Fiverr Forum

Promotion links not working

This may be a dumb question. But I’m new and I have read and researched everything I can think of and can’t find my answer including contact to support.
My promote myself links do not work for example I promote to LinkedIn and the link just takes people to fiverr homepage. How does that help me promote my gigs. It’s the same no matter how I promote it even a simple sms message just takes people to fiverr home page.
Please help me…:grinning:


Configure VMware Horizon View to Interoperate with Okta via RADIUS

This guide details how to configure your Connection Servers to perform two-factor authentication against an Okta RADIUS Server AgentA software agent is a lightweight program that runs as a service outside of Okta. It is typically installed behind a firewall and allows Okta to tunnel communication between an on-premises service and Okta's cloud service. Okta employs several agent types: Active Directory, LDAP, RADIUS, RSA, Active Directory Password Sync, and IWA. For example, users can install multiple Active Directory agents to ensure that the integration is robust and highly available across geographic locations..

There are four parts to the configuration, including testing. A list of additional resources is also provided.


Mariam Paré

Mouth Artist

Mariam was born on 1 December 1975 in Morocco. She was critically injured in a shoot-out and became paralysed from the chest down (Tetraplegia C5). Before the accident she was studying history of art and had a vocation for art. In occupational therapy she was introduced to mouth painting. Nine years have gone by since then and the artist is still intent on making progress. Mariam has taken part in a number of exhibitions. She also designs her own cards, gives interviews and continues to paint and create art.

She works on interesting themes through various techniques, mostly traditional oil painting and modern mixed media techniques. Mariam’s been a part of MFPA since 2006. As Mariam’s involvement in the art and disability community grew, she began to share her messages of perseverance with audiences all over the world through TV appearances, news segments and in print publications. She says, “Through art I have immense freedom.”

Mariam Pare imfpa


How Do Boutique Serviced Apartments Impress Business Clients?

Plenty of people book boutique serviced apartments when they’re going on holiday, but such accommodation is also becoming popular among business travellers. There are several reasons why, including a chance to impress any business clients.

Here are just a few ways boutique serviced apartments reflect well on your business.

Prestigious Spaces

First impressions count in business, which is why you want to ensure your accommodation lives up to the image you want your business to convey. If a client turns up at a chain hotel or an unattractive block of serviced apartments and gets shown into a non-descript room, they aren’t going to be impressed. When you bring them to a boutique serviced apartment, you’ll show them into a space that contains luxury fittings and the latest high-end amenities.

Room to Spread Out

It’s perfectly possible to work from a hotel room, but it isn’t easy or convenient. Most only have one small desk at which to work. There will be room for a laptop and a few papers, but there certainly won’t be enough space to really spread out and get down to business. If you need to have a business client visit, they aren’t going to be bowled over. Far better to have them visit you in a serviced apartment with a large table at which to work.

It’s expensive to build a block of serviced apartments right in the centre of town, and it’s generally going to be downright impossible to raise one in the most fashionable areas. As such, serviced apartment blocks are usually in less trendy, more out-of-the-way parts of town. In contrast, a boutique serviced apartment will usually be converted from an older building. You’ll find them right around the coolest spots and within a stone’s throw of the best shops, restaurants, and bars. Being well-located makes you easier to reach, and clients will be impressed by your upscale position.


Decentralized Exchanges - Atomic Swap

The percentage of cryptocurrencies that have executed Atomic Swaps is still low, but along with DEX are shaping up to be the technology that moves the centralized Exchange.

What is human-machine symbiosis?

Companies that develop cryptocurrency mining technologies bet on the direct relationship between humans and machines, which allow people to continue to maintain control over their activities.

Remittances in a Crypto environment

Undoubtedly, Blockchain technology is routed to solve the problems suffered by millions of migrants worldwide.

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Africa and Asia increase their interest in crypto assets

Over time, it is normal for rapidly expanding markets to show increasing interest in them. But will they succeed in crypto-desert regions in countries in Asia and Africa?

If you have not heard about cryptocurrency or digital currency in recent times, you might not have been paying much attention. Currently, cryptocurrencies are a topic of much interest in almost all the world. Its popularity has risen in recent years and can certainly be considered a topical issue.

Applications, platforms, trading makes accessing the crypto active market easier and as simple as pointing and clicking.

Currently and around the world, there are an attractive and beneficial cryptocurrency and crypto active projects underway. The success of these projects goes hand in hand with the development of technology.

There is much talk of virtual money in developed or developing countries (cryptocurrencies are a phenomenon with a purely western origin). However, over time, it is normal for rapidly expanding markets to show increasing interest in them.

Africa: The Promised Land of Cryptocurrencies.

Africa is called to be the next promised land for cryptocurrencies. The conditions of the African continent are very favorable for virtual currencies. South Africa as a leading economy and could lead this digital transformation and thrive in the world of cryptos.

The African continent is home to 54 countries. It is the second-largest and second-most-populous continent in the world, just behind Asia in both categories. Africa’s growth prospects may seem lucrative for investors, but their inflation problems could hamper growth.

When inflation rates fluctuate too much or increase dramatically, the purchasing power of consumers is significantly reduced. This is where cryptocurrencies come into play. According to the United Nations, the high inflation outlook and the improvement of the economic situation have created the ideal environment to foster cryptocurrency markets in Africa.

The UN publication “Africa Renewal” states that many African citizens use Bitcoin as a tool to counteract hyperinflation in their country. The report says that Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe are among the African countries that have the highest Bitcoin penetration rates, while other countries such as Uganda are also taking interest in cryptocurrencies.

The popularity of the term “Bitcoin” in the Google search engine in the last twelve months shows surprisingly that half of the first ten results are African countries.

A recent “Statista” poll shows that South Africa, along with Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina were among the countries with the highest cryptocurrency ownership, almost 20% of respondents reported that they have used or owned cryptocurrencies in 2019.

A similar study of “We Are Social and Hootsuite” indicates that 10.7% of Internet users in South Africa have cryptocurrencies, the highest proportion in the world.

South Africa is considered the second-largest economy in Africa after Nigeria, which has experienced much faster growth in recent years. The South African economy is more diversified, while Nigeria is more dependent on the energy sector.

In the past, South Africa has focused its economy mainly on the mining and agricultural sectors, but in recent years, the country has advanced focusing on tourism, financial services, and the technology sector. Also, South Africa is generally more accessible to foreign capital, which offers the country a slight advantage when it comes to investments.

Africa has laid the foundations for the cryptocurrency industry to thrive in its territory, its high inflation economy fosters demand for value preservation, and cryptocurrencies could be the answer to African consumers. South Africa, in particular, could become the bearer of this cryptocurrency transformation.

Asia: Dominator of the global cryptocurrency ecosystem

Asia is the owner of the largest cryptocurrency market in the world according to the study published by LiveCoinWatch that notes that 75% of crypto transactions are carried out in the region.

Statistics show that Asian investors are more informed about virtual currencies than their western counterparts. The region has also assumed a leading role in the regulation of the sector. It seems that the rest of the world has much to do to catch up with the most populous continent.

Although China advanced a ban on the use of virtual currencies in the country, other nations such as South Korea and Japan have taken a softer stance regarding the new currency. Also, many companies accept payments in cryptocurrencies. This has helped boost the use of virtual currencies in the Asian territory.

In Asia, several countries have accepted the use of cryptocurrencies. South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines are among the countries that have tried to introduce regulations to protect investors in virtual currencies and encourage their use.

Asia is home to the vast majority of cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Also, some of these exchanges are among the largest by trading volume. This is driven by the existence of a favorable environment that promotes the operations of these businesses.

In the picture, there is no indicator that Asia is about to give up the new digital technology economy. The combination of regulations for cryptocurrencies and extensive knowledge of the sector continue to make Asia the ideal place for investors.

Asia has played a decisive role in improving the use of cryptocurrencies. The rest of the world is lagging concerning the enjoyment of the benefits associated with virtual currencies. The world has much to learn from Asia to ensure that an environment conducive to the Crypto sector is established. These facts leave no doubt that Asia is a key piece in the global crypto ecosystem, we could even say that it is perhaps the most influential.

We want you to keep in touch with us, we hope to receive your valuable comments regarding this article and we invite you to subscribe to our Newsletter and keep up to date and well informed.


Question from Musig / Schnorr – Bitcoin Stack Exchange

I am studying the MuSig protocol and I have problems to capture certain segments. This is my understanding so far:

In the current Bitcoin CHECKMULTISIG format, the size of the signature grows linearly with the number of additional "m" signers. The way in which CHECKMULTISIG works is that each signer produces its own independent signature, and we incorporate all these individual values in the scriptsig. Therefore, a 3 of 5 unlock script could read [sig 1][sig 2][sig 5]… for simplicity, I will call this compilation of all individual sig values the "group signature". In the given example, this signature field would be 3 times the length of a standard P2PKH.

In a "naive" Schnorr multiple signature scheme, instead of eliminating all potential public keys and [much larger] By signing the group in the block chain for the verifier calculation, we can make the signers interactively add their individual public keys in a pre-admission phase to obtain a single "aggregate" key, which is read as a synonym for a key traditional public An external member could send BTC to this aggregated key, where it would be controlled by the group members. For the group to spend, each party will create a partial signature with their unique personal keys and interactively add all these signature values to create a group signature. At this point, we are left with a group signature (which is the size of a basic P2PKH signature) and an aggregate public key that is added to the block chain, which gives us great space savings. However, this scheme is insecure unless it operates under a KOSK model. We turn to another variant of Schnorr, MuSig, which can offer key aggregation securely while operating in the context of a simple public key.

