rap

St. Raphael School and Schole Academy

Bobby Maddex interviews Joelle Hodge, the principal of St. Raphael School and Schole Academy, about a new partnership between St. Raphael School and Ancient Faith Radio that will result in a webinar speaker series.




rap

Interview with St. Raphael & Schole Academies

Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. Joylynn Blake, director at St. Raphael School and Presbytera Maria Koulianos,SRS Principal Tutoring Center CSLD Manager. To learn more about the St. Raphael and Schole Academies please visit ; https://raphaelschool.org and https://scholeacademy.com




rap

The Miracle in Zone One: Guatemala City's Hogar Raphael Ayau Orthodox Orphanage

In this new audio documentary, exclusive to Ancient Faith Radio, Bobby Maddex takes a trip to the Hogar Raphael Ayau Orthodox Orphanage in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Learn how the orphanage came to be, what takes place there on a daily basis, and why it is truly miraculous beyond measure.




rap

An Autobiographical Parable

In the parable of the Vineyard and the Vinedressers, Jesus is not giving a moral teaching, as might be expected, but rather is presenting His own story about His relationship to God and to the people of Israel. Fr. Pat discusses this.




rap

Venerable Cosmas, desert-dweller of Zographou, Mt Athos (1323)

"Saint Cosmas came from Bulgaria where his devout parents provided him with a good education in Slavonic and Greek. They wanted him to marry but he was drawn by the love of Christ and, unknown to them, made his way to the Holy Mountain of Athos to become a monk at the Bulgarian monastery of Zographou. On the feast of the Annunciation at the Monastery of Vatopedi, he saw a woman among those serving in the Church and in the refectory, and he was grieved at first to observe this breach of the monastic rule, but overjoyed when he realized that it was the Mother of God who had appeared to him in this way.   "He was clothed in the holy angelic Habit and, after some time, was ordained priest. One day, as he was praying before the icon of the Mother of God, asking her with tears how to achieve his salvation, he heard a voice saying, 'Let my servant withdraw to the desert outside the monastery.' He was obedient to the will of God and, with the blessing of his Abbot, lived in silence from then on. Some years later, he was found worthy of the grace of discernment of thoughts and of beholding things happening elsewhere, as well as of other spiritual gifts. In the course of many years, he was the spiritual helper of a great number of monks. At the end of his life, Christ appeared to him saying that he would shortly have a great trial to endure from the Devil. Indeed, the prince of demons made his appearance next day with a host of his servants bewailing and bemoaning their inability to annihilate their great enemy Cosmas, who had held them in check for so long and gained possession, by his virtue, of the throne in Heaven that had once been Lucifer's. Taking a heavy stick, the demon beat the Saint so violently that he left him half-dead. As God allowed, Saint Cosmas died in peace two days later, on 22 September 1323. When the fathers came from the monastery to bury him, the wild animals gathered round. They kept silent until the end of the service, but howled unusually loud as his body was covered with earth. Then having paid their respects, they made off into the wilderness. Forty days later, the monks came to take up the body of Saint Cosmas and translate it to the monastery, but it was no longer in the grave. Where it now is God alone knows." (Synaxarion)




rap

Fr. Raphael Morgan

This week's episode features a speech that Matthew delivered at the 16th Annual Ancient Christianity and African-American Conference on Fr. Raphael Morgan: America's first black Orthodox priest. Click here for supplemental material related to this episode.




rap

The Homilies of St. Raphael Hawaweeny

On this special episode of American Orthodox History, recorded at the first symposium on American Orthodox History at Princeton University, Matthew interviews Samuel Noble, a doctoral candidate at Yale University who has been translating from Arabic the homilies of St. Raphael Hawaweeny.




rap

076: PJ Taei – Video Monetization & Handling Competition as a Bootstrapped SaaS Company

In today’s episode, I’m joined by PJ Taei, Founder and CEO of Uscreen, an all-in-one video monetization platform for content creators that helps them build their brands and grow their businesses. The creator economy has changed a lot since PJ first founded Uscreen in 2015. And in that time PJ has managed to grow Uscreen […]




rap

Launch: Frappr, place photos of you and your friends on a Google Map

(sample map) It uses your zip code to figure out where to place you on the map.




rap

Watch: Cerundolo's 'jaw-dropping' drop shot against Draper

Watch Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo as he hits an "incredible" drop shot against Great Britain's Jack Draper at the Davis Cup in Manchester.




