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Earth Day is Here - Plant Trees and Earn Bonus Entries in Our Caribbean Vacation Sweepstakes!
Earth Day is Here!
You still have time to enter the Carbonfund.org Caribbean Vacation Sweepstakes!
Enter to win, then Plant Trees for Earth Month to earn Ten Bonus Entries for each tree you plant!
This sweepstakes really is almost too good to be true!
1 - Enter our Caribbean Vacation Sweepstakes by entering your email on our Facebook page.
2 - Share the sweepstakes with your network to earn five bonus entries for each sweepstakes entry we receive from your shared link.
3 - Plant trees for 10 bonus entries per tree! - Just $1/tree and you'll earn TEN bonus sweepstakes entries for each tree you plant!
(Of course, Carbonfund.org will also be neutralizing the travel emissions for our sweepstakes winners)
Please share this great opportunity with your employees, families, friends, neighbors, customers and suppliers!
In addition to the carbon offset projects we support, Carbonfund.org and our donors and business partners support tree-planting projects around the world. These projects help to restore forested lands, conserve flora and fauna habitat, improve soil condition, reduce erosion and improve air quality, while creating job opportunities for the local communities.
Celebrate Earth Day with your chance to win a fabulous Caribbean Vacation for two, while honoring the earth and helping our environment by planting trees around the world.
Carbonfund.org Celebrates Thirty-Five Partners Reaching Ten Year Anniversaries of Carbon Emissions Reduction Programs
With the success of COP21 in Paris last December, and the record number of companies and organizations around the world making significant pledges to reduce their carbon emissions, Carbonfund.org is thrilled to celebrate thirty-five of its business partners that have maintained carbon emissions reduction and mitigation programs continuously for the past ten years.
These organizations have shown long-term and consistent leadership in maintaining environmentally responsible business operations. Programs vary from tree-planting campaigns to recognize customers or employees and to celebrate Earth Day, to product shipping or travel and event-related emissions offsets, to full annual operational carbon neutrality.
Our tenth anniversary partners have supported innovative energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, clean air technology and critical forest preservation projects around the world.
Together, these thirty-five organizations have mitigated the negative impact of an astonishing 375 million pounds of greenhouse gases - equivalent to removing 35,810 passenger cars from the roads for a year! In addition, they've planted 10,400 trees in reforestation and tree-planting initiatives around the world, to celebrate Earth Days, customers or employees.
Carbonfund.org's Tenth Anniversary Business Partners include:
- A2 Hosting
- Air Charter Team
- Bath ASU
- Benson, Kerrane, Storz & Nelson, P.C.
- Boston Trust & Investment Management Company – Walden Asset Management
- Brynmorgen Press
- Calvert Group
- CREDO Mobile
- Detour, LLC
- Eagle-Eye Tours
- Earth Science Naturals
- EcoBrander Promos
- evo
- Federal Career Experts
- Flavorus, Inc.
- flowerpetal.com
- Forever Cheese
- Greenerprinter
- Greenforce
- Hacienda Owners Association
- Hargrove & Associates
- Hotel Carlton
- LightHawk
- Merriman
- Modwalls
- Mountain Rose Herbs
- National Audubon Society
- ONNO T-Shirt Company
- Orbitz
- Sastaa
- SunEdison
- Teas Etc.
- UniRac
- Unitarian Universalists – General Assembly (actually their 11th Anniversary!)
- USGBC-New Jersey Chapter
"It is both humbling and heartening to see this extensive list of organizations and businesses, of all sizes and in all industries, that have maintained a steadfast commitment to environmental responsibility and supporting the projects and the mission of Carbonfund.org," exclaimed President and Co-Founder Eric Carlson. "With this type of leadership and dedication, these organizations continue to set the standard for others to follow. I am so honored to be able to recognize these long-term partner organizations."
Each of these business partners and organizations is receiving a special Carbonfree® Partner – 10 Years logo, and Carbonfund.org will be planting 100 trees in honor of each tenth anniversary partner to thank them for their long-term partnership.
Watch this space, as we'll be publishing a blog dedicated to each of our ten-year partners, to share more about their leadership in environmental sustainability.
First Airline to Allow Flyers to Offset Carbon Emissions In-Flight To Match Donations Made Onboard * to Environmental Causes
Teammate Volunteers Across U.S. Participate in Restoration Projects
San Francisco – April 22, 2015 – Virgin America, the only California-based airline and the first domestic carrier to offer flyers the ability to offset the environmental impact of their flights while at 35,000 feet, will match all onboard donations made by guests today through April 30, 2015, via the airline's "Make a Difference" platform* on its seatback entertainment system. For every traveler who offsets the carbon footprint of their flight via the airline's Red seatback entertainment platform, Virgin America will make a matching donation to both the nation's leading nonprofit carbon offset provider: Carbonfund.org Foundation and the airline's nonprofit environmental science education provider: NatureBridge. Since 2008, Virgin America flyers have offset over 15 million pounds of carbon emission through the airline's simple onboard offset option housed on its touch-screen seatback entertainment platform. The airline is also teaming up with NatureBridge to support restoration projects focused on shoreline clean-up and preservation projects at sites like Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands. Across the country, Virgin America teammates in other cities also are participating in local environmental clean-up events in support of Earth Day throughout April.
"As both a Virgin-branded company and the country's only California-based airline, it's in our DNA to make environmentally sustainable practices a priority," said Frances Fiorillo, Senior Vice President of People and InFlight at Virgin America. "California is known the world over for its spectacular natural beauty and for being the birthplace of the environmental movement, so it is only fitting that we do our part and provide opportunities to our teammates and flyers to help protect our state's most beautiful and scenic natural resources."
"Our partnership with Virgin America means support for important and innovative projects in the fight against global warming," said Eric Carlson, President of Carbonfund.org. "We value our long-standing partnership with Virgin America, an airline that has been committed to sustainability practices since day one. Providing travelers a way to get involved in the sustainability effort, by offsetting their flight emissions fits well with our goal of making it easy and affordable to offset one's carbon footprint and support emissions reductions."
Launched in 2007 and headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Virgin America has built sustainable practices into its operations from day one. The airline operates one of the youngest fleets in the U.S. and with investment in new aircraft and engines, the latest navigational systems, and consistent use of best practices on the ground and in the air, its fleet is up to 20% more fuel efficient than the U.S. industry average. The airline's home base at San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 2 (T2) is LEED® Gold-certified. With additional investments from the airline, Virgin America's own office spaces within T2 achieved the highest possible LEED® Platinum-certification. Virgin America was also the first airline to offer guests the opportunity to offset their emissions while in-flight. The proceeds from the carbon offset program have supported independently verified offset projects within California including The Hilarides Dairy Project in Lindsay, California that helps to reduce heat-trapping methane emissions which in turn, lessens the impact of global climate change and each year reduces approximately 18,500 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. The project also encourages the development of new technologies, reduces local water pollution and also provides an alternative source of income for local farmers. Since 2010, the airline has also offset its annual carbon footprint for its Burlingame, Calif. based headquarters through Carbonfund.org.
Virgin America has also expanded its partnership with NatureBridge this year to include a $30,000 cash and in-kind donation as well as participation in restoration efforts for teammate volunteers in Los Angeles and San Francisco on Coastal Cleanup Day later this year. Virgin America teammates' efforts at Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands will help to preserve the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is known for its tide pools, wildflowers and unique rock formations. NatureBridge educators will lead the airline's teammates this weekend as they help to improve the coastline by removing non-native, invasive plant species along the beach.