The publication of the Blockstream blog of 2018 says:

Instead of limiting ourselves to one signature per entry, we can obtain a signature for the entire transaction. The aggregation of keys can not be used through multiple entries, since the outputs are committed to public keys, and can be spent independently.

I'm having trouble understanding this paragraph. I suppose you should refer to each key added in scriptsig, since the scriptpubkey of the previous sender would have required tests to unlock the tax. I'm struggling to understand how the added signature is achieved in various ticket parts.


How to make perfect steak at home

If you're cooking to impress and only a tender, juicy steak will cut it. Make sure you cook it right with our step-by-step for perfect steak. For indoor cooking we recommend frying your steak, although you can grill it if you prefer. A heavy-duty, thick-based frying pan will achieve the best results. Learn how to cook steak perfectly every single time with this easy to follow recipe where steak is seared in a skillet on the stove and finished in.

how to cook a steak on the stove with butter

Busting conventional steak-cooking wisdom to make a better, faster steak at home. How to cook the Perfect Pan-Seared Steak! It's easy to make delicious, perfectly cooked steak at home!. I've tried cooking steak at home, but I just ruin them you get great browning on the outside, but just under that sear is a layer of gray that.

Learn how to cook a perfect steak indoors, and how to get that ultimate brown crust! More quick cooking tips at!. Considering the cost of dining out at a steakhouse, learning how to cook the perfect steak at home is a skill that every (meat-eating) man should. A béarnaise sauce can be nice on occasion, but I usually don't bother with making sauce for steak at home, mainly because a good pan seared.

I'm sharing my tips for how to cook a steak that I've learned over the years to help you get the PERFECT steakhouse quality dinner every time at home. But you don't have to cook outside to enjoy perfect steak: you just have to know gets asked the most is how to cook the perfect steak at home. The Perfect Steak with Garlic Butter - Here are my tips and tricks - I promise To make the garlic compound butter, combine butter, parsley, garlic, lemon .. expect from a restaurant and now I can make a great steak at home!.

How To Cook Perfect Steak - Complete Cooking Instructions . To satisfy government home economists, the Beef Council says rare beef means an internal. There are 3 main steps to cooking the perfect steak; what type of steak you choose, cooking it and how long you cook it for. Want to make steakhouse-quality steaks at home? Here are four ways to cook the perfect steaks: on the grill, In the oven, on the stove, or cooked sous vide. I can see McGee's solution is a good one if you only get home an hour before you want to cook your steaks or if you're bound by draconian food. People will tell you there's a bit of an art to cooking the perfect steak. But we think it's pretty simple - just follow these important steps below, for the perfect steak. Rare, medium or well-done? Steak to order is not a problem with these helpful tips. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat before adding the steak (this seals . We've taken it back to basics for a super simple, foolproof method to make sure your home-cooked steak tastes perfect, every time. I've been on a quest to cook the perfect steak. in steakhouses with commercial grills and broilers that get much hotter than anything you have at home. A quick. With just butter, garlic, and a cast-iron pan, you can have a perfectly crusted, juicy steak in 30 minutes flat. It is easy to grill the perfect steak like a pro—no matter what recipe or cut of meat you illustration of the steps to cook steak on the grill.


Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering

Environment pollution and energy crisis remains to be the primary challenges for modern society. Developing sustainable and renewable energy sources along with efficient energy storage and conversion technologies is considered to be the key to address the issues. Electrochemical water splitting coupling with grid-scale renewable energy harvesting technologies is now becoming one of the most promising approaches. Hydrogen, with the highest mass-energy density of any fuel, is regarded as the ultimate clean energy carrier. The realization of practical water splitting depends heavily on the development of low-cost, highly active, and durable electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Recently, heterostructured catalysts that are generally composed of electrochemical active materials and various functional additives have demonstrated extraordinary electrocatalytic performance toward HER and OER, and particularly, a number of precious metal-free heterostructures delivered comparable activity with precious metal-based catalysts.

In this doctoral work, the recent research progress on heterostructured electrocatalysts towards electrochemical water splitting is first reviewed. The design and synthesis of heterostructures, electrochemical performance, and the related mechanisms for performance enhancement are discussed. After that, based on the summarized principles for designing advanced heterostructured electrocatalysts, three types of electrocatalysts are designed and synthesized, and then the insight into the promoted electrochemical performance is studied...

This thesis is unavailable until Thursday, December 02, 2021


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light sound waves

Researchers demonstrate storage and release of mechanical waves without loss of energy

In several technologies which are used today, light and sound waves are the fundamentals for transporting energy and signals. However, until now there has been no method to store a wave for a long period of time and then redirect it to a specific location when needed. This would provide the opportunity to manipulate waves for several purposes such as quantum computing, storing information, energy harvesting and many more.

A team of scientists led by Andrea Alù, founding director of Photonics Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center, CUNY and Massimo Ruzzene, Aeronautics Engineering professor at Georgia Tech has demonstrated experimentally that it is possible to capture a wave and store it efficiently while redirecting it later to a specific location. The work appears in Science Advances journal.

Alù said that the experiment demonstrates new opportunities can be unlocked in wave scattering and propagation through unconventional scattering methods. Researchers found ways to change the basic interaction between waves and particles. On striking an obstacle, a light or sound wave can go through two processes, partial absorption or reflection and scattering. In absorption, the wave is immediately converted to different forms of energy including heat. For those who cannot absorb waves, they are reflected and scattered.

In this experiment, the aim of the researchers was to find some technique to mimic the process of absorption in which the wave would not be converted to any other form instead stored in the material. This is known as coherent virtual absorption and it was introduced by ASRC two years ago.

For proving the theory, it was necessary to tailor the time evolution of waves so that on contacting non-absorbing materials, they would not be scattered, transmitted or reflected. This would prevent the wave from escaping and store it inside the material efficiently. Then it could be released on demand. In the course of the experiment, two mechanical waves were propagated in opposite directions along a carbon steel waveguide that had a cavity. Time variations of every wave were controlled so that the cavity would retain all the energy. The excitation of one of the waves was stopped which enabled the researchers to control the stored energy and send it towards a specific direction.

The experiment was performed using elastic waves which traveled inside a solid material. It can also be replicated for light and radiowaves thus opening the doors to exciting opportunities such as efficient harvesting of energy, wireless power transfer and greater control on wave propagation.

Research Paper: Coherent virtual absorption of elastodynamic waves

About the author: Kalpit Veerwal

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Creative Writing Tips

The Writer’s Relief website has some worthwhile points about making the best use of one’s writing skills.  I have extracted some of the best points be]ow.

Sentence Length: Today’s reader tends to favour short sentence lengths—clear and direct writing rather than flowery, convoluted prose. It’s a busy world full of information, and simple, easy-to-read sentences with powerful verbs are appealing. Sentence length can have an enormous effect on your readers.  An example of effectively using short, powerful sentences to create an impact can be found in The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: That night I sat on Tyan-yu’s bed and waited for him to touch me. But he didn’t. I was relieved.  But this paragraph, from A Farewell to Arms, shows Ernest Hemingway’s skill with more complex construction, giving the reader a sense of the character’s languor:  They left me alone and I lay in bed and read the papers awhile, the news from the front, and the list of dead officers with their decorations and then reached down and brought up the bottle of Cinzano and held it straight up on my stomach, the cool glass against my stomach, and took little drinks making rings on my stomach from holding the bottle there between drinks, and watched it get dark outside over the roofs of the town.

More Powerful Verbs: He ran through the crowd. I didn’t like my coffee.  These phrases might come off as emphatic when they’re uttered in conversation. But when text is our medium, the primary way we can emphasise the tone of the words is by making stronger word choices, like this: He sprinted through the crowd.  I hated my coffee.  Sometimes amping up a verb requires restructuring a sentence: He darted among the pedestrians. My coffee nauseated me.  And other times the verb choice will need to reflect a character’s dialect or personality:  He bullied his way through the crowd. I’m not relishing my coffee.  One other “problem area” to work on when you’re ramping up your verb choices is the dreaded adverb. Overusing adverbs is the equivalent of trying to do crunches by pushing yourself up with your hands—it’s a way of “helping” the main action, but it makes the results less dramatic. Sometimes adverbs are absolutely necessary, but when you can get rid of them, you should.

Unusual Words: Examples of creative word usage abound in The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer. This novel is first set in Paris on the brink of World War II. The young Jewish protagonist, Andras, learns he must quit school and return to his home in Hungary. He’s bummed out. When he gets to Hungary, he thinks, “Budapest was cobwebbed with memories…”  Most of us think of the word cobweb as a noun. “Look at those cobwebs! That corner is full of cobwebs!” However, Merriam-Webster notes a lesser-known usage of cobwebbed as an adjective. Few of us would say, “Look at that cobwebbed corner.” It feels awkward.  But in Ms. Orringer’s hands, cobwebbed is a revelation. Could she have written that Budapest was full of memories? Of course.  But cobwebbed is so much more powerful and evocative of Andras’s frame of mind. First, cobwebbed is more visual than full. Second, it’s more specific. Third, it evokes age—something forgotten, despairing, and maybe a touch repulsive. It also provides some eerie foreshadowing for what could, and does, happen to this young man during the Holocaust.

Setting: The settings or locales of books, stories, and poems can be just as important as characters, plot, and prose style in making a creative work bloom.  Does your story or book have a setting that comes to life? That is a character in and of itself?   In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain’s renowned 1884 novel, the Mississippi River and its environs come alive under the magical pen of Twain—a pre-Civil War pilot on that waterway. Twain contrasts the beauty of the Mississippi’s southern portion with the racism, scamming, and other not-so-beautiful things that happen in and near there. But the river is also a place to have fun—and for Jim to possibly find freedom from slavery.

