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Creative Integrated Data Management: Linking Data Sources Generates Insights
January 2014
Historically, databases that contain human resources (HR) data are maintained and queried separately from databases that manage system configuration information. By linking these sources, Microsoft IT addressed a multitude of business challenges, including identifying deployment improvements, developing targeted user communications, and enhancing internal software publishing.
Executive Overview
Article, 769 KB, Microsoft Word file
Over the past year, Microsoft IT has developed a business intelligence (BI) solution that extracts and transforms data from both its HR repository and System Center Configuration Manager. IT then integrated this BI data to produce reports that add more specificity to its operations:
Much is written about the "big data" phenomenon and the ability of SQL Server to keep pace with the huge data volume increase that modern data centers are experiencing. However, not all IT workloads are directly affected by data proliferation. Medium and large enterprises also use the SQL Server toolset to manage slower-growing data repositories, such as those that collect data about the company's network-attached computers and the people who use them. SQL Server supports authoring queries that can combine data from each repository in ways that are especially useful to an IT organization, but not all IT environments take advantage of this capability. While enterprise developers continue building applications that use the data these individual systems contain, the data sources themselves are often kept separate and not integrated.
In particular, databases that track human resources (HR) data provide opportunities for integrated queries with databases that support systems management software, such as System Center Configuration Manager (Config Manager). Recently, Microsoft IT explored ways to combine this data to obtain more insight into certain operational areas. This seemingly simple exploration, which began as part of a small project, ultimately delivered new benefits in multiple IT focus areas, including deployment operations, issue management, and software publishing.
Constraints from the Lack of Integrated HR Data
The exploration began when IT started gathering requirements for redesigning the online portal employees use for downloading corporate licensed software and internal applications. The updated site required an intuitive design that would provide maximum value to visitors. Specifically, IT wanted to organize the site by users' roles within the company—for example, by creating an area labeled "Engineering Applications" where engineers would look first for needed downloads.
But at the time IT began its portal redesign, it maintained job-role data in an HR database, while data about users' installed applications was maintained in Config Manager. No method existed for combining data from these separate sources; each database supported separate applications and business processes.
Figure 1. Before IT developed the integrated data management solution, data in the Config Manager and HR data repositories was used for entirely separate purposes.
Without data to drive the portal design, IT would be relegated to making assumptions about each visitor's user experience to answer important questions. In the engineering example, these questions would be: Of all applications in the portal, which ones do engineers actually use? Which downloads are most popular among engineers, and why?
As it began considering a solution, IT soon identified other areas where its operations were constrained by using Config Manager data on its own. In particular, IT lacked effective communication with users about each user's need to update his or her network-attached systems. Using data from Config Manager only, IT sent email to large groups of users describing their compliance status in general terms and encouraging them to opt in to installing the update. Overall, IT experienced a low response rate to these communications, for three key reasons:
- The message did not speak to nuances in the user's specific situation—for example, developers who own multiple computers could not be sure which one(s) were out of compliance.
- Recipients, understanding that the mail was sent to a large number of users, assumed that the information did not apply to them, and so they disregarded the call to action.
- The message lacked specific steps for the recipient to take to become compliant.
As with the portal project, these communication activities were hampered by imprecision and an overall loss of efficiency. In fact, IT soon found, communications were only part of the problem; actual software deployments, including everything from patches and updates, to new operating systems and productivity applications, were also constrained. In configuration management, deployments happen to computers, not to people, and as such, Config Manager data yields user-to-device relationships that support getting deployments to all users. However, just as with communications, this data lacks the HR-related details needed to target deployments more precisely.
By failing to target specific groups—whether for deployment, communication, or user-experience purposes—IT was losing an opportunity to provide optimal effective service. To remedy this, proceeding from the portal design exercise, IT broadened its scope of inquiry to ask the following: What might be the benefits of querying both HR and Config Manager data, and then defining business rules for any operational activities based on the results?
To learn the answers to these questions, and with the goal of improving IT and business productivity through useful data relationships among multiple isolated sources, Microsoft IT undertook a project to combine SQL Server queries of its HR and Config Manager databases and thereby better understand the computer environment at Microsoft.
The benefits of using this approach would be significant, IT found. Integrated querying of HR and Config Manager databases provides a rich matrix of characteristics about employees, including the configurations of computers assigned to them, as well as individuals' job roles, geographic locations, and status as full-time employees (FTEs) or vendors.
Although the work to build this solution is iterative and ongoing, the initial project comprised four main phases:
- Understand the HR and Config Manager data sources in greater detail, including the identification of how the data was structured in each source, and determine which data from one source could be related, or keyed, to data in the other source.
- Analyze and prioritize the reporting requirements of all data based on business needs and database characteristics, such as refresh timing, data structure, and record volume.
- Determine the best mechanisms for accessing each required data set, and write SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) queries for all data extractions and transformations.
- Develop preformatted, customizable reports for the data based on business requirements, and perform validation on the data in all reports before they are delivered to customers.
IT performed all steps in this process, particularly reporting, with a careful accounting of security requirements. The security and privacy features of SQL Server, along with manual checks during the data validation phase, allowed IT to ensure that personally identifiable information (PII) included in any report did not exceed the need-to-know parameters of the report's business owners.
Figure 2. The new solution strategically queries and integrates data from multiple sources to produce BI that serves many benefits to IT, business groups, service managers, application owners, and end users.
The HR data this solution uses is the official feed, accessed by all corporate applications that require user information, and the data is updated on a daily basis. Over time, through ongoing scrutiny of the data relationships and execution of queries that capitalize on these relationships, the overall quality of the data has improved and will continue to do so. This is accomplished both by adding new metadata to enrich the data already stored in the repositories, and by completing the data where it is currently missing information. By encompassing both data sources, the master data to use for queries and the SQL Server 2012 report presentation capabilities, the new dual-integrated querying solution further optimizes use of this high-quality data. The ability to produce detailed reports from the solution gives business groups powerful opportunities to benefit from its combined specificity.
Applying creativity to the queries of HR and Config Manager data produced benefits in the areas of deployment and issue management, and also enabled IT to meet the original business challenge—improving usability of the software publishing portal.
Smarter End-to-End Deployment Cycles
Targeting the deployment of a software upgrade produces considerable time savings and provides more productivity to users than a generic update that is blindly pushed to the entire organization. Merging HR with Config Manager data positively affected IT deployments in multiple ways.
Efficient Targeting of Deployments
As in many companies, the deployment of configuration changes to users' computers at Microsoft are often driven by legal mandates and security concerns. The higher the percentage of users whose computers have been updated to the latest operating system, for example, the lower the overall incidence of security issues. Additionally, many companies, including Microsoft, are becoming increasingly strict about licensing issues related to software running on the non-FTE vendors' network-attached computers. In both of these areas, integrating HR data with configuration data helps to maintain full compliance with best practices.
For example, when Windows 8.1 became available, IT took steps to ensure that it was deployed to a feasible number of computers on the corporate network. However, defining "feasible" proved complicated: The optimal result, IT determined, would be to require installation of Windows 8.1 on the primary computers of all FTEs. This complex requirement exceeded the capability of performing the deployment using Config Manager data alone. To target the deployments exactly to those computers, IT queried both the Config Manager data and HR data to generate a more refined list of targets, and used this list to guide the deployment activities.
To achieve better targeting of the Windows 8.1 deployments, IT performed the following activities:
- Filtered the upgrade list to include only computers owned by FTE users.
- Identified business rules for determining which computers would be considered each user's "primary" computer, using Config Manager data about existing installed operating systems and when the user was last logged in.
- For each deployment phase, queried HR and Config Manager databases to identify users whose primary computers were already upgraded, and removing those users' remaining computers from the upgrade list for that phase.
The value of querying both databases in this scenario was that IT could leverage the one-to-many relationship of users to computers in ways that were not possible using only the Config Manager data. In the end, IT accomplished the deployment in five single-day phases, with all computers upgraded that met the requirement and no additional effort expended. Future IT deployments of new and updated software will incorporate similar processes using this dual querying approach.
Because operating system deployments are key to the overall stability and growth of company assets, deployment stakeholders benefit greatly from knowing up-to-the-minute status about how the deployment has progressed. In this case, the Windows team was able to request near-real-time reports that provided views into deployment success and included clear decision points for issue resolution.