"We are so pleased to continue and expand our partnership with Virgin America, an airline that has demonstrated its commitment to the environment and sustainability," said Jason Morris, NatureBridge Interim President and CEO. "Together, NatureBridge and Virgin America are addressing the urgent need to provide the next generation with a hands-on environmental science education. Partnerships like this are key to our ability to achieve our mission to foster environmental literacy for a more sustainable planet."
Virgin America's Earth Day efforts will once again stretch across the nation, with teammate participation in clean-up and restoration projects in each of the airline's destination cities. Virgin America teammates are supporting clean-up efforts in locations including Long Beach, the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., Independence Park in Newark, Columbus Park in New York, Secret Woods Nature Center in Fort Lauderdale, Desert Bloom Park in Las Vegas, Collins Beach in Portland, Ocean Beach in San Diego and Des Moines Beach Park in Seattle. Volunteers include members of Virgin America's Green Team – a teammate-led group focused on finding innovative ways across the airline's operations to reduce the company's footprint.
Since its 2007 launch, Virgin America has made environmentally sustainable practices part of its training and operations:
- The carrier operates a fleet of 53 new Airbus A320-family aircraft that is up to 20 percent more CO2 efficient than the average U.S. fleet.
- The airline employs environmentally friendly practices, such as minimizing use of auxiliary power units, single-engine taxiing, electronic flight bags, idle reverse landings, utilizing advanced avionics to fly more efficiently and cost index flying – the practice of regulating speed to reduce fuel burn.
- In 2014, Virgin America became the first airline in North America certified to the Federal Aviation Administration to fly 0.1 Required Navigational Performance approaches, enhancing the efficiency of landings in reduced visibility and further minimizing fuel burn.
- Virgin America participates in LSG Sky Chefs' Zero Waste to Landfill (ZLF) program, which aims to divert available waste from landfills. 100 percent of kitchens serving Virgin America recycle materials, including three kitchens which provide biocomposting, with more to come.
- In 2013 the airline took deliverey of its first Airbus A320 family aircraft with sharklets, wingtip devices with the potential to help the airline realize to 4% additional fuel efficiency across the network. Future deliveries in 2015 and 2016 will also be equipped with the fuel-efficient sharklets.
- In 2011, the airline became the anchor tenant at San Francisco International Airport's beautiful and sustainable Terminal 2 (T2) – the first major LEED® Gold-certified airport terminal in the U.S. Virgin America made additional investments within its T2 spaces in 2012 to achieve the highest possible LEED® Platinum-certification. Both the Gold and Platinum levels are the first such certifications for a major commercial airport in the U.S.
Photos of Virgin America's unique aircraft and broadcast quality b-roll can be found at: https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/about-our-airline/photos.html.
# # #
Media Contact:
Editor's Note:Virgin America is a U.S.-controlled, owned and operated airline. It is an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.
About Virgin America: Known for its mood-lit cabins, three beautifully designed classes of service and innovative fleetwide amenities — like touch-screen personal entertainment, WiFi and power outlets at every seat, Virgin America has built a loyal following of flyers and earned a host of awards since launching in 2007 — including being named both the "Best U.S. Airline" in Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards for the past seven consecutive years. For more: www.virginamerica.com.
About NatureBridge: Founded in 1971, NatureBridge provides environmental science education for students in the world's best classrooms—our national parks. Through residential education programs, NatureBridge connects students to the wonder and science of nature and inspires the stewards of tomorrow. As the largest residential education partner of the National Park Service, the organization serves more than 30,000 students each year and offers programs in six national parks: Yosemite National Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Olympic National Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Channel Islands National Park, and Prince William Forest Park. NatureBridge also offers professional development opportunities for teachers and family and youth programs. NatureBridge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, visit: naturebridge.org
About Carbonfund.org Foundation: Carbonfund.org is the nation's leading nonprofit carbon reduction and climate solutions organization, making it easy and affordable for individuals, businesses and organizations to reduce their climate impact by supporting third-party validated renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry projects. Carbonfund.org has over 750,000 individual supporters and works with over 2,000 business partners.
*Donation Match: Virgin America will match donations made to NatureBridge and Carbonfund.org via the airline's "Make a Difference" donation platform onboard its in-flight entertainment system, Red, from April 22, 2015 through April 30, 2015 up to $10,000.
Plant Trees on Earth Day
Earth Day is here! It's a great day to plant trees and here is your chance to enter a drawing for a $500 Restaurant.com eGift card and also we'll plant 100 trees on behalf of the winner. For every $25
donation to plant 25 trees, you'll receive an entry into the contest. So if you donate $50 to plant 50 trees, you'll receive two drawing entries!
Please use this link - https://carbonfund.org/plant-trees-dine-free?partnercode=ED14Contest
Participants receive a dining rewards eGift card through Restaurant.com, which is good on over 50,000 deals nationwide and never expires. Select from three simple tree-planting options:
- Plant 25 Trees for $25, Receive a $50 eGift Card
- Plant 50 Trees for $50, Receive a $100 eGift Card
- PLANT 100 TREES FOR $100, RECEIVE A $500 eGIFT CARD!
Our goal is to plant 10,000 trees in Haiti for Earth Month. Haiti has faced significant natural disasters of late, primarily earthquakes and landslides. The worst effects of these natural disasters are linked to deforestation and unsustainable land management.
Also, Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, whose history is marked with political instability and poverty. When you plant trees in Haiti, your donation helps us provide agricultural techniques and 400,000 seedlings to 800 farmers over the next year. Additionally, you'll be entered into our contest for a $500 Restaurant.com eGift card!
Choose to make a difference and plant trees on Earth Day.
EORM Celebrates Earth Day and Recognizes Its Employees Every Day
Earth Day is coming up – what are you doing to celebrate the Earth and the fragile environment in which we live?
Carbonfund.org is planting trees. With the support of our business partners and individual donors, we continue to work with important tree-planting projects around the world.
This year, our tree-planting campaign includes Restaurant.com dining rewards in our Plant a Tree – Dine for Free program. It's a great way to plant trees for Earth Day while honoring new customers, donating a tree for each April sale or customer, and recognizing the contribution your employees make all year long.
One of our business supporters, EORM (Environmental & Occupational Risk Management, Inc.), chose to plant 1500 trees for Earth Day and to receive sixty $50 Restaurant.com dining rewards to use as employee recognitions throughout the year.
EORM provides a comprehensive range of strategic, management and technical consulting solutions, partnering with clients to achieve their Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability short-term needs and long-term goals. EORM also seeks to make a positive impact on the world every day, by enabling companies to be socially and globally responsible, protect and support employees, and preserve the environment.
EORM employees and clients are the foundation of the company and the source of its success. Investment in EORM employees, including acknowledging accomplishments and achievements, is essential to the company's overall success. This year, the Plant a Tree – Dine for Free program will contribute to EORM's environmental commitment and to the ongoing development and appreciation of its employees.
Green Cloud Technologies Gets Greener with Each Customer
The month of April can get everyone thinking green – spring takes hold in most places, trees are budding new leaves, and Earth Day celebrations are in the works.