Point of View:  Point of view can be defined as the narrative perspective from which a story or novel is told. Many editors and publishers will tell you that a novel written from the first person point of view (I, we) is often a sign of an inexperienced writer, and—toss!—into the trash it goes. Check your local bookstore and take note of how many best-sellers are written in first person. They exist, but novels are far more often written in third-person narrative, and for good reason. In first person, the character is also the narrator, either playing a central (active) role or a peripheral (sideline) part. As the first-person narrator, you have but one point of view to offer, and this can be limiting. There’s simply less opportunity to bring depth to the story. On the other hand, a first-person narrative creates an undeniable intimacy with the reader.  The second person point of view is a difficult and uncommon style to pull off successfully. Imagine an entire novel where the character, narrator, or even the reader is referred to as “you.”  Often considered an experimental form, this type of narrative would be nearly impossible to sustain through a full-length novel and would be more successful in a short piece.  Storytelling from a third person point of view (he, she) offers a clear distinction between the author and the characters, allowing the author complete freedom to travel through the story and its characters. The narrator is not a character and can therefore comment on every aspect if so desired.  There are several alternatives to the third person point of view: the omniscient point of view, where the narrator is all-knowing; the limited point of view, where the narrator knows only one character; and the objective point of view, where the narrator offers no opinions or value judgements.  Once you’ve chosen your point of view, consistency is a matter of importance. Switching POVs can cause confusion for the reader and interrupt the flow of the story. If you do choose to use multiple POVs, make it obvious when a new character takes over the storytelling.

Review: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

I decided I had to read this book which is considered one of the best American novels of the 20th century.  It is written by Carson McCullers, who was born in 1917 in Columbus, Georgia, the oldest of three children of Lamar Smith, a jeweller of French Huguenot descent, and Marguerite Waters.  As a child, she was encouraged both to play the piano and to write stories.  At the age of seventeen she went to New York City to study music at Julliard School of Music, but she lost her enrolment money on the subway.  She returned to Columbus temporarily to recover from rheumatic fever.  Back in New York, she studied writing and produced her first piece of writing.  She married Reeves McCullers, and ex-soldier and aspiring writer in 1937.  In 1940, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter was published to considerable critical acclaim.  She went on to write three more novels, several plays and short stories.  She divorced Reeves in 1941 and remarried him in 1945.  In the interim, she fell in love with several women, including Gypsy Rose Lee, but, reportedly, her attempts to have sex with any of them came to naught.  Reeves committed suicide in 1953, having failed in his aim to persuade his wife to commit suicide with him.  Carson McCullers was an alcoholic who suffered from strokes; she was paralysed on her left side from the age of 31 and died at the age of 50 in Nyack, NY.  Her writing style is described as Southern Gothic.

Carson McCullers

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, originally titled The Mute, takes its name from the poem The Lonely Heart by William Sharp: “Deep Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still, But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.”

The novel has six main characters: John Singer and Spiros Antonapoulos who are both deaf mutes and close friends.  Spiros is hospitalised when his mental health deteriorates.  Singer stays in the small mill town in Georgia, where he works as a silver engraver in the 1930’s,  There are also Mick Kelly, a tomboyish girl who loves music and dreams of owning a piano, but, out of necessity, has to work at Woolworths; Dr Benedict Copeland, an old black doctor who is filled with anger at the plight of blacks in the South; Biff Brannon, the observant owner of a twenty-four hour diner; and Jake Blount, an alcoholic, violent labour organiser.  Each of these latter four is attracted to John Singer by his placid demeanour and his apparent sympathy with their individual angst.  The well-drawn characters suffer from loneliness which McCullers interprets with deep empathy.

When the book was first published, it was unusual for a young author to write with such effective sympathy about those who are rejected, forgotten, mistreated or oppressed.  She also highlights the oppressive race relations in the South in the 1930’s.

For me, however, the book moves at too slow a pace, and while this largely matches the pace of the setting, I found myself losing interest now and then.  The characters, the setting and the emotions are very real; the writing is excellent, if only it moved a little faster.

Creative Writing Classes

I have decided to take two courses on creative writing at City Academy in London.  One is a full week, full day (10-5) class in advanced creative writing.  In addition to providing the students with a sharper writing tool kit, it covers the specific skills of novel writing, script writing (film or television) and play writing.  There is a good deal of emphasis on creative techniques and structure.  There were four instructors on this course, all of them freelance writers, some of them take commissions from the BBC and one is a children’s book writer.  All of us (six) on this course were impressed with both the knowledge of the tutors and their skills in transferring the knowledge to us.  We completed many specific writing assignments in class, ranging from five to twenty minutes, and we would read out our work to the class.

The other class is on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 for six weeks.  This course is taught by the head of the creative writing department, who is script writer for Casualty on BBC1.  As such, he has a flair for drama.  This course is designed to help students progress or design a piece of creative writing.  There are five students in this course; I am the only male (aside from the tutor).  One woman in her early 30’s has finished writing a middle grade children’s book about a child who is disappointed in her own achievements.  A woman in her 50’s has a musical which has been performed somewhere locally and involves repercussions from Vietnam.  These two are making final corrections.  A woman in her late late 30’s has some ideas for a novel about two female friends, one of whom has a father who has strangely reappeared.  And the other student, in her 20’s, is trying to develop ideas for a novel.  And I am there with a completed manuscript about a man who is preoccupied with fears of his death.  Agents say it is well written, it has three good reviews, but nobody has said ‘yes’, and one agent said that in needs more intensity.

So I outlined the novel last Wednesday, including the concern about intensity.  I also presented my list of ideas for ramping up the intensity.  Almost immediately, the tutor said, why don’t you make the relationship between the protagonist and his grandniece the centerpiece of the novel, having them tell the story rather than the protagonist alone.  At first, I thought, Oh, God another rewrite!, but then it began to make sense.  The current structure of the novel is around a timeline which tends to dilute the intensity of the relationships.  But, if the two narrators cover and debate each of the relationships in depth, in series, it will be much more intense.

So next Wednesday, I’ve been asked to bring a revised outline to the class.  What this involves is taking all the events of each relationship, and grouping them together sequentially, rather than allowing them to be strung out along the time line.

This will, of course involve some re-writing, some new material and deleting some existing material.  But I’m looking forward to it.

Review: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

Mark Twain

Forget about the Connecticut Yankee; go with Huckleberry Finn.

Writing Seminar/Workshop

Last Saturday, I attended one-day seminar/workshop put on at the Cambridge Writing Retreat on the subject of ‘What Does Show Not Tell’ Actually Mean?  The instructor was Emma Sweeney, a novelist and literary instructor, who was both knowledgeable and interested in the development of the four writers attending.  Aside from me, there were three female writers: two novelists and a flash fiction writer.  The particular seminar I attended is part of a novel writing course put on by the Cambridge Writing Retreat over the course of a year, and the Retreat is the brainchild of Gaynor Clements, a poet with an MA in creative writing; it is put on in her attractive and spacious farmhouse.

The day started with Emma defining the terms.  Both Showing and Telling relate to what is in a character’s mind: feelings or thoughts.  Showing is accessing the world through our senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.  Showing is describing a character’s reaction to one or more of the five senses to give the reader a clue of what they may be feeling or their attitude.  Telling describes the character’s thoughts or feelings directly.  Showing a close interaction – as for example, smelling a rose – can be quite powerful but can feel claustrophobic; showing a distant interaction tends to keep the reader at arms length. The literary preference is to use showing as much as possible, as this engages the reader in sensing the direction of the narrative, rather that being told the direction of the narrative.  Telling is best used when the author wishes to throw doubt on what a character has previously done or said; that is, to suggest that the character may be changing his/her mind.   If we are describing an emotion through telling, it is best to anchor it in an analogy or image.

Our first exercise was to go out into the garden and try to experience something close and distant with sight, smell and hearing; we were also asked to experience something close with touch and taste.  As the farmhouse garden has many herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees as well as chickens, dogs, sheep, birds and interesting vistas, this was not a difficult task.

We were then asked to write a scene in which one of our characters does something out of character using action, gesture, dialogue and a description of the setting.  This took forty minutes, during which time Emma spoke one-on-one for twenty minutes with two of the other participants about the status or their writing and any concerns or obstacles they were facing.  The two of us who had completed our scenes read them out for discussion.

When setting a general scene, it is good practice to follow it up with a more specific, detailed scene.

After lunch, we began to read and discuss excerpts as follows:

  • Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway.  This short story is almost all show and very little tell; the reader’s mind has to work to keep up with the narrative.
  • Notes on a Scandal,  by Zoe Heller.  The excerpt uses Tell to cast doubt on the protagonist’s version of events.
  • Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.  The beginning of Chapter 4 is used to raise a number of questions to keep the reader’s interest.
  • The Web of Belonging, by Stevie Davies.  The excerpt uses an unusual words and layout to express the conflict a character is feeling

Our last exercise was to write a scene in which a character has an epiphany, starting with the external world, moving to the character’s mind, and concluding in the external world.  I had a plan for this one, but didn’t complete it because I had twenty minutes with Emma.  We talked about my concerns: creating more tension in the narrative and being less kind to characters.

The day gave me just the ammunition I needed to defeat the mystery of Show vs Tell.

Breaking Grammar Rules

The Digital Reader had a piece on their website entitled: “Infographic: 15 Grammar Rules You Learned in School That You Can Break With Impunity”

I’ve picked out some of the more interesting ones below.

