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Urban Tribe - Ride with your kids in front.

Exploring biking’s potential in the Northwest Industrial District

Posted by on April 14th, 2016 at 2:06 pm

NW Portland Week - day 4-2.jpg

Can you see the potential in this decommissioned railroad right-of-way on NW Front?
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Part of NW Portland Week.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: riding a bike in the Northwest Industrial District is not for the faint of heart. I enjoy it only in an Escape-from-New-York-get-my-adrenaline-pumping-urban-assault kind of way. But if you stop and look and allow yourself to dream you can see vast potential.

The wide streets — some of which are 80-90 feet across — could be transformed into world-class multi-modal thoroughfares where people are able to walk, bike, and take transit safely and efficiently alongside people driving cars and trucks.

Before I share some photos and thoughts from my ride out there this morning, check out the map below to get an idea of the area we’ll be talking about:

Map from Portland State University Masters of Urban Planning project, Getting Green to Work in the Northwest Industrial District

This part of Portland hosts a diverse range of jobs. The 1,700 acres accounted for nearly 16,000 jobs in 2002 (via City of Portland Bureau of Planning report, PDF). Since then some of the major manufacturing jobs in the steel and wood products industries have gone away but there are newer jobs in the district thanks to companies like Powell’s Books (who operates their main warehouse in the district), King Cycle Group (Chris King Precision Components and Cielo Cycles, run out of a former Folger’s Coffee warehouse), Schoolhouse Electric Supply, and many others.

There are hundreds of business located in the northwest industrial area. It’s a shame we haven’t made it a nicer place to bike in. Given its proximity to the central city, major freeways, Union Station, and public transit hubs, there could be a lot more people bicycling to and from all those jobs.

Rolling out on NW Front Avenue this morning I was struck at how wide the roadway is. I’d guess it’s between 80 and 90-feet wide for the entire two miles or so between the Broadway Bridge and NW 26th.

NW Portland Week - day 4-3.jpg

NW Portland Week - day 4-7.jpg

That’s a wide right lane. I wonder what else we could do with that space. Hmmm.
Advertise with BikePortland.
NW Portland Week - day 4-6.jpg

These workers at Sulzer-Bingham deserve other options to get to work.
NW Portland Week - day 4-8.jpg

Looking south on Front at 26th.

There’s a strong case to be made for protected bikeways and even grade-separated cycling paths on Front. Not only is there room in the roadway, but there are also miles of abandoned rails that run directly adjacent to it.

NW Portland Week - day 4-4.jpg

NW Portland Week - day 4-1.jpg

Imagine a few park-and-ride lots near freeways just outside the central city core with great bike parking, bike share stations, and public transit lines radiating out on the major Northwest Industrial District streets like Front, NW Yeon, NW Nicolai, NW 29th, Highway 30, and so on.

According to a 2015 Portland State University Masters in Urban Planning student report, Getting Green to Work in the Northwest Industrial District, 46 percent of workers in this industrial area live within 10 miles of their job.

If you think building cycle tracks in this industrial sanctuary is a crazy idea, you might be interested to know that the City of Portland has already done it. Sort of. You might recall in 2009 when we reported that the Bureau of Transportation seized an opportunity to pave over a stretch of defunct railroad right-of-way on NW Nicolai. They never signed or marked it as a bike path, and you won’t find it on Metro’s Bike There map, but the result is a very smooth stretch of pavement that works perfectly as a bike path.

NW Portland Week - day 4-21.jpg

Raised and paved path on NW Nicolai where railroad tracks used to be.
NW Portland Week - day 4-22.jpg

Nice path separated from motor vehicle traffic at NW Nicolai and 29th.

We could do the same on NW Front.

In that same PSU report published last year, the authors found that,

“Generally, streets in a Freight District should serve trucks first, except where high demand for bicycle and pedestrian access exists… Separation of bicyclists and motor vehicles is preferred… In these areas, bicyclists should not share a lane with motor vehicles, and should instead have separated on-street facilities, such as bike lanes or cycletracks.”

And the report also recommended the removal of old railroad tracks that cross at angles less than 45-degrees. “While decommissioned tracks add character to the industrial district, they also create hazards for cyclists when crossed at small angles because the gap between the track and pavement ‘catches’ bike tires,” the authors wrote.

NW Portland Week - day 4-9.jpg

Tricky track crossings are all over the place in the NW Industrial District.

And if you think the rough-and-tumble workers at many of these industrial warehouse jobs won’t ride bikes, re-read my 2010 report about how workers at a shipyard on Swan Island get around.

Adding protected bikeways on a few key streets and paving over the many other pieces of unused railroad tracks could do wonders for biking in the Northwest Industrial Area. And I haven’t even mentioned the other important bicycle use in this area: people who ride through it on the way to training and fun rides in Forest Park, the West Hills, and other rural destinations to the north.

Do you bike to work in the Northwest Industrial Area? Or perhaps you bike through it on your way to other destinations? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org

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  • Kristin April 14, 2016 at 2:15 pm

    I use Front street all the time to get further into NW as it’s by far the fastest route, and generally the traffic isn’t bad, even during rush hour… and as I was riding up there yesterday I was wondering with the explosion of condos and apartments along the water front, how much busier Front will become, and if it will soon become un-bikeable.

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    • charlietso April 15, 2016 at 3:13 pm

      That’s an interesting question. I think density is generally good for biking and walking because density brings people closer to places they want to go. On the other hand, for people who currently use Front Street as mainly a commute route, having more people and development near by will probably make it a busier street.

      People in my neighborhood have similar concerns regarding a zoning amendment that will rezone N Fremont as mixed-use, claiming that having more commercial activity on the street will make it unsafe. But there are many ways to reduce traffic risks while adding density and activity. With a combination of street design that prioritize people walking and biking and policy that discourage driving and better parking management, it is totally feasible to turn under-utilized streets into safe and vibrant places.

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  • Michael Andersen (News Editor)
    Michael Andersen (News Editor) April 14, 2016 at 2:20 pm

    Really interesting post, boss!

    From my perspective, the thing about these industrial jobs is that

    (a) they’re EXACTLY the kind of middle-income, middle-skill jobs Portland and the USA desperately need. and they are also the sort of employers who do genuinely struggle to recruit and retain, and who live and die by their workforce quality

    (b) lots of people who get hired, or would like to get hired for these jobs, don’t have a car when they start because they are broke

    (c) mass transit is and probably always will be shitty because you can’t really have density in this sort of industrial area

    There is a cheap and simple solution to this set of problems, and it has two pedals.

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    • Adam H.
      Adam H. April 14, 2016 at 2:33 pm

      Although, heavy truck traffic in industrial areas is a huge barrier to cycling. And the city won’t build any cycle paths because they create barriers to truck traffic. It’s a catch-22.

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      • Bradwagon April 14, 2016 at 2:44 pm

        Agreed. Came here to comment that we shouldn’t lose sight that many of these roads are most frequently used by freight vehicles. Any cycling improvements will need to be very removed from existing main roads and potentially even elevated to ensure safe passage around rail / major shipping yards.

        One thing that could help drive a larger investment in this area would be tying it to further improvements out HWY 30 for recreational cyclists. I rarely ride it due to living in Beaverton but occasionally driving thru this area am amazed at the conditions that cyclists put up with to get to St Johns / Sauvies. Would think that an improved, removed, protected cycleway from NW / Pearl all the way to St Johns bridge could incorporate and justify improvements for commuters in industrial area.

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      • JeffS April 15, 2016 at 3:41 pm

        In what ways is it a huge barrier?

        I might understand in a rural environment, but these are wide roads with extra lanes.

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        • Adam H.
          Adam H. April 15, 2016 at 3:56 pm

          Most people do not want to share space with 55 foot trucks. It’s intimidating, loud, and uncomfortable.

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    • Granpa April 14, 2016 at 2:42 pm

      I am pleased and a little surprised that you give a nod to the heavy industry in this neighborhood. The means to haul materials in and out of manufacturing would be either rail or truck, and both are used in this area, with rail frequently taking off at odd and perilous angles to cyclists. The trucks hammer the pavement. It is a rough ride. Smooth access to cycling workers is possible, but elimination of rail or denying the use of heavy trucks, which is a common theme on this blog, would kill this vital industry

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      • maccoinnich April 14, 2016 at 6:21 pm

        Are the railway line that cross NW Yeon in active use?

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        • Joe Adamski April 14, 2016 at 7:51 pm

          yes they are. Several businesses switch cars daily, or often. Those crossings that are no longer used have been eliminated. Besides maintenance costs,etc, they require hazmat loads and certain vehicles to stop at each crossing, which is regarded as an impediment.

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          • maccoinnich April 14, 2016 at 9:35 pm

            Thanks. Just in case you, or anyone else, knows the answer, I have another question:

            The tracks on NW 15th Ave have been used for decades, and are no longer connected to the mainline. Where NW Pettygrove approaches approaches NW 15th there are warnings about the railway crossing. None of the other streets have the same warning. It’s even been repainted in recent years. Why is it there?

