text:
Canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome: Prevalence,clinical signs and treatment with a neuroprotectivenutraceutical

Publishing Authors : Maria Cristina Osella, Giovanni Re, Rosangela Odore,Carlo Girardi, Paola Badino, Raff aella BarberoLuciana Bergamasco

Date Published : 2007

1. Introduction
Ageing represents a complex biological process characterized by a progressive modification
of tissues and cells (Kiatipattanasakul et al., 1996) with a gradual loss of adaptive capacity.
Ageing animals can show a decrease in their learning and memory performance (Milgram et al.,
1994; Landsberg and Ruehl, 1997; Adams et al., 2000; Chan et al., 2002). The behavioural signs
shown by ageing animals might be referred to as ‘‘aged dog syndrome’’ or, when severe, of
‘‘senile impairment’’. Sometimes, they are considered as features of ‘‘normal ageing’’. A
serious impairment of cognitive processes must be distinguished from a simple and mild
decrease in psychomotor activity and may be considered ‘‘pathological ageing’’ (Ruehl and
Hart, 1998).
In aged dogs behavioural problems are often related to organic and functional disorders.
Although a change in behaviour could have an entirely medical or behavioural cause, it is
actually the combined effects of disease and ageing on the pet’s mental and physical health
that cause geriatric behavioural disorders in the dog (Landsberg and Ruehl, 1997; Landsberg
and Araujo, 2005). Sometimes complications may develop in animals with pre-existing
behaviour problems that have been tolerated by the owners until the consequences are
exacerbated by a clinical geriatric problem (Houpt and Beaver, 1981; Chapman and Voith,
1990; Dodman, 1998). More recently a specific ‘‘Cognitive dysfunction syndrome’’ (CDS) of
senior dogs has been described (Ruehl et al., 1995; Ruehl and Hart, 1998). Other specific agerelated
disorders such as involutive depression, confusional syndrome of the ageing dog and
dysthymia of the ageing dog have also been suggested by Pageat (2001), as affective and
cognitive dysfunctions.
The dog represents a suitable animal model to study cognitive impairment observed in human
ageing (Ruehl et al., 1995; Cummings et al., 1996; Overall, 2000; Adams et al., 2000; Cotman
et al., 2002; Studzinski et al., 2005). Dogs normally share environmental conditions with humans
and present a sophisticated repertoire of complex cognitive behaviours. Furthermore, the brain in
aged dogs shows many pathological changes common to humans and the neuropathological
patterns are significantly associated with cognitive decline (Head et al., 2000). CDS shares some
analogies with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in humans and is characterized by brain pathology that
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negatively affects the interaction of dogs with their own environment (Cummings et al., 1996). In
fact the term canine CDS is used in veterinary literature to describe the progressive
neurodegenerative disorder of senior dogs that is a result of a gradual decline in cognitive
function (Landsberg, 2005). Typical behavioural changes in affected animals include signs of
disorientation, a decrease in or alteration of social interaction, impairment of normal
housetraining, and changes in both the usual sleep–wake cycle and general activity (Milgram
et al., 1994; Cummings et al., 1996; Ruehl and Hart, 1998); traditionally the clinical signs are
described by the acronym DISHA (disorientation, interaction changes, sleep/wake disturbances,
house soiling and activity changes) (Landsberg et al., 2003).
CDS is a common disorder among senior dogs but a great number of owners fail to discuss
geriatric-onset behaviour changes with their veterinarian because they incorrectly assume that
these problems are an unfortunate and untreatable aspect of ageing (Neilson et al., 2001; Bain et al.,
2001). Furthermore, differentiating normal from pathological ageing is a challenge since the
progressive decline of canine CDS, leading to functional impairment and eventually death, may be
