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Optimization in the Sparse Tensor Algebra Compiler
The Sparse Tensor Algebra Compiler (taco) is the first to automatically generate code for any tensor algebra expression on many sparse tensor data structures. This frees the programmer from choosing between hand-optimized libraries that support only a some operations on some data structures and general tensor compute engines with poor performance. In this talk, I will present recent work on a new intermediate representation and program transformations to optimize the generated sparse tensor code. I will show how these transformations generalize common optimizations for specific cases, such as the sparse accumulator in sparse matrix multiplication, can lead to asymptotically better performance for some expressions, and can transform code to fit execution patterns required by different hardware architectures. The performance of the resulting sparse code is comparable to hand-optimized libraries, but generalize to many more expressions and data structures.
The sparse tensor algebra compiler is available under the MIT license. The source code and related publications can be found at _URL_.
Fredrik Kjolstad is a PhD candidate at MIT and will join Stanford as an Assistant Professor in March 2020. He works on topics in compilers, programming languages, and performance engineering. His projects include the Sparse Tensor Algebra Compiler (taco) and the Simit language for physical simulation. He received his master degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his bachelor degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Gjøvik. He has received the Eureka and Rosing prizes for his bachelor project, the Adobe Fellowship, a best poster award, and two best paper awards.


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(draft version--still some problems with getting the italics to show up)
C. Deily, Schola Saint George - Boston Area
Guy Windsor, in his essay "Half full? Meza and Tuta in Fior Battaglia",1 looks at poste (guards), volte (turns), ligadure (binds) and grips, coming to the conclusion that in Fiore dei Liberi's work the word meza (or mezza) generally means half, and tutta means full.2 In his exhaustive coverage of the words, he pins down for interpreters exactly why this obvious translation can be used consistently in Fiore's manuscripts. This essay should not be seen as a challenge to his work or to change our physical interpretations, but to suggest a possible reason why these terms are used to describe the volte (plural of volta, a turn) of the feet and the sword.
The paragraph containing the definitions of footwork is given in the Getty version of Fiore's manuscript as:
"… Volta stabile che stando fermo po zugar denanci e di dredo de una parte. Meza volta si e quando uno fa un passo o inanzi o indredo, e chossi po zugare de laltra parte denanzi e di dredo. Tutta volta sie quando uno va intorno uno pe cum laltro pe, luno staga fermo e laltro lo circundi. E perzo digo che la spada si ha tre movementi, zoe volta stabile, meza volta, e tutta volta …."3
which I translate as
" … A stable turn is staying in place; one can fight in front and behind on one side. A half turn is when one makes a step forwards or backwards, and thus one can fight on the other side in front and behind. A full turn is when one turns one foot with the other foot, the one stays in place and the other circles it. And thus I say that the sword has three motions, namely a stable turn, a half turn and a full turn …"
In the Schola Saint George's current interpretation,4 the footwork of the volta stabile (stable turn), the meza volta (half turn) and tutta volta (full turn) have remained fairly consistent over time, and seem to agree with other schools' interpretation of this passage, although we choose to also emphasize the resulting position of the hips in order to generate power for the blow. A volta stabile is generally a swiveling motion on the balls of the feet, turning the body to face a new direction and charging the hips so the opposite side of the body (left or right) now has more potential power. A meza volta is not merely a step (which we would term a passo), but a step that swivels and powers the opposite hip.5 Thus, a meza volta requires a passo, but a passo does not require a meza volta if the hips remain twisted toward where they were at the beginning of the step. A tutta volta is, as Fiore says, a motion rotating around the ball of one foot (either the front or back foot). The hip that is charged remains the same throughout a tutta volta. As Guy Windsor points out in "Half full?", the body's center of gravity tends to move along an arc during a tutta volta, and more along a straight line during a meza volta.
Our interpretations of the three motions of the sword, as they are not clearly defined by Fiore, are more conjectural but have withstood the test of time and are consistent with the tactical framework of the Zhogo Largo. We tend to teach our current interpretation from the incrosada, the position where the swords are crossed, as in the 2nd Master of Crossed Swords, introducing the Zhogo Largowhere the swords are crossed at mezza spada (halfway up the blade).
In analogy to the volte of the feet, the volta stabile is a motion where one is fighting on the same side and gains a tactical advantage by a twisting of the wrists and blade, either down into a cut on the hands and body, or upwards into a position similar to the German winden (windings). The meza volta is a change in line, generally a coupé to the other side. The tutta volta is a full circling of one part of the blade around another part, generally one of the hands on the grip, as in the colpo di villano6 (Peasant's Strike) where the opponent's blow powers the blade through a nearly-full rotation.
With these interpretations, I propose the following equation:
Tutta Volta = Mezza Volta + Volta Stabile
That is, any one tutta volta motion can theoretically be replaced by a mezza volta (a step) and a volta stabile (a body twist).
|a tutta volta =||a mezza volta||+ a volta stabile|
Despite this, it is sometimes helpful for me to describe an action in the context of these separate parts. For example, in the play of daga contra spada (dagger against sword, M107), the initial incrosada of the blades can be thought of during an initial volta stabile, and the reasserting of control on the elbow and counterstrike during a subsequent meza volta step. In practice, both actions of the hands happen during a single action of the feet, blurring the idea of whether the action occurs in one tempo7 (for the feet), due tempi (for the hands), or mezzo tempo (as a combination of these motions). In George Silver's terms, the true action of the hands and arms is sufficiently faster than the action of the feet that one can make two hand/arm motions during such a step.
This interpretation must also be matched against the volte of the sword that was originally quoted above.8 If the volta stabile is a twisting of the wrists and blade, and a mezza volta moves the sword smoothly to the other side of your opponent's weapon, then the tutta volta should be a moving to the other side while twisting the blade. Because of the biomechanics of the tutta volta, the wrists do rotate in the opposite way as they do when swinging a bat. Colin Hatcher9 once suggested that the volta stabile of the sword rotates on one spatial axis (along the length of the blade), the mezza volta rotates on two spatial axes, i.e. a plane, and the tutta volta rotates and tumbles through all three spatial axes in its circle. So the mezza volta does seem to be a necessary but not sufficient part of a tutta volta for the sword as well as the feet.
Thus, though it is impossible to ever answer definitively why these terms were chosen by a man dead for nearly six centuries, I propose that a mezza volta is named such because it is only half of what is required for a tutta volta, and the tutta volta is complete, with both other volte making up its parts. This does not change how the actions are executed, but gives both a possible reason for why they are named what they are, and a way of talking about the parts of a combative action. As Guy Windsor concludes, "I feel confident in translating meza as 'half' when referring to the volta."10
1Guy Windsor's many writings and interpretations have influenced me from the beginning of my study of Fiore dei Liberi, so I often fall back on his analogies and thoughts when teaching and interpreting.
2Within the Schola Saint George, we tend to leave many terms untranslated from the original Italian/Friulian, both to emphasize that the words may carry connotations of which we are unaware and to encourage scholarship within the original language. Thus, the Italian is in italics, but I have tried to provide translations on the first instance of a word.
3Paragraph M126 from Massimo Malipiero's transcription of Il Fior di Battaglia.
4For full details, consult Brian Price, our principale's book Sword in Two Hands, pp.113-117.
5When this swinging step is repeated, it has been characterized by a former member of Guy Windsor's school as a "John Wayne walk," the strut of Hollywood Western gunfighters as they approach the showdown.
6Paragraphs M156-157 from Massimo Malipiero's transcription of Il Fior di Battaglia.
7Tempo, plural tempi, literally means time. It is a measure of how long it takes to complete an action or make the next decision against an opponent. An action that is done stesso tempo is done at the same time, mezzo tempo (half time) is done after the first tempo but generally before an opponent has a chance to react, and due tempi (two times) allows your opponent a chance to change their action as well, or, as Brian Price says, gives them a vote in the outcome.
8Thanks to Deborah Barolsky of the Schola Saint George who suggested this requirement.
9The Schola Saint George's chief instructor in abrazzare (grappling) and daga (dagger).
10Again, Guy Windsor's "Half full? Meza and Tuta in Fior Battaglia." An earlier version I have (downloaded 17 June 2007) was even more quotable at the end, but I defer to Guy's revision.
Malipiero, Massimo. Il Fior di battaglia di Fiore dei Liberi da Cividale. Ribis, 2006.
Price, Brian. Fiore dei Liberi's Sword in Two Hands. Highland Village,

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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E10 is a concept invented by Prof. Robert Shiller, who uses E10 for his Shiller P/E calculation. When we calculate the todays Shiller P/E ratio of a stock, we use todays price divided by E10.
What is E10? How do we calculate E10?
E10 is the average of the inflation adjusted earnings of a company over the past 10 years. Lets use an example to explain.
If we want to calculate the E10 of Wal-Mart (WMT) for Dec. 31, 2010, we need to have the inflation data and the earnings from 2001 through 2010.
We adjusted the earnings of 2001 earnings data with the total inflation from 2001 through 2010 to the equivalent earnings in 2010. If the total inflation from 2001 to 2010 is 40%, and Wal-Mart earned $1 a share in 2001, then the 2001s equivalent earnings in 2010 is $1.4 a share. If Wal-Mart earns $1 again in 2002, and the total inflation from 2002 through 2010 is 35%, then the equivalent 2002 earnings in 2010 is $1.35. So on and so forth, you get the equivalent earnings of past 10 years. Then you add them together and divided the sum by 10 to get E10.