Figure 3. Integrated BI data from the solution drives various new custom reports for both IT and the business groups it serves.
More Precise Targeted Communications
The availability of more precise, detailed reports on the existing state of users' computer configurations enabled IT to be more agile and specific in the communications sent to users regarding updates.
With the goal of personalizing update-related communications to provide the maximum information relevant to each recipient, IT now runs queries to consolidate HR and Config Manager data, and then refines the target user list for each communication. Rather than providing a general status and call to action, communications can now offer prescriptive guidance: "Take this action on this computer, for these reasons."
Communications with group managers are likewise improved, because the messages include specific and even competitive insights into the update process: "Here is your team's compliance status; here is how your peer teams are doing by comparison." On a related note, Microsoft leadership has new capabilities for driving healthy IT cooperative activities, including upgrade compliance. For example, a senior IT manager can offer incentives that reward the managers or teams who are the first to achieve 100 percent compliance with an update goal. Before the dual data source queries occurred, no method existed for measuring progress at these levels.
Targeted Feedback Loops and User Testing
The improved precision also helps IT gather feedback from selected installation bases within the enterprise. For example, IT can send a survey to all users in Western Europe who recently upgraded to the latest version of Microsoft Office and ask them about their overall satisfaction with the new system. Based on the query structure for producing the communication list, the responses can yield geographically specific information about the success of the update, to determine which users are happiest with the upgrade, what teams and business areas they work in, and what questions or input they have for IT or the Office product team.
Likewise, new-software user testing benefits from richer querying. IT frequently releases early versions of software to internal personnel to test on behalf of the company and obtain useful feedback for subsequent development cycles. By analyzing and vetting the list of participants in a test cycle using combinations of HR and Config Manager data, IT can assist the product groups in targeting specific cross-sections of the company to yield the most holistic input. This is particularly useful when IT wants to test the software on a complete variety of hardware and software configurations.
Improved Issue Management: Diagnostic Support and Targeted Fixes
When diagnosing certain user issues, IT now has more data it can use to detect patterns among the issue reports and take action accordingly. For example, if dozens of support calls come in for connection-related issues, IT can query to find information that the calls might have in common, such as whether calls are coming from a single building or geographic area. If the data shows that the problem is isolated to certain locations or conditions, IT can act more quickly to remedy the situation.
In cases where fixes must be applied to user's computers, IT has increased agility in how it targets the fixes by using the combined HR and Config Manager data. For example, if a computer manufacturer alerts IT to a known issue with one of the drivers on its 64-bit machines sold in Germany, IT can upgrade the driver on the affected computers by querying and synthesizing the configuration (manufacturer, 64-bit) and geographic (Germany) data from their respective sources. By isolating this data set and pushing the new driver version only to those computers, IT acts more efficiently and reduces the risk of performing unnecessary or potentially damaging work.
Data-Driven Software Publishing Model
The original goal of performing dual queries and matching data between the HR and Config Manager data sources was to improve the usability of the internal software installation portal. Just as the principles of improved targeting were applied creatively in areas of deployment management and issue tracking, the same idea also served a larger purpose in the portal—guiding best practices not only for organizing the downloads, but also for maintaining the portal and providing valuable business intelligence to application owners.
Improved Portal Design and Usability
To first resolve the issue of designing the portal for usability, IT arranged the applications into categories based on two basic queries: job-role data for all users, accessed from the HR database; and applications installed by each user, also sorted by job role, accessed from the Config Manager database. This process yielded business rules for aligning each application to the category where it was most likely to be discovered by users. In this way, software publishing in the portal was driven by the inventory and user-behavior statistics rather than by guesswork. Usability was further enhanced by the ability to communicate trending statistics to drive further adoption, such as: "These are the top 10 engineering applications downloaded in the past week" or "More than 75 percent of users in the Marketing organization are using these applications."
IT also defined business rules for maintaining the portal based on the relative popularity of each application among users, by geography or job role. Going forward, IT will conduct quarterly reviews of all applications in the portal, analyze the download statistics, and take various actions based on the findings: removing the application altogether, moving it to an archive location, or contacting the application owner for additional guidance.
More, Better Data to Drive Business Decisions
Application owners gain valuable business insight from the new solution by receiving reports on activities related to the adoption of their downloadable offerings. With Config Manager, a limited version of this reporting was possible, but the new querying style adds the ability to filter results by job role, reporting structure, geographic location, and other HR-related information.
In a recent example, IT released a new version of a popular internal training application, updated with all new courses, in a specific geographic region. Managers were encouraged to drive adoption of the courseware by their employees. Different business groups were required to enroll in different courses: some for Sales, some for IT, and some for Finance, as appropriate. At any point, IT could run a query to determine which business groups in each area had downloaded the training, and take action to reward or remind each group accordingly. The application was also new to the portal, and had previously been available only via a dedicated web-based installation application. Reports about the download activities advised IT about the number of downloads at each location, and helped to support decision making about the right time to shut down the old install point and drive all download traffic to the portal.
The Future
Dual integrated querying of HR and Config Manager data continues to provide new value to IT and the Microsoft business groups it supports. What began as a portal design support exercise grew to encompass many additional business benefits, and the creative application of dual querying will continue to influence new activities and enhance productivity. Meanwhile, IT is following its own best practices to document the progress it has made thus far in charting the data structures of its HR and Config Manager repositories. IT also continues to ensure data quality in reporting and eventually will add more self-service capabilities to business users using SQL Server tools such as Power Query and Power View.
Benefits for Microsoft IT
- Smarter end-to-end deployment cycles by using dual integrated querying
- Increased productivity by driving deployments that match business requirements
- Increased efficiency through targeting deployments, communications, and user feedback
- Better overall IT understanding of the corporate user and computer ecosystem at Microsoft
Benefits for Service Managers and Application Owners
- Data-driven software publishing model including detailed insights for application owners
- Richer, user-specific business intelligence about downloads and deployments
- Near-real-time views for service managers to learn about the progress of their deployments
Benefits for Employees
- Reduced risk associated with software configurations that might contain security vulnerabilities
- Increased adoption of deployed software due to more detailed targeting
- More timely diagnostic support and targeted fixes for improved issue management
Related Case Studies
How Microsoft IT India's Test Organization Enabled Efficient Business Intelligence (Published December 26, 2013)
Using Visualization to Bring out the Power of BI within Microsoft (Published December 20, 2013)
IT Showcase On: Big Data Analytics and Platform Services (Published July 08, 2013)
IT Showcase On: Business Intelligence (BI) (Updated June 20, 2013)
Microsoft IT Builds a Field Dashboard to Improve Business and Marketing Operations (Published May 07, 2013)
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products or services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Order Centre at (800) 933-4750. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information via the World Wide Web, go to:
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.


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Down in the Bottomlands
Down in the Bottomlands is a novella written by Harry Turtledove. It takes place in an alternative history in which the Atlantic Ocean did not reflood the Mediterranean Sea 5.5 million years ago in the Miocene Epoch, as it did in our history. The Mediterranean Basin thus remains dry to the present day in this time line, as a vast sunken desert called the Bottomlands, averaging nearly two kilometers below mean sea level, with summer temperatures reaching well above 40°C and with little or no rainfall, and brine lakes.
The story concerns a field biologist working at "Trench Park" named Radnal vez Krobir. He is a citizen of Tartesh, a Homo neanderthalensis nation which seems to take in much of the west part of the Bottomlands and what in the real world is France and Spain. He is doing a two-year stint as a field guide to tourists from his and other nations who are visiting the Park to see the plants and animals there. During one of those tours, a military officer of the "Kingdom of Morgaf" (real-world Britain and Ireland) is killed by one of the other tourists in his party.
Radnal must call higher authorities to investigate the matter, and in the course of their investigation, they determine that the deceased man had a microprint in his effects outlining a plot by another nation to set off a "starbomb" (nuclear weapon) near the "Barrier Mountains" (a range of mountains joining the Sierra Nevada (Spain) and the Rif across where the real-world Strait of Gibraltar is), thereby setting off one of the many geologic faults in the area, knocking a gap in the mountains, and reflooding the Bottomlands to form a new central sea, instigated apparently by Krepalga (a Homo sapiens nation occupying all or part of the Middle East, which would have benefited by having a real-world-type Mediterranean Sea up to its west border).