rap

Draper smashes racquet after losing opening set

Great Britain's Jack Draper smashes his racquet after losing the opening set against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime during their Davis Cup match in Manchester.




rap

No caffeine or smartphones - the secrets of Draper's success

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller looks at the team and the sacrifices behind "absolute tennis keeno" Jack Draper's run to the US Open semi-finals.




rap

Draper wins biggest title of career in Vienna

Jack Draper wins the biggest title of his career at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna as the British number one's breakout season reaches even greater heights.




rap

Bootstrappers, this is the golden age of the internet frankenstartup

Today I was struck again by what an amazing time it is to build an internet startup. I was on a phone call with a startup in the early stages. They've got an awesome idea, a smart team, good connections,...




rap

Farnworth stars as England wrap up series win against Samoa

Herbie Farnworth delivers a superb performance that includes two tries as England wrap up a 2-0 Test series victory over Samoa at Headingley.




rap

Stargazing photographer shares sense of wonder

Photographer Cormac Downes captures the night sky above Wales in a series of striking images.




rap

Conor McGregor rape accuser 'was very bruised', court told

Nikita Hand claims she was raped by MMA fighter Conor McGregor at a Dublin hotel.




rap

‘Catfish killer used my photo to trap other girls’

Three victims have spoken to the BBC after one of the world’s most prolific online sex offenders was jailed.




rap

Man arrested over alleged rape at car showroom

A 34-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident and has been released pending further inquiries.




rap

Ice hockey player detained for raping teenager

A Dundee ice hockey player who raped a teenage girl in his car is detained for four-and-a-half years.




rap

Car park rape suspect 'captured on CCTV'

Police investigating the rape of a 16-year-old student in Dundee believe they have footage of the suspect.




rap

Wales childcare provider business rates scrapped

Registered childcare providers in Wales won't have to pay business rates, says the Welsh government.




rap

Meet the therapy dog helping Hartlepool's homeless

Bob goes out on street sweeps with Cornerstone to support the homeless.




rap

Meet Bob the therapy dog who supports the homeless

The black Labrador goes out on street sweeps to help a charity speak with vulnerable people.




rap

Rapid-charging battery train trials under way

The trains are converted from old Underground trains and will be rolled out in the Thames Valley.




rap

'I want others to access the therapy that helped me'

Patients and staff say they fear for the future of mental health access in Derbyshire.




rap

Not-so-smart parking traps 60 in bowls club

Club members are not exactly bowled over when a Smart car driver blocks them in their car park.




rap

Teen says charity therapy 'may have saved my life'

A teenager explains how therapeutic groups for children, helped by Children in Need, supported her.




rap

Lockdown Photography (Part One)

When this whole horrible COVID19 experience started—back when we thought maybe we’d be in lockdown for a few weeks, not a few months to a year—I thought to myself that at least it might be something worthy of documenting with my camera. I considered the world so changed and strange in this moment in time […]




rap

Introducing TODS – a typographic and OpenType default stylesheet

Introducing TODS, an open source typography and opentype default stylesheet. One of the great things about going to conferences is the way it can spark an idea and kick start something. This project was initiated following a conversation with Roel Nieskens (of Wakamai Fondue fame) at CSS Day, where he demonstrated his Mildly Opinionated Prose Styles (MOPS).

The idea is to set sensible typographic defaults for use on prose (a column of text), making particular use of the font features provided by OpenType. The main principle is that it can be used as starting point for all projects, so doesn’t include design-specific aspects such as font choice, type scale or layout (including how you might like to set the line-length).

Within the styles is mildly opinionated best practice, which will help set suitable styles should you forget. This means you can also use the style sheet as a checklist, even if you don't want to implement it as-is.

TODS uses OpenType features extensively and variable font axes where available. It makes full use of the cascade to set sensible defaults high up, with overrides applied further down. It also contains some handy utility classes.

You can apply the TODS.css stylesheet in its entirety, as its full functionality relies on progressive enhancement within both browsers and fonts. Anything that is not supported will safely be ignored. The only possible exceptions to this are sub/superscripts and application of a grade axis in dark mode, as these are font-specific and could behave unexpectedly depending on the capability of the font.

In order to preview some of the TODS features, you can check out the preview page tods.html and toggle TODS.css on and off. (This needs more work as the text is a bit of a mish-mash of examples and instructions, and it's missing some of the utility classes and dark mode. But that’s what open source is for… feel free to fork, improve and add back into the repo.)

