Freehold Communities' Miralon Is One of The Nation's Largest New "Agri-hoods"

Out of the eight headliner guests invited to the festival, four that are people of colour from India and Costa Rica are unable to enter Canada. Cultural exchange and diversity has been undercut by unfair travel policies targeting certain regions.

More than 30 technology and telecom companies announced this week that they have formed a new alliance, the Open RAN Policy Coalition, that calls for open and interoperable 5G systems.

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An introduction to the DBSCAN algorithm and its Implementation in Python.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead."

Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman have administered thousands of 360-degree assessments through their consulting firm, Zenger/Folkman. This has given them a wealth of information about who benefits from criticism, and how to deliver it.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg talks about returning to work after her husband’s death, and Wharton management and psychology professor Adam Grant discusses what the research says about resilience. In this joint interview, they talk about how to build resilience in yourself, your team, and your organization. They’re the authors of the new book, "Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy."

Marcus Buckingham, head of people and performance research at the ADP Research Institute, and Ashley Goodall, senior vice president of leadership and team intelligence at Cisco Systems, say that managers and organizations are overestimating the importance of critical feedback. They argue that, in focusing our efforts on correcting weaknesses and rounding people out, we lose the ability to get exceptional performance from them. Instead, we should focus on strengths and push everyone to shine in their own areas. To do that, companies need to rethink the way they review, pay, and promote their employees. Buckingham and Goodall are the authors of the book "Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World" and the HBR article "The Feedback Fallacy."

The video below features three mask tutorials. In the first, industrial designer Eric Strebel's wife shows you how to sew a pleated mask that contains a slot you can slide a filter into; then Strebel shows you how he modified his shop mask for easy on/off; finally, he runs you through making a BU Mask, which is a cardboard mask (designed by Evgeny Maslov, freely downloadble plans at the link) that can also take a replaceable filter.

Finnish mobile studio Dazzle Rocks has secured $6.8 million in Series A funding to boost development on its unnamed social sandbox MMO. ...

YouTube creator Mark Brown shares tips and research on how developers can better manage player feedback to improve their games. ...

We're currently working on an unannounced PC/console title (with an exciting pedigree), and need help bringing the game world to life. If you love building levels and bringing worlds to life for players, read on!Responsibilities Creating interesting, lived-in worlds with clever world building in Unreal Engine. Placing environment assets, VFX, lighting, and so on Establishing and maintaining technical requirements for environment assets and levels Working closely with designers to iterate on and finalize level layouts Utilization of 3DS Max or Maya, Photoshop, and other related tools to author environment assets Working with art leadership to review, critique and iterate on work Required Familiarity with the usual tools of the trade: modeling tools, game engines, source control, and so on. A keen willingness to adapt work as design iterates or evolves A do-whatever-it-takes mindset: flexibility to learn and grow to fill the needs of a small team Good understanding of how to create believable and visually memorable levels Good understanding optimization needs and other technical requirements regarding performance 5+ years of experience, demonstrating the above responsibilities in action Must be immediately eligible to work in the United States Pluses Titles shipped using Unreal Titles shipped across major platforms Affinity to learning new tools and techs Proficiency creating hand-painted textures Please note, due to a high volume of applicants we cannot reply to each individually. Only those in consideration for a position will receive a reply. Thank you!

NYCDOT's objective is to deliver widely scattered but valuable information to the appropriate users and departments at the right time and in the right context

Collaboration between Delighted, a Qualtrics company, and Amazon Business empowers organizations of all sizes to listen, understand, and act on customer feedback in real-time

YouTube creator Mark Brown shares tips and research on how developers can better manage player feedback to improve their games. ...

RavenCSI "Pro" plan - a leading survey tool for business intelligence capture, to be offered at no cost through the end of 2020

If you are an IDBI Bank customer, here are the details of the bank's EMI moratorium facility. These details are as per the bank's website.

The digital repository that is being launched could include a list of tools such as automated accounting, tax reconciliation, cloud services, cyber security, video conferencing, online meetings available free to MSMEs for a limited period of time.

Millions of foreigners work in the United Arab Emirates and across the other wealthy Gulf nations, providing the backbone of the workforce in hospitals and banks, as well as on construction sites and in factories.

