How an Upstate NY school now heats with locally produced wood chips.

Following changes to the terms and conditions of the Ning social networking service a copy of the IWMW 2008 Ning social network has been taken. [16 August 2008]

After tackling climate change in his Oscar-nominated political satire “Don’t Look Up,” filmmaker Adam McKay has produced “You Need This,” a thought-provoking documentary tackling consumerism and hyper-capitalism. Directed by Ryan Andrej Lough (“Entertainment”), “You Need This” is produced by McKay via Yellow Dot Studios; Isidoor Roebers and Lea Fels at Scenery, a joint venture with Banijay […]

1. Anupamaa producer Rajan Shahi's ex-wife breaks silence in Rupali Ganguly-Esha Verma case  Bollywood Life
2. Exclusive: Rupali Ganguly's Lawyer Sana Raees Khan Reveals Why The Actress Is Seeking Rs 50 Crore In Defamation Compensation  NDTV Movies
3. Amid defamation case and Rs 50 crore compensation sent by Rupali Ganguly; Esha Verma posts a note on star  The Times of India
4. Anupamaa producer Rajan Shahi supports actor Rupali Ganguly amid family dispute  India Today
5. Actor Rupali Ganguly files ₹50 crore defamation suit against stepdaughter Esha Verma  The Hindu

Rivian is teaming up with Volkswagen in a $5.8 billion joint venture for EV innovation on its R2 model, which the company says will eventually be manufactured in Georgia.

As Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan-starrer "Aitraaz" completed two decades in Hindi cinema, filmmaker Subhash Ghai on Wednesday morning announced "Aitraaz 2" with "with a finest script" and "3 years of hard work".

October’s inflation peak may soon be followed by a moderation, supported by a favourable winter season and increased availability of kharif produce

Anupamaa producer Rajan Shahi has supported Rupali Ganguly after the actress slapped her stepdaughter Esha Verma with a legal notice, seeking Rs 50 crore in damages.

Noel Fielding called the moment ‘the best thing I’ve ever seen’

Released in 2004, Aitraaz was directed by Abbas-Mustan. It tells the story of a man (Akshay Kumar) accused of sexual harassment by his female superior (Priyanka Chopra).

Describes the benefits of eating organic produce and practical advice on limiting exposure to pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

RX Japan brings back “JAPAN’S FOOD” EXPORT FAIR this November 27–29, 2024, at Makuhari Messe for its winter edition, uniting international food and beverage (F&B) leaders with top Japanese food producers. This promises to be a dynamic marketplace, showcasing the finest regional specialties and positioning Japan as a global supplier of premium food products. From artisanal snacks to innovative, [PR.com]

Farmscape for November 1, 2024

The Communications and Marketing Coordinator with Sask Pork says the 47th edition of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium will provide an opportunity for pork producers to learn the latest in research and technology development, to interact with government officials and industry leaders and to network.
The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board's Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2024 is scheduled for Saskatoon Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sask Pork Communications and Marketing Coordinator Steve Seto says the symposium focusses on fostering an environment that supports sustainability, efficiency and profitability.

Quote-Steve Seto-Saskatchewan Pork Development Board:
The symposium is our annual event where many of our producers come to Saskatoon for two days.
It does give our producers a great opportunity to talk with industry leaders.
Water quality is probably going to be a big one, just making sure that the water quality up to par.
The changes to the Code of practice with the Canadian pork Council will probably be discussed.
Funding and government grants, I assume will be a big talking point between producers and some of the government officials that will be there.
Always trying to make things more sustainable and efficient and helping our producers be profitable is kind of our main goal every year, making sure the industry is very strong going forward.
Those are going to be some of the key highlights but it's also a great opportunity to just talk and network not only with other producers but industry leaders.
We've been doing it now for 47 years and it's a really good opportunity for people to come together.

