conversely, speaker 118 provides verbal output to the vehicle occupants and can be either a stand-alone speaker specifically dedicated for use with the telematics unit 114 or can be part of a vehicle audio component 154. In either event, microphone 116 and speaker 118 enable vehicle hardware 110 and call center 108 to communicate with the occupants through audible speech. The vehicle hardware also includes one or more buttons or controls 120 for enabling a vehicle occupant to activate or engage one or more of the vehicle hardware components 110. For example, one of the buttons 120 can be an electronic pushbutton used to initiate voice communication with call center 108 (whether it be a live advisor 148 or an automated call response system). In another example, one of the buttons 120 can be used to initiate emergency services.
The audio component 154 is operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122 and the audio bus 112. The audio component 154 receives analog information, rendering it as sound, via the audio bus 112. Digital information is received via the vehicle bus 122. The audio component 154 provides AM and FM radio, CD, DYD, and multimedia functionality independent of the infotainment center 136. Audio component 154 may contain a speaker system, or may utilize speaker 118 via arbitration on vehicle bus 122 and/or audio bus 112.
The vehicle crash and/or collision detection sensor interface 156 are operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122. The crash sensors 158 provide information to the telematics unit via the crash and/or collision detection sensor interface 156 regarding the severity of a vehicle collision, such as the angle of impact and the amount of force sustained.
Vehicle sensors 160, connected to various sensor interface modules 134 are operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122. Examples vehicle sensors include but are not limited to gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, emission detection and/or control sensors, and the like. Example sensor interface modules 134 include powertrain control, climate control, and body control, to name but a few.
Wireless carrier system 104 is preferably a cellular telephone system or any other suitable wireless system that transmits signals between the vehicle hardware 110 and land network 106. According to an example, wireless carrier system 104 includes one or more cell towers 138, base stations and/or mobile switching centers (MSCs) 140, as well as any other networking components required to connect the wireless system 104 with land network 106. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, various cell tower/based station/MSC arrangements are possible and could be used with wireless system 104. For example, a base station and a cell tower could be co-located at the same site or they could be remotely located, and a single base station could be coupled to various cell towers or various base stations could be coupled with a single MSC, to but a few of the possible arrangements. Preferably, a speech codec or vocoder is incorporated in one or more of the base stations, but depending on the particular architecture of the wireless network, it could be incorporated within a Mobile Switching Center or some other network components as well.
Land network 106 can be a conventional land-based telecommunications network that is connected to one or more landline telephones and connects wireless carrier network 104 to call center 108. For example, land network 106 can include a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or an Internet protocol (IP) network, as is appreciated by those skilled in the art. Of course, one or more segments of the land network 106 can be implemented in the form of a standard wired network, a fiber of other optical network, a cable network, other wireless networks such as wireless local networks (WLANs) or networks providing broadband wireless access (BWA), or any combination thereof.
Call center 108 is designed to provide the vehicle hardware 110 with a number of different system back-end functions and, according to the example shown here, generally includes one or more switches 142, servers 144, databases 146, live advisors 148, as well as a variety of other telecommunication and computer equipment 150 that is known to those skilled in the art. These various call center components are preferably coupled to one another via a network connection or bus 152, such as the one previously described in connection with the vehicle hardware 110. Switch 142, which can be a private branch exchange (PBX) switch, routes incoming signals so that voice transmissions are usually sent to either the live advisor 148 or an automated response system, and data transmissions are passed on to a modem or other piece of equipment 150 for demodulation and further signal processing. The modem 150 preferably includes an encoder, as previously explained, and can be connected to various devices such as a server 144 and database 146. For example, database 146 could be designed to store subscriber profile records, subscriber behavioral patterns, or any other pertinent subscriber information. Although the illustrated example has been described as it would be used in conjunction with a manned call center 108, it will be appreciated that the call center 108 can be any central or remote facility, manned or unmanned, mobile or fixed, to or from which it is desirable to exchange voice and data.
The examples herein will disclose a preferred technique and system for configurably caching data in a telematics unit cache so that the data is available when the vehicle is not in operation and the telematics unit is not generally powered on. In particular, the remote caller can remotely configure the telematics unit cache to selectively store data of interest. Subsequently, even when the vehicle is off, the telematics module can accept calls from the call center and the cached information can be pulled. Thus, the configurable cache allows a remote caller to configure the cache to store desired data to be later uploaded without requiring a call-back from the telematics unit and without limiting the cached data to predetermined data groups.
The methods of the following examples are ideally employed in an environment including a telematics-equipped vehicle and wholly or partially wireless communications infrastructure as described above by reference to
As discussed above, it is often important to provide and/or update a preferred roaming list (PRL). Unfortunately, existing methods for PRL provision and update require substantial airtime usage and the incurring of related fees and expenses. Although the examples discussed herein will be considered in the context of a PRL structure, it will be appreciated that the disclosed techniques are usable for other roaming lists as well. For example, the techniques may be used in the context of MNCA with respect to GSM carriers, and in the context of IRDB with respect to older TDMA carriers.
The exemplary PRL 200 comprises a collection of associated data fields for storing information related to preferred roaming partners. The illustrated data fields include a header 201, an acquisition table 203, and a system table 205. The header 201 contains information usable for administrative purposes, e.g., to locate the table, track the version and/or date of the table, and so on. The acquisition table 203 contains a tabulation of frequencies and service types usable by the telematics device to connect to preferred roaming partner networks. The system table 205 indicates which network systems the telematics unit is to use and/or or ignore, and may also contain data for mapping systems to geographic areas. In total, these elements are usable to specify a selection of one or more alternative networks for roaming.
In an example of the invention, a PRL and download method are selected based on a number of criteria. In particular, the technique according to an example tailors the method for loading the most appropriate PRL into a mobile device, based on the device's current location, status, and the user's data record. This technique can reduce the incidence of improper PRL assignment for customers who are outside of their home area, and is also able to provide a reduction in network costs related to PRL downloads.
In overview, the process involves determining a number of pieces of information including (1) the network that the device is currently accessing, (2) whether or not that network belongs to the pending home carrier, (3) the vehicle's current ignition status, and (4) the device's call mode (access technology). In an alternative example, the geographic region, e.g., state or province, where the vehicle is currently located can be derived from a transmitted latitude/longitude and the appropriate PRL is derived from this real-time location data and the pending carrier. Based on these inputs, the most appropriate download method as well as the most appropriate file to download is selected. The updating of PRL information at the telematics unit may comprise replacing or supplementing an out of date PRL or establishing a PRL initially where none exists.