Some environmentally aware organizations think green all year 'round and make efforts to maintain their environmental commitments as ongoing business priorities. New Carbonfund.org supporter, Green Cloud Technologies, launched a program in 2014 to recognize each customer by planting a tree in their honor. Not only does Green Cloud provide environmentally responsible solutions for data management, Green Cloud also cares about preserving the world's habitat. Their commitment to donate one tree per customer every quarter to Carbonfund.org should result in more than 1500 trees planted this year.
If a business isn't in "the Cloud", a significant portion of company resources may go toward implementing, managing, and maintaining a traditional business IT environment. The Cloud changes all of this. Cloud technology connects your business to servers, applications, and other managed services located at a data center. Users access these resources via their laptops, smartphones, tablets, or desktops via the Internet.
Likewise, tree-planting projects around the world connect and enhance the environment by improving soil quality, reducing erosion, providing local community-based jobs, and better air and water quality. Now, Green Cloud Technologies customers are participating with their data management provider in critical environmental preservation projects around the world.
What have you done lately to green your world? Consider the example set by Green Cloud Technologies and join us in a tree-planting initiative of your own.


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Brook 25" High Table Fountain
Falling Water Height: 26" Wall Fountains
Copper Vines 33" High Outdoor Floor Fountain
Waterdrop 19" High Table Fountain
Traverse 47" High Outdoor Floor Fountain
Wood Flower Height: 25" Wall Fountains
Tranquila Height: 4.5" Table Fountains
Timber 35" High Outdoor Floor Fountain
Midstream 25" High Table Fountain
Courtyard 33" High Outdoor Floor Fountain
Leaf Pod 1 Light LED 54" Tall Outdoor Floor Fountains
Lily 1 Light LED 49" Tall Outdoor Floor Fountains
Trickle 52" Tall Outdoor Floor Fountains
Bolster 21.5" High Outdoor LED Fountain
This field allows you to narrow your search results by a selected price range. If you desire to view products only within a certain range you can do so.
If you would like to view one specific manufacturer, please select one from the list below.
This allows you to narrow down the finish you are looking for.
The measurement from the floor to the highest point.
The measurement from front to back.
Copyright© 2000-2016. Build.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
402 Otterson Dr, Chico, CA USA 95928

subset: commoncrawl


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Photo by Tiffany Ran Yesterday, Lex Petras of Tacos de la Noche explained how his seven sauces became known as the seven deadly sins .
Photo by Tiffany RanYesterday, Lex Petras of Tacos de la Noche explained how his seven sauces became known as the seven deadly sins. Today, he shares a recipe for one of his perfected green sauces. The "Envy" sauce is great with the Al Pastor, said Petras. This sauce, which falls closer to the middle of heat scale, provides an ardent heat that is tempered with a creamy avocado finish.
See also:
Tacos de la Noche's Lex Petras Brings Sin and Street Food to Belltown
Oscar Montejano Does His Own Ceasar Salad at Queen City Grill
Tacos de la Noche's Envy Sauce
10 tomatillos
½ onion
4 Serrano chili peppers, stemmed and halved
1 bunch of cilantro
2 or 3 medium sized garlic cloves
1 avocado
Peel and halve the tomatillos and place them face down on a sheet tray. Place half an onion and the Serrano peppers on the same tray.
Roast at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until the tomatillos are soft enough to give a little juice when pushed with your finger. Scrape the roasted tomatillos, onion, and peppers into a blender. Add a little water to the sheet tray to help scrape up the remaining brown bits, and add to the blender.
Puree the mixture, add a bunch of cilantro (Depending on the strength of your blender, you can add both the leaves and the stems or just use the leaves.), and 2 or 3 medium size garlic cloves. Halve and pit an avocado. Scoop the whole avocado into the blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Follow Voracious on Facebook & Twitter.Find more from Tiffany Ran on her blog, PalateB2W, or on Twitter.
Find more from Tiffany Ran on her blog, PalateB2W, or on Twitter.


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WELCOME to the official Albatros Productions Ltd. website, home of the worlds' largest range of World War One aeroplane books and journals for dedicated scale modellers and aero- enthusiasts. If you're fans of those classic 1914-1918 aircraft produced by Albatros, Aviatik, Bristol , the Royal Aircraft Factory, Fokker, Gotha, Nieuport, Pfalz, Roland, Rumpler, Sopwith , SPAD and many, many other legendary marques that fought in 'The Great War' , then this is the site for you!
Written, illustrated and produced by experts in their field including Gregory Alegi, Jack Bruce, Peter Grosz, George Haddow , Ray Rimell, Bruce Robertson, Colin Owers, Paolo Varriale, Harry Woodman and Greg Van Wyngarden we offer the finest references available, whether you're seeking WWI aircraft camouflage and markings, squadron histories, technical data , rare archive photos , unique scale drawings, the very best 1814-1918 aeroplane and airship references ,or just keen on modelling WWI aeroplanes, we really do cover it all ! So why not come inside and discover hundreds of exciting titles!
For updates on our new releases,news on the WWI aerormodelling front,galleries and more,please do visit our blog at
All publications listed on this site are the copyright of Albatros Productions Ltd. Copies of any titles offered as pdf downloads or compilations on DVD CDRom and any other form of
digital/electronic format ,whether on the internet , in printed form ,or any other media,are illegally pirated and we will take vigorous action against any perpetrator. To help us enforce this we have employed the services of a copyright/take-down company who are regularily monitoring the internet for unlawful copies of our titles and removing them...
Note for navigators:Please be aware that the LATEST ARRIVALS and SUBSCRIPTIONS buttons at the top of this page have been disabled. Please click on the home page icons below for STOP PRESS! and the various 2016 subscriptions logos to bring up the relevant pages...


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Revision as of 14:48, October 22, 2012 by Archer4real (Talk | contribs)
40,399pages on
this wiki
this wiki
Disodium was a component of the Arachnid Nebula, where it existed in a layer.
While aboard the Vahklas, a Vulcan civilian transport ship, in 2151, Subcommander T'Pol detected more than twenty million cubic meters of disodium in the Arachnid Nebula. (ENT: "Fusion")


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léonie Dec 18, 2011 10:55 PM
in response to BarbaraS
Hello Barbara,
after downloading you need to run the installer first: I got my version of the plug-in from this site: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/aperture/blackandwhite_geoffreyclements.ht ml
After downloading I found an installer in my "Downloads" folder.
To install, double click the file: "BlackAndWhite Installer.pkg.zip" to unwrap the package and then run the installer by double clicking the package.
Then the plug-in will be installed either for all users or for you only, either in
- System Library: /Library/Application Support/Aperture/Plug-Ins/Edit/BlackAndWhite.ApertureEdit/ or
- User Library: ~/Library/Application Support/Aperture/Plug-Ins/Edit/BlackAndWhite.ApertureEdit/
To unstall, drag the plug-in from these folders. If you did not run the installer, just remove the installer package from your downloads folder.
léonie Dec 19, 2011 2:55 AM
in response to Tony Gay
Tony, thanks for adding the screenshot of the Finder path. I am so accustomed to programming the shell and using Unix paths that I sometimes forget that not everybody will know how to read them.