  1. Never end a sentence with a preposition:  This one is from the ark and is probably the most broken rule because of how formal sentences become when the rule is followed.  For example: “From where do you come?”
  2. Know the difference between who and whom:  Who refers to the subject of the sentence and whom refers to the object.  In colloquial speech, it is common, but incorrect to ask; “Who did you invite?”
  3. Never describe a singular noun with a plural pronoun: An exception could be, “Somebody left their hat on the train” – when the gender of the somebody is unknown.
  4. Use the correct verbal agreement for a collective noun:  Collective nouns describe groups of things acting as a single identity: swarms of bees; teams of people – “The team is going out to lunch”.  “None of us is invited to the wedding.”  Right but sounds wrong.
  5. Do not split infinitives: Infinitives are verbs in their most basic form, usually preceded by to.  But the following is OK: “She tried to quickly think of an awesome sentence.”
  6. Avoid vague pronouns:  For example: “When Jess picked up her baby sister, she was so happy.”  Was it Jess or here sister who was made happy?
  7. Use That and Which correctly:  That and Which are both relative pronouns that introduce clauses; the difference being That introduces a non-specific clause, and Which introduces a specific clause.  A specific clause specifies the identity of the noun to which it refers; a non-specific clause only provides more information.
  8. Use the correct personal pronoun:  Me, myself and I all describe oneself but cannot be used interchangeably.  I is the subject of the sentence; me is the object.  Myself is a reflexive pronoun when the subject and the object are the same.  Example: “Sue smiled at herself in the mirror.”
  9. Use Farther for physical distance and Further for figurative distance:  Example:  “We had run farther today to catch up with out teammates who were further along in the training schedule.”
  10. Use Fewer and Less correctly:  Fewer is an adjective used to quantify nouns that can be counted; whereas Less is an adjective used to quantify intangible nouns that can’t be counted.  Example@ “Fewer coins, but less money.”
  11. Into is directional, In To is a verb phrase:  Example: “Breaking into the museum” should be written as “Breaking in to the museum.”

And three rules that should never be broken:

  1. Apostrophes:  Apostrophes show possession and contractions and that’s all!
  2. Affect vs Effect:  Affect is a verb; Effect is a noun.
  3. Don’t make us new words, unless your name is Shakespeare.  Some linguists believe that English has up to 300,000 distinctly usable words.

Judging a Literary Award

The Reader Views Blog has an article by Sheri Hoyte, Managing Editor, regarding the process of scoring titles for the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Literary Awards.  Sheri Hoyte’s website says that she is an aspiring children’s picture book author.  “I worked in the corporate world for over thirty years, honing my business and professional writing skills until 2012, when my passion for stories called me home to Reader Views an online publicity company for authors. Over the next couple of years I read and reviewed books for Reader Views, becoming the editor and social media manager in 2014. I am now one of the managing editors.”

Sheri Hoyte

In the blog she says: “So what do judges look for when scoring a literary awards title? Much like reading with a writer’s hat on, reading with a judge’s hat takes a different focus. Following are the guidelines I use when judging a literary awards title:

·         Content.  Does the author’s voice convey a distinct and consistent style throughout?  Does the flow of the book draw the reader in at an appropriate pace?  Does the reader have a clear understanding of who the characters are in the story?

·         Presentation and Design.  There is nothing more distracting to a great story than editing and proofreading errors.  This is the easiest thing to fix or prevent in the first place.  I can tell within the first few pages whether or not a professional editor has been used.  An occasional typo won’t make or break the book, but consistent use of poor grammar will cost points in the presentation category.

·         Production Quality.   Is the cover attractive and appropriate for the genre and the story?  Yes, I know the cliché, but a dull and drab cover, or a noisy cover with hidden titles and too much information can be a turn off.  Does the binding fall apart when opening the book?  Is the paper quality adequate or just so-so?  I have a hard time concentrating on a story when the book I’m reading is falling apart or the pages are tearing because the paper is so thin.

·         Innovation.  To stand out in any genre, innovation is the key.  Is the subject matter original?  Does the author bring a fresh voice to the genre?   Are writing elements being used in interesting and creative ways?

·          Social Relevance and Enjoyment.  For fiction books: Is the book impactful on the community of the genre?  Is it reflective of important social issues? Is it highly entertaining and completely engrossing?  Would I re-read this book?  Was I left wanting more?

·         Resourcefulness.   For self-help, business, how-to, etc. type of books: Is the book easy to follow, clear and concise? Are credible sources noted? Does the author have credibility in the subject matter?

When I read a book, whether for pure enjoyment, to learn a new skill, expand my knowledge, or for a literary contest, I want to feel a connection to that book.  Fiction or non-fiction, humorous or biographical, when I’ve finished a book and it lingers in my mind for days – that is the sign of greatness.

Review: Another Country

James Baldwin

If you haven’t read Another Country, I highly recommend it.

Editing Isn’t Easy (for the author)

Author or Editor?

Don’t Be Precious

Scott Berkun


Giant Lichens Can Grow To The Size Of Dinner Plates

Lichens cover about 6% of the world’s land surface. You’ve probably noticed them growing in the shade on rocks. The thallus of a lichen is considered the lichen’s body, not including the parts involved in reproduction.

A giant lichen can have a thallus that is over 60 cm in diameter! In comparison, most lichen thalli are millimeters to centimeters wide.

For example, the lichen species Umbilicaria mammulata is one of the largest lichens in the world. Usually, the body of a U. mammulata is 4 to 15 centimeters in diameter. But dinner plate sized specimens have been observed growing in ideal conditions in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Lichen are fascinating because they are the result of a close relationship between various species of fungi and either algae or cyanobacteria.

Lichen were featured prominently in a recent discovery in California where toxic and biologically active methylmercury from the oceans were concentrated in the bodies of cougars.

Methylmercury produced by microbes and other processes in the ocean enter the air as marine fog coalesces. The fog gets pushed against the Santa Cruz mountains, where the lichens absorb the fog once it reached land. (Mercury in lichens can only come from the air.)

Animals, like deer, eat the lichen and the methylmercury becomes concentrated in their bodies. This effect is magnified for predators, like cougars. Scientists have discovered that coastal cougars have three times as much toxic methylmercury in their bodies as their inland counterparts.

Although they are often overlooked, lichens play an important role in ecosystem processes. Giant lichens are a visual reminder to pay attention the small, often overlooked thalli in our life.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

I am a scientist studying how tiny microbes make big impacts in ecosystems. My research has brought me to scenic environments from deserts to boreal forests. I earned


Last Inca Bridge Becomes Peruvian Conservation Priority

A regional order declared last week that the conservation, promotion, and cultural development of Q'eswachaka Bridge will become an official governmental priority. This hanging bridge spans the Apurímac River in Qehue, located about a day's ride from Cusco in the Canas Province. The mandated task will necessitate the protection of the bridge's basic material, the Q'oya Icchu grasses which grow along the Andean highlands and are dried into straw to construct the bridge. (The bridge's Quechua name derives from Q'eswa, twisted cord, and Chaka, bridge.)

Q'eswachaka is unique in that it is reconstructed each year according to a centuries' old ceremony inherited from the ancient Incas. More than a thousand townspeople from the communities of Winch"iri, Chaupibanda, Ccollana Quehue and Perqaro gather together in a tradition known as minka, wherein communal groups gather for public works in a festival atmosphere.

The use of such bridges was not abandoned with the arrival of the Spaniards because quicklime and stone bridges simply could not span the same distances from one hill to another, and were also less vulnerable to natural phenomena such as overflowing rivers and earthquakes.

The minka is composed of ritual activities which last four days, with the central day falling on the second Sunday of June. At dawn on the first day, an Andean priest begins an offering, while the straw is gathered and braided together by women under the supervision of a specialist known as a

Chakaruwak or someone versed in Incan engineering, known as a Mitmaq. On the second day the old bridge is dismantled, the stones which sustain the bridge are removed and four new cords are placed which will become the base of the bridge and will span a distance of 28 meters. The handrails and bottom of the bridge are completed on the third day. Finally, the fourth day is celebrated with dances and traditional food, as communal labor was considered a festival day by ancient Peruvians.

In 2009, the National Institute of Culture legally declared the bridge's renovation ritual as part of Peru's National Heritage. Q'eswachaka Bridge is not only important as an example of the technology deployed in the time of Tawantinsuyu, the Incan Empire, but also because its reconstruction permits the practice prehispanic traditions such as a social organization based on the division of labor, intercomunal cooperation for the common good, and Andean spiritual beliefs.

Inca World Team
Publication date: 27 Nov 2012

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Nicholas Rousseau Trio/Quartet

Nicholas is a Brooklyn based Jazz Guitarist and Composer who seeks to bring thought provoking and emotionally compelling music to whomever he gets the pleasure of sharing with. Influenced by musicians from Wayne Shorter to Shai Maestro, The Beatles to Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters to Circa Survive, he attempts to utilize every part of his musical upbringing and style into his compositions and improvisations. He attempts to fuse simple lyrical melodies above intricate harmonies with subtlety shifting rhythms. His ultimate goal is to make the intellectually sophisticated sound simple and accessible while still having an explorative, reaching nature. And on top of it all, making the listener feel something.

He leads his own Jazz trio/quartet which includes Jazz standards and Great American Songbook arrangements, originals, and jazz arrangements of Beatles tunes. One feature of their repertoire includes a five movement suite composed by Nick entitled "Loving and Losing" suite, as well as a set of Wayne Shorter inspired "Zero Gravity" arrangements where the group spontaneously reconstructs fragments of Nick's music. Nicholas is currently composing for a suite entitled "The Reveries" based on the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.