Confucius Institutes come under scrutiny; MSU institute responds
Jun 30, 2014
As the importance of China's influence grows, so does the need for people who understand Chinese culture and the Chinese language. To foster that sort of understanding, universities across the United States, including Michigan State University, have established Confucius Institutes.
Host universities like MSU work with the Chinese education agency Hanban to train teachers from the U.S. and China to promote Chinese language learning.
In a recent report, though, the American Association of University Professors called on schools to either scrap their partnerships or renegotiate them. The AAUP says these arrangements lack transparency and put academic freedom at risk.
Current State spoke with Joerg Tiede of the AAUP, along with Nancy Romig and Ruhui Ni, associate directors of MSU's Confucius Institute.


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Choose your level of performance
The cutting-edge fiberglass framing systems of Alpen HPP offer superior performance to conventional fenestration materials in a number of ways: durability, stability and efficiency, making it the optimum material for super-insulating windows and preserving overall performance for the life of a window.
- Extreme corrosion resistance: fiberglass is the only framing material that particularly resists environmental damage caused by corrosive salt air or high temperatures.
- Superior insulator even in extreme environments: dimensional stability even in extreme thermal cycling (heat, cold humidity), Alpen Windows fiberglass frames offer the aesthetic of classic wood clad windows but with better insulation.
- High condensation resistance: the insulating nature of fiberglass prevents condensation and helps keep humidity within a proper range, this limits the growth of molds and mildew and helps keep your home's interior air quality healthy.
- Superior strength to weight ratios: Alpen Window's fiberglass series are ideal for large window openings – they are 86% of the yield strength of aluminum and are pound-for-pound, stronger than aluminum.
- Practically maintenance free: the inherent strength and nature to distribute impact loads even in sub-zero temperatures, fiberglass frames will not suffer the pockmarked surface damage that is common to wood and aluminum windows, and because fiberglass takes paint easily with excellent adhesion, you can change the color of your windows any time you like.
- Very low coefficient of thermal expansion and contraction: stresses on seals, caulks and joints are minimized, contributing to higher efficiency windows and tight seals that are resistant to air leakage and water penetration.
- High glass to frame ratio: the strength of our fiberglass frames means more of a viewing area because of the higher glass to frame ratio, compared to wood windows.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Science Can Now Make Human Blood from Skin
By: Amanda Chang - Nov 8, 2010
References: montrealgazette
Time consuming and mis-matchy blood transfusions may be a thing of the past as scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to make human blood from skin. That's right folks, the potential to personally make your own blood from the very skin on your bones is just around the corner.
The procedure to make human blood from skin involves taking a tiny extract of skin, extract fibroblasts, then add proteins of DNA within a petri dish to complete the process. Researchers predict this lab-grown blood could be ready for testing within a span of two years.


Difference Between Organizational Skills and Time Management
bizfluent article image
Maciej Frolow/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Organizational skills and time management are often referred to in school as effective study habits. They can have other applications, however, in your career, in your home and in your overall life. These two concepts are similar but they are not the same.
Organizational Skills
The root word in the term "organizational skills" is "organize." Webster's dictionary gives several definitions to the word, organize: "to form into a coherent unity or functioning whole," "to arrange elements into a whole of interdependent parts" and "to set up an administrative structure for." When you have good organizational skills, you are skilled at organizing.
Time Management
BusinessDictionary.com defines "time management" as "systematic, priority-based structuring of time allocation and distribution among competing demands. Since time cannot be stored and its availability can neither be increased beyond nor decreased from the 24 hours, the term 'time budgeting' is said to be the more appropriate one."
Practical Versus Economical Applications
Organizational skills as a concept has practical applications. When you organize, you are making sure things are adequately in place. You want things to fit together in the most sensible, suitable way possible.
Time management as a concept has economical applications. When you manage time, you are taking a scarce resource--time--and distributing it to where it is most needed first, then to where it is second most needed, and so on.
When practicing organizational skills, you have many constraints (things that limit you). Your constraints will vary from situation to situation. But, some examples of constraints you may encounter when practicing organizational skills are lack of cooperation from other people, technology, materials, human error and distractions.
When practicing effective time management, your main constraint is that time is limited. You will encounter other things that slow you down, but time management is about allocating your time given these existing conditions.
Having One Versus Having Both
In order to be successful, you must have effective organizational skills and effective time management skills, not just one or the other. If you are organized but you do not manage your time properly, you will miss deadlines and be inefficient. If you have effective time management but you are unorganized, some aspects of your life will not be up to par. No matter how good you are at one of these practices, without the other, you cannot be at your best.


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Reducing fuel dependency and growing income from rural agri-processing business: Swe Lynn Aung's story.
According to the government's update in December 2019, half of Myanmar's households (50%) is connected to the national electricity grid. Despite the progress, Myanmar's electrification rate is still one of the lowest in Southeast Asia.
Rural entrepreneurs without access to electricity rely on diesel generators to run their businesses and the average cost of power generation is high — up to 1,200 MMK (USD$0.80) per unit. The high costs limit the amount of energy that businesses can afford to generate using diesel engines.
Through a unique public-private partnership structure comprising Myanmar's Department for Rural Development (DRD), global financing institutions, community electrification committees and entrepreneurs, GIZ and multiple private sector mini-grid developers, Smart Power Myanmar is supporting the effective and sustainable use of electricity in rural Myanmar villages. Working in a number of villages that have received stable and affordable electricity supply through decentralised energy access (i.e., solar mini-grids), Smart Power Myanmar provides interest-free loans to business customers for connection fees, electricity meter upgrades as well as purchasing commercial and industrial equipment and electric motors. Through our Energy Impact Fund (EIF), businesses receive financial and business support to convert from using diesel engines to electric motors to improve business processes and increase the utilisation of mini-grids, especially in daytime hours when household consumption is low.
Swe Lynn Aung is one of the rural entrepreneurs who accessed a loan from the EIF to convert from using diesel generator to electricity from a solar-powered mini-grid.
Swe Lynn Aung runs a small rice grinding business in Than Pyar Chaung village in Myanmar's central Dry Zone. Since 2012, he used a 12-HP diesel generator to operate the grinder spending on average 20,000 MMK (US$13) per month on fuel, retaining a modest monthly profit of 50,000 MMK (US$33). Swe Lynn Aung recognised two problems with diesel generation — the cost of fuel was high, and the noisy generator disturbed his neighbours.
In 2018, Pro-Engineering — one of the private sector recipients of DRD subsidies to promote rural electrification — installed a 39-kW solar mini-grid in Swe Lynn Aung's village. After hearing about Smart Power Myanmar's EIF, Swe Lynn Aung requested a loan of 600,000 MMK (US$390) to purchase a 3-kW electric motor to power his grinding machine from the mini-grid. Over a period of six months, his monthly fuel cost decreased by 50% as he now spends around 9,000 MMK(US$6) on electricity bill. The savings go towards his monthly profit of 60,000 MMK (US$40). Now his sister, Khaing Thin Kyi, can also operate the grinder with ease and his neighbours appreciate that the noise has ceased. Swe Lynn Aung plans to expand his business and buy an additional grinding machine to process rice to produce flour. His sister's ambition is to start selling traditional fried snacks made from Swe Lynn Aung's flour.
Agriculture is the backbone of Myanmar's economy, contributing to around 40% of the country's GDP. The opportunity to covert diesel-powered energy production in rural villages to more sustainable solutions was identified in Pact's Diesel Mini-grid Assessment.
Smart Power Myanmar is working to assess rural energy demand and mobilise financing to support agri-processing businesses through improved electricity access. Conversion from diesel engines and increasing rural productivity will result in higher incomes for millions of people who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. In addition, agri-processing facilities can serve as anchor customers to increase the utilization of mini-grids, therefore making mini-grid business models sustainable and viable, attracting investments into the decentralised energy sector. Achieving this will require the combined and coordinated efforts of all stakeholders working in the energy-agriculture-water space as well as pooled resources to inspire positive change and economic growth across Myanmar to transform lives of the 28 million people who currently live without access to reliable and affordable electricity.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


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A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum driven, that strikes the hours using small bellows and whistles that imitate the call of the Common Cuckoo in addition to striking a wire gong. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call was installed in almost every kind of cuckoo clock since the middle of the eighteenth century and has remained almost without variation until the present.
The design of a German cuckoo clock is now conventional. Most are made in the shape of a rustic birdhouse or chalet to hang on a wall. The wooden case is frequently decorated with carved leaves and animal heads. Most now have an automaton of the bird that appears through a small trap door while the clock is striking.
The bird is often made to move while the clock strikes, typically by means of an arm that lifts the back of the carving. There are two kind of movement: a one-day movement and an eight-day movement. Some have musical movements, and play a tune on a swiss music box after striking the hours and/or half-hours. Musical German cuckoo clocks frequently have other automata which move when the music box plays. Cuckoo clocks are almost always mechanical weight driven movement; a very few are spring driven. The weights are made of cast iron in a pine cone shape. 1 Day Clocks need to be wound by pulling up the weights each day. 8 Day Clocks need to be wound by pulling up the weights every 7-8 days
In recent years, quartz battery-powered cuckoo clocks have been available. These do not have genuine cuckoo bellows. The cuckoo bird flaps its wings as it calls to the sound of running water in the background. The call is an actual recording of a cuckoo in the wild. During the cuckoo call the double doors open and the cuckoo emerges only at full hour, and they do not have a gong wire. One thing that is unique about the quartz cuckoos is that it has a light sensor, so when you turn your lights off at night, it automatically turns off the cuckoo call. The weights are conventionally cast in the shape of pine cones made of plastic, as well as the cuckoo bird and hands. The pendulum bob is often another carved leaf. The dial is small, and typically marked with Roman numerals.
Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks from Germany are the world's finest. These hand-carved masterpieces feature precision mechanical movements, detailed craftsmanship, moving figurines, and music to delight you. The cuckoo clock is a magical work of art with mid-18th century tradition.


