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Squirrel Appreciation Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated on January 21st every year, created to raise awareness and appreciation for squirrels. It was first established by wildlife rehabilitator Christy Hargrove in 2001.
So Squirrel Appreciation Day 2023 will be on January 21st, 2023.
The day is typically marked by events and activities that focus on educating people about squirrels and their role in the ecosystem. It is also a day to celebrate these animals and appreciate the role they play in the environment. Some people might take this opportunity to feed the squirrels, learn more about them, or appreciate them in other ways.
Squirrels may generally be considered an unwanted annoyance, yet their presence benefits the ecosystem and, in cities, contributes to park attractiveness. While initially intending to hide nuts to eat later, squirrels unintentionally plant seeds that eventually sprout into trees, aiding in the rejuvenation of the forest. They're the gardeners of nature!
In American cities, squirrels weren't common until the middle of the 19th century. You would need to alter the landscape by adding parks and trees in order to have squirrels in the centre of cities. Additionally, you had to encourage people to start feeding the animals instead of shooting squirrels in order to alter how they acted.
Franklin Square in Philadelphia saw the first recorded introduction in 1847. A few years later, in 1850, Boston and New Haven followed suit and imported squirrels. When many squirrels either died or were destroyed in the 1860s due to worries that they would annoy birds and cause pest problems, the squirrel experiment was over. However, releases resumed in the 1870s, this time on a bigger scale when vast parks were constructed in important cities like New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and others, giving squirrels a welcoming place to dwell and grow.
Squirrel Appreciation Day Observances
|Fun Holiday: Squirrel Appreciation Day Observances|
|2023||Sat||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2024||Sun||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2025||Tue||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2026||Wed||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2027||Thu||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2028||Fri||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2029||Sun||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2030||Mon||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2031||Tue||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
|2032||Wed||21 Jan||Squirrel Appreciation Day|
Why is Squirrel Appreciation Day?
Squirrels play an important role in many ecosystems, acting as seed dispersers and helping to maintain a balance in the forest and other habitats. They are also important prey for many predators and are an indicator of the health of their environment. However, despite their importance, squirrels are often viewed as pests by many people, and they are sometimes trapped, poisoned or killed as a result. Squirrel Appreciation Day is intended to change this perception and to help people understand the important role that squirrels play in the ecosystem.
The day is typically marked by events and activities that focus on educating people about squirrels, such as lectures, nature walks, and educational programs. It is also a day for people to appreciate these animals, whether by observing them in the wild, feeding them, or simply enjoying their presence in our lives.


LancAstro.py
This internship aims to streamline and consolidate the various Python scripts used by the XGAL group, and provide examples of how Python can be used to create figures used in scientific papers outputted by academics.
LancAstro.py will be the main focus of this internship; a Python package of modules that will be useful for staff and students alike.
Find my blogs here, portioned into thrice; Alpha, Beta and Release editions!
Find a comprehensive set of python modules for plotting various things developed by XGAL intern Harry Baker here!


Saturday, July 24, 2021
Shorebird numbers and nesting habits on the Chatham Islands
TitleShorebird numbers and nesting habits on the Chatham Islands
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2002
AuthorsYoung, EC
JournalNotornis
Volume49
Issue3
Pagination166-174
Type of Articlepaper
Keywordsbrown skua, Catharacta lonnbergi, Chatham Islands, nesting habits, population numbers, shorebirds
Abstract
Nesting pairs of brown skuas (Catharacta lonnbergi), black-backed gulls (Larus dominicanus), red-billed gulls (Larus novaehollandiae), white-fronted terns (Sterna striata), Chatham Island oystercatchers (Haematopus chathamensis) and shore plovers (Thinornis novaeseelandiae) were counted during 10 seasons on Rangatira (South East) and Mangere islands of the Chatham Islands. It was concluded that the small numbers of skuas, oystercatchers, and shore plovers on the islands was a result of habitat shortage, but that populations of the colonially-breeding gull and tern were constrained by food limitation in the surrounding seas. Whereas skuas, black-backed gulls, and terns nested in the open with conspicuous nests the other shore species on the islands had concealed nests. Comparison with nesting on Chatham Island, the New Zealand mainland, and subantarctic islands suggested that concealed nesting by red-billed gulls, oystercatchers, and shore plovers was most likely in response to the presence on the islands of the predacious brown skua.
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While costumes and background scenery typically capture the most attention during productions, lighting is integral in bringing events and stage stories to life. Stage lighting can drastically change the mood and feel of a play or music production. Like sound, lighting can create 'organised chaos' or evoke 'thoughtful emotion' with different higher-frequency visual wavelengths.
In fact, light is an artistic aspect of a performance, just like music and sound. So, as an artful expression, how does one appreciably enhance their event with the proper lighting? How does one choose the right lighting in the same manner a musician decides the suitable scales and rhythms to match an event?
This in-depth article answers these questions and provides some valuable tips on the different stage lighting that can be deployed for events.
Why is stage lighting important?
As a core component of modern-day productions, stage lighting is indispensable for several reasons:
Clear illumination makes it easier for performers to relay their art form to the audience. Our eyes are the first medium of interaction that serves as a bridge between performers and audience. In this regard, the central core role of stage lighting is to ensure maximum visibility for stage performers.
The tone and mood of an event can easily change due to lighting. Stage lighting can be matched to the content of an event to transmit the right emotions to the audience. For example, a soft and warm light glow can relay a happy scene, while dim and cool hues can help amplify a sad ballad during a music concert.
Specific colours are typically associated with different moods. For instance, red is associated with intense feelings of love, while blue is usually associated with sadness. Furthermore, stage lighting can complement effects such as rain or a storm to improve their believability. For instance, using flashing lights during a thunderstorm scene.
Stage lighting can help set a scene for the narrative one wants to sell. For example, a moving headlight can create an optical illusion of the sun rising in the morning while backlit scrims can create the illusion of a sunny day, starry night, or even a fire.
A subtle spotlight can also emphasise the role of a performer. Thus, stage lighting can set principal actors apart from the rest of the stage.
Stage lighting can be used to direct an audience's attention to a particular performance aspect. The correct light can highlight artwork or an architectural feature on a set. Addtionally, they can be set to distinguish indoor or outdoor settings, the time of the year, and even the time of the day.
What type of lighting is needed on stage?
Different types of stage lighting can illuminate the stage or create a particular mood or atmosphere, depending on one's desired outcome. For example:
Front lights typically serve as the primary source of illumination during an event. Front stage lights can produce soft, diffused, shadowless, or hard, shadow-producing light, depending on the desired effect. They can also come in handy to control the presence of shadows.
Backlights create depth and help separate a performer from the background. However, to deliver a more dimensional appearance where the artist pops from the background, you typically need both backlighting and downlighting.
Downlighting is often used to wash a stage area with soft or harsh light. They are usually installed at the bottom of the stage to shine light upwards towards the performer. As a standard, downlighting typically requires a bit of overlap to have enough exposure.
Side lighting is primarily deployed to highlight the sides of a performer's body, especially when they are walking. Side lighting also helps fill in gaps left by front lighting. With these gaps filled, performers' actions and movements may appear much more realistic.
High side lighting
High-side lighting illuminates the top of the performer's head, neck and shoulders to enable audiences to see their facial expressions. High-side lighting is typically mounted between 30 and 60-degree angles to illuminate the upper part of one's body or any stage items.
Two primary forms of high-sided lighting are high-sided left and high-sided right. These can be combined to accentuate a performer's elbows, legs, top of the head and middle of the chest.
Types of stage lights
Light is scientifically defined by its frequency and amplitude. However, in the context of stage productions, the different stage lights utilised in events can be distinguished by their intensity, form, colour, direction, and movement. Here is a list of the most common stage lights.
A cyc light is an open-faced fixture that produces an even wash of light over a cyc (a tall piece of fabric) or a vertical surface. Cyc lights can be positioned on the floor or hung close to a backdrop to cover the backdrop in a sheet of light effectively.
An Ellipsoidal is a narrow beam angle light that highlights specific subjects or elements on a stage. Usually, multiple ellipsoidal units are used to draw the audience's attention to a particular aspect of a performance. Ellipsoidal lights typically come with adjustable focus and can be combined with gobos to project logos or patterns.
Floodlights are stationary lights that are not automated or controllable but provide outstanding illumination. Stage floodlights deliver wide beams of light that 'flood' an entire stage. They fill the stage with soft, evenly distributed illumination so the audience can clearly see everything they're meant to see onstage.
A followspot is a unique spotlight that casts an intense, focused light beam to give extra focus to a performer moving around a stage. These lights are handy when one isn't sure what path a performer may take and needs to respond in real-time since they're traditionally operated manually.
Furthermore, the operator can adjust the beam's intensity level and size and easily change the colour with built-in panels.
Fresnel lights were originally designed for lighthouse uses. However, over time, they became a key component in stage lighting. Fresnels have concentric rings on the lens and are an excellent choice for washes. They can also produce more narrow beams of light with a soft edge and are great for offering high-definition shadows.
Moving head lights are the most dynamically versatile stage lighting fixtures for augmenting stage performances. Moving heads offer a wide variety of beam angle ranges. For example, wash (the widest), beam (the narrowest), spot (wider than beam though thinner than wash), or hybrid (a combination of the three beam angles).
In practice, moving heads are sophisticated as they are motorised and operated with a joystick-like gear to manipulate colours and focus adjustments. Furthermore, moving head fixtures can be supplemented by various unique colours and gobo patterns.
Parabolic aluminised reflectors (PARcan) are unique stage lighting fixtures that create narrow profile spots and a large floodlight. They are typically stationary and are characterised by a barrel of light that is distinctly can-shaped. Because of their durability, they are a constant fixture in nightclubs and even commercial studios.
Strip lights usually provide a multi-coloured, effect-driven type of lighting suited to many music genres. They vary in size and are typically employed by DJs to highlight aspects of their audio output or equipment.
Blinders are used in productions and concerts to produce sudden bursts of bright light. They are available in a range of sizes and configurations, from small LED panels to high-output fixtures. Blinders can be easily controlled, allowing lighting designers to create complex sequences and dramatic effects.
What makes good stage lighting?
Customised lights based on event or performance
Good stage lighting has to be intentional and based on a theme. Each event or production may have disparate lighting needs based on the theme, set design, and desired atmosphere. As such, customised lights can be designed to fit these unique needs.
Knowing when to use various types of lights
Choosing the suitable types of lights and knowing when to use them can help bring your artistic vision to life by providing greater control over colour, intensity, beam angles, and effects. Remember, lighting intensities and effects may be crucial in setting the mood, evoking specific emotions and enhancing the overall storytelling.
Knowing the basic lighting positions
Strategic positioning and programming of stage lights can help draw the audience's attention to the focal points of a production, enhancing the overall visual impact.
Remember, always employ lighting designs that are flexible, adjustable and adaptable to different scenes and settings within a performance.
Creating lighting zones
Creating lighting zones can enable you to achieve a balance between light and shadows. Appropriately managing this contrast helps create depth, dimension, and visual interest on stage.
Visit the venue beforehand to determine how many lights are needed
Planning is essential to achieve excellent stage lighting. Always do a site survey and visit to determine lighting angles and the number of lights you may need to create a cohesive visual experience.
Angle the lights correctly
Always angle the lights to match the evolving needs of the event or production. Furthermore, ensure you have the means to make real-time adjustments to create the desired effects.
Consult with a professional
Always seek out lighting experts to execute your stage lighting. These experts are always well-versed and experienced in the technical elements of choosing pattern projections, dynamic colour changes, moving lights, and other creative lighting techniques that can add visual depth to your event.
Lighting for stage rental in Malaysia
Whether you're a full-time musician in Malaysia who is always on the road or a corporate brand that occasionally hosts events, you'll probably need to hire stage lighting for ample illumination.
Hiring stage lighting equipment is a cost-effective, scalable and flexible option. It allows one to customise their lighting setup for each event without the hassle of maintenance and storage.
Rental Supplier offers audio-visual equipment, professional sound systems and stage lighting system rentals