greatly underestimated. Age-related neurodegenerative changes and associated behavioural signs
that characterize pathological brain ageing are progressive in nature; the sooner they are detected
the more effectively they can be corrected or at least slowed down (Head et al., 2000).
Since age-related behavioural changes may be useful indicators for early diagnosis and
treatment, the first purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of clinical signs of CDS
in a general population of aged dogs, through a questionnaire designed by the authors. The
assessment scale sought to facilitate the earliest possible detection of pathology and to accurately
follow the changes in behaviour over the time. The second part of this study was to use this scale
to make a preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of a nutraceutical for the treatment of CDS
(Senilife1, Innovet Italia s.r.l., Rubano, Italy) through a pilot prospective open-label clinical
trial. Senilife1 contains a combination of phosphatidylserine (PS), a standardized extract of
Ginkgo biloba (EGb), d-alpha-tocopherol and pyridoxine. These components have been reported
to have potentially neuroprotective properties on age-related brain neurodegenerative changes
(Landsberg, 2005).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Animals
One hundred and twenty-four male and female dogs not referred for behavioural consultations were used
for the initial study. Inclusive criteria were the age (>7 years old), exclusive criteria were primary organ
failure and/or neurological signs and living with the owner for less than 1 year.
2.2. Procedure
First visit (V0). In order to determine prevalence of CDS signs a screening interview assessed if the dog
was suffering from any major medical problem that might have behavioural effects. Furthermore a
questionnaire adapted from other authors (Kiatipattanasakul et al., 1996; Colle et al., 2000; Pageat,
2001; Landsberg et al., 2003; Pugliese et al., 2005) was used to evaluate cognitive status (Table 1). It has
been reported that the requirements for CDS diagnosis in dogs include the presence of one or more of the
following signs: spatial disorientation and confusion, learning and memory disorders, ranging from
inappropriate elimination to inability to recall previously learned commands; modified activity levels
(general, pointless, repetitive) to hypoactivity; deterioration in social interaction; modified sleeping-wake
patterns; state of anxiety or restlessness; change in appetite (increase or decrease); decline in personal cleanliness; reduced perception of and/or response to stimuli. Thirty-nine items were identified which were
grouped as disorientation (9 items), socio-environmental interaction (13 items), sleep–wake cycles (4
items), house soiling (6 items) and general activity (7 items), as described in Table 1. Each owner
provided the required information rating the frequency of the behavioural signs as: never, rarely, often,
or always, scored 0–3 accordingly in subsequent analysis. At V0 a standard physical examination and a
laboratory assessment (complete blood count, basic biochemical profile, urinalysis, basic endocrine
screen) were performed to determine whether there were underlying medical problems. Further
diagnostic tests or specific consultations, such as a neurological examination were recommended
when necessary. Sensory evaluation (vision and hearing impairment) was assessed clinically by the
From all of the animals assessed, 75 showed potential clinical signs of CDS and these owners were
advised to seek a behavioural consultation. From this referral population 18 dogs were diagnosed as having
CDS. One of the criteria for impairment in each category was that dogs had two or more distinct signs in that
category which had not been observed when they were younger, comparing the pet’s present cognitive status
to his or her behaviour prior to 7 years of age; additionally the dog had to have dysfunction signs in that
category at least once a week for at least the previous month (Neilson et al., 2001). Since an analysis of pilot