Walkthrough of the TODS.css stylesheet

You can download a latest version of the stylesheet from the TODS Github repo (meaning some of the code may have changed a bit).

Table of contents:

  1. Reset
  2. Web fonts
  3. Global defaults
  4. Block spacing
  5. Opentype utility classes
  6. Generic help classes
  7. Prose styling defaults
  8. Headings
  9. Superscripts and subscripts
  10. Tables and numbers
  11. Quotes
  12. Hyphenation
  13. Dark mode/inverted text

1. Reset

Based on Andy Bell’s more modern CSS reset. Only the typographic rules in his reset are used here. You might like to apply the other rules too.

html {
  -moz-text-size-adjust: none;
  -webkit-text-size-adjust: none;
  text-size-adjust: none;
}

Prevent font size inflation when rotating from portrait to landscape. The best explainer for this is by Kilian. He also explains why we still need those ugly prefixes too.

body, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, address, p, hr, pre, blockquote, ol, ul, li, dl, dt, dd, figure, figcaption, div, table, caption, form, fieldset {
  margin: 0;
}

Remove default margins in favour of better control in authored CSS.

input,
button,
textarea,
select {
  font-family: inherit;
  font-size: inherit;
}

Inherit fonts for inputs and buttons.

2. Web fonts

Use modern variable font syntax so that only supporting browsers get the variable font. Others will get generic fallbacks.

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Literata';
  src: url('/fonts/Literata-var.woff2') format('woff2') tech(variations),
       url('/fonts/Literata-var.woff2') format('woff2-variations');
  font-weight: 1 1000;
  font-stretch: 50% 200%;
  font-style: normal;
  font-display: fallback;
}

Include full possible weight range to avoid unintended synthesis of variable fonts with a weight axis. Same applies to stretch range for variable fonts with a width axis.

For main body fonts, use fallback for how the browser should behave while the webfont is loading. This gives the font an extremely small block period and a short swap period, providing the best chance for text to render.

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Literata';
  src: url('/fonts/Literata-Italic-var.woff2') format('woff2') tech(variations),
       url('/fonts/Literata-Italic-var.woff2') format('woff2-variations');
  font-weight: 1 1000;
  font-stretch: 50% 200%;
  font-style: italic;
  font-display: swap;
}

For italics use swap for an extremely small block period and an infinite swap period. This means italics can be synthesised and swapped in once loaded.

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Plex Sans';
  src: url('/fonts/Plex-Sans-var.woff2') format('woff2') tech(variations),
       url('/fonts/Plex-Sans-var.woff2') format('woff2-variations');
  font-weight: 1 1000;
  font-stretch: 50% 200%;
  font-style: normal;
  font-display: fallback;
  size-adjust:105%; /* make monospace fonts slightly bigger to match body text. Adjust to suit – you might need to make them smaller */
}

When monospace fonts are used inline with text fonts, they often need tweaking to appear balanced in terms of size. Use size-adjust to do this without affecting reported font size and associated units such as em.

3. Global defaults

Set some sensible defaults that can be used throughout the whole web page. Override these where you need to through the magic of the cascade.

body {
    line-height: 1.5;
    text-decoration-skip-ink: auto;
    font-optical-sizing: auto;
    font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures contextual;
    font-kerning: normal;
}

Set a nice legible line height that gets inherited. The font- properties are set to default CSS and OpenType settings, however they are still worth setting specifically just in case.

button, input, label { 
  line-height: 1.1; 
}

Set shorter line heights on interactive elements. We’ll do the same for headings later on.

4. Block spacing

Reinstate block margins we removed in the reset section. We’re setting consistent spacing based on font size on primary elements within ‘flow’ contexts. The entire ‘prose’ area is a flow context, but so might other parts of the page. For more details on the ‘flow’ utility see Andy Bell’s favourite three lines of CSS.

.flow > * + * {
  margin-block-start: var(--flow-space, 1em);
}

Rule says that every direct sibling child element of .flow has margin-block-start added to it. The > combinator is added to prevent margins being added recursively.

.prose {
  --flow-space: 1.5em;
}

Set generous spacing between primary block elements (in this case it’s the same as the line height). You could also choose a value from a fluid spacing scale, if you are going down the fluid typography route (recommended, but your milage may vary). See Utopia.fyi for more details and a fluid type tool.