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Founded in 1997, BookFinder.com has become a leading book price comparison site:
Find and compare hundreds of millions of new books, used books, rare books and out of print books from over 100,000 booksellers and 60+ websites worldwide.
Bebop to the Boolean Boogie
ISBN _PHONE_ / 9781878707222 / 1-878707-22-1
› Find signed collectible books: 'Bebop to the Boolean Boogie'
What you will discover:
the difference between the analog and digital worlds
what logic gates are and how to make them from transistors
where numbers come from and why the Babylonian's counting systems gave them so many problems when it rained
what integrated circuits, circuit boards, hybrids, and multichip modules are, how they are made, and what they're used for
how to survive the experience of assertion-level logic, positive logic, negative logic, and pass-transistor logic
where computers came from and what Charles Babbage and his lady friend did in their spare time
superconductors, diamond substrates, optical interconnection technologies, virtual hardware and much, much more!
-the difference between the analog and digital worlds-what logic gates are and how to make them from transistors-where numbers come from and why the Babylonian's counting systems gave them so many problems when it rained [via]


Qumis, Iran
 (Redirected from Hekatompylos)
Qumis (Persian: قومس; Middle Persian 𐭪𐭥𐭬𐭩𐭮 Kōmis), also known as Hecatompylos (Ancient Greek: Ἑκατόμπυλος, in Persian: صددروازه, Saddarvazeh) was an ancient city which was the capital of the Arsacid dynasty by 200 BCE. The Greek name Hekatompylos means "one hundred gates" and the Persian term has the same meaning. The title was commonly used for cities which had more than the traditional four gates. It may be understood better as the "Many Gated". Most scholars locate it at Sahr -e Qumis, in the Qumis region in west Khurasan, Iran.[1]
Šahr-e Qumis
شهر قومس
Qumis, Iran is located in Iran
Qumis, Iran
Shown within Iran
Alternative nameSaddarvazeh
LocationSemnan Province, Iran
RegionQumis region
CulturesParthian, Persian
Site notes
ConditionIn ruins
Alexander the Great stopped here in the summer of 330 BCE and it became part of the Seleucid Empire after his death. The Parni tribe took the city around 237 BCE and made it one of the first capitals of their Parthian Empire. It was mentioned as the royal city of the Parthians by a number of classical writers including Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy, although the Parthians seemed to have used a number of cities as their "capital" at different periods.
Qumis was destroyed by an earthquake in 856 AD, and it was probably abandoned afterwards. The site of this ancient city is now called Šahr-e Qumis (Persian: شهر قومس), between Semnan and Damqan in the Semnan Province.
 2. ^ "Hecatompilos/Intro". web.archive.org. 2011-02-08. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
 - Goodarzi, P., Dehpahlavan, M., Sołtysiak, A. (2018). "Human remains from Shahr-i Qumis, Iran, _PHONE_", Bioarchaeology of the Near East 12:89-94.
External linksEdit


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The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has launched a new online calculator to help architects, designers, and builders achieve carbon emission reduction goals for new construction and retrofit residential and commercial projects. Called Green Footstep, the free carbon calculator allows designers to address multiple sources of carbon emissions over a building's lifetime and estimate the impact of specific design decisions in the quest for carbon neutrality.
In addition to carbon neutrality and net-zero site energy performance goals, Green Footstep also helps designers comply with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED energy credit guidelines and the goals of Architecture 2030's 2030 Challenge.
Green Footstep gives designers the tools to make more informed design decisions by allowing them to estimate a building's life cycle carbon footprint. The program accounts for a project site's intrinsic carbon storage and weighs it against the carbon emissions generated by site preparation, construction, and operation of the building. Users can see the areas in which their projects fall short of carbon reduction or energy performance goals and make changes accordingly.
"Green Footstep allows designers to adjust design targets, such as building energy use intensity and incorporating more renewables, that will get the building out of carbon debt, edging the building closer to carbon neutrality," says Michael Bendewald, the RMI analyst who developed the calculator, in a statement announcing the online tool.
RMI recommends designers, builders, architects, and other users employ Green Footstep for a project as early as the pre-design phase and then test multiple target design changes, as necessary, throughout the design process. Users simply input project information—including location, site characteristics, and building characteristics—and the program generates a carbon emissions building performance report.
The Green Footstep Web site also offers building case studies revealing how the program has helped other projects reach carbon reduction goals. By creating a free account, users can input project information and goals, save them, and revisit them to make changes or updates. To learn more about using Green Footstep, click here.
Stephani L. Miller is Associate Editor of Residential Architect magazine.


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The myth that 10 percent of children the product of 'non-paternity events' is rather persistent. I have no idea why, but I do know that even biologists accept it. But how we can we continue to accept this when surnames can provide population genetic information 400 years after the fact? The population of Belgium is famously divided between Latinate Walloons and Germanic Flemings. But is notable that a substantial number of Flemings carry surnames of clear Romance origin. This is in large part due to acculturation. Nevertheless, even 400 years after the largest of the migration and assimilation events males with Romance-origin surnames reflect their genetic background:
If non-paternity events occurred at a rate of 1 out of 10 the correlation between surnames and genetic lineage would have been decoupled long ago. These results have been confirmed in other societies. I predict that low non-paternity rates will also be confirmed in China; as that nation has a long history of surnames. Of course, one might posit a scenario where males who are the products of non-paternity events tend to be less fit than those who are not, so over the long term these estimates based on present day Y chromosomal lineages may not be appropriate reflective of the frequency of events at some point in the past.


WotC Now Exploiting People Less?
WotC are a smart bunch of people who got rich with Magic: The Gathering. But it wasn't the brilliance of the game's design that got them rich. It was how they sold it.
Magic: The Gathering should of been called Crack: The Gathering but not because of its addictive game play. The addiction is in buying the packs not playing with them, a situation that WotC are more than happy with. Cards were rated as to their rarity (common, uncommon, and rare) and each booster pack had a random selection of fifteen cards. This turned the act of buying a pack from a simple transaction in to a gamble. Every purchase brought a thrill of anticipation. To the new fan this anticipation was strongly rewarded as each pack always contained new cards but the experienced players had to keep buying more and more packs to find the cards they didn't have. Just like a drug addict needing more and more drugs to reach the same high.
In psychological terms, WotC were training their customers with operant conditioning using a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement. In English, this means that the behaviour of buying a pack of cards is reinforced by sometimes rewarding the purchaser with a rare card.
Pigeon reading a book
This behaviour was first observed in pigeons by B. F. Skinner. In a simple experiment he placed three pigeons in three separate boxes and each box had a lever for the pigeons to pull. In the first box, pulling the lever always resulted in a pellet of food being supplied and quickly the pigeon learnt to pull the lever when it was hungry. In the second box, the lever did nothing and pigeon soon learnt to ignore it. But in the third box, the lever sometimes delivered a food pellet and sometimes didn't. This pigeon constantly pulled the lever even when it wasn't hungry because it was addicted to the potential reward. It was so addicted that when the lever was changed so that it never gave out food, the pigeon would exhaust itself to death by continually pulling the lever even though no food was coming out of it.
Magic: The Gathering uses exactly the same technique to train its customer to buy more packs. So clearly there isn't much difference between a pigeon and a MTG player.
WotC have used this technique repeatedly in different products including the range of D&D Miniatures. Up until now, the minis have come in random packs with the customer having no idea what they are buying other than a pre-defined ratio of common and rare figures. However they are changing and Critical Hits were first with the news that packs are now being themed between heroes and monsters. There will still be a random selection but hero packs will only contain heroes and monster packs only have monsters.
Does this signify that treating D&D players like pigeons hasn't worked? No. This is just means that WotC are now supplying two levers for the pigeon to pull. Whether a pigeon uses one or the other or both the levers, it doesn't matter, they are still addicted. However I think this move does signify that D&D Miniatures are not that successful.
Why Magic: The Gathering became the huge success it did was more than just how it was sold. The game was good enough that people who avoided the buying-addiction still brought cards so that they could play the game. It was also the right product at the right time. A stroke of luck that cannot be repeated. With miniatures, it is a different story. D&D Miniatures simply is not that good a game. The uses of the D&D brand probably hurts sales as much as it helps them because it carries so much baggage. And they are expensive. A Magic booster pack costs about £2 for 15 cards where as minis cost about £8 for five.
In setting up 6d6 Fireball to sell fantasy miniatures Rob & I were adamant that we should be ethical. We have both spent too long working for companies we did not respect because of the way they treated their customers. This is why we don't do random packs and why the pictures on the web site show the figures exactly* what you will receive.
WotC focus is making money and that is a good and honourable thing to be doing. But using exploitative marketing techniques such as random packs is a step too far. 6d6 Fireball wants you to buy our products because we make a good product. WotC just wants your money.
*We do clean the figures and apply a thin coat of boot polish to ensure you can see all the detail.
See also: So, the Difference Between Game and Drug Designers is…?