data showed that the prevalence of each category of signs did not vary with age group, all the categories were
treated in the same way. It was then determined whether each dog had impairment in 0, 1 or 2 or more
categories. As a result of the investigator’s assessment and the owners’ agreement, eight dogs were enrolled
on the Senilife1 trial.
At V0 the owners were briefed verbally about the procedure. No behavioural advice was given throughout
the study time. The owners were requested to administer Senilife1 at the dosage of 1 capsule per 5 kg body
weight per day Per Os (each capsule contains 25 mg phosphatidylserine, 50 mg Ginkgo biloba extracts,
33.5 mg/d-alpha tocopherol, 20.5 mg pyridoxine) for 3 months.
2.2.1. Further visits (V1, V2, V3)
After V0, dogs were checked in three control visits V1 (28 3 days after V0), V2 (56 3 days) and V3
(84 3 days). At V1, V2 and V3 the investigator referred to the aforementioned questionnaire (Table 1) and
asked the dog owners the frequency of each item and to rate the signs of each category on a five point change
scale (much better, slightly better, the same, slightly worse, much worse).
2.3. Data analysis
To assess the prevalence of clinical signs associated with CDS a descriptive analysis was conducted in
relation to age, sex and castration status, and the weight for all dog groups was considered (Wells and
Hepper, 2000).
In the assessment of the therapeutic effects of the nutraceutical, an exact percentage confidence interval
test (SAS System, Version 8) was used to investigate the changes after treatment with Senilife between V3
and V0.
3. Results
3.1. Demographic information
Twenty-two of the 124 dogs tested in the survey were removed based on exclusion criteria
clinical concerns and/or severe sensory impairment. Twenty-seven of the 102 dogs included in
the study expressed ageing without any signs of CDS, 42 dogs had alterations in one category and
33 dogs had signs in 2 or more categories. Consequently 75 dogs had signs referring to CDS.
The general activity category has been scored separately in order to compare the results with
other existing data as discussed below.
M.C. Osella et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 105 (2007) 297–310 301
3.1.1. Dogs with alterations in one category (n = 42)
Among the 42 dogs, 15 were females, 10 neutered females, 15 males, and 2 were castrated
males. The age range was 8–17 years (mean: 12.61), whereas weight ranged from 21 to 30 kg
(mean: 25.69). Mix breeds and pure breeds were equally represented. Twenty-one dogs (50%)
had mild clinical complications, 22 (52.38%) were undergoing some form of therapy and 10 dogs
(23.81%) required further clinical evaluation.
Twenty-five dogs had alterations in socio-environmental interaction (59.52%), 16 in sleep–
wake cycles (38.10%) and 1 in house soiling (2.38%). Eighteen dogs (42.86%) had general
activity changes with 12 dogs being hypoactive.
3.1.2. Dogs with alterations in two categories (n = 26)
Females and males were equally represented (50% of each), 8 females were spayed and all the
males were entire. Age range was 9–19 years (mean: 12.61). Mix breeds were most prevalent
with 15 dogs. Weight range was 3.5–62 kg (mean: 21.03). Fifteen dogs had mild clinical
complications, 18 were undergoing some form of therapy and 6 required further clinical
Thirteen dogs had alterations in socio-environmental interaction (50%), 16 in sleep–wake
cycles (61.53%) and 2 in house soiling (7.69%), 20 dogs (76.92%) had general activity changes,
with 8 dogs (30.76%) being hypoactive.
3.1.3. Dogs with alterations in three categories (n = 5)
All the dogs in this group were females; four of them were spayed. Two dogs were 12 years old
and the others were each 13, 14 and 15 years old, respectively. Weights ranged from 4 to 40 kg
(mean: 16.60). One dog had a mild clinical complication and one dog was undergoing some form
of therapy. About 33.33% had alterations in socio-environmental interactions, 33.33% in sleep–
wake cycles, 20% disorientation and 13.34 % in house soiling. All the dogs showed marked

