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Saturday, September 24, 2011

Upcoming Pony Cousin

I have two wonderful grandaughters, Brooklyn (10) and Avaa (7).  Both of them seem very interested in riding my new horse.  The boys?  Not so much.  Connor even told me one day when i had him sitting on the horse, "Gramma, I just don't think I'm much of a horse person..."  I laughed, and told him "Thats ok, it's not for everyone."

So, we'v decided they (the girls) are able to begin learning the basics, and getting familiar with horse safety.

This is Avaa and she is a pistol with energy to burn!

Brooklyn is very busy with Soccer right now, so I'll have to get her started later.  Fortunately, we have all winter in a covered arena to work on it.

So, I invited Avaa to the barn with me and when she came downstairs she had dressed herself perfectly without my even guiding her!  (Above top) I was so shocked when I saw her in her pink cowgirl boots (thank you Brooklyn!) that it was hard to keep a straight face.  I asked to take a picture and she was ONLY so happy to oblige!  (Can you see the confidence here???)

So, We went to the barn, introductions were made between her and Durango.
She groomed and learned about crossing behind horses, how they can see best if she's on the side, where the kick and strick areas are, and how to not do something behind them that might startle.

Finally we made it out to the arena.  I've begun "some very basic" lessons with her.  She watched me demonstrate everything first.
1. We learned about leading safely
2. We rode bareback (clinging to the mane and bareback pad handle.)
3. We talked about balance
4. She finally became comfortable enough to let go and use her body and legs to help her balance.

I was surprised at her confidence when leading, as you can tell in the video, I seem more nervous that she would get stepped on than she was.
At one point, Durango tries to stop and sniff a "poop pile" and she just jerked him up quickly and as she walked him away, You can here her mumbling.... "No eating poop, that's just gross!"

And, below, you should see one of her riding after she gained her balance and confidence.  Look, no hands!

I'm looking forward to watching both the girls become comfortable around him and learn their balance early on.  I have always felt that thats why I have balance issues, because i didn't start riding till I was well......much older.   :-)
But, more importantly, Durango seems to know that he needs to be careful around them.  I wondered how he'd be with kids, but we'll take it very slowly.  After all...these are my girls.

  1. Great answer for your grandson Conner about riding horses. Your right it is not something everyone should even attempt. It takes a person that loves to be around horses and knows them pretty well too.
    Loved watching these videos too. Your going to have lots of wonderful new experiences with your new lovely horse.
    Take care

  2. Love those boots! Man Cub wants a new pair and has been promised by Nanette. He's not so much into the horses, he's afraid of them.

  3. Ya...girls just seem to be the ones to gravitarte to horses! Toby likes to ride...Jed... Not as much! So glad Durango is being careful!

  4. Great blog! Why not come over to Haynet a new Equine Blogging Network for all to follow. Please take a look at Thanks!

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How To Celebrate Your Home Purchase

If you’ve just purchased a home, then you know what a stressful few months it can be. Collecting financial documents, securing financing, house shopping, making an offer, getting an inspection – there are so many things to accomplish before closing day. By the time you get the keys, you probably feel exhausted.

But you’re not done just yet. It’s time to celebrate! You worked hard to buy a new home, and you deserve to enjoy your accomplishment. If you’re not sure how to celebrate your home purchase, here are some great ideas.

Have some champagne ready

Nothing says “celebration” quite like a bottle of bubbly. If you’ve been saving a bottle of champagne or wine for a special occasion, there’s no better time to open it than on closing day. Have it chilled and ready with some glasses. As soon as you step into your home for the first time as the new owners, pour some glasses and make a toast. It’s a great way to commemorate the end of the buying process and welcome in a new era of your life.

Have a meal at home

Even if your kitchen isn’t ready, your boxes aren’t unpacked and you haven’t had a chance to stock the cupboards, take the time to have a meal at home. This can be as simple as ordering takeout, or as complicated as unpacking some pots and pans and doing a little shopping. Throw a pretty tablecloth over a large box, light some candles, play some music and celebrate by having your first meal in your new home.

Have a small ceremony

It may sound silly to some, but if you enjoy ceremony and ritual, why not perform one in your house on your first day? It can be a wonderful way to invite positive energy into your home and set the tone for your life there. Some simple ceremonies you can perform include lighting candles, burning sage, ringing a bell or even buying a new broom.

Display a favorite object

Do you have an object that is very special or dear to you? Perhaps it’s a framed photograph, a piece of art, a souvenir from your travels, or a treasured family heirloom. No matter what the object, have it easily accessible so that on your first day in your new home, you can proudly display it. Simply having that one symbolic item in your new place will go a long way towards making it feel like home.

Have a party

We probably don’t even need to say it, but now is the perfect time to throw a housewarming party. You may be tempted to wait until you’re completely done moving in – but you don’t have to. Friends and family are no doubt eager to see your new digs and congratulate you. And chances are, they will be sympathetic to those unpacked boxes and unpainted walls. Don’t stress out about everything being “perfect.” Relax and let your loved ones enjoy your milestone with you.

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Nike Brazil Prestige 2013 Soccer Ball - Yellow
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Fox Falta Sunglasses - Polished Black/Gray
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Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
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Daily Coyote

Nature Nymph Ring • Sheridan Agate

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For the nature-loving nymph, a ring of and by the earth.

An absolutely gorgeous glowing oval of Sheridan agate, from the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, is set simply and richly in sleek sterling silver.

This stone is so unique and so beautiful - but it's not for everyone. It's dark. It's shimmering shades of brown. It's earthy. It's mysterious. It holds a very special energy for a very special person.

Exquisite, and one of a kind.

This ring was created by my incredibly talented neighbor, Fred, a silversmith working in traditional Navajo technique. A work of true craftsmanship, using nothing but raw materials from the earth, hand tools, fire, and skill.

Ring size 8.

Stone measures 7/8 inch tall, 1/2 inch wide, and just under 3/8 inch when viewed from the side. Narrow yet substantial band.

Handmade in Wyoming.

shipping: $4.50
as always, excess shipping charges will be refunded to your card.


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Product List

DVD-Classroom Set of 6

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DVD-Classroom Set of 6

These DVDs complement the professional studio DVDs by showing you unedited workshop demonstrations complete with spontaneous observations, and questions and answers from instructors and students.

Patient Treatment Sequence, Part I and II:

  • Dr. Upledger performs an actual treatment using the 10-Step Protocol. Since he waits for the patient's response to each technique before continuing on to the next step, the DVD runs longer than the 10-Step Protocol DVD. (148 min.)

CranioSacral Therapy for the Hard Palate:
  • Offers specific coverage of CST and the mouth, hard palate, sphenoid, maxillae, palatines, vomer bone and maxillary palatine complex. (117 min.)

Energy Cysts (Part I) and SomatoEmotional Release (Part II) :
  • In Part I Dr. Upledger answers questions on how the body's defense system localizes pain in contained areas, creating "energy cysts."
  • In Part II he explains the differences between working with an energy cyst and beginning an SER. (103 min.)

Full-Body Diagnosis - Classroom Lecture and Demonstration:
  • Begins with a comprehensive description of Dr. Upledger's clinical experiences at Michigan State University. Discusses facilitated segments, arcing, active lesions, cranial rhythm, fascial immobility and intervention, followed by a full demonstration. (110 min.)

Dysfunction of the Bones of the Cranial Base:
  • Describes and discusses dysfunctions of the sphenobasilar joint, first documented by William Sutherland, DO. Dr. Upledger demonstrates evaluation and treatment in a classroom setting. (120 min.)

Infants, Children and Brain Dysfunction:
  • Explores the therapeutic value of craniosacral evaluation and treatment for infants and children. Explains the management of learning disabilities, hyperkinesis, autism, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, and the initial treatment of newborns. (50 min.)

$170.00 (USD)


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Made from cornstarch, Magic Nuudles® are safe, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Dab a Nuudle on a damp sponge and push it against another Nuudle to create anything imaginable! Nuudles also magically stick to paper, glass, cloth, or skin. Clean up is fast and easy since Magic Nuudles® dissolve down the drain under running water. 450 pieces.
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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Save at Best Buy

Get $20 Cash Back on a Purchase of $100 or More when you Use PayPal. Valid 11/8-11/14

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5 Takeaways That I Learned About Sales

Why It Is Important to Have Good Quality Printed Business Cards

You should know that even if we have witnessed improvement in the technology as we live in the digital era it is interesting to note that the business card is still in use and for that reason you will find that the business cards do play a vital role in the in the business world that we are living today.

You should know that one of the factors that you should consider when you are looking for the best business card is the quality that you will have and therefore it is good that you make sure that you get the best quality so as to make sure that you have the best quality that you need to associate your business with. You should have the best quality printed business cards for your business due to the following reasons.

You will use the business card to create the first impression of the business that you have and therefore you need to create the best impression to the potential customers and therefore you will need to have good quality printed business cards that will help you to create the necessary impression that will help you to attract the people that might become your potential clients in the future and hence you will gain more as a result of that.

The business is all about competition and therefore an opportunity that you might have in you have to create a long-lasting impression then you cannot miss it, to ensure that you are well prepared you should have good quality printed business cards that will help you to sell out and expose your business to the people that might be the potential partners and customers in the future.