Radnal and other characters eventually find who killed the Morgaffo officer and with the unwitting help of a koprit bird (similar to a shrike) native to the Park, track down the location of the bomb, where it is defused. Koprit birds apparently have a habit of stealing bright shiny things; it stole the detonator wire from the bomb and used it to decorate its food-hoard bush to attract a mate, as the wire had been disguised as jewelry to smuggle it in past security.
The conspirators had sabotaged all the tour party's transport, leaving them stranded far below sea level on the hot dry abyssal plain. This leaves a squad of Tarteshan secret police and police and army with the job of evacuating the tour party, by giving each member a big backpack tank of drinking water and marching them out; partway up to sea level a helicopter finds them and flies the party the rest of the way. (The author realises that in such an ordeal, people cannot live on such small rations as a capful per day from a water bottle, as too often found in stories and in attempted survival in the real world.)
The story ends with Radnal being honored by his fellow subjects of the "Hereditary Tyrant" (i.e., King) of Tartesh at a great festival in Tartesh's capital Tarteshem, for saving the Bottomlands from certain destruction where he meets again a woman named Toglo vez Pamdal, who was in his tour party. She had told him she was a "distant collateral relative" of the Hereditary Tyrant but it turns out is actually his niece. They shake hands at the story's conclusion and presumably begin a romantic relationship.
The story is told from Radnal's point of view and we see him describe Trench Park and its animals and plants to the tourists. Through these descriptions, we come to understand the unique geography and ecosystem contained within the Bottomlands and its Trench and how animals and plants would have adapted to a desert environment two kilometers below average sea level. We also see how the geography of the area would have been different from our timeline, including things like deep river canyons as the rivers around the Mediterranean would have incised such canyons in their descent down the old continental shelf; hydroelectric dams on such rivers generated 80% of Tartesh's electricity.
The novella first saw print in January 1993 in Analog magazine and has been reprinted twice since then, once in 1997 in The New Hugo Award Winners, Volume IV and then again in 1999 with a couple of other novellas in a book called Down in the Bottomlands.
The edition Down in the Bottomlands and Other Places (ISBN 0-671-57835-9) has on its front cover a color picture of the finding of the bomb's wires - with one error: the artist drew all the human characters with Homo sapiens chins, but he got their Homo neanderthalensis heavy brow ridges correct.
External links[edit]
- Down in The Bottomlands in Baen Free Library
- Down in the Bottomlands title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

subset: commoncrawl


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NEW YORK — From bomb-sniffing dogs to pat-downs of fans, security will be tight at 13 NFL games and the U.S. Open tennis tournament Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The two men in charge of safety at those events say any extra efforts, coordinated with the FBI and local police, are not so much a result of Sunday happening to be Sept. 11 - but rather because of what happened on that date in 2001, and the changes made in the aftermath to protect people at various sports sites.
"From our perspective, while the 10-year anniversary does fall on our first weekend - and we're sensitive to that - if it didn't, we would still be sensitive, because we've been doing this since 9/11 of '01," Jeffrey Miller, the NFL's chief security officer, said. "Right after that happened, we put these things into place."
Miller and Michael Rodriguez, the U.S. Open's director of security, said they are in regular contact with the Department of Homeland Security and, as of Wednesday morning, had not been informed of any specific, credible threats to their arenas.
Whether at NFL games or U.S. Open matches - or at any of the dozens of college football and Major League Baseball games on the schedule - sports are one of the main ways Americans will be together in large numbers on the anniversary weekend. The NFL's first test will come Thursday night, when Green Bay hosts New Orleans to start the regular season.
There are various commemorations planned, such as the white "9-11-01" that the U.S. Tennis Association will be painting next to the blue court used for the men's and women's finals at the Open; the "We Shall Not Forget" logos on foul-territory grass at baseball parks; and the "Salute to America" concert with patriotic music at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Richmond on Saturday.
"Sporting events are their own unique attractive target for terrorist groups. We have security at the top level that you can have it. We want all our fans protected on Day 1, whether it's the fifth year after 9/11 or the seventh year after 9/11. We want the same comfort level for our fans, for our patrons, for our players," the U.S. Open's Rodriguez said.
"If there was a threat specifically against the U.S. Open, the USTA and the NYPD would probably postpone the event temporarily," he added. "We would be open to that and there would be discussions about it."
Information gathered in the past indicated al Qaeda had considered attempting attacks on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and, more generally, at big gatherings in the United States.
Nearly 65,000 spectators attend each NFL game, on average; the U.S. Open's main stadium holds about 23,000.
"Over the years, we've learned, and we know, that, given the way we play our games simultaneously ... it does present an attractive target, whether it's a terrorist group or a homegrown violent extremist that would want to act out," said the NFL's Miller, who also mentioned the more-recent possibility of someone seeking to avenge Osama bin Laden's death in May.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Sonnets Showcase Presentation 2015
- Performing & Visual Arts
- Westwood Road, Salisbury, England, SP2 9HS
You Should Ask Wallace: A Performance by Theatr na nÓg
Arts Service Poole
Saturday, 9 November 2013 from 11:30 to 13:30 (GMT)
Wallace at Broadstone June 2013 from theatr na nOg on Vimeo.
When Darwin was stumped for an answer why certain species were the way they were, the advice given to him was - "you should ask Wallace". A 45 minute performance which focuses on the aspects of Alfred Russel Wallace's inspirational character that led him to the Theory of Evolution by natural selection.
The play tells the story of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 -1913), a Victorian naturalist, who was born in Wales, and who discovered the theory of evolution, and then shared the idea with Charles Darwin... and as they say the rest is history. This often overlooked Welsh Victorian scientist, who's curiosity as to why there are so many different varieties of species, was ignited during his formative years in Usk and Neath, and would later find the answer to the 'mystery of all mysteries'. His great findings would compel Darwin to publish his seminal work on the origin of species. The play takes us through his life as a young boy growing up in Wales to embarking on epic adventures to the Amazon and Malay Archipelago where he discovers the theory of evolution.
"Vividly told and an enthralling story of one of the most interesting and important figures in the history of science." George Beccaloni, the Natural History Museum
"Every once in a while a film, a painting, a song will stop you in your tracks with its sheer brilliance…Theatr na n'Óg serves up the theatrical example." Western Telegraph
Over the course of his life Alfred Russel Wallace spent nearly 25 years in Poole, including Parkstone and, from 1902 until his death in 1913 in Broadstone. This event is part of Borough of Poole's programme for Wallace100, a celebration of his life and scientific legacy in the centenary year of his death.
Poole has a team of specialist arts officers dedicated to growing the arts in Poole, enabling more and more people to take part in, and experience great quality arts activity.
From the visual arts, performing arts, festivals, music, literature, film + new media, we run a dynamic programme of events, projects, initiatives and partnerships.
Join millions of people on Eventbrite.
In order to purchase these tickets in installments, you'll need an Eventbrite account. Log in or sign up for a free account to continue.


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5 Must-Watch College Football Games This Weekend
With teams vying for four playoff spots and bowl game placements, this weekend can either cause a big shakeup or solidify seeds/rankings to both the bowl game and playoff picture. While there are many top matchups this weekend to watch, let's look at the 5 must-watch games that have the most at stake for the teams playing in them.
College Football Spotlight: Big Games In November Separate Contenders From Pretenders
Our expectations before the start of the season can quickly be tarnished in a flash. But no matter what happens, November will always find a way to set the stage for a championship race like no other month can.
Travis Wilson Throws Last-Second TD To Lift Utah Past USC, 24-21
Travis Wilson threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kaelin Clay with 8 seconds left to give No. 19 Utah a 24-21 victory over No. 20 Southern California on Saturday night.
5 Must Watch College Football Games This Weekend
The first college football playoff rankings come out Tuesday so the Top 25 teams around the country are definitely looking to defend their ranking or move up by notching a big win. With that being said, let's take a look at the five most important and must watch college football games this weekend.
21 High School Football Players Suspended Over Hazing Claims In Chino Hills
School administrators in San Bernardino County Friday said 21 high school football players have been suspended due to hazing allegations.
California Attorney General To Convene With Prosecutors From Mexico, El Salvador On Cross-Border Crime
California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Monday that the meeting will focus on human trafficking, money laundering and the gangs' growing sophistication in digital piracy and computer hacking.