5. OpenType utility classes

.dlig { font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures; }
.hlig { font-variant-ligatures: historical-ligatures; }
.dlig.hlig { font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures historical-ligatures; } /* Apply both historic and discretionary */

.pnum { font-variant-numeric: proportional-nums; }
.tnum { font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;    }
.lnum { font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; }
.onum { font-variant-numeric: oldstyle-nums; }
.zero { font-variant-numeric: slashed-zero;    }
.pnum.zero { font-variant-numeric: proportional-nums slashed-zero; } /* Apply slashed zeroes to proportional numerals */
.tnum.zero { font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums slashed-zero; }
.lnum.zero { font-variant-numeric: lining-nums slashed-zero; }
.onum.zero { font-variant-numeric: oldstyle-nums slashed-zero; }
.tnum.lnum.zero { font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums lining-nums slashed-zero; }
.frac { font-variant-numeric: diagonal-fractions; }
.afrc { font-variant-numeric: stacked-fractions; }
.ordn { font-variant-numeric: ordinal; }

.smcp { font-variant-caps: small-caps; }
.c2sc { font-variant-caps: unicase; }
.hist { font-variant-alternates: historical-forms; }

Helper utilities matching on/off Opentype layout features available through high level CSS properties.

@font-feature-values "Fancy Font Name" { /* match font-family webfont name */

    /* All features are font-specific. */
    @styleset { cursive: 1; swoopy: 7 16; }
    @character-variant { ampersand: 1; capital-q: 2; }
    @stylistic { two-story-g: 1; straight-y: 2; }
    @swash { swishy: 1; flowing: 2; wowzers: 3 }
    @ornaments { clover: 1; fleuron: 2; }
    @annotation { circled: 1; boxed: 2; }
}

Other Opentype features can have multiple glyphs, accessible via an index number defined in the font – these will be explained in documentation that came with your font. These vary between fonts, so you need to set up a new @font-font-features rule for each different font, ensuring the font name matches that of the font family. You then give each feature a custom name such as ‘swoopy’. Note that stylesets can be combined, which is why swoopy has a space-separated list of indices 7 16.

/* Stylesets */
.ss01 { font-variant-alternates: styleset(cursive); }
.ss02 { font-variant-alternates: styleset(swoopy); }

/* Character variants */
.cv01 { font-variant-alternates: character-variant(ampersand); }
.cv02 { font-variant-alternates: character-variant(capital-q); }

/* Stylistic alternates */
.salt1 { font-variant-alternates: stylistic(two-story-g); }
.salt2 { font-variant-alternates: stylistic(straight-y); }

/* Swashes */
.swsh1 { font-variant-alternates: swash(swishy); }
.swsh2 { font-variant-alternates: swash(flowing); }

/* Ornaments */
.ornm1 { font-variant-alternates: ornaments(clover); }
.ornm2 { font-variant-alternates: ornaments(fleuron); }

/* Alternative numerals */
.nalt1 { font-variant-alternates: annotation(circled); }
.nalt2 { font-variant-alternates: annotation(boxed); }

Handy utility classes showing how to access the font feature values you set up earlier using the font-variant-alternates property.

:root {
    --opentype-case: "case" off;
    --opentype-sinf: "sinf" off;
}

/* If class is applied, update custom property */
.case {
    --opentype-case: "case" on;
}

.sinf {
    --opentype-sinf: "sinf" on;
}

/* Apply current state of all custom properties, defaulting to off */
* { 
    font-feature-settings: var(--opentype-case, "case" off), var(--opentype-sinf, "sinf" off);
}

Set custom properties for OpenType features only available through low level font-feature-settings. We need this approach because font-feature-settings does not inherit in the same way as font-variant. See Roel’s write-up, including how to apply the same methodology to custom variable font axes.

6. Generic helper classes

Some utilities to help ensure best typographic practice.

.centered {
    text-align: center;
    text-wrap: balance;
}

When centring text you’ll almost always want the text to be ‘balanced’, meaning roughly the same number of characters on each line.

.uppercase {
    text-transform: uppercase;
    --opentype-case: "case" on;
}

When fully capitalising text, ensure punctuation designed to be used within caps is turned on where available, using the Opentype ‘case’ feature.