At stage 303, the call center 108 reads the vehicle identification information including the locational coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude), the SID (system identification number), i.e., the identity of the network that the device is currently accessing, the telematics unit call mode (i.e., its access technology), and the vehicle's ignition status. In one example, vehicle identification information is determined in combination with subscriber profile records resident in database 146. Cellular SIDs are generally unique codes assigned to cellular telephone system operators, and can be used to identify the home system of a cellular base station currently in use. This in turn can be used in discerning a device's roaming status.
The process flows to stage 305, at which stage the call center 108 determines an appropriate PRL based on the vehicle identification information obtained in step 303. This process will be described below in greater detail with respect to
As noted in reference to the process illustrated in
At stage 403, the PRL selection process 400 determines whether the SID belongs to the home carrier. If it is determined that the SID does belong to the home carrier, then the process 400 flows to stage 405, whereat it is determined whether the vehicle ignition is on or off. If the vehicle ignition is determined at stage 405 to be off, then the process 400 flows to stage 407, whereupon the process 400 evaluates whether the device call mode is analog or digital.
Digital cellular provides greater bandwidth than analog cellular, and digital transmissions tend to be more resistant to static, signal fading, etc. Analog cellular technology has a fairly wide installed base and provides improved sound quality. The major analog cellular system types currently in operation include advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), Nordic mobile telephone (NMT), and total access communications systems (TACS). The major digital cellular system types currently in operation include global system for mobile communications (GSM), time-division multiple access (TDMA), Hughes enhanced TDMA (E-TDMA), and code-division multiple access (CDMA). It will be appreciated that the use of the invention is not limited to the foregoing types of cellular technology, but is usable within other contexts as well.
If the vehicle call type is determined at stage 407 to be digital, then the process 400 flows to stage 409. At stage 409, the process 400 sets the outdated PRL flag (e.g., to 1) and does not update the PRL. If instead it is determined at stage 407 that the vehicle call type is analog, then the process 400 flows to stage 411, wherein the call center 108 selects a partial PRL for loading. Similarly, if at stage 405 the vehicle ignition is determined to be on, then the process 400 flows to stage 411 and selects a partial PRL for loading.
If instead it was determined at stage 403 that the SID does not belong to the home carrier, then the process 400 flows to stage 413. At stage 413, the process 400 uses the locational information to determine the region, e.g., the state or province, within which the device is presently located.
At stage 415, the process 400 determines whether the region is valid for the carrier. In other words, based on available PRLs, it is determined whether the carrier supports service in the identified region. If not, the process 400 flows to stage 417, at which a full carrier PRL is selected for download. Otherwise, the process flows to stage 411 whereat an appropriate partial carrier PRL is selected. The process 400 terminates after either of stages 411 or 413.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing methods and implementations for PRL updating are merely examples, and that these illustrate a preferred technique. However, it is contemplated that other implementations of the invention may differ in detail from foregoing examples. As noted earlier, all references to the invention are intended to refer only to the example of the invention being discussed at that point and are not intended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the invention more generally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect to certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the invention entirely unless otherwise indicated.
The use of the terms "a" and "an" and "the" and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms "comprising," "having," "including," and "containing" are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning "including, but not limited to") unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
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|Aug 19, 2004
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|Voice interaction for location-relevant mobile resource management
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|Apr 10, 2009
|Nov 29, 2011
|Rivada Networks Llc
|Method and system for providing a deployable emergency call service for wireless handsets
|Jun 7, 2007
|Jul 3, 2012
|General Motors Llc
|Off PRL wireless acquisition system
|Jan 8, 2009
|Jul 10, 2012
|Aeris Communications, Inc.
|System and method for selection of a cellular network
|Apr 9, 2013
|General Motors Llc
|Methods for providing emergency services to a mobile vehicle
|May 23, 2008
|May 20, 2014
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|Method and apparatus for system acquisition while maintaining a defined battery life span
|Apr 14, 2009
|Mar 24, 2015
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|Preferred system selection enhancements for multi-mode wireless systems
|Jun 7, 2007
|Dec 11, 2008
|General Motors Corporation
|Off PRL Wireless Acquisition System
|Apr 10, 2009
|Oct 22, 2009
|Rivada Networks, Llc
|Method and System for Providing a Deployable Emergency Call Service for Wireless Handsets
|May 23, 2008
|Nov 26, 2009
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|Method and apparatus for system acquisition while maintaining a defined battery life span
|Apr 14, 2009
|Jan 21, 2010
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|Preferred system selection enhancements for multi-mode wireless systems
|Oct 15, 2009
|May 27, 2010
|Buffmire Andrew W
|System, method and device for segregated and independent command and control of wireless service selection, routing, transport and/or delivery
|Jan 8, 2009
|Jul 8, 2010
|Syed Zaeem Hosain
|System and method for selection of a cellular network
|Feb 24, 2011
|Signalset, Inc.
|System, method and device for segregated and independent command and control of wireless service selection, routing, transport and/or delivery
|Nov 20, 2009
|May 26, 2011
|General Motors Llc
|Delayed geospecific mobile number assignment
|Nov 24, 2011
|General Motors Llc
|Methods for providing emergency services to a mobile vehicle
|U.S. Classification
|455/414.1, 455/432.1, 455/404.2, 455/435.2, 455/432.3, 455/404.1, 455/435.3, 455/435.1, 455/434, 455/433, 455/432.2
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Jan 25, 2007
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Top Definition
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
"If you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong." Terry Terry Pratchett, Author of Discworld.
Saying goodbye to my GPS, turn-by-turn directions, and thoughts of self driving cars for a weekend, I accepted an invitation join the Rebelle Rally for a two-day Basic Navigation Class. Yes, the old-fashioned kind with a compass and map, a skill-set I found to be quite humbling -- yet empowering to learn.
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Five accomplished industry women have been chosen to receive the esteemed 2016 Spirit of Leadership Award. Established in 1999, the WAAI's "Spirit of Leadership" award is presented annually to professional women in the automotive industry in recognition of their significant accomplishments in their profession, community, and family.
These women have dedicated their life to their profession and to giving back to others; and they serve as mentors and are role models to us all. Sustained superior performance, community involvement, influence and support of other women within the automotive industry are just some of the qualities these women possess. A Spirit of Leadership award is given for three automotive business sectors: 1) manufacturer, 2) dealership, and 3) supplier.