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


3 Ways To Improve Your IT
IT Provider Partnership
Increase Your Productivity with Multiple Monitors
Dual Monitor SetupConventional wisdom says that messy work spaces lead to a disorganised mind. Mess prevents productivity and begins to hamper your professionalism. Shouldn't that also apply to the computer desktop?
The easiest way to clean and organise your digital desktop is to add more space and the simplest way to do this is by adding another screen. This doubles the available room and makes organisation a breeze.
Getting work done with a single-monitor involves wasted time switching between windows and distracts from the work being done. Stacking windows together, side-by-side, or top and bottom on a single monitor wastes valuable screen real estate. The resulting clutter of windows also makes it hard to focus on what is important.
While tasks can be tackled feasibly with a single monitor; two or more monitors makes the same tasks faster, simpler, and much more enjoyable.
Two Monitors, Many Uses
Data entry with two monitors is far easier than data entry with one. Having source data on one screen, laid out in large type, and the destination on another makes the job a breeze. By eliminating the need to scroll tiny windows means that the same job can be done in a fraction of the time.
Graphic design, image manipulation, and picture editing are key areas that make the most of a multiple screen setup.
Beyond Just Two
You can have tasks such as those below on a second or third screen, while keeping your main monitor free to focus on your immediate work:
 - A team chat window to keep on top of collaboration
 - Status updates for business-critical services
 - Latest stock prices
 - Emails
It is not uncommon for stock traders or financial analysts to maintain 6 or more screens!
Many uses this to track various stocks or indices so they don't miss any changes.
Setup How You Like It
Multiple monitors can be arranged in many different configurations. While traditionally positioned in landscape orientation, second, third, or fourth monitors can also be rotated 90 degrees to portrait orientation.
This portrait orientation is commonly used often by software engineers, editors and other users who need to review a large amount of text. The lengthwise orientation allows multiple pages to be read from the screen at any one time.
Multi-screen setups behave the same as if all the monitors were just a single screen, no matter how they are arranged. The mouse moves seamlessly from one monitor to another as if there was no difference between them. From the user's perspective, there is no difference as to how they interact at all.
A Boost to Productivity
A survey by Jon Peddie research found that adding an extra monitor boosted a user's output by as much as 20 to 30 percent! A productivity advantage of even 10 percent is prized and very hard to come by in the business world. Receiving a productivity reward of over 20 percent for just the cost of adding a second monitor is something few firms can afford to pass up.
So if you are in Adelaide, South Australia, give us a call to add a second or third monitor to your current setup – 08 8326 4364 or _EMAIL_.


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- Don't leave off the www
Many print publications and radio spots leave off the "www" of a web address because it's seen as clutter. This can be a bad practice if the website doesn't work without the "www" portion.
- Don't publicize https:// links
The extra "s" of an encrypted website often confuses users, especially when it's published in a print publication. The better solution is to publish an address that's easy to remember that automatically redirects to your secure website. For example, _URL_ points to _URL_ To get a redirection for your website, email _EMAIL_
- Don't put punctuation immediately after a link address
Never place periods, commas, etc. immediately after an email address or web address. Many people assume this is part of your address, which makes it not work when they try to use it. Leave off the punctuation (as I have done in the previous paragraph), reword your sentence so punctuation isn't near the address, or use a colon at the end of your sentence before the web address to break the address away from the sentence.
When Using Email
- Don't assume the link can be activated from the email message
Some email software still doesn't allow links within email messages. As such, you shouldn't include linked words within your email unless you're sure your audience's software can access these links.
- Long links will word-wrap and may not work correctly
Email software may not be able to handle multi-line links—it often only links the first line of the link. If you have a long link you need to publicize, email _EMAIL_ for a redirection.
- Always include the full link, including http://
Don't drop off the http:// portion of a link because email software often uses this indicator to turn an address into an actual link. (This advice can be ignored if the web address begins with "www.")
When Emailing Newsletters
- Provide a way to unsubscribe
Most people hate to get spam. If you're mass emailing a group of people, make sure to tell them how they can get off the list receiving the email. Also, tell people how they can subscribe—you never know when someone will forward your email to a colleague.
- Display the email address sent to, if possible
If you're emailing a group, try to reference the email address the message was sent to initially. This prevents you from getting blamed for spam if someone forwards the email to a friend.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Definitions for safety factor
safety factor, factor of safety(noun)
the ratio of the breaking stress of a structure to the estimated maximum stress in ordinary use
The ratio of the maximum stress or load which something can withstand to the stress or load which it was designed to withstand under normal operation.
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"safety factor." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2013. Web. 24 May 2013. .

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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Dynamic Modeling and Parametric Resonance Analysis for Fast Transit Systems
Date: 2020/08/03 - 2020/08/03
Academic Seminar: Dynamic Modeling and Parametric Resonance Analysis for Fast Transit Systems
Speaker: Dr. Hao Gao, University of Southern California
Time: 9-10:00 a.m., August 3rd, 2020 (Monday)
Location: via Zoom (Meeting ID: 64711772740 Password: 6676)
Fast transit system is a class of systems with vast engineering applications, such as vacuum tube transportation (Hyperloop), maglev trains, cable transportation and weapon systems (railgun). Those applications share two common features: (1) subsystems (vehicles, cargos, or projectiles) conveyed by the supporting structure are moving at relatively high speeds; (2) subsystems are likely to move in a sequence and with certain patterns. Under the circumstances, unexpected vibration of the supporting structure with large and ever-increasing amplitude can be induced by the moving subsystems, causing instability issue and extreme stresses. Therefore, a systematic dynamic model of coupled rigid-flexible systems with accurate and efficient solution method becomes essentially important for this type of applications.
A semi-analytical method was proposed to give a systematic modeling for the coupled system. Instead of using finite element formulation, the coupled system is discretized via generalized assumed-mode method. It takes the analytical eigenfunctions of the structure as comparison functions to achieve good convergence and accuracy in solution. Another issue in the time-variant rigid-flexible systems is the inconsistent system dimension due to time-varying number of subsystems being coupled to the structure. To resolve this issue, an extended solution domain method (ESDM) was proposed by the author. It defines extended virtual solution domains in addition to the original structure domain so that all subsystems are always inside the extended domain and coupled to an "extended" structure. With the above two methods, transient response of the coupled system can be solved via numerical integration scheme.
Besides the transient response, system stability is also of great interest. To predict the stability and parametric resonance of the coupled time-variant system, a new form of governing equation based on sequential state equations was developed and a novel solution method was proposed by the author. By representing the system response with time-domain mapping matrix, an analytical stability criterion was established by the author for the coupled rigid-flexible system. Stability of the supporting structure excited by periodically passing subsystems is easily determined by comparing the spectral radius of the mapping matrix to unity. The proposed method is capable of handling flexible coupling between the supporting structure and moving subsystems which is not available in the literature for the parametric resonance of a supporting structure conveying moving subsystems.
The semi-analytical modeling and time-domain mapping solution in combination provides a systematic framework of modeling and dynamics analysis for fast transit systems. It allows people to perform not only dynamics analysis, but also stability prediction, parameter optimization, and vibration suppression/control for the coupled fast transit systems.
Dr. Hao Gao worked in the Dynamic Systems Lab (DSL) with Prof. Bingen Yang at University of Southern California and obtained his Ph. D. at 2019. After that, he joined the Virgin Hyperloop as a Dynamic Engineer in the System Loads Analysis Method (SLAM) team and engaged in the development of integrated vehicle model and dynamics analysis for the Hyperloop project.
With years of experience in dynamics and vibration analysis, his research interest is focused on modeling and dynamics analysis of distributed parameter systems, including rapid transit system, fast shooting weaponry, deployable structures and complex/periodic structures. He has developed a systematic method to model coupled rigid-flexible system with time-variant couplings. The proposed model and method allow people to perform dynamics analysis on time-variant coupled rigid-flexible systems and predict parametric resonance caused by the moving bodies.