It is important that you maintain the professionalism in the business that you have and in so doing your will be able to attract the attention, confidence and the trust of the client and any other person that you want for your business and therefore it would be important for you to ensure that you have you have good quality business cards as well so as you can be able to portray the professionalism that you want for your business.

Good quality printed business cards will help you to get the best information that you need the people to see and hence you will be able to display all the information that will be necessary for the people that you are targeting and hence you will have the confidence that people will read and understand all of the details that you have included in the business card.

You should know that the all that you need to be able to caret the best impression and professionalism is a good quality business card.

Smart Ideas: Cards Revisited

The 5 Rules of Cards And How Learn More


text: Oleg Dou is a Russian photographer whose work represents self-expression through a series of stunning portraits. Having won the Professional Photographer of the Year in Fine Art, Dou created a project titled "Naked Faces" which devotes itself to the relationship between a human's inner world and their behaviour within society. The project marries together photography and design as every image portrays a face with no eyebrows, no eyelashes and smoothed skin. In a similar branch, Dou photographed the image 'Bodysmokers' where we witness the person actually becoming smoke.


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Necessary Details In Carpet Repair Across The UKUncomplicated Carpet Repair Systems In The UK
Should You MAKE USE OF A carpet burn repair san diego Repair System?
A manufacturer of any do-it-yourself carpet repair system can make a whole lot of boasts when touting their products. These businesses will declare that even in the hands of any untrained person, they`ll be in a position to make professional-quality fixes. They could also declare that their products are user friendly and foolproof, not capable of leading to harm to the floor even though used improperly. While many of these products utilize a little knowhow, manufacturers more often than not overstate their success.
What is the challenge with a do-it-yourself carpet repair system?
These products are usually only useful on small areas of damaged floors, and are inadequate in areas that contain been severely burned up or stained. Some companies call the products a patch program kit, that ought to reveal its use. The other problem with the products is that they don`t really create a long-term solution for the floor coverings. That`s because do-it-yourselfers should use hobby level glue weapons and standard hair straighteners to make a seal. While they can create a reasonable seal for some time, they`ll not keep as strong and can fail much earlier than if the carpeting concern had been dealt with by a specialist. If the region receives heavy ft . traffic or is regularly tested by children or pets, it can certainly be ripped up again.
What is the choice to a carpet repair package?
A tuned professional can fix a number of floors types, including fragile or more elaborate materials like Frieze, Berber and textured carpeting. A straightforward patching product is too imprecise to work with on valuable floor as hair straighteners and standard glue weapons can simply harm the material. Skilled professionals, with the more complex equipment, can avoid triggering further harm to the area.
Professionals can provide secondary services to guarantee the fix calls for properly. A do-it-yourself product won`t allow floor stretches, odour removal or significant stain removal, which may be necessary while patching. If these additional services are essential, the home owner may spend additional money buying a do-it-yourself patching product, alternatively than attracting a specialist from the outset.
Most technicians that perform patching include a seam flat iron and commercial quality glue gun to produce ultra-durable seams. In addition they use textile cutlery that produce for cleaner slashes, ensuring less waste materials and an improved take care of patching. Technicians likewise incorporate a stretcher in their arsenal to repair carpeting that is bunching up. Finally, experts get access to a number of cleaning and odour removal answers to completely reestablish any area of the carpet that is stained or fouled by smells.
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Thursday, May 10, 2007

Transit Systems as the "New Agora"

Let's take a break from the quitodian news of (somewhat illusory) job cuts at the CTA, speculation that the Governor has added transit to his priority list, and the somewhat pitiful efforts of a group of Chicago alderman (where was the Mayor?) to lobby on behalf of increased public transit funding.

So here's a link to a zippy recent article in the Boston Globe with the extended title of "From Boston to Brazil, city planners and transportation gurus are reimagining the possibilities of the humble motorbus, using high-tech 'smart mobility' to challenge the preeminence of the car -- and revive the urban commons."

The article summarizes some of the innovations in bus transit from around the world. Examples include on-board Wi-Fi in Seattle, real-time bus arrival information kiosks in London, bus stop (rather than on-bus) fare payment in Curitiba, and extensive traffic signal prioritization in Los Angeles. What is especially exciting is the innovative approach to public transit that drives these technical innovations:

At the heart of much of the new thinking is a concept that some urban planners call "smart mobility" -- integrating the flow of people with the flow of information. Whereas transit companies have traditionally seen their passengers as ciphers who want nothing more than to be physically moved from one place to another, the future of transit reform lies in seeing these passengers as active participants in a constantly evolving information cluster. The transportation system should share as much information with passengers as possible -- how buses are flowing, when the next one is expected. It should give passengers access to information about the outside world -- from international news, to e-mail, to data about the passing neighborhoods. And passengers, in turn, should be empowered to share information with the system and, if they want, with fellow riders.

The article goes on to describe the somewhat extravagant claim that public transit systems are the "new agora" in sprawling urbanized regions where people are isolated and alienated:

Good bus systems have the power to improve states and cities in a deep way, enthusiasts say. From the time of the first motor-driven bus, introduced by Karl Benz in 1895 in Germany, the bus and other forms of mass transit have literally moved people across cities divided by race and class. Now, as telecommuting and suburban expansion are making urban life increasingly decentralized, these thinkers argue that the bus and the subway lines are the new agora -- that they represent one of the few remaining urban commons. Boosted by the latest technology, they say, riding the bus should be as rich an experience as possible.

(What, have these folks never been to a shopping mall!)

There appears to be a persistent strain of thought associated with Anthony Downs that traffic congestion is inevitable and likely to get worse. This congestion may offer a market opportunity for public transit by bus, but only if it can-

(A) reduce public transit's speed disadvantage through a variety of tactics such as dedicated lanes (including HOT lanes available to others), traffic signal prioritization and real-time bus arrival information that reduces wait-times; and

(B) make the experience of riding the bus more interesting and pleasurable by exploiting the fact that one big comparative advantage of the bus is that you can do stuff other than driving.

Our public transit providers have a decided institutional preference for Type A initiatives because these initiatives are consistent with the "passengers as ciphers who want nothing more than to be physically moved from one place to another" model that still predominates.

Maybe it is time to give equal emphasis to Type B solutions, especially with the advent of devices like the iPhone that gives you internet connectivity in the palm of your hand. Transit agencies could put out the rolling internet/software platform and turn loose the open source community to come up with all sorts of applications--e.g., social networking ("who's on my bus"), area attractions ("free cup of coffee at Joe's next stop"), predicted time of arrival, on-board multi-player games that any rider can join. Maybe if buses became the place to go to connect with the world and a very temporary rolling "community," rather than one of life's dead zones, people would be less mindful of the slow progress of their bus down the crowded streets.

We'll get quotidian again soon.

Anonymous said...

Everything you mentioned is well known, tested and ready to locally...all that's missing is the will.

Anonymous said...

Nea Agora has the best lamb and goat in the city. Any meaning/connection?

Moderator said...

Anonymous #1: What's your assessment as to why there is a lack of will? Is it lack of money, lack of imagination, both, or neither?

Anonymous #2: I suppose that communal feasting on flesh builds community too.

Anonymous said...

Same anonymous.

1) RTA has a quasi-secret website called check out your vision there... it will be like dejavu all over again. But now, maybe Hamos' muscular new bill solves the lack of will issue...mostly.

2) Communal feasting of flesh? Wow, sounds a lot more ominous than communal feasting of bond issuances. Any way, you must not be from Chicago. Look up Nea Agora in the phone book--like I said...freshest lamb and goat in the city.

Anonymous said...

Funny nobody mentioned the Metra in here. This is what Metra is-- a much improved alternative to more agreeable than either (i) being in the car, OR (ii) being stuck next to social undesireables-- otherwise known as the "CTA effect."

It's not PC to mention it, but that impact effects peoples' decisions, even if they won't admit it.


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Curriculum of Information System

The goal of Information systems program is to present our students with up-to-date curricula and pedagogy in the discipline of information systems about the capture, strategic use and associated technology of digital information in the business environment. Studies focus on applying technology and strategic decision-making to the job of managing vast quantities of a business's information. The program gives our students the skills to analyze existing information systems, develop new systems and find solutions to common IS management issues.

Program Educational Objectives (PEOs):

-   Program graduates will demonstrate the ability to understand and apply ethical considerations to problems in an information systems environment.

-   Program graduates will be able to plan, lead, organize, and participate in teams and team-based projects that lead organizations to successful and sustainable information systems solutions.

-   Program graduates will demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with persons in various information systems roles, including those in the role of user, manager, developer, analyst, and database/network administrator.

-   Program graduates will demonstrate their understanding of the functions and applications of computers in an information systems environment and apply that understanding within organizational and business structures and processes.

-   Program graduates will demonstrate the ability to solve business-centered problems by identifying, analyzing, developing, and implementing information system based solutions.

-   Program graduates will demonstrate the ability to maintain current knowledge of emerging and changing information system methodologies and technologies to address the critical needs of the business with respect to regulatory demands, strategic goals and daily operations.