Catch up quickly on what's happened today in the world of Thoroughbred racing with the Paulick Report's News Minute. In today's edition, Scott Jagow shares news about an overseas-based horse pointing for starts in the U.S., including the Breeders' Cup Classic. Also, the latest on one of this year's Kentucky Derby runners who's been backed […]

The post Paulick Report 7/13 News Minute Presented By Woodbine Racetrack appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Participatory (collaborative, multiparty, citizen, volunteer) monitoring is a process that has been increasing in popularity and use in both developing and industrialized societies over the last several decades. It reflects the understanding that natural resource decisions are more effective and less controversial when stakeholders who have an interest in the results are involved in the process. An adequate number of such projects have now been organized, tried, and evaluated such that sufficient information exists to recommend a comprehensive approach to implementing such processes. This handbook was written for managers and scientists in the United States who are contemplating a participatory approach to monitoring biological resources, especially biodiversity. It is designed as a how-to manual with discussions of relevant topics, checklists of important considerations to address, and resources for further information. Worksheets for developing, implementing, and evaluating a monitoring plan are posted on a companion Web site. The subject matter is divided into 3 stages of a monitoring project encompassing a total of 22 topical modules. These modules can be used in any sequence on an ongoing basis. Stages and modules include (1) planning-documentation, goals, indicators, collaboration, decisions, context, organization, participants, communication, incentives, design, and resources; (2) implementation-training, safety, fieldwork, sampling, data, and quality; and (3) followthrough-analysis, reporting, evaluation, and celebrations. Collaboration always involves colearning, so documenting choices, plans, and activities with the Web site worksheets is integral to the manual's effectiveness.

This handbook and financial app is a guide to help communities quickly determine if biomass energy projects might work for them so that this option is not overlooked. Its purpose is as a screening tool designed to save significant time, resources, and investment by weeding out those wood energy projects that may never come to fruition from those that have a chance of success. It establishes technical, financial, and social criteria and indicators to evaluate proposed biomass investment options. Through showcasing of successful projects using text, photos, video interviews, and diagrams, it facilitates virtual project planning and interaction with experts. The interactive wood energy financial app allows estimation of capital investment costs to facilitate project design and screening across a variety of wood energy options. The calculator can be accessed from the eBook or from the Web.

We reviewed the literature to synthesize what is known about the use of fire to maintain and restore oak forests, woodlands, and savannas of the upper Midwestern United States, with emphasis on Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

If you’re a local businessperson, an entrepreneur, a tribal partner, a community organizer; a decision-maker for a school district, college, or hospital; a government leader; a project developer; an industry leader; or an equipment manufacturer, the Alaska Community Handbook will be helpful to you.

This book is intended to help people better understand how wood energy is helping to revitalize rural Alaskan communities by reducing energy costs, creating jobs, and helping to educate the next generation.

The Community Biomass Handbook Volume 4: Enterprise Development for Integrated Wood Manufacturing is a guide for creating sustainable business enterprises using small diameter logs and biomass. This fourth volume is a companion to three Community Biomass Handbook volumes: Volume 1: Thermal Wood Energy; Volume 2: Alaska, Where Woody Biomass Can Work; and Volume 3: How Wood Energy is Revitalizing Rural Alaska. This volume is designed to help business partnerships, forest managers, and community groups rapidly explore and evaluate integrated manufacturing opportunities.

You could previously only buy the two chocolate bars in Australia.

Here's a video segment on the Sandbag kit that we use. A transcription of the video is available after the jump.

CEDAR RAPIDS
Beverly Medberry, 87, died Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Marion.

Durant cette période de confinement, les créatifs rivalisent d’ingéniosité pour rester créatifs et continuer leur pratique. C’est le cas du photographe Florian W.  Mueller. Contraint de rester chez lui avec son fils de 6 ans et donc dans l’impossibilité de voyager pour réaliser des projets, il a opté pour la création à domicile. Lorsque son […]

If you are using the cforms II, you may want to head over to Mr. Seidel’s site for more info on the matter.

The post Goodbye to cforms II appeared first on WPCult.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Like other members of the United States House, the “new normal” for Rep. Dave Loebsack involves a lot of time on the phone and in video conferences.

Although the Senate returned to Washington this past week, the House may not return to the Capitol until mid-May. As representatives work from their districts, many face the same challenges as their constituents who are working from home via various phone and video meeting platforms.

“They’re clunky, difficult, frustrating at times,” the 2nd District Democrat said after a 90-minute Energy and Commerce Committee teleconference meeting, “but we can get a lot of things done that way without necessarily going into Washington. It’s not the same by any means ... but I think we can get a lot of our work done that we have to get done even though were not there.”

If there’s an upside to the telecommuting downside, it’s that the poor connections, dropped calls and sometimes spotty internet signals highlight an issue Loebsack has been working on — Congress and the country need better broadband connectivity. A member of the Communications and Technology subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over telecommunications issues, Loebsack also serves as a co-chair of the Rural Broadband Caucus.