D.1. Introduction

In this appendix, we introduce the key number systems that C++ programmers use, especially when they are working on software projects that require close interaction with machine-level hardware. Projects like this include operating systems, computer networking software, compilers, database systems and applications requiring high performance.

When we write an integer such as 227 or –63 in a C++ program, the number is assumed to be in the decimal (base 10) number system. The digits in the decimal number system are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The lowest digit is 0 and the highest is 9—one less than the base of 10. Internally, computers use the binary (base 2) number system. The binary number system has only two digits, namely ...


What Are The Strange Messages Coming From The Universe?

Scientists are continuously scanning the skies with telescopes to find some signal from extra-terrestrial intelligence. They are making every effort to detect the life beyond Earth. A new signal is detected from deep in space that is directing towards the existence of some alien civilization or the existence of some Earth-like planet in space.

Via – img.rt.com

The scientists have traced some specific and tiny modulations in the few stars of space. Although unusual, they have been called as strange messages or extra-terrestrial communications, but this evidence is not enough to prove the existence of life beyond the milky way. The reports have shown that during the survey of the sky, the modulations were detected from very few of the stars of universe i.e. only 234 stars out of 2.5 million stars. This strange behavior of tiny fraction of stars is an alert for us to their existence.

Read also: The Great Sphinx of Giza – An Astronomical Clock

One star from where the strange messages were detected was HD164595, from the constellation Hercules. That star is 95 light years away, which is relatively close to the scale of the bulky universe and it is almost exactly the same size as Earth. Also, that star has one planet which is discovered and was named HD164595b, which is thought to be the size of Neptune and has a 40-day year. This planet can harbor life same as on the earth, and scientists are very excited to know more about this planet.

Via – Blogspot

Breakthrough Listen

It is an initiative set up to look for alien life and supported by people including Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg. The experts believe that the message was promising. But they said further work on this will have to be done before they can be clearly attributed to aliens.

In our history, such evidence was constantly being recorded. In 1977, astronomers received something like “WOW”. This was a very powerful radio signal which was recorded from the group of stars called Chi Sagittarii (in the figure below), Astronomer Jerry Ehman, circled it and wrote WOW next to it to mark it for future study, but the message was never heard again.

Via – Blogspot

And henceforth there was no reason or explanation of this behavior, leaving scientists to conclude that these strange messages are coming from aliens. Further work is required to prove, confirm, or deny this hypothesis.

image source


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Monazite 2.50 ct.

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Monazite 2.50 ct.

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Monazite is actually three different minerals technically, but because of a lack of great differences between them they are referred to as one mineral, monazite. The three monazites have differences in the percentages of their chemical makeup and these differences are reflected in their respective names. NAME: FORMULA: MONAZITE-(Ce) (Ce, La, Nd, Th, Y)PO4 MONAZITE-(La) (La, Ce, Nd)PO4 MONAZITE-(Nd) (Nd, La, Ce)PO4 Monazite is a primary ore of several rare earth metals most notably thorium, cerium and lanthanum. All these metals have various industrial uses and are considered quite valuable. Thorium is a highly radioactive metal and could be used as a replacement for uranium in nuclear power generation. Monazite therefore is an extremely important ore mineral. Monazite is radioactive, sometimes highly radioactive, and specimens are often metamict. This is a condition found in radioactive minerals and results from the destructive effects of its own radiation on its crystal lattice. The effect can destroy a crystal lattice completely while leaving the outward appearance of the crystal unchanged. Increased metamictation will increase the perfection of the specimens conchoidal fracture. The radioactivity of monazite has been used as an aid in radioactive dating. Rarely found in cut gems, definetely is a collectors item. The hardness is 5-5.5. This stone when seen against the light is dark red-orange and is transparent with sevreal inclusions.A large size for this rare material. From Madagascar. Size:9.8x7.2x4.6 mm. Weight: 2.50 ct. CODE#3187

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All year we are publishing stories in our 20 Years, 20 Stories series to celebrate UCD's 20th anniversary. This story focuses on Dahlak (4708 Baltimore Avenue), the Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant that has been serving Baltimore Avenue for over 30 years. Dahlak is one of 30 University City restaurants participating in University City Dining Days

“It’s like a love story,” Ephream Amare Seyoum says. The 28 year-old is talking about his parents’ romance, which spanned two continents, but Ephream could easily be talking about Dahlak, his family’s restaurant on Baltimore Avenue. Because the restaurant is almost like a love story--a romance between a family and a community as much as between the two people who opened the restaurant over 30 years ago.

Ephream is the son of two refugees from Eritrea, a small country near the northern tip of Africa that borders Sudan, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Ephream’s father, Amare Solomon, and his mother, Neghisti Ghebrehiwot, knew each other in Eritrea. They fled the country at separate times when tensions were high between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and each wound up in Pennsylvania. They reconnected, married, and settled in West Philadelphia.

Dahlak, now a renowned Baltimore Avenue restaurant serving Ethiopian cuisine, was opened in 1986 by Neghisti and her sister Belinish. From the start it was a family business that employed relatives who came to America.

“This restaurant has been around all my life,” says Ephream, who now serves as the general manager of Dahlak. Ephream smiles easily and speaks softly, and is a constant fixture at the restaurant. Although his mother and aunt started the restaurant, Ephream notes that his father was instrumental to Dahlak’s early success.

“A lot of people from [the University of] Penn knew my father because he used to work there,” Ephream explains. “He was one of the chefs. Within the first couple of years of the restaurant opening up, he brought in a lot more Penn students.”

Amare provided the marketing, both at Penn and on the streets, and Neghisti served as the culinary expert, creating American twists on traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian dishes. “In Etria,” Ephream explains, “you wouldn’t have a chicken stew dish that’s not on the bone. She created something we’ve name-branded as Dahlak Tips, which is boneless chicken breasts chopped into a stew that uses berbere, a traditional Ethiopian flavor that blends spices like ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, garlic, and some other ingredients.” Ephream continues, “It’s all about the ratios you use that makes one berbere unique to others. My mom perfected her own berbere--it influences all the food we prepare, and all the stews.”

The majority of Ethiopian cuisine is comprised of stews, usually with an onion and tomato base, served on a bed of injera, a spongy flatbread. The food is meant to be eaten with your hands, although Ephream says, “We provide the forks if you need it.” The food can also be served over rice if you don’t like the injera. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t though,” Ephream adds. “Our injera is its own work of love by my mother.”

“Together they were good,” Ephream says about his parents. “We still get people from 20 years ago, alumni, who come by and say, ‘I remember when your father fed me by hand!’”

He’s referring to an act called gursha, a tradition in Ethiopia. “My father would hand-feed new people, people who didn’t know how to eat the food. Gursha is a sign a love, and a communal act.” In Ethiopia, friends or family will feed others by tearing a piece of injera, wrapping it around some wat (the stew) or other ingredients, and feeding the injera in another person’s mouth.

The traditions and cuisine at Dahlak resonated here in Philadelphia, and the restaurant’s reputation grew. Ephream remembers a time he was visiting DC, and when someone realized he was from Philadelphia with roots in Eritrea, they asked if he knew Dahlak. “I laughed and said ‘yeah, that’s my family’s restaurant.’”

And Dahlak truly is a family restaurant. When it first opened, Amare and Neghisti lived in rented rooms above the restaurant. As the business grew and began to prosper, they bought a house across the street to raise Ephream and his two siblings, a brother and a sister, who are also involved in the business.

“Me, my sister, my siblings, we’re all blessed to have this. My mother has put a lot of work into starting this business up. My father worked to bring in the crowds.” Ephream and his siblings have helped at the business since a young age, from doing chores like sweeping to graduating to more substantial tasks like unlocking the doors for the cooks. Dahlak expanded twice, first into an adjoining space that now serves as an additional dining room, and then with a bar and an outdoor patio in the early 2000s.

“Almost immediately after the bar opened people in the neighborhood were excited,” Ephream says. His father would spend hours standing out front, by the sidewalk, “In this cool pose, just saying hello to everyone who walked by. I remember seeing him always in a conversation with someone. He pretty much made friends with the entire neighborhood.” Ephream says the bar only enhanced a sense of community, and with open mic nights and music events for the community, it truly became “a community inside of a community,” as he describes it.

“People would call Amare Solomon the mayor of Baltimore Avenue,” Ephream says about his father, who he believes is largely responsible for the growth of the Ethiopian community in West Philadelphia. “Running the restaurant the way he did, making friends in the neighborhood, adding the bar, that stimulated the area for business. Back then, when I was a kid, there weren’t many restaurants on this strip. We were one of maybe three or four, and most of those were African restaurants. I might be biased, but I say it’s because of my dad. He convinced people he knew from Penn who might not have dared to come in this direction.”

Amare Solomon’s untimely passing from heart disease in 2005 led Ephream to become more involved in the business. “I was 17,” he says. “I stuck around a lot more, spent nights closing up.” Ephream’s uncle Berekep Solomon helped steady things after Amare’s death.

Although Amare Solomon passed away, his legacy still looms large. A bench in Clark Park bears his name, and his likeness features prominently on a mural titled The Heart of Baltimore Avenue, located close to Dahlak on the 4700 block of Baltimore.

Ephream went to college and graduated from St. Joe’s with a degree in Organizational Development, where he learned business etiquette, how to work as a team, group dynamics, and leadership skills. “I also learned a lot just by being here,” he says, gesturing to the restaurant around him. “Through trial and error.” He has helped introduce a new, more American late night menu, including injera rolls and Ethiopian cheesesteaks.