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|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Apr 24, 2001
|Filing date
|Feb 7, 1997
|Priority date
|Feb 7, 1997
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Ursula M. Schwuttke, Robert Angelino
|Original Assignee
|California Institute Of Technology
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (5), Non-Patent Citations (3), Referenced by (133), Classifications (7), Legal Events (7)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The invention described herein was made in the performance of work under a NASA contract, and is subject to the provisions of Public Law 96-517 (35 USC 202) in which the Contractor has elected to retain title.
This invention relates to a data monitoring and analysis system. More specifically, the present invention defines a user interface providing a three dimensional representation of complex data, data relationships and system status.
The operation of many complex systems requires an operator to monitor status of the system by assimilating a large amount of real-time status data received from various system components. Complex systems of this type include spacecraft operations, industrial plants, financial trading activities, and hospital monitoring of medical data from patients. All of these systems require important decisions to be made, sometimes quickly, in response to a myriad of data. Once the status of the system or the nature of a problem is understood, the system operator takes appropriate actions to implement decisions or to remedy the problem. In extreme cases, these actions may save the system from serious undesirable consequences. It is very important that this complex data be presented clearly and concisely so that the operator can obtain any information needed for diagnostic purposes as easily and quickly as possible.
Existing data display systems often use numerical or two-dimensional displays which require the operator to interpret and analyze the data and its relationship to other data. Some of the features of these kinds of displays are illustrated in FIGS. 1a-1 c, which graphically illustrate how the composition of total information conveyed to a user varies over time for various interface types. The total information conveyed in these graphs is equal to the amount of "navigation data" plus the amount of "destination data". Navigation data is defined as that class of information that orients a user in time, space, location and direction; informs the user of progress in relative and/or absolute terms; and that contains addresses, instruction to proceed, and/or warnings not to proceed. Destination data is defined as that class of information that satisfies the user's desire for information, for example, by answering a question.
Typically, the goal of a user interface is to maximize the volume of available destination data while minimizing the delay in making the destination data available. As shown in FIG. 1a, an operator of a command-driven interface has very little destination data available initially and spends roughly half of the time traversing alphanumeric menus ("navigation data") to get to the desired data display ("destination data").
An operator of a menu-driven interface (FIG. 1b) typically can access a larger volume of destination data somewhat faster after first navigating through one or more menu items. However, the operator can become frustrated upon encountering several layers of sub-menus before being able to access the bulk of the destination data. This results in a drop-off (at time D in FIG. 1b) in the amount of available destination data.
In a graphical user interface ("GUI"), the operator traverses through various windows and screens to get at the destination data in a step-wise fashion as illustrated in FIG. 1c. Certain destination data may not be accessible until the operator has stepped through a number of windows, thus diminishing the operator's efficiency. These graphs were presented by Michael Benedikt in the article "Cyberspace: Some Proposals" which appears in the book Cyberspace: First Steps.
These shortcomings of command, menu and GUI driven interfaces are magnified in data intensive operational environments of the kind described above. The inventors recognized a need in these environments for an improved user interface that makes more information available in less time. Destination data is one example of such data. These problems are well illustrated in the example of spacecraft operation control.
During a typical spacecraft mission, data parameters from many different domains are monitored and/or analyzed in real time to ensure that the spacecraft and its instruments are working properly. A mission control site receives this data from the spacecraft by telemetry. In this setting high volumes of data are received at very frequent intervals. Monitoring this data poses a daunting and complex challenge. This is especially true when multiple spacecraft missions are being monitored simultaneously by a single system.
Early spacecraft data monitoring systems employed a panel of discrete, hardwired lights, each light corresponding to an individual data parameter. A team of human operators (e.g., flight controllers or analysts) monitoring the spacecraft mission, would continually observe the various lights to ensure that the spacecraft and its instruments were operating properly. A trained operator could readily determine whether error or alarm conditions were present simply by scanning the panel for the appropriate color light. For example, a green light might mean that a particular data parameter was within normal ranges, while a red light might indicate that acceptable levels for that parameter had been exceeded. The lights provided a dramatic and immediately comprehensible indication of system status. This early light-panel monitoring system hence had the advantage of providing the operator with an intuitive sense of system health.
As spacecraft and their associated instruments became more sophisticated, light-panel monitoring systems became inadequate to handle the volume and complexity of the telemetry data that was being collected. Light-panel systems also were difficult and labor-intensive to adapt for new types of telemetry data that changed with each mission.
The next generation of data monitoring systems attempted to solve this problem. A computer system (for example, a work station) received telemetry data and displayed it in textual (i.e., alphanumeric) form on the display monitor. FIG. 2 shows a sample output of a typical text-based data monitoring system. The necessarily high volume of telemetry data causes the display screen to become cluttered and difficult to read. An operator relying on the text-based monitoring system in FIG. 2 is required to study and understand large amounts of alphanumeric information to accurately monitor the health of spacecraft. That task requires extensive training and considerable diligence on the operator's part. Even with sufficient training, using a text-based system to monitor data is fatiguing for the operator and frequently results in missed alarm conditions or slow responses to alarm conditions.
In short, text-based data monitoring systems do not generate easily recognizable indicators of changes in system status. Rather, a change in system status (even a potentially catastrophic one) is signalled merely by changing one or more alphanumeric characters to other lphanumeric characters on a display screen. The screen typically contains several hundred such alphanumeric characters, and even the most vigilant human operator can occasionally overlook an important alarm condition. Thus, there is a need for a system that can present a large amount of information to a user in a way that is readily understandable and in a way that conveys important conditions in a very noticeable way.
The data monitoring system of the present invention uses a three dimensional simulated space representation, (sometimes called a "cyberspace representation,"), to interface with, and to communicate complex, real-time information to an operator. A cyberspace representation utilizes various elements (e.g., time, space, sound, travel, and user presence in the computer environment) to convey information to the operator. The root word "cyber" comes from the Greek word "kybernan" which means "to steer or control." Literally, cyberspace means to steer or control space.
The cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention may be implemented in conjunction with artificial reality or virtual reality systems. The cyberspace interface of the invention provides a graphically-oriented user interface where the operator is figuratively positioned within the user interface environment. The invention uses a visual representation to communicate information to the user. The interface appears to the user as a perspective view of a three-dimensional space from a particular vantage point. The user may move around within the three dimensional space, and thus change his view through manipulation of a cursor input device. As the user navigates through the three-dimensional space, the display changes to reflect the operator's new position within the space. This movement may reveal objects that were not previously visible from the operator's prior vantage point.
The use of this cyberspace representation allows the present data monitoring system to realize a "textless" or "minimal text" display that allows a human operator to assimilate and comprehend large quantities of data at a rate and to a degree much greater than previously possible. This is because the user interface of the invention is in a form similar to that used to comprehend real-world events. Rather than representing information in the form of multiple rows and columns of alphanumeric characters, data is depicted in the form of graphic symbols or objects which are positioned within a three-dimensional virtual universe. The respective dimensions of the virtual universe correspond to categories of information from various domains. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, these categories may include: the various spacecraft missions being monitored, various user-defined categories of data parameters that are relevant to the application, attitude control system, propulsion, Alarm Log and User-Defined. The Alarm Log category records all anomalous data values until they are acknowledged by the user. The User-Defined category allows copies of data values from any other category to be grouped together. A third dimension may correspond to certain user-defined alarm limits of state value for each of the data parameter categories.