In one meeting, Loebsack said, a fellow committee member was unable to ask questions because the Wi-Fi signal at his home outside of a southwestern city was so poor.

“So I think we’re going to make some progress” convincing congressional colleagues of the need to connect all Americans to reliable and affordable broadband internet, Loebsack said.

“In times like these, when families are at home, millions of K-12 students do not have access to the high-speed internet needed to take classes and complete their assignments online,” he said in an announcement with House Majority Whip James Clyburn and others of a House Democratic plan to connect all Americans to high-speed internet.

When the transmission of COVID-19 slows, the need for high-speed internet connectivity will remain as well as the need for Congress to provide incentives for internet service providers to close the “broadband gap” by extending service to the las mile in rural areas and eliminate what he called “internet deserts” that exist in cities.

The plan calls for an investment of $80 billion over five years for internet infrastructure and another $5 billion over five years for low-interest financing of projects.

With more reliable connectivity, Congress could consider remote voting at times like this when members don’t want to gather in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been cool to the idea, but Loebsack thinks members are “more open” to voting remotely.

“But we have to make sure that it’s completely secure, that the system can’t get hacked, and that votes are recorded properly,” he said.

Remote voting may be a may be a generational issue, “but I think this is doable.”

“I’m not making that prediction, but I would not be shocked if we move in that direction, especially the longer this (isolation) goes on,” Loebsack said.

Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

Een recensie van het boek The Wayfinding Handboek, een uitgebreid naslagwerk over wayfinding bedoeld voor studenten, leraren, professionals en klanten. Hoe pak je een bewegwijzering project aan? Door David Gibson.

By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams “We face a stark choice [between] radical, disruptive changes to our physical world or radical, disruptive changes to our political and economic systems to avoid those outcomes.” As people across the globe mobilize to demand … Continue reading →

By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams “The most robust study of the ice mass balance of Antarctica to date,” scientists say, “now puts Antarctica in the frame as one of the largest contributors to sea-level rise.” Scientists are expressing alarm over … Continue reading →

By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams “We face a stark choice [between] radical, disruptive changes to our physical world or radical, disruptive changes to our political and economic systems to avoid those outcomes.” As people across the globe mobilize to demand … Continue reading →

By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams “We face a stark choice [between] radical, disruptive changes to our physical world or radical, disruptive changes to our political and economic systems to avoid those outcomes.” As people across the globe mobilize to demand … Continue reading →

Adam thanks you — his blog viewers and supporters — and encourages you to continue the discussion and awareness raising about TBI and PTSD; the battle does not stop here.

The paper considers constrained linear systems with stochastic additive disturbances and noisy measurements transmitted over a lossy communication channel. We propose a model predictive control (MPC) law that minimizes a discounted cost subject to a discounted expectation constraint. Sensor data is assumed to be lost with known probability, and data losses are accounted for by expressing the predicted control policy as an affine function of future observations, which results in a convex optimal control problem. An online constraint-tightening technique ensures recursive feasibility of the online optimization and satisfaction of the expectation constraint without bounds on the distributions of the noise and disturbance inputs. The cost evaluated along trajectories of the closed loop system is shown to be bounded by the optimal predicted cost. A numerical example is given to illustrate these results.

We derive sufficient conditions for exponential decay of solutions of the delay negative feedback equation with distributed delay. The conditions are written in terms of exponential moments of the distribution. Our method only uses elementary tools of calculus and is robust towards possible extensions to more complex settings, in particular, systems of delay differential equations. We illustrate the applicability of the method to particular distributions - Dirac delta, Gamma distribution, uniform and truncated normal distributions.