On Two Wheels: America's Best Bike Destinations
There's not much better than seeing America on a bicycle. Here are just five of the best bike destinations in America.
Let's venture down to the Southern Part of Utah
Southern Utah has 2 major resorts: Brian Head and Eagle Point. Let's see what Southern Utah has to offer as Erica Olsen Reports.
Visit Salt Lake City, UTAH
Visit Salt Lake City, UTAH – it's a major metropolitan area with the friendliness of a quaint town.
Sundance, UTAH – so much more than just a film festival
Let's explore Sundance, Utah! Where it's more than just the Sundance Film Festival. After a long day skiing down the slopes, don't forget to head down to Sundance's award-winning restaurants.
See what you can do in Park City, UTAH
Park City has 3 major ski resorts with winter fun for the whole family! We'll show you what you can do in and around Park City.
Everything you need to know about UTAH in 60-seconds!
Watch to find out what Utah has to offer this winter. From skiing to bobsledding and so much more!
Jordan Adams Leads UCLA To 80-66 Win Over Utah
Jordan Adams scored 24 points and UCLA opened the second half with a 14-0 run on the way to an 80-66 victory over Utah on Saturday.
Utah Holds Off Late Run, Beats USC 79-71
Delon Wright scored 21 and hot-shooting Utah kept Southern California in the Pac-12 cellar by holding off a late run Thursday night for a 79-71 victory in Galen Center.
Doctors: Brazilian Skier, Olympic Hopeful, Unable To Move Limbs After Accident
The Brazilian Olympic Committee said early Wednesday the gymnast who was expected to compete in freestyle skiing at the Sochi Games is unable to move her arms and legs following an accident while training in the United States.


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For Royal Messenger album launch........Melody B, Fireman, Artical Slice,Lull Raa, T Smallz, Jah Michael plus many more.
Apr 20
Interview with King Zai on the Daina Yard Show
Sounds Like: Buju Banton, Sean Paul, Antony B, Lutan Fyah, Melody B
Bio: One of the top Gambian artists, following his initial Clean up the Yard album is now working on new material for 2014
Melody B first started singing in 1995, releasing his first single a year later in 1996. First album was released back in 2003 being a huge hit, and still being played throughout...See Full Bio


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New Multimedia Format Numbers from NetRatings: As expected, Nielsen-NetRatings has released its revised version of online multimedia statistics for the three major competing formats: RealNetworks' RealMedia, Microsoft's Windows Media and Apple's QuickTime. Interesting, but not statistically significant: RealMedia triumphs with at-home users, while Windows Media triumphs among office users. QuickTime has gained a significant share. Interesting to see how the standards play out and how it would affect paid multi-media content.
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Possible Answer
Pill imprint 6469 V has been identified as zolpidem 10 mg. View images and comprehensive information for this drug. - read more
30 May 2010. Drug Name: Zolpidem tartrate 10 MG Oral Tablet Ingredient(s): Zolpidem FDA Drug Label Imprint: 6469;V Color(s): White Shape: Oval Size (mm): 10.00 Score: 1 - read more
Please vote if the answer you were given helped you or not, thats the best way to improve our algorithm. You can also submit an answer or search documents about zolpidem 6469.


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www.WHAT EVEN IS LIFE.com
Hey beautiful internet babes. I haven't had the internet in over a week, was over in Bermuda and it turns out there was no wifi where I was staying. I for sure had a panic attack. Once I got over myself and my online addition it was chill but YO I'M TOTALLY BEHIND IN MUSIC VIDEOS OF THE DAY and for this I apologize. Will totally make up for it. For now just stay tuned...
xo kk
music video of the day: "Sausage" by Lil Mama
Been on repeat all day.
music video of the day: "The Passions" by Owen Pallett
"I wrote The Passions after a period during which my definitions of 'love' were being redefined. Queers are united by our desires, by our prioritization of the needs of our bodies and souls over the needs of tradition and societal structures. But I feel there is more to it than that. Our lovers are our family, our brothers and sisters as well as our sexual partners. The Passions is about the blurry distinction between these definitions."
- Owen Pallett
Pallett's In Conflict is out now on Domino. It's really fucking good.
music video of the day: "Say" by Mikal Cronin
You can call me Al? More like you can call me Cronin.
Watch the original video of which the above is a homage below.
music video of the day: "Here" by Alessia Cara
Shout out to Canadian introverts. Girl gets it.
music video of the day: "Elevator" by Eddi Front
Wouldn't it be nice if I could melt myself like ice?
music video of the day: "Secret Name" by AA Wallace
Who doesn't love a good unboxing video?
music video of the day: "'Cause I'm A Man" by Tame Impala
Breaking my own rules with this one. I hate this video. This song is just too good though.
music video of the day: "Suplex" by A Tribe Called Red ft. Northern Voice
You gotta fight for your right to party.
Stream their new EP below via Spotify.
music video of the day:『POOL』by tricot
music video of the day: "Cayman Islands" by Kings Of Convenience
a nice soft forgotten gem, nice late at night
music video of the day: "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" by Tame Impala
Chill trippy times at tonight's Massey Hall show.
music video of the day: "Feeling Myself" by Nicki Minaj ft. Beyoncé
Bow down. Nicki reminding us why she's at the top. Feelin it so hard. On repete. Loop'd.
music video of the day: "Before the World Was Big" by Girlpool
Friendship is so in right now.
music video of the day: "Inside Out" by SPOON
Weekend chill vibes. Spoon does it right. As do directors LeBlanc + Cudmore (as always).
Also check the sweet Bon Iver cover below.
music video of the day: "Loaded" by Primal Scream
Happy Friday!
music video of the day: "SPECTER" by NONI WO
music video of the day: "Raising the Skate" by Speedy Ortiz
Creepy campy perfect. Life is freaky man.
music video of the day: "Ain't No Other Way" by Main Attrakions
Weeknight empty city street tune, directed by Kreayshawn.
Their new album 808s & Dark Grapes III is out June 3rd on Neil Young's Vapor Records label.