[mpich-discuss] MPICH datatype memory utilization and low memory system
Jed Brown jed at jedbrown.org
Wed May 7 15:00:03 CDT 2014
Rob Latham writes:
> ON blue gene... well you maybe can guess where I'm going with this.
> MPICH will use quite a bit of memory to describe 16 million points:
> about 200 MiB (4 bytes for each index, 8 bytes for each offset).
> there isn't 200 MiB of extra memory on some configurations of Blue Gene.
> What options does one have when trying to efficiently describe
> unstructured data, though?
How large is the data that this unstructured representation is
describing? Usually there will be element connectivity and several
elements are adjacent to each vertex, so the relative overhead of the
MPICH datatypes may not be high.
The index/offset arrays can probably be compressed, though that only
reduces peak memory usage if you specify and free the uncompressed
arrays before other allocations.
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WiseFarmer project participation at EU's EIP-Agri meeting in Spain
WiseFarmer project was represented at the seminar "New skills for digital farming", took place on 5-6 February 2020 in Aranjuez, Spain. The event, organised by the agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI...), aimed to contribute to the design and implementation of approaches and tools that can help farmers and farm advisers develop the skills they need in the face of the digital transition in agriculture.
The seminar brought together farmers, farm advisors, researchers, experts, company representatives and public sector officials to discuss trainings and educational programmes need to be developed for farmers.
WiseFarmer representatives gave an introduction about the project during the session "Developing skills for digitalisation: An inspirational journey - Diverse and inspiring initiatives on how to support knowledge and skills development for digital farming", among many similar initiatives from all over Europe, including other Erasmus+ and H2020 projects. The seminar was a great opportunity for making new connections to stimulate cooperation between relevant actors and to assemble future synergies.


text:
In Hidden Dimensions, the player controls a base capable of launching ships, deploying structures and performing actions. Ships, structures and actions are represented by a deck of cards.
Structures are your main source of energy, which is needed to play ships or perform actions. Ships can both defend your base or attack the ships or base of your opponent. Actions provide you with various ways of harming your opponent, defending yourself, modifying your ships and much more.As players starts the game for the first time, they' ll be presented with a very short introduction in their first battle, additional and more detailed instructions are available in-game. A series of achievements allow the player to unlock an additional 160 cards, bringing the total number of unique cards in the game to 232, divided over 8 sets (one for each of the alien races in Hidden Dimensions) and an extra set of relic and artifact cards. The game features a semi-random deck generator, capable of generating thousands of unique decks built around the races their prime strategies. Premade decks are available and additional ones become unlocked through achievements. Times played:
4,3 MbAuthor: FabivsGenre: RPG
8 years and 58 days ago.


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Impact Score* 1.3
Frontiers in Big Data grants a venue for the dissemination of recent research contributions in the rapidly developing aras of Databases & Information Systems and General Ecology and Evolution. The publishing protocol for Frontiers in Big Data is to publish novel original documents that have been appropriately reviewed by experienced scientific peers. The journal welcomes submissions from the research community where the priority will be on the novelty and the practical importance of the reported research.
Frontiers in Big Data is indexed at Research.com, Web of Science and Scopus. There are many top researchers who contributed to this journal such as Kuansan Wang, Xia Hu, Björn Schuller, Xia Hu and Björn Schuller
For extra information on the guidelines and submission prerequisites for authors, it is recommended to consult the official website for the journal for Frontiers in Big Data at _URL_ .
*The metrics for this journal are compiled based on the data for scientists listed under Computer Science


text: Physical separation of reactions by interactive multicompartments in biological cells is an attractive motif to design efficient microreactors that create biomimetic cascade reactions. We present an aqueous compartment with three different subcompartments that comprise of silica nanoreactors with encapsulated enzymes, namely, β-glucosidase, glucose oxidase, and peroxidase, providing a model cascade reaction in confinement. The encapsulated enzymes retain their activity as the substrate can reach the active site and the silica shell further protects the enzymes from external stresses, such as heat and proteolytic degradation. We demonstrate the biomimetic cascade reaction in between the compartments ("organelles") inside of an additional microconfinement (water-in-oil emulsion). This strategy will allow us to design efficient multicompartmentalized reactors for further biological and organic reactions.


text:
Bused, bussed, and bust are commonly confused words that are pronounced in the same way but are spelled differently and have different meanings, which makes them homophones. We will examine the different meanings of the homophonic words bused, bussed and bust, the word origins of the terms, and some examples of their English usage in sentences.
Bused is the past tense of the verb, bus, meaning to transport on a large vehicle known as a bus. Bused is also used in North America to mean cleared the dirty dishes from a table in a restaurant. The word bused appears as though it should rhyme with the word fused; however, it does not. For this reason, some spell the past tense of bused with two s's, as in bussed–which is a word that will be discussed later in this article. Related words are bus, buses, busing. The word bus is an abbreviation of the word omnibus; it came into use in the 1830s to describe a steam-powered mode of public transportation.
Bussed is the past tense of the verb, buss, which is a word that means to kiss. However, some spell the past tense of the verb bus with two s's; this is considered a secondary, acceptable spelling that follows the English convention of doubling the consonant after a short vowel when conjugating a verb. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the verb buss as a North American word; however, it also lists the origin as dating to the 16th century, from the Middle English word, bass.
Bust is used as a noun to mean the chest or upper torso; a sculpture that includes the shoulders and head of the subject. It also refers to the chest measurement of a woman; or an arrest of a criminal, especially one involved in drugs. Bust is used informally as a verb to mean to break or burst; related words are busted, busting. The word bust has evolved over time. First, bust came into use in the late 1600s to mean a sculpture that includes the head and shoulders of the subject, from the Latin word, bustum, meaning funeral monument. In the mid-1700s, bust also came to mean a live, human torso. Finally, at the turn of the 19th century, bust came to mean to break or burst; the term was a variant of the word, burst.
About 150 kids from Tijuana were bused to the Mexican consulate in San Diego on Thursday where county nurses administered the Pfizer vaccine. (AP News)
It comes amid concern about asylum seekers being bussed from Dover to a detention centre in Scotland. (Daily Record)
Once safely across the street, I watched as Jennifer bussed the table for two young girls with flawless skin and short skirts. (Los Angeles Magazine)
An Elvis Presley bust that was swiped from a central Illinois bar has been returned after the story of its theft attracted international attention. (Boston Herald)
"Make sure they're secured in the trunk where nobody has easy access and they can't bust a window or anything to get to them," he said. (Exponent Telegram)


You are here
Cool Electronic Toy for Kids: Symphony in B. by B. Toys
Symphony in B.
Last week, Toca Band was selected as Screen Play's app of the week for the sheer fun of mixing and matching musical melodies and rhythms. If you'd like to give your child a similar musical experience in the real world (as opposed to the virtual one), Symphony in B. by B. Toys is a gem of a toy that kids of all ages will enjoy.
B. Toys is known for its innovative, colorful and highly interactive toys. I featured another one of its popular products last year – the Alphaberry. Symphony in B. is another hit and combines so many different learning experiences into one. Fashioned as an orchestra pit of sorts, the toy lets its users explore different sounds, lights and musical combinations.
Similar to the Toca Band app where players and instruments can be moved around to hear different effects, the 13 instruments that come with this toy do the same thing. Kids can place up to six instruments in the center and the sensors at the bottom immediately play whatever sounds that particular instrument makes. With 15 different songs to choose from and 13 instruments, the different combinations are limitless.
Buttons on the toy also designate which instruments are classified as percussion, woodwinds, brass, keyboard and strings. Maybe a concept a tad advanced for its youngest users, but great tidbits to know as kids learn more about instruments. In addition to forming an appreciation for music, the Symphony in B. also helps kids practice learning about colors and shapes when putting the instruments back into place.
B. Toys has created another masterpiece with the Symphony in B. Your little musical genius will love it.
To see how the toy works, check out this video demonstration.
Symphony in B. is available from for $49.99.


text:
Aug 22, 2022
ECS - High vacuum dedusting filter units
The ECS series dust collectors are suitable for pneumatic conveying and central vacuuming in industrial environments. Their robust construction makes them the first choice for demanding applications requiring high vacuum and/or explosion protection.
The ECS dust collectors can be used in applications where the airflows are in the range up to 3,000 m3/h and the system pressure is between -50 kPa (negative pressure) and 200 kPa (positive pressure).
Thanks to their modular design, two-stage filtration, three sizes and optional equipment, ECS dust collectors can meet different filtration and functionality requirements. If the characteristics of the production process (subject to a risk assessment) require additional explosion protection, various options for external explosion protection can be selected.
Depending on the type of dust and other impurities in the extracted air, primary filter cartridges made of different filter materials are available. Filter media for secondary filter elements in HEPA efficiency level or with activated carbon are recommended.
For special applications, an optional ROTATRONIC Control system can be used for advanced monitoring and control. It provides comprehensive control with maximum energy efficiency and constant suction power.


text: Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in southern Albany County in the U.S. state of Wyoming and includes 1,776 acres (7.2 km²). The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Mortensen Lake NWR is a high altitude refuge and has several small alpine lakes of which Mortenson Lake is the largest. At 7,256 feet (2,211 m) above sea level, the refuge provides protection for numerous migratory bird species.In 1984, the Wyoming Toad was listed as an endangered species and was widely believed to be extinct in the wild. A small population of the toad was rediscovered in 1987 in the area surrounding Mortenson Lake which led to the establishment of the refuge in 1993. Since 1995, offspring from captured examples of this extremely rare amphibian have been released into the wild to help stabilize the remaining population. The refuge is closed to all public access to aid in recovery efforts of this endangered species.