 Program Outcomes:

  1. An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the discipline.
  2. An ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution.
  3. An ability to design, implement and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs.
  4. An ability to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal.
  5. An understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security, and social issues and responsibilities.
  6. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
  7. An ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations and society.
  8. Recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, continuing professional development.
  9. An ability to use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practices.
  10. Provide students with the understanding of processes that support the delivery and management of information systems within a specific application environment.
  11. An ability to effectively create and update Project Management Plan deliverables.
  12. An understanding of the principles of information security and how to employ them in a manner to effectively secure the information and supporting infrastructure in an organization.

Sample Scheme of Study for BS in INFORMATION SYSTEM


text:
Breath test may help detect cancer

post-edit 1 comments
A simple breath test could one day be used to diagnose cancer.A breath test could one day be used to detect four of the most common types of cancer, say scientists.
Researchers have developed sensors that can spot chemical signs of lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer in a person's breath.
They believe further work could lead to a cheap, portable "electronic nose" that can help doctors diagnose cancer at an early stage.
The scientists carried out tests on 177 volunteers including healthy participants and patients with different cancers. They showed it was possible to use sensors to detect chemicals emitted from tumour cells that appear in the breath.
Professor Abraham Kuten, one of the researchers from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, said: "This study shows that an 'electronic nose' can distinguish between healthy and malignant breath, and can also differentiate between the breath of patients with different cancer types.
"If we can confirm these initial results in large-scale studies, this new technology could become a simple tool for early diagnosis of cancer along with imaging. It could also be an easy way to assess and monitor the effectiveness of cancer treatment and detect relapses earlier."
The research is reported on Tuesday in the British Journal of Cancer.
Dr Lesley Walker, from the charity Cancer Research UK, which owns the journal, said: "It is important to say at the outset that this is a small study at a very early stage and much more research is needed to see if breath can be used in the detection of cancer. These results are interesting and show that there is the potential to develop a single breath test to detect these cancers.
"Strengthening the methods for early diagnosis of cancer as well as improved treatments will have a significant impact on cutting death rates.
"Breast, lung, bowel and prostate cancers are the four most common types of cancer in the UK. They often go undetected until the disease is well established and are the most common causes of death from cancer."

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Very useful article dealing with the use of gold particles in early detection of cancer. more research needs to be done using other nanoparticles like silver

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Tag Archives: Side sleeper pro review

Side sleeper pro pillow reviews 2017

You may not really familiar when you heard , but if you have difficulties in sleeping, you may need this one. Do you know that our sleeping posture can affect our health and stamina? In fact, a good sleeping posture is of the essence.

There are some health problems associated with a bad sleeping posture. Due to this fact, knowing how to improve our sleeping posture is very critical.

There are some solutions available for those wanting to change their sleeping posture to a better one. From identifying our best position to finding the right pillow. Continue reading


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Friday, 5 April 2013

A Dwarven king of old...

Hi all :)

Here's my dwarven lord that I started ages ago...

Somewhat rather happy with his cloak, hair and armour :)

C&C most welcome as always

1 comment:

  1. The shading on that bluish/gray part as well at the cloak overall really looks good.


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Friday, June 27, 2014

Training Trouble: Why E-Learning Doesn't Work for Everyone

I took a little look back at my calendar today and it seemed high time for a blog. My colleagues and I took a little hiatus to finish up the first draft of our corporate book—a project 6 months in the making and one we are very excited to be bringing your way soon. Check back throughout the year for more information about how to get a copy of our step-by-step guide, From Here to Security.

But for now, we're back in the business of blogging—and with something a little different this time.
e-learning, online training, online courses, security awareness training
I know my blogs usually cover ITSec, security breaches, and big business blunders when it comes to securing sensitive information. But in my work on the book, I've really felt a renewed interest in covering the "Why" of all that. Why are companies struggling to close the gaps in corporate security? Why are we seeing a dramatic rise in security breaches in the news?

While I don't believe there is one right answer that covers everyone, I do think that inadequate training has a lot to do with it.

I was poking around some e-learning sites today and stumbled across this article: 5 Reasons that Everyone Should Know: Why E-learning Projects Fail. And, in fact, Sonal Paul does a pretty good job laying out a number of the pitfalls companies fall in when establishing an online training program. According to Paul, the 5 main problems are

  • Poor Need Analysis
  • Gaps in Communication
  • Poor Project Management
  • Failing to Understand the Learner
  • Wrong Instructional Strategy

Bing, bing, bing! That list hits some pretty big nails right on the head. As a company that specializes in crafting training campaigns and individual courses for big businesses, I'd say that our clients run into at least one of these in almost every project (and especially big projects usually struggle with all five).

But listing the problems doesn't even come close to solving them. Many of our e-learning clients would be ill-equipped to address these issues even if they were well aware of the problems up front. So I'd like to take Paul's article a step further and offer some practical advice on each of these points.

Poor Need Analysis:

When the time comes to explore training options, every wise manager should first ask not “How much will e-learning cost?” or “How long will this online training campaign take?” Instead, the conversation must begin with “What are we trying to accomplish?” or even "Is e-learning right for our environment?'  Web-based training is not necessarily superior to classroom training. More advanced training with all the bells and whistles does not necessarily produce better outcomes in every environment. That’s why those in charge of training must carefully consider their industry, their employee population, and the subjects on which they plan to train before choosing a methodology.

Gaps in Communication:

While Paul's article focuses primarily on communication be the e-learning company and the client, let me suggest that internal communication between the managers who develop the training and the employees that take it is equally important. You must use the employees to create good training—and including all levels of staff in the process from the beginning may make your training more effective.

Poor Project Management:

Don't make training development a back-burner process that can be left behind or forgotten. This is your company, folks. Take the protection of it seriously, and put people in charge that will also take it seriously. Too many times, we've seen e-learning campaigns dissolve into terrible messes because the project was not valued or given the time and attention it deserved.

Failing to Understand the Learner:

Your training may represent the latest in online instruction, but if it’s boring and mind numbing, then you can bet it’s not teaching anyone much of anything. If you’re training humans (and I assume you are), then be prepared to battle against human nature. Humans get bored. Humans get distracted. Humans complain.

But humans also respond to things that are interesting, interactive, and a removal from the ordinary. When you write and develop training, consider the fact that you must keep the user focused—and that there are many out-of-the-box ways to do this. Use audio and video that represent true situations your employees may face. Keep your employees engaged with interactive games, puzzles, or simulation. Encourage the use of multiple parts of the brain. Give real world examples, use case studies, or even teach principles with humor.

Wrong Instructional Strategy:

Think back to school. What were the lessons that you remember most? Never-ending lectures on American history? Mind numbing sentence diagrams?

Yeah, I don't remember those lessons either. What I do remember is Mr. Williams ninth grade history class. The one where we bundled into our coats, trooped out to the parking lot, lined up into formation carrying spear-like two-by-fours, and charged at our classmates on the other side. Roman battalion formations? Check. Mr Williams picked the right instructional strategy for a boring subject and I’ll never forget it.

Approach E-learning Right.

Smart people make a company successful. But no one’s staff is going to effectively protect anything until managers break out of the “Read and Understand” mentality and change the way they approach e-learning.

Ask yourself: “Have we given our employees what they need to succeed?” If not, then get on the ball and train them well.


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>Whenever two people share close quarters, arguments are bound to occur. Sometimes hostile words are spoken…sometimes things are left unsaid…but the anger always comes out somehow. Here are some passive aggressive stories posted by roommates:

Jenny on 9/30/09

My roommate and I alternate whose turn it is to clean the room each week; this past week it was my turn. She keeps a corkboard above her bed on which she keeps various assignments for school, pictures of friends, and the like. As I was cleaning up trash around the room, I noticed a paper on her board for an assignment that was due a week ago, so being mindful of my job to clean up, I threw it out. When she returned to the room, she got upset with me for “messing with her stuff. I became upset with her as well, because I had just gotten back from a long evening class and was too tired to deal with her. Therefore, in an attempt to “get even”, I re-tacked her paper as well as several others from the trash. When confronted about it, I told her that I simply did not want her to miss anything important that already happened.

Anonymous posted on 9/23/09:

My freshman year of college, I was assigned to a random roommate. Sam and I did not get along in the very least. Sam took control of all of my belongings, always had friends over at all hours of the night, and seemed to have this urge to annoy me. The worse part of the situation wasn’t Sam, it was her boyfriend Ben. Ben spent the night every night and it was hard to get any alone time. I became very passive aggressive, just leaving notes for Sam, avoiding her as much as possible, and the anger kept on building up inside of me. One day, I got really fed up and called Sam’s parents. I let her mother know that her boyfriend would spend the night in Sam’s bed, which was absolutely forbidden my Sam’s parents. They took her home very quickly and I had a room to myself for the rest of the semester.

Anonymous posted on 9/22/09:

So I live with three other girls in an apartment. We agreed on having the temperature set at 73 degrees, nice and comfortable. I have come back to the apartment everyday to find it close to 80 degrees in the apartment because someone shuts of the air. So I just turn it back on and go on my way. Well after the second week of this happening every day I decide to be real mature and plummet it down to 65 degrees to prove a point. So instead of asking someone if they have turned it off and why they allowed it to get real hot I just turn it down to 65 degrees and let the place freeze over and I love it.

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Sunday, August 06, 2006

It's a small comfort...

Don't stand beside my grave and weep,
For I'm not there, I do not sleep,
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond's glint on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
of quiet birds in circle flight,
I am soft stars that shine at night,
Don't stand beside my grave and cry,
I am not there. I did not die.