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  • Adam April 14, 2016 at 2:21 pm

    Front Ave is crying out for a bikelane. They wouldn’t need to do anything other than put down some paint. The lanes are wide enough for sure.

    Never knew about NW Nicolai having a cycletrack of sorts. Might help if they’d installed some thermoplastic sharrows or similar?

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    • Adam H.
      Adam H. April 14, 2016 at 2:31 pm

      PBOT should definitely paint some bike stencils on that cycle path on Nicolai.

      Recommended Thumb up 1

      • Ali Corbin April 16, 2016 at 6:40 pm

        Sorry, but that’s not a cycle path. It’s used for parking. As far as I can tell, it was never intended for any other use.

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        • Mark Smith April 17, 2016 at 10:38 pm

          How can you tell?

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  • TJ April 14, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    I frequently use Front from the Pearl to hit 30 via Kittridge. When the tracks are wet I find the angle to be a bit too sketch heading into the Pearl via Front (I stay high on St. Helens). Too, the road feels more jarring and I am freight buzzed more often heading toward the Pearl.

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  • BB April 14, 2016 at 2:42 pm

    Hard hat and work boots? Is that a joke?

    Recommended Thumb up 7

  • Sam April 14, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    The bridge labeled I-405 (Fremont) is actually just a BNSF rail bridge. Fremont is just to the SE, just past the bottom right corner.

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    • RJ April 14, 2016 at 3:32 pm

      That map has NW 35th on there twice, too. The one to the east should be NW 29th.

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    • Mike Sanders April 14, 2016 at 4:36 pm

      That BNSF bridge also carries Amtrak trains: the Empire Builder to Chicago via Vancouver and Spokane, WA; the Cascades between Ssattle and Eugene; and the West Coast Srarlight between Seattle, SF, and LA. Some have suggested the idea of adding a ped / bike crossing to it, or building a new crossing next to it for that purpose, connecting NW with The Northside of the City. Hopefully that will happen someday.

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    • ethan April 14, 2016 at 7:41 pm

      The correct name of the bridge is BNSF 5.1, if I remember correctly.

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  • Josh G April 14, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    I support where you are going with this, but regarding that last picture- I think that’s a faux motorcycle helmet, not a hard-hat, and they look more like fashion boots than actual steel-toe workboots. Hopefully the gent in question will chime in.

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    • rachel b April 14, 2016 at 4:24 pm

      I had the same thought, Josh G. 🙂 Industrial chic!

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    • Pete April 14, 2016 at 5:41 pm

      I was just about to ask about that classy helmet, as I’ll be visiting several power plants all over the globe and need one that’s ANSI rated and doesn’t conduct electricity. (I’d also use it while riding to the few sites that I’ve identified I can get to by bike rent/share).

      I cropped and uploaded the helmet to Google image search, hoping to find the web site of the manufacturer, but it could only tell me that this is a “fashion accessory.”

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  • meh April 14, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    PSU needs to work on their map skills, what they have marked as I-405 bridge is the railway bridge

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  • Stephen Keller April 14, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    You’ve got the railway cut marked as the I-405 bridge. That rail bridge is listed on the 2015 npGREENWAY vision map as a proposed alignment to connect the npGREENWAY to the north end of the industrial section.

    Of course BN/SF would have to agree to it. Personally, I’d love to see something like that along with biking improvements in the NW industrial area. It would make my treks to NW much more tolerable. I frequently ride over Saltzman road to Skyline and over Kingston to the Zoo (headed toward Hillsboro in both cases). Riding the St. Johns Bridge at rush hour puts a serious dent in my motivation, and as much as I’d like to see protected cycling on the St. Johns Bridge, I doubt they’ll ever be considered due to the high traffic volumes and the historical nature of the bridge.

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  • Mike G
    Mike G April 14, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    I have used NW Front as my fitness course for years out of SW Portland to St. John’s. For the most part, it’s nice to be so wide and visual. You need to signal, and heed the trucks, surfaces and crossings, but you usually aren’t dealing with too many wandering cel phone users, and uninformed motorists. Read the conditions and pedal away. Rearview mirror is a must.

    The widths help you deal with tracks and trucks and I give them wide berth, but they are usually very accommodating if you signal clearly. They are pro drivers and share the road in sensible ways.

    Now if they could do something about those swirly headwinds….

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  • Carl April 14, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    Didn’t realize that ad agencies had begun to require workboots and hardhats. (Hi Scrappers!)

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  • Racer X April 14, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    …or an elevated covered bike super highway…

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  • axoplasm April 14, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    How can we quantify traffic changes in Industrial NW since the last century? Those streets seem quiet & overbuilt now but my memory of the 90s is that they were crammed with trucks, and I’d frequently get sidetracked waiting for freight cars being shuttled around. But what’s the plural of anecdote?

    Regardless I’d rather ride near commercial drivers than parents dropping kids off at school.

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    • Racer X April 14, 2016 at 6:07 pm

      …amen brother…better to bike near a commercial truck operator [with mirrors] than a parent dropping of a kid late in a school zone…

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  • hotrodder April 14, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    I work on Nicolai directly across from the Clubhouse tavern. I think that big changes are in store in when ESCO closes it’s doors in the next year or so. That is a lot of new acreage that’s about to open up very near a lot of condo and apartment building projects. I’m not sure what sorts of machinations are in play between our city council and developers who are surely salivating at the thought of oodles of bare land not only within the UGB, but close to the Pearl, but realistically, this has the potential to drastically change the face of NW Portland.

    (There may be challenges to building on this land. No one yet knows for sure what sort of damage has been done from a hundred or so years of heavy industrial use.)

    But I like riding in NW Portland, especially early in the morning. Traffic is light, I know lots of short cuts and secret passages, there is something fun about watching this part of the city wake up. On the commute home, there’s lots of streets where I can take the lane and keep up with the flow of traffic. I’m not saying it’s as safe as milk, but it’s not as bad as some might think. Lately, go Flint to the Broadway bridge in the morning, then just go all the way down Front (I don’t take the lane here) to the Steel bridge and up behind the Rose Garden back to Weidler to get home. (I’ve given up on Williams. Too scary!)

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    • maccoinnich April 14, 2016 at 9:42 pm

      ESCO is trying to get their property re-designated from Heavy Industrial to Mixed Employment. That would give them a lot more opportunity to redevelop the site, either as another industrial use or as office, but wouldn’t allow them to build residential uses on the site.

      Recommended Thumb up 0

  • hotrodder April 14, 2016 at 8:10 pm

    Man, it would be great if this site offered uses the ability to edit their comments.

    Recommended Thumb up 4

  • hotrodder April 14, 2016 at 8:11 pm

    Grammar, typos, cut and paste errors. I sometimes don’t see ’em until I’ve posted.

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  • JeffS April 14, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    Sounds like the only problem is the advocates wanting to narrow the lanes with paint and throw cyclists into the the right-hook zones.

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  • Keith April 14, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    NW is a great place to bike & commute, I’ve been riding Front Ave to the end for 17 years. It’s much better now as several unused tracks have been removed over the years. The Southbound stretch along Gunderson is narrow enough to make it sketchy on the afternoon commute, but traffic is generally light.

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  • Spiffy April 15, 2016 at 9:57 am

    I used to work at the Gunderson plant right where that tricky track angle crossing is… people are not friendly to bikes on the road out there… I had been yelled at for being in the lane, trucks pass close by at high speeds, and the roads are in terrible shape…

    inside the Gunderson plant there are bikes everywhere for people to use to get around the facilities… I used them to transport computers… office workers (like myself) usually brought their bikes inside with them, but there are racks out in front for visitors and plant workers…

    Recommended Thumb up 1

  • gutterbunnybikes April 15, 2016 at 11:18 am

    Front street (I think it’s still that after 9th) is wide for a reason, there is some big industry up there is Port of Portlands Terminal 2 (though honestly not sure it’s still in operation), Gundersons and the train yard. All of which likely often see very large and wide loads coming and going.

    I doubt if we’re going to see Gundersons move out anytime soon, they make and repair train cars and barges. They are likely going to be very busy with the upcoming Willamette clean up (they make and repair barges and train cars), even though they’re likely going to have to pay for a decent sized chunk of it as well.

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  • Lenny Anderson
    Lenny Anderson April 18, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    Hey, this reminds me of a place I used to work, Swan Island! Why not a TMA to lead the fight for transportation options in NW Industrial and make more room for freight! Yes, the obstacle to moving freight on Swan Island, in NW Industrial, and on the freeway network is too many SOVs, especially in the peak hours.

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Interacting with queries

Just like your dashboards, queries contain interactive tools to help you and your users view more detailed results of your data.

This article contains the following sections:

Interacting with queries

There are multiple interactivity features you can use with your queries. You can perform any of the available interactions by selecting a data point or clicking and dragging across a data range.