Can You Melt Steel At Home?
Can I melt silver at home?
Put the silver in the crucible and keep the temperature in the oven until it melts.
To melt silver it must be heated to 1763 degrees Faringit (962 degrees Celsius).
Take the crucible with heat-resistant forceps and while the silver is still liquid, pour it into the mold prepared in advance..
Is stainless steel wool flammable?
To reduce the chance of fire and lessen friction, the slicing tool is kept cool with oil, but this means the steel wool itself contains some oil, which makes it highly flammable and likely to spontaneously combust later on.
Can you melt down sterling silver?
If you melt it down, you destroy all except the metal value, and you even destroy that because you will obliterate the hallmark stamp showing that is is sterling silver. In the case of silver, even a simple cup may have a value at least double that of the metal. The melted metal will not be more transactable.
How can I heat steel at home?
Put on heavy gloves and safety glasses before heating the steel. Have your container of room-temperature oil or water available for cooling. Hold the metal with a pair of metal tongs. Apply the heat, either by putting the metal into the forge or oven, or by heating it with the torch.
What is the easiest way to melt metal at home?
The easiest way to melt metal into liquid is to heat it in a small, enclosed vessel that is heated from below. You can make your own using a small empty propane tank or metal bucket, plaster of paris, sand, metal pipe, charcoal briquettes, and a steel can.
What acid can melt steel?
nitric acidSteel can be dissolved with a diluted solution of nitric acid and water. The chemical make up of nitric acid reacts to the iron in steel, producing iron nitrate and hydrogen gas. As this chemical reaction takes place, the steel begins to dissolve.
Is stainless steel fire rated?
Stainless steel has many qualities that make it ideal as a construction material. One of these is its inherent oxidation resistance and continued strength at elevated temperatures. … Stainless steels do not have an intrinsic 'fire rating' and so their fire resistance is tested on specific fabrications.
Can I melt down pennies and sell the copper?
As a result, with only a few wartime exceptions, any penny from 1981 or earlier — and some made in 1982 — have a high copper content. At current copper prices, the melt value of older pennies is well over two cents. Melt values are theoretical because actually melting down pennies is illegal.
How do you make steel on little alchemy?
How to make steel in Little Alchemy 2?ash + metal.charcoal + metal.coal + metal.metal + mineral.
Can you melt stainless steel at home?
The melting point of stainless steel is 1510°C (2750°F) so you need an induction furnace that can handle this temperature. The furnace will be charged vibratory conveyor. … Depending on the amount of stainless steel that needs to be melted, an accurate amount of charge will be needed to accomplish the melting process.
Can hydrochloric acid melt steel?
Hydrochloric acid dissolves the less active metals, such as zinc and magnesium, easily. It dissolves the more-resistant iron, copper and related metals less easily, or not at all. Other chemicals, such as nitric acid, will dissolve some metals that hydrochloric acid will not.
Is steel stronger than iron?
Steel is roughly 1,000 times stronger than iron in its purest form, and it can be recycled without loss of strength. Steel is the main material used in delivering renewable energy like solar, hydro, and wind power.
What is it called when you melt metal together?
Welding is a way of tightly bonding two metals by melting them where they meet, while soldering involves making a joint between components in an electric or electronic circuit. …
Can I melt copper at home?
If you want to melt copper at home, you'll be pleased to know you don't need an industrial induction furnace to do it. If you're only melting small amounts of copper, you can do it with a blowtorch or on a stovetop. You may use it for home crafts or melt it into ingots for storage.
What's the easiest metal to melt?
Will stainless steel melt in a fire?
A small flame can erupt into a larger fire or even an explosion. … Since stainless steel cannot catch fire. It will not aid in the propagation of spreading flames in the case of a standard structural conflagration. Stainless steels are also selected for their oxidation resistance at high temperatures and their strength.
Can stainless steel be burned?
Therefore, the answer is yes: fire can corrode stainless steel. If your stainless steel is a big solid block rather than a super-high-surface-area pad of steel wool, the process will be a lot slower, but it will still happen over time.
Can acid destroy a diamond?
No, acids cannot dissolve diamonds, for the simple reason that a diamonds carbon atoms are too tightly packed together for the Hydrogen ions to be able to dissolve the substance. Hope this has been helpful!
What is the most powerful acid?
fluoroantimonic acidThe world's strongest superacid is fluoroantimonic acid. Fluoroantimonic acid is a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and antimony pentafluoride. The carbonane superacids are the strongest solo acids.
Can I melt silver with a propane torch?
The typical propane "plumber's torch" can be used for melting silver for jewelry-making. … Melt down bits and pieces of silver wire, filings, old earring wires and even whole pieces of sterling silver jewelry, using a propane torch.


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North Carolina soils lab to speed processingNorth Carolina soils lab to speed processing
Weather conditions have allowed growers and crop consultants to sample earlier than normal.With so many samples coming in, processing currently requires five to six weeks.A new laboratory instrument — which should be up and running in early January — is expected to boost the lab's processing capacity to more than 3,200 soil samples a day.
December 13, 2010
Soil testing at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Agronomic Services Division is in very high demand this fall.
Weather conditions have allowed growers and crop consultants to sample earlier than normal. In November, the lab analyzed 12 percent more samples than it did last year, and thousands more are lined up to be tested.
With so many samples coming in, processing currently requires five to six weeks. The division is taking steps to reduce the slowdown. A new laboratory instrument — which should be up and running in early January — is expected to boost the lab's processing capacity to more than 3,200 soil samples a day. This represents an increase of at least 400 samples per day above current capacity and would be a record.
David Hardy, NCDA&CS Soil Testing Section chief, reminds growers that the soil lab has more than 70 years of experience providing soil-specific recommendations and results.
"In addition to testing for nutrient levels, the lab also performs two analytical tests that allow us to class our soils for the purpose of making reliable lime and fertilizer recommendations, which have been field tested here in North Carolina," Hardy said. "But one of the best reasons to use the state lab is that we offer free advisory services through our network of regional agronomists.
"Clients who use NCDA&CS services know that analyses are thorough and complete, that recommendations are crop- and area-specific, and that advisory support is always available," he said.
Hardy knows that growers are anxious to get results. High commodity prices are causing many to consider shifting to crops such as cotton. For planning purposes, lime and fertilizer recommendations are critical. With land preparation for the 2011 crop season still several months away, Hardy said growers still have time to get the benefits of thorough soil testing.
The Field Services Section has 13 regional agronomists who can make on-site visits. They can provide advice on collecting and submitting agronomic samples, interpreting test results, liming, fertilization, irrigation and nematode management.
To contact the agronomist for your area, visit _URL_
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Nov 05, 2016 - 07:18 AM
The upper LED is used to indicate polarity and the corresponding uActivate test ports located at the top of the uActivate. The Color of the LED indicates which test port is the power side which is typically terminal 30 of the relay. By default the other port is relay terminal 87.
The lower LED also indicates the polarity and the corresponding test port - the pin tip sockets located on either side of the LED. Typically, the LED color indicates which test point is the relay 86 terminal. The lower LED is actiavted only by the systen control circuit - when this LED lights up, the system is trying to actiave the relay.


Survival Tip of the WeekTrash that Saves
Littering is illegal and harmful to the environment; that being said, some items often seen as litter can be used as tools in an emergency.
A few items that you may come across when on trails are glass bottles, aluminum cans, plastic water bottles and plastic bags. All of these items are trash that just may save your life.
The glass bottle has two possible purposes. The first is a water carrying device. It's important not to try and boil water in it though; doing so could break the bottle, causing possible injury and dumping water all over your fire. A bottle can also be used as a cutting device. The edge of a broken bottle is very sharp and can be used to cut cordage and other materials.
Aluminum cans have the same uses as bottles: they can carry water and be used to cut materials. Cans have a few bonus features as well: an aluminum can can be used to boil water in. When polished with a shirt it can also act as a signaling mirror.
Plastic bags have a few uses. Of course you can use it in the way it was designed and carry stuff in it. You can also use it to keep clothing dry in a storm or tie it to a stick and use it as a flag for signaling rescue crews.
The next time you go on a trip, pick up trash you come across on your journey. Not only does it clean up the environment and make it better for everyone else but it can also give you the tools you need in a survival situation.
Story By
Mitchell Quartz
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By the Spotsylvania Department of Tourism
From The Start...
Blacks first arrived in isolated and sparsely populated Spotsylvania County along with white settlers in the early 1700's. Through the years before the Civil War, as slaves and occasionally as free men and women, they were an important force in area development. Occupations included labor as farm and plantation workers, as domestic servants, and as artisans, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, and fine needleworkers. They also worked in the iron industries, mining, construction, shipping on the Rappahannock River, and in their own businesses.
By the first half of the 19th century, Spotsylvania County's population reached about 11,000, overhalf of whom were black.
Alex Haley's award winning novel, Roots, cast his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, as a slave of a Spotsylvania family.