Poem: Mary E. Frye
Photo credit: Michael Haydon (

You are free. May you be blessed.

1 comment:

AnalisaGuzman said...


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Uyi Ezeanah

Back to staff list

Supervisor: Tom Goodfellow

Current Research: How do formal and informal institutions for delivery and accessing housing influence the quantity and quality of housing in Benin City

Nigeria has great housing shortage. And that housing delivery and control by government over housing construction and development (i.e. planning) has been compromised. Therefore most housing is acquired through a mix of formal and informal mechanisms which impact on cost, quality, location, timing and security. My research seeks to find out what the different systems are, how they relate with each other and how they affect housing experience and quality as well as look at people’s experience of housing in terms of quality of the process as well as the product of the house. The overall aim of my research will seek to analyse how do formal and informal institutions facilitate/constrain the construction/ production of quality housing in Benin City.

Pursuant to this aim, the specific objectives are to:

  • Understand and analyse what quality housing means to people in Benin City
  • Understand people’s experience of housing and whether the housing is quality, to examine what individuals and institutions have shaped residents experiences of accessing and experiencing quality housing in Benin City.
  • Investigate how formal and informal institutions interact in the process of housing provision in Benin City
  • Examine how the mix of institutions and processes constrain and/ or enhance housing delivery and quality in Benin City.

A qualitative approach will be used or engaged in this study while focusing on four neighbourhoods within the city and the peripheral area of Benin City.

My research is supervised by Tom Goodfellow and Paula Meth

MSc Urban and Regional Planning (University of Benin, Nigeria)

MSc (Ed) Social Studies Education (University of Benin, Nigeria)

BSc(Ed) Geography and Regional Planning ((University of Benin, Nigeria)

NCE Nigerian Certificate in Education, Geography/Economics (College of Education Benin, Nigeria)

Research interest

  • Housing studies
  • International/local development
  • Urban studies and planning issues
  • Land use development and planning

Teaching experience

Since 1997 I have been involved in teaching different subjects at different levels of education. I have taught at the primary, secondary schools in Nigeria. My current engagement as a lecturer is with a tertiary institution in Nigeria where I teach various courses such as settlement geography, population geography, statistical techniques and data management, geography of the developed world, regional geography of developing regions amongst others.

Conference presentations/ participations

International conference on sustainable development, University of Ghana business school, university of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, July 2012.

White Rose PGR Postgraduate Planning for impact Conference, May 2015; poster presentation

Ereyimwen, A.A. & Ezeanah, U. (2010) Proper Evaluation, Quality Control and Quality Education- Catalyst for Job Creation. Journal of Teachers Perspective, Vol 5(1), pp 142-147

Ezeanah, U. (2012). The Impact of Industrial Technology on Developing Countries. International Research and Capacity Building (IRCAB) Journal of Social and Management Sciences. Vol 2(2) pp 134-139.

Beyond my studies as a PhD student in the department of Urban Planning and Studies I would like to be fully involved in the planning of my local community in Nigeria with regards to housing delivery, outside of academia I would like to set up an NGO that will help to provide housing for the less privileged children and people in my community in Nigeria and within academia and I want to be engaged in research work both nationally and internationally.


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Dallas Cowboys | Dallas Cowboys News on Jerry Jones, Tony Romo, Jason Garrett and Cowboys Stadium

My name is Shango! I make Dallas Cowboys Videos and watch the NFL. During my lifetime, I have followed the Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Football, and Cowboys Nation. I follow the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, NFL, and Cowboys. I also like Tony Romo, Jason Garrett, DeMarcus Ware, and Dez Bryant. I even watched: Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin. Please share both websites: http://www.silverandbluereport.com and http://www.HookemReport.com. You will love both the Silver and Blue Report and Hook ’em Report.


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Saturday, April 25, 2015

How to Mine Frequent Patterns in Graphs with gSpan including a Walk-thru Example

In this blog post, I'm going to explain how the gSpan algorithm works for mining frequent patterns in graphs.  If you haven't already read my introductory post on this subject, please click HERE to read the post that lays the foundation for what will be described in this post.

Getting Started
To explain how this algorithm works, we're going to work through a simplified data set so that we can see each step and understand what is going on.  Suppose that you have 5 graphs that look like this

Don't get confused by the greek characters here.  I used random symbols to show that this method can be used for any type of graph (chemicals, internet web diagrams, etc.) even something completely made up like what I did above.  The first thing we need to do with this graph data set is count how many vertices and edges we have of each type.  I count 7 alpha(α) vertices, 8 beta(β) vertices, and 14 lambda(λ) vertices.  There are 15 edges that are solid blue, 13 that are double red, and 8 that are dotted green.  Now that we have these counts we need to order the original labels for vertices and edges into a code that will help us prioritize our search later.  To do this we create a code that starts with the vertices and edges with the highest counts and then descends like this

We could have used numbers instead of letters here, it doesn't really matter as long as you can keep track of the symbols' order based on frequency. If you relabel the graphs with this order you get something like this
You can see that the vertex labels now have A, B, C and each edge is labelled a, b, or c to match the new label legend we created.

Finding Frequent Edges
For this example we will assume that we have a minimum support frequency of 3 (i.e. 3 of the 5 graphs have to have the pattern for us to consider it important).  We start by looking at individual edges (e.g. A,b,A) and see if they meet this minimum support threshold.  I'll start by looking at the first graph at the top.  There is an edge that is (B,a,C) and I need to count how many of the graphs have an edge like this.  I can find it in the 1st graph, 2nd graph, 3rd graph, and 4th graph so it has support of 4; we'll keep that one.  Also notice that I had the option of writing that edge as (C,a,B) as well, but chose to write it with B as the starting vertex, because of the order we established above.  We move on a little and check (A,a,C) and find that it can only be found in the first graph; it gets dropped.  We check (A,c,C) and find it in the first 4 graphs as well; keep it.  If we continue going through all of the graphs being careful not to repeat any edge definitions we'll get a list of frequent single edges that looks like this

You can see that we only have 3 edges that are frequent (this will simplify our lives in this example greatly).  We need to sort the edges that are still frequent in DFS lexicographic order (See prior blog post for explanation of this).  After sorting we end up with this list of edges to consider going forward

Pay attention to the fact that I added the "0,1" to the beginning of these edge definitions.  These are the starting and ending points of the edges.  We'll "grow" the rest of the frequent sub-graphs from these edges in a way similar to the method described in my prior blog post on this subject.

gSpan starts with the "minimum" edge, in this case (0,1,A,b,B), and then tries to grow that edge as far as it can while looking for frequent sub-graphs.  Once we can't find any larger frequent sub-graphs that include that first edge, then we move on to the 2nd edge in the list above (0,1,A,c,C) and grow it looking for frequent sub-graphs.  One of the advantages of this is that we won't have to consider sub-graphs that include the first edge (0,1,A,b,B) once we've moved on to our 2nd edge because all of the sub-graphs with the first edge will have already been explored.  If you didn't follow that logic, it's OK; you'll see what I mean as we continue the example.

You might notice that the last graph in our set of graphs doesn't have any edges that are frequent.  When we're starting with edge (A,b,B) we keep track of which graphs have that edge present.  In our example that's graphs 1, 2, 3, & 4.  Now that we have that "recorded" we start the growth from (0,1,A,b,B) by generating all of the potential children off of the 'B' vertex.

Growing from the 1st Edge
Before we grow our first edge, you need to understand how gSpan prioritizes growth.  Let's assume that we have a generic subgraph that looks like this already (don't worry about how we got it yet, it will be come clear in a second)

I have removed the colors and labels from the diagram above to explain how gSpan grows without confusing you with labels.  The numbers represent the order the vertices were added.  If you are at this point in the algorithm, you will try to grow this graph in the following order of priority.

So the first priority is always to link the current end vertex back to the first vertex (the one labelled 0).  If that's not possible, we see if we can link it back to the 2nd vertex (the one labelled 1).  If we had a bigger sub-graph, we would continue trying to link to the 3rd, 4th, etc. if it's possible.  If none of those are possible then our next (3rd) priority is to grow from the vertex we're at (labelled 4 above), and grow the chain longer.  If that doesn't work, we go back to the most recent fork, take another step back and then try to grow from there (see how 5 is growing from vertex labelled 1 in the 4th priority).  If that doesn't work, then we take another step up the chain and try to grow from there (5th example above).  The 4th and 5th examples above also generalize for longer chains.  If there were several vertices above the closest fork in the chain, you would progressively try to grow off of each of those vertices until you get back to the root (vertex labelled '0').