A drop-down list will appear with the following interaction options:

Note: Viewers can also interact with your queries through filters. You can add filters in the Result manipulation menu (see Result manipulation reference).

You can use the decompose interaction to slice only a selected data range by additional attributes.

Note: If you are using a blended query, you cannot decompose by attributes from the second data source.

To slice your data range, decompose adds an axis of analysis. The attributes you select as your axis of analysis will replace your existing attributes. The original attributes move to Filters, and your results are filtered by the values in your selected data range. For example, if your selected data range is located in the Accessories value of the attribute Category, all results will be filtered to Accessories.

If you do not want your attributes to move to Filters, you can check Keep original element on axis. Your attributes remain in their original positions with only the values from the data range selected.

By default viewers can select any attribute in your dataset as the axis of analysis. You can restrict the available attributes in Chart configuration > Decompose type.

You can use decompose for example, to look further into a quarterly revenue chart.

To examine quarterly results
  1. Select the columns of the quarter you would like to view. The chart below examines the first quarter.
  2. Select Day for the axis of analysis.
  3. Select the On columns option.
  4. Click Ok, and you will see the results of each day in your quarter.

If you are looking for a more in-depth view of your data, you can use the drillthrough interaction. Drillthrough provides you with a table of all of your underlying results based on your selected data range. Drillthrough first filters results by the attribute values of your selected data range, then displays each metric sliced by every attribute. If you are using any attributes with a category and subcategory, like date, the most granular level will be used.

In the drillthough below, the data point is located in the Austria value of the Country attribute.

By default, all attributes and metrics are displayed in the imported order. You can deselect elements and edit their order in Chart configuration > Drillthrough.

For a more simple interaction option, you can use focus to zoom in to one data point or a data range. If your chart has several data points grouped together, focus can be useful for calling out a specific area. For example in the first quarter revenue chart above, you can focus into the first four days.

The focus results will resemble the image below:

Disabling interaction options

If interaction options are enabled, you might not be able to publish your dashboard without sharing with viewer groups. You will need to turn off interaction options to share your dashboard.

To turn off query interactions
  1. Click the Chart configuration icon ().
  2. In the Chart configuration menu, select Interactions.

  3. Uncheck any relevant boxes.
  4. Save your query.
Have more questions? Submit a request

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Rainstorm Search on YouTube

As this solo project is taking shape, I am learning a bit more about the technology – that samw www you all appreciate!  Search for ‘rainstorm” on YouTube and you get some chorus groups singing, but also some major storms recorded.  It seems that major storms are generally in either summer or winter months.

The first two I found were both floods in Scorpio, Leaf/Water Constellations. The next two were in Root/Earth Constellations, and there are another 300 videos to review.

As you may recall,  last June and July, Twitter search for “Downpour” has given similar statistical results around the cusps of Leaf/Water and Root/Earth Constellations.  I am able to find exceptions occasionally;  do these ‘Prove the Rule?’

How much information needs to be collected before meteorologists will start using the Biodynamic Calendar?  And then other scientists, like agronomists and veterniarians.  If wine tastes and sells better in Leaf/Water Constellations, then how much longer before even diets adjust with the Moon?

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Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences

Home » Posts tagged 'Data Sharing'

Tag Archives: Data Sharing

Announcing New Grants for Data Publication!

The Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS), the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are pleased to announce the Sloan Grants for Data Publication.

Regardless of how transparent or rigorous a study design may be, if the study materials (datasets, code, metadata, etc.) are not made publicly available, the research community cannot verify the study’s results. This has prompted research funding institutions, BITSS and its allies to push for data publication.

Unfortunately, the incentives to publish studies materials remain limited. Consequently, few researchers have the bandwidth to take on the burdensome task of preparing study materials for public access. This results in the loss of valuable resources for the research community and the public alike.

We would like to help CEGA and BITSS affiliated researchers get through the last hurdles in finalizing replication sets by giving out grants up to $5,000 to help increase the “transparency footprint” of our community within the next year. We hope these small grants will aid in the hiring of RAs to create and finalize replication sets or support researchers own workflow in a way that increases their ability to make data and study materials available online. Please fill in this short expression of interest by March 15, 2015 to apply.

We look forward to seeing just how many datasets we can make publicly available!

Please contact BITSS Program Coordinator Alex Wais with any questions.

Scientists Have a Sharing Problem

Dec 15th Maggie Puniewska posted an article in the Atlantic Magazine summarizing the obstacles preventing researchers from sharing their data.

The article asks if “science has traditionally been a field that prizes collaboration […] then why [are] so many scientists stingy with their information.”

Puniewska outlines the most cited reasons scientists reframe from sharing their data.

The culture of innovation breeds fierce competition, and those on the brink of making a groundbreaking discovery want to be the first to publish their results and receive credit for their ideas.

[I]f sharing data paves the way for an expert to build upon or dispute other scientists’ results in a revolutionary way, it’s easy to see why some might choose to withhold.

Creating Standards for Reproducible Research: Overview of COS Meeting

By Garret Christensen (BITSS)

Representatives from BITSS (CEGA Faculty Director Ted Miguel, CEGA Executive Director Temina Madon, and BITSS Assistant Project Scientist Garret Christensen–that’s me) spent Monday and Tuesday of this week at a very interesting workshop at the Center for Open Science aimed at creating standards for promoting reproducible research in the social-behavioral sciences. Perhaps the workshop could have used a catchier name or acronym for wider awareness, but we seemed to accomplish a great deal.  Representatives from across disciplines (economics, political science, psychology, sociology, medicine), from funders (NIH, NSF, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Sloan Foundation), publishers (Science/AAAS, APA, Nature Publishing Group), editors (American Political Science Review, Psychological Science, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Science), data archivists (ICPSR), and researchers from over 40 leading institutions (UC Berkeley, MIT, University of Michigan, University of British Columbia, UVA, UPenn, Northwestern, among many others) came together to push forward on specific action items researchers and publishers can do to promote transparent and reproducible research.

The work was divided into five subcommittees:

1) Reporting standards in research design

2) Reporting standards in analysis

3) Replications

4) Pre-Registration/Registered Reports

5) Sharing data, code, and materials

Call for Papers on Research Transparency

BITSS will be holding its 3rd annual conference at UC Berkeley on December 11-12, 2014. The goal of the meeting is to bring together leaders from academia, scholarly publishing, and policy to strengthen the standards of openness and integrity across social science disciplines.

This Call for Papers focuses on work that elaborates new tools and strategies to increase the transparency and reproducibility of research. A committee of reviewers will select a limited number of papers to be presented and discussed. Topics for papers include, but are not limited to:

  • Pre-registration and the use of pre-analysis plans;
  • Disclosure and transparent reporting;
  • Replicability and reproducibility;
  • Data sharing;
  • Methods for detecting and reducing publication bias or data mining.
Papers or long abstracts must be submitted by Friday, October 10th (midnight Pacific time) through CEGA’s Submission Platform. Travel funds may be provided for presenters. Eligible submissions include completed papers or works in progress.

The 2014 BITSS Conference is organized by the Center for Effective Global Action and co-sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.

The Ethics of Using and Sharing Data for Development Programming (5/22 @ NYC)

The Responsible Data Forum is a new effort to map the ethical, legal, privacy and security challenges surrounding the increased use and sharing of data in development programming. The Forum aims to explore the ways in which these challenges are experienced in project design and implementation, as well as when project data is shared or published for accountability purposes.

The outputs created in New York will be further refined at the Responsible Resource Sprint in Budapest (September 2014), before being used as training material for a workshop at the Development Data Lab in Amsterdam (29 June – 2 July).

When: 22 May 2014, 10AM – 5PM
Where: 99 Madison Ave (15th Floor), New York NY 10016

Registration required

New book: Implementing Reproducible Research

New book from Victoria Stodden, Friedrich Leisch, and Roger D. Peng: “Implementing Reproducible Research“.

In many of today’s research fields, including biomedicine, computational tools are increasingly being used so that the results can be reproduced. Researchers are now encouraged to incorporate software, data, and code in their academic papers so that others can replicate their research results. Edited by three pioneers in this emerging area, this book is the first one to explore this groundbreaking topic. It presents various computational tools useful in research, including cloud computing, data repositories, virtual machines, R’s Sweave function, XML-based programming, and more. It also discusses legal issues and case studies.

The chapters of the book are available for download for free on the OSF page.

Just published: SAGE handbook on Managing and Sharing Research Data

Research funders in the UK, USA and across Europe are implementing data management and sharing policies to maximize openness of data, transparency and accountability of the research they support. Written by experts from the UK Data Archive with over 20 years experience, this book gives post-graduate students, researchers and research support staff the data management skills required in today’s changing research environment.

The book features guidance on:

  • how to plan your research using a data management checklist
  • how to format and organize data
  • how to store and transfer data
  • research ethics and privacy in data sharing and intellectual property rights
  • data strategies for collaborative research
  • how to publish and cite data
  • how to make use of other people’s research data, illustrated with six real-life case studies of data use

Order the book here.