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VIEWS: 33 PAGES: 11 CATEGORY: Business POSTED ON: 5/19/2010 Public Domain
6.854 Advanced Algorithms Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 Lecturer: David Karger Scribes: Matt Doherty, John Nham, Sergiy Sidenko, David Schultz Polynomial-Time Approximation Algorithms N P -hard problems are a vast family of problems that, to the best of our knowledge, cannot be solved in polynomial time.1 When presented with a N P -hard problem, we can take one of three possible strategies: • Run a super-polynomial algorithm anyway. Techniques such as branch-and-bound (known as A∗ search in the AI world) allow us to enumerate options in a way such that we can ignore most of the problem space. However, the desired complexity bounds of these algorithms are usually not provable, and even "slightly" super-polynomial is often too much to be practical. • Assume that the input is random, and find an algorithm that will perform well in the average case. For example, the maximum clique problem, which is N P -hard, can actually be solved efficiently assuming a random input because the maximum clique in a randomly chosen graph is small. This assumption is often used in practice, but the problem is that not everyone will agree on whether the input distribution is random. • Settle for a suboptimal solution (an approximation) that can be found in polynomial time, and prove that this solution is "good enough". This is the technique that we will look at in the rest of the lecture. 20.0.1 Preliminaries Definition 1 An optimization problem consists of: A set of instances I A set of solutions S(I) An objective function2 f : S(I) → R The problem is to find s ∈ S(I) that maximizes (or minimizes) f (s). Example 1 Graph Coloring is an optimization problem with the following form: 1 Briefly, P is the set of problems solvable in polynomial time, and N P is a particular superset of P . A problem is N P -hard if it is at least as hard as all problems in N P , and N P -complete if it is in N P and it is also N P -hard. An unproven but generally accepted conjecture, which we will assume is true, is that P = N P . 2 The restriction that the range of the objective function is R might be limiting in some situations, but most problems can be formulated this way. 20-1 Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-2 I: graphs S(I): assignments of colors to each vertex such that no neighbors have the same color f (s): number of colors used in s Thus, given a graph, we want to find the minimum number of colors we can use to color the vertices such that no two adjacent vertices have the same color. Some technicalities: When analyzing the complexity of optimization problems, we will assume that all inputs and ranges of f are rational numbers. We will also assume that if σ is an optimal solution, then f (σ) is polynomial in the number of bits in the input. Our goal will be to find algorithms that have a runtime polynomial in the representation of the input in bits. Often, when people refer to N P -hard problems, they are referring to decision problems, which are algorithms for which the output is yes or no. For example, a decision version of the Graph Coloring problem is determining whether or not a graph is 3-colorable. We need a notion of N P -hardness that applies to optimization problems as well. Definition 2 N P -hardness: An optimization problem is N P -hard if it can be used as a subroutine to solve an N P -hard decision problem in polynomial time, with the optimization problem used as a black box. Definition 3 An approximation algorithm is any algorithm that gives a feasible solution to an optimization problem. The above definition of an approximation algorithm gives no measure of how good the algorithm actually is. For instance, a valid approximation algorithm for the Graph Coloring problem is to color each vertex with its own color. Thus, we need a way to differentiate approximation algorithms based on how "good" they actually are. In the rest of this lecture, we discuss two ways to measure the "goodness" of an algorithm by comparing its output to the optimal solution. 20.1 Absolute Approximations One way to compare the output of an approximation algorithm to the optimal solution is to take the absolute difference between them. If we can bound this difference to a constant for any input, then we have an absolute approximation algoirthm. Definition 4 A is a k-absolute approximation algorithm if |A(I) − OP T (I)| ≤ k. The absolute value in the above definition allows us to cover both maximization and minimization problems with the same definition - A(I) ≤ OP T (I) in a maximization problem, and A(I) ≥ OP T (I) in a minimization problem. Our next example will involve planar graphs. Recall the following definition: Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-3 Definition 5 A planar graph is a graph that can be drawn on the blackboard without any edges crossing. Planar Planar Not Planar Figure 20.1: Examples of planar and non-planar graphs. Euler's formula for planar graphs tells us that m ≤ 3n − 6 for n ≥ 3, where n is the number of vertices and m is the number of edges. As a particular corollary, every planar graph has at least one vertex with degree less than 6, since the sum of the degrees of the vertices is 2m, which by Euler's formula is less than 6n. Definition 6 Planar Graph Coloring is a restricted version of Graph Coloring where the inputs are constrained to be planar. Theorem 1 There exists a 1-absolute approximation algorithm for Planar Graph Coloring. Proof: We will exhibit such an algorithm. First, note that if a graph is 1-colorable, then it has no edges and we can trivially color it. Similarly, a 2-colorable graph is bipartite, and all other graphs require at least 3 colors. We can color any other planar graph with 4 colors by the famous Four Color Theorem. The complete algorithm for an arbitrary planar graph thus works as follows: • If the graph is 1-colorable, then color it optimally. • If the graph is bipartite, color it with 2 colors. • Otherwise, the graph requires at least 3 colors. Color it with 4 colors using the Four Color Theorem. This algorithm achieves a 1-absolute approximation. Unfortunately, the set of N P -hard problems with absolute approximations is very small. This is because in general, we can transform an absolute approximation into an exact solution by a scaling technique, which would imply that P = N P . Assuming that P = N P , we can prove that no absolute approximation exists for problems that have this property. We will do this for Knapsack, one of the first problems that was shown to be N P -complete, and for Maximum Independent Set, another N P -complete problem. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-4 Definition 7 In the Knapsack problem, we are given a knapsack of size B and items i with size si and profit pi . We can think of this as a kind of shoplifting problem; the goal is to find the subset of the items with maximum total profit that fits into the knapsack. Theorem 2 There is no k-absolute approximation algorithm for Knapsack for any number k. Proof: Suppose for the sake of contradiction that we have a k-absolute approximation algorithm. First we will consider the case where the prices pi are integers. We multiply all the prices by k + 1 and run our k-absolute approximation algorithm on the resulting instance. The difference between any two solutions in the original instance is at least 1, so the difference between any two solutions in the scaled instance is at least k + 1. As a result of scaling, the optimum solution increases by a factor of k + 1, but our k-approximate solution is within k of this. Therefore, the approximation algorithm gives an exact solution for the scaled graph. We divide by k + 1 to obtain an optimal solution for the original graph. This would constitute a polynomial-time solution for a problem that is believed to be super-polynomial, so we have a contradiction. Note that if the prices are rational numbers rather than integers, we can simply multiply all of the prices by their common denominator, which has a polynomial number of bits. Then the problem reduces to the integer case above. Definition 8 In the Maximum Independent Set problem, we are given a graph G and we must find the largest subset of the vertices in G such that there is no edge between any two vertices in the set. Note that a graph's maximum independent set is identical to the maximum clique in the comple- mentary graph. (The complement of a graph is the graph obtained by taking the same set of vertices as in the original graph, and placing edges only between vertices that had no edges between them in the original graph.) Theorem 3 There is no k-absolute approximation for Maximum Independent Set, for any number k. Proof: Suppose for the sake of contradiction that we have a k-absolute approximation algorithm for Maximum Independent Set. Although there are no numbers to scale up in this problem, there is still a scaling trick we can use. For an instance G, we make a new instance G′ out of k + 1 copies of G that are not connected to each other. Then a maximum independent set in G′ is composed of one independent set in each copy of G, and in particular, OP T (G′ ) is k + 1 times as large as OP T (G). A k-absolute approximation to a maximum independent set of G′ has size at least (k + 1)|OP T (G′ )| − k. This approximation consists of independent sets in each copy of G. At least one of the copies must contain a maximum independent set (i.e., an independent set of size |OP T (G)|), because otherwise the total number of elements in the approximation would be at most (k + 1)|OP T (G)| − (k + 1), contradicting the assumption that we have a k-absolute approximation. Hence, we can obtain an exact solution to Maximum Independent Set in polynomial time, which we presume is impossible. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-5 20.2 Relative Approximation Algorithms Since absolute approximations are often not achievable, we need a new technique—a new way to measure approximations. Since we can't handle additive factors, we will try multiplicative ones. Definition 9 An α-approximate solution S(I) has value ≤ α|OP T (I)| if the problem is a min- imization problem and value ≥ |OP T (I)|/α if the problem is a maximization problem. Definition 10 An algorithm has an approximation ratio α if it always yields an α-approximate solution. Of course, α must be at least 1 in order for these definitions to make sense. We often call an algorithm with an approximation ratio α an α-approximate algorithm. Since absolute approximations are so rare, people will assume that a relative approximation is intended when you say this. Once we have formulated an algorithm, how can we prove that it is α-approximate? In general, it is hard to describe the optimal solution, since it is our inability to talk about OP T that prevents us from formulating an exact polynomial-time algorithm for the problem. Nevertheless, we can establish that an algorithm is α-approximate by comparing its output to some upper or lower bound on the optimal solution. Greedy approximation algorithms often wind up providing relative approximations. These greedy methods are algorithms in which we take the best local step in each iteration and hope that we don't accumulate too much error by the time we are finished. To illustrate the design and analysis of an α-approximation algorithm, let us consider the Parallel Machine Scheduling problem, a generic form of load balancing. Parallel Machine Scheduling: Given m machines mi and n jobs with processing times pj , assign the jobs to the machines to minimize the load max pj , i j∈i the time required for all machines to complete their assigned jobs. In scheduling notation, this problem is described as P Cmax . A natural way to solve this problem is to use a greedy algorithm called list scheduling. Definition 11 A list scheduling algorithm assigns jobs to machines by assigning each job to the least loaded machine. Note that the order in which the jobs are processed is not specified. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-6 Analysis To analyze the performance of list scheduling, we must somehow compare its solution for each instance I (call this solution A(I)) to the optimum OP T (I). But we do not know how to obtain an analytical expression for OP T (I). Nonetheless, if we can find a meaningful lower bound LB(I) for OP T (I) and can prove that A(I) ≤ α · LB(I) for some α, we then have A(I) ≤ α · LB(I) ≤ α · OP T (I). Using the idea of lower-bounding OP T (I), we can now determine the performance of list scheduling. Claim 1 List scheduling is a (2 − 1/m)-approximation algorithm for Parallel Machine Scheduling. Proof: Consider the following two lower bounds for the optimum load OP T (I): • the maximum processing time p = maxj pj , • the average load L = j pj /m. The maximum processing time p is clearly a lower bound, as the machine to which the corresponding job is assigned requires at least time p to complete its tasks. To see that the average load is a lower bound, note that if all of the machines could complete their assigned tasks in less than time L, the maximum load would be less than the average, which is a contradiction. Now suppose machine mi has the maximum runtime L = cmax , and let job j be the last job that was assigned to mi . At the time job j was assigned, mi must have had the minimum load (call it Li ), since list scheduling assigns each job to the least loaded machine. Thus, pi ≥ mLi + pj machine i ≥ m(L − pj ) + pj Therefore, 1 OP T (I) ≥ (m(L − pj ) + pj ) m = L − (1 − 1/m)pj , so L ≤ OP T (I) + (1 − 1/m)pj ≤ OP T (I) + (1 − 1/m)OP T (I) ≤ (2 − 1/m)OP T (I). The solution returned by list scheduling is cmax , and thus list scheduling is a (2−1/m)-approximation algorithm for Parallel Machine Scheduling. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-7 The example with m(m − 1) jobs of size 1 and one job of size m for m machines shows that we cannot do better than (2 − 1/m)OP T (I). Definition 12 In the Maximum Cut problem (for undirected graphs), we are given an undirected graph and wish to partition the vertices into two sets such that the number of edges crossing the partition is maximized. Example 2 A Greedy Algorithm for Maximum Cut: In each step, we pick any vertex and place it on one side of the cut or the other. In particular, we place each vertex on the side opposite most of its previously placed neighbors. (If the vertex has no previously placed neighbors, or an equal number of neighbors on each side, then we place it on either side.) The algorithm terminates when all vertices have been placed. We can say very little about the structure of the optimum solution to Maximum Cut for an arbitrary graph, but there's an obvious bound on the number of edges in the cut, namely m, the total number of edges in the graph. We can measure the goodness of our greedy algorithm's approximation with respect to this bound. Theorem 4 The aforementioned greedy algorithm for Maximum Cut is 2-approximate. Proof: We say that an edge is "fixed" if both of its endpoints have been placed. Every time we place a vertex, some number of edges get fixed. At least half of these edges are cut by virtue of the heuristic used to choose a side for the vertex. The algorithm completes when all edges have been fixed, at which point m/2 edges have been cut, whereas we know that optimum solution has at most m edges. The approach we just described was the best known approximation algorithm for Maximum Cut for a long time. It was improved upon in the last decade using a technique that we will discuss in the next lecture. Example 3 A Clustering Problem: Suppose we are given a set of points, along with distances satisfying the triangle inequality. Our goal is to partition the points into k groups such that the maximum diameter of the groups is minimized. The diameter of a group is defined to be the maximum distance between any two points in the group. An approximation algorithm for this problem involves first picking k cluster "centers" greedily. That is, we repeatedly pick the point at the greatest distance from the existing centers to be a new center. Then we assign the remaining points to the closest centers. The analysis of this problem is left as a problem set exercise. As we demonstrated, Maximum Cut has a constant-factor approximation. We will now consider an algorithm that has no constant-factor approximation, i.e., α depends on the size of the input. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-8 Definition 13 In the Set Cover problem, we are given a collection of n items and a collection of (possibly overlapping) sets, each of which contains some of the items. A cover is a collection of sets whose union contains all of the items. Our goal is to produce a cover using the minimum number of sets. A natural local step for Set Cover is to add a new set to the cover. An obvious greedy strategy is to always choose the set that covers the most new items. Theorem 5 A greedy algorithm for Set Cover that always chooses the set that covers the most new items is O(log n)-approximate. Proof: Suppose that the optimum cover has k sets. Then at a stage where r items remain to be covered, some set covers r/k of them. Therefore, choosing the set that covers the most new points reduces the number of uncovered points to r − r/k = r(1 − 1/k). If we start with n points and repeat this process n times, r ≤ n(1 − 1/k)j . Since r is an integer, we are done when n(1 − 1/k)j < 1. This happens when j = O(k log n). Hence, α = j/k = O(log n). This result is much better than an O(n)-approximate solution, but you have to wonder if we could do beter with a cleverer algorithm. People spent a long time trying to find a constant approxi- mation. Unfortunately, it was recently proven that O(log n) is the best possible polynomial-time approximation. However, we can do better for a special case of Set Cover called Vertex Cover. Both problems are N P -hard, but it turns out that the latter does indeed have a constant factor approximation. Definition 14 In the Vertex Cover problem, we are given a graph G, and we wish to find a minimal set of vertices containing at least one endpoint of each edge. After seeing a greedy algorithm for Set Cover, it might seem natural to devise a scheme for Vertex Cover in which a local step consists of picking the vertex with the highest uncovered indegree. This does indeed give a O(log n) approximation, but we can do better with another heuristic. As a starting point, imagine that instead of looking at the number of covered edges on each vertex, we simply picked any uncovered edge and covered it. Clearly one of the two endpoints for the edge is in the optimum cover. Unfortunately, we might get unlucky and pick the wrong one. Consider the graph in Figure 20.2. If we chose the peripheral vertices first, our cover would contain n − 1 vertices. To solve this problem, when we choose an edge to cover, we add both of its endpoints to the cover. This gives us a 2-approximate cover because one of the two endpoints is in the optimum cover. This is a beautiful case of bouding an approximation against a bound of the optimum solution without actually knowing the optimum solution. Relatively recently, someone improved the vertex cover bound to a 2 − O(log log n/ log n) approxi- mation with a significant amount of work. It is known to be impossible to do better than 4/3, but nobody knows how to close the gap. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-9 ıve Figure 20.2: A pathological case for na¨ greedy Set Cover. 20.3 Polynomial Approximation Schemes The obvious question to ask now is how good an α we can obtain. Definition 15 A polynomial approximation scheme (PAS) is a set of algorithms {Aε } for which each Aε is a polynomial-time (1 + ε)-approximation algorithm. Thus, given any ε > 0, a PAS provides an algorithm that achieves a (1 + ε)-approximation. In order to devise a PAS we can use a method called k-enumeration. Definition 16 An approximation algorithm using k-enumeration finds an optimal solution for the k most important elements in the problem and then uses an approximate polynomial-time method to solve the reminder of the problem. 20.3.1 A Polynomial Approximation Scheme for Parallel Machine Scheduling We can do the following: • Enumerate all possible assignments of the k largest jobs. • For each of these partial assignments, list schedule the remaining jobs. • Return as the solution the assignment with the minimum load. Note that in enumerating all possible assignments of the k largest jobs, the algorithm will always find the optimal assignment for these jobs. The following claim demonstrates that this algorithm provides us with a PAS. Claim 2 For any fixed m, k-enumeration yields a polynomial approximation scheme for Parallel Machine Scheduling. Proof: Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-10 Let us consider the machine mi with maximum runtime cmax and the last job that mi was assigned. If this job is among the k largest, then it is scheduled optimally, and cmax equals OP T (I). If this job is not among the k largest, without loss of generality we may assume that it is the (k +1)th largest job with processing time pk+1 . Therefore, A(I) ≤ OP T (I) + pk+1 . However, OP T (I) can be bound from below in the following way: kpk OP T (I) ≥ , m kpk because m is the minimum average load when the largest k jobs have been scheduled. Now we have: A(I) ≤ OP T (I) + pk+1 ≤ OP T (I) + OP T (I) m k = OP T (I) 1 + m . k Given ε > 0, if we let k equal m/ε, we will get cmax ≤ (1 + ε)OP T (I). Finally, to determine the running time of the algorithm, note that because each of the k largest jobs can be assigned to any of the m machines, there are mk = mm/ε possible assignments of these jobs. Since the list scheduling performed for each of these assignments takes O(n) time, the total running time is O(nmm/ǫ ), which is polynomial because m is fixed. Thus, given an ε > 0, the algorithm is a (1 + ε)-approximation, and so we have a polynomial approximation scheme. 20.4 Fully Polynomial Approximation Schemes Consider the PAS in the previous section for P Cmax . The running time for the algorithm is prohibitive even for moderate values of ε. The next level of improvement, therefore, would be approximation algorithms that run in time polynomial in 1/ε, leading to the definition below. Definition 17 Fully Polynomial Approximation Scheme (FPAS) is a set of approximation algorithms such that each algorithm A(ε) in this set runs in time that is polynomial in the size of the input, as well as in 1/ε. There are few N P -complete problems that allow for FPAS. Below we discuss FPAS for the Knapsack problem. Lecture 20: 10/27/2006 20-11 20.4.1 A Fully Polynomial Approximation Scheme for the Knapsack Problem The Knapsack problem receives as input an instance I of n items with profits pi , sizes si and knapsack size (or capacity) B. The output of the Knapsack problem is the subset S of items of total size at most B, and that has profit: max pi . i∈S Suppose now that the profits are integers; then we can write a DP algorithm based on the minimum size subset with profit p for items 1, 2, . . . , r as follows: M (r, p) = min {M (r − 1, p), M (r − 1, p − pr ) + sr } . The corresponding table of values can be filled in O (n i pi ) (note that this is not a FPAS in itself). Now, we consider the general case where the profits are not assumed to be integers. Once again, we use a rounding technique but one that can be considered a generic approach for developing FPAS for other N P -complete problems that allows for FPAS. Suppose we multiplied all profits pi by n/ε · OP T ; then the new optimal objective value is apparently n/ε. Now, we can round the profits down to the nearest integer, and hence the optimal objective value decreases at most by n; expressed differently, the decrease in objective value is at most ε · OP T . Using the DP algorithm above, we can therefore find the optimal solution to the rounded problem in O(n2 /ε) time, thus providing us with a FPAS in 1/ε.