3.1.4. Dogs with alterations in four categories (n = 2)
Two dogs were included, an 18 years old female Yorkshire Terrier weighing 5 kg and a 16
years old male mix breed weighing 6 kg. The dogs showed neither clinical signs of organic
disorders nor were they undergoing therapy and further examinations were unnecessary.
The dogs had impairment in all categories and they had a severe impairment in activity
(hypoactivity, repetitive activities).
3.2. Senilife1 treated dogs (n = 8)
Eight dogs among the 75 with CDS signs were enrolled in the second step of the project and
treated with Senilife1. The dogs showed mild impairment and they had impairment in two or
more categories. Four dogs belonged to the group of dogs with alterations in two categories; two
dogs were included in the group of dogs with three alterations and the other two dogs were among
the animals showing alterations in four categories.

For each animal and item, the variation between score at V0 and V3 was calculated. This
variation was classified as Positive, Unchanged and Negative depending on improvement or
worsening of the behaviour. Only items with scores different from zero were considered. Data are
reported in Table 2.
Except for the subset D where it was not possible to perform any statistical analysis, the
hypothesis that changes are due to a random effect ( p = 0.5) is rejected with a p-value < 0.001,
as showed in Table 3.
The eight dogs showed a highly significant difference at V3 versus V0, in all the categories as
well as the overall assessment ( p < 0.001), even if some items did not significantly differ when
analysed individually (Table 4).
4. Discussion
Data on the prevalence of CDS suggest that the phe
emotional and cognitive signs with biological markers and post-mortem brain lesion analysis.
Moreover, in dogs it seems suitable to perform visual-spatial tests instead of the human
batteries of neuropsychological tests. Adams et al. (2000) have demonstrated that in aged dogs,
on the basis of cognitive test performance it is possible to identify the following categories of
cognitive impairment: successful ageing, mildly impaired dogs and severely impaired dogs.
These categories are analogous to the human groups: successful ageing, mild cognitive
impairment and dementia. Another important question is whether the experimental method
designed to test learning ability and memory in ageing dogs correlates with clinical behavioural
observation. In the laboratory studies have shown some correlation between levels of
impairment in learning ability and memory and clinical signs such as exploration and social
interaction. (Milgram et al., 1994; Siwak et al., 2001, 2002, 2003; Tapp et al., 2003). Even if
findings suggest that the dog shows age-dependent deterioration in cognitive function there
may be differences related to breed and previous experience (Head et al., 1997). In the present
study, the dog population did not provide an opportunity to investigate these factors, not least
because a variety of breeds were represented including a large number of mixed breed dogs, so
further research is necessary.
It has been suggested that it is necessary to know exactly the main patho-genetic mechanisms
of ageing to formulate a precise diagnosis and establish successful treatment protocols in order to
manage geriatric behavioural problems (Overall, 2001). In human and canine senile brains the
main neurodegenerative changes are both grossly neuropathological (e.g. thickening of the
meninges, gliosis and diffuse plaques) (Borras et al., 1999; Gonzalez-Soriano et al., 2001;
Fukuoka et al., 2004) and neurochemical (e.g. neuronal apoptosis, beta-amyloid deposits)
(Anderson et al., 2000; Papaioannou et al., 2001; Dimakopoulos and Mayer, 2002; Head et al.,
2002). In humans, a variety of neurotransmitter abnormalities have been described in patients
affected by age-related dementia and even aged animals may show modifications of
neurotransmitter levels and/or their receptor concentrations. In patients with Alzheimers
Disease (AD), a decrease in muscarinic receptor (Araujo et al., 2005) and acetylcholinesterase
activity occurs (Rinne, 1987). A decrease in catecholamines, especially dopamine, has been
reported to correlate with cognitive and degenerative changes (Kalaria et al., 1989; Kalaria and
Andorn, 1991; Meana et al., 1992; Arnsten, 1993; Palmer, 1996; Sastre et al., 2001). The
serotonergic system also seems to be involved in ageing and in pathogenesis of AD in humans
(Baker and Reynolds, 1989; Reinikainen et al., 1990; Tohgi et al., 1992; Kumar et al., 1995; Lai
et al., 2002). Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the neurodegenerative processes associated
with age-related dementia (Anderson et al., 2001; Milgram et al., 2002; Cotman et al., 2002;
Skoumalova et al., 2003; Rofina et al., 2004). A decline in NMDA glutamate receptors, mainly
affecting the cortex and hippocampus areas, has also been demonstrated in aged dogs
(Magnusson et al., 2000). Advanced research has also demonstrated significant quantitative
reductions in neurotrophic factors such as BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) and NGF
(Nerve Growth Factor) (Head et al., 2000).
The first therapeutic agent approved for use in dogs based on the results of both
neuropsychological testing including reversal and spatial memory as well as clinical trials was
selegiline (Milgram et al., 1995; Ruehl et al., 1995; Head et al., 1996; Campbell et al., 2001), a
selective and irreversible inhibitor of monoamino-oxidase B (MAO B). Drugs for enhancing
cerebral perfusion and/or alertness in aged dogs, antidepressants and anxiolytics, cholinergic