Recent beyond worst-case optimal join algorithms Minesweeper and its generalization Tetris have brought the theory of indexing and join processing together by developing a geometric framework for joins. These algorithms take as input an index $mathcal{B}$, referred to as a box cover, that stores output gaps that can be inferred from traditional indexes, such as B+ trees or tries, on the input relations. The performances of these algorithms highly depend on the certificate of $mathcal{B}$, which is the smallest subset of gaps in $mathcal{B}$ whose union covers all of the gaps in the output space of a query $Q$. We study how to generate box covers that contain small size certificates to guarantee efficient runtimes for these algorithms. First, given a query $Q$ over a set of relations of size $N$ and a fixed set of domain orderings for the attributes, we give a $ ilde{O}(N)$-time algorithm called GAMB which generates a box cover for $Q$ that is guaranteed to contain the smallest size certificate across any box cover for $Q$. Second, we show that finding a domain ordering to minimize the box cover size and certificate is NP-hard through a reduction from the 2 consecutive block minimization problem on boolean matrices. Our third contribution is a $ ilde{O}(N)$-time approximation algorithm called ADORA to compute domain orderings, under which one can compute a box cover of size $ ilde{O}(K^r)$, where $K$ is the minimum box cover for $Q$ under any domain ordering and $r$ is the maximum arity of any relation. This guarantees certificates of size $ ilde{O}(K^r)$. We combine ADORA and GAMB with Tetris to form a new algorithm we call TetrisReordered, which provides several new beyond worst-case bounds. On infinite families of queries, TetrisReordered's runtimes are unboundedly better than the bounds stated in prior work.

With the continued digitalization of societal processes, we are seeing an explosion in available data. This is referred to as big data. In a research setting, three aspects of the data are often viewed as the main sources of challenges when attempting to enable value creation from big data: volume, velocity and variety. Many studies address volume or velocity, while much fewer studies concern the variety. Metric space is ideal for addressing variety because it can accommodate any type of data as long as its associated distance notion satisfies the triangle inequality. To accelerate search in metric space, a collection of indexing techniques for metric data have been proposed. However, existing surveys each offers only a narrow coverage, and no comprehensive empirical study of those techniques exists. We offer a survey of all the existing metric indexes that can support exact similarity search, by i) summarizing all the existing partitioning, pruning and validation techniques used for metric indexes, ii) providing the time and storage complexity analysis on the index construction, and iii) report on a comprehensive empirical comparison of their similarity query processing performance. Here, empirical comparisons are used to evaluate the index performance during search as it is hard to see the complexity analysis differences on the similarity query processing and the query performance depends on the pruning and validation abilities related to the data distribution. This article aims at revealing different strengths and weaknesses of different indexing techniques in order to offer guidance on selecting an appropriate indexing technique for a given setting, and directing the future research for metric indexes.

Bitvector filtering is an important query processing technique that can significantly reduce the cost of execution, especially for complex decision support queries with multiple joins. Despite its wide application, however, its implication to query optimization is not well understood.

In this work, we study how bitvector filters impact query optimization. We show that incorporating bitvector filters into query optimization straightforwardly can increase the plan space complexity by an exponential factor in the number of relations in the query. We analyze the plans with bitvector filters for star and snowflake queries in the plan space of right deep trees without cross products. Surprisingly, with some simplifying assumptions, we prove that, the plan of the minimal cost with bitvector filters can be found from a linear number of plans in the number of relations in the query. This greatly reduces the plan space complexity for such queries from exponential to linear.

Motivated by our analysis, we propose an algorithm that accounts for the impact of bitvector filters in query optimization. Our algorithm optimizes the join order for an arbitrary decision support query by choosing from a linear number of candidate plans in the number of relations in the query. We implement our algorithm in Microsoft SQL Server as a transformation rule. Our evaluation on both industry standard benchmarks and customer workload shows that, compared with the original Microsoft SQL Server, our technique reduces the total CPU execution time by 22%-64% for the workloads, with up to two orders of magnitude reduction in CPU execution time for individual queries.

Data analytics in the cloud has become an integral part of enterprise businesses. Big data analytics systems, however, still lack the ability to take user performance goals and budgetary constraints for a task, collectively referred to as task objectives, and automatically configure an analytic job to achieve these objectives. This paper presents a data analytics optimizer that can automatically determine a cluster configuration with a suitable number of cores as well as other system parameters that best meet the task objectives. At a core of our work is a principled multi-objective optimization (MOO) approach that computes a Pareto optimal set of job configurations to reveal tradeoffs between different user objectives, recommends a new job configuration that best explores such tradeoffs, and employs novel optimizations to enable such recommendations within a few seconds. We present efficient incremental algorithms based on the notion of a Progressive Frontier for realizing our MOO approach and implement them into a Spark-based prototype. Detailed experiments using benchmark workloads show that our MOO techniques provide a 2-50x speedup over existing MOO methods, while offering good coverage of the Pareto frontier. When compared to Ottertune, a state-of-the-art performance tuning system, our approach recommends configurations that yield 26\%-49\% reduction of running time of the TPCx-BB benchmark while adapting to different application preferences on multiple objectives.

What happens when the drive to play outweighs the potential risk of injury? Some high school athletes are finding ways around the precautions coaching and medical staff take to ensure their safety.