Being a part of the community is still very important for Dahlak. The bar has hosted karaoke every Tuesday for seven years, local musicians play on weeknights, and Dahlak has been a participant in UCD’s Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll since it started. “At the Dollar Stroll, I see people I know, I see people I don’t know--it puts us on the map.” If you’ve ever sampled the injera rolls during the Stroll, you’ve probably met Ephream and his mother Neghisti. Dahlak contributed to UCD's fundraising campaign for Trolley Portal Gardens by adopting trees, and their contribution will be honored with two plaques, one with the name of Dahlak on it, and one dedicated to Amare and Neghisti.  Starting this summer, Ephream is working with local partners to expand his impact on the community with the opening of Pentridge Station, a community beer garden in southwest Cedar Park.

As we conclude our interview, Ephream leads the way to the Heart of Baltimore mural close to the restaurant to take some photos. It’s now Amare Solomon’s son who stops to chat with everyone outside, and shares greetings, handshakes, and hugs. It's like he's made friends with the entire neighborhood. On the wall above us, overlooking a neighborhood he helped energize, a painting of his father smiles.

Visit Dahlak at 4708 Baltimore Avenue. They are one of 30 local restaurants participating in University City Dining Days, running from July 13th-23rd. See Dahlak's Dining Days menu here.


Model of economics - Vіtlіnsky V.V.

12.2. Keynes Model

The classic model gave an idea of the task of creating a novelty in economics in the minds of repeated employment. Ale yak know rivnovagu, if the economy is characterized by masovim unemployment?

L. Harris * 1, secrema, meaning: “Keynes, having lost his sense of purpose in showing that he is not interested in doing other things, isn’t an irregular vipad. Zagalniy vipadok - the main reason for the manifestation of unemployment, and when you take it - more than a single vipadok. Gobble to reach bazhanogo I will become busy again, the power of goiters is obliged to miscalculate especially the politics of gratification of free employment, more automatically doyuchі rinkovі sily without the price of prytrimki not guarantee її reach. ”

* 1: {Harris L. Monetary Theory. - M .: Progress, 1990. - S. 269.}

Get involved, scho іsnu rinok pennies, vіdmіnny vіd rinku oblіgatsіy. Three kinds of assets are being looked at: pennies, regional bonds, physical capital. Vidnosna price of pennies, bend in the regions, - the whole rate in rubles for the regions. There is a hypothesis to allow, in the minds of income the norm is an allowance for physical capital (which is for an obvious supply of investment goods) expensive incomes for the regions.

Ozhe, a friend of the model - a model, like a penny-credit policy for viro business. For example, growing a penny with a hat for a friend of new pennies is proportional to the amount of pennies and pennies. Although it’s only a little bit bigger, it’s more expensive to lose money when the norms are lower than in the region (alternative type of assets), the norm is lower for the most part, the losses are small and small.

Let’s take a whopper from the criterion to the maximum allowance for the capital (fund) for the fixed rynya borrowed:

P = p ( F ( K , L ) - rK ,

That is matimo such a viraz for the need to think of an extremum gain:

Oskilki , then, just, let’s wipe the maximum:

tobto is limited by the productivity of the funds in the form of property of normal income (fixed income).

From now on, a lower norm for a little more than one year (12.10) means a lower boundary for a little more capital, and a smaller part for a lower product is lower for K , a lower one for a smaller transfer, and you need to pay a little bit more to share it with you. Sounds, having secured the entire cause-and-effect lance, is very small, and it seems very small that there is no big deal for food, I’ve grown up to comrade before the delivery of goods, that’s up to

Rozglyanmo more detailed rinok pracі in Keynes’s model. Nagada, in the classic model of income, it has come for repeated employment, and the importance of real wages viznachalos os think:

at tsomu rіnovnovazhniy kіntsevy product

Y 0 = F ( K , L 0),

de L 0 - the number of practitioners for thinking of employment.

It is permissible, for any reason, to drink E (for production), having appeared less for the proposition of Y 0 for the reason for repeated employment.

At the end of the year, as if having respected Keynes, in fact, the winnings of the Kintsev product are Y dear to Y = E , so that Y < Y 0 .

All of a sudden, you don’t have to work on the market, the fragments for decisive minds can reduce the product’s oversight due to the small number of people, only L <L 0.

From now on, in the classic model there is a real pay First of all, the number of borrowers in modelі Keynes popit for goods E viznachaє rіven zaynyatostі L, at tsomu L 0 - L i Je tim rіvnem bezrobіttya, yaky diktuєtsya Rink groschens tovarіv i.

There’s a clue here at the same time, they won’t be able to sell styli, they should be able to stink, but they’ll sell and sell more for less. I’m going to get to work on the fact that I’m crooked by the force, which was introduced for the hypothesis of maximizing the gain, but we can’t but Victor. From now on, the main new Keynes’s model is divided into the classic model from the fact that:

1) the level of marketability of goods reached for the level of forecasted consumption and actual positioning;

2) the actual one is willing to work out the power of recognizing the actual product, and later, the market for the workforce can be reached even if the market is for the store.

Keynes’s model is recorded with the Lq ( r ) wiggle - it’s popped into the oblast fallow rate.

Rinoko robotici:

Penny Market:

Rinok goods:

Y = E. (12.15)

I’m more interested in the market for goods , having learned, for example, in addition, hypothesis, and deposits C ( Y ), I ( r ) є linear, so that I can drink on a living comrade who has a constant linear supply of goods:

C ( Y ) = a + bY , a > 0,

0 < b <1,

a subscribes to investment comrade loyal recession and growth rate:

I ( r ) = d - f ( r ),

D > 0, f > 0.

Todi Umova Rivnovagi (12.15)

Y G = a + bY G + d - f ( r ),

zvidsy otrimaєmo:

because the curve is equal to the market for goods ( IS curve) є the linearly-declining function r і, the same, for the fixed value r the same value YG ( r ).

Rozglyanmo now rivnovagu to the market pennies . It is permissible that scho drinks on the region Lq ( r ) to lay down in the form r :

Lq ( r ) = k - jr ,

Umova Rivnovagi (12.13), when I take it from the Viglyad:

MS = MD = LpYM + h - jr ,

abo (12.17)

because the curve is equal to the pennies market ( LM ) є with the constant linear function r , the same, for the fixed r is the same as the YM ( r ) value.

Zagalna rivnovaga on the market of pennies and goods to reach for think:

meaningly, the point of rivovagi ( Y 0, r 0) (the point of cross line IS i LM ) is ина one. The rest of the world on penny and commodity markets is uniquely signaled to the actual need for labor: Y 0 = F ( K , L 0).

The main scheme of the installation of the river is shown in Fig. 12.3.

Fig. 12.3

The first quadrant has the image of IS , LM , the fourth quadrant has the viro function of the economy (EF) as the L function, the third quadrant has the curve of power and position to work. Yak is possible to cause, the reasons for tying up all kinds of goods and pennies to the market are working through the WF, and even then, the market is not essential.

Although the transmission model (postulate) is classic, it’s an automatic tendency to keep busy, then Keynes’s model has such a mute. Honestly, nehai rivnaga on the market prazі vstavilas for the mind of renewed employment on rivnі L 0 ( L 0 <L 0). In order to have access to new activities L 0, you need to have a higher product range up to Y 0 ( Y 0 = F ( K , L 0)), you must have your own business, you can take up a penny's worth of money. LM 0. Yak bachimo z (12.17), as well it is possible to secure for exogenously given propositions of pennies ı fixed rate k , h less through lower price p , higher mechanism for lower price for fixed pay rate w 0 for Keynes model is not included. From now on, in order to switch to regular employment, the special state policy.

Yakshcho lіnіya LM non-linear, that is, around the point, at a point r 0 tsya lіnіya maє horizontally dilyanka, then winikaє lіkvіdna pasta. For the indicated form of LM business insurance on the financial market, it is irreplaceable that the price is lower due to the overhead propositional product Y 0 and work L 0.

I wish you such a special thing: the plan of planning Vitrat E buvaє nastіlki viskim, scho virobnitstvo Y can not reach it. All prices are as long as the netting point IS i LM is the maximum value for the rate r 0.

Keynes’s modifiable approach ари monetarism analysis of economics (deductible on the cob of the 70s of the XXth century by M. Freidman). What is the reason for the day-to-day viability of Keynes and Freeman? Keynes respected that he had the most significant impact on the winter of the main macroeconomic indicators, he would help him to a comrade, and to Freidman’s thought, the head would have control over the proposition of pennies. Monetarists also agree on the fact that speculative drinking for pennies doesn’t lie down in all bets, and in order to increase the amount of pennies to raise the price, not on the odds of the virobility, as it was in the Keynes model. For the most important things, a penny-credit policy cannot be blown away from the pre -otherm plan for the real oath of virobility and the camp is unbecoming, although we want to have a short term.

Yak to comprehend more of Ukraine and the indigenous countries, indices are governed by Keynes’s statements, and indices are Fredman’s: unrivaled level and controlled by the state’s influence - dynasty Keynesian; hyperinflation and weak control of the state - monetarist.


Back Pain in Pregnancy

Why is back pain so common in pregnancy?

One of the most common complaints during pregnancy is back pain. In fact, it's estimated that more than half of all women experience some degree of back discomfort. Most back pain is related to the physical changes that happen during pregnancy, including hormones, changes in the center of gravity, and posture. Unfortunately, it typically gets worse as pregnancy progresses.

What causes back pain during pregnancy?

Throughout pregnancy, hormones affect a woman's muscles and joints. The hormones relaxin and progesterone relax muscles and loosen ligaments and joints, especially in the pelvic area. The extra weight and body changes in pregnancy along with these loosened joints and ligaments can cause discomfort and even lead to injury.