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The Professional Quality Series: Reflective Observation

This post was contributed by current Mentor Teacher Meagan Arango. It is part of a series on the Boulder Journey School Professional Qualities.

Reflective Observation: This quality speaks to your capacity for close and careful observation and how to use your observations in ways that raise the quality of work and life for those with whom you are in contact. Through reflective observation of yourself, of children, and of other adults you will develop a keen level of self-awareness, awareness of your work environment, and awareness of the world around you that can be used to make informed decisions regarding your professional work. You will engage in a mindful attitude of work with children and adults. Through reflective observation of children, you will be capable of giving words to the children’s gestures and actions, as well as capable of silence and listening to the children. You will be capable of a micro gaze even when you are in a macro environment, and you will understand what is going on enough to notice, capture moments, value these moments, and use these moments to re-launch ideas.

Why Observation?

qUbY57UHxNO6I4E96RNejFQMU2UqdPuMiz8hxKxinZkOxpLiX5Tp5Nz3a1s7KRfb0i_7MivRdU7cEIAVobg0QUJhOXWcjbq7RG7bDYG-AFOcH0IVEM49aPWkraqHSFbTWTkEHDI_3NJlYVU9V8KnrYYDUMABD-3EjAeNukEACcUj68gLR89DvyykG5Observation is integral to the work we do at Boulder Journey School. It is one of the most powerful tools we can use to keep pace with the children as they rapidly learn and grow. Regular observation allows us to design dynamic, high-quality experiences and environments. It allows us to cater our approach to suit the developmental level, cultural background, and personality of each child. Most of all, it invites the voices of the children into these processes–even those who are not yet speaking–because we work in response to what we observe. Most educators, I would bet, can get behind that. Traditional and non-traditional settings have long required teachers to perform formative assessments, inviting educators to tailor their instruction to each child’s observable signs of learning. We think observation can be taken even further.

67Rp-_dbsoXmSTYX5AO5WQygpH8yhZQ1c3LUmKH-lG-BAbdQ5FRbruVMKp_lViBI1f6vSBMpqVHc6SoozP89NcaYCc_n0KKUjgZ_ww9dM9igQBua7GlkUl7FxeOoDfBu5YsI9MKvfFhbve26uXJN_FCjASP0A6pTR2X2JQHrjoQr54yNltAX3P_2b9In the context of our school, observation is not just an occasional tool of assessment. It is a frame of mind, a cultivated skill that becomes second nature. We use it to know the children, to know ourselves, and to know our surroundings. We strive to be in a constant state of observation because we believe that people are–by nature–in constant pursuit of their own learning. Using observation, we join the children on that path, learning alongside them and negotiating an emergent curriculum together.

What does it look like?

To give a sense of what observation looks like at Boulder Journey School, I posed a few simple questions to my colleagues:

When is the best time to observe?

What are your favorite tools of observation?

What do you do with your observations?

Their responses were anything but simple. Let’s start, for instance, with tools of observation.

Screen Shot 2017-04-04 at 6.57.00 PM

There are certain tools that are popular by consensus: still and video cameras, audio recording, and good old-fashioned note taking were commonly listed. But the difference is in the details. As each educator described their tools of choice, they often elaborated–insisting that different tools were best-suited to different tasks: video gives us insight into gesture, context, relationships. Audio recordings help us focus on the expressive potentials of voice, breath, language, and silence. Note-taking invites us to jot down quotes, noticings, interpretations, sketches, questions, and ideas for the future. Most teachers, for this reason, described using a combination of tools to work toward a diversity of data.

But how do you know where to look, what to listen to, and when to start recording? The answers, again, varied widely, running the gamut from: “All the time!” to “When I have a specific goal in mind”. Everyone agreed, though, that whether you meticulously prepare or discover a meaningful moment off the cuff, observation is a process that carries the promise of surprise. You just never know what the children are going to do! Our Studio Teacher, Jen Selbitschka, described the balance between intention and happenstance this way:

“Sometimes I go in planning to observe something specific, but experiences with children take so many paths that I cannot predict ahead of time, and I find myself constantly making moment-to-moment decisions about what is important to capture at the time. I often uncover stories I was not aware existed when I look at my photographs after an experience.”

This brings me to my next question: what do you do with your observations after the fact? Here, the responses were pretty consistent: we share them, we use them, and we reflect on them. Our educators described sharing observations with co-teachers, with directors, with parents and–especially–with the children. They discussed using their observations: to inform decisions, to theorize, to spark conversations, to develop curriculum. And everyone described a process of reflection. So what does that mean?

What is Reflective Observation?

IcGmjxur4OPpKi1gJBtseE0tRRxsTmRQiQtKNgRLv3WqLSGH5wkphNiC-XbSvUQ8V-gMHPHysTeZQh5AgXNfgtHlImUV45bscOSfjcQgpwzoSyLlTnmwQB3IRNYVRQ33CRl2DeLqMi_YNeIveMncmlpzlFSA1pUTMkB6nP_viwUmPNAMkODSsZVxkaReflect is one of those great words that carries two oppositional meanings. The first refers to the way a mirror reflects. This definition describes the interplay between waves and particles of energy and the surface of an object: instead of absorbing light, the mirror bounces it back, creating a reflection. It is a moment of active contact: energy collides with an object and is ricocheted back, sometimes seeming to be multiplied. Imagine echoes in a tiled room; bright sunlight on a fresh snowbank; trees mirrored on a still pond. These are all forms of reflection. The second meaning of reflect is an internal, mental process. To reflect is to think deeply, carefully, intentionally. Unlike the first, this type of reflection requires absorption. Where the first is a product of energetic movement, the second implies a stillness that is necessary to process information.

So when we describe observation as reflective, you might expect that we mean the word one way or the other. But here, we mean it both ways. That’s because our job as educators is not only to process and interpret what we observe internally, but also to bounce it back to the children and adults we work with. When we reflect inwardly, we deepen our work; when we reflect outwardly, we amplify it. It’s the dual action that offers access to the metacognitive processes that so enrich learning.

So, when the educators at Boulder Journey School described the process of reflecting, it naturally took on many different forms. Journaling, thinking, watching and re-watching video, looking back at photos, transcribing conversations, analyzing, researching, synthesizing, wondering, questioning. Reflection, in short, is the action we educators take to learn alongside the children, using our observations as our guide.

How can you get started?

Reflective observation is a complex and individualized process. It looks different for every person. No matter what form it takes, quality observation requires flexibility, openness, focus, and rigor. So pick a tool. Pick a time. And remember that it doesn’t end with watching, listening and recording. Reflective observation is ongoing. It has a quality of reverberation, creating waves that affect change both inwardly and outwardly. And as we cultivate these skills and habits, it is a process by which we can become ever-better versions of ourselves.

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Category Archives: Uncategorized

Film Review: Geostorm

“We Were Warned And We Did Not Listen…”

Although hailed as some form of guaranteed audience grabber, Gerard Butler’s most recent backlog of film appearances isn’t exactly the greatest run from the growling, wide-chinned Scot, with the likes of Gods of Egypt and London Has Fallen being two of the worst cinema releases in recent history, and whilst there is always hope for redemption, the release of the CGI-fuelled Geostorm brings with it a heavy sense of, “here we go again!”, particularly after months and months of trailers hyping up a movie which on the face of it, might give Independance Day: Resurgence a run for its’ money as worst big-budget science-fiction disaster movie of the past few years. Directed by American debutant Dean Devlin, whose past producing credits ironically include the likes of Resurgence and erm, Eight Legged Freaks, the latest movie to showcase how much destruction can be created from the screen of a computer in the form of Geostorm is unsurprisingly a gag-inducing barrel of garbage, one which takes the cliched notion of leaving your brain at the foyer to a whole new level of unparalleled literalness and too a movie which just makes you question why and how it ever made it past the cutting room floor.

With Butler showcasing the limited amount of range he has as an actor, portraying a supposed super intelligent science engineer with all the efficiency of a leather based raincoat, Geostorm is the type of movie which doesn’t even begin to offer credible reasons for making the audience believe any events which depict on screen are even capable of actually occurring, and whilst end of the world, disaster movies fundamentally require a minimal level of audience open-minded participation, the mind-boggling and headache inducingly bad narrative at the heart of Geostorm leads to a movie which although features scenes of tidal waves, gigantic laser beams and gargantuan explosions, is undeniably boring from beginning to end. With plot turns aplenty all resulting in a synchronised round of sighs from the audience and a tacky, saccharin sweet family narrative thread acting as the film’s through line, Geostorm is trash unrefined, and whilst Devlin’s CGI-based load of hogwash isn’t exactly the worst film of the year, it is undeniably the stupidest.