.smallcaps {
    font-variant-caps: all-small-caps;
    font-variant-numeric: oldstyle-nums;    
}

Transform both upper and lowercase letters to small caps, and use old style-numerals within runs of small caps so they match size-wise.

7. Prose styling defaults

Assign a .prose class to your running text, that is to say an entire piece of prose such as the full text of an article or blog post.

.prose {
    text-wrap: pretty;
    font-variant-numeric: oldstyle-nums proportional-nums;
    font-size-adjust: 0.507;
}

Firstly we get ourselves better widow/orphan control, aiming for blocks of text to not end with a line containing a word on its own. Also we use proportional old-style numerals in running text.

Also adjust the size of fallback fonts to match the webfont to maintain legibility with fallback fonts and reduce visible reflowing. The font-size-adjust number is the aspect ratio of the webfont, which you can calculate using this tool.

strong, b, th { 
    font-weight: bold;
    font-size-adjust: 0.514; 
}

Apply a different adjustment to elements which are typically emboldened by default, as bold weights often have a different aspect ratio – check for the different weights you may be using, including numeric semi-bolds (eg. 650). Headings are dealt with separately as the aspect ratio may be affected by optical sizing.

8. Headings

h1, h2, h3, h4 { 
    line-height: 1.1; 
    font-size-adjust: 0.514;
    font-variant-numeric: lining-nums; }

Set shorter line heights on your main headings. Set an aspect ratio for fallback fonts – check for different weights of headings. Use lining numerals in headings, especially when using Title Case.

h1 {
    font-variant-ligatures: discretionary-ligatures; 
    font-size-adjust: 0.521;
}

Turn on fancy ligatures for main headings. If the font has an optical sizing axis, you might need to adjust the aspect ratio accordingly.

h1.uppercase {
    font-variant-caps: titling-caps;
}

When setting a heading in all caps, use titling capitals which are specially designed for setting caps at larger sizes.

9. Superscripts and subscripts

Use proper super- and subscript characters. Apply to sub and sup elements as well as utility classes for when semantic sub/superscripts are not required.

@supports ( font-variant-position: sub ) {
    sub, .sub {
        vertical-align: baseline;
        font-size: 100%;
        line-height: inherit;
        font-variant-position: sub;
    }
}

@supports ( font-variant-position: super ) {
    sup, .sup {
        vertical-align: baseline;
        font-size: 100%;
        line-height: inherit;
        font-variant-position: super;
    }
}

If font-variant-position is not specified, browsers will synthesise sub/superscripts, so we need to manually turn off the synthesis. This is the only way to use a font’s proper sub/sup glyphs, however it’s only safe to use this if you know your font has glyphs for all the characters you are sub/superscripting. If the font lacks those characters (most only have sub/superscript numbers, not letters), then only Firefox (correctly) synthesises sup and sub – all other browsers will display normal characters in the regular way as we turned the synthesis off.

.chemical { 
    --opentype-sinf: "sinf" on;
}

For chemical formulae like H2O, use scientific inferiors instead of sub.

10. Tables and numbers

td, math, time[datetime*=":"] {
    font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums lining-nums slashed-zero;    
}

Make sure all numbers in tables are lining tabular numerals, adding slashed zeroes for clarity. This could usefully apply where a time is specifically marked up, as well as in mathematics.

11. Quotes

Use curly quotes and hang punctuation around blockquotes.

:lang(en) > * { quotes: '“' '”' '‘' '’' ; } /* “Generic English ‘style’” */
:lang(en-GB) > * { quotes: '‘' '’' '“' '”'; } /* ‘British “style”’ */
:lang(fr) > * { quotes: '«?0202F' '?0202F»' '“' '”'; } /* « French “style” » */

Set punctuation order for inline quotes. Quotes are language-specific, so set a lang attribute on your HTML element or send the language via a server header. Note the narrow non-breaking spaces encoded in the French example.

q::before { content: open-quote }
q::after  { content: close-quote }

Insert quotes before and after q element content.

.quoted, .quoted q {
    quotes: '“' '”' '‘' '’';
}

Punctuation order for blockquotes, using a utility class to surround with double-quotes.

.quoted p:first-of-type::before {
    content: open-quote;
}
.quoted p:last-of-type::after  {
    content: close-quote;
}

Append quotes to the first and last paragraphs in the blockquote.