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While reading "C++ Primer Plus 5th edition", I saw this piece of code:
 cout << ch;
So, this will lead to display the following character after ch. But, If I did it that way:
 cout << ch+1;
Now, cout will think ch is an int(try typecasting). So, why cout does so? And why if I added 1 to a char it will produce a number?. And why there's a difference between: ch++, and ch + 1.
share|improve this question
you probably want ch = ch + 1 – kenny Aug 2 '09 at 11:00
I think he means cout << ch + 1, which indeed prints an int instead of a char – itsadok Aug 2 '09 at 11:01
Thanks itsadok, that's what I meant. – Loai Najati Aug 2 '09 at 11:08
4 Answers 4
up vote 18 down vote accepted
The reason this occurs is the type of the literal 1 is int. When you add an int and a char you get an int, but when you increment a char, it remains a char.
Try this:
_TAG_
void print_type(char)
 std::cout << "char\n";
void print_type(int)
 std::cout << "int\n";
void print_type(long)
 std::cout << "long\n";
int main()
 char c = 1;
 int i = 1;
 long l = 1;
 print_type(c); // prints "char"
 print_type(i); // prints "int"
 print_type(l); // prints "long"
 print_type(c+i); // prints "int"
 print_type(l+i); // prints "long"
 print_type(c+l); // prints "long"
 print_type(c++); // prints "char"
 return 0;
share|improve this answer
print_type(c+c); // prints "int" – Avram Aug 2 '09 at 14:50
_USER_: yep, binary arithmetic operators never operate on less than an int. It's fairly early on in the spec. – Steve Jessop Aug 2 '09 at 18:11
Thanks for that. It's really a good answer. – Loai Najati Aug 3 '09 at 11:01
Please note - this is the answe to the original question, which has since been edited.
No it won't. It is not possible to change the type of a variable in C++.
increments whatever is in ch.
ch + 1;
takes the value (contents) of ch, adds 1 to it and discards the result. Whatever is in ch is unchanged.
share|improve this answer
What on earth gave me this idea?:D – Loai Najati Aug 2 '09 at 10:59
-1 because you don't answer the question which was "why does c+1 gives an int?" which has a real answer. See answer from _USER_ – Vincent Robert Aug 2 '09 at 11:23
_USER_ The questioner has changed the question since I answered it - see the edit history. – anon Aug 2 '09 at 11:26
Yes, I did. Thanks Neil. – Loai Najati Aug 3 '09 at 10:59
The statement ++ch; increments ch whereas ch + 1; doesn't.
share|improve this answer
Also, rememeber that '++ch' will do the increment before actually running the statement it is in, so that is why it remains a char.
int i = 0;
cout << ++i << endl;
cout << i++ << endl;
// both will print out 1.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer


The Tiger Who Came To Tea Card Game
The Tiger Who Came To Tea Card Game
Quantity Required:
The Tiger Who Came To Tea Memory Card Game
The classic game of pairs with a twist.
To start shuffle the cards and place face down on a large surface. The youngest player goes first and turns over two cards and shows the other players what's on them. If it's a matching pair they keep them, if not the cards are turned back over in their original place. Play continues to the next person on the player's left. The key to success is remembering where the different cards are so you can select a matching pair when it's your turn. Here's the twist - if a player picks up a card with Dad walking in the door shouting 'I'm Home', the player shouts 'I'm Home' and all the cards have to be shuffled around so no-one knows where each of the cards are.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea Memory Card Game features 54 jumbo cards beautifully illustrated with scenes from Judith Kerr's classic children's storybook.
Not Suitable for children under 3 years.


text:
Choose a poetry book, storybook, and non-fiction book to read outside under a shady tree. Can the children identify the books?
R.L. 10 Reading Buddies
Divide children into pairs and let them each choose a favorite book. Go out on the playground, find a shady spot, and enjoy sharing their books with each other.
*Encourage them to ask each other questions about the books they read.
RF. 1.d Alphabet Walk
Write letters on a paved surface with chalk. Challenge the children to step on the letters as they name them. Can they think of something that starts with each sound?
RF. 3.c Word Hopscotch
Draw a hopscotch grid on a paved surface. Write high frequency words in each section. Children hop on the spaces as they read the words.
SL. 2.a Talking Stick
Choose a stick on the playground and then have the children sit in a circle under a tree. Explain that you will start a story. As you pass the stick around, the child holding the stick can add to the story. Only the person holding the stick is allowed to talk. You might want to start a story about the day a space ship landed on the playground or the day animals started to talk.
L.1.e Prepositions on the Move
Using playground equipment, call out various prepositions, such as on, off, over, under, by, between, to, from for the children to demonstrate.
L.5.b We Can Do Opposites
Gather children around playground equipment and tell them you will call out a word. Can they demonstrate the opposite? For example, if the teacher said down, the children would climb up. If the teacher said front, the children would move to the back. Other words could be over, behind, inside, and so forth.
L.5.d Verb Relays
Divide children into relay teams. The teacher names a verb and the children act out the meaning until everyone on their team has completed the movement. For example, you could have them walk, march, strut, prance, and so forth.


text: The project consisted of replacing and relocating 350 feet of a 10-inch water main that was damaged by a land slide on Clark Creek Road in Cowlitz County. The replacement water main used approximately 280 linear feet of existing pipe, which was unaffected by the landslide. The eastern portion was re-routed approximately 50 feet to the south of the existing water line to avoid the unstable landslide area. Construction also included diverting Clark Creek, a fish-bearing stream, while the new pipe is being trenched across the creek. Project tasks included completing a wetland determination and Level 2 habitat assessment, preparing a JARPA, coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the County, the City, and the landowner and negotiating mitigation ratios with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.


University of Vermont
Taylor Ricketts Lab
Steve Posner joins lab as PhD student
How does Ecosystem Service information influence decisions?
Smiley Steve
Steve Posner has joined the lab as a PhD student (co-advised with Austin Troy).
Steve's working on how scientific information on ecosystem services has affected policies and decisions. How often has it really made a difference? How would you detect its effect? Under what conditions is this information most likely to matter.
Working closely with the Natural Capital Project, Steve is analyzing a set of cases where "NatCap" has produced maps of ecosystem services, estimated their values, and connected this information to ongoing decisions and policy debates.
Ecosystem service maps are cool, but do they help? If so, when and how? Steve will be helping us find that out.


text:
The Australian Government Interoperability Framework addresses the information, business process and technical dimensions of interoperability. It sets the principles, standards and methodologies that support the delivery of integrated and seamless services.
Interoperability describes the ability to work together to deliver services in a seamless, uniform and efficient manner across multiple organisations and information technology systems. Promoting interoperability between agencies is a key focus to achieving whole-of-government collaboration. Interoperability improves government's ability to design policies and services to the needs of clients and to derive efficiencies as a result of streamlined interactions both within and across agencies. To be interoperable, agencies need to actively engage in a process of ensuring that their systems, information and business planning activities are managed to maximise opportunities for exchange with and reuse by others.
To achieve this, agencies need to grapple with diverse issues including:
- legal and commercial agreements;
- policy and business requirements;
- process alignment;
- data discovery;
- messaging; and
- channel management.
These issues are typically grouped into three major layers – business, information and technical.
- The business layer comprises legal, commercial, business and political concerns. The Business Process Interoperability Framework operates in this layer.
- The information layer comprises information and process elements that convey business meaning. The Information Interoperability Framework operates in this layer.
- The technical layer comprises technology standards such as transport protocols, messaging protocols, security standards, registry and discovery standards, XML (Extensible Markup Language) syntax libraries and service and process description languages.
Refer to AGIMO's interoperability frameworks for further information.


text:
Currently, there are no unified global standards for testing the efficiency of cabin air filters under actual working conditions. Although there are established procedures in certain regions, the nature of the testing and the results it produces are far from consistent.
In Germany, the relevant standard is DIN 71460 parts 1-3, which Freudenberg Filtration Technologies uses as the basis for our own testing protocols. However, along with all other current standard tests, this is a pure laboratory environment test and the results can only to a small extent be transferred to real operating conditions, which routinely vary in ambient conditions and environments.
While these laboratory test standards have value in comparing basic performance criteria, conclusions drawn from standard test parameters under lab conditions are of limited value when choosing the best filters for a specific real-world application.
To address the limitations of standard testing processes, Freudenberg Filtration experts have developed their own testing regime. Carried out in addition to the requirements of DIN 71460, these tests replicate the cabin air filter's behavior under a variety of operating conditions.
As a result, the data generated by our tests are an extremely valuable – and reliable – means of dimensioning and specifying the best cabin air filter for a specific vehicle.
Until the global testing landscape achieves uniformity and focuses on real-life performance, we recommend that you conduct scientific field tests with us. This ensures the best look into realistic results, for automotive filtration efficiency.