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: The Ritual

“We Should Have Gone To Vegas…”

Based upon British author Adam Nevill’s novel of the same name, the Andy Serkis produced The Ritual might go unnoticed within your respective multiplex this week amidst snow-obsessed serial killers and the latest big-screen Lego animation, and whilst black comedy horror is sometimes hard to get spot on, the likes of Dog Soldiers and Shaun of the Dead prove that when done effectively, such a genre is hard to top in terms of entertainment value, and whilst The Ritual isn’t exactly a movie rooted with jaw-dropping levels of originality, director David Bruckner has executed a movie which does manage to tick the entertainment box rather extravagantly, and with a central four man show including the likes of Rafe Spall at the heart of the action, Bruckner’s latest is a movie bursting with cine-literate genre threads and snigger-inducing, quip-laden dialogue which helps twists the narrative through both horror and comedy ridiculously smoothly through a beautifully harmless ninety minute B-movie feast.

Evoking a wide range of classic horror releases, The Ritual nods its’ twisted head primarily through a Blair Witch style setting into the Pagan influences of Anthony Shaffer’s The Wicker Man and through once again into the creature feature elements of The Descent, and whilst it was entertaining to mentally jot down the movies imbedded within the film’s narrative, Bruckner’s movie does hold enough strength to be classed as a movie on its’ own right, particularly with the four key characters at the heart of the movie each having their own individual characteristics to be much more than just horror movie cannon fodder. With director David Bruckner having past experience in low-key horror releases before, including the “Amateur Night” segment of the highly enjoyable horror anthology, V/H/S, The Ritual does manage its’ horror elements incredibly well, particularly in the first two-thirds of the movie when the film’s leading threat is seeped in ambiguity, and whilst the final act is incredibly ludicrous and ultimately predictable, The Ritual is a highly entertaining piece of popcorn horror cinema which revels in the chance to not take itself seriously whatsoever.

Overall Score: 7/10

Film Review: The Snowman

“You Could Save Them You Know. I Gave You All The Clues And Everything…”

Tackling a subject matter light years apart from the similarly titled Raymond Briggs written animation, The Snowman, a cinematic adaptation of Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø’s best selling novel, marks the highly anticipated return of Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, whose decision to adapt his fellow Scandinavians’ work from page to screen makes some sort of sense considering the dark, twisty tones of his previous work, and whilst Nesbø’s novel is the seventh in a series based around the trials and tribulations of Michael Fassbender’s leading character, Harry Hole, Alfredson’s movie is the first attempt in bringing the author’s famous detective to some sort of cinematic fruition. With good omens behind it therefore, it comes at a complete surprise to report that Alfredson’s latest is unfortunately nothing more than a shockingly dire and unintentionally woeful, manufactured work of disillusioned trash, one which seems to have faltered primarily at a pre-production stage and ultimately released just for the sake of it, and when considering the talent behind it, with a cast which mirrors the impressive ensemble within Alfredson’s previous, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Snowman is undoubtedly one of the most infuriatingly contrived let downs in recent Hollywood history.

Suffering from a handful of flaws which range from sloppy unprofessionalism to sinful laziness, The Snowman seems to be the spawn of awful judgement primarily from a production standpoint, with the film’s narrative lacking any meaningful level of threat, coherence or substance in complete contrast to previous Scandinavian thrillers such as The Killing and the Millennium franchise, and whilst the absence of threat results in the bulk of the movie being replaced with utter tedium, the film is worsened by the bizarre comedic tendency it seems to evoke each and every time the movie slips into supposed dark territory, with awfully designed murder clips and the scene of a snowman’s head being planted on the top of a deceased body resulting in a combination of sniggers rather than the nail-biting thrills I believe the novels were famous for. With editing which verges on the point of insanity and scenes which move from one to another without any sort of meaningful connectivity, The Snowman is a incomprehensible mess of a movie, and whilst the likes of Fassbender and even Alfredson to some extent can’t be entirely to blame, the first entry of a supposed Jo Nesbø based franchise is a complete and utter stinker.

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: The Mountain Between Us

“I Don’t Wanna Die Up Here Because You Are Too Scared To Take A Risk…”

Based upon the novel of the same name by American author Charles Martin, director Hany Abu-Assad takes his first big budget chance with The Mountain Between Us, a romantic survivalist drama featuring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba in the leading roles as journalist Alex Martin and Dr. Ben Bass, strangers who are stranded in the heartland of the wilderness after the crash of their charter plane. Whilst survivalist tales are not uncommon, with the likes of The Revenant and even It Comes at Night showcasing the genre-bending facet of the much explored narrative of man’s basic instinct to keep on going, Assad’s movie suffers primarily from a nonexistent level of threat, one which weakens the majority of the film’s first half, and a central relationship from two of Hollywood’s most bankable actors which not only lacks any sort of meaningful authenticity but is completely vacant of romantic chemistry, resulting in a schmaltzy mess of a movie which even manages to make its’ icy surroundings feel placid and dull.

With Elba and Winslet sinking to levels thought impossible in terms of their performances, Assad uses the first ten minutes of the movie to complete the setup, placing our leading duo in a contrived state of confusion which results in them deciding to fly together upon the creakiest, most unsafe charter plane possible, and whilst the inner shot of the plane’s inevitable descent onto the snowy terrains below is actually pretty well done, the subsequent ninety minutes is an exercise in mediocrity, with the narrative choosing to repeat the same notions over and over again without any sense of threat or belief that our leading heroes will subsequently perish, with the movie coming across instead as the type of saccharin-flavoured money grabber which even decides to save the dog when the whole audience was expecting a mutt-flavoured barbecue to occur upon the screen. With no sense of peril or real meaningful characterisation, the concluding portion of the film’s romance-based section is inevitably gooey and pointless, and whilst The Mountain Between Us isn’t the worst example of survivalist dramas, it is certainly the tackiest.

Overall Score: 4/10

Film Review: Blade Runner 2049

“I Always Told You. You’re Special. Your History Isn’t Over Yet. There’s Still A Page Left…”

Reissued to the big screen last year, Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult, science fiction classic Blade Runner is one of the greatest films of all time, period. Directed by a Scott on form of which has never been topped and beautifully designed through soaring cinematography and a world class Vangelis soundtrack, the cinematic adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is likely never to be topped within the genre of forward-thinking futuristic fiction. Treading with an air of trepidatious caution therefore, the release of Blade Runner 2049 is shackled with a the undeniable questioning of why a sequel was ever needed to a film laced with ambiguity and uncertainty twenty-five years ago, but with Scott being reduced to a production role only, a factor most fortunate considering the lack of mediocre releases from the American lately, and arguably the best filmmaker working at this moment in the form of Sicario and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve in charge, 2049 manages to create a heavy sense of confliction regarding its’ existence inside my cinematic mind. With a returning Harrison Ford, a grit-infused Ryan Gosling and the who’s who team of top class filmmakers, featuring the likes of Hans Zimmer and cinematographer Roger Deakins, 2049 holds the ace card for complete success, and what Villeneuve has managed to create is fundamentally a multi-million dollar art house inflicted masterpiece, one which expands the Blade Runner universe into expansive, lurid territory whilst simultaneously paying complete tribute to an original so beloved by many by coming oh so close to toppling the foundations of its’ predecessors unwavered supremacy as the masterwork of nightmarish, dystopian science fiction.

Whilst dissecting the details of the plot would be utter sacrilege, 2049 works as both a worthy continuation of the plot threads left over from the 1982 original and an organic beast in its’ own right, using the underlying narrative regarding the existence of replicants to a more than effective degree in attempting to piece together a story which both points to the past and propels into the future, with Ryan Gosling’s Agent K central to a narrative which combats its’ high-profile cast by giving each star a sharply defined character of notable distinction and interest, with Jared Leto’s Tyrell inflicted Wallace and Sylvia Hoeks’ Luv the standout characters of the piece. Concluding with all the ambiguity and uncertainty of the original, opportunity ultimately remains open for yet another sequel in the Blade Runner canon, yet with the care and delicate approach clearly given to its’ creation, 2049 seems more beneficial to remain solely as a chance to explore deeper the world originally created by Scott as a one-off, and whilst Villeneuve has the American to thank for handing him the chance to mould the Blade Runner world to his liking, the touch of a man who directed the woozy tranquility of Arrival is all over Blade Runner 2049, a film which revels in handing its’ audience a sense of exploration in attempting to piece out the satirical, sociological and thematic notions which are laid out on the screen, a screen which attempts to hold together images which evoke a sense of jaw-dropping awe when attempting to conclude how any living human could create such art. With amber-infused radioactive plains of a destroyed Las Vegas, the surrealist, art deco interior of Wallace enterprises, and the polluted airs of downtown Los Angeles, cinematographer and long awaited Oscar recipient, Roger Deakins, is at the top of his game, creating eye-widening spectacle after spectacle in helping Villeneuve establish the world in which the darkness and despair of the plot ultimately relies on, and whilst beauty has never been absent from the work of such a talented DP (the descent into darkness from Sicario and the sniper scene in Skyfall to name a few memorable shots), 2049 is undoubtedly the picture which will make the world stand up and proclaim Deakins as the undeniable master of his respective art form.