With that understanding in mind, we can finally start growing from our first edge.  Our first edge is (0,1,A,b,B).  If we look at the priority explanation above, we can tell that the 1st and 2nd growth priorities are not really options, so we take the 3rd priority and try to grow from vertex 1, or the B vertex in our example.  Since we only have 2 frequent edges that have 'B' vertices in them our two options are as follows:

Option 1           Option 2
(0,1,A,b,B)       (0,1,A,b,B)
(1,2,B,b,A)       (1,2,B,a,C)

Now we are going to check for support of these 2 options.  We only need to look in the graphs that we determined contain the frequent edges as described earlier.  When we look for Option 1 we find it in the following graphs left that we're considering:

Notice that we can find the first option in 3 different places in the first graph, but we can't find it in any of the other graphs, so the support is only 1.  That's a dead end, so we check option 2

You can see that we can find this pattern in multiple places in all of the 4 graphs we have left (I didn't show all of the places it is found in the first graph).  The support for this sub-graph is 4 so it's a keeper.  Also, all 4 graphs we looked at have this sub-graph present so we keep those too.  That ends that round of edge growth so we take option 2 from above and try to grow from it.  Remembering the priorities of growth, we know we need to try to connect the last vertex (2 or 'C' in our example) to the root (0 or 'A' in our example) if we can.  If we look at the list of frequent edges to choose from, we see an edge that is (A,c,C) which could be written as (2,0,C,c,A).  This would make the connection we need.  None of the other frequent edges meet this criteria, so we check to see if (0,1,A,b,B); (1,2,B,a,C); (2,0,C,c,A) is frequent

This time this sub-graphs occurs twice in the 1st, 2nd and 4th graph.  It only occurs once in the 3rd graph.  Regardless, the support count for this sub-graph is still 4 so we've got a keeper again.  Now we have a graph that looks something like this.

Since we have already connected the last vertex ('C') to the root ('A') and to the vertex after it ('B'), our next priority is to grow from the last vertex we created.  The frequent edges we can try to add onto 'C' are (B,a,C) and (A,c,C).  However, since we're working from 'C' they would be better written this way: (2,3,C,a,B) and (2,3,C,c,A).  We'll start by checking if adding (2,3,C,a,B) works because it is the lowest in terms of DFS lexicographic order.  Here's what we find.

As it turns out, this 4 edge pattern can only be found in 2 of the 4 graphs we have left so that doesn't work.  Now we'll check if (2,3,C,c,A) works out.

Nope, that's only in the first graph so it's not frequent either.  Since neither of these worked out, we need to go to our next priority (4th) which is growing from the vertex a step up from the last attempted branch.  When you look at the sub-graph we've grown so far you can tell we need to try to grow from 'B' now.  That being said, we take a look at our options for frequent edges that contain 'B' vertices and we see that we should try to add (B,a,C) or (B,b,A).  Here's what trying to add (B,a,C) looks like in this scenario

Let's see if we can find that in any of the graphs

 As it turns out, we CAN find this sub-graph in 3 of the 4 graphs we have left so that's a keeper.  At this point in time I want you to notice that I am going to ignore the other edge that could grow from 'B' until later.  This is because gSpan is a depth first algorithm, so once you get success you try to go deeper.  When we hit a dead end, we will come back to all of these straggling options to see if they actually work.  If you're familiar with computer programming, this type of algorithm is implemented with recursion.  Our next step based on our priority rules is going to be to try to link our vertex 3 ('C') to the root, or the 'A'.  Again the only frequent edge we can choose from to do this is (C,c,A).  This option would look like this

At this point, remember that the last sub-graph that we found that was frequent could only be found in the first 3 graphs in our set, so now we only have to look for this new graph in those three graphs

This only exists in one of our graphs, so we go to our next growth priority.  Since there is already a link between our 'C' at vertex 3 and the 'B' and vertex 1, the 2nd priority isn't an option, so we try to grow/extend from the 'C' at vertex 3 again.  We can either add (C,a,B) or (C,c,A).  Adding (C,a,B) would look like this

If we look in the 3 graphs we have left we find this

That's a dead end because we only have 1 graph with this 5 edge sub-graph.  We back up and try adding (C,c,A) instead.  I'm not going to do the visuals for this, but it can't be found in any of the graphs we have left either.  Since we hit a dead end again here, we go to to our 5th priority growth option: growing from the root again.  If we try to grow from the root 'A' we can either use (A,b,B) or (A,c,C).  Starting with (A,b,B) we would get a sub-graph that looks like this

This can't be found in any of our graphs, so we try adding (A,c,C) as our last ditch effort

This can't be found either, so we have reached the end of this depth first search.  Now we need to go back and take care of the straggler options that we didn't pursue because we were going for depth first.  The last straggling option we left was when we were considering adding (B,b,A) to vertex 1.

Remember, at that point in time, we were still looking at 4 of the 5 original graphs so when we look for this sub-graph in those 4 graphs this is what we find.

We only find it in one graph, so that turns into a dead end too.

This Section Until "2nd Edge (A,c,C)" is a Correction (Thanks to Elife Öztürk)
If we look back further in our algorithm we find that we also haven't checked all of the growth priorities off of the first frequent edge (0,1,A,b,B).  Our first growth came from using the 3rd priority growth strategy, but we haven't checked the 4th/5th priority grown strategies there yet.  If we do, we can see that it might be possible to make a link like (0,1,A,b,B) and (0,2,A,c,C).  Let's see if we can find that in the graphs

We can see that in all four of our remaining graphs so we'll keep this sub-graph.

Our first priority for growth on this sub-graph would be to connect back to the root, but we don't have any double bonds (sorry for the chemistry reference) in our example so that won't work.  The 2nd priority is also impossible, so let's check the 3rd.  Can we grow an edge off of the C node?  Our 2 options would be (2,3,C,a,B) and (2,3,C,c,A).  Adding (2,3,C,a,B) looks like this.

When we search through the graphs, we find this in 2 places

Notice that I'm not counting the instances in the 2nd and 3rd graphs.  This is because the only way you can get find this subgraph in those graphs is to wrap the graph such that the 1 B node is the same as the 3 B node.  The reason why we number the nodes is to make sure they're unique, plus we already found the sub-graph that creates that ABC triangle previously...thus the beauty of the algorithm :).  Since there are only 2 graphs with this sub-graph, the minimum support of 3 is not met.

So now let's check for the other growth option (2,3,C,c,A)

That can only be found in one of the graphs

So now we've exhausted our growth options off of the first edge (A,b,B).

2nd Edge (A,c,C)
Before you go crazy thinking that the other 2 edges we need to check will take just as long, let me tell you that we have already done WAY more than half of the work on this problem.  Now that we have exhaustively checked all of the graphs for frequent sub-graphs that contain the edge (A,b,B), we can trim down our search space significantly.  What I mean is we can delete edges in graphs that contain (A,b,B) and only look for frequent patterns in what is left.  If we do this, we get 4 graphs (remember we already got rid of graph 5 because it contained no frequent edges) that look like this.

These graphs are much simpler.  I also wanted to point out that I removed any edges from these graphs that were not frequent.  We could (should) have done this earlier when we were doing our search on the first edge, but I didn't want to complicate things at that time.  Now, much like last time, we start with edge (0,1,A,c,C) and try to grow from 'C'.  We can either use (1,2,C,a,B) or (1,2,C,c,A).  If we add (1,2,C,a,B) we can find that sub-graph in the following places

All 4 graphs have this sub-graphs, so it's a keeper and we'll go with it (remember we haven't checked adding (1,2,C,c,A) yet.  The next step is to try to grow from the last vertex back to the root.  If we did this we would have to use the edge (B,b,A), but that edge has been removed from all of our graphs because we have already mined all of the frequent sub-graphs with (A,b,B) in them.  So, our only other growth option is to try to extend the chain from 'B'.  The only option left to grow from 'B' is (B,a,C) because (B,b,A) has already been checked.  So we get a sub-graph like this.

This can be found in the following graphs

That's 3 out of the 4 graphs, which meets our support requirement so we'll keep it.  Our first growth priority from here is to link node 3 ('C') back to the root.  That would be adding a (3,0,C,_,A) link.  The only link possible for this in our data set is (3,0,C,c,A) which would give us this subgraph to look for

The only place this subgraph is found is in our 2nd example:

So, that's a dead end.  If we back up, our next growth priority would be to connect the C at node 3 back to the C at node 1.  A quick look at the graphs we have tells me that's not going to work.  The next priority after that is to add another node after node 3.  We could look for a subgraph with C,a,B added to the end that looks like this.

However, that subgraph is only found here:

So, we back up again and try our 4th priority, which is growing a link off of the B at node 2.  A quick look at the graphs above show that won't work.  Lastly, we'll try to grow further up the graph, like a new node coming off the C at node 2 or a new node off the A at node 0.  There's a couple options for growth off of node 2, but I can tell it's only supported by our first graph.  There are no additional options for growth from the root node 'A'. so we're done exploring this graph branch.

Now we need to step back to when we had the graph (0,1,A,c,C), (1,2,C,a,B) and try to grow again from there.  The last priority for growth for this subgraph is to grow from the root.  The only way we can grow from the root is to add (A,c,c), which would look like this.

Checking the four graphs we have left, we only find this sub-graph in our 2nd graph

Since this is only found in one place, it's a dead end and we need to backtrack to other options we didn't pursue earlier.  We only had one of those when we were adding our 2nd edge to (A,c,C).  So when we go back and try to add (1,2,C,c,A) to (0,1,A,c,C) we look at our graphs and find that it is only present in 2 of our graphs

As it turns out these are all of our options starting with edge (A,c,C).  See, I told you the 2nd edge would go faster than the first.

3rd Edge (B,a,C)
Now we have to check the last of our frequent edges to see if there is any way that we can grow a frequent sub-graph with just this edge.  Let's start by removing all of the (A,c,C) edges from our graphs to see what we're left with.