Travelrific® Travel Journal
Archive for July, 2019
Bali's Iconic Bird
By Linda Tancs
As if Bali weren't fabled enough, West Bali National Park is a lush oasis of forests, mountains, clear blue water and long stretches of protected beach and offshore coral reefs. But the reason for the park's creation in 1941 is to protect the island's iconic and endemic bird, the snow-white and critically endangered Bali Starling. It's one of about 160 species recorded in the park. In addition to flora and fauna watching, the park's offshore island Menjangan is a popular diving spot for coral reef and other marine exploration. The journey there from Denpasar, Bali's capital, is about four or five hours.
California's Newest National Park
By Linda Tancs
Pinnacles National Park, California's newest national park as of this writing (designated in 2013), is an old soul at heart. Its cliffs, crags and cave formations arise from volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago, sending volcanic matter 200 miles away to the park's current location in the Salinas Valley. The towering, domed rock structures giving the park its name beckon rock climbers. Divided into an east and west side, climbing routes predominate on the west side of the park. Of course, there are plenty of other activities to enjoy, like bird watching for the park's signature citizen, the California condor. Or maybe you'd like a hike that includes cave exploration. Camping is also available on the east side year round. You can't drive through both sides of the park. The west side is accessible from Highway 101; the east entrance is off Highway 25.
Seaside Splendor in Spain
By Linda Tancs
Widely regarded as one of Spain's most beautiful villages, Cudillero is a picturesque fishing port on the Atlantic Coast, far from the madding crowd. One of its most distinctive features is its brightly colored houses nestled in horseshoe fashion among the cliffs. Take in the views from the lighthouse or the lookout point at Mirador de la Garita.
The Island of Wine
By Linda Tancs
The ancient Greeks planted vines on the Croatian island Hvar in 384 B.C. So it's fair to say that they've been in the winemaking business there a good while, the quality of their wine a testament to their proud heritage. It's equally prized as a summer resort, touted as the sunniest spot in the country. That suits beachgoers just fine, who can enjoy pebble beaches like Dubovica, surrounded by pine trees and olive groves. To get there, hop on the high-speed ferry from Dubrovnik.
The Living Dune
By Linda Tancs
Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the eastern United States. Located in Nags Head, North Carolina, the shifting winds that constantly reshape this remaining dune system on the Outer Banks have resulted in its moniker, "The Living Dune." The sand (mostly quartz rock) comprising the 420 acres of Jockey's Ridge is equal to about 6,000,000 dump truck loads! In addition to its distinctive dunes, the ecology of the park includes species like live oaks, persimmons, bayberry, sweet gum and pines and the Roanoke Sound Estuary, home to the blue crab as well as plant and bird life.
Caledonian Splendor
By Linda Tancs
Once upon a time, a vast woodland known as the Caledonian Forest covered much of Scotland. Formed at the end of the last ice age, its remnants are still visible in places like Glen Affric, considered one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. Thick with trees, its mix of Scots pine, birch, oak and Douglas fir is a big reason why the glen is protected as a National Nature Reserve. Several animals call these ancient woods home, like its iconic red deer (most visible in winter and autumn), pine martens and red squirrels. The protected environment is also invaluable for rare species like golden eagles and black grouse. A short distance from Loch Ness, the River Affric runs the length of the reserve, where trails offer stunning views of the mountains, towering trees and waterfalls.
The Underground Down Under
By Linda Tancs
About 500 miles north of Adelaide in the Australian Outback is the subterranean town of Coober Pedy, where most of the town's 1,800 or so residents live in underground shelters carved from the sandstone walls, giving new meaning to the phrase "a hole in the wall." The place is worth a visit to explore the unique lifestyle enjoyed there, which also happens to be the opal capital of the world. Together with the surrounding region, it supplies around 85% of the world's opal supply.
The Jersey Coast Trail
By Linda Tancs
New Jersey's Coastal Heritage Trail is a vehicular route stretching nearly 300 miles along the state's shore and bays. It's divided into five regions: Sandy Hook, Barnegat Bay, Absecon, Cape May and Delsea. Of equal interest to hikers and bicyclists, the trail passes national wildlife refuges, lighthouses, a Civil War fort, migratory bird settlements and several other places including, of course, the Jersey Shore.
Purple Majesty in Brihuega
By Linda Tancs
Move over, Provence. There's a majestic cloak of lavender in the unassuming town of Brihuega, Spain. About an hour's drive from Madrid, the hamlet celebrates its purple prize every July (harvest season) with a two-day event featuring sunset concerts amidst the lavender fields. Festival de la Lavanda takes place this year on the 19th and 20th.
The Fish-Eye View in Dubai
By Linda Tancs
One of the largest suspended aquariums in the world, Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo is for many the centerpiece of the Dubai Mall, the second-largest mall in the world by land area. Home to 140 species of sea life, the tank contains over 2 million gallons of water spread over a tunnel some 157 feet long. Your fish-eye view includes more than 33,000 aquatic animals and the largest collection of sand tiger sharks anywhere. You can also take a glass-bottom boat tour, snorkel in a cage and even don an oxygen tank to go swimming with the sharks.
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text:
AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles from top publications available through your library.
New quake system created / Researchers to be able to accurately predict earthquake aftermaths
A University of Tokyo research team has developed a system that will use a next-generation supercomputer to simultaneously predict tremors, tsunami and movements in the Earth's crust after a massive earthquake occurs.
The team, led by Takuto Maeda, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo's Center of Integrated Disaster Information Research (CIDIR), has used the new system on a current-generation supercomputer, which almost succeeded in reconstructing the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11.
Predictions about tremors, …


python-pudge
Documentation generator for python projects
 _URL_
 1
 1 review
Pudge is a documentation system for python projects.
its highlights are:
* generate documentation for python packages, modules, classes, functions,
and methods.
* module and class index hierarchies
* support for restructured text in docstrings
* easily apply common free documentation licenses (gnu, cc)
* syntax colored source html generation with anchors for line numbers
* generated reference documents link to source for all modules, classes,
functions, and methods
* basic restructured text document templating (brings external documents into
the flow of generated pages)
* support for html 4.01 or xhtml 1.0 output
* basic trac integration (adds trac project links to navigational elements)
* uses a combination of runtime inspection and python source code scanning
* extensible and customizable using kid templates
Latest reviews
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blueXrider 11 years ago
nice


text:
Religious Organizations & Movements are more modern in origin than the traditional world religions, but our approach to learning about such movements remains the same.
As with different world religions, members subscribed to different religious movements live in a culture of shared beliefs, morals, and values that influence individual attitudes and worldviews. The study of these religious organizations and movements involves developing a deeper understanding of that culture, the impact it has on those who adhere to it and, ultimately, our relationships with those people.
As with witnessing in any specific context, witnessing to someone who subscribes to a particular religious organization or movement first requires developing a real, authentic relationship with that person. In developing that relationship, the witness gains an understanding of that person's attitudes and worldviews, which inform how the witness should go about sharing the Gospel.
The Every One His Witness Context Modules specifically address witnessing to religious organizations and movements.
Modules currently available include:
Modules planned include:
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Christian Science
Preview: Witnessing to Mormons
Preview: Responding to Scientism
Every One His Witness Website
Every One His Witness Self-Study Guide
Genesis 1-11: Foundation for Doctrine and Life
Recorded as a session in the January 2022 Making Disciples for Life conference, this video presents the importance of taking it literally for a Christian worldview, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the message of salvation. It includes scientific evidence that corroborates the Biblical account.
- Witnessing (Individual Evangelism)
- Basic Witnessing
- Witnessing in Specific Contexts
- World Religions
- Life Events/Issues
- Human Care
- Outreach (Congregational Evangelism)


text:
Generally, barley uses moisture more efficiently than other cereals. As a result, it can grow without irrigation in many cases. However, almost 50% of the commercial barley farms in dry areas are irrigated. When a low seeding rate has been selected, probably the plants won't maintain moisture, as vegetative growth often increases (1).
Water needs in different growth stages of barley
Barley plants need at least 100 mm (4 inches) and, more often, 125 mm (5 inches) of water from germination to reproductive growth stage to produce grain. The needs for water during vegetative growth vary depending on the environmental temperatures. For example, plants need more moisture for transpiration during a warm, dry spring than in a cool one (2).
As a cool-season crop, barley grows best in temperatures around 20 °C or 68 °F . This happens because, at this range, the plant can use more moisture available in the soil for vegetative crop growth than for transpiration.
Cereal crops, such as barley, use approximately 2 to 3 mm/day of water or 0.078 to 0.11 in of water at the tillering stage, while they need a little more (about 3 to 5 mm/day of water or 0.11 to 0.19 in/day) at the stem elongation stage. When the environmental temperature exceeds 25 °C or 77 °F, the plant needs the most moisture (5 mm/day or 0.19 in/day). In one week, barley will use about 20 to 35 mm of water or 0.787 to 1.377 in of water at the stem elongation growth stage, depending on other environmental conditions such as humidity levels, solar radiation, temperature, and wind. During the heading stage of barley, often in early July, water use is increased to 7-8 mm/day or 0.27 to 0.31 in/day (under ideal conditions). Peak water use is crucial for barley plants from mid-June to late July or early August. Significant reductions in yields can take place if, during this period, moisture is not at a desirable level. During the stage of reproductive growth, water needs and use remain high. After the heading stage, barley will keep using 7 to 8 mm/day of water or 0.27 to 0.31 in/day until the stage of flowering and grain filling (under ideal growth conditions). As grains fill, water use declines and decreases sharply as plants reach maturity. Some interesting findings show that under optimum environmental conditions, for each 25 mm (1 inch) of water used, barley will produce from 5 to 7 bushels/acre or 0.34 to 0.47 tonnes/hectare (2).
All the information mentioned above is just some general guidelines that should not be followed without doing your research. There are no two identical fields in the world; thus, nobody can advise you on fertilization methods without considering your soil's test data, tissue analysis, and field history.
Barley Irrigation Requirements and Methods


text:
In California, the CCEECE is committed to taking steps to address this issue, especially as it applies to leadership in our field of Early Care and Education (ECE). We have selected 15 Directors, Director Mentors and Mentor Teachers for the CCEECE Equity Leaders Fellowship in Early Care and Education. This fellowship is designed to help prepare the next generation of ECE supervisors and administrators serving children 0-5 and their families. Our hope is to disrupt the status quo to ensure that the ECE leadership across the state reflects the diverse population of children birth to five years of age and their families.
Goal of the Emerging Leaders Fellowship:
- To develop deep understanding of racial inequities, systemic disparities and the impact of structural, institutional, interpersonal and personal forms of oppression on children, families and communities and the workforce serving them;
- To consider and to act to eradicate inequitable policies and practices
- To prepare participants in both management and leadership skills and dispositions through in-depth, inquiry-based learning.
If you are a member, please follow the link to Live Binder for materials. If you have forgotten your Access Key, please email _EMAIL_.