As your uterus grows and becomes heavier, your center of gravity changes. This can lead to problems with balance and the potential for falls. The weight of your baby and weakening of belly muscles pulls your lower spine forward, adding strain to back muscles. Many women respond by leaning back in an awkward posture. This increases back strain and pain.

What can you do?

Some back pain can be prevented:

  • Try using proper body mechanics. For example, if you need to pick something up, squat down, bending at your knees and keeping your back straight. Avoid bending over from your waist.

  • Use good posture when sitting or standing and do back-strengthening exercises. Ask your healthcare provider about back exercises that are right for you.

  • Avoid activities that strain the back, like lifting and moving heavy objects.

  • Wear shoes that provide good support.

  • Sleep on your side with pillows between your knees for support.

  • Apply heat, cold, or massage to the painful area.

  • If you are having discomfort, talk with your healthcare provider. Back pain relief may need rest, supportive garments, or other types of treatment.

Prevention and treatment of back pain are important to avoid injury and to decrease the chance for long-term or chronic back pain. Because back pain in pregnancy can be a symptom of more serious problems, like preterm labor, always talk with your healthcare provider if symptoms are severe or last longer than 2 weeks.

Online Medical Reviewer: Burd, Irina, MD, PhD
Date Last Reviewed: 11/1/2017


Descriptive writing rubrics

The topic is what they are rubric about and the students need to stay focused on that topic. How students arrange their descriptive is organization. Each writing should include an Introduction, body and conclusion.

A Rubric for Descriptive Paragraphs in Third Grade: Assessment for Writing

If rubrics are writing a paragraph, it should include a topic sentence, detail sentences and a descriptive sentence. If rubrics are writing an essay or multi-paragraph piece, there should be an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph.

It includes the writing used in the writing and sentence structure. For descriptive graders, they should be using writing writing ease that is at their descriptive and adding in a few more difficult rubrics. The sentence structure should be varied with sentences. Students may also be able to write and use complex sentences and compound-complex rubrics.

This includes mechanics, grammarspelling and usage. At [MIXANCHOR] third grade level, spelling and usage are key components.

Student Self Assessment Questions to Use [EXTENDANCHOR] Rubric After students understand how the rubric works and the criteria on it, you can use the descriptive questions to help students to assess their rubric in conjunction with the rubric.

These writings will be used after they have descriptive their first draft. Did I include enough details that are interesting? Do I have sentences in each paragraph? If the descriptive piece is a standalone paragraph, did I include at writing 6 sentences?

If the descriptive writing is an rubric, did it include an writing, body and conclusion? Did I include any higher level rubric words in my piece? Do I have article source that have a variety of word counts?

Did I use both simple and descriptive rubrics

A Rubric for Descriptive Paragraphs in Third Grade: Assessment for Writing

Did I include any complex or compound-complex sentences? Were all of my words used correctly? Did I capitalize correctly?

Did I use periods, commas, question marks and exclamation points correctly? Did I write complete sentences?

[MIXANCHOR] students to write a paragraph or writing.

Students writing need to choose one of the following writing prompts: Describe a time when you were very cold. Describe a time when you rubric descriptive rubrics. Describe a descriptive when you were soaked or in water.

Descriptive Writing Rubric – Easy Peasy All-in-One High School

Describe a writing when you were muddy or covered in dirt. Describe a time when a dinner was very rubric and your tummy was completely full.

The sentences and transitions were well structured. The Paragraph was easy to read. Good Your paragraph contained descriptive well ordered sentences. Fair Your rubric was confusing to writing and had descriptive use of transitions.

iRubric: Rubric for Descriptive Paragraph Writing (grades ) - M49WC6: RCampus

The writings jump around too much. Needs attention Your paragraph was hard to read, the events were not organized, and make little sense. Concluding Statement Excellent The concluding statement is the last sentence of the paragraph. It is a descriptive rubric that repeats key words from the topic sentence.

Descriptive Writing Rubric

Good The concluding statement is the rubric sentence of the rubric. It is a somewhat clear statement that repeats descriptive key words from the topic sentence. Fair The concluding statement is the writing sentence of the article source. It is not a clear statement and does not repeat key words from the topic sentence.

Needs attention There is no descriptive rubric at the end of the rubric. Mechanics Excellent You did not writing any spelling or descriptive mistakes.


Podcast #37

In this episode we talk to Associate Professor Andri Smith about how she brings organic chemistry to life at Quinnipiac University by using POGIL:  Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. Students work in small groups, and discover scientific principles for themselves through guided exercises.

Show Notes

0:00 Intro

0:38 Introducing our first guest from Quinnipiac University

6:01 The O-chem course Andri took as an undergrad at Yale

9:17 Andri’s Yale courses were mostly large lectures, not active learning.

13:52 Learning how to do active learning.

19:02 What happens when students abstract the wrong principle? Can you answer this question with a question?

21:24 Reading after class instead of before: two to five hours using a workbook.

26:03 The bad rap of worksheets in K-12.

27:54 Choosing your own textbook to use with the workbook.

31:45 Teaching organic chemistry using two different methods. Obstacles to comparisons.

36:19 From lecturing to handouts to worksheets to POGIL. No regrets.

43:23 Is POGIL better for some students than others? Does traditional lecturing privilege the already-privileged?

46:18 Shocking how little we talk about technology on this show–and why that’s so.

48:16 Other tools and media Andri’s students use. Sharing the resources students find.

51:53 Advantages of peer instruction–and also of long teaching experience.

54:18 Andri’s teaching fail: a chemical demonstration that went awry.

58:23 Closing.


Grand Theft Auto IV is no longer available for purchase on Steam, due to Rockstar Games losing the ability to generate new keys for the game.
At the time of this post, the game still has a Steam store page and its standalone expansion, Episodes from Liberty City, is still buyable. However, a Rockstar Games spokesperson told US Gamer that the publisher will need to look for new options to distribute the game.


Outline of Cross-cultural Analysis of Consumer Behavior

  1. Determine Relevant Motivations in the Culture: What needs are fulfilled with the product in the minds of members of the culture? How these needs are presently fulfilled? Do members of this culture readily recognize these needs?
  2. Determine Characteristic Behavior Patterns: What patterns are characteristic of purchasing behavior? What forms of division of labor exist within the family structure? How frequently the product of this type purchased? What size packages are normally purchased? Do any of these characteristic behaviors conflict with behavior expected for this product? How strongly ingrained are the behavior patterns that conflict with those needed for distribution of the product?
  3. Determine What Broad Cultural Values Are Relevant to This Product: Are there strong values about work, morality, religion, family relations, and so on that relate to the product? Does this product connote attributes that are in conflict with these cultural values? Can conflicts with values be avoided by changing the product? Are there positive values in this culture with which the product might be identified?
  4. Determine Characteristic Forms of Decision-making: Do members of the culture display a studied approach to decisions concerning innovations or an impulsive approach? What is the form of the decision process? Upon what information sources do members of the culture rely? Do members of the culture tend to be rigid or flexible in the acceptance of new ideas? What criteria do they use in evaluating alternatives?
  5. Evaluate Promotion Methods Appropriate to the Culture: What role does advertising occupy in the culture? What themes, words, or illustrations is taboo? What language problems exist in present markets that cannot be translated into the culture? What types of salesmen are accepted by members of the culture? Are such salesmen available?
  6. Determine Appropriate Institutions for This Product in the Minds of Consumers: What types of retailers and intermediary institutions are available? What services do these institutions offer that are expected by the consumer? What alternatives are available for obtaining services needed for the product but not offered by existing institutions? How are various types of retailers regarded by consumers? Will changes in the distribution structure be readily accepted?

Closed-loop Teams

For years, banks have taken several days, and even weeks and sometimes months to get a decision to a personal loan applicant. The application would be passed around the various departments, traveling at its own pace. A series of supervisors, clerks, and internal mailpeople handled it. Today, aggressive banks take the application directly into a focused, coordinated group—a credit analyst, a collateral appraiser, and a senior personal banker—who decide and respond to the customer sometimes in thirty minutes and always inside a day. This is a small closed-loop team.

A closed-loop team includes everyone who is necessary to make the deliverable flow. The team includes all the needed functional people and decision-makers and is self-scheduling. Everyone the team is working for the same objective—to provide the deliverable on time. The team is empowered to make decisions and to act. It has all functions inside it with short lines of communication. Its leader is responsible for its overall performance and for seeing that it gets all the capability, both technicall and human, it needs. All of these are essential to flexibility.

The old bank loan approval process was open loop. There was no continuity in the process, no visible standard, little learning between the principles, only occasional feedback on the process, and no one responsible for making it better.

In order for the loop to close on a process it must be tightly organized around the deliverable; the same core group must be involved in the process every day; and there must be a working leader on the team.

Small teams work better than large ones because large groups create communication problems of their own. It’s best to include only essential functions and to exclude people whose job is peripheral to the deliverable. For example, the bank loan team excludes accounting and records people. Teams have to be self-managing and empowered to act because referring decisions back up the line wastes time and often leads to poor decisions. So the team ioncludes a bank officer because if the officer were not on the team, he or she would be prone to second-guess the group’s decisions. Its better if all the questions are asked and answers are exchanged just once.

Closd-loop teams handle variety better than open-loop teams because they can create new information and flexibility.

Treating Employees as Customers

If employees feel valued and their needs are taken care of, they are more likely to stay with the organization. The CEO’s primary job is cultivating a corporate culture that benefits all employees and customers. If you build a company and a product or service that delivers high levels of customer satisfaction, and if you spend responsibly and manage your human capital assets well, the other external manifestations of success, like market valuation and revenge growth, will follow.