cal H^n$ and $\mathcal H^{n+1}$. The $n$-ball has positive $\mathcal H^n$-volume, while its $\mathcal H^{n+1}$-volume vanishes, since there is really no $(n+1)$-dimensional interior in an $n$-ball. To compare the volumes $\mathcal H^{n}(B^n)$ and $\mathcal H^{n+1}(B^{n+1})$ under a common measure, we make use of $\mathcal H^{n}(A)=\mathcal H^{n+1}(A\times[0,1])$. – Christoph Aug 22 '13 at 11:08
Could you explain why are you working with a cylinder of height two instead of height one? Shouldn't we compare $B^{n+1}$ with $B^n \times [\textrm{something with length one}]$? Otherwise we do double the volume. Everything else makes sense to me. I just don't understand "but it is a matter of radius as already discussed". – Fixed Point Aug 23 '13 at 8:53
_USER_ Just because "height" (diameter) of the unit-ball is $2$. If our default ball has radius $1/2$, then I would work with some unit interval. The difference between those cases is a factor proportional to the radius and dependence radius ~ volume was discussed in the first paragraph. – savick01 Aug 23 '13 at 9:36
Your Answer


text: Electromagnetic interference, equipment noise, multi-path effects and obstructions in harsh smart grid environments make the quality-of-service (QoS) communication a challenging task for WSN-based smart grid applications. To address these challenges, a cognitive communication based cross-layer framework has been proposed. The proposed framework exploits the emerging cognitive radio technology to mitigate the noisy and congested spectrum bands, yielding reliable and high capacity links for wireless communication in smart grids. To meet the QoS requirements of diverse smart grid applications, it differentiates the traffic flows into different priority classes according to their QoS needs and maintains three dimensional service queues attributing delay, bandwidth and reliability of data. The problem is formulated as a Lyapunov drift optimization with the objective of maximizing the weighted service of the traffic flows belonging to different classes. A suboptimal distributed control algorithm (DCA) is presented to efficiently support QoS through channel control, flow control, scheduling and routing decisions. In particular, the contributions of this paper are three folds; employing dynamic spectrum access to mitigate with the channel impairments, defining multi-attribute priority classes and designing a distributed control algorithm for data delivery that maximizes the network utility under QoS constraints. Performance evaluations in ns-2 reveal that the proposed framework achieves required QoS communication in smart grid.


text: AbstractData from neuroscience and psychology suggest that sensorimotor cognition may be of central importance to language. Specifically, the linguistic structure of utterances referring to concrete actions may reflect the structure of the sensorimotor processing underlying the same action. To investigate this, we present the Linguistic, Kinematic and Gaze information in task descriptions Corpus (LKG-Corpus), comprising multimodal data on 13 humans, conducting take, put, and push actions, and describing these actions with 350 utterances. Recorded are audio, video, motion and eye-tracking data while participants perform an action and describe what they do. The dataset is annotated with orthographic transcriptions of utterances and information on: (a) gaze behaviours, (b) when a participant touched an object, (c) when an object was moved, (d) when a participant looked at the location s/he would next move the object to, (e) when the participant's gaze was stable on an area. With the exception of the annotation of stable gaze, all annotations were performed manually. With the LKG-Corpus, we present a dataset that integrates linguistic, kinematic and gaze data with an explicit focus on relations between action and language. On this basis, we outline applications of the dataset to both basic and applied research.


text: Bibi Degn describes how to establish a respectful relationship with one's horse using the TTouch way developed by Linda Tellington-Jones. The touch was developed to create a safe and meaningful friendship for both the horse and the rider. Degn relates the information with the help of her children, Joran, an Arabian gelding, and Angie, the "guardian angel" of animals. Photographs by Horst Streitferdt clearly illustrate touches, use of equipment, and training procedures. Pages tell of many aspects of horsemanship before and after riding – greeting, leading, grooming, mounting (both bareback and with a saddle), learning to "read" a horse's mood, and using some equipment (halters, ropes).


text:
please explain what do you mean by "power GPIO pins"?
CORE2 and CORE2-ROS can't be powered via USB port - please read this section of manual to find out why: _URL_
It will be partially powered and it will cause that LEDs on board and the microcontroller will be powered, but it is not the proper way to supply the power. It can be done only for checking if SBC works, but not permanently!
When you tried to connect the power from USB port of your laptop, the red LED probably turned off after 10s because the SBC have started up and draw more current at this particular moment.
When you tried to connect Tinker Board and CORE2 together and power the CORE2 via its power connector, and it didn't work as well, it is possible that your power supply was still not efficient enough.
I believe that when you find the proper power supply, everything will work fine


text:
Sweetpotato programme is one of the seven crop –based programme at the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. Active research in sweetpotato commenced in the late 70's. However, prior to this period, the crop was mostly seen as a volunteer or discard crop the children picked mostly around refuse dump sites. The consumption of sweetpotato then was surrounded by the erroneous idea that it caused amoebic dysentery.
With active research over the years, there has been a tremendous improvement on the cultivation of the crop which has largely contributed to the agricultural /food economy of the nation.
The programme has the national mandate of genetic improvement of sweetpotato, production of improved production packages that will sustain high yield, formulation of disease and pest management strategies, development of post–harvest technologies and the extension of findings to end users through established channels.
HIGHLIGHTS OF RESEARCH ACHIVEMENTS:
- Two new orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties with high carotenoid contents and one white-fleshed variety have been released in the last 2years.
- Purple-fleshed sweetpotato clones with high anthocynin (powerful antioxidant) have been developed at the NRCRI.
- Sweetpotato varieties that are good for fresh fries, fry products and kunnu are identified.
- Development of hybrid seeds through open pollination.
- Introduction and selection of elite varieties for various ecological and uses in Nigeria.
- Development and release of 2 orange-fleshed Sweetpotato with high β carotene (a precursor for pro-vitamin A) that can improve the nutritional wellbeing of Nigerians.
- Development of improved agronomic packages for higher yield per unit area.
- Development of "2-node cutting and grooving techniques for rapid generation of planting materials".
- Development of dry season irrigated sweetpotato nursery technique for the conservation of planting materials during the dry season since most sweetpotato fields dry up in the dry season.
- Development of cultural and botanical insecticides technologies for the management of sweetpotato weevils, Cylas, and Bemisia tabaci which are major insect pests of sweetpotato.
- Development of techniques to increase post-harvest shelf-life of sweetpotato roots by 3-4 months in moist saw dust as against 2-4 weeks if not properly stored.
- Development of various recipes and blends for different utility purposes.
- Introduction of three (3) forage varieties for livestock farmers.
- Development of appropriate weed control measure to improve sweetpotato yield
- Development of appropriate fertilizer rates and use efficiency to increase yield
- Development of improve fallow systems for sustainable sweetpotato production using mucuna species.
Goals/projection of research programme
The sweetpotato programme has the major focus on creating health and wealth in Nigeria through the following interventions;
- The release of proven varieties that meet the farmers' preference in terms of food quality and quantity is being intensified. The availability of orange fleshed sweetpotato in Nigeria will reduce Vitamin A deficiency among the under-fives, pregnant and lactating mothers. The deficiency level in Nigeria is put at 29.9%
- The challenges associated with reduced shelf life of sweetpotato are currently being addressed through conducting both in-ground and on-shelf storage experiments and also improving on indigenous storage method.
- Pest and disease incidence has been a major constraint in sweetpotato production. Major intervention is through the release of pest and disease tolerant varieties with good yield. It is expected that with the current efforts, new varieties will be released in 2015/16 beading cycle. Also field studies involving the use of botanicals and cultural methods to combat incidence of sweetpotato weevils are focused on.
- The programme intends to strengthen the sweetpotato value chain which will create entrepreneurship and improve income of the rural farmer. Awareness creation and market linkage activities will be our focal points
- Packages tailored towards creating good environment for increased productivity through appropriate weed control measures and fertilizer (organic and inorganic) use efficiency are on-going
- Abstracting of published articles on sweetpotato in Nigeria
- International Potato Center (CIP) Peru
- Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Abuja,
- Agricultural Development Program (ADP) of States,
- Potato Farmers Association (POFAN)
- Potato Growers, Growers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (POGMAN),
- Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
DR. SOLOMON AFUAPE
Km 8 Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road P.M.B 7006 Umuahia Abia State Nigeria


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Why Neptune And Uranus Appear In different Colours?
Why Neptune And Uranus Appear In different Colours?
Astronomers now have an explanation for why Neptune and Uranus appear in different colours.
 - Neptune and Uranus have much in common — they have similar masses, sizes, and atmospheric compositions — yet their appearances are in different shades of blue.
 - At visible wavelengths, Neptune is a rich, deep azure hue, while Uranus is a distinctly pale shade of cyan.
 - The reason is that the haze around Uranus is thicker than that around Neptune.
 - Uranus's stagnant, sluggish atmosphere makes it appear a lighter tone than Neptune.
 - If there was no haze in the atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus, both would appear almost equally blue as a result of blue light being scattered in their atmospheres.
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text:
Where is your website traffic coming from? Some of your traffic will come from social media. Other traffic will come from links on other web pages pointed to your own website. Now, you'll be able to see if your traffic is coming from Google Discover. Google Webmaster Central Blog details this new way of learning about your traffic.
Google Discover and Search Console
What is Google Discover? Google reminds us that Discover "is a feature within Google Search that helps users stay up-to-date on all their favorite topics, without needing a query." When users follow topics, Google displays content related to the interests of these users. Is your website being shown to users as a result of their interests via Google Discover? If so, you're now able to see the reporting from these clicks and actions.
Here are the statistics from Google Discover that are now available in your Search Console:
- "How often is my site shown in users' Discover? How large is my traffic?
- Which pieces of content perform well in Discover?
- How does my content perform differently in Discover compared to traditional search results?"
There's one important caveat: "The new Discover report is shown to websites that have accumulated meaningful visibility in Discover." That means your website needs to already have a presence in Google Discovery. Furthermore, you're only able to see data beginning in March 2019.
Whether you can see Discover statistics in Search Console or not, the important thing is to keep an eye on your Search Console. There, you're able to use tools to help you optimize the visibility of your website in Google search results.
Featured photo is Google logo