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SortedList.Item Property
Gets and sets the value associated with a specific key in a SortedList object.
Namespace: System.Collections
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
public virtual Object this [
 Object key
] { get; set; }
/** _USER_ */
public Object get_Item (Object key)
/** _USER_ */
public void set_Item (Object key, Object value)
Not applicable.
The key associated with the value to get or set.
Property Value
The value associated with the key parameter in the SortedList object, if key is found; otherwise, a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
Exception typeCondition
key is a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
The property is set and the SortedList object is read-only.
The property is set, key does not exist in the collection, and the SortedList has a fixed size.
There is not enough available memory to add the element to the SortedList.
The comparer throws an exception.
You can use the Item property to access a specific element in a collection by specifying the following syntax: myCollection[key].
You can also use this property to add new elements by setting the value of a key that does not exist in the SortedList object (for example, myCollection["myNonexistentKey"] = myValue). However, if the specified key already exists in the SortedList, setting the Item property overwrites the old value. In contrast, the Add method does not modify existing elements.
A key cannot be a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), but a value can be. To distinguish between a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) that is returned because the specified key is not found and a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) that is returned because the value of the specified key is a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), use the Contains method or the ContainsKey method to determine if the key exists in the list.
The elements of a SortedList are sorted by the keys either according to a specific IComparer implementation specified when the SortedList is created or according to the IComparable implementation provided by the keys themselves.
The C# language uses the this keyword to define the indexers instead of implementing the Keys property. Visual Basic implements Item as a default property, which provides the same indexing functionality.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 2.0
XNA Framework
Supported in: 1.0
Community Additions
© 2014 Microsoft


text:
Now day's people are looking for the best types of growing media for their plants. It is due to people become more conscious while selecting the growing media for their plants. The reason is simple every one curious about the health of the plants.
Importance of the growing media
The growth of the plants influenced by many factors, growing media is one of them. Growing media plays an important role in the growth and development of plants. The production and health of the plant are dependent on the growing media. Media also play an important role in the disease management of the plant. Many disease-causing pathogens found in plants come from the media. Sterilized media free from pathogenic spores of the disease is essential for plant health. First, we discuss the functions and qualities of the best Growing media. After that, we discuss the types of growing media. Without further delay let's jump over the Growing media
What is the growing media?
Growing media is a nutritious substrate in which plant anchor and gives support to the plant. The plant develops roots in the Growing media and also gets essential nutrients from this.
For example, crops grow on the soil and soil is the growing medium. If flowering plants grow in peat moss in the pot the peat moss is the medium.
Different types of growing media are available in the market. You go into the market for purchasing Growing media for your plants. You become confused when everyone is claiming my Growing media is the best for your plants. They have different types of ingredients but they are all not good for your plants. The thing is what are the criteria for judging the growing media for your plants?
- Growing media should be nutritive
- Growing media should be sterilized
- Growing media should be low in weight
- Growing media should have a pH of 5.5-6.5
- Growing media should be loose and porous
- Growing media should not shrink nor expand
- Growing media should have optimum fertility
- Growing media should act as a buffer solution
- The plant should anchor its root into the Growing media
- Growing media should have good water holding capacity
- Growing media should be easily available and economical
- Growing media should be free from diseases and pathogen
- Growing media should have an adequate quantity of organic matter
These are the different characteristics of growing media. One can keep these characteristics in his mind before selecting growing media for his plant.
After discussing the characteristics of good media, now we are going to educate you about different types of growing media. We make a list of growing media. Let's discuss the first one
DIFFERENT TYPES OF GROWING MEDIA
There are various kinds of the growing media for horticultural plants. Some best option are given blow.
Peat moss is a decomposed product of the submerged and bogs soil of sphagnum family plants. It is formed in low and wetland areas of the northern hemisphere. The major parts of the peat moss producing regions of the world are Canada, northern Europe and northern Siberia. Plants of the sphagnum family remain in the water for many years.
Accumulation of sphagnum in the wetland is taking place. Because of the poor drainage, small and big wetlands are formed. Due to a very low temperature in these wetlands, the low pH of peat sphagnum is formed. Peat moss has the ability to restore 16-26 times more water in its cell.
Peat moss has good water retention capacity. It is a good source of organic matter which improves the structure of the soil. Peat most work as a curator of your bad structure sandy soils. Due to high porosity, it improves the clayey soils. Sphagnum peat moss has a high buffer capacity that's tolerated and resists changes in pH of the medium. All in one, peat moss is a good growing media for plants, if it contains essential nutrients in reasonable amount.
Cons of the peat moss
The pure peat moss comprising of organic matter that is low in plant essential nutrients. Without the use of the additive peat moss, the fertility of the peat moss is very low. Due to Acidic in nature Peat moss is good for acid-loving plants. But if the pH is too low then it can create more problems for the high pH loving plants. As compared to the other growing materials peat moss is more expensive than others.
Perlite is the product of volcanic glass. It is a naturally occurring inorganic mineral. It expands on heating like popcorn. Perlite mainly consists of oxides of silicon, aluminum, potassium, iron and calcium. It is loose and high porosity growing media. Perlite is used for other potting mixes. Perlite is densely weighted in its raw shape.
Pros of the perlite
It is the lightweight mix that allows you to work and handle it easily. Perlite has good drainage and good for the xerophytes and mesophytes. Perlite is used to lightening the media. It is a loose medium that improves the porosity and anchorage of the growing mixes. The world's top perlite producing countries are Turkey, Greece, United States and Japan.
Cons of the perlite
As perlite is natural inorganic material so it has no complete food for the plants. Perlite does not have any essential nutrients for plants. It is only used as potting mixes in different combinations. It is not good for water retention.
It is the mixture of inorganic salts but it. Soil is composed of three types of particle silt sand and clay. Silt and clay are the fine particles of the soil but sand is coarse. Based on the component, the soil is dividing into these groups. Sandy soils, clayey soils and loamy soil. It becomes good media on some amendments. Some soils have high amount of organic matter or
Pros of the soil
It is a natural medium for plants. It is easily available in any place and very cheap. Soil is the best medium for big plants. On some amendments, soil performs the best function. Organic soils are best for the plant growth.
Cons of the soil
Most of the soils are alkaline and pH is higher. This media is not good for the succulent plants because it becomes very hard on drying and root penetration is not good. Soil is heavy. Most of the soils are have less organic matter.
Most of the soils are not as good as a growing medium. The soil has a heavy amount of salts which increase the pH of the media and not good for most of the plants
Decomposition and decaying of the organic material of plants into inorganic or simple elements is called composting. Composting is done in the presence of the microorganisms.
The ingredients of the compost are:
Leave, barks, twigs, branches, flowers, root, kitchen waste, straws, hey, a residue of the crops and other organic origin material.
Compost is very useful if you have interested in organic farming. One can also use Farm Yard Manure (FYM) for making the compost. Different ratios of the ingredients are being used for making the compost. Leaf compost is more commonly used and known. One thing that you have to keep in mind before preparing the compost that is: the ratio of the greens and dry. The ratio of the greens and dry for producing an excellent type of compost should be 2:1 and 3:1. Leaf compost is the best and popular media for the raising of seedlings.
Pros of the Compost
Compost is an excellent type of growing media that does not need ant fertilizer. The mixture of compost and soil is the best combination for growing any type of plant. Waste organic material can be use as compost. Compost recovers the health of the soil and plant. Composting is very easy for making. It is a good activity for the child to play. The cost of producing compost is very low
Cons of the Compost
The first and foremost disadvantage of composting is the foul smell. The decaying process creates a bad smell. It creates an unpleasant look to the viewer so installed in less view area of the garden. As the decaying process takes time so it takes a long time for composting. Compost areas may contain insect cockroach and snakes.
IF ANYONE YOU WANT TO PURCHASE PRODUCTS RELATED TO GARDENING. WE USE AMAZONE AFFILIATE PROGRAM, YOU CAN CLICK HERE FOR PURCHASING THE PRODUCTS.


AI and Addiction Treatment
Man in a business suit with a digitally created brain for his head.
You have probably heard a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) lately. AI has been around since the 1950s but pieces of the technology are finally gaining some traction in commercial applications such as Siri and Amazon Alexa.
AI and the machine learning algorithms behind it are gaining some traction in the behavioral health field. New research from the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society might help the Washington State addiction treatment community battle substance use disorder in youth.
This article will look at how AI-powered social networking might be used in the future in applications to support recovering addicts in Washington State and elsewhere.
Using AI For Peer Support
Substance use is a particularly difficult problem during high school years when teens often try illegal drugs and alcohol. But these forays into substance use can affect their entire lives. Indeed, there are hundreds of adults in Washington State addiction treatment that can trace their first use of these illicit substances back to their teenage years.
While you know that peer group support is an important part of recovery, especially for at-risk youth, making the wrong social connections can also be detrimental to the healing process. According to an article in USC Viterbi School of Engineering, "But if these groups are not properly structured, they can exacerbate the problems they intend to treat by encouraging the formation of friendships based on antisocial behavior."
Now researchers have developed an AI application applied to social network apps for recovery from substance use. The USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, an organization devoted to using computer science to solve the world's most difficult social problems, has developed AI that will sort membership in these therapeutic peer groups in Washington State addiction treatment programs.
The letters AI in red and yellow with colored arrows pointing to them.
Traditionally, trained professionals in the Washington State addiction treatment community have conducted peer group formation for therapeutic purposes. So, the study sought to compare the effectiveness of this human effort versus an intelligent computer algorithm.
While this is only one study, it showed the AI model potentially had a higher degree of success than its human counterparts.
The study was called "Influence Maximization for Social Network Based Substance Abuse Prevention." The goal was to develop an intelligent computer program, "which they hope will assist interventionists in substance abuse prevention."
In it, researchers compared the computer's analysis of social group connections between people and their history of substance use. The AI program made recommendations based on the likelihood of negative behavior within the peer group.
It turns out that AI can sort these social connections and help make intelligent choices to optimize these relationships – perhaps better than the human therapist. What does this mean for Washington State addiction treatment?
Washington State Addiction Treatment and AI
While it is too early to expect artificial intelligence to be regularly applied in Washington State addiction treatment, this study was an excellent first start. Researchers are hoping to continue their work and deploy the AI model further to optimize social connections within peer groups.
To find out more about addiction treatment resources in Washingtoncontact us today!