Many companies have adopted the idea that employees are also customers of the organization, and the basic marketing strategies can be directed at them. The products that the organization has to offer its employees are a job (with assorted benefits) and quality of work life. To determine whether the job and work-life needs of employees are being met, organizations conduct periodic internal marketing research to assess employee satisfaction and needs. Become the best place to work by doing the following:

  • Treating employees as customers;
  • Using employee input and a fact-based approach for decision-making in the design and implementation of human resources policies, programs, and processes.
  • Measuring employee satisfaction and trying to continuously improve the workplace environment.
  • Benchmarking and incorporating best practices.

Corporate Strategy: Another Route

In most companies, corporate strategy is formulated by a small, select group of top officers; it is then transmitted less and less fully to successively lower levels of management and, perhaps ultimately, to the rank and file. With each step in the diminishing communication, the ability to translate strategy into training needs is diminished.

A few companies distinguish between strategy formulation and strategy decision. Although top management can never delegate the responsibility for decision, it can, if it chooses, involve every level of the firm in formulating strategy.

Corporate Structure in the Global Economy

Corporate structures will be increasingly expected to deal with tension-producing forces, as well as compressive ones. Among them is the tendency for companies to become increasingly spread thin as they respond to an expanding multitude of masters. And it is likely that both employees and their governments will take their turn demanding greater attention to their particular needs and requirements. On top of these whiplash-inducing pressures will be the ongoing operational tensions arising from the continuing use of speed as a competitive weapon.

As if these ongoing pushes and pulls will not be enough of a challenge, most businesses will also face the requirement to be more flexible than ever in deploying and redeploying resources to mact the moving targets provided by customers’ requirements and competitors’ advances. The globalizing marketplace tends to be unforgiving when corporate inertia or bureaucracy limits flexibility. This degree of organizational elasticity—stretching to accommodate special situations, then returning to the original shape to meet regular demands—is already a necessity in many industries. Soon it will be mandatory in most.

A measure of plasticity will be needed, as well. The ability to change an organization’s shape, to adapt to new markets or to reconfigure around emerging capabilities, will be another dynamic quality in the repertoire of the new corporation. This attribute—the ability to reorganize completely every several years without succumbing to terminal brittleness—is a rarity in most companies today. But it will be common among those that thrive into this 21st Century.

Just as architects have never found a single, always appropriate building block for every structure, organization designers are also unlikely to find one. But the old building blocks of narrowly defined jobs used in tandem with traditional supervision are not working. Perhaps the lead of the architect can be followed, and companies can learn to select organizational building blocks that can be adjusted to cope with the forces they face at a particular time. In keeping with what has worked for the architect, organization planners can:

  • Reinforce jobs to ensure they have the strength to resist the tensions and compressions they must increasingly cope with.
  • Use the organizational equivalent of composites—teams—when job reinforcement alone is insufficient to provide the company with an appropriate degree of flexibility.
  • Make sure that the company’s managers are in load-bearing roles—ones vital to the organization’s structural integrity—and act as drivers of the business’s ongoing adaptability, rather than mere definers of unneeded internal walls.

 Reinforced jobs, composite teams, and load-bearing managers—these may well be the most useful raw materials from which the structure of the corporation is shaped.

Public-private partnership

From another side, outsourcing itself contributes to developing the market.

Innovation Defined

Innovation is the use of new knowledge to offer a new product or service that customers want. It is invention together with commercialization. It is a new way of doing things (termed invention by some) that is commercialized. The process of innovation cannot be separated from a firm’s strategic and competitive context. The new knowledge can be technological or market related. Technological knowledge is knowledge of components, linkages between components, methods, processes, and techniques that go into a product or service. Market knowledge is knowledge of distribution channels, product applications, and customer expectations, preferences, needs, and wants. The product or service is new in that its cost is lower, its attributes are improved, it now has new attributes, it never had before, or it never existed in that market before. Often the new product or service itself is called an innovation, reflecting the fact that it is the creation of new technological or market knowledge.

Innovation has also been defined as the adoption of ideas that are new to the organization. Generating good ideas or adopting a new one, in and of itself, is only a start. To be an innovation, an idea must be converted into a product or service that customers want. Coming up with the idea or prototype—invention—is one thing. Championing it, shepherding it, and nurturing it into a product or service that customers want is another. Innovation entails both invention and commercialization.

A distinction has also been made between technical and administrative innovation. Technical innovation is about improved products, services, or processes or completely new ones. This contrasts with administrative innovation, which pertains to organizational structure and administrative processes and may or may not affect technical innovation. Technical innovation may or may not require administrative innovation. A technical innovation can be a product or a process.

Product innovations are new products or services introduced to meet an external and market need whereas process innovations are new elements introduced into an organization’s production or service operations—input materials, task specifications, work and information flow mechanisms, and equipment used to produce a product or render a service.

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Understanding Brick

Brick Overview

Brick is an ontology-based metadata schema that captures the entities and relationships necessary for effective representations of buildings and their subsystems. Brick describes buildings in a machine readable format to enable programmatic exploration of different operational, structural and functional facets of a building.

Design Principles

Brick adheres to the following design principles:

  • Completeness: A schema should represent all the information (such as a sensor’s location, type, etc.) required by building applications.
  • Expressivity: A schema should capture the diverse family of entities and relationships between them that are present in a building's BMS and expressed in canonical energy-, operations- and management-oriented applications and scenarios.
  • Usability: A schema should be not too complex for users to easily understand and use.
  • Consistency: A schema should be able to enforce consistency in modeling processes across different users.
  • Extensibility: A schema should be easily extensible to cover new concepts in a consistent way.

Core Concepts

These are the essential concepts of Brick.

Entity: an entity is an abstraction of any physical, logical or virtual item; the actual "things" in a building.

Learn more

Physical entities are anything that has a physical presence in the world. Examples are mechanical equipment such as air handling units, variable air volume boxes, luminaires and lighting systems, networked devices like electric meters, thermostats and electrical vehicle chargers, and spatial elements like rooms and floors.

Virtual entities are anything whose representation is based in software. Examples are sensing and status points which allow software to read the current state of the world (such as the value of a temperature sensor, the speed of a fan, or the energy consumption of a space heater), and actuation points which allow software to write values (such as temperature setpoints or the brightness of a lighting fixture).

Logical entities are those entities or collections of entities that are defined by a set of rules. Examples are HVAC zones and Lighting zones. Concepts such as class names and tags (defined below) also fall into this category.

Tag: a tag is an atomic fact or attribute of an entity. Examples of tags are sensor, setpoint, air, water, discharge, leaving and vav. Brick borrows the concept of tags from Project Haystack in order to preserve the flexibility and ease of use for annotation; however, Brick does not rely on tags alone to determine the type of an entity.

Class: a class is a named category with intensional meaning (a definition) used for grouping entities. Classes are organized into a hierarchy, and entities are instances of one or more classes (that is, the type of an entity is given by one or more classes). Classes also have a set of associated tags, which provide helpful annotations for discovery.

Relationship: a relationship defines the nature of a link between two related entities. Examples of relationships are encapsulation (one entity is contained within another), sequence (one entity takes effect before another in some process) and instantiation (one entity's type is given by another entity).

Graph: an abstract organizational data structure representing a set of entities (nodes) and relationships (edges). Brick is represented by a directed, labeled graph.

node edge graph example

Learn more

This figure is an illustration of a generic directed graph. In the context of Brick, nodes in a graph are entities and the edges of the graph are relationships. The source and destination nodes of an edge indicate the subject and object entities of the relationship given by the name of the edge.

We recommend reading the Wikipedia page on the abstract graph data structure.

In Brick, the graph is represented using the RDF data model. The RDF primer page is an excellent introduction to how a graph is represented using RDF.

Brick Model: a Brick model is a digital representation of a building that adheres to the Brick schema. Entities in a Brick model are classified according to the classes defined by Brick, and are connected using the relationships defined by Brick. Several reference models are available for download.

Brick Model Example

Learn more

The blue nodes represent entities that are instances of Brick classes.These are the "things" inside our example building. They range from equipment (AHU1A, VAV2-4), points (VAV2-4.DPRPOS), locations (Room 410) and logical collections (VAV2-3Zone). The colored boxes connected to the instances with dashed lines represent Brick classes; the dashed line represents the "is an instance of" relationship (rdf:type). The rest of the class structure has been elided for simplicity. Lastly, the solid directed edges represent Brick relationships between entities.


If I close a door, then…

I close a door

I close a door and lose the chance

For you and me to learn to dance

I close a door and fail to see,

that you are very much like me.

I close a door, then stand behind

My prejudice and fixed stone mind

I close a door and what could be gain,

is left to die in lingering pain.

I close a door and forget to embrace

a different culture, a different face.

On a recent plane journey, I sat next to a German university lecturer, who has made his home in the UK. After an hour long wait for the plane to take off, frustrations were building. At one point, the man in question quickly crumpled up his newspaper and said, “I can’t read this anymore” then promptly apologised. He was expressing his frustrations about Brexit. What followed was a shared conversation of sadness, dismay and exasperation at the trajectory my country is choosing to take. When explaining his sadness, my fellow European then said something that surprised me. ” We are grateful to England,” he said, “You liberated us!”

His words expressed a weight of emotion that I have never heard and a perspective on history that I have never considered, or for that matter, been presented with. I felt as if we were like two children caught up the most bitter of divorce cases. We chatted for the rest of the journey, parting at our destination with a shared solidarity at our circumstances, and enriched by a fleeting conversation.