Continue reading "Women's Automotive Association International Names 2016 Spirit of Leadership Honorees" »
The new book, "A Woman's Perspective on Leading" is by Women in the Auto Care Industry is Raising Money for Scholarships for women in the automotive aftermarket!
Unveiled during AAPEX 2015, "A Woman's Perspective on Leading" is an essay anthology featuring women leading the way in the automotive aftermarket, including a chapter written by our own Jody DeVere CEO of AskPatty.com.
Donations benefit the Car Care Council Women's Board Scholarship program. Learn more.
Order your copy today!
Continue reading "A Woman's Perspective on Leading by Women in the Auto Care Industry" »
The 2016 Women in Automotive Conference has announced a nationwide search for great speakers looking to reach a unique audience. The focus of the 2016 conference is educating and empowering the automotive community on leadership and trends that positively impact employment and sales growth within the female market.
Organizers expect more than 600 professionals to attend the conference – doubling the attendance from last year's inaugural event. The conference, scheduled for June 26-28 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida, brings together representatives from dealerships, auto manufacturers, vendors, suppliers, academia and the automotive industry at large.
Continue reading "Women in Automotive Seeks Top Speakers for 2016 Conference" »
As part of Ford's expanding community commitment in Northern California, the Ford Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto is joining with Girls Who Code to help close the gender gap in technology and engineering fields.
As part of the collaboration, Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford, will support the education and professional growth of Girls Who Code club members in Northern California, serving more than 180 young women in grades six to 12 in the Bay Area.
Continue reading "Ford Joins With 'Girls Who Code' To Help Close STEM Gender Gap" »
A national survey showing that teen drivers lack basic knowledge of automobile finance and total vehicle ownership costs has sparked Junior Achievement USA (JA) and American Honda Finance Corporation (AHFC) to create a new website, www.financialtestdrive.org, to help young drivers navigate the financial aspects of owning and maintaining a vehicle.
The national survey commissioned by Junior Achievement of 500 16- and 17-year-old drivers found that new drivers would benefit from basic education about the automobile loan process and the costs of vehicle ownership. For example, when asked what type of information is typically requested on a car loan application, 45% of respondents did not know that proof of income was required by auto lenders.
Continue reading "Junior Achievement Joins Honda to Launch Website Educating Young Buyers on Auto Finance and Vehicle Ownership" »
Have you heard the studies that show that teen drivers with ADHD are four times more likely to be in a car accident than their peers who do not struggle with executive-function impairments?
Behind the Wheel With ADHD provides driving instructors with additional training to understand the risks associated with ADHD and teen driving. Instructors are trained in the use of new tools, technologies, and strategies designed to help teens with ADHD learn to drive more safely. This may be welcome news to their loved ones, many of whom are aware of the higher incidence of car accidents among young drivers with ADHD.
Continue reading "Driver's Education for Those Behind the Wheel With ADHD" »
There were many more women oriented leadership events for those attending AAPEX and SEMA 2015 than any prior year. Standing ovation to the convention planners on making this happen. Was so refreshing to see the growing support and highlighting of so many amazingly talented women!
Here are some highlights:
Cause-Marketing panel during AAPEX hosted by Wexco Industries / AutoTex Pink in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation
Jody DeVere, CEO of AskPatty.com moderated the panel on Cause Marketing during AAPEX in Las Vegas hosted by Paula Lombard and AutoTex Pink wiper blades. Executives from the National Breast Cancer Foundation participated as well AutoTexPink CEO Paula Lombard, Quick Chadwick of Tire Pros, Amy Mattinat current President of the Car Care Council Women's Board and more.
The AutoTexPink Wiper Blade program raised $270,000 in support of breast cancer research and program to date.
The SEMA Businesswomen's Network's mission is to provide networking, education, and recognition opportunities for professional women in the specialty-equipment industry, which will enhance their careers and positively impact the growth of the entire automotive aftermarket.
The SBN Women Driven Education Program—Newly created for 2015, this program captures networking, education and community in one event at the SEMA Show.
Continue reading "SEMA and AAPEX Goes Female Friendlier in 2015" »
Here's some good news for college students heading back to school! Hitting the books, listening to professors, acing classes, and being a community leader can earn you a $5,000 scholarship. You must apply quickly, though, as the application period ends on Friday, September 4, 2015.
Last year, 19 students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) earned nearly $100,000 through the Lexus Verses and Flow Scholarship and this year 20 students will have their chance to earn $100,000. The scholarship was established in conjunction with the television show Lexus Verses and Flow, featuring poetry and R&B performances, now airing in its fifth season on TV ONE through September 17.
Presented in partnership with ten of the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, two students at each of the following institution will each be awarded a $5,000 scholarship in recognition of their community leadership and academic excellence. Winners will be selected through an essay process, with students describing how they drive positive change and play a leadership role in their community.
The second annual Lexus Verses and Flow Scholarship is open to students at these distinguished HBCU schools:
Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, Ga.)
LeMoyne-Owen College (Memphis, Tenn.)
Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Morehouse College (Atlanta, Ga.)
Grambling State University (Grambling, La.)
North Carolina A&T University (Greensboro, N.C.)
Hampton University (Hampton, Va.)
Spelman College (Atlanta, Ga.)
Howard University (Washington, D.C.)
Xavier University (New Orleans, La.)
To be considered for a $5,000 scholarship, students must complete an application, available at these campuses, or by downloading it here, and submit it along with a written or video essay detailing how they are taking a leadership role in their communities, the importance of community, and the benefits of attending an HBCU. Qualifying students must be a sophomore, junior, or senior at the start of the scholarship application period and provide a letter of recommendation from a member of their school's faculty as well as a leader in their community.
"The Lexus Verses and Flow Scholarship is part of our pledge to support and improve young lives, and rewarding students for academic excellence and leadership does just that," said Brian Smith, Lexus vice president of marketing. "These accomplished HBCU students have a solid education and enormous potential to influence their communities. Higher education is the foundation for many great beginnings, especially when students are equipped with initiative and leadership skills."
The scholarship coincides with the return of the NAACP Image Award-nominated variety show, "Lexus Verses and Flow" in its fifth season, airing on TV One through September 17, 2015. Blending electrifying musical and soul-stirring spoken word performances, the variety show has featured mega-watt stars that include Jill Scott, Maxwell, K. Michelle, Estelle, Gary Clark Jr., Leela James, Anthony Hamilton, and Mali Music alongside the best up-and-coming poets including Rudy Francisco, Prentice Powell, Georgia Me, and M'Reld Green.
Click here for more details about the Lexus Verses and Flow Scholarship.