(13):RETURN
1450 IF L$=CHR$(&HD) THEN RETURN
1460 RETURN
1480 IF LEN(N$)=>128 THEN GOSUB 1230
1490 IF PP$=CHR$(26) THEN GOTO 1020
1500 RETURN
1520 PRINT CHR$(13):PRINT TAB(15):COLOR 7,0:PRINT " Writing block ";L;" of file ";CHR$(34);D$;CHR$(58);B$;CHR$(34);" to disk.";:COLOR 0,7:PRINT CHR$(13)
1530 RETURN
1550 IF ASC(D$)>73 THEN D$=CHR$(ASC(D$)-32)
1560 IF ASC(D$)<65 OR ASC(D$)>74 THEN GOTO 1580
1570 RETURN
1580 CLS:LOCATE 10,20:COLOR 7,0:PRINT "Illegal drive name. Try again.":COLOR 0,7
1590 LOCATE 12,30:PRINT "What drive?"
1600 D$=INKEY$:IF D$="" THEN 1600
1620 GOTO 1550
1630 IF (ERR=53) THEN CLS:LOCATE 10,1:PRINT " ";MID$(D$,1)+CHR$(58)+A$;" Does not exist.":PRINT:PRINT:PRINT:RESUME 710:ELSE PRINT ERR; ERL
1640 IF (ERR=53) THEN RESUME 910 ELSE PRINT ERR; ERL:END
1660 LOCATE 25,22:COLOR 7,0:IF JO$="Y" OR JO$="y" THEN PRINT " PUSH SPACE BAR TO SEE RECORD NUMBER ";ELSE PRINT " PUSH SPACE BAR TO SEE TEXT ";
1670 COLOR 0,7:PRINT:RETURN
GETMEM.ASM
cseg segment para public 'code'
org 100h
getmem proc far
intaddr equ 60h*4 ; interrupt address - int 60 hex
; Memory-resident program to get and hold a block of memory.
; To reserve a block of memory, enter 'GETMEM nn', where nn is the
; number of KB to be allocated. For example, 'GETMEM 32' reserves 32KB.
; NN can be from 1 to 63. The address of the block is saved at interrupt
; 60h (0:180h - 0:183h), with the length in the first word, and the segment
; in the second word.
; A '/x' option can be used to keep the program from allocating memory if
; a block of memory is already allocated.
 assume cs:cseg,ds:cseg,ss:nothing,es:nothing
p000: ; read command line
 mov dx,offset copyr
 call p100 ; print copyright
 mov si,80h ; point to start of command line
 mov ch,0
 mov cl,[si] ; get length
 mov ax,0
 mov bx,0
p010: inc si ; point to next character
 mov bl,[si] ; get the character
 cmp bl,'/' ; is it a slash?
 jnz p015 ; no
 mov bh,[si+1] ; get next character
 cmp bh,'x' ; is it 'x'?
 jz p012 ; yes
 cmp bh,'X' ; is it 'X'?
 jz p012 ; yes
 mov bh,0
 jmp p015
p012: mov norerun,bh ; set rerun flag
 mov bh,0
p015: cmp bl,'0' ; is it less than zero?
 jb p020 ; yes
 cmp bl,'9' ; is it greater than nine?
 ja p020 ; yes
 sub bl,'0' ; convert to binary
 push cx ; save cx
 mov cx,10
 mul cx ; multiply current ax by 10
 pop cx
 add ax,bx ; add latest digit
p020: loop p010 ; all done?
 cmp ax,1 ; is memory less than 1?
 jb p090 ; yes
 cmp ax,63 ; is memory greater than 63?
 ja p090 ; yes
 push ax ; save ax
 aam ; set up message
 xchg ah,al
 add ax,3030h ; make it ascii
 cmp al,30h ; leading zero?
 jnz p030 ; no
 mov al,20h ; make it a space
p030: mov msg1mem,ax ; move to message area
 pop ax ; restore ax
 mov cl,10
 sal ax,cl ; convert to KB
 mov memsize,ax ; save memory size
 push es ; set interrupt 60h
 mov ax,0
 mov es,ax
 mov di,intaddr ; interrupt address
 mov al,norerun ; is /x option present?
 cmp al,0
 jz p050 ; no
 mov ax,es:[di]
 cmp ax,0 ; any memory reserved?
 jz p050 ; no
 pop es
 int 20h ; yes - terminate
p050: mov ax,memsize ; length of block
 push cs
 pop bx ; code segment
 mov es:[di],ax ; modify interrupt
 mov es:[di+2],bx
 pop es
 mov dx,offset msg1 ; print message
 call p100
 mov dx,memsize ; set block size
 int 27h ; terminate and stay resident
p090: ; print error message
 mov dx,offset msg2
 call p100
 int 20h ; terminate
p100 proc near ; print message
 push ax
 mov ah,9
 int 21h
 pop ax
 ret
p100 endp
memsize dw 0 ; requested memory size
norerun db 0 ; rerun flag - non-zero if /x option
copyr db 'GETMEM - Copyright 1983 Data Base Decisions',10,13,'$'
msg1 db 'Reserving '
msg1mem dw '..'
 db ' KB of memory.',10,13,'$'
msg2 db 'Missing/invalid memory specification',7,10,13,'$'
getmem endp
cseg ends
end getmem

LABELPRT.BAS
10 ' MAKE SURE DIRECTRY.BIN IS ON THE DEFAULT DRIVE!
20 '
30 ' ** Written by Howard Glosser
40 ' ** from Jan. 1984 issue of SOFTALK magazine. pp 124-128.
50 '
60 ' ** MODIFIED FOR LABEL PRINTING (ON EPSON MX w/GT & FX) **
70 ' ** by Steven Maller (70436,7145) 1-19-84 **
80 '
90 ' **** Store DIRECTORY subroutine in string ****
100 CLS
110 LOCATE 13,20 : COLOR 25 : PRINT "TURN ON YOUR PRINTER!"
120 LPRINT CHR$(27);"@";
130 COLOR 7
140 CLS
150 KEY OFF
160 DEF SEG
170 SUBRT$=STRING$(159,32)
180 SUBLC%=VARPTR(SUBRT$)
190 GOSUB 610
200 BLOAD"DIRECTRY.BIN",DIRECT
210 ' ** Define constants necessary in program **
220 DIM DIRLST$(111)
230 FCB$=STRING$(33,32)
240 DTA$=STRING$(33,32)
250 FILLER$=STRING$(12,32)
260 MARK$ = STRING$(10,205)
270 COUNT%=0
280 ' ** Set DIRLST$(0) to blanks **
290 FOR LOOP%=0 TO 111:DIRLST$(LOOP%)=FILLER$:NEXT
300 CLS
310 ' ** Select drive for reading directory **
320 LOCATE 1,10 : PRINT MARK$; : PRINT " * * * ";
330 COLOR 10:PRINT "DISK-LABEL PRINTING PROGRAM";
340 COLOR 7 : PRINT " * * * " MARK$
350 LOCATE 10,10 : FOR Q = 1 TO 6 : PRINT MARK$; : NEXT
360 LOCATE 12,20 : COLOR 18 : PRINT "Make sure your printer is ready...";
370 COLOR 7
380 LOCATE 3,10,1
390 PRINT"Specify drive letter for directory (A B C D): ";
400 '
410 GOSUB 630:DRV$=KY$
420 ' ** Find out if drive letter is valid **
430 HIT%=INSTR("ABCD",DRV$)
440 IF HIT%=0 THEN SOUND 50,7:GOTO 380 ELSE PRINT DRV$
450 ' ** Call to DIRECTRY subroutine **
460 LOCATE ,,0:GOSUB 610
470 CALL DIRECT(DRV$,FCB$,DTA$,DIRLST$(0),COUNT%)
480 ' ** List results of DIRECTRY call **
490 GOSUB 730
500 LOCATE 5,10
510 PRINT"Directory on drive "DRV$" contains"COUNT%"entries."
520 PRINT
530 FOR LOOP%=0 TO COUNT%-1:LPRINT DIRLST$(LOOP%)SPC(1)


text:
Definitions of lead:
- noun: the playing of a card to start a trick in bridge
Example: "The lead was in the dummy"
- noun: a position of leadership (especially in the phrase 'take the lead')
Example: "He takes the lead in any group"
- noun: mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil
- noun: thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type in printing
- noun: an advantage held by a competitor in a race
Example: "He took the lead at the last turn"
- noun: evidence pointing to a possible solution
Example: "The police are following a promising lead"
- noun: the introductory section of a story
Example: "It was an amusing lead-in to a very serious matter"
- noun: a news story of major importance
- noun: (baseball) the position taken by a base runner preparing to advance to the next base
Example: "He took a long lead off first"
- noun: the angle between the direction a gun is aimed and the position of a moving target (correcting for the flight time of the missile)
- noun: a soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element; bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes readily to dull gray
Example: "The children were playing with lead soldiers"
- noun: the timing of ignition relative to the position of the piston in an internal-combustion engine
- noun: an indication of potential opportunity
Example: "A good lead for a job"
- noun: a jumper that consists of a short piece of wire
Example: "It was a tangle of jumper cables and clip leads"
- noun: restraint consisting of a rope (or light chain) used to restrain an animal
- noun: an actor who plays a principal role
- verb: tend to or result in
Example: "This remark lead to further arguments among the guests"
- verb: be ahead of others; be the first
- verb: pass or spend
Example: "Lead a good life"
- verb: cause to undertake a certain action
- verb: travel in front of; go in advance of others
- verb: take somebody somewhere
Example: "We lead him to our chief"
- verb: be in charge of
- verb: be conducive to
Example: "The use of computers in the classroom lead to better writing"
- verb: lead, extend, or afford access
- verb: cause something to pass or lead somewhere
- verb: lead, as in the performance of a composition
- verb: move ahead (of others) in time or space
- verb: result in
- verb: preside over
- verb: stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point
Search for lead at other dictionaries: OneLook, Answers.com, Merriam-Webster
"Works flawlessly!": RhymeZone apps for iPhone/iPad and Android!
Help, Feedback, Customize, Android app, iPhone/iPad app
Copyright © 2013 Datamuse