With Gosling’s Agent K on Drive territory, the brooding, bloodied body of his character is essential to the picture’s overt sense of dread which is played straight from beginning to end, and whilst the deliciously packed two hours and forty five minutes may seem a tad of a stretch to some, the film’s excesses never bothered me and even could have gone on further without a hint of objection or disdain. With a eye-watering budget at his disposal, it is quite remarkable how Villeneuve’s approach to 2049 is to completely follow the essence of the original in terms of both tone and feel, using long, sometimes drawn out sequences to enforce the eerie sense of isolation felt by the film’s leading characters, with the best moments sometimes utilising no dialogue or musical accompaniments at all, with the camera focused instead on how a particular character moves, feels or reacts to a particular scenario or plot development, with even Ford managing to be so much more than just a cast-off cameo in his return as Deckard, with a tense and almost Lynchian scene involving him and Leto’s Wallace a breathtaking example of each of the respective actors at the top of their game. With Hans Zimmer supplying the honking, synthy, Vangelis inspired soundtrack to completely encompass the film’s heart of darkness, the resulting chemical equation of putting together so many skilled filmmakers in the same room is rather quite staggering, with Villeneuve’s film managing to not only topple the lofty expectations set upon it, but also managing to portray science fiction cinema at its’ most beautiful and imaginative. Handed with the chance of the lifetime, Blade Runner 2049 is undoubtedly Villeneuve’s film, and with the Avengers style team of movie makers around him all working in complete synchronisation, the world can now finally see what it truly means to be a true sequel to film that never thought needed to be continued in the first place.

Overall Score: 10/10

Film Review: Flatliners

“Okay, Now’s The Point When You Say It’s All A Joke…”

Remake. Reimagining. Reboot. Whatever. Of all the many psychological horror one-off’s in the world, Joel Schumacher’s 1990 cult flick, Flatliners, is indeed a movie devoid of all reasoning for such a continuation, and whilst the original had interesting ideas and a youthful, enthusiastic cast including the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon, the jury still remains out on why exactly a sequel is needed at all. With The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo director Niels Arden Oplev helming the similarly titled sequel this week, which from trailers alone, comes across as the bare-bones, cheap money cash-in many would expect it to be, at least there is some reason to be slightly excited, particularly with Oplev helming the likes of Mr. Robot and the somewhat mediocre, if stylish Colin Farrell starring, Dead Man Down since his success with the first of the Swedish-based Millennium series. Whilst it’s almost lazy to tarnish Oplev’s latest with all the obvious cliched quips, it is startling how much Flatliners is completely dead on arrival, with the latest Hollywood sequel lacking both pulse and heart as it only manages to succeed in making the original look like a forgotten cinematic classic.

Using the narrative of the first film to almost pinpoint exactness albeit for minor, lacklustre tweaks, Flatlines suffers fundamentally from the age old issue with sequels with it being a film which doesn’t attempt to build on the successes of its’ predecessor but simply decides to rehash the exact same ideas, and whilst there is an idea at the heart of Schumacher’s original movie which could be made into a thrilling exercise of science fiction, screenwriter Ben Ripley resorts to creating a sequel which attempts to be more Final Destination-esque in tone than the Black Mirror style of story the underlying narrative brings to mind. Whilst Ellen Page tries her best in the leading role, her untimely conclusion creates a vacuum of dullness in the film’s second half, one which utilises tiresome jump scares aplenty and hopeless horror to carry the story to its’ overstayed conclusion, and without a sense of threat and the element of mystery to hold the audience’s attention until the very end, Oplev’s movie is unfortunately a remake than simply cannot be revived no matter how much adrenaline charged substances can be shoved into its’ veins.

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: Kingsman: The Golden Circle

“Manners. Maketh. Man. Let Me Translate That For You..”

Arguably being the director responsible for the rise of Daniel Craig as the world’s greatest British secret agent due to his successes with Layer Cake back in 2004, Matthew Vaughn’s successful trip with the Kingsman series returns this week with The Golden Circle, a star-studded action sequel which follows on from the fanfare of the first by being a film fundamentally addicted with the Bond series and all its’ many pleasures, but too a sequel which is primarily focused on the excesses evident within arguably the worst Bond films in the canon, releases which chose CGI surfing and invisible cars over any form of substance, and whilst The Golden Circle does boast a returning Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges, there is too few elements to enjoy within the space of a two hour-plus movie which follows the common trends of the sequel by being not at all in the realm of critical greatness as its’ predecessor. Whilst the first film did have a variety of flaws, including a crass, laddish undertone which attempted to derail the film completely, The Golden Circle goes one further in mediocrity and suffers fundamentally from elements which so easily could have been avoided, particularly when admiring the previous works of director, Matthew Vaughn.

Of the many elements which do not work, the chauvinistic, sexist portrayal of female characters which began slightly in The Secret Service continues to an extent within The Golden Circle, a particular flaw which makes Roger Moore’s treatment of women in his respective Bond films seem gentlemanly beyond belief. Whether it be a completely twisted and jarring scene of sexual spy implementation rape in a Glastonbury tent or the total lack of substance for characters portrayed by the likes of Halle Berry and Sophie Cookson, The Golden Circle is ran by a script which simply doesn’t care for its’ characters whatsoever, and with the return of Colin Firth after his death in the previous movie, the film suffers too from a complete lack of peril or fear due to the notion that a bullet wound to the head can simply be fixed by magical glue. With fight scenes a-plenty which are just CGI-fueled mania, Julianne Moore arguably giving her worst performance ever and Elton John popping up to add humour to proceedings, The Golden Circle is an absolute mess of a movie, but one which is somewhat redeemed by flashy editing, a cucumber cool soundtrack and a solid leading performance from Taron Egerton but ultimately a sequel which still manages to be the lesser body of work when compared to its’ predecessor. Shame.

Overall Score: 4/10

Catch-Up Film Review: The Limehouse Golem

“Here We Are, Again..!”

 Based upon the 1994 novel “Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem” by English author Peter Ackroyd, American director Juan Carlos Medina hits the big time this week after a string of independent, low-key releases with The Limehouse Golem, a British murdery mystery featuring the enigmatic figure of Bill Nighy in the leading role of Inspector John Kildare and a supporting cast which features the ever-reliable figures of Olivia Cooke, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. Adapted from novel to screen by writer Jane Goldman, whose previous successes include Kick-Ass and the jet-black gothic horror of the worlds scariest 12A rated movie, The Woman In Black, Medina’s movie is unfortunately a slog of predictability, one which forces through style over substance and shock tactics over story, resulting in a televisual murder mystery which ultimately feels rather too silly to be taken seriously even with some eye-catching performances from its’ leading cast and effective gritty, murky cinematography from the film’s DP.

Put onto the case of the “Limehouse Golem” after a string of grisly, violent murders in Victorian-era London, Bill Nighy’s Inspector Kildare’s high profile history and attachment to former stage actor Elizabeth Cree (Olivia Cooke) is placed onto the local spotlight. With Cree on trial for the supposed murder of her husband, Kildare balances his attempt to prove her innocence along with revealing the identity of the crowd-pleasing vicious killer, one who has striked both fear and excitement from the bloodthirsty London audience. With the violence ridiculous, the dialogue cliched and the final twist so obvious even a half-asleep audience would have got there eventually, The Limehouse Golem doesn’t quite manage to live up to the retro, murder thriller vibe it so obviously wants to excrete on-screen, and whilst Nighy, Cooke and Douglas Booth give it their best go, Medina’s big-screen debut is B-movie fluff of which memorability isn’t exactly its’ leading trait.

Overall Score: 5/10

Film Review: American Assassin

“I Like Your Agenda. I Know Exactly What To Do With You…”

Based upon Vince Flynn’s 2010 novel of the same name, American Assassin presents itself within the realm of 21st century spy thrillers which take on both the ethos of the Bourne franchise and the direction of Paul Greengrass, with the filmmaking tactics deployed in The Bourne Supremacy onwards having a widespread influence on a vast spectrum of cinema ranging from the gargantuan Bond series to the more B-Movie approach of the Taken franchise. Brought to the big screen by Kill the Messenger director Michael Cuesta, this first entry into an anticipated string of Flynn-based releases features Dylan O’Brien as civilian-turned-killer Mitch Rapp and Michael Keaton as veteran training agent Stan Hurley, and whilst many audiences fall under the spell of money-grabbing action cash-ins due to a underlying love of anything with extravagant explosions and expletive-ridden dialogue, American Assassin is a prime example of an action movie so lazy and plodding in its’ creation, it is actually harder to comprehend its’ existence than it is to actually enjoy it.