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Creative Aurvana Air earphones
These trendy ear-bud headphones have award-winning design and good sound quality.
- Attractive design for over-the-ear ear-buds, detailed and lively sound
- Expensive, takes some effort to insert into the ear
Bottom Line
The Creative Aurvana Air ear-buds are well designed and brilliantly constructed. Their detailed, rich sound is an unexpected bonus, but their high price tag places them squarely in competition with some worthy competitors.
Price$ 299.95 (AUD)
The Creative Aurvana Air is a fashionable ear-bud style headphone set that has lively and detailed sound quality. The 'Flexnium' over-the-ear design may annoy users looking for simple fitting, but the adjustability allows for long-term comfort. With a $300 price tag they're up against the benchmark competition of the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5vi and Bose In-Ear headphones — it comes down to a question of style versus substance.
As a winner of the (apparently) prestigious Red Dot design award in Germany, the Creative Aurvana Air earphones have had a lot of attention paid to their design execution. Smooth rounded metal surfaces and thin over-the-ear hooks combine with hinged ear-buds to create a set of headphones that are, in their own way, quite special to behold. Sure, they don't have the chunky, solid presence of a pair of high-end headphones — for example the Sennheiser HD 800 behemoths — but examining each ear-bud closely shows a device with significant thought behind it.
We have to admit, we didn't make much use of the bendy capabilities of the vaunted Flexnium ear-hooks — the ear-buds are light enough that they can happily sit in your ear canals without weighing them down and causing fatigue. The ear-hooks do help with making the ear-buds feel more secure though, and the nifty hinge that connects the ear-buds helps in the process of putting them on. All up, the over-the-ear design is a mixed bag — you'll spend longer inserting the ear-buds than if you used a simpler in-ear design but the trade-off is slightly better insurance against accidental cord pulling.
The Creative Aurvana Air earphones are sold packaged in an avant-garde clear plastic case, but you'll be more likely to use the soft leather carry-case and cord organiser in day-to-day use. Both of these boxes are great additions that only serve to make the Aurvana Air a more attractive purchase.
The most important aspect of any pair of headphones is undoubtedly sound quality — and the Aurvana Air earphones won't let you down. They don't offer the isolation of a set of high-end canalphones, but lively sound is still attainable if you're in a quiet environment.
Treble is well represented with sweet singing tones that are full of detail — you'll hear every shift in pitch and timbre in vocals and brass music. Equally detailed is the mid-range set of frequencies, which sound spacious and very natural.
Bass is not as well handled due to the open design. Canalphones are far more appropriate for bass-heads thanks to their sealed nature — it's far easier to produce quantifiable low frequency sound in a controlled environment. That said, what bass the Creative Aurvana Air earphones does produce is accurate and tight, with very little decay. The overall sound of the headphones is bright and lively — well suited to the funk and jazz music we tested them with.
If you can justify spending $300 on earphones that require effort to put in and don't block out background noise, you'll begin to understand the market that Creative is aiming for. Great sound reproduction, good long-term comfort and a great-looking design are the hallmarks of Creative's Aurvana Air earphones.
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Help the rolling armadillo learn to fly! Roll across slopes to gain speed before you jump over the hills. You can gather crystals for an instant boost of happiness and speed. Keep your armadillo happy to soar through new zones!
Dillo Hills is one of our selected Arcade Games. Also very popular on this website right now are Agario 3D, Bubble Shooter, Boomerang Chang and Papa's Cheeseria.
Report game as broken
Cancel report of broken game


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Survey Report
As Progress President and Chief Executive Officer, Phil Pead views his role as enabling the successful execution of Progress strategy. From defining the short and long term objectives, to reducing barriers to success, Phil establishes the right cultural tone so employees can work with unified purpose to achieve company goals. In so doing, Phil focuses on maximizing value for shareholders, delivering amazing software solutions to customers, while ensuring talent can optimize career opportunities generated by Progress success.
Phil is energized by working with people undaunted by the impossible. This confidence is difficult to replicate, but Phil cultivates it at Progress—and lives it in his personal life. His educational work with the Posse Foundation, an organization dedicated to extending educational opportunities to exceptional students from all backgrounds, suits his optimistic world view. Phil chairs the Posse Foundation Atlanta Advisory Board and also serves on its national board in New York.
Before Progress, Phil was the Chairman of Allscripts and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Eclipsys Corporation, until its merger with Allscripts in 2010. Other senior leadership roles included those at Per-Se Technologies, Dun & Bradstreet Corporation and Attachmate Corporation.
Chief Product Officer Michael Benedict runs Progress product strategy and operations for the company's many business segments, working with colleagues in sales and marketing to best drive Progress success. Michael loves strategy, operations and the variety the two disciplines bring to his daily work. From strategizing about the "next best thing" in the market, to digging in to optimize business processes or sales, each day holds new and rewarding challenges.
Michael applies this same level of enthusiasm and excellence to his outside interests, including hockey, tennis, home renovation and a sundry of outdoor projects.
Broad interests have served Michael well, earning him success in a wide range of Progress roles, such as president of the Data Connectivity and Integration business unit, vice president and general manager of the Progress Cloud Platform and Progress OpenEdge lines and director of Americas sales for DataDirect. Before Progress, Michael worked at Engage Technologies, and was co-founder and operating manager of NV Company.
Michael earned his Master's in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina and holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the State University of New York.
As Chief Revenue Officer, Mitch Breen is responsible for accelerating growth across all customer-facing revenue organizations, including sales, strategic alliances, professional services and technical support. With a passion for detailed execution, Mitch comes to Progress with a strong history of sales success enabling, driving and motivating teams at several industry leaders, such as EMC and Oracle.
Mitch's sales stats are impressive. While at EMC, he played a key role in growing storage market revenue from $20 million to $30 billion—forging the company's leadership position. Mitch further took pre-IPO startup Simplivity to a billion dollar valuation in just 18 months.
Outside of work, Mitch's life is all about family, fun and music, especially his garage band where he's an ace on the keyboards. Mitch is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts.
Ask Steve Faberman what he does as Progress Chief Legal Officer, and he'll tell you that he's the conscience of the company, always working to spur a forward trajectory for Progress as it executes on aggressive growth strategies. His team navigates legal plumbing to keep Progress fully compliant, transparent and above board in all it does. Steve is passionate about answering the "how" questions behind Progress success: how it builds, buys or partners to extend its market leadership position.