I could go through all of the same procedure I have been using for these remaining graphs, but it gets so simple at this point that there really isn't a reason to.  If you're using a program runing the gSpan algorithm, it will be disciplined and do the whole search though.  From what is left, we can see that (0,1,B,a,C); (0,2,B,a,C) is frequent, but anything larger doesn't work out.  We hit our last dead end and now we can report all of the sub-graphs that we found that were frequent.

I have them organized by the edge they were grown from.  The last thing we have to do is translate our DFS codes back to the original symbols.  This is easy enough and the user would get an output like this.

That's all there is to it.  I know that this post got a little long, but for me, being able to see the whole problem worked out helps me learn a TON.  I hope it helps somebody else out there too.  I did gloss over some details of the programming, etc. but this is essentially what's happening in gSpan.  Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Simple PageRank Algorithm Description

This blog post will give a simple explanation of the original PageRank algorithm  This is the algorithm that differentiated Google from the web search incumbents in the late 1990's (e.g. Yahoo!, Altavista, etc.) and helped to make it what it is today.  I will be using material I learned in ChengXiang Zhai's "Text Retrieval and Search Engines" Coursera course, as well as the original technical paper on PageRank by Sergei Brin and Larry Page entitled "The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the Web", 1998.

For this blog post I'm going to use a VERY simplified example of the web so that we can work through it and understand what is happening.  The example below has only 6 web pages, but has the complexity we need for our discussion.

We'll consider each of the items in the network (e.g. A, B, C) to be webpages.  PageRank can actually be used for other things like social networks, etc., but we'll stick with the web page version for this post.  Each black arrow represents a link from where the arrow starts to where the arrow ends.  For example, webpage B has a link to webpage A, and that's it.  Webpage A has links to webpage B, and D.  These links, and the somewhat hidden information that they contain, are the most important part of the PageRank algorithm.

Before PageRank, there were actually lots of people that tried to use the information from these links to help with search.  These mostly focused on the count of how many links a webpage had pointing to it.  If we use this type of thinking page A seems to be the most important with 4 links to it, C and D come in 2nd place with 2, B comes in 3rd with 1 and E and F come in dead last with 0.  This may seem to make sense, but there is something interesting that this method misses.  Since page A has so many links, it's pretty obvious it is important, but since it's important, the links that page A has to other pages are more important that other links in the network.  PageRank takes this into account.

Imagine you are web-surfing in the diagram above.  Say you pick a web page at random and then read it, find a link on that webpage and click it, read that webpage, find a link on that webpage and click it...lather, rinse, repeat...until you get bored, or stuck.  At this point you decide to not follow a link from the page you're on, but to just pick a webpage at random from the web.  Once you're on this new random webpage you start reading and clicking on links all over again.  If you did all of this, this is essentially what the PageRank algorithm does.  It follows this type of random web-surfing and then calculates the probability of arriving at all of the pages in the web.

Now that I've explained that process conceptually, lets get into the math that matches this type of random web-surfer behaviour.  If we start by creating a grid/table where we put a 1 for links from one webpage to another, we'd get something like this

This is helpful because now we can do some analysis on this table, but it's not really what we need.  If you're at a webpage, we want to be able to determine how likely you are to pick one of the links on the webpage.  If there is only one link on the webpage, this is easy; 100%.  If there are 2 or more, the PageRank algorithm just divides this probability up evenly.  If there are 2 links, each link has a 1 out of 2 chance of getting clicked (as a side note, in my opinion it would be more interesting if these probabilities were altered based on where the links were on the screen, or some other characteristic like font size/color).  If we slightly alter our table above to give these probabilities, instead of just the links, it will look like this

This matrix is called the transition matrix (later we'll refer to this matrix as M).  As mentioned above when describing the random web-surfer, there are 2 parts to this algorithm: clicking links and jumping to pages without links.  The transition matrix is useful for the link clicking part of the calculation.  Let's say that we start at time t=0 by randomly selecting one of the webpages to start from (each page has a 1 out of 6 chance of being the page we start on) and we want to figure out the probability that our next clicked link will take us to webpage A. To do this we would calculate this

For our example this equals 1/2, 50%, or 0.5 (however you want to write it).  The method can be generalized to all of the webpages after we pick a starting webpage.  The generalize version of this equation looks like this

Don't freak out, I'm going to explain what all the symbols mean.  The part of the left of the equal sign is just saying that you're going to be calculating the probability that the next click (t+1) is going to land on page dj.  'j' is a subscript that helps you keep track of what page you're calculating the probability for.  In our transition matrix above, if j=3, then dj = C.  The right side is a summation starting at 1 and going to N, where N is the number of pages in your web (in our case N=6).  Mij is the element from the transition matrix in row i and column j.  pt(di) is the probability at the current time that you have arrived at page di.  Since we're still on our first step (t=0), we set pt(di) equal to 1/6 in our example.  Now we can calculate the probability of being on all of the pages in our web (not just A) at t=1.  The result looks like this

You can see that because there are no webpages that point to pages E and F, we have 0 probability of being on those pages after we've clicked just once.  The PageRank algorithm gets to rankings of all of the pages after many repetitions of what we just did.  I'll walk you through another step (t=1 to t=2) so you get the feel of it.  Let's calculate the probability that we're on page A at t=2.

This is very similar to the step from t=0 to t=1.  The first value in each multiple is from the transition matrix (M) and the 2nd value comes from the probability of being at each page at time t=1.  Once you get the hang of this, it can be repeated quickly and converges to a final answer very quickly.  Here's how our web diagram converges.

When we get to about 21 cycles, we see that nothing is really changing and now we have values that can tell us how important each of the webpages are.  Based on this example, page A is most important, then pages B and D tie for 2nd.  This is not what we got when we just counted how many links each website had.  Page B only has 1 link, but it is linked by page A which is the most important, so that link counts for more.  Remember though, that this isn't the whole page rank algorithm.  We have to add in the random jumping to a different page now.  To do this we have to set a probability that, at any given time, we'll "get bored" and jump to another page.  Let's say that we have a 15%  chance of getting bored on the page we happen to be on. We'll call this value alpha (α=15%)

Here you can see that the first term in the probability is basically the same, but that it get's multiplied by (1-α).  This is because we need to discount this probability by the amount that we get get bored and randomly pick a page.  The 2nd term is adding in the probability of randomly jumping to another page.  The 2nd term could be simpler; it could just be α*(1/N).  It is written the way it is because this equation can be turned into a matrix math problem, which I'll show you later.  For not just go with it.

If we start over at t=0, using this new form of the equation, we can calculate a couple examples and show you how this equation converges as well.  If we want to calculate the probability of being at webpage A at t=1 we would do the following:

You can see that in the first term in the first line, I just used the value we calculated in our prior example without jumping.  I also expanded out the second summation so that it is easier to see.  The next 2 lines substitute the actual values into the equation and simplify to an answer.  If you follow this calculation for the other webpages you get this.

I'll walk you through one more step and then show you the whole table and how it converges to a final answer.  If we want to calculate the probability of being at webpage A at time t=2 we get this

The first thing I want you to notice is that I couldn't just use the value from the old method for the first summation.  This is because the probability of being at webpage A at t=1 has changed.  So, we get to do all of the math this time.  Remember that the M terms here come from the transition matrix.  Because we're calculating the probability of being at webpage A, we take the values from column A of the transition matrix.  The rest is basically the same as the last example.  We can do this for all of the webpages (I did it in Excel for this post) and get the table below

You can see that this table converges where values really aren't changing any more by the time it gets to t=17.  The decision of when to stop iterating is based on a user defined variable.  In the original PageRank white paper, the authors suggest that you loop through 't' until a value, delta (δ) gets smaller than this user defined value epsilon (Ɛ).  To calculate delta you need to know this.

The first line shows how to calculate delta, but if you're anything like me, you may have never been exposed to an "L1 Norm" before.  Each of the R terms inside the double bars is a vector containing the probabilities we've calculated for all of the webpages at the given time.  So R1 = {0.45, 0.095833, 0.2375, 0.1666, 0.025, 0.025} using the clicking and jumping values from our most recent example.  R2 would be {0.389792, 0.21625, 0.117083, 0.226875, 0.025, 0.025}.  To calculate our delta value we first have to subtract each term  in R1 from R2, then we will take the L1 norm of the result.  R2 - R1 = {-0.06021, 0.120417, -0.12042, 0.060208, 0, 0}.  Now we need to calculate the L1.  This is shown in the last equation in the list above.  Basically, you just take the absolute value of every term in the vector (R2-R1) and add them all up.  For our example from t=1 to t=2, we get delta equal to 0.36125.  If I add this delta value to the last column of the convergence table you can see how this value gets smaller as we iterate.

I promised earlier I'd show you how the equations to calculate page rank can be turned into a matrix equation.  If you're familiar with linear algebra, this will be interesting to you.  The other MAJOR advantage of having equations in matrix form is that the processing time in a computer is MUCH faster for matrix math; this is because ridiculously smart people have optimized matrix math routines in most math libraries so that they get the right answers while minimizing processing time.  We want to be able to stand on the shoulders of these giants.  So, here's how the equations can get morphed into matrix equations
If you know how to use matrices in Matlab, a programming language, Excel, etc. This last equation can be used to efficiently calculate each iteration.