Anyone interested in learning more about or registering for Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2024 can do so through the Sask Pork website at saskpork.com.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers

The project will mark the maiden collaboration between Sunny Deol and Aamir Khan, who have previously worked with Santoshi on separate projects

Fruit harvesting is one of the trickiest parts of the agricultural spectrum. The fruit not only has to be selected when it’s at the ideal ripeness, but also has to be picked very carefully so it doesn’t bruise or suffer damage. Now Israeli made Tevel fruit harvesting bots promise to revolutionize the process of fruit harvesting in a big way. The technology, which integrates A.I. based computer vision with clever vacuum based drone technology, offers fruit farmers a perfect way...

The post Tevel Autonomous Fruit Harvesting Bots – produce pickers face a fruitless future appeared first on The Red Ferret Journal.

Fr. John Whiteford recounts the significance of the family life in making saints.

In this week’s broadcast, Archimandrite Irenei examines several sections from St John’s Ladder to Paradise, read throughout Great Lent and particularly remembered in this Fifth Week, dealing especially with the paradoxes of spiritual life and the mystery of a "joy-creating sorrow."

(official blog entry)

The new series is produced by the BBC’s Natural History Unit in Bristol.

Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the availability and pricing of perishable farm produce before and during the lockdown restrictions imposed due to Covid-19. This paper also proposes machine learning and deep learning models to help the farmers decide on an appropriate market to sell their farm produce and get a fair price for their product. Background: Developing countries like India have regulated agricultural markets governed by country-specific protective laws like the Essential Commodities Act and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act. These regulations restrict the sale of agricultural produce to a predefined set of local markets. Covid-19 pandemic led to a lockdown during the first half of 2020 which resulted in supply disruption and demand-supply mismatch of agricultural commodities at these local markets. These demand-supply dynamics led to disruptions in the pricing of the farm produce leading to a lower price realization for farmers. Hence it is essential to analyze the impact of this disruption on the pricing of farm produce at a granular level. Moreover, the farmers need a tool that guides them with the most suitable market/city/town to sell their farm produce to get a fair price. Methodology: One hundred and fifty thousand samples from the agricultural dataset, released by the Government of India, were used to perform statistical analysis and identify the supply disruptions as well as price disruptions of perishable agricultural produce. In addition, more than seventeen thousand samples were used to implement and train machine learning and deep learning models that can predict and guide the farmers about the appropriate market to sell their farm produce. In essence, the paper uses descriptive analytics to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural produce pricing. The paper explores the usage of prescriptive analytics to recommend an appropriate market to sell agricultural produce. Contribution: Five machine learning models based on Logistic Regression, K-Nearest Neighbors, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting, and three deep learning models based on Artificial Neural Networks were implemented. The performance of these models was compared using metrics like Precision, Recall, Accuracy, and F1-Score. Findings: Among the five classification models, the Gradient Boosting classifier was the optimal classifier that achieved precision, recall, accuracy, and F1 score of 99%. Out of the three deep learning models, the Adam optimizer-based deep neural network achieved precision, recall, accuracy, and F1 score of 99%. Recommendations for Practitioners: Gradient boosting technique and Adam-based deep learning model should be the preferred choice for analyzing agricultural pricing-related problems. Recommendation for Researchers: Ensemble learning techniques like Random Forest and Gradient boosting perform better than non-Ensemble classification techniques. Hyperparameter tuning is an essential step in developing these models and it improves the performance of the model. Impact on Society: Statistical analysis of the data revealed the true nature of demand and supply and price disruption. This analysis helps to assess the revenue impact borne by the farmers due to Covid-19. The machine learning and deep learning models help the farmers to get a better price for their crops. Though the da-taset used in this paper is related to India, the outcome of this research work applies to many developing countries that have similar regulated markets. Hence farmers from developing countries across the world can benefit from the outcome of this research work. Future Research: The machine learning and deep learning models were implemented and tested for markets in and around Bangalore. The model can be expanded to cover other markets within India.

Zindagi's Shailja Kejriwal says she has numbers to prove what people are watching

“There’s no story quite like the Boston Celtics.”

The post What we know about ‘Celtics City,’ HBO’s documentary from the producers of ‘30 for 30’ appeared first on Boston.com.