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Holiday Living: Using Year-Round Holidays to Build Faith and Family
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|Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 208
Vendor: New Hope Publishers
Publication Date: 2013
|Dimensions: 9.00 X 6.00 X 0.50 (inches)
Availability: Expected to ship on or about 07/31/15.
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About the Book
How do you instill in your family a sense of godly heritage while everyone is eating hotdogs and watching fireworks? While it may seem impossible, you can pass on values important to the Christian faith while celebrating year-round holidays - even those rarely celebrated holidays like Presidents' Day.
In Holiday Living, Brenda gives readers something to celebrate - an indispensable guide to living up the holidays in Christian style. Covering almost 20 holidays, readers will find fasinating history about how the holiday started and more importantly garner a better understanding of their faith connection to the holiday. In the true spirit of celebrating life in Christ, readers will find easy-to-use, cost-effective holiday ideas to help turn facts into memories, and provide opportunities to lay the foundation of Christian values as they worship.
In addition to the major holidays, holidays include Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, as well as cross-cultural holidays like Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, and Kwanza.
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GrandmaAge: Over 65Gender: female5 Stars Out Of 5Holiday Living - Even for GrandmasMarch 5, 2013GrandmaAge: Over 65Gender: femaleI just started reading 'Holiday Living'. After reading all the preliminary pages, starting chapter one and finding what the main thrust of the book was, I eagerly jumped to chapter 6 about St Patrick's Day, as that is the next upcoming holiday.
My Granddaughter's wedding is coming up March 16th, the Saturday before St Patrick's Day. Most of our family members will be present and we will be spending St Patrick's Day together, so I read to find out what I, as Mom and G'Ma, can bring to the table to help my family understand the importance of faith and family and how to make this particular opportunity a 'holy day' indeed.
I wasn't disappointed. I am eager to use what I learned and look forward to continuing reading about making holidays holy days.
I can truly say 'Brenda Poinsett is my favorite author and I am always amazed at her insight into a vast array of subjects, all centered around Jesus.'
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i like handmade decoration style , who like handmade decoration with me ? i usually made it by my self sometime i buy it from online store such as ebay ( i buy 3 bags from here ) , etsy ( i buy 2 lamps from here ) but i like to buy from small store such as ocoovar site ( i buy 2 lamps from here ) , i think small site have after sale service better than mega site. Welcome To Handmade Decoration Club.
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World Series of Poker: Full House Pro Appears on Canada's Xbox Dashboard
707d ago - Andrew writes: "Are you a fan of the game Full House Poker? Who hasn't had the time to check o... | Xbox 360
Microsoft Reveal New Xbox Exclusive
897d ago - Microsoft Studios has today announced a new Xbox exclusive title coming this spring. While consol... | PC
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Suspect arraigned in motorcycle-SUV brawl in NYC
Christopher Cruz was charged Wednesday with reckless driving and unlawful imprisonment
By Jennifer Peltz and Colleen Long
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Prosecutors say a motorcyclist on a New York City highway touched off an encounter with the driver of an SUV that ended with injuries and blood.
Christopher Cruz of Passaic, N.J., was charged Wednesday with reckless driving and unlawful imprisonment. His bail was set at $1,500 cash.
His attorney says Cruz denies the allegations.
The Manhattan district attorney's office says it decided not to prosecutor Allen Edwards of Queens, a second motorcyclist taken into custody Tuesday.
An Internet video shows a swarm of bikers surrounding the SUV Sunday. The SUV driver took off, plowing through the crowd. Police say the bikers chased him, ambushed his car and attacked him.
The driver needed stitches. His wife and toddler were in the car but weren't injured. At least two bikers were injured.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press
Copyright 2015 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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"That part of this ordeal has been remarkable," Hamoodi says, ladling a Libyan version of minestrone for a guest.
Neighboring families war over who makes the best, most authentic, recipe for everything from tomato sauce to minestrone.
Italian vegetable soup, 1871, from Italian minestrone, with augmentative suffix -one + minestra "soup, pottage," literally "that which is served," from minestrare "to serve, to prepare (soup, etc.)," from Latin ministrare (see minister (v.)).


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Pianist Steve Hunt, throughout his career, has stayed true to an uncompromising vision of composing and performing Jazz music from his heart. Steve has continued to push himself technically, focusing on a musical styl which is both challenging and meaningful. Steve's desire towards challenging himself is nowhere more evident than with his long time association with Allan Holdsworth, whose progressive and innovative style has helped Steve to further his own musical development. Steve continues to compose and study and grow. His technique is masterful and his music is tasteful and melodious. Truly.
Remember the songs you sung at summer camp, or around the campfire with family and friends? In anticipation of 4th of July weekend, THE FOLK REVIVAL will feature four hours of those songs-- from Peter-Paul-&-Mary, Burl Ives, The Folk Tradition, the Waysiders, the Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, and many more!
Inquiry welcomes back DAVID J. MORRIS, author, former Marine infantry officer and journalist who has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We continue our conversation about his book THE EVIL HOURS: A BIOGRAPHY OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. Tonight David Morris discusses the history of PTSD, and what is known about trauma and PTSD from the Civil War and World War I and II.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is typically misunderstood by people who don't suffer from the disorder. It is often a crippling and severe illness that radically affects people's lives. Tonight on Inquiry we talk with writer and editor DAVID ADAM who suffers with OCD. His fascinating new book is titled THE MAN WHO COULDN'T STOP: OCD AND THE TRUE STORY OF A LIFE LOST IN THOUGHT. Tonight we talk about what triggers OCD, what has been found about neurological and genetic aspects of OCD and what the experience of having OCD is like.
In an encore of The Business Beat, Steve Jones-D'Agostino, strategic partner of Susan Wagner PR + Best Rate of Climb, interviews Ray Pfau, a member of Bolton Local and organizer of the Bolton Repair Café; and, Bob Johnson, a Bolton Repair Café volunteer. They talk about reducing waste while building community. This episode aired originally on March 22, 2015.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Steve does public-relations work for Rotary District 7910, which contains the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, which in turn sponsors the Bolton Repair Café.
The Repair Café was initiated by Martine Postma. Since 2007, she has been striving for sustainability on the local level in many ways. She organized the very first Repair Café in 2009 in Amsterdam. It was a great success.
This prompted Martine to start the Repair Café Foundation. In 2010, this Dutch non-profit organization was officially set up. Since 2011, the foundation has provided professional support to local groups in the Netherlands and other countries wishing to start their own Repair Café.
At Repair Cafés, everything centers on making repairs. By promoting repairs, Repair Cafés want to help reduce mountains of waste. Repair Cafés are also meant to put neighbors in touch with each other in a new way, to help people save money, and to help people discover that a lot of know-how and practical skills can be found close to home.
In Central Massachusetts, Bolton Local runs the Bolton Repair Café, which is supported by the Repair Café Foundation. Bolton Local is a grassroots group of people whose mission is "to build a strong, self-reliant community made up of people committed to living sustainably on the planet, in a way that inspires, builds friendships, and offers a hopeful vision for the future."