Loss#
The loss, or also called "cost", describes the disagreement between the data and the model. Most commonly, the likelihood (or, to be precise, the negative log likelihood) is used, as the maximum likelihood estimation provides many beneficial characteristics.
Binned losses require the PDF and data to be binned as well.
Extended losses take the expected count ("yield") of a PDF into account and require the PDF to be extended in the first place.
zfit.loss.UnbinnedNLL(model, data[, ...])
Unbinned Negative Log Likelihood.
zfit.loss.ExtendedUnbinnedNLL(model, data[, ...])
An Unbinned Negative Log Likelihood with an additional poisson term for the number of events in the dataset.
zfit.loss.BinnedNLL(model, data[, ...])
Binned negative log likelihood.
zfit.loss.ExtendedBinnedNLL(model, data[, ...])
Extended binned likelihood using the expected number of events per bin with a poisson probability.
zfit.loss.BinnedChi2(model, data[, ...])
Binned Chi2 loss, using the :math:'N_{tot} from the data.
zfit.loss.ExtendedBinnedChi2(model, data[, ...])
Binned Chi2 loss, using the :math:'N_{tot} from the PDF.
zfit.loss.BaseLoss(model, data[, fit_range, ...])
A "simultaneous fit" can be performed by giving one or more model, data, fit_range to the loss.
zfit.loss.SimpleLoss(func[, params, ...])
Loss from a (function returning a) Tensor.


Determining NAS Storage Requirements Using Mobotix Storage Requirements Planner
When designing a video surveillance system, one of the the most important steps is determining the storage device capacity. When deploying a multiple camera system, using a network attached storage (NAS) device is a viable option as it will give you a central video storage location and protection against hardware failure through the use of multiple hard drives in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) configuration. A critical step in selecting the right NAS device for your application is determining the amount of storage space required.
Mobotix has simplified this calculation process with the use of their Storage Requirements Planner. The Storage Planer will guide you though all of the necessary parameters of each type of camera to determine the storage requirements. Below is an example calculation for twenty D24 cameras to record on events in a high motion rate area with 14 hours of illumination per day.
As shown above the Storage Requirements Planer allows the user to select the model of Mobotix camera, the image complexity, how much motion is expected in the viewing area, as well as how the camera will be configured for resolution and video codec.
Next, the planer goes through various recording parameters such as whether the application requires continuous or event based recording. You will also select how many frames per second you wish to capture and how many events per day you anticipate. Lastly, enter how long you want recorded events to be stored on the NAS. In this example we chose to keep the recordings for 30 days.
The result of this example estimates 57.56GB of disk space is required, per camera, for the parameters shown. Therefore, the twenty camera system will require approximately 1,151.2GB (57.56GB x 20) of storage space. Assuming a RAID 5 storage configuration, the system will require three 750GB hard drives. Three 750GB drives in a RAID 5 configuration will provide approximately 1,400GB ((750GB X 3) X.62) of total usable storage space.
Now that you know the total storage requirements for the system, you can select the NAS that suits your application.
Related Posts
Links of Interest


text:
|Oracle® OLAP DML Reference
11g Release 2 (11.2)
Part Number E17122-05
Tip:The current object definition is the definition of the object that has been most recently defined or considered during the current session. To make an object definition the current definition, use a CONSIDER statement.
The text of the description you want to assign to the definition. When text is omitted, any existing description for the current definition is deleted.
You can create a multiline description by using a hyphen as a continuation character. However, you cannot create a description with an initial blank line with an LD statement.
Example 10-13 Adding a Description to the Definition of a Variable
This example changes the description associated with the variable
units. First, execute the CONSIDER statement to make
units the current definition. Then use a LD statement to assign a new description. The
units variable has the following definition.
DEFINE units VARIABLE INTEGER LD Actual Unit Shipments
CONSIDER units ld Actual Unit Shipments for Each Division DESCRIBE units
produce the following definition for
DEFINE units VARIABLE INTEGER LD Actual Unit Shipments for Each Division


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Dryad
Data from: A new method for evaluating the rock mass damage index based on the field point load strength
Cite this dataset
Wen, Lei et al. (2019). Data from: A new method for evaluating the rock mass damage index based on the field point load strength [Dataset]. Dryad. _URL_
Abstract
The damage index is a crucial controlling parameter for rock mass strength and deformation in civil, geological and mining engineering projects. In this study, a new method was proposed for computing the damage index of a rock mass based on the field point load strength. This method provides a strength ratio whose numerator is the point load strength (PLS) of splitting along the pre-existing joint and whose denominator is the PLS of intact rock failure. To validate this method, the author derived a relationship between the damage index and the integrality coefficient using an empirical relation. Moreover, numerous experimental tests were conducted, including P-wave testing and on-site point load testing. Finally, linear regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the new damage index D_R and the integrality coefficient K_v. This study demonstrates that the presented new method is sensitive to both plasticity and damage in estimating the damage degree of rock masses in underground excavation and tunnel engineering.
Usage notes