A Red Sox loyalist who boldly voices his fandom for Bruce Springsteen, Steve has seen the "The Boss" in concert over 20 times. Steve's personality perfectly matches his profession. His innate commitment to honest decision making is an ideal fit for his role as Progress Chief Compliance Officer. Steve's quick-witted humor is a true asset, and one frequently refined on the Progress executive team.
Steve brought a wealth of experience to Progress from his early days as a partner at Bingham McCutchen, to his Vice President, Corporate Counsel experience at Heritage Property Investment Trust. Steve has long led teams in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, intellectual property, real estate, litigation and more. Steve earned his J.D. degree from Boston College Law School, and holds a B.A. degree in History from Tufts University.
As Senior Vice President of Application Platforms, Svetozar Georgiev is a daring app development visionary focused on driving trends, not following them. He's a thoughtful, yet bold leader that inspires the entire Sitefinity team to make quantum leaps forward, redefining development possibilities in the process.
Svetozar, or "Zarko" as he's known around the halls, was Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Telerik, Inc., where he was instrumental in establishing the Telerik brand and growing the marketing and financial organizations. Zarko's expertise in product positioning, marketing research and communications helped Telerik become one of the most recognized brands in the developer tools space, which has continued since its acquisition by Progress in 2014.
A graduate of the American University in Bulgaria, with degrees in Journalism and Business Administration, Zarko channels his inner DJ, sailor, snowboarder and mud-loving off-roader when at play to embody a true "work hard, play hard" philosophy.
Chris E. Perkins is the Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer for Progress Software. As CFO, Perkins oversees the company's global finance and accounting operations.
Perkins is an experienced technology industry executive with global experience and operational responsibilities across finance, corporate development, investor relations, human resources and information technology for publicly-traded software companies. Prior to joining Progress, he served as CFO at Eclipsys Corporation and Per-Se Technologies. At Per-Se and at Emageon, Inc., Perkins also served as the Chief Operating Officer. He began his career at Arthur Andersen.
Chief Marketing Officer, Melissa Puls, leads an energetic and results-driven organization, where her 20 years of experience informs Progress strategy and brand vision.
Melissa inspires her team to think bigger and bolder, always recognizing that a good idea can come from anywhere and viewing problems as opportunities for inventive solutions. As vice president of Iron Mountain's Global Demand Center, she applied an effective "lead to revenue" model that improved marketing's contribution to revenue from 4 to 25%—just one of her many bankable accomplishments. Melissa honed her craft in marketing roles at Infor, Infinium Software (later SSA Global) and Kronos, after earning bachelor's degrees in Communications and Psychology from Franklin Pierce University.
Melissa loves to spend time with her family and is an impressive tap dancer: challenge her at your own peril.
As Chief Operating Officer, Jerry Rulli creates a motivational atmosphere that keeps the entire Progress team focused on meeting both strategic targets and customer needs. His team is responsible for aligning business unit priorities, go-to-market strategies and ensuring operational excellence across the company. In doing so, he fosters an entrepreneurial culture that drives innovation, pushing staff past the boundaries of what's comfortable, while delivering on near-term plans which are core to the future of Progress.
Jerry is an optimistic believer in the power of persistence, working hard and having fun—great qualities that fueled his rise from entry-level sales to the C-suite. Prior to Progress, Jerry was Executive Vice President of Worldwide sales at Iron Mountain where he transformed their go-to-market strategy and sales effectiveness while transitioning sales and marketing to a vertical market approach. Beyond building strong customer and partner relationships, Jerry is known as a music lover and believes everyone's music collection is incomplete without some element of Van Morrison in their library. Jerry also enjoys the outdoors, traveling and golf. Jerry earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls.
Chief Transformation Officer, Faris Sweis is not just driven to build the best products and solutions, but to do so in new and unexpected ways that keep Progress an innovation leader. Faris is focused on helping customers tackle their digital transformation challenges, including via the newly launched Progress DigitalFactory cloud-based solution. A fierce customer champion, Faris enjoys leading a cutting edge engineering team in work that changes the world, one product and customer success at a time.
Boldly tackling software development challenges for over 15 years, Faris was previously the Chief Technical Officer for Telerik, acquired by Progress in 2014. This admitted tech-gadget guy loves basketball almost as much as a good political or religious debate. Yet, much of his work and technology ethic was shaped by his time at Microsoft, Dell and his former start-up, Art OfTest, all of which came after his Bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Purdue University.
Progress Chief Talent Officer, Dimi Taslakov, leverages the strategic skills of the number one Progress asset—its people—to help employees find an optimal path, for themselves and the company. This ensures Progress makes a positive impact for customers, employees, shareholders and the many communities the company serves.
Dimi played a vital role at Telerik for over 10 years, prior its 2014 acquisition by Progress. Among his many contributions, he served as General Manager for Telerik Americas, Global Sales Lead and Chief Talent Officer, where he secured top talent and promoted a unique corporate culture across four continents.
As someone who learns by doing, Dimi makes his dent in the universe by embracing new challenges as opportunities to stretch the boundaries of what's possible. His passion is working with people who believe they can change the world, and channeling that energy into action that gives Progress a competitive edge.
The resolve Vassil Terziev once applied to hiking the Himalayas, he now channels into envisioning and promoting innovation at Progress. As Chief Innovation Officer, Vassil identifies growth strategies and new market opportunities to keep Progress at the forefront of emerging technologies.
As Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Telerik, Vassil guided the company to the pinnacle of the application development sector, growing sales and support, and establishing a fanatical dedication to customer service. Vassil's vision and dedication led Telerik to solid profitability and an earned reputation for quality and innovation, which has continued since its acquisition by Progress in 2014.
A graduate of the American University of Bulgaria, Vassil often treks the globe with colleagues to gain inspiration for new technologies and mentor the next generation of developers. He's a hands-on leader who believes every Progress employee and customer success contributes to making the world a little bit better.
Jack Egan is currently managing partner of Egan-Managed Capital, a Boston based venture capital fund he founded in October 1998 that specializes in technology and early stage investments. From October 1986 until September 1998, Egan served in a number of executive positions with EMC Corporation, including Executive Vice President, Products and Offerings, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Executive Vice President, Operations and Executive Vice President, International Sales. Egan ceased to be an employee of EMC Corporation in 2002.
Egan also serves on the Board of Directors for other publicly traded and privately held companies, including EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), where he has served on the Board of Directors for almost twenty years; VMware, Inc.(NYSE: VMW); and NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT), where he serves as Lead Director, as well as Verint Systems (NASDAQ: VRNT). Egan also serves in a variety of leadership roles within the Board of Directors of several privately held technology companies, including HighRoads Corporation, Platform Computing Corporation and Healthrageous, Inc. Egan holds a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Computer Science from Boston College.