Before I end this post, I need to explain one more thing.  If our web diagram happened to look like the diagram below we would have a problem

The only thing that I changed is that the arrow that was going from F to C, is now going from C to F.  The reason why this is a problem is that F isn't pointing to anything.  If we randomly select F as our starting point, how can we click on a link to move forward???  We can't.  A simple way to solve this problem is for there to be an exception in the PageRank algorithm.  If the page has no links to other pages, we don't allow the option to click on a link, we force the algorithm to randomly jump to another page.  In essence, in this special case, we set alpha equal to 1.  This keeps the algorithm from getting hung up in a dead end.

Well, I think that wraps it up.  Let me know if you have any additional questions about PageRank that I can answer for you.  As always, I hope this helps somebody out there!


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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Hearthstone for iPad and Yomi, a fighting game in card form, out now (contains Hearthstone iPad impressions)

I've been busy with stuff other than games so I prefer games which do not have a "core" timer that you have to check in at fixed times to play; daily, weekly and monthly events which you have to finish or get left behind. Update: Hearthstone do have daily quests.

2 game releases caught my eye this week and coincidentally, they are both for iPad. Hearthstone is free and also on PC and Mac. Check out my impressions in a post here. I've downloaded and if I get down to playing it more, I'll write more posts about it. Note: iPhone and Android versions of Hearthstone are supposedly coming at the later half of this year.
Update: The presentation is very polished and the game seems to be made more for tablets than computers. The only problem I have is that I keep getting disconnected after minimising the game or turning off my iPad screen. It doesn't make for a very good mobile experience.

Yomi is USD$9.99, including 10 decks, with an IAP of USD$9.99 to unlock an additional 10 decks but note that this game is more like a "board game" (I heard there is a physical version) then a collectible card game so you do not have to buy more packs to build your deck. You might probably be spending less than in a game like DMC... I like the idea of combining a fighting game with card game mechanics but the price is a bit high for me. There are just so many free and cheaper games to try now.

iTunes App Store link:

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Last Day in the Zombie Apocalypse: Underwhelmed by the latest Update

- I find the choices of 5* at the Casino to be questionable. They were mostly mythical beings instead of well-known figures like Lincoln and Yang Guifei in the initial batch. It is not like the developers have run out of ideas when there are actually Sun Wukong and William Shakespeare as 4* and 4+* when they should be prime choices as 5* IMO. They are also not that much powerful in stats unlike Joan and Moby. I'm guessing those will belong to new additions for each hunting ground.

- I've updated the new casters of the zombie skills to my post on the Zombie Traits. There are no new skills; new skills will likely be posted in the information banner at the start to introduce them.

- I spent the saved free Elite hunting and caught 7 3*. No surprise here with the drop-rates. As mention in my previous post, there are no vulnerable or yellow time extension zombies here and you have to rely on the slot machine which can end up as a double-edge sword.

- The daily events are actually limited events modelled after Clan events more than other games' daily event style. However, you do not get to save your current quests which is peculiar. I guess they are aimed at players who completed all the existing quests. I was reading the forums and it seems like the hunt quests drop-rates could have been tweaked to raise difficulty. The rewards as of the first 2 are not attractive.

- I think we are going to be seeing a single limited card Boneyard and no skill thumb-drives for a while.

It is now the last day of the second month of DC. The game is getting repetitive for me and the updates are not enticing enough. I intend to take a break for a while so I will stop updating stuff on DC. Hope everything I've written so far has been helpful.


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Monday, 7 March 2011

Rainbow Butterfly (Jew) Cakes

Yes, I know - the jew is a bit odd.  But a Hebrew-y friend of mine has always characterised herself as a rainbow butterfly, and given her imminent return from Israel, the existence of food colouring and of butterfly cakes, I promised her I would make a special effort for her coming-home party.

This recipe gives you enough mixture for four or five of each flavour, and seven flavours to choose from, provided you dole out quite carefully.  I first learnt how to do butterfly cakes from the Winnie-the-Pooh Cookbook, although looking on Amazon it seems there are at least three different ones of those.

Rainbow Butterfly Cakes (with optional Jew)
You Will Need: Fairy-cake tin(s), large bowl, wooden spoon, scales, fork, small bowl, teaspoon, dinner knife, chopping board and small sharp knife, paper fairy cake cases.  For Jewyness or other customisation: piping bag.

6 eggs
2 packets of butter
plenty of caster sugar
plenty of self-raising flour
one lemon
one orange
glacé cherries
vanilla essence
4 lumps stem ginger in syrup (comes in a jar)
tablespoonful dark chocolate chips/chopped chocolate
tablespoonful white chocolate chips/chopped chocolate
icing sugar
food colourings

1) Weigh the eggs.  It should come to about 12 or 13 ounces.  Remember the figure you get; weigh out an equal amount of butter and sugar.
2) Cream the butter and sugar in the large bowl until smooth and fluffy.  I am beginning to get used to the idea of using electric beaters for this, but as I didn't have one, elbow grease will do.  It helps if you cut the butter up into little cubes first, and it's quite soft.
3) Beat the eggs in the small bowl with the fork.  Add the egg  a little at a time to the buttery mix, stirring well until smooth.  Weigh out the same weight of flour as you had eggs.    Fold this in carefully; don't stir vigorously but scrape around the bowl with the spoon until it's all incorporated.

4) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line the fairy cake tins with cake papers.
5) Wash the small bowl.  For each flavour, add one or two big globs of mix to the small bowl, stir in the appropriate ingredients, then spoon the mixture into the tin with the teaspoon.  Then wash out the small bowl and spoon, make the next flavour and continue until the tin is full.  Bake about 10 minutes, til well risen and golden brown.

Red cakes: add half a capful of vanilla essence, and about 8 chopped glacé cherries to the mixture.
Orange cakes: add the zest of one orange, and a dessertspoonful of orange juice.
Yellow cakes: add the zest of one lemon, and a dessertspoonful of lemon juice.
Green cakes: add 4 lumps of stem ginger, chopped finely.
Blue cakes: add the dark chocolate chips.
Indigo cakes: add a handful of blackberries, chopped. These will go a strange grey colour as they cook, but still taste good.
Violet cakes: add the white chocolate chips.

6) While the cakes are baking, make buttercream to fill them.  Using about half a pack of butter, cream the butter with icing sugar until it is a pale blond colour, and sweetened as much as you would like.
7) Allow the cakes to cool.  When they are cool, very carefully saw a little 'tonsure' off the top of them with the dinner knife: break the golden crust with the tip of the knife in a circle around the top of the cake, and then lift out the middle.  Save the middles, cutting them in half to make 'wings.'  Scrape a teaspoonful of buttercream into each cake, then carefully position the 'wings' back on.
8) Make up icing in appropriate colours; for the orange and lemon flavoured cakes, use some more orange and lemon juice as the liquid for the icing rather than water; make it quite thick, like PVA glue.  You could even use booze for some flavours. Spread it on the 'wings'.
9) For optional customisation, make up some more icing and pipe stars of David, or other appropriate decoration, onto the wings of each cake when the base colours are dry.


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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Organizing Challenge--Make-up

Today's organizing challenge is to take a good look at your cosmetics. Toss out anything you no longer use and everything over one year old (some doctors even recommend shorter periods). If you are using some old products, this is the week to replace those products with new ones. That's what I did today.

I do not wear much make-up or buy many products, but recently realized that some of the stuff I have been putting on my face is quite old. Over the years I have downgraded to mostly drugstore brand cosmetics that I tend to buy at Target. I do use one item from Clinique that I am embarrassed to say was quite old. So today, I marched into Macy's with my old item in my bag and replaced it. I didn't wait for the free gift offer, which is probably a good thing seeing my item didn't cost that much. Besides, who really needs another cosmetic bag with a bunch of samples never to be used anyway.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Reinhart Coat Drive

News of Reinhart Realtors' annual coat drive came to me twice in one week. This is a great opportunity to clean out your coat closet and help someone in need. During the month of November, you can drop off coats in good condition at any Reinhart sales office or Reinhart Sunday open house. All of the coats will be professionally cleaned and distributed locally. They especially need children's coats. Daytime temperatures have been in the 30s this week. Winter coat weather has officially arrived!


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Substitute Alto - Cleveland Park Congregational

Cleveland Park Congregational is looking for experienced choral singers to occasionally supplement our choir.

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Seasonal Work

Music Directors may post seasonal church and synagogue work on Singer Source.  This work includes subs and ringers for Christmas, High Holy Days, Tridduum, and Easter.   Visit for current listings.

Susan Sevier

(Susan Sevier) You might ask what is a "mezzo-contralto"?  Not a common term these days, but in days gone by used to refer to voices such as those of Maria Malibran, voices that possessed the heft and darkness of the contralto timbre combined with the agility and range of the more typical mezzo-soprano voice.


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Monday, January 19, 2009

New Year, New Focus (sort of)

Happy New Year :)

Many a thing have sorted themselves out in my life, so I've been busy, busy, busy.  Big changes, welcome changes, lots of changes.

First off, I am moving home to MA in April. While MA isn't the place I thought I'd hang my hat, it is the best place for me at the moment. I have a lot of support, many friends, and know it so well. Certain things here in NYC cause me anxiety because I just don't know the area well. It's also stressful to think about things like daycare, preschool, school, activities etc. for a little tyke when you're 1) flat-out broke after rent every month and 2) don't know where to go or are on impossible wait lists. In MA, at home, these things are easily determined and/or easier accessed.