text:
In software engineering, Separation of Concerns refers to the delineation and correlation of software elements to achieve order within a system. Through proper separation of concerns, complexity becomes manageable.
The goal of this article is to promote the understanding of the principle of Separation of Concerns and to provide a set of foundational concepts to aid software engineers in the development of maintainable systems.
The Principle of Separation of Concerns
The Principle of Separation of Concerns states that system elements should have exclusivity and singularity of purpose. That is to say, no element should share in the responsibilities of another or encompass unrelated responsibilities.
Separation of concerns is achieved by the establishment of boundaries. A boundary is any logical or physical constraint which delineates a given set of responsibilities. Some examples of boundaries would include the use of methods, objects, components, and services to define core behavior within an application; projects, solutions, and folder hierarchies for source organization; application layers and tiers for processing organization; and versioned libraries and installers for product release organization.
Though the process of achieving separation of concerns often involves the division of a set of responsibilities, the goal is not to reduce a system into its indivisible parts, but to organize the system into elements of non-repeating sets of cohesive responsibilities. As Albert Einstein stated, "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
At its essence, Separation of Concerns is about order. The overall goal of Separation of Concerns is to establish a well organized system where each part fulfills a meaningful and intuitive role while maximizing its ability to adapt to change.
The Value of Separation of Concerns
Applying the principle of separation of concerns to software design can result in a number of residual benefits. First, the lack of duplication and singularity of purpose of the individual components render the overall system easier to maintain. Second, the system as a whole becomes more stable as a byproduct of the increased maintainability. Third, the strategies required to ensure each component only concerns itself with a single set of cohesive responsibilities often result in natural extensibility points. Forth, the decoupling which results from requiring components to focus on a single purpose leads to components which are more easily reused in other systems, or different contexts within the same system. Fifth, the increase in maintainability and extensibility can have a major impact on the marketability and adoption rate of the system.
The principle of separation of concerns can also be of benefit when applied to business organizations. Within large companies, ensuring that groups and sub-organizations are assigned a unique set of cohesive responsibilities helps to facilitate overall business goals by minimizing the coordination necessary between teams and maximizing the potential of each team to focus on their collective responsibility and center of competency.
The principle of separation of concerns can also improve problem resolution in enterprise wide systems. When responsibilities are properly delineated, problem identification becomes easier, resolution becomes faster, and personal accountability is increased. Each of these areas in turn contributes to an improved quality control process.
Whether organizations of people or software systems are in view, applying the principle of separation of concerns can aid in the management of complexity by eliminating unnecessary duplication and proper responsibility allocation.
In the next sections, various techniques will be discussed for achieving separation of concerns within application design.
Horizontal Separation of Concerns refers to the process of dividing an application into logical layers of functionally that fulfill the same role within the application.
One common division for graphical user interface applications is the separation of processes into the layers of Presentation, Business, and Resource Access. These categories encompass the main types of concerns for most application needs, and represent an organization of concerns which minimizes the level of dependencies within an application. Figure 1 depicts a typical three-layered application:
The Presentation Layer encompasses processes and components related to an application's user interface. This includes components which define the visual display of an application, and may include advanced design concepts such as controllers, presenters, or a presentation model. The primary goal of the Presentation Layer is to encapsulate all user interface concerns in order to allow the application domain to be varied independently. The Presentation Layer should include all components and processes exclusively related to the visual display needs of an application, and should exclude all other components and processes. This allows other layers within the application to vary independently from its display concerns.
The Business Layer encompasses processes and components related to the application domain. This includes components which define the object model, govern business logic, and control the workflow of the system. The business layer may be represented through specialized components which represent the workflow, business processes, and entities used within the application, or through a traditional object-oriented domain model which encapsulates both data and behavior. The primary goal of the Business Layer is to encapsulate the core business concerns of an application exclusive of how data and behavior is exposed, or how data is specifically obtained. The Business Layer should include all components and processes exclusively related to the business domain of the application, and should exclude all other components and processes.
The Resource Access Layer encompasses processes and components related to the access of external information. This includes components which interface with a local data store or remote service. The
goal of the Resource Access Layer is to provide a layer of abstraction around the details specific to data access. This includes tasks such as the establishing of database and service connections, maintaining knowledge about database schemas or stored procedures, knowledge about service protocols, and the marshalling of data between service entities and business entities. The Resource Access Layer should include all components and processes exclusively related to accessing data external to the system, and should exclude all other components and processes.
Another common division used by Service Oriented Applications is the division of the application into the layers of Service Interface, Business, and Resource Access as depicted in Figure 2:
In this division, the Business and Resource Access layers serve the same purposes as previously discussed, with the service exposure concerns encapsulated into a Service Interface Layer. This layer encompasses service interface concerns such as the exposure of business processes through various protocols and the management of service specific contracts and data types. The primary goal of the Service Interface Layer is to encapsulate all service interface concerns in order to allow the application domain to be varied independently. The Service Interface Layer should include all components and processes exclusively related to the exposure of the application as a service, and should exclude all other components and processes.
By grouping processing concerns based on their role within the application, a number of benefits are gained which improve the overall system manageability. These benefits include ease of maintenance through consistent architecture and isolation of process, increased insulation from change impact, increased adaptability to change, and increased potential for reuse.
Vertical Separation of Concerns refers to the process of dividing an application into modules of functionality that relate to the same feature or sub-system within an application. Vertical separation divides the features of an application holistically, associating any interface, business, and resource access concerns within a single boundary. Figure 3 depicts an application separated into three modules:
Separating the features of an application into modules clarifies the responsibly and dependencies of each feature which can aid in testing and overall maintenance. Boundaries may be defined logically to aid in organization, or physically to enable independent development and maintenance.
Logical boundaries imply the existence of modularity, though the methods used to denote separation may have no bearing on the actual deployment or runtime behavior of an application. This can be useful for improving the maintainability of an application as well easing any future efforts for physically separating features. Figure 4 depicts an application containing logical boundaries:
Physical boundaries are generally used in the context of developing add-ins or composite applications, and can enable features to be managed by disparate development teams. Applications supporting add-in modules often employ techniques such as auto-discovery, or initializing modules based on an external configuration source. Figure 5 depicts a hosting framework containing modules developed by separate development teams:
While vertical separation groups a set of concerns based on their relevance to the total fulfillment of a specific feature within an application, this does not preclude the use of other separation of concerns strategies. For example, each module may itself be designed using layers to delineate the role of components within the module. Figure 6 depicts an application using both horizontal and vertical separation of concerns strategies:
Aspect Separation of Concerns, better known as Aspect-Oriented Programming, refers to the process of segregating an application's cross-cutting concerns from its core concerns. Cross-cutting concerns, or aspects, are concerns which are interspersed across multiple boundaries within an application. Logging is one example of an activity performed across many system components.
Figure 7 depicts an application with several cross-cutting concerns:
Cross-cutting concerns can be difficult to maintain due to their widespread placement throughout an application. Their mixture with core concerns also adds complexity, rendering the application more difficult to maintain. By separating these concerns, both core concerns and cross-cutting concerns are made easier to manage.
Aspect separation differs from other separation techniques in that it relies on a pre-processing, compile time, or run-time fusion of cross-cutting concerns with the application. The process of fusing the two concerns back together is referred to as "weaving". By using various strategies, cross-cutting concerns can be separated and woven back into the application for run time cohesion. Aspect separation tools are available for a wide range of programming languages. For more information on this topic including a list of available tools for facilitating aspect separation see Aspect-Oriented Programming
One characteristic of good Separation of Concerns is the ideal establishment of dependency direction. An ideal dependency direction establishes the roles of consumer and dependency such that the role of dependency is occupied by the entity possessing the highest potential for reuse.
A simple example illustrating the concept of dependency direction is the common relationship between a business component and a utility component. Consider a system which provides an order inquiry process which requires that frequently requested data be cached for greater efficiency. To facilitate


Marginal and Conditional Probability Mass Functions The Regression Function Independence 2 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums 3 4
42 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums The variance of a sum is the sum of the variances only in the case of independent variables. Here is why: { [X ] } 2 Var(X + Y ) = E + Y E(X + Y ) { [(X ] } 2 = E E(X)) + (Y E(Y )) = Var(X) + Var(Y ) + 2E [ (X E(X))(Y E(Y )) ]. If X and Y are independent then, E [ (X E(X))(Y E(Y )) ] = E [ (X E(X)) ] E [ (Y E(Y )) ] = 0
43 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Thus, if X and Y are independent Var(X + Y ) = Var(X) + Var(Y ). But if X and Y are not independent (or only correlated) Var(X + Y ) = Var(X) + Var(Y ) + 2E [ (X E(X))(Y E(Y )) ]. The quantity E [ (X E(X))(Y E(Y )) ] is called the covariance of X and Y. A computational formula is σ XY = E [ (X µ X )(Y µ Y ) ] = E(XY ) µ X µ Y
44 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example Let X = deductible in car insurance, and Y = deductible in home insurance, of a randomly chosen home and car owner. Suppose that the joint pmf of X, Y is x y where the deductible amounts are in dollars. Find σ XY.
45 Solution: Outline Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums First, and E(XY ) = x xyp(x, y) = 23, 750, y E(X) = x xp X (x) = 175, E(Y ) = y yp Y (y) = 125. Thus, σ XY = 23, = 1875.
46 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Proposition 1 If X 1, X 2 are independent, Var(X 1 + X 2 ) = σ1 2 + σ2 2, and Var(X 1 X 2 ) = σ1 2 + σ Without independence, Var(X 1 + X 2 ) = σ1 2 + σ Cov(X 1, X 2 ) Var(X 1 X 2 ) = σ1 2 + σ2 2 2Cov(X 1, X 2 )
47 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example (Simulation proof of Var(X 1 + X 2 ) = Var(X 1 X 2 )) set.seed=111; x=runif(10000); y=runif(10000) var(x+y); var(x-y)
48 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Proposition 1 If X 1,..., X n are independent, Var(a 1 X a n X n ) = a1 2 σ a2 nσn, 2 where σi 2 = Var(X i ). 2 If X 1,..., X n, are dependent, Var(a 1 X a n X n ) = a1 2 σ a2 nσn 2 + where σ ij = Cov(X i, X j ). n a i a j σ ij, i=1 j i
49 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Corollary 1 If X 1,..., X n are iid with variance σ 2, then where T = n i=1 X i. Var(X) = σ2 n and Var(T ) = nσ2, 2 If the X i are Bernoulli, (so X = p and σ 2 = p(1 p)), Var( p) = p(1 p) n
50 Example Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Let X denote the number of short fiction books sold at the State College, PA, location of the Barnes and Noble bookstore in a given week, and let Y denote the corresponding number sold on line from State College residents. We are given that E(X) = 14.80, E(Y ) = 14.51, E(X 2 ) = 248.0, E(Y 2 ) = 240.7, and E(XY ) = 209. Find Var(X + Y ). Solution: Since Var(X) = = 28.96, Var(Y ) = = 30.16, and Cov(X, Y ) = 209 (14.8)(14.51) = 5.75, we have Var(X + Y ) = Var(X) + Var(Y ) + 2Cov(X, Y ) = =
51 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Read also Example 4.4.8, p. 238.
52 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Proposition 1. Cov(X, Y ) = Cov(Y, X). 2. Cov(X, X) = Var(X). 3. If X, Y are independent, then Cov(X, Y ) = Cov(aX + b, cy + d) = accov(x, Y ), for any real numbers a, b, c and d. ( m 5. Cov i=1 X i, ) n j=1 Y j = m n i=1 j=1 Cov ( ) X i, Y j.
53 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example (σ XY = 0 for dependent X, Y ) Find Cov(X, Y ), where X, Y have joint pmf given by y /3 0 1/3 x 0 0 1/3 1/3 1 1/3 0 1/3 2/3 1/3 1.0 Solution: Since E(X) = 0, the computational formula gives Cov(X, Y ) = E(XY ). However, the product XY takes the value zero with probability 1. Thus, Cov(X, Y ) = E(XY ) = 0.
54 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example Consider the example with the car and home insurance deductibles, but suppose that the deductible amounts are given in cents. Find the covariance of the two deductibles. Solution: Let X, Y denote the deductibles of a randomly chosen home and car owner in cents. If X, Y denote the deductibles in dollars, then X = 100X, Y = 100Y. According to part 4 of the proposition, σ X Y = σ XY = 18, 750, 000.
55 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example On the first day of a wine tasting event three randomly selected judges are to taste and rate a particular wine before tasting any other wine. On the second day the same three judges are to taste and rate the wine after tasting other wines. Let X 1, X 2, X 3 be the ratings, on a 100 point scale, in the fist day, and Y 1, Y 2, Y 3 be the ratings on the second day. We are given that the variance of each X i is σ 2 X = 9, the variance of each Y i is σ 2 Y = 4, the covariance Cov(X i, Y i ) = 5, for all i = 1, 2, 3, and Cov(X i, Y j ) = 0 for all i j. Find the variance of combined rating X + Y.
56 Solution. Outline Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums First note that Var(X + Y ) = Var(X) + Var(Y ) + 2Cov(X, Y ). Next, with the information given, we have Var(X) = 9/3 and Var(Y ) = 4/3. Finally, using the proposition we have Cov(X, Y ) = Cov(X i, Y j ) = i=1 j= Cov(X i, Y i ) = i=1 Combining these partial results we obtain Var(X + Y ) = 23/3.
57 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example (Variance of the Binomial RV and of p) Let X Bin(n, p). Find Var(X), and Var( p). Solution: Use the expression X = n X i, i=1 where the X i are iid Bernoulli(p) RVs. Since Var(X i ) = p(1 p), ( ) X p(1 p) Var(X) = np(1 p), Var( p) = Var =. n n
58 Expected Value of Sums The Covariance and Variance of Sums Example (Variance of the Negative Binomial RV) Let X NBin(r, p). Thus, X is the number of Bernoulli trials up to an including the rth 1. Find Var(