Michael Mark is a private investor and member of Walnut Venture Associates, an investment group seeking opportunities in early-stage and emerging high-tech companies in New England. In addition to serving as non-executive chairman of Progress Software, he also serves on several private boards.
After graduating from MIT in 1967, Mark co-founded Intercomp, a peripheral manufacturer, where he became president. In 1978 he founded American Energy Services, a company engaged in using computer technology to conserve energy. In 1982 he co-founded Cadmus Computer Corporation, a workstation manufacturer. He served there as vice president of Corporate Development. In 1985 Mark became vice president of System Integration at Interleaf, a provider of electronic publishing systems and software.
Barry Bycoff has over 25 years of experience in the computer and software industry. He is currently a director of Progress Software (NASDQ: PRGS). He also serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of Day Software (Swiss: DAYN), a leading developer of web content management products and as chairman of Aveksa Inc, a software company providing industry leading access governance solutions. He also serves on the Board of Visitors at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.
Prior to Progress, he spent two years at FirstMark Ventures (formerly Pequot) as a Venture Partner assisting with the development of investment strategies. He made two investments in his short tenure; one in StubHub, an online events ticket marketplace (sold to eBay for $310 million) and the other in Aveksa.
In 1996, Bycoff founded Netegrity and created a new product category for enterprise security software. The company received the "Product of the Year" award from Network World Magazine. At the same time, as Chairman, CEO and President, he engineered the transformation of Netegrity's predecessor company into a leading developer of enterprise software. Bycoff had directed the company's growth from publicly held start up to one of the fastest growing software companies in the industry with a dominant market share and revenues of $100 million when the company was acquired by Computer Associates for approximately $450 million at the end of November 2004.
Ram Gupta currently serves on the board of directors at Progress Software, S1 Corporation, Yodlee Inc., Plateau Systems, Compiere, and Accruent, Inc. Gupta brings over 20 years strategy and execution expertise at global technology companies, including PeopleSoft, WebMD, Silicon Graphics, IBM and Tata Consultancy Services. He holds several patents in the U.S. and was awarded the Smithsonian Computer World "Search for the Heroes" Award for the year 2000.
Previously, Gupta was the president and CEO of Cast Iron Systems, Inc. Before that he was the executive vice president at PeopleSoft, where he was instrumental in taking the company from primarily an HR applications vendor in the U.S., to the second largest vendor of application suites worldwide. Ram was also the executive in charge of the company's $1.8 billion acquisition of JD Edwards that set off the consolidation trend in the ERP industry.
Prior to PeopleSoft, Gupta was the senior vice president and general manager at WebMD Corp. Before that he held various leadership positions at Silicon Graphics, IBM and Tata Consultancy Services.
Charles Kane has held multiple leadership positions in the technology industry and was most recently a strategic advisor and board member of the "One Laptop per Child" initiative, a non-profit organization founded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that provides computing and Internet access for students in the developing world. Kane was previously president and chief operating officer of this organization. Prior to OLPC, Kane was a founding investor and executive officer of the Special Purpose Acquisition Company, Global BPO Services which raised $250 million in capital and purchased Stream Global Services (STRM). Before this, he was the chief financial officer of RSA Security, a provider of security software, which was acquired by EMC Corporation. Other former positions include CFO of Aspen Technology, president and CEO of Corechange, Inc., and CFO of Informix Software.
Kane is on the Board of Directors of Progress Software (NASDQ: PRGS), Netezza Corporation(NZ), Applix Software(APLX-sold to Cognos Corporation), and Borland Software(BORL-sold to Micro Focus Corporation). Kane is an adjunct professor of International Finance at the MIT Sloan Graduate Business School of Management and is a frequent speaker at national events related to international financial strategies as well as social entrepreneurship.
David Krall currently serves as Strategic Advisor and a member of the Board of Directors of Universal Audio. Prior to Universal Audio, Krall was president and chief operating officer of Roku, Inc. and now serves as a strategic advisor. Prior to Roku, Krall served for one and a half years as president and CEO of QSecure, and now serves as executive chair of the QSecure Board of Directors. Before joining QSecure, Krall served for seven years as president and CEO of Avid Technology, Inc., a leading tools provider to the media and entertainment industries, based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Under Krall's leadership, Avid doubled its revenues to just under $1 Billion annually, introduced groundbreaking new products in its core businesses, and expanded into new markets through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.
Krall brings over 20 years of invaluable strategic and tactical management experience to Universal Audio from his leadership positions in the professional audio, video, digital media, and technology industries. Krall has experience working in companies ranging from small startups to public companies with thousands of employees serving worldwide marketplaces.
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Five shows we can't wait to see cross the Atlantic
Features17 May 2016
Theatre Quiz of the Week: Proms, Plays and Prizes
Features18 Jul 2014
New principals announced for Book of Mormon
Theatre News14 Jul 2014
Theatre Quiz of the Week: Wicked, Wee and West End transfers
Features4 Jul 2014
20 lovely London leading ladies we'd totally date
Features2 May 2014
Book of Mormon and Almeida win big at 2014 Olivier Awards
Theatre News13 Apr 2014
Book of Mormon, Harry Potter stars and Open Air Theatre among 2014 WhatsOnStage Award winners
Theatre News23 Feb 2014
Book of Mormon breaks box office record for single day of sales
Theatre News25 Mar 2013
Review Round-up: Did Book of Mormon convert the critics?
Review Round-Ups22 Mar 2013
Book of Mormon extends booking to 2014
Theatre News19 Mar 2013
Book of Mormon releases all tickets to first preview for £20
Theatre News7 Feb 2013
Dick Whittington and His Cat
Reviews10 Dec 2012
Gavin Creel & Jared Gertner lead West End Book of Mormon cast
Theatre News9 Nov 2012
Karimloo Stars as Jean Valjean in Les Mis, from 29 Nov
Theatre News27 Oct 2011
Alfie Boe 'Bored Stiff' When He Watches Opera???
Gossip7 Jun 2011
Musicals Cast: Full Les Mis, Trafalgar Betwixt!
Theatre News31 May 2011
Ordinary Days
Reviews11 Feb 2011
Norton Premieres First Haircut, Full Blue Cast
Theatre News28 Jan 2011


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How To Make Money Hacking
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text:
Enrico's blog
Last 10 blog posts
Dreaming of being picked
From "Stop stealing dreams":
«Settling for the not-particularly uplifting dream of a boring, steady job isn't helpful. Dreaming of being picked — picked to be on TV or picked to play on a team or picked to be lucky — isn't helpful either. We waste our time and the time of our students when we set them up with pipe dreams that don't empower them to adapt (or better yet, lead) when the world doesn't work out as they hope.