Cement production and processes emit over 5 percent of all carbon dioxide emitted by human activity. Reducing that environmental impact is a high priority among cement producers. Cement producers are now publishing their Environmental, Social and Governance credentials concerning energy use in their operations, greenhouse gas emissions and water usage.

Washington — Workers who frequently drill concrete can experience reduced exposure to noise, silica dust and vibration if pneumatic rock drills are replaced with electric rotary hammer drills, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

Crafted with real, premium ingredients to help elevate snacking and dipping experiences, Marie's new Fresh Produce Dips leverage the brand's expertise in refrigerated foods to reach to a wider range of consumers while also catering to more diverse palates and lifestyle needs.

Bolthouse Fresh Foods will carry on the century-old legacy of Bolthouse Farms as a leading supplier of fresh carrots to retailers across North America, with nearly 700 million pounds of carrots sold annually. 

Döhler will dedicate substantial fermentation capacity to the production of Superbrewed Food’s patented Postbiotic Protein ingredient, which will support product launches in 2024 in several food categories in the United States with multiple consumer package foods companies.

The guidance describes how firms can voluntarily engage with the FDA before marketing food from genome-edited plants.

Most people have likely never heard of The Hausbeck Pickle Co. in Saginaw, MI, but there’s a good chance they’ve had one of its pickles, banana peppers or jalapeños.

CULT Food Science Corp. has diversified its cell-based food portfolio via an investment into cultured chocolate manufacturer, California Cultured Inc., Davis, Calif. The company uses cell culture technology to produce cocoa products like cocoa powder, chocolate and cocoa butter with the goal of creating sustainable and ethical chocolate for consumption around the world.

High humidity exposure and the water-soaking symptom caused by X. vitians also enhance the ability of salmonella to rapidly grow in lettuce, and climate change is predicted to increase humid periods.

Hollywood actor Chris Pratt has signed on to “Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey” as an executive producer, joining forces with director Rich Hull and former combat chaplain Justin D. Roberts. 

Russian-Indian joint enterprise Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited intends to completely localise the production of AK-203 assault rifles in India, TASS reports with reference to Russia's defence export giant Rosoboronexport. "The production plans of the joint venture include plans for the 100-percent localisation of the production of AK-203 assault rifles in India," the company noted. "In addition, the joint venture may increase production and upgrade to produce prospective models on the platform of the Kalashnikov assault rifle,” Rosoboronexport said. In October, the company promised that the Russian-Indian plant for the production of AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles (7.62 by 39 mm caliber) in the Indian city of Corva would be ready to begin the production of weapons before the end of 2022.

SPring-8-II is a major upgrade project of SPring-8 that was inaugurated in October 1997 as a third-generation synchrotron radiation light source. This upgrade project aims to achieve three goals simultaneously: achievement of excellent light source performance, refurbishment of aged systems, and significant reduction in power consumption for the entire facility. A small emittance of 50 pm rad will be achieved by (1) replacing the existing double-bend lattice structure with a five-bend achromat one, (2) lowering the stored beam energy from 8 to 6 GeV, (3) increasing the horizontal damping partition number from 1 to 1.3, and (4) enhancing horizontal radiation damping by installing damping wigglers in long straight sections. The use of short-period in-vacuum undulators allows ultrabrilliant X-rays to be provided while keeping a high-energy spectral range even at the reduced electron-beam energy of 6 GeV. To reduce power consumption, the dedicated, aged injector system has been shut down and the high-performance linear accelerator of SACLA, a compact X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facility, is used as the injector of the ring in a time-shared manner. This allows the simultaneous operation of XFEL experiments at SACLA and full/top-up injection of the electron beam into the ring. This paper overviews the concept of the SPring-8-II project, the system design of the light source and the details of the accelerator component design.

The lineup from the "Justice League" animated series.; Credit: Warner Bros.