The shape, motion, position, color and behavior of the graphic symbols are configured to convey an extensive amount of information about the current values of the data parameters to the human operator in an easily understandable and instantly recognizable manner.
FIG. 1d shows the Total Information to User graph for a cyberspace-driven interface. A cyberspace-driven interface does not require an operator to enter alphanumeric commands or to traverse menu items or windows before destination data is available. Rather, as illustrated in FIG. 1d by the three exemplary curves of cyberspace-driven interfaces, the operator has essentially instantaneous access to a considerable amount of destination data. This results in a greater amount of usable information being conveyed to the operator in less time.
Another advantage provided by the cyberspace-driven system of the invention is that its visual abstraction of data allows an operator to assess the qualitative status of the various spacecraft with not much more than a mere glance at the display screen. For example, in one embodiment of the cyberspace system of the invention, information about alarm severity is conveyed by the height of a pole extending from the graphical objects. In a text-based system, in contrast, severity information may be obtained only by manually referring to the alphanumeric alarm limits of the parameters of interest.
The cyberspace system also permits more data to be displayed on the screen at any one time. Only a part of one screen is used in the cyberspace system (in contrast to the multiple screens that are used for text-based systems), hence all of the telemetry data for an entire system can be displayed unambiguously in a fraction of the screen real-estate that has been previously required.
Yet another advantage of the cyberspace data monitoring system is that it allows multiple systems to be monitored simultaneously, and further allows related data parameters to be grouped (and re-grouped) by the operator logically in space. Thus, the cyberspace system is easily tailored to the specific needs of a particular system or to the preferences of a particular operator.
Standard computer graphics manipulation techniques are used to facilitate navigation through this virtual universe of data to alter the relative vantage point within the universe. Hence the operator may move between different monitored systems (such as different spacecraft missions) to inspect a particular data parameter or group of parameters in more detail than might be possible at a different vantage point within the universe.
The cyberspace data representation provided by the invention eliminates the need for an operator to read large volumes of textual material in order to determine system status. Rather, merely by scanning the attributes of the graphic symbols displayed on the screen, an operator gleans an intuitive understanding of the system status that extends far beyond the knowledge that could be imparted by a visual inspection of either a light-panel display or a text-based display.
Other advantages of the cyberspace data monitoring system include the following: an operator is able to recognize impending alarm conditions earlier and with greater reliability due to the intuitive nature of the cyberspace interface; operators may be trained faster and with greater efficiency; a plurality of sub-systems can be operated as a single system instead of as collections of sub-systems because the status of the entire system can be understood from one display; fewer operators may be required by enabling a single operator to effectively monitor larger components of a system; operators can become aware of problem situations before actual alarms occur and without needing to manually assess collected trend data; and operations differences between non-identical systems can be minimized.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become evident from the detailed description set forth hereafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 1a-1 d are graphs of Total Information to User versus Time for various interface types.
FIG. 2 is a screen display from a text-based data monitoring system;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a screen display from the cyberspace data monitoring system of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5a is a screen display of the overview window in the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention;
FIG. 5b is a screen display of the main window in the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a screen display from the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a screen display from the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a pop-up display from the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a screen display of the alarm suppression facility of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a screen display of a suppressed object in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the method of one embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the cyberspace data monitoring system (CDMS) 10 of the present invention. The CDMS 10 has special features which facilitate monitoring and control of one or more complex monitored systems 14, 16 and 18 by an operator. The operator may be required to quickly assess the real-time status of the monitored systems 14-18 and to make appropriate decisions regarding necessary responses to the system status.
Data from the monitored systems 14-18 is processed by a conventional host computer 20 which includes a CPU 22, memory 24 and IO unit 26. Host 20 may preferably comprise a UNIX or PC workstation. The host 20 also includes a cyberspace user interface 28 which contains the necessary computer programs and/or operating systems operating to implement the techniques of the invention. A transmitting unit such as a modem 29 is optionally employed for notifying an operator of a situation by means such as paging, in addition to a visual display.
The cyberspace user interface 28 receives monitored system data under control of the CPU 22 and organizes and configures this information for display in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. In particular, the cyberspace user interface 28 controls a user interface module 30 containing a display unit such as a CRT 32 and one or more input devices (keyboard, mouse, etc.) 34. The input devices 34 are controlled by the user in response to the information on the display unit 32. This response is then transferred to the cyberspace user interface 28 for processing and modifying the display on the display unit 32. Additional information from the input devices may also include commands sent to the host 20 for control of the monitored systems 14-18.
The CDMS 10 was developed by the inventors using the C programming language and the Open GL graphics library. It was implemented on Silicon Graphics hardware, and may run on other UNIX and PC work stations. It should be understood, however, that any graphical user interface operating system could form the backbone for this system.
FIG. 4 is a screen display from the CDMS 10 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The invention will be described in detail using an embodiment that is adapted to the task of monitoring a plurality of spacecraft. It will be appreciated that this application is one of many in which the teachings of the present invention may be employed.
Data regarding a plurality of spacecraft missions are depicted in FIG. 4 in the form of graphic symbols or objects which are positioned within a three dimensional virtual universe. The respective dimensions of the virtual universe correspond to a variety of aspects of the spacecraft missions 36. Along a first dimension is an identification of the source of displayed data parameters, such as various spacecraft missions being monitored, labeled 0712, 4487, 4524, etc. Along a second dimension appears various user-defined categories of data parameters that are relevant of the application 38, including Communications (COMM) 38, Power 40, Attitude Control System (ACS) 42, Propulsion (PROP) 44, and SCT 46. Two additional categories that can be used in most applications are Alarm Log 48 and User-Defined 50. The alarm log records all anomalous data parameter values until they are acknowledged by the user. The user-defined grouping allows copies of data values from any combination of data parameter categories to be grouped together. A third (vertical) dimension corresponds to certain user-defined alarm limits and state values for each of the data parameter categories.
The configuration and position of the graphic symbols in FIG. 4 convey a extensive amount of information about the current state of the data parameters to the human operator 12 in an easily understandable and instantly recognizable manner, as described below.
FIGS. 5a and 5 b show the start-up screen of the CDMS 10 which displays two windows: an overview window 56 (FIG. 5a) and a main window 54 (FIG. 5b). The overview window provides the operator with a global view of the entire cyberspace universe. All data parameter information for the missions being monitored is visible in the overview window at all times, thus keeping the operator apprised of all alarm conditions occurring anywhere within the cyberspace universe. The overview window also allows the operator to know the location of the current viewpoint within the main window, as denoted by a green dot 52 that tells the operator, "you are here."
The main window 54 shown in FIG. 5b constitutes the primary source of information for the operator. Unlike the overview window that always displays the entire universe, the main window will typically (but not necessarily) display only a subset of the entire universe at any one time. An operator navigates through three-dimensional cyberspace using a cursor control device included in input devices 34 (such as a mouse or a trackball) to view the data from any desired viewpoint or perspective. This shifting of viewpoint is accomplished using software techniques commonly employed in computer graphics products such as computer aided design (CAD) systems. The particular viewpoint shown in FIG. 5b is a perspective view of the cyberspace universe from a position slight above and pulled back from the universe. A top orthogonal view of a representative cyberspace universe is illustrated in window 58 in FIG. 6.