The dreams we need are self-reliant dreams. We need dreams based not on what is but on what might be. We need students who can learn how to learn, who can discover how to push themselves and are generous enough and honest enough to engage with the outside world to make those dreams happen.»
This made me think that I know many hero stories based on "the chosen", like Matrix, like most superheros getting powers either from some entity chosing them for it, or from chance.
I have a hard time thinking of a superhero who becomes one just by working hard at acquiring and honing their skills: I can only think of Batman and Ironman, and they start off as super rich.
If I think of people who start from scratch as commoners and work hard to become exceptional, in the standard superhero narrative, I can only think of supervillains.
It makes me feel culturally biased into thinking that a common person cannot be trusted to act responsibly, and that only the rich, the chosen and the aristocrats can.
As a bias it may serve the rich and the aristocrats, but I don't think it serves society as a whole.eng life pdo
Links for September 2016
- A Few Useful Mental Tools from Richard Feynman [archive]
«These tricks show Feynman taking the method of thought he learned in pure science and applying it to the more mundane topics most of us have to deal with every day.»
- Pasta [archive]
A comprehensive introduction to pasta, to keep at hand in case I meet someone who has little familiarity with it.
- MPTP: One Designer Drug and Serendipity [archive]
Abstract: Through an unlikely series of coincidences and fortunate accidents, the development of Parkinson's disease in several illicit drug users was traced to their use of a meperidine analog contaminated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The discovery of a chemical capable of producing animal models of the disease has revitalized research efforts and resulted in important new information. The serendipitous finding also prompted consideration of what changes seem advisable if designer drugs are to be dealt with more efficaciously.
- The Debunking Handbook: now freely available for download
The Debunking Handbook, a guide to debunking misinformation, is now freely available to download. Although there is a great deal of psychological research on misinformation, there's no summary of the literature that offers practical guidelines on the most effective ways of reducing the influence of myths.
- Faulty neon light jams radio appliances [archive]
«An apparent interference source began plaguing wireless vehicle key fobs, cell phones, and other wireless electronics. Key fob owners found they could not open or start their vehicles remotely until their vehicles were towed at least a block away, nor were they able to call for help on their cell phones when problems occurred»
- Calvin & Muad'Dib
Calvin & Hobbes with text taken from Frank Herbert's Dune. It's been around since 2013 and I consistently found it moving and deep.
- When Birds Attack - Bike Helmet Hacks [archive]
Australian magpies attacking cyclists has propted several creative adaptations, including attaching an afro wig to the bike helmet.
Links for August 2016
First post with the new link collection feature of staticsite!
- Heavy Metal and Natural Language Processing [archived]
Natural language processing and Metal lyrics, including the formula for the "metalness" of a word and a list of the most and least metal words.
- Confirming all use of an SSH agent [archived]
«For a long time I've wanted an ssh-agent setup that would ask me before every use, so I could slightly more comfortably forward authentication over SSH without worrying that my session might get hijacked somewhere at the remote end (I often find myself wanting to pull authenticated git repos on remote hosts). I'm at DebConf this week, which is an ideal time to dig further into these things, so I did so today. As is often the case it turns out this is already possible, if you know how.»
- Why We Don't Report It [archived]
«"Why don't you report it?" It's up there on every list I've seen of things you shouldn't say to sexual assault survivors, yet I keep hearing it…»
- Voltron, an extensible debugger UI toolkit written in Python
Multi-panel display built from various gdb outputs.
- Notmuch, offlineimap and Sieve setup [archived]
Nice description of a notmuch+offlineimap+sieve setup, for when I feel like rethinking my email setup.
- Wikipedia:Unusual articles
An endless source of weird and wonderful.
- ZERO: no linked HIV transmissions [archived]
«The results provide a dataset to question whether transmission with an undetectable viral load is actually possible. They should help normalise HIV and challenge stigma and discrimination.»
- TV pickup
Someone once in the UK told me that it was a big enough problem that so many people turn on their electric kettles during the endtitles of Eastenders, that there's an employee in a hydro plant that needs to watch it to ramp up the power at the right time. I've finally found a wikipedia page about it.
- Amazon isn't saying if Echo has been wiretapped [archived]
"We may never know if the feds have hijacked Amazon Echo. … In case you didn't know, Echo is an always-on device, which, when activated, can return search queries, as well as read audiobooks and report sports, traffic, and weather. It can even control smart home devices."
Monthly link collections with staticsite
A year ago, I wrote:
Instead of keeping substantial tabs open until I have read all of them, or losing them in the jungle of browser bookmarks, I have written a script that collects them into a file per month, and turns them into markdown files for my blog.
That script turned out to be quirky and overengineered, so much so that I stopped using it myself.
I've now rethought my approach, and downscaled it: instead of saving a copy of each page locally, I can blog a reference to https://archive.org or https://archive.is. I do not need to autogenerate a description from the site itself.
The result has been a nicely minimal set of changes to staticsite that
resulted in a new version where adding a link to a monthly collection is
as easy as typing
ssite new -a links.
As long as I'll remember to rebuild the site 3 weeks from now, a new post should automagically appear in my blog.eng pdo ssite sw
Verifying gpg keys
Suppose you have a gpg keyid like
9F6C6333 that corresponds to both key
1AE0322EB8F74717BDEABF1D44BB1BA79F6C6333 and
88BB08F633073D7129383EE71EA37A0C9F6C6333, and you don't know which of the two
to use.
You go to http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/ and find out that the site uses short key IDs, so the two keys are indistinguishable.
Building on Clint's hopenpgp-tools,
I made a script that
screenscrapes http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/ for trust paths, downloads all the
potentially connecting keys in a temporary keyring, and runs
hkt findpaths on
$ ./verify-trust-paths 1793D6AB75663E6BF104953A634F4BD1E7AD5568 1AE0322EB8F74717BDEABF1D44BB1BA79F6C6333 hkt (hopenpgp-tools) 0.18 Copyright (C) 2012-2016 Clint Adams hkt comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. (4,[1,4,3,6]) (1,1793D6AB75663E6BF104953A634F4BD1E7AD5568) (3,F8921D3A7404C86E11352215C7197699B29B232A) (4,C331BA3F75FB723B5873785B06EAA066E397832F) (6,1AE0322EB8F74717BDEABF1D44BB1BA79F6C6333) $ ./verify-trust-paths 1793D6AB75663E6BF104953A634F4BD1E7AD5568 88BB08F633073D7129383EE71EA37A0C9F6C6333 hkt (hopenpgp-tools) 0.18 Copyright (C) 2012-2016 Clint Adams hkt comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions. (0,[])
This is a start: it could look in the local keyring for all ultimately trusted key finegrprints and use those as starting points. It could just take as an argument a short keyid and automatically check all matching fingerprints.