.quoted p:first-of-type::before {
    margin-inline-start: -0.87ch; /* Adjust according to font */
}
.quoted p {
    hanging-punctuation: first last;
}
@supports(hanging-punctuation: first last) {
    .quoted p:first-of-type::before {
        margin-inline-start: 0;
    }
}

Hang the punctuation outside of the blockquote. Firstly manually hang punctuation with a negative margin, then remove the manual intervention and use hanging-punctuation if supported.

12. Hyphenation

Turn on hyphenation for prose. Language is required in order for the browser to use the correct hyphenation dictionary.

.prose {
    -webkit-hyphens: auto;
    -webkit-hyphenate-limit-before: 4;
    -webkit-hyphenate-limit-after: 3;
    -webkit-hyphenate-limit-lines: 2;

    hyphens: auto;
    hyphenate-limit-chars: 7 4 3;
    hyphenate-limit-lines: 2;    
    hyphenate-limit-zone: 8%;
    hyphenate-limit-last: always;
}

Include additional refinements to hyphenation. Respectively, these stop short words being hyphenated, prevent ladders of hyphens, and reduce overall hyphenation a bit. Safari uses legacy properties to achieve some of the same effects, hence the ugly prefixes and slightly different syntax.

.prose pre, .prose code, .prose var, .prose samp, .prose kbd,
.prose h1, .prose h2, .prose h3, .prose h4, .prose h5, .prose h6 {
    -webkit-hyphens: manual;
    hyphens: manual;
}

Turn hyphens off for monospace and headings.

13. Dark mode/inverted text

Reduce grade if available to prevent bloom of inverted type.

:root {
  --vf-grad: 0;
}

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --vf-grad: -50;
  }
}

* {
  font-variation-settings: "GRAD" var(--vf-grad, 0);
}

Not all fonts have a grade (GRAD) axis, and the grade number is font-specific. We’re using the customer property method because font-variation-settings provides low-level control meaning each subsequent use of the property completely overrides prior use – the values are not inherited or combined, unlike with font-variant for example.

There are probably better ways of doing some of these things, and the preview page is rather lacking at the moment. Please let me know on Github, or better still fork it, edit and resubmit.

Read or add comments





rap

Search Central Live Jakarta and Bangkok 2024: it's a wrap

Our first two Search Central Live events in Asia this year have been wrapped up and we finished looking back at what we've learned and what we can do better.




rap

Hierarchical Graph-Grammar Model for Secure and Efficient Handwritten Signatures Classification

One important subject associated with personal authentication capabilities is the analysis of handwritten signatures. Among the many known techniques, algorithms based on linguistic formalisms are also possible. However, such techniques require a number of algorithms for intelligent image analysis to be applied, allowing the development of new solutions in the field of personal authentication and building modern security systems based on the advanced recognition of such patterns. The article presents the approach based on the usage of syntactic methods for the static analysis of handwritten signatures. The graph linguistic formalisms applied, such as the IE graph and ETPL(k) grammar, are characterised by considerable descriptive strength and a polynomial membership problem of the syntactic analysis. For the purposes of representing the analysed handwritten signatures, new hierarchical (two-layer) HIE graph structures based on IE graphs have been defined. The two-layer graph description makes it possible to take into consideration both local and global features of the signature. The usage of attributed graphs enables the storage of additional semantic information describing the properties of individual signature strokes. The verification and recognition of a signature consists in analysing the affiliation of its graph description to the language describing the specimen database. Initial assessments display a precision of the method at a average level of under 75%.




rap

Des frappes de Tsahal ont fait plus de 50 morts au Liban et à Gaza, tirs de roquettes sur Israël

Des frappes de Tsahal ont fait plus de 50 morts au Liban et à Gaza, tirs de roquettes sur Israël




rap

Gaza : au moins trois morts après une frappe israélienne sur le camp de réfugiés de Nouseirat

Gaza : au moins trois morts après une frappe israélienne sur le camp de réfugiés de Nouseirat




rap

Au moins 22 personnes tuées dans des frappes au Liban et à Gaza, et le cessez-le-feu au point mort

Au moins 22 personnes tuées dans des frappes au Liban et à Gaza, et le cessez-le-feu au point mort




rap

Trump va nommer les "faucons" Rubio et Waltz à la tête de la politique étrangère (rapports)

Trump va nommer les "faucons" Rubio et Waltz à la tête de la politique étrangère (rapports)






rap

Insurrection à Washington - Assaut du Capitole: culpabilité pour l'homme photographié dans le bureau de Nancy Pelosi

(Belga) Un Américain, qui avait été immortalisé les pieds sur une table dans le bureau de la cheffe démocrate Nancy Pelosi lors de l'assaut sur le Capitole, a été reconnu coupable lundi de plusieurs délits.