The main window 54 includes a white grid 60 divided into rows and columns to form adjacent grid squares. The rows correspond to different spacecraft missions (e.g., MAGELLAN, VOYAGER 1, VOYAGER 1) and the columns correspond to user-defines data parameter categories within each mission (ALARMS, SSO FAULT PROTECTION DATA, etc.). These categories are an application specific way of categorizing the data. The white grid 60 corresponds to the baseline or nominal values of the data parameters. A green upper grid 62 is suspended above and in registration with the white grid to represent the flight approved error ceiling—i.e., the user-defined critical values for the various data parameters beyond which serious consequences, such as permanent damage to the monitored system, occurs.
The geometric objects within the white grids of the display represent individual spacecraft telemetry data parameters. Each of the data parameters has a number of attributes which are represented. For example, each of three possible shapes—rectangle, diamond, and triangle—indicate a different type of data parameter; analog, digital, and counter, respectively. Depending on the application, these and other graphical shapes may be used to indicate other attributes and qualities about the data parameter represented. The position of an object on the grid can also indicate its functional classification via adjacency to related parameters, if the user elects to group the objects within the grid square in some meaningful way. For example, objects may be grouped by type of subsystem (electrical, hydraulic, mechanical) or by physical location within the system. All data parameters are normalized to allow a diverse mix of data types and units.
While viewing the data objects, the operator may dynamically and interactively specify logical groups of parameters for monitoring. Each user-defined grouping (38-46) of parameters defines a parameter category which is delimited by a separate column in the grid. The operator may define categories through the use of configuration tables or pop-up menus. Permanent categories such as "Alarm Log" or "User-Defined" may also be implemented.
The User-Defined category 50 is a temporary collection of data parameters that the operator is likely to periodically change at various stages during the mission under consideration. One example of such a transient usage of a user-defined grouping would occur when a particular subsystem in one spacecraft (mission) fails or shows some anomaly. The operator may then want to group all data parameters relevant to the problem (even from multiple categories) and closely monitor those specific parameters for each mission in the User-Defined column. In general, anytime a given situation suggests that certain parameters demand close attention, the operator can easily place those parameters temporarily into the User-Defined column. Hence parameters which have not reached an alarm or critical state can be closely monitored during a critical period. The Alarm Log category is a redundant collection of all alarms presently occurring in the mission, without regard to particular data parameter categories.
In this interactive environment of three dimensional graphical objects in cyberspace, the operator can quickly comprehend the full range of information contained in the telemetry data by looking at combinations of shape, color, position, and behavior of geometric objects.
Anomalous data parameter states—i.e. alarm conditions—are immediately visible to the viewer through the color and behavior of the objects. Two types of alarms are employed in this embodiment of the cyberspace system: limit alarms and trend alarms. A limit alarm occurs when the value of a parameter is outside a predefined pair of high and low limits. For example, a limit alarm is activated when one of the following situations occur: (i) an analog value falls outside of its predefined nominal range; (ii) the bit state of a digital parameter does not correspond to a predefined state; or (iii) the counter value of an ASCII data parameter does not correspond to a predefined value.
Two levels of limit alarms are used: warning (preferably yellow) and critical (preferably red). FIGS. 4, 5 a-b show these objects. Objects are displayed in the default color, white, to indicate that the parameter it represents is in its normal state. Objects are displayed yellow or red to indicate whether the parameter is in a warning limit alarm state (yellow), or a critical limit alarm state (red). FIGS. 4 and 5a-5 b also show that during warning or critical states, the graphical object rises or elevates, to a height above the nominal grid. This height is proportional to how far the parameter has exceeded the limit. This provides a graphic indication of the severity of the alarm. The heights to which the objects rise are normalized so that the objects always remain positioned between the lower and upper grids, inclusive. At the same time that the object rises, a bar or pole extends from to object to the lower grid. This pole serves to assist the user in estimating the distance that the object has risen. Since the length of the pole is proportional to the absolute value of the data parameter.
The change in color of an object serves to increase the visibility of the alarm state. As clearly illustrated in FIG. 5a, this is very useful when viewing objects from an overhead perspective where the length of the pole below the object may be obscured. In such cases only the color is available to indicate the presence and severity of the alarm. A user can recognize that an alarm is active by an object's color, and can easily change perspective to a side view to clearly see the height of the object and associated pole.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5a-5 b, objects in the "Alarms" category (equivalently, "Alarm Log") do not rise above the normal grid when they enter an alarm state. This is preferred because if these alarm objects were elevated as in other columns, it would produce a display that was too dense with elevated objects for a user to easily intuit meaning from height.
If the pole for a data object reaches the upper grid 62 it means that a threshold level of severity of the alarm situation has been reached; for example, it may mean that an unrecoverable error has occurred. When this happens, the color of the corresponding square in the green upper grid 62 changes from green to red. The object will remain the same color and shape but will now be encircled by a red square superimposed over that region in the green upper grid 62. This provides the operator with a dramatic indication that a system error has occurred which may need immediate attention. When a yellow object reaches the upper grid it will change to red and begin rising from the lower grid at a level proportionate to its data parameter value.
Rather than depending on the current value of a data parameter, a trend alarm is based on the rate of change in a parameter value over time that indicates some kind of pattern. If the rate of change of a parameter exceeds some predefined limit over a predefined period of time, then the CDMS 10 triggers a trend alarm for that parameter. A trend alarm may be triggered when a data value steadily increases or decreases during a specified time range. Or, the trend alarm may be triggered when the rate of change for a data parameter has exceeded a predefined limit. For example, if a fire starts in a spacecraft a temperature sensor may show an unusually rapid increase in temperature. This rapid rate of increase will likely trigger a trend alarm well before the temperature value reaches an alarm level. This gives extra time to respond to the fire and mitigate the damage.
The CDMS 10 currently uses two different techniques for detecting trend alarms. The first trending technique tracks the continual increase or decrease of the data parameter value over a user specified time interval in which a warning or critical alarm will occur. For example, a user may specify (in the mission database) that a critical alarm should occur if spacecraft cabin pressure decreases for more than 8 seconds, because this may indicate a cabin leak as opposed to normal pressure fluctuations.
The second trend alarm involves tracking the rate of change over time: if the rate change of a parameter exceeds some predefined limit over a specified period of time, then the parameter triggers a trend alarm. For example, a rapid non-transitory drop in a battery voltage may suggest a short circuit rather than normal electrical loads. Depending on the system's objectives, a variety of other trending techniques may also be used. The CMDS 10 performs trend analysis in real-time.
Both of these types of trend alarms can assume one of two levels of severity, each of which is represented through a unique data abstraction. If the CDMS 10 determines that the trend alarm is less severe (a "warning level" trend alarm), the graphical object associated with that parameter will appear to spin on the screen display. If the alarm is more severe (a "critical level" trend alarm), the object will repeatedly flash between different levels of brightness.
In any given spacecraft mission, a particular data parameter may experience a limit alarm and a trend alarm concurrently. As noted above, a limit alarm and a trend alarm may each occur in one of two severities—a limit alarm may be either warning level (yellow) or critical level (red) and a trend alarm may be either warning level (spinning) or critical level (flashing). A preferred embodiment of the CDMS 10 employs the unique combinations of graphical techniques identified in Table I to represent each of nine potential combinations of alarm states.
not spinning
not spinning
not flashing
not flashing
not spinning
not spinning
not flashing
not flashing
not spinning
not spinning
not flashing
If a trend alarm occurs while the object already is in a limit alarm state, the color of the object remains the same as for the existing limit alarm (i.e., either red or yellow). If, on the other hand, the object is not in a limit alarm state, it turns from its nominal white color to brown when only a trend alarm is triggered. Hence a brown object immediately tells the user that a trend alarm, but no limit alarm, is active. This use of color, spinning, and flashing makes possible the unambiguous display of all possible combinations of limit and trend alarms in a single object.