text:
A new study has been done comparing the neurological effects of dances like country dancing with other forms of physical activity like walking, stretching, and other activities. It shows that things such as social dance are different because of the demands it places on the mind and body could possibly be slowing neurological changes. The study shows that at the age of 40 people begin to perform worse on tests of processing speed than those who are younger, with effects continuing to accelerate over the decades. In the study by the University of Illinois, they recruited 174 people in their 60's and 70's with no form of cognitive impairment. They were split into 3 separate groups, the first group did a program of brisk walking 3 times a week, the second group did gentle stretching and balance training, and the third group was assigned to learn to dance, taking choreography classes 3 times a week. After 6 months, the volunteers returned to the lab and got the same brain scans as before. The scans showed that the first 2 groups deterioration in the white matter of the brain, especially the older volunteers. The third group who was receiving dance training did show improvement though. The dancers now had denser white matter in their Fornix, the part of the brain involved with processing speed and memory. Although exercise is important, it may be more beneficial to the brain and lessen deterioration of the brain to take up some form of social dance.
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Quick Answer: How Many 5th Thursdays Are There In 2020?
Are there months with 5 weeks?
Weekly Paychecks The following list shows which months have five paydays during those years: 2020: January, May, July, October.
2021: January, April, July, October, December.
2022: April, July, September, December..
How many Thursdays will there be in 2020?
53 ThursdaysHow many Thursdays are there in 2020? There are exactly 53 Thursdays in the year 2020.
How often are there 5 Thursdays in November?
How many Fridays are in the year 2020?
52 FridaysHow many Fridays are there in 2020? There are exactly 52 Fridays in the year 2020. Most years have 365 days, but a leap year has 366 days.
How many weeks are left in the year?
One of our most popular questions, how many weeks left this year! There are 3 weeks and 3 days left until the end of 2019 (until 31st December 2020).
What is the 100th day of the year 2020?
April 9Today in History: Today is Thursday, April 9, the 100th day of 2020.
How long do we have left until the world ends?
The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic countdown to the world's end, stands still at three minutes until midnight, scientists announced Tuesday. It remains at the position it moved to one year ago. That the clock moves no closer to midnight, the indicated end of humanity, remains "grave" news, its makers stressed.
What day out of 365 is today?
Today Sunday December 6, 2020 is … This page uses the ISO-8601 ordinal date format. There is also another less-used format: the 'ISO day of year' numbers, this is a number between 1 and 371, day 1 of the year is Monday of the first ISO week (where the first Thursday of the new year is in week 1).
How many Tuesdays and Thursdays are there in 2020?
How many Tuesdays are there in 2020? There are exactly 52 Tuesdays in the year 2020. Most years have 365 days, but a leap year has 366 days. That adds up to 52 weeks (where each week is exactly 7 days) PLUS 1 or 2 additional days.
How many days has there been in 2020 so far?
366 daysThe year 2020 has 366 days….Day Numbers for 2020.Day numberDay 24Days remaining342Days from today (Monday 7th)-318Week numberWeek 4% of year6.28 %69 more columns
Is there ever a 5th Thursday in November?
If November first falls on a Wednesday or a Thursday, the month of November will have five Thursdays. … Jack Wallace has answered this question with a neat table of years in which November has five Thursdays.
Is Thanksgiving on the 3rd or 4th Thursday?
Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. But that was not always the case. When Abraham Lincoln was president in 1863, he proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be our national Thanksgiving Day. … Grant chose the third Thursday for Thanksgiving Day.


text:
Author(s): Potgieter FJ, Wilke PI
Abstract Share this page
Abstract Vermiculite, pine shavings and unbleached eucalyptus pulp contact bedding were compared for dust content, dust production (as a result of animal activity), moisture absorption properties and ammonia production. The percentage of dust particles <300 microm found in pine shavings and vermiculite was 18 and 8 times greater respectively than was found in eucalyptus pulp. The lowest ammonia levels (<1-1 ppm), measured on day 7, were obtained using eucalyptus pulp. Although the ammonia levels obtained for vermiculite compared very well with those of pulp, high levels of dust, up to 5 times more than pulp, were experienced with vermiculite. Pine shavings were associated with the highest ammonia concentration (1-3 ppm), but produced approximately 50\% less dust than vermiculite. The water absorption properties obtained for pulp were between 35\% and 76\% higher than those obtained for vermiculite and pine shavings respectively.
This article was published in Lab Anim
and referenced in Journal of Veterinary Science & Technology


text:
What Is The Conoco Weather Clause (CWC)?
A charter party is contracted when a shipowner allows another party (commonly referred to as a charterer), to charter their vessel for the purpose of transporting cargo.
Within this agreement, the charterer would state the allotted time that is required to load and unload cargo to and from the vessel, which is known as laytime. Should the time frame for loading or unloading goods exceed the laytime, the shipowner is permitted to charge the charterer vessel demurrage fee.
The inverse is also true when the charterer completes the loading and unloading of goods earlier than the agreed laytime. The charterer is then allowed to claim a despatch fee from the shipowner.
There are various conditions and clauses that can affect laytime. In this article, we'll take a detailed look at the Conoco Weather Clause (CWC) and how it affects laytime and demurrage charges. We've also made sure to include a case study towards the end of the article for better understanding.
What Is the Conoco Weather Clause (CWC)?
The Conoco Weather Clause (CWC) is defined as "Delays in berthing for loading or discharging and any delays after berthing which are due to weather conditions shall count as one-half laytime or, if on demurrage, at one-half demurrage rate."
As such, CWC exists to ensure a shared burden between the shipowner and the charterer during unfavorable weather conditions that prevent berthing, loading, or unloading of goods.
How The Conoco Weather Clause Works
The Conoco Weather Clause is initiated by the charterer, and the ship owners are free to prove that any delays in berthing, loading, or unloading of goods are not caused by unfavorable weather conditions.
There are 2 principal guidelines to consider before a Conoco Weather Clause can be initiated:
- Laytime has already started.
- Proof, preferably documented, that the delays encountered are due to bad weather. The best evidence is to secure written confirmation from the port operator or the shipowner's agents that vessel operations have ceased due to bad weather resulting in port closure or work stoppage due to unforeseen weather conditions.
Establishing laytime is important because it is the basis for the computation of demurrage and disputes are often long undertakings. In the next section, we will discuss how laytime commences under the Asbatankvoy Charter Party and the Shellvoy Charter Party.
How Laytime Commences with Asbatankvoy Charter Party
In clause 9 established in the Asbatankvoy Charter Party, laytime can be established based on two requirements. First, a berth must be reachable on arrival (ROA), and second, a Notice of Readiness (NOR) has already been given by the master of the vessel.
Physical or Non-Physical obstructions do not form part of laytime such as:
- Non-availability of tugboats
- Congestion experienced in port
- Bad weather
- The NOR has already been issued but a vessel does not have access to its assigned berth
How Laytime Commences with Shellvoy 5 Charter Party
Under the Shellvoy 5 charter party agreement, an ROA is no longer required. Laytime can start based on two scenarios:
- 6 hours after the vessel arrives at its assigned berth and written notice has been given that the vessel is ready to load/unload cargo.
- If the vessel does not proceed directly to its berth, laytime may start 6 hours after the vessel is in the assigned waiting area or in what is defined as the port's waiting area, a NOR has already been issued by the Master of the vessel, and the berth is readily accessible.
A berth is deemed to be inaccessible if it is affected by bad weather, waiting for tugboats, or within the limits set by port traffic control. If a berth is accessible, but the vessel cannot dock due to weather conditions, laytime commences and CWC can be applicable.
When The Conoco Weather Clause Applies
Taking both types of charter parties into account, the Conoco Weather Clause applies when either of the following conditions is valid:
- The vessel is in berth and bad weather has disrupted loading and/or unloading operations.
- The vessel hasn't reached its assigned berth and is unable to berth due to bad weather conditions but the laytime has already commenced.
The Conoco Weather Clause applies only up to the time when bad weather ceases. Any other reasons that contribute to delay, such as port congestion, have to be assessed differently based on the actual events and circumstances.
Case Study: Conoco Weather Clause
One infamous scenario featuring a Conoco Weather Clause can be found in the case of Moutain Blossom. This case was arbitrated in New York with the facts of the case as follows.
Under the Asbatankvoy charter party, the vessel had arrived at the loading port and was unable to dock due to berth availability. While waiting, the port authorities declared that the port will be closed due to heavy fog.
The charterer sought protection and initiated the Conoco Weather Clause for port closure beyond their control. The arbitrator ruled that since the vessel could not get into the assigned berth due to the fog, one-half of the laytime did not count as part of the total laytime.
Co-Founder & Writer
About the Author
Gerrit is a certified international supply chain management professional with 15 years of industry experience, having worked for one of the largest global freight forwarders.
As the co-founder of freightcourse, he's committed to his passion for serving as a source of education and information on various supply chain topics.