Après une courte délibération, les jurés ont déclaré Richard Barnett, 62 ans, coupable, entre autres, d'entrave à une procédure officielle, vol et intrusion dans un bâtiment officiel avec une arme dangereuse (un bâton de marche capable d'envoyer des décharges électriques). Le 6 janvier 2021, il avait envahi, comme des centaines de partisans de l'ex-président républicain Donald Trump, le siège du Congrès au moment où les élus certifiaient la victoire du démocrate Joe Biden à la présidentielle. Il avait été photographié par l'AFP dans le bureau de la cheffe de la chambre des représentants, Nancy Pelosi, les pieds sur un meuble. Le cliché avait fait le tour du monde et permis à la police de l'interpeller rapidement. Selon le dossier d'accusation, ce partisan de la mouvance complotiste Qanon avait laissé un message insultant à la démocrate et volé une enveloppe qu'elle avait signée. Pendant son procès, il s'était montré défiant, assurant avoir été "poussé à l'intérieur" du Capitole par la foule. Sa peine sera prononcée en mai. En attendant, il reste assigné à résidence avec un bracelet électronique. En deux ans d'enquête, plus de 950 participants à cette attaque ont été arrêtés, et près de 200 condamnés à des peines de prison. (Belga)




rap

0 800 : le numï¿œro vert sur le covid rapporte gros et informe peu (certains tï¿œlï¿œopï¿œrateurs sont des intï¿œrimaires formï¿œs en 30 minutes)

Inquiet par le coronavirus ? Vous pouvez appeler le numï¿œro vert 0 800 130 000. C'est Emmanuel Macron lui-mï¿œme qui en a fait la promotion dans un tweet en avril 2020, en plein confinement. Ce 0 800 fait partie de la longue liste...




rap

Robust and secure file transmission through video streaming using steganography and blockchain

File transfer is always handled by a separate service, sometimes it is a third-party service in videoconferencing. When sending files during a video session, file data flow and video stream are independent of each other. Encryption is a mature method to ensure file security. However, it still has the chance to leave footprints on the intermediate forwarding machines. These footprints can indicate that a file once passed through, some protocol-related logs give clues to the hackers' later investigation. This work proposes a file-sending scheme through the video stream using blockchain and steganography. Blockchain is used as a file slicing and linkage mechanism. Steganography is applied to embed file pieces into video frames that are continuously generated during the session. The scheme merges files into the video stream with no file transfer protocol use and no extra bandwidth consumed by the file to provide trackless file transmission during the video communication.




rap

A Meta-ethnographic Synthesis of Support Services in Distance Learning Programs




rap

Using Autobiographical Digital Storytelling for the Integration of a Foreign Student in the School Environment. A Case Study

Immigrant students face a multitude of problems, among which are poor social adaptation and school integration. On the other hand, although digital narrations are widely used in education, they are rarely used for aiding students or for the resolution of complex problems. This study exploits the potential of digital narrations towards this end, by examining how the development and presentation of an autobiographical digital narration can assist immigrant students in overcoming their adaptation difficulties. For that matter, a female student presenting substantial problems was selected as the study’s subject. Data was collected from all the participating parties (subject, teacher, classmates) using a variety of tools, before, during, and after the intervention. It was found that through the digital narration she was able to externalize her thoughts and feelings and this, in turn, helped her in achieving a smoother integration in the school environment. In addition, the attitudes and perceptions of the other students for their foreign classmate were positively influenced. The intervention was short in duration and it did not require special settings. Hence, it can be easily applied and educators can consider using similar interventions. On the other hand, further research is recommended to establish the generalizability of the study’s findings.




rap

Creatıng Infographics Based on the Bridge21 Model for Team-based and Technology-mediated Learning