The next Bolton Repair Café is scheduled for Saturday, May 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at First Parish of Bolton Church, located at 673 Main St. in Bolton.
Recently the FDA issued a final decision that gives the food industry three years to phase out partially hydrogenated oils, the main source of trans fat, which are still used in a wide variety of products from microwave popcorn to cake frosting.
Most snacks, frozen foods and baked goods have already moved away from using partially hydrogenated oils. Palm oil, fully hydrogenated oils and other modified oils have slowly taken hold in many processed foods that used to contain trans fat, but many companies still make products with partially hydrogenated oils, including General Mills, Nestlé and ConAgra.
How will this move effect consumers? For those who keep kosher, margarines and other types of trans fats are staples, used in place of butter, especially in baked goods. What does this ban mean for the kosher product industry?
Tune in this Sunday evening at 10:30 when Al speaks with Beth Warren a New York based registered dietitian and nutritionist for the inside scoop.
For four hours, we'll listen to tracks from the classic folk groups of the 50s and 60s (Kingston Trio, Weavers, Peter-Paul-&-Mary, Highwaymen, Limeliters, New Christy Minstrels, etc.) alternating with recordings from contemporary folk ensembles (Angel Band, Nickel Creek, Schooner Fare, Jolly Beggars, Grade A Fancy, Red Molly, Mudhook, Great Bay Sailor, etc.). We'll also hear from today's versions of old-time groups like the Kingston Trio, the Limeliters, and more. Kick back and enjoy!
Once again during the MLB All-Star Break, host Nick Noble will be joined by special guest co-host Howie Newman, to bring listeners four hours of songs relating to our National Pastime. We'll hear from Chuck Brodsky, John McCutcheon, the late Steve Goodman, Mabel Scott, John Fogerty, Howie himself, and many more. Even Abbott & Costello might make it on to the playlist. Batter up!
Six-time GRAMMY® nominated jazz vocalist and Cambridge, MA native Nnenna Freelon talks with Bonnie Johnson about her latest projects and live performance happening at the 2nd Annual Cambridge Jazz Festival on Sunday, July 26, 2015.
Photo by Chris Charles Creative Silence
On the eve of this year's Newport Folk Festival, four hours of music from Newport Folk Festivals past. Pete Seeger, Bob Gibson, and Joan Baez are just some of the artists we'll hear. Dylan will even go electric one more time!
[this is a pre-recorded Evergreen show]
Playing tracks from some of the most talented women in the region: Raianne Richards, Amy Alvey, Ari Charbonneau, Sandy Haddon, Mary Casiello, just to name a few. Also, live in the studio will be special guests Laura Siersema, Sarah Huber, and Kat Kennedy. Plenty of great music from modern women of folk here in New England.
A combination of old favorites and tracks from CDs recently arrived at the station (over the past several weeks). The Halifax Three, Cadence Carroll, Dar Williams, Ian & Sylvia, Michael Gutierrez-May, Blackstone Cuil, and the Massachusetts Walking Tour singers will just be some of the many artists featured.
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Region: Napa Valley, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Style: Big & Bold
Alcohol By Volume: 14.7%
Item no. 100156
With lively aromatics and rich, complex flavors, our 2006 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon captures the famous attributes of Napa Valley's famous Rutherford region. The wine's aromas open with lush black cherry and blackberry character, infused with subtle hints of mocha, flinty minerality and black tea. Its expansive fruit flavors are packed with ripe berry, currant and plum—-with dark chocolate and toffee nuances—that persist on the palate. Balanced acidity and ripe, muscular tannins frame the midpalate flavors. This wine's graceful style and cocoa powder finish make it a truly classic Rutherford Dust Cabernet Sauvignon.


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The Global FlyFisher - The Largest and Best Place to go for Online Fly Fishing and Fly Tying
A beautiful wild "Brownie"
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Tooth & NailMark Dysinger presents a pair of pike flies that can take a beating - the Prince of pike and the Poxy Bunny. Large, durable and easy to tie as pike flies should be. Mark has used them extensively for his own Northern pike fishing
August 4th 2004


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Streaming Video Services Added to U.K. Inflation Measurement List
In a change designed "to capture the growing video-on-demand market," Netflix and company replace DVD recorders and online DVD rental subscriptions.
LONDON -- Britain has added streaming video services, such as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, to the basket of goods used to measure inflation.
The change was designed "to capture the growing video-on-demand market" and changing consumer habits, said the Office for National Statistics.
PHOTOS: 'House of Cards': Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright Toast Season 2
Meanwhile, DVD recorders and online DVD rental subscriptions have been dropped from the basket.
The Guardian reported that the annual changes to the list of goods used to calculate inflation also saw honey, fruit snack boxes and canvas shoes added, but take-out coffee, hardwood flooring and gardeners' fees dropped out.
The latest products basket contains 699 items.
U.K. inflation has recently been on the decline, dropping below the targeted 2 percent for the first time in more than four years in January.
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Diocese of Fort Worth Website
Priests, brothers who escaped persecution in Vietnam now serve 500,000 Vietnamese Catholics in U.S.
Soccer star delights in her success, but says faith keeps her grounded
Priest in Jordan ministering to refugees finds he's living with saints
Renowned author, uncompromisingly Catholic: Flannery O' Connor chosen for new postage stamp
A history of little miracles: Behind Pope Francis' devotion to St. Therese
Texas Catholic Conference disappointed with Supreme Court's hold on abortion law
Mary Goosens named CFO, COO for diocese
Chaplain raises awareness of problems with immigration family detention
Diocese announces new priestly and religious assignments, Catholic school name change
Br. Andrew Sanchez, of Good Shepherd Parish in Colleyville, received as novice of TOR Franciscans
Pope leads Rome's Corpus Christi procession on behalf of persecuted Christians
Pope's environmental encyclical to be titled 'Laudato Sii' (Praised Be You)
Failures are par for the course toward salvation, says Pope Francis
No excuse for indifference to plight of immigrants, pope tells bishops
'Mother of Mercy' beatification in Kenya draws tens of thousands
Young adult ministry: no simple answers
Pope Francis Encyclical Laudato Si reminds us of our responsibility to care for Gods Creation
'Focusing on the reality' of Life after life
Lead some to Jesus Christ and Wake Up the World
What If We Took Our Baptismal Promises Seriously?
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ROYALS AT THE RACES: Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge made an impromptu appearance at the Cheltenham Gold Cup Day at Prestbury Park on Friday. The mother-to-be wore a pink wool Dali Yews Joseph coat with a brown Lock & Co. hat and brown Aquatalia by Marvin K. knee-high boots. The couple attended the first race on day four of the festival to cheer on participants including Monbeg Dude, a horse owned by Zara Phillips' husband Mike Tindall. Monbeg, the Welsh National winner — who raced in its biggest competition to date — pulled up at the second-to-last fence and did not complete the race, losing the cup to Bob Worth, the 11-4 favorite.
RELATED STORY: Duke and Duchess Attend St Patrick's Day Parade >>


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Simply call the box office at 781-646-4849for information and to order your Dinner and a Show tickets to any of the following shows:
April 15, 2015 thru May 17, 2015
Flora Restaurant ( 190 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, MA )
Tango Restaurant ( 464 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, MA )
Menotomy Grill & Tavern ( 25 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA )
Acitron Cocina Mexicana (473 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington, MA)
...and tickets to see a show. (Vouchers and Show Tickets are sold separately)
* Reservations Required
* Price Does Not Include Beverages, Gratuity, or Taxes
* Please allow ample time to dine before the show.
Note: For Dinner and a Show packages, you must make reservations by calling:
Flora (781) 641-1664
Tango (781) 443-9000
Menotomy (781) 648-1775
Acitron (781) 777-2839
The Dinner and a Show price does not include beverage costs or gratuity. You will be responsible for those cost(s).
Use your ticket stub to receive day of show discounts at the following restaurants
Not Your Average Joe's 645 Mass Ave., Arlington, MA (15% off of any food item)
Flora 190 Mass Ave., Arlington, MA (10% off of any food item)
Tango 464 Mass Ave., Arlington, MA (10% off of any food item)
GREAT for birthday parties, family movies, or just a fun time with the gang! For more info and reservations


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