Bruce Timm's DC Comics animated universe, beginning with "Batman: The Animated Series" and continuing with "Superman," "Batman Beyond," "Justice League," "Justice League Unlimited" and more, remains one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed animated runs in existence. The run was so idenified with the producer that it was sometimes called the Timmverse, but the last show in that continuity ended in 2006 and Timm officially stepped down from working with DC animation in 2013.

Now Timm is back. He's providing a darker take than the optimistic world he became known for in "Justice League: Gods and Monsters," a three-part digital series launching spring 2015 that will be tied in with a full-length animated film that comes out later that year, according to a press release.

Timm's also re-teaming with Alan Burnett, who worked with Timm on "Batman: The Animated Series." It's part of DC Comics' efforts to set up their new film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which hits in 2016, with the full Justice League film set for 2018.

DC Comics as a whole has been moving in a darker direction with Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, the "Man of Steel" reboot of Superman and a more serious direction in many of its comic books. The company has followed in its tradition of epic storytelling, passing on the quips Marvel has popularized in films from "Iron Man" to "Guardians of the Galaxy."

It's yet to be seen if Timm can recapture any of the magic from his classic cartoons, but there's reason to be optimistic for the creator of the series that introduced fan favorite Joker sidekick Harley Quinn, created a new origin for Mr. Freeze that cemented the character in the Batman mythos and led the team reimagining numerous characters in an iconic, broadly appealing way.

If you want to catch up on Timm's legacy, his previous two Justice League series are available on Netflix and Amazon Prime, along with "Batman Beyond," while the Batman and Superman animated series are available on Amazon Prime.

Timm also recently produced a short for the 75th anniversary of Batman called "Strange Days," setting the character in the retro world of the serialized pulp storytelling from the time Batman was originally created. You can watch that below:

Batman anniversary short

Watch the classic opening to "Batman: The Animated Series":

Batman: The Animated Series opening

And, a personal favorite joke from when Lex Luthor and the Flash trade bodies on "Justice League Unlimited":

Flash/Luthor body swap

Hollywood billboard queen, Angelyne was featured on the first Off-Ramp episode producer Chris Greenspon ever heard.; Credit: Creative Commons via Flickr user Thomas Hawk

After a few semesters of college radio at Mt. San Antonio College, I landed my first radio job: Board Operator! At struggling KFWB Newstalk 980. My career in radio began the way it does for so many, working odd hours and weekends.

A few months into my new gig, I was leaving for work and I thought, “You know, if I’m going to work in radio, I should listen to the radio.” I drove over the bridge on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puente, heading towards the 60, and right in front of my on-ramp, there was a big, orange billboard for KPCC. Why not 89.3?

The first thing I heard (and I should clarify that this was also my first time ever hearing public radio) was Janis Joplin getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Off-Ramp. Clive Davis, the CBS A&R executive who signed Joplin, told the crowd about how Joplin had suggested sealing their new relationship by having sex (though he demurred), and that his heart was broken when she died. Then Kris Kristofferson sang “Me & Bobby McGee,” and I was smiling, until I heard a chorus of hippies singing "Mercedes Benz." Pee-yew!

“Should I stay?” I asked myself. How could I not, when someone named Dylan Brody came on and told a story about letting his dogs poop on the neighbor’s lawn? But then, the real cheese, for a 20-something year old, biracial kid who loved space ships and tough punk girls; "Love and Rockets" cartoonist Jaime Hernandez talking about drawing for Junot Diaz.

All this was to say nothing of the loud, defiant-sounding host, who kept saying. "This is Off-Ramp, I’m John Rabe." I listened to him slide between all of these topics, and even report from the field himself, talking about museums in a way that wasn’t – boring. After a few more pieces and a few more uses of the Off-Ramp theme song, I had a new favorite show. And I suspect a few other people did too.

That was November 2013. Five months later, I was on the show. At the end of the episode, I noticed that they had an intern in the credits, and after many repeated scourings of the KPCC careers page, the position finally opened up. So what’d I do? I went out with my chintzy audio recorder, and recorded a story so if I got an interview, I wouldn’t go in empty-handed. I didn’t get the internship then, but John did buy the piece. Remember the one about the Burmese Café run by an ex-biologist?