I'm currently quite busy with https://nm.debian.org and at the moment verify-trust-paths scratches enough of my itch that I can move on with my other things.
Please send patches, or take it over: I'd like to see this grow.debian eng pdo sw
On discomfort and new groups
When you get involved in a new community, such as Debian, find out early where, if that happens, you can find support, understanding, and help to make it stop.
Last night I asked a group of friends what do they do if they start feeling uncomfortable when they are alone in a group of people they don't know. Here are the replies:
- Wait outside the group until I figure the group out.
- Find someone to talk for a while until you get comfortable.
- If a person is making things uncomfortable for you, let them know, and leave if nobody cares.
- Sit there in silence.
- Work around unwelcome people by bearing them for a bit while trying to integrate with others.
- Some people are easy to bribe into friendship, just bring cake.
- While you don't know what is going on, you try to replicate what others are doing.
- Spend time trying to get a feeling of what are the consequences of taking actions.
- Purposefully disagree with people in a new environment to figure out if having a different opinion is accepted.
- Once I was new and I was asked to be the person that invites everyone for lunch, that forced me to talk to everyone, and integrate.
- When you are the first one to point something out, you'll probably soon find out you're not alone.
- The reaction on the first time something is exposed, influences how often similar cases will be reported.
I think a lot of these point are good food for thought about barriers of entry, and about safety nets that a group has or might want to have.debian eng pdo
You'll thank me later
I agree with this post by Matthew Garrett.
I am quite convinced that most of the communities that I have known are vulnerable to people who are good manipulators of people.
Also, in my experience, manipulation by negating, pushing, or reframing the boundaries of people tends not to be recognised as manipulation, let alone abusive behaviour.
It's not about physically forcing people to do things that they don't want to do. It's about pushing people, again and again, wearing them out, making them feel like, despite their actual needs and wants, saying "yes" to you is the only viable way out.
It can happen for sex, and it can happen for getting a patch merged. It can happen out of habit. It can happen for pretty much anything.
Consent culture was not part of my education, and it was something I've had to discover for myself. I assume that to be a common experience, and that pushing against boundaries does happen, even without malicious intentions, on a regular basis.
However, it is not ok.
Take insisting. It is not the same as persisting. Persisting is what I do when I advocate for change. Persisting is what I do when the first version of my code segfaults. Insisting is what I do when a person says "no" to me and I don't want to accept it.
Is it ok to insist that a friend, whom you think is sick, goes and gets help?
Is it ok to insist that a friend, whom you think is sexually repressed, pushes through their boundaries to explore their sexuality with you?
In both cases, one may say, or think, trust me, you'll thank me afterwards. In both cases, what if afterwards I have nothing to thank you for?
I see a common pattern in you'll thank me afterwards situations. It can be in good faith, it can be creepy, it can be abusive, and most of the time, what it is, is dangerously unclear to most of the people involved.
I think that in a community like Debian, at the level of personal interaction, Insisting is not ok.
I think that in a community like Debian, at the level of personal interaction, "You'll thank me afterwards" is not ok.
When I say it's not ok I mean that it should not happen. If it happens, people must be free to say "stop". If it doesn't stop, people must expect to be able to easily find support, understanding, and help to make it stop.
Just like when people upload untested packages.
Pushing against personal boundaries of people is not ok, and pushing against personal boundaries does happen. When you get involved in a new community, such as Debian, find out early where, if that happens, you can find support, understanding, and help to make it stop.
If you cannot find any, or if the only thing you can find is people who say "it never happens here", consider whether you really want to be in that community.debian eng life pdo
Python gotcha
This code:
#!/usr/bin/python3 class Test: def __init__(self, items=[]): self.items = items def add(self, item): self.items.append(item) a = Test() a.add("foo") b = Test() b.add("bar") print(repr(a.items)) print(repr(b.items))
"obviously" prints:
['foo', 'bar'] ['foo', 'bar']
Because the default value of the
items argument is a mutable list constructed
just once
when the code is
compiled when the function definition is evaluated, and then reused.
So, in Python, mutable items in default arguments are a good way to get more fun time with debugging.debian eng pdo
I chipped in
I clicked on a random link and I found myself again in front of a wired.com popup that wanted to explain to me what I have to think about adblockers.
This time I was convinced, and I took my wallet out.
I finally donated $35 to AdBlock.
(And then somebody pointed me to uBlock Origin and I switched to that.)eng pdo rant
Adjusting with Moore's Law
In my last post I used zxcvbn to check the strength of passwords, and it gave estimates in hundreds of centuries.
However, there's Moore's law. If we assume that every 18 months the effective computing power will double...
#!/usr/bin/python3 import sys years = int(sys.argv[1]) # How many 18 months intervals we spent count = 0 # How many original-computation-time-months we compute each 18 months interval step = 18 # How many original-computation-time-months we computed so far total = 0 # How many original-computation-time-months we need target = years * 12 # Iterate each 18 months interval while True: count += 1 total += step if total > target: break step *= 2 print("{:.2f} years needed".format(count / 12 * 18))
...then something that is now estimated in 152 centures is likely to take, well:
$ ./actual_years 15200 9.33 years needed
Fixed algorithm (thanks John MacGregor). Now the estimate is a little longer, but still:
$ ./actual_years 15200 21.00 years needed
Łukasz Stelmach proposed an analytic solution:
debian eng pdo
There are two cars (remember phisics in primary school?). They both have the same speed V0. It is going to take "54.697 centuries" for car A to travel the desired distance at constant speed. Car B is accelerating, its speed is 2^(t/18m)*V0 (18 [m]onths).
s = V0 * T (car A, T is 54.697 centuries)
s = ∫2^(t/18)*V0 dt (car B, we're looking for t)
It's been some time but as far as I can tell it is
s = V0 * 2^(t/18) * 1/((1/18) * ln 2)
2^(t/18) * 1/((1/18) * ln 2) = 54.697 * 100 * 12 [months]
2^(t/18) = 2527.54
t = 18*log2(2527.54)
t = 16.96 years (still reasonable strength).