Operators familiar with the CMDS 10 will be able to immediately assess which of the 9 different conditions exist for each parameter. As demonstrated by FIG. 4, several hundred data parameters are easily visible at the same time. This means that the operator can quickly assess thousands of possible conditions at a glance. Also, more serious conditions receive more prominent displays.
Furthermore, as indicated by FIG. 4, more distant grid lines converge into a distant virtual background space. This compresses the more distant data representations into a smaller portion of the screen space. Regardless of the user viewpoint, when moving through this virtual space, the data of greater interest is displayed closer and larger than data of lesser interest which is displayed smaller and farther away. This distance can continue indefinitely without any theoretical limit. Hence, at extreme virtual distances objects in the background will be so small that the user may not be able to ascertain much more than the existence of an alarm status. The user will then need to move his virtual viewpoint much closer in order to determine exactly which parameter is in an alarm state.
By shrinking less relevant data representations, the user is able to effect a continuously variable choice of how much detail of the various regions of data are displayed at a given moment. At the same time, the user can maintain an overall view of the entire data field. Since there is no theoretical limit on how far the grids and objects may extend into the virtual distance, the present invention makes it possible to monitor a seemingly limitless amount of data at a given time. For example, upper and lower grids 60 and 62 can extend indefinitely in all directions into virtual space. Multiple sets, or arrays, of such grids can be displayed on a single screen as viewed from a very large virtual distance. To effectively monitor such extremely fine-grained displays may require increasing the visibility of the representation of alarm states because such distant objects will be extremely small. In contrast, prior display and monitoring systems do not provide this intuitive and qualitative display of such potentially large amounts of data and would require much more screen space and multiple screens to communicate this much information.
An operator may learn additional information about parameters that are in alarm (i.e., beyond the information that is already graphically represented) by clicking on the data object of interest. This action causes a pop-up window 64 to appear below the main window as shown in FIG. 7. The pop-up window contains text information concerning the chosen parameter and all other parameters contained within the same parameter category. As shown in the more detailed view of the pop up window 64 in FIG. 8, each row corresponds to a data parameter. Detailed information includes the data parameter mnemonic, data type, description, time of receipt, floating point value, data value as received, and alarm limits. Of this information, only a limited amount of information (such as data type, data value and alarm limits) can be obtained from the 3D display 54; and this information is represented qualitatively rather than quantitatively. The detailed numeric information is only needed in unusual circumstances and therefore is not included in the 3D display 54.
Some of the information in the pop up window 64 is similar to what has been traditionally available in text-based displays: parameter name, time of last update, engineering unit value or data number, and type of alarm. Other information available in the pop up window 64 relates to new types of alarms associated with various types of trend analysis. Still further information such as the warning and critical limits of the trend algorithms may be available in the pop-up window 64. Text-bound displays would require an operator to view a different screen for each of possible several hundred objects to glean the equivalent information that is available at a glance using the CDMS 10.
The default amount of information that is displayed in both the graphic windows (i.e., the main 54 and overview 56 windows) and in the pop up text windows 64 is user-selectable based on operator expertise and preferences. The default configuration can be dynamically adjusted by the operator during monitoring operations to reflect changing needs. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, the operator may configure the system to display only two of the three potentially available missions or to add a desired number of additional missions. Configuring the display involves deleting or adding mission database to or from the data directory.
The CDMS 10 also may be used for off-line for non-real-time analysis. Historical data files can be replayed and trend data that has been saved to a database can be displayed. Other features (available in real-time or non real-time mode) allow the display of conventional plots or trend data, suppression of nominal parameter values, suppression of alarm notification for user-specified time intervals, and movement of data objects to any grid-square location chosen by the operator. Suppression of alarms can be done by clicking on the desired data parameter and entering a time unit the suppression is deactivated (as shown in FIG. 9). The suppression of the object is conveyed visually (as shown in FIG. 10) by turning the object blue. The system automatically detects when the time expires and turns the object back to its original state. This feature can be used for data parameters which are known by the operator or analyst to be anomalous. Organization of data parameters is achieved by selecting the object to move and clicking on the desired area in the grid square where the object will be placed.
The highly visual look and feel of the CDMS 10 may be complemented with the use of speech output to communicate key alarm and parameter identification information to the operator without requiring the reading of text or the viewing of graphic objects. A high-quality audio system is preferably used to digitize and edit key words and phrases. When an operator clicks on an object representing a data parameter or when an alarm occurs, the CDMS 10 joins appropriate words and phrases to deliver a voice alarm (i.e., a spoken message) to the operator indicating the identity of the parameter, the type of alarm (trend or limit) and its severity. When whole words are digitized the resulting speech has a smooth and natural sound. If a more flexible vocabulary is required other speech synthesis methods such as phoneme-based speech synthesis may be used. When a particular data parameter (e.g., E-1234) is in a warning state, the system may say "Parameter E-1234 is in warning." To alert the operator of multiple alarms, the system may say "Four critical alarms have been detected," thereby informing the operator of the number and severity of alarms occurring.
The CDMS 10 also may be enhanced by providing a speech recognition capability. Efficient pattern matching algorithms can be used to accurately identify commands spoken by the operator. Standard techniques may be used in which the operator's speech is filtered into frequency bands that are further subdivided and compared with previously digitized samples used to "train" the software.
Other features which may be used in other embodiments of the CDMS 10 include the following:
(i) The system may be configured to automatically dial the operator's telephone pager number by means of a modem 29 whenever an alarm condition occurs, thus informing the operator that the monitoring system requires attention. As a result, the operator need not be physically present at the monitoring system site at all times. Any standard telephone paging device will suffice for this purpose. The paging feature may be enabled by entering the pager number into a text-field of the parameter table.
(ii) The system may employ plotting capabilities which may be used to plot data parameter objects against real time, historical averages; and summary data, such as, minimum, mean, maximum, standard deviation, etc. The operator may enable plotting through a point-and-click menu. Any conventional plotting hardware may be used.
(iii) Output data from the system may be printed in either ASCII or Postscript format.
(iv) The system may provide an extensive and user-friendly on-line help system that guides the operator in a clear and succinct step by step format. This may be implemented using a hypertext browser such as the one employed in NETSCAPE.
The implementation of cyberspace representation is highly generic—that is, it is applicable to a wide variety of applications in which varying data is monitored. This enables it to be used for a wide variety of simultaneous data streams and/or missions. Other applications include sensor data from industrial plants, time varying financial data (i.e., stock or securities prices), monitored medical data i.e., blood pressure, heart rate, etc., from large numbers of intensive care patients or other hospital patients). In addition, the cyberspace architecture enables the various modules that comprise the system to be distributed over a network, if desired.
FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a preferred embodiment of the method of the cyberspace data monitoring system of the present invention. The process of the invention begins with the generating of a display of a three-dimensional cyberspace universe including upper and lower grids as shown in block 66. Next, in block 68 objects representing data parameters are arranged in predetermined locations based on data categories in the lower grid. The system configures each object in a predefined geometric shape based on data parameter type. As shown in block 72, the system determines all current object alarm states. As shown in block 74, the system displays all objects with no alarm states in the color white. The system displays objects with only trend alarms active in the color brown, as shown in block 76. All objects with a warning trend alarm are displayed spinning, as shown in block 78. The system then displays all objects with critical alarm trends flashing, as shown in block 80. All objects with warning limit alarms are displayed yellow and elevated to a proportional amount by a yellow pole as in block 82. All objects with critical alarm limits are colored red and displayed elevated to a proportional level by a red pole as in block 84.
As shown in block 86, when a critical alarm reaches a highly severe state, as indicated by reaching the level of the upper grid, the upper grid square encircling the object is highlighted in red. In decision block 90 the system determines whether a user input is present. If so, the system determines, if this user input is a request to modify the viewpoint, as shown in decision block 94. If not, decision block 90 directs the process to decision block 92. If the user input is a request to modify the viewpoint, the viewpoint is altered in a manner which expands approaching regions and shrinks receding regions of the display proportionately. If a user input to modify the viewpoint is not present, as determined in decision block 94, the process proceeds to decision block 98. Also, once the process completes the step shown in block 96, the process proceeds to decision block 98, where it is determined whether an input is received to display more information regarding an object. If so, the status screen 56 is displayed, as shown in block 100. If not, the process proceeds to decision block 102, which is reached also after decision block 100 is performed.
Decision block 102 shows the step of determining whether a user input is a request to modify user-defined categories. If so, the objects requested are rearranged into the user-defined category in step 104. The process then proceeds to block 92; this is also the destination if decision block 102 determined there was no input to modify the user-defined category. Block 92 determines whether a new alarm condition exists anywhere in the display and, if so, directs the process back to step 72 to update all of the alarm conditions. If not, the process proceeds to block 106 where it is determined whether there is a new user input. If so, the process proceeds back to block 94 to process this user input. Otherwise, the process proceeds to block 106 where it is determined whether there is a stop command, and if not, the process returns to decision block 92. If there is a stop command the process ends.
The invention includes various computer programs implementing the techniques of the present invention. Some of these functions may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both. However, preferably, the invention is implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers such as host computer 20 shown in FIG. 3. Program code is applied to input data to perform the functions described herein and generate output information. The output information is applied to one or more output devices such as the display unit 32, in known fashion.
Each program is preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be compiled or interpreted language.
Each such computer program is preferably stored on storage media or device (e.g. ROM or magnetic diskette), readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer, for configuring and operating the computer when the storage media or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described herein. The inventive system may also be considered to be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner to perform the functions described herein.
Although the invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made without departing from the teachings thereof. For example, two-dimensional planes and landmarks may be represented by ways other than grids, such as by solid objects. More than two grids may be employed, and many different shapes, colors and movements, may be used to represent data, data trends and data conditions.
All such modifications are intended to be encompassed within the following claims.
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|U.S. Classification
|345/419, 345/440, 715/853, 715/848
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Aug 4, 1997
Owner name: CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CALIFORNIA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:SCHWUTTKE, URSULA M.;ANGELINO, ROBERT;REEL/FRAME:008642/0512;SIGNING DATES FROM 19970701 TO 19970715
|Jan 25, 2001
Owner name: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & SPACE ADMINISTRATION, DISTR
Free format text: CONFIRMATORY LICENSE;ASSIGNOR:CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY;REEL/FRAME:011469/0418
Effective date: 20001220
|Sep 22, 2004
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Sep 24, 2008
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 8
|Dec 3, 2012
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|Apr 24, 2013
|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
|Jun 11, 2013
|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee
Effective date: 20130424


text:
"Writing is spooky," according to Norman Mailer. "There is no routine of an office to keep you going, only the blank page each morning, and you never know where your words are coming from, those divine words." In The Spooky Art, Mailer discusses with signature candor the rewards and trials of the writing life, and recommends the tools to navigate it. Addressing the reader in a conversational tone, he draws on the best of more than fifty years of his own criticism,… (plus)
Editeur: Random House (21 janvier 2003)
Format: EPUB
Taille du fichier: 2,38 Mo
Protection: DRM
Langue: Anglais


text:
Hahn Marketing LLC
|Hahn Marketing LLC Patent applications
|Patent application number
|AUTOMOTIVE PAINT SPRAY AND DRYING BOOTH - An automotive paint spray and drying booth having a plurality of walls which, together, define a housing with a chamber sufficient in size to contain an automotive vehicle. An air dispenser is positioned within the chamber and the air dispenser includes an outlet positioned to direct air along one or more of the housing walls. A regenerative blower is positioned outside the housing chamber. The blower is connected to an inlet open outside of the housing chamber and includes an outlet which is fluidly connected to the air nozzle.


text:
Originally posted on The Victory Formation | Last updated 3/13/13
The Detroit Lions, despite playing with a woefully pathetic defense, have added yet another weapon for Matthew Stafford. Later today, they will officially announce the signing of Reggie Bush to a four-year contract per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Say what you will about Bush's career to this point, but his addition fills a huge void in the Lions already potent offense. The Lions placed huge hopes on the shoulders of Jahvid Best and Mikel LeShoure, thinking they had a dynamite backfield combo to go partner with the best receiver in football. Then Best got a concussion. And another. And his career never developed the way that many expected when the Lions traded up in the draft to take him in the first round in the 2010 draft. Now, the Lions have the speedy back, who also is a pass-catching threat, to pair with the between the tackles power of Mikel LeShoure. This is a key signing for the Lions. The Lions have had a big day so far on the second day of free agency, as they also signed DE Jason Jones and CB Chris Houston.
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text:
Acerbis Chain Slider for KTM Models SX/MXC/XC/EXC 00-06
Product Information
Acerbis Chain Slider for KTM Models SX/MXC/XC/EXC 00-06
* Direct replacement chain sliders
* Keeps chain from rubbing on swingarm
Learn more about Acerbis
Acerbis, Italy
The foundation of the company was developed from the challenges Franco Acerbis experienced in his own race career back in the early 70s. Imagine racing in the tight woods and at high speed in the desert: the Acerbis Handguards were developed as a battle hardened accessory against branches and debris.
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text:
The statistic shows the most popular categories in the Apple App Store ranked share of active apps. In March 2016, business apps were the second-most popular category, with a share of 10.31 percent of active all apps being business apps. As of summer 2015, more than 100 billion apps were downloaded from the App Store.
Mobile apps are one of the most popular features of smartphones. Gaming apps are the most popular app category based on availability and top-grossing iOS gaming apps generate more than 1 million U.S. dollars per day. Mobile gaming revenues in the United States are projected to amount to 3.04 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. Common app revenue models include free apps with in-app purchases, paid apps without in-app purchases and paid apps with in-app purchases. Gaming apps frequently generate revenue through in-game item purchases. Other app revenue channels include e-commerce, advertising, contracts or subscriptions.
Gaming apps also boast high user engagement with the average user session length ranking behind music and entertainment apps with an average app being launched eleven times per month. The average monthly launch rate of gaming apps was 8.6 times per month. The vertical with the highest average monthly launch rate were travel and lifestyle apps.