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Additional income real income
In order to make an accurate assessment of the effect of an income change on well-being, it is important to consider real income income in constant dollarswhich takes inflation into account, instead of nominal income income in current dollarswhich does not.
Adjusting nominal values to real values
Hence you are worse off this year relative to last year, even though your income has increased, because your real income has decreased. You are better worse off if the percentage increase in your nominal income is greater less than the percentage inflation rate because the percentage growth in your real income i. A fall in your nominal income does not necessarily imply that you are worse off as long as the percentage additional income real income in the price level is higher than the percentage decrease in your nominal income, because the percentage change in your real income is positive.
In summary, you are better off as a result of an increase or decrease in your nominal income provided that the percentage change in your real income is positive. If the inflation rate is positive, doubling nominal income this year over last additional income real income will less than double the corresponding real income.
The Redistribution of Income and Wealth 1. Unanticipated inflation, inflation that is not expected, will redistribute income and wealth.
If the inflation rate is zero, however, doubling nominal income also doubles the corresponding real income. Real income could be viewed in two equivalent ways.
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Real income is relevant in wage contract negotiations. An important goal of unions is to protect the real wages of their members.
To maintain the same real income, your nominal income has to be increased or indexed by Bitcoin strategy to earn percent, the same as the inflation rate i. The same principle is used to index pensions, welfare allowances, and other incomes in order to maintain desired real income levels. In general, if real income decreases by, say, 5 percent, nominal incomes must be increased by 5 percent in order to maintain the same real income as before.
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As noted above, adjusting nominal income to maintain some desired level of real income requires information about the inflation rate. However, practical difficulties arise in the measurement of inflation.
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In practice, the inflation rate is computed from a price or cost-of-living index, a summary measure describing relative price changes between some reference base period and another current period.
For purposes of indexing wages, pensions, and so on, the inflation rates are commonly derived from a Consumer Price Index CPI. The economists M.
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McCracken and E. Ruddick provide a simple exposition of the nature and practical difficulties associated with CPI as an inflation measure.
If real wages aren't rising, how is household income going up?
The economic statistician Roy Allen describes some applications of price index numbers in the measurement and international comparisons of real incomes. Given the aforementioned connection among real income, prices, and purchasing power, the origin of the real income concept can be linked to that of price index numbers, which the economic statistician Wesley Mitchell traced as far back as the s.
The concept of real income is used in national income accounting to refer to real gross domestic product GDPthe real value of all final goods and services produced in a country during a specific time period.
In evaluating real GDP, the output for different years is evaluated using a common set of prices, thus eliminating the contamination of the value of actual output by inflation.
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 - If real wages aren't rising, how is household income going up?
 - Real income is how much money an individual or entity makes after accounting for inflation.
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The usage of real income to mean real GDP is commonplace in the literature on economic growth and the measurement of human well-being, among others. It is therefore not surprising that real income has been incorporated into several measures of human well-being developed by the United Nations Development Program UNDP in its annual issues of the Human Development Report.
Amartya Senwinner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has raised some philosophical issues surrounding the appropriateness of real or nominal income as a measure of well-being. Sen argues that functional capabilities i.
Real Income
Such obstacles include illiteracy, poor health, lack of access to resources, and lack of civil or political freedom, among others. The link between real or nominal income and happiness has been the subject of empirical investigations by economists and sociologists.
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There is evidence that higher incomes may not necessarily translate to greater happiness. The economist Mathias Binswanger has reviewed several explanations for the failure of real income growth to increase happiness.
Index Numbers in Theory and Practice. London: Macmillan. Binswanger, Mathias.
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Searching for the Treadmill behind the Paradox of Happiness. Journal of Socio-Economics 35 2 : McCracken, M. Mitchell, Wesley C.
Real income
The Making and Using of Index Numbers. New York : Sentry. Sen, Amartya. Commodities and Capabilities. Amsterdam and New York : North-Holland.
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United Nations Development Program.


text:
Ball joints are safety-relevant vehicle components. They are made in various sizes and sometimes with special geometries. It is important to ensure that the material is free of surface defects. The test system developed specifically for this purpose is equipped with STATOGRAPH testing electronics, combined with various probes that scan the critical zones of the ball joint and push rods for material cracks in the surface. The probes used can be individually adapted to the test material.
The benefits to you at a glance
- Simultaneous testing of multiple zones with one or more eddy current probes
- Test performance approx. 600 - 1800 parts per hour
- Modular system concept for optimum matching to the requirements profile concerned
- Automatic sorting into two groups, "OK" and "NOK"
- Optional graphical results display on the system monitor
- Documentation of the results
- Optional: Can be expanded with MAGNATEST micro-structure tester for material and/or hardness monitoring


text:
Building Intelligent Systems from the Beginning to the End
Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez receives NPS funding for research on availability of systems through the systems lifecycle
The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) has awarded Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez, Associate Professor, School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology, and the University of Oklahoma a one-year joint research grant for developing techniques and methods that will enhance critical intelligence in the designing of large-scale systems operation. In the last decade, NPS has funded research studies for over a million dollars at Stevens, in the complex systems engineering arena.
"I am deeply honored to receive this grant from NPS, said Dr. Ramirez-Marquez. The grant reinforces the Stevens culture of innovation through collaboration and validates the belief that great intelligence ensues when systemic minds come together. Our partnership with the Risk-Based Systems Analysis Laboratory at the University of Oklahoma is producing extensive research in the reliability analysis and optimization of complex systems, the computational analysis of resilience, and the development of evolutionary optimization algorithms."
In the current technological environment, the scale and complexity of systems is increasing dramatically. To reduce the risk of systems failure, repair and maintenance timelines, and to enhance the resilience and availability of the systems lifecycle, it is crucial to develop intelligent data metrics that will address system-level maintenance decisions, and sustain systems through their entire life span.
"Supporting systems across their lifecycle is a highly expensive proposition, and in recent years there has been a rising interest in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) operations of large-scale systems", Dr. Ramirez-Marquez mentioned. "Industries such as aerospace, civil infrastructure, and military have systems frameworks that are large and complex, and need to be reliable in times of criticality."
"The end goal is to create knowledge that will augment the understanding of the systems design and build efficiencies from the start to the end process", summed Dr. Ramirez-Marquez.


text:
Dashboard week has started.
Dashboard Week, The Data Schools' challenge to consultants nearing the end of their intense fourth month training before starting placement. The challenge for each day this week – create a dashboard and tell a story using a newly provided dataset each day. Each day will present a new challenge, requiring us to recall parts of our training to access data and create our dashboards. For example, we will at some point need to use an API to access the data. And to top it all off, we will then present our story dashboards to data school colleagues and staff.
Day 1 – Australian Charities
The first dataset, downloaded from the ACNC website contained information on registered charities across Australia. Inspecting the dataset, the data provided a general overview of registered charities looking at registered charities over the last 9 years. Looking closer, it contained information on:
- charity contact information,
- charities by where they operate in Australia,
- establishment and registration date,
- charities grouped by categories and sub-categories.
My approach to the challenge was to clean the data and then explore different aspects of the data. This took a bit of time but I was able to find my story. The focus being on the number of new charities registering and revenue reported.
One aspect of my approach that helped understand my story was in finding a user guide. The user guide from the ACNC website provided a detailed breakdown of the data contained in each column and some additional details. For example, I was able to identify the values for categories and sub-categories as well as make sense of any acronyms. Finding the user guide was a big help!
Inputting the data into Alteryx, overall it was fairly clean. However there were a few values to fix and the format was not ideal to start create my dashboard. For example, the categories and sub-categories for each charity was broken into individual columns which meant most of the rows were empty. My approach was to transpose the data so that I had one column each for categories and subcategories.
I was also able to add some additional information from the user guide into the dataset – revenue groups. This was done by matching the size of the charity with the revenue descriptions.
For simplicity and to get into Tableau, I outputted for tables from the original dataset with the intension of joining the data back up using relationships. I took this approach as some charities were grouped by multiple categories and subcategories which was not ideal to combine.
The hardest part about making this dashboard was thinking of the story. After playing around with the data and a few different charts, I was able to identify two trends:
1 – The number of charities reporting revenue has drastically declined since 2013
This could be due to charities not receiving any revenue or that they are simply not reporting. I took the view that charities weren't receiving revenue as I would have thought charities would need to report their revenue to keep their status with the Australian authority of charities (ACNC).
2 – The number of new charities registering across Australia has been declining over recent years
Adding to the first trend, I thought that looking at the decline of new charities registering could be linked to revenue. Drawing a conclusion that less organisations are becoming charities because charities are receiving less revenue.
Functionality included in the dashboard allows the user to drill down by year, state, revenue and sub-type (charity category) and compare multiple sub-types over these variables. I have also included help buttons to help with navigation and interactivity.