Aim/Purpose: The main aim of this study was modeling a collaborative process for knowledge visualization, via the creation of infographics. Background: As an effective method for visualizing complex information, creating infographics requires learners to generate and cultivate a deep knowledge of content and enables them to concisely visualize and share this knowledge. This study investigates creating infographics as a knowledge visualization process for collaborative learning situations by integrating the infographic design model into the team-based and technology-mediated Bridge21 learning model. Methodology: This study was carried out using an educational design perspective by conducting three main cycles comprised of three micro cycles: analysis and exploration; design and construction; evaluation and reflection. The process and the scaffolding were developed and enhanced from cycle to cycle based on both qualitative and quantitative methods by using the infographic design rubric and researcher observations acquired during implementation. Respectively, twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-four secondary school students participated in the infographic creation process cycles. Contribution: This research proposes an extensive step-by-step process model for creating infographics as a method of visualization for learning. It is particularly relevant for working with complex information, in that it enables collaborative knowledge construction and sharing of condensed knowledge. Findings: Creating infographics can be an effective method for collaborative learning situations by enabling knowledge construction, visualization and sharing. The Bridge21 activity model constituted the spine of the infographic creation process. The content generation, draft generation, and visual and digital design generation components of the infographic design model matched with the investigate, plan and create phases of the Bridge21 activity model respectively. Improvements on infographic design results from cycle to cycle suggest that the revisions on the process model succeeded in their aims. The rise in each category was found to be significant, but the advance in visual design generation was particularly large. Recommendations for Practitioners: The effectiveness of the creation process and the quality of the results can be boosted by using relevant activities based on learner prior knowledge and skills. While infographic creation can lead to a focus on visual elements, the importance of wording must be emphasized. Being a multidimensional process, groups need guidance to ensure effective collaboration. Recommendation for Researchers: The proposed collaborative infographic creation process could be structured and evaluated for online learning environments, which will improve interaction and achievement by enhancing collaborative knowledge creation. Impact on Society: In order to be knowledge constructors, innovative designers, creative communicators and global collaborators, learners need to be surrounded by adequate learning environments. The infographic creation process offers them a multidimensional learning situation. They must understand the problem, find an effective way to collect information, investigate their data, develop creative and innovative perspectives for visual design and be comfortable for using digital creation tools. Future Research: The infographic creation process could be investigated in terms of required learner prior knowledge and skills, and could be enhanced by developing pre-practices and scaffolding.




rap

Towards Understanding Information Systems Students’ Experience of Learning Introductory Programming: A Phenomenographic Approach

Aim/Purpose: This study seeks to understand the various ways information systems (IS) students experience introductory programming to inform IS educators on effective pedagogical approaches to teaching programming. Background: Many students who choose to major in information systems (IS), enter university with little or no experience of learning programming. Few studies have dealt with students’ learning to program in the business faculty, who do not necessarily have the computer science goal of programming. It has been shown that undergraduate IS students struggle with programming. Methodology: The qualitative approach was used in this study to determine students’ notions of learning to program and to determine their cognitive processes while learning to program in higher education. A cohort of 47 students, who were majoring in Information Systems within the Bachelor of Commerce degree programme were part of the study. Reflective journals were used to allow students to record their experiences and to study in-depth their insights and experiences of learning to program during the course. Using phenomenographic methods, categories of description that uniquely characterises the various ways IS students experience learning to program were determined. Contribution: This paper provides educators with empirical evidence on IS students’ experiences of learning to program, which play a crucial role in informing IS educators on how they can lend support and modify their pedagogical approach to teach programming to students who do not necessarily need to have the computer science goal of programming. This study contributes additional evidence that suggests more categories of description for IS students within a business degree. It provides valuable pedagogical insights for IS educators, thus contributing to the body of knowledge Findings: The findings of this study reveal six ways in which IS students’ experience the phenomenon, learning to program. These ways, referred to categories of description, formed an outcome space. Recommendations for Practitioners: Use the experiences of students identified in this study to determine approach to teaching and tasks or assessments assigned Recommendation for Researchers: Using phenomenographic methods researchers in IS or IT may determine pedagogical content knowledge in teaching specific aspects of IT or IS. Impact on Society: More business students would be able to program and improve their logical thinking and coding skills. Future Research: Implement the recommendations for practice and evaluate the students’ performance.




rap

Navigating the Virtual Forest: How Networked Digital Technologies Can Foster Transgeographic Learning




rap

The Interface between Technological Protection Measures and the Exemptions to Copyright under Article 6 Paragraph 4 of the Infosoc Directive and Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act




rap

An Evolving Road Map: Student Perceptions and Contributions to Graphic Organizers within an Academic Wiki




rap

DigiStylus: A Socio-Technical Approach to Teaching and Research in Paleography