Second, I want to get right. I want to get healthy again. I want shiny, long hair and shiny, rosy cheeks. I want to garden.  I want to go for long walks in the woods, not parks. Oh, and not so eco-friendly, I want a car. Bad. My grandmother's husband's son (I sound like a hilly billy, but they live in Orange County) converted his car to veggie oil. I am going to get the skinny on that from him. I looked into a bit.  Googling came up with a cost around 3k.  However, I don't chow down on Chinese, but the car is going to want to guzzle moo goo gai pan grease. I'll need to find a supplier, or rather, many options.  Plus, diesel these days is mucho expensive (that's what most converters use if oil isn't available). Anyone have any ideas?????

Back to getting healthy, I am trying out this new tea- Kusmi Detox Tea. I read about it. Sounds flavorful and tasty: mate, green tea and lemongrass. I'm really, really trying to switch to tea rather than coffee. Decaf tea at that. I feel so dehydrated and puffy all the time. Perhaps this will help. If nothing else, it will expand my taste buds :)

I am not going to be so fastidious about only "green" talk in this blog. I have a lot to say. So, I'm just gonna sa-er- type it!

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Review: The Game Changer (2017)

The Game Changer

China, 2017, colour, 2.35:1, 3-D, 132 mins.

Director: Gao Xixi 高希希.

Rating: 7/10.

An often breathless shoot-’em-up in Old Shanghai that’s traditional entertainment of the best kind.

Shanghai, French Concession area, summer 1935. Following the shooting of some Chinese workers at a Japanese cotton mill, protestors storm the Japanese embassy and students join the riots, leaving five dead. Li Zihao (He Rundong), one of the students, is arrested and tortured. He joins an impromptu prison break by a younger prisoner, Fang Jie (Huang Zitao), the cocky adopted son of crimelord Tang Hexuan (Wang Xueqi), head of the Qing gang. Their escape finally succeeds and the two part ways, Fang Jie to his pampered playboy life and Li Zihao to sleeping in an alley. Some time later, Fang Jie goes to the docks to meet Tang Hexuan’s daughter, Tang Qianqian (Gulnazar), when she returns from two years away in the UK; on the way home, however, their vehicle is ambushed by gangsters from the rival Hong gang – run by Ye Qishan (Gao Jie) – who try to kidnap Tang Qianqian. By chance, Li Zihao is dragged into the chase and ends up rescuing Tang Qianqian, who persuades her father to employ him. Tang Hexuan has him checked out and finds he’s a radical student leader from Beijing but with no connections to his enemy, the Blue Shirts Society 蓝衣社, a pro-Nationalist Party secret organisation. Tang Hexuan formally adopts Li Zihao as a foster son and gives him a senior post in his gang. Li Zihao is surprised to discover that his onetime fiancee, Lan Ruoyan (Chu Ja-hyeon), whom he thought had been killed by Tang Hexuan during the riots, is alive and working as a singer in the crimelord’s favourite nightclub, the Paramount. Now Tang Hexuan’s lover, she is annoyed at Li Zihao for having involved her in the riots. Li Zihao, who is secretly working for the Blue Shirts, reports to his contact Luo (Yao Anlian) that he is working inside Tang Hexuan’s organisation; Luo reveals that Lan Ruoyan is also spying on Tang Hexuan for them. Lan Ruoyan notices that Tang Qianqian has fallen for Li Zihao, and Fang Jie warns him to be careful. A day before the election for the director-generalship of the French Concession’s Municipal Council – for which Tang Hexuan is standing against Ye Qishan – Tang Hexuan is fired on during a speech and his car is blown up as he escapes.

Luxuriantly shot, and with some knockout action sequences, The Game Changer 游戏规则 is an often breathless shoot-’em-up set in gang-riddled Shanghai of the mid-1930s that’s traditional entertainment of the best kind. Though it lacks the stylisation of Old Shanghai sagas like, say, One Step Away 触不可及 (2014) or The Wasted Times 罗曼蒂克消亡史(2016), it compensates with some rich performances (led by the ruthless crimelord of veteran actor Wang Xueqi 王学圻) and a devil-may-care approach to the action that take the film close to 8/10 at its best. The major weakness is the dialogue, which is either too stagey or too simplistic, and lacks the overall quality of the production values. The fourth and easily the best feature by Jiangxi-born Gao Xixi 高希希, 55, whose early background was in art and design and who for years directed TV drama series, it took a respectable RMB103 million on Mainland release.

The film’s Chinese title means “Rules of the Game”, and there’s an element of deadly playfulness that runs through the picture, as crimelord Tang Hexuan (Wang) seeks to become the undisputed king of the French Concession by cold-bloodedly eliminating anyone in his way. Nothing new there, but Gao and his team of six writers – including Guo Mengxin 郭梦昕 who worked on Gao’s last feature For Love or Money 露水红颜 (2014) and Yu Lu 俞露 and Liu Dongyue 刘东岳 who co-wrote the TVD Hey Daddy 黑，老头！ (2015) – manage to divert the viewer’s attention by a crisp, fast-moving plot and some extended action that is clearly designed to make the most of the 3-D conversion. Though the film is over two hours, it never feels like it; and with the first half-hour largely made up of two elaborate sequences that pile action upon action (a prison break plus a car chase; a pursuit through downtown Shanghai centred on a horse-drawn carriage), there’s not much time to ponder the fact that the basic plot is nothing special and never goes very deeply into its components. (The story cavalierly mixes fictional elements with real-life ones, such as student riots and the sinister Blue Shirts Society 蓝衣社 affiliated with the KMT.)

Another diversion is the effortlessly classy playing of the crimelord by Wang, who looks great in a black hat and greatcoat and can invest even corny lines with depth and foreboding. The film sets his portrayal off against lighter playing from Taiwan veteran Gao Jie 高捷 [Jack Kao] as his gang rival, just as the two younger leads – US-born, Taiwan-raised actor-singer He Rundong 何润东 [Peter Ho], 42, and Mainland singer Huang Zitao 黄子韬, 24 – are also contrasted, the former cool and hunky (though a bit old for a student), the latter cocky and impulsive. In his first major screen role after supports in the rom-com You Are My Sunshine 何以笙箫默 (2015) and action comedy Railroad Tigers 铁道飞虎 (2016), Huang is especially impressive, growing in the part and burying any memories of his epicene boybander image.

Female roles are also a little more than just decoration this time: perky Uyghur actress Gulnazar 古力娜扎, 25, who’s better known for her TVDs, throws herself into the action during a terrific sequence in which our heroes find her kidnapped, and Mainland-based South Korean actress Chu Ja-hyeon 추자현 | 秋瓷炫, 38, brings some maturer heft to her role as a sultry Shanghai chanteuse-with-a-background.

The lush, saturated photography by Iranian Canadian Saba Mazloum (Night Peacock 夜孔雀, 2015; Wine War 抢红, 2017) deserves star billing of its own, relishing the production design by Wang Yitao 王贻涛 which makes even the usual Old Shanghai backlot streets look fresh this time round. The Game Changer doesn’t break any new ground in its genre, and always – especially in its makeup and costumes – has a filmy rather than realistic 1930s look. But it serves up two hours or so of diverting entertainment and has a risk-taking attitude that provides its fair share of waah! moments. One of those is right at the start, where the VFX crew has come up with the Best Bund Fly-Over Sequence Ever.

Presented by Beijing Hope Century Motion Pictures (CN).

Script: Yu Lu, Liu Dongyue, Wang Zi, Han Zengguang, Guo Mengxin, Song Qinghe. Photography: Saba Mazloum, Cao Wanqiang. Editing: Lin Yang, Yao Liang. Music: Zhang Zheng. Production design: Wang Yitao. Art direction: Qi Yong, Zhuang Yan. Costume design: Chen Tongxun. Styling: Zhang Ye. Sound: Wang Danrong, Ye Dandan, Zhu Yanfeng. Action: Sun Wenzhi. Visual effects: A Pan, Qin Wei (Joyful Stone, Infinite Motion). 3-D conversion: Zhang Fuzhi, Zhan Zhenyi. Executive direction: Du Lin, Bai Haoyun, Peng Sishu.

Cast: He Rundong [Peter Ho] (Li Zihao), Huang Zitao (Fang Jie), Gulnazar (Tang Qianqian), Wang Xueqi (Tang Hexuan, Qing gang leader), Chu Ja-hyeon (Lan Ruoyun), Gao Jie [Jack Kao] (Ye Qishan, Hong gang leader), Huo Qing (Fu Sheng, Tang Hexuan’s deputy), Jonathan Kos-Read (Owen, French consul-general), Miura Kenichi (Takada Jiro), Yao Anlian (Luo), Zong Xiaojun (Lu, gang boss), Chen Sanmu (Huang, gang boss), Cao Bo (Zhao Yan), Cao Xige (Huang Fu), Gao Yuxing (young Tang Qianqian), Cai Gang (nightclub MC), Shi Peng (Ma San, gang leader), Gao Xixi (Black gang leader), Li Fangyao (gangster).

Release: China, 10 Feb 2017.


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