With a lifeless, growling and utterly dull leading performance from O’Brien as the titular stone-cold killer, one who uses the cranked in and wholly exploitative plot point of a particular death as reasoning for murderous rampaging, American Assassin falls under the old chestnut of simply not being clever or eager enough to add any sense of depth to proceedings, resulting in a vacuum of space where the utter lack of either sympathy or empathy resides and is replaced by a severe level of tedium which in turn results in a much more enjoyable sleep-induced coma which the audience falls into in order to pass the time. Slapped with an 18 certificate, American Assassin contains a simply undeserved level of sadistic, awkward violence which has no reasoning for its inclusion and just results in a total sense of alienation from characters who are hard to distinguish between friend and foe, and with a conclusion which ranks up there with the most jump-the-shark scenes I have ever seen, Cuesta’s movie is the sort of tripe which brings absolutely nothing new to the overpopulated realm of action movies and is simply there for monetary issues. On this evidence, I can’t see that being a winner either.

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: mother!

You Give, And You Give, And You Give. It’s Just Never Enough…”

Encapsulating in human form the very definition of divisive, Darren Aronofsky for me is the idealistic, brave and shit-hot filmmaker needed within the midst of summer blockbusters and endless unwarranted sequels in the current climate of cinema, and whilst many understandably lift their nose at the thought of anything with the Brooklyn born movie-maker’s recognisable touch, there is an unparalleled level of talent within a man who in my eyes rarely puts a foot wrong. Whether it be the depraved, nihilistic portrayal of addiction within Requiem for a Dream, the depiction of regret and sorrow within The Wrestler, or indeed the Argento inspired ripeness of Black Swan, Aronofsky holds no standards for a crowd-pleasing cop-outs and that alone has resulted in widespread appeal for his movies, particularly mother!, Aronofsky’s latest feature which for all its’ lack of publicity and reportedly inflammatory subject matter still manages to secure a wide release across the UK. Challenging, subversive, oppressive and surreal, Aronofsky’s latest transcends the realm of cinema itself and leaves you in a state of prolonged shock as soon as the final credits roll, and whilst many are guaranteed to loathe the sadistic and ripe arty nature of the film’s final product, mother! is an experience of an ilk similar to the likes of Funny Games and Kill List by being a film so terribly haunting and tough, the execution of such simply has to be rapturously applauded.

Set wholly within the confines of the winding home of Jennifer Lawrence’s “mother” and Javier Bardem’s writer’s block ridden “him”, Aronofsky’s narrative twists between home invasion horror, jet-black comedy, Lynch-style surrealism and a Dogville-style societal commentary, and whilst the underlying story is undoubtedly based upon writings drawn from Christianity and the sacred texts within the Bible, the twisted nature of Aronofsky’s storytelling offers much more than just one simple way to manoeuver through the ambiguity and the three-act structure, with each act after the next increasing in tension and shock value as the movie progresses through to its’ ultimate conclusion. With the camera solely fixed on the subjective view of Lawrence, with all but a few minor shots either directly focusing on her face or over her shoulder, the Oscar winning actresses performance is absolutely mesmerising, conveying a rafter of facial expressions and emotions as the narrative forces her to compliment the downward spiral of horror which transcends upon the screen and a performance which evoked the spirit of Nicole Kidman in Lars Von Trier’s Dogville and Mia Farrow’s iconic role in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, a movie of which directly influences mother! in it’s rollercoaster ride of a final act, one which comes extremely close to dive bombing the movie altogether in its’ sheer jaw-dropping extravagance.

With Bardem on usual form as the somewhat ciphered, unknown quantity, and both Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer reminding everyone of their raw and unquestionable talent, Aronofsky throws the remainder of his cast around and around in order to suit his narrative endgame, with jarring inclusions from the likes of Domhnall Gleeson and Kristen Wiig seeming so surreal it almost cripples the way in which you as a viewer should be embracing the movie, particularly in regard to its’ ever-wandering tone. If you head to in to a screening of mother! wanting a jump-scare ridden horror, you are bound to leave extremely disappointed, and whilst there is undoubtedly elements of genre-literate exploitation aplenty, with the film evoking everything from the likes of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in terms of its’ hateful depiction of the human existence to the social commentary extremity evident within Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust, Aronofsky’s latest is not a film to be enjoyed, instead it is the type of movie you digest, mull over and decide to what to make of it after three glasses of whisky and a trip to a puppy farm to combat the oppressive shock your mind is layered in after exiting the auditorium. mother! gave me nightmares, and not many films manage to bury that deep within the confines of my psyche but it goes to show how much of an astonishing, messed-up cinematic achievement Aronofsky has managed to create in a cinematic environment when risks are so rarely eaten up.

Overall Score: 9/10


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UC San Diego SearchMenu

Promotion Project

Find out how a UC San Diego department can get funds for training through the Promotion Project program.

Promotion Project funding for FY 2016-2017 is no longer available. This site will be updated once funding is available.

The Promotion Project provides up to $1,000 in training funds to UC San Diego departments that promote UC San Diego career employees via reclassification or open recruitment.

Purpose (Subject to change for FY 2017 - 2018)

The goal of the Promotion Project, a career development program, is to develop and retain UC San Diego staff by creating opportunities for employees to advance at UC San Diego. This goal is achieved through a unique strategy — offering monetary support to the hiring department for the employee's training needs within the first 6 months of the appointment.

Note: Before your department is considered for funding, you must also complete and submit a Training Request Form (PDF).

Promotion Project funds will be earmarked for 6 months only once you are approved. If funds are not used within the 6-month period, they may be forfeited. Please notify the Promotion Project coordinator if there are any changes.

How a department can qualify for funds

  • Open a recruitment
  • Be willing to hire and train a UC San Diego career candidate.

Eligibility: (Subject to change for FY 2017 - 2018)

  • UC San Diego career employees who have been promoted or reclassified
  • UC San Diego career employee who have completed probationary period

How a department can receive funds

  • Hire a UC San Diego employee for a qualifying job opening.
  • Submit the Training Request Form (PDF) for approval to the Promotion Project coordinator, Mail Code 0923, within 45 days of being promoted/ reclassified.
  • Upon approval of the training request form, a signed confirmation for training reimbursement of actual expenses up to $1,000 will be sent to the department.
  • For reimbursement, submit:
    • Evidence of the training activity completion
    • A copy of the department's general ledger showing payment for the training activity

Note: this page has a friendly link that's easy to remember: http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/promotionproject

Notice: The information on this page summarizes provisions of university policies and/or collective bargaining agreements. Refer to the Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) and local implementing procedures or applicable collective bargaining agreement for full text of referenced information.


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Aspirin increases pregnancy rate in women with inflammation

Infertility affects a large number of couples and individuals who are trying to conceive. New research suggests that a daily low dose of aspirin may increase chances of conception for women with chronic inflammation.
New research suggests that a low dose of aspirin may help women with inflammation to conceive.
Infertility – largely defined as the inability to conceive after 1 year of unprotected sex – affects 1 in 8 couples in the United States. These couples have trouble either conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy, with a third of infertility cases being attributed to the female partner.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that 12 percent of all U.S. women of reproductive age are unable to become pregnant.
Some of these women may have chronic, low-grade inflammation, which has been previously associated with causes of infertility.
New research – carried out by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a subdivision of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – investigates the effects of low-dose aspirin on pregnancy rate, pregnancy loss, births, and inflammation during pregnancy.
The findings, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, suggest that a low daily dose of aspirin may help women who have previously lost a pregnancy successfully carry a baby to term.
Lindsey A. Sjaarda, Ph.D., who is a staff scientist in the NICHD Division of Intramural and Population Health Research, is the study’s first and corresponding author.
Analyzing the effect of low-dose aspirin on pregnancy chances
Sjaarda and team examined the data available from the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR) trial. The original purpose of the trial was to test whether a small daily dose of aspirin could prevent further pregnancy loss for women who had already had one or two miscarriages.
EAGeR was a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial carried out in four academic medical centers across the U.S. The trial gathered 1,228 healthy females aged between 18 and 40, who were actively trying to conceive at the time but had previously lost one or two pregnancies.
The participants were administered a daily dose of 81 milligrams of aspirin for up to six monthly cycles while they were trying to get pregnant, and for the entire gestation period of 36 weeks in women who did successfully conceive.
For this new study, Sjaarda and colleagues divided these participants into three subgroups, according to how much C-reactive protein (CRP) they had in their blood.
CRP is a protein produced by the liver, which flares up when the body has an inflammation.
The study examined a subgroup of women who had low CRP levels, defined as below 0.70 milligrams per liter of blood, a mid-CRP subgroup (with CRP levels between 0.70 and 1.95 mg/l), and a high CRP subgroup, consisting of women who had 1.95 or more mg/l of CRP in their blood.
As part of the randomized trial, some of these women received aspirin and some of them received a placebo.
Women who took aspirin had a 35 percent higher chance of conceiving
In their analysis, Sjaarda and colleagues did not find any significant difference between the aspirin group and the placebo group in the low and mid-CRP groups.
However, in the high CRP group, women who received placebo had the lowest live birth rate (44 percent) while women who took a daily dose of aspirin had a 59 percent rate of live births.
Therefore, women with high CRP levels benefited most from the aspirin treatment. In their case, the treatment resulted in a 35 percent increase in live births, compared with the placebo control group.
Additionally, the researchers measured CRP levels at 8, 20, and 36 weeks of pregnancy for women who did manage to conceive. In their case, aspirin – which is an anti-inflammatory drug – seemed to significantly reduce CRP levels.
The authors conclude that more research is needed to replicate and confirm their findings. Furthermore, researchers need to collect more data in order to establish how inflammation is related to fertility and pregnancy outcomes.