agonists have also been considered (Landsberg, 2005). Complementary products have also been
suggested as useful in improving or preventing cognitive decline, but so far data to validate their
efficacy is very limited (Overall, 2001).
M.C. Osella et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 105 (2007) 297–310 305
The results of this preliminary trial on Senilife1 showed a marked improvement in CDS related
signs even but it should be noted that the average score at V0 and percentage of observed items were
very low, which means the status of animals at baseline was not very severe. Furthermore dogs did
not show complete remission of symptoms, but their signs became less severe. In human medicine
mild cognitive impairment is considered a transitory state between normal ageing and dementia;
patients in this category may represent a potential clinical population cohort targeted for early
intervention (Lockhart and Lestage, 2003), due to the better prognosis.
The effects observed in treated dogs may be related to the neuroprotective activities exerted by
its active constituents. Senilife1 contains phosphatidylserine (PS), a standardized Gingko biloba
extract (EGb), pyridoxine and d-alpha-tocopherol. PS is a phospholipid associated with
membrane proteins that regulate the fluidity of neural membranes (Tsakiris and Deliconstantinos,
1984) which may be severely compromised in aged brains (Samson, 1987). Administration of PS
both to human patients and laboratory animals with cognitive decline has produced excellent
results in terms of improved learning and memory (Crook et al., 1992; Cenacchi et al., 1993;
Blokland et al., 1999; Suzuki et al., 2001). Such results are also considered to be related to other
neuroprotective activities of PS (Milan et al., 1988; Suzuki et al., 1999). Furthermore PS
stimulates acetylcholine release in the cerebral cortex of elderly animals (Vannucchi et al., 1990;
Yamatoya et al., 2000), modulates acetylcholinesterase activity in the synaptosome of the canine
brain (Tsakiris and Deliconstantinos, 1984, 1985) and activates the synthesis and release of
dopamine (Raitieri et al., 1988). PS also inhibits the age-related loss of NMDA receptors,
cholinergic muscarinic receptors and hippocampus NGF receptors (Cohen and Mueller, 1992;
Gelbmann and Muller, 1992; Nunzi et al., 1992). The safety of its use has been confirmed through
a toxicological study conducted on dogs (Heywood et al., 1987) and through clinical trials
conducted in humans (Cenacchi et al., 1987).
EGb has a PS co-adjuvant activity, since it stimulates the cholinergic, serotonergic,
noradrenergic and glutaminergic systems in aged animals (Taylor, 1986; Chopin and Briley,
1992; Huguet and Tarrade, 1992; Huguet et al., 1994; Nathan, 2000; Lee et al., 2004). EGb
reversibly inhibits MAO A and B in the brains of laboratory animals thus increasing the levels of
dopamine (White et al., 1996). Interestingly, EGb also protects the neurons against apoptosis
induced by beta-amyloid protein (Yao et al., 2001), one of the main pathogenic processes of
cognitive age-related decline in dogs (Colle et al., 2000; Le Bars et al., 2002). This effect seems
to be primarily mediated by the marked antioxidant properties possessed by the active
constituents of EGb (Sastre et al., 1998; Bastianetto and Quirion, 2002). Finally, EGb has been
demonstrated to increase brain metabolism (DeFeudis and Drieu, 2000; McKenna et al., 2001), to
promote short-term retention of spatial memory (Hoffman et al., 2004), and to exert reproducible
effects on cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s disease (Gertz and Kiefer, 2004).
Pyridoxine is synergistic with the neurotransmission restoring effects of both PS and EGb, since
it is an essential co-factor in the biosynthesis of many neurotransmitters (dopamine, noradrenaline
and serotonin) (Dakshinamurti et al., 1995). As oxidative stress is considered to be one of the main
pathogenic factors in the age-related cognitive decline in dogs (Head et al., 2002; Skoumalova et al.,
2003; Rofina et al., 2004), compounds that prevent free radical production or scavenge them, have
been suggested to augment cognitive function (Overall, 2002; Head and Zicker, 2004). The marked
antioxidant properties of d-alpha-tocopherol make the compound an excellent candidate for
controlling pathological brain ageing in the dog. Clinical and experimental evidence have
demonstrated its neuroprotective potential (Behl and Moosmann, 2002) and beneficial cognitive
effect (Guerriero et al., 1999). In particular, tocopherol slows the functional deterioration clinically
observable in patients with pathological brain ageing (Sano et al., 1997).
306 M.C. Osella et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 105 (2007) 297–310
In conclusion, further studies are necessary to validate the screen used in this study, but it
appears to be a simple and practical tool for initial assessment of geriatric subjects. Results of
treatment with Senilife1 suggest further studies investigating the effects of complementary
therapy in canine cognition should be encouraged as the quality of life of senior dogs has the
potential to be improved.
The authors thank Dr. K.L. Overall for help and advice on English, Dr. C. Schievano for his
statistical support, Dr. L. Berger and Dr. L. Ponzetto for their help in clinical cases collection.
Final revision made by Mrs. Linda Massari, Mother Language Lecturers for Scientific English
University of Turin.
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Question: Where Is The Best Place To Sell Your Car?