I kept freelancing after that, and honestly, I got a lot of my ideas from stuff that Off-Ramp wasn’t doing. John would have Angelyne, and her famous Hollywood billboard, but what about the giant neon sign at Rose Hills Cemetery in Pico Rivera? Kevin Ferguson would hang out with Mike Watt from the Minutemen, but what about punk supergroup, the Flesh Eaters? And could we talk about a domestic violence shelter in a Thanksgiving Special, or the fact that a home-abortion movement started in Los Angeles?

John eventually asked me to intern after turning the Jim Tully mini-documentary in, and even after joining the company, writing these kinds of stories for Off-Ramp was still not easy, but there was room for all of them. I would be beyond thrilled if somebody heard even one of them when they heard Off-Ramp for the first time.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Off-Ramp producer Queena Kim acts on behalf of millions of Angelenos. The meter didn't stand a chance.

; Credit: John Rabe/KPCC

Off-Ramp began eleven years ago, just as digital technology was beginning to overtake radio. No more cassette tape or mini-discs; host John and producer Queena Kim thought they could take on all of Los Angeles with two digital audio recorders and a different approach to public radio.

Short-handed as they were, John and Queena had to adopt slash-and-burn tactics to get each show produced on time. The majority of interviews were conducted in the field; at the homes, workplaces, and favorite hang-outs of their subjects (instead of waiting for guests to come to the station) and many of the stories were edited as simple two-way interviews with life in Southern California picked up as ambient, background noise. After all, a show called Off-Ramp had better be ready to brave some LA traffic.

At this juncture, John feels free to say what he has always wanted to, but hasn't for fear of self-aggrandizement: "I think we were trendsetters. I think Marketplace and NPR heard the stuff we were doing, and started doing stuff like it." Once again, Kim chalks it up to being in the right place at the right time technologically, and the two person team's willingness to break out of the old-school, public radio way writing a story: with a very clear sonic difference between studio narration and field audio.

Of course, it wasn't just Marantz recorders and minimal rewriting that gave Off-Ramp its flavor. There was a whole lot of weird spewing up out of Los Angeles during the show's formative years and Kim's tenure (2006-2010). She recalls covering a ten-theremin orchestra at Disney Hall, and the excitement of working on a show that let her (and the listeners, vicariously) do things she always wanted to do. "It was almost like having a free pass to the city."

In order to capture what was new and exciting, John and Queena both agree that it was absolutely vital to abandon the reporter's instinct for safely packaging the story ahead of time. John cites his editor at Minnesota Public Radio's philosophy, Mike Edgerly; "Go find what the story is, go out and explore and figure out what the story is. Don't figure it out at your desk first." The collaboration between John's ideas and Kim's sense of logistics formed a dialectic relationship, valuing the "third, better idea" over either of their original perspectives. In light of that, John says Queena Kim was the perfect person with whom to start Off-Ramp. 

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and private industry should invest now in order to have an operational fusion pilot plant in the 2035-2040 time frame, says Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Every year, significant amounts of drugs left over and unused from single-dose vials are discarded, but because of the way drugs are priced and paid for in the United States, the cost of the discarded amount cannot be recouped, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The company’s ambitious growth plan focuses on building upon existing successes and new opportunities. 

Snack and bakery producers innovate in ways that fulfill consumers’ interest in healthy indulgence.

Processing aides are ingredients typically used in small quantities, but they can have a big impact on the functional properties in snack and bakery products. Emulsifiers and enzymes are two examples of such ingredients. 

Gürsoy, one of Turkey's most established hazelnut producers, is the first company in that country to harness the TOMRA 5C’s sorting technologies. 

A leader from Olam Food Ingredients shares tips for incorporating nuts into recipes.

Snack and bakery consumers want to balance health and indulgence; the right ingredients can deliver.

To help ensure a long-term sustainable red seaweed supply chain, Cargill has launched the Red Seaweed Promise.