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PlayStation Network Security Update

On Tuesday, April 26 we shared that some information that was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. Once again, we’d like to apologize to the many users who were inconvenienced and worried abut this situation.

We want to state this again given the increase in speculation about credit card information being used fraudulently. One report indicated that a group tried to sell millions of credit card numbers back to Sony. To my knowledge there is no truth to this report of a list, or that Sony was offered an opportunity to purchase the list.

One other point to clarify is from this weekend’s press conference. While the passwords that were stored were not “encrypted,” they were transformed using a cryptographic hash function. There is a difference between these two types of security measures which is why we said the passwords had not been encrypted. But I want to be very clear that the passwords were not stored in our database in cleartext form. For a description of the difference between encryption and hashing, follow this link.

To reiterate a few other security measures for your information: Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well. To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports.

We continue to work with law enforcement and forensic experts to identify the criminals behind the attack. Once again, we apologize for causing users concern over this matter.

Our objective is to increase security so our customers can safely and confidently play games and use our network and media services. We will continue to provide updates as we have them.

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Coast Guard looks for interim Icebreakers and towing Vessels

From the RFI:
Due to age and reduced availability of the icebreaking fleet, the Coast Guard anticipates that it may require additional icebreaking capacity provided by one (1) to five (5) Icebreakers (Heavy, Medium, or Light) at various times over the next number of years. Accordingly, the CCG must investigate potential bridging strategies to address potential
gaps in service.
The Icebreaking capable vessels that are approaching the limit of their notional operational life and undergoing Vessel Life Extensions (VLEs) to keep them in service until replacement vessels can be built and delivered via the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The VLEs are scheduled to take place from 2017 until 2023, with up to three (3) vessels undergoing repairs each year. While efforts are being made to minimize work that would occur during an icebreaking season, the VLE work will remove some vessels from service for a significant period of time.
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) currently has two (2) Heavy Ice Breakers (HI), four (4) Medium Icebreakers (MI), and nine (9) Multi-Task Light Icebreakers in its inventory. The Coast Guard deploys these vessels in Canada’s Arctic waters during the late-Juneto mid-November period (the Arctic season), and South of 60oLatitude from the December to May period (the Southern season). The vessels are based in Quebec City, Quebec; Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Victoria, British Columbia and Argentia and St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Coast Guard is also looking at commercial towing options for standby tugs. the John 1 Incident (we covered that tow well) was specifically mentioned as a case where this service would have been beneficial. It looks like the government is looking to buy the services of an existing company.
Given the number of out of work offshore supply vessels – some of which are ice class, there should be some interesting responses.
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Connect with Us

Ochsner Doctor’s Note: Congenital Heart Defect

Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect. Pediatric & Adult Congenital Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Benjamin Peeler discusses the spectrum of CHD and treatment options.

Learn more about the nationally-ranked Pediatric Cardiology program at Ochsner Hospital for Children, including our Congenital Heart Disease center.

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9 scholars share research at NUST workshop

order to hone the development skills of young researchers, a workshop was recently held at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). Nine scholars shared their research experiences with more than 350 students from 40 universities and 50 majors from all over Pakistan, says a press release.

Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) Chairperson Dr Manzoor Hussain Soomro was the chief guest.

The workshop aimed at training university students about methodologies and technical aspects related to pursuing a research degree, said an official of the university.

He said that special emphasis was laid on the development of various skills in the participants. The most prominent ones being producing quality research papers and poster presentations, effective written communication when applying for research grants/scholarships and sending effective applications for getting admission in overseas universities.

In his remarks, Dr Manzoor said that this platform has brought young people and scholars together, and he hopes that it will continue to do so in future.


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Paparazzi UAV Videos 2004-2010

A few days ago ENAC UAV Lab uploaded their Paparazzi UAV video collection from 2004-2010. If you are interested in some Open-Source UAV history you should take a look at them.

It is exciting to see how many things Paparazzi UAV could already do 5 to 10 years ago, as well as how far things have improved and evolved since then.

One of the highlights is a multi UAV flight at IMAV2006. This is 9 years ago. It is great to see how relaxed the safety pilots are. 🙂

Another highlight is the Paparazzi UAV Ground Control Station (GCS). It definitely has many of the elements of how the GCS looks today but it definitely changed and improved over the years.


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How I Fell in Love with the Tensegrity Repair Series

In this post Leena reflects on what she has learned from practicing the Tensegrity Repair Series, and shares a bit more about what the term “tensegrity” means and where it comes from.

Grease for your Rusty Parts

Photo by mtneer_man on Flickr

Ever get up from your desk, and feel your joints creak like a rusty old car? Perhaps due to the amount of time we spend sitting in chairs, seats, and couches in North America, the average person I see has core weakness. This instability in the core is often coupled with tightness and lack of mobility in the hip joints and shoulder joints (and by core, I’m not solely referring to the abdominal muscles, but also muscles of the pelvis, deep core and back muscles.)

The Tensegrity Repair Series is a set of 20 simple exercises designed to restore healthy range of motion to the hips, shoulders, and spine. It helps to build supple strength in the core muscles, and balance and stabilize the pelvis. Overall, I’ve found it to be an amazing antidote to the most common structural and postural imbalance issues that I have personally, and that I see in the general population. It brings that little bit of grease back to our creaky parts.

It wasn’t love at first sight…

I was first introduced to the Tensegrity Repair Series a few years ago by my friend Christi-an, and I was intrigued but also annoyed by it. Trying it was a total hit to my ego. The exercises looked so simple, yet seemed to point a finger directly at all the little places in my body that were weak or not fully participating in my yoga practice. Unlike yoga asana (postures), in the Tensegrity movements, it was much harder for me to cheat. So, in the way that you often do when you encounter something truly good for you, I completely ignored our brief encounter and kept doggedly doing what I was previously doing.

I continued doing what I was doing despited the feeling that I progressively feeling less balanced and stable, despite my best intentions to practice with good alignment and a balance of strength and stretch. Finally, I injured my shoulder in an inversion, and the pain persisted and increased for 6 months despite my best efforts to rehabilitate and seek good medical care. Finally, I slowed my yoga asana practice way down. I eventually took several weeks off, and then started back slowly with just the Tensegrity Repair Series, and then added asana back little by little. After about a month of practicing the Series, I noticed my shoulder recovery taking a turn for the better. I’ve also noticed much improvement and greater awareness of my seated and standing posture, increased core strength and greater pelvic stability, decreased back pain, and balancing in handstand is getting so much more possible! Another bonus, over time, I’ve found the Series to have an incredibly calming and relaxing effect on my nervous system.

The Good Type of Tension

Photo: Tensegrity by Clay Shonkwiler

Tensegrity is a word coined by the architect Buckminster Fuller as a short form of “tensional integrity.” In a tensegrity structure continuous pull is met equally with discontinuous push. A simple example is a balloon or a bike tire where the continuous pull from the rubber is met with equal force of push of air molecules from inside, keeping it inflated. Our bodies are an incredibly complex tensegrity system where bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and myo-fascia (connective tissue) create continuous push and pull that is the basis for all physical mobility.

When tension in the body is balanced, bones easily glide beside or dance around one another inside the soft tissue matrix providing ease of movement and long term health in the joints. When tension patterns become imbalanced– from common things like poor posture and over or underdeveloped areas of musculature– then tensegrity is compromised and so are our joints and muscles. For our joints, rather than gliding freely, bones may begin to snap against a tendon or fibrocartilage may begin to wear and this can result in long-term issues such as osteoarthritis or degenerative disc disease.

Here’s a super cool and helpful video with Thomas Meyers showing a tensegrity structure and talking about how it’s such a useful metaphor for the body.

Tensegrity at Queen Street Yoga

I’m designing a 6-week course to teach the 20 exercises and it starts Thursday, September 11 at 6pm. Over the course of six weeks we will explore the 20 exercises in detail and learn some of the relevant anatomy principles behind them. This class is ideal for all levels of experience and is especially useful for those seeking to recover from imbalances due to injuries and overuse, restore pelvic strength after pregnancy, gain balanced flexibility, and improve overall posture and wellbeing. The 20 movements, most of which are done lying on your back, are highly accessible to different levels and abilities, but almost everyone will find areas of challenge for themselves as we refine our movements each week. You’ll leave each week with useful and simple practices you can do in a 15-30 minute home practice.

Click here to read more and register.

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Leena Miller Cressman is the director of Queen Street Yoga. Right now she’s in love with practicing the Tensegrity Repair Series, handstands and doing gentle twists over her bolster. You’ll also find her cruising around on her rusty but trusty bike, and tending to her community garden plot full of arugula, kale, and basil.

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