Where is best to sell a car?

Try using the car valuation tools on sites such as Parkers, What Car?and HPI Valuations.

You’ll get the most for your car by selling privately.

The next best option is dealer part-exchange, followed by a car-buying website.

If you sell privately you might get 10% to 15% more for your car than you would from a dealer..

What is the best website to sell a car?

Top 13 Sites to Buy and Sell Used This site is still the gold standard for auto sales because they syndicate their listings so widely, and they have a huge inventory. … AutoTrader. … eBay Motors. … Hemmings. … Facebook Marketplace. … CarGurus. … TrueCar. … Craigslist.More items…•

Does CarMax give you good money for your car?

While the CarMax offer isn’t as much as you might get by selling it to a private party, selling it to the used car chain offers these advantages: It eliminates the expense of advertising your car and the hassle of showing your car to strangers. CarMax prices are usually higher than those that a dealer offers.

How do I sell my car for best price?

The best way to sell your carKnow car’s worth and set the right asking price.Shoot clear pictures of your car and upload as many as possible.Put your location and contact details accurately.Provide as much information about your car as possible. This will help buyers decide quickly.

Is it worth selling your car privately?

In most states, selling your car privately will prevent you from getting a trade-in tax credit. … If saving money is your top priority, then we feel it’s definitely worth selling the car yourself, but if convenience and safety is at the top of your list, selling to a dealer is probably you’re best option.

Should I sell my car privately or to a dealer?

Dealers are typically unwilling to negotiate a price for your car. Ultimately, you’ll likely earn less money than you would if you sold the car to a private buyer. The primary benefit to selling your vehicle to an individual buyer is you can stand to make a good deal more money than otherwise.

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text:
Do not let digitisation happen, but help shape it!

Published on by Alexis Leibbrandt

The Smart City sector will soon reach its full potential thanks to the proper use of the Internet of Things for resource management, operations optimization, and innovation in services.

The case of Allgäuer Überlandwerk

Energy suppliers are among the most innovative actors of the digitization in our cities. They have often been involved in local network services such as the rollout of glass fiber networks, providing key infrastructure for different city players in the region.

The Allgäuer Überlandwerk (AÜW) in Bavaria is among those innovative actors.

With the motto Do not let digitisation happen, but help shape it! (Digitalisierung nicht geschehen lassen, sondern mitgestalten!), the AÜW is looking to ensure sustainability and increase quality of life in the Allgäu region through the conscious use of IT.

To this purpose, AÜW has defined the “Smart City IoT” as a potential growth sector and thus started identifying new business areas and optimization opportunities for existing operational processes. During the initial phase of the project, a small team from AÜW and partner companies from the public sector was given the task to assess the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) for different areas of applications, to better understand its market potential, and to create internal knowledge about IoT in the Smart City sector.

AÜW identified LoRaWAN as the most appropriate technology to support its new initiative. LoRaWAN-based sensors allow the measurement and transmission of data over long distances at a low cost and low power.

Choosing the right IoT infrastructure

Building an IoT solution is a complex endeavor. Fortunately, there is nowadays no need to develop every single piece of the IoT infrastructure from scratch. By collaborating with strong partners such as Loriot and Akenza, AÜW was able to minimize costs and reduce time to proof of concept in this initial phase while focusing on its own strength, building valuable solutions for the regional community.

Loriot supplies AÜW with its secure LoRaWAN network technology and lays the foundation for smart connected devices.

Gateway Kerlink

Kerlink Gateway (photo by AÜW)

The Akenza Core ensures the management of the whole IoT device fleet as well as the LoRaWAN network in one system. In addition to the integration with Loriot and device management, it enables the reading and visualisation of the data, as well as advanced data processing (via the Akenza Core rule engine). The user can visualize the device data on predefined Business Intelligence Modules or develop interactive IoT applications via the dedicated REST API. The rule engine is particularly useful to react instantly to events from devices and trigger specific actions (e.g. alerts, remote control).

The pilot project

During this collaboration, AÜW, Loriot and Akenza successfully assessed several potential use cases. A first example concerns the monitoring of recycling points. The remote measurement of the fill level of such recycling points enables to plan and optimize the waste collection process. Thanks to the plug and play capabilities of the Akenza core, AÜW could install a Sensoneo Single Sensor with little effort and measure the fill level efficiently.

Remote reading of heat and water meters also shows clear optimization benefits for energy suppliers as it removes the need for manual intervention from a technical expert. Here, the AÜW could perform some tests with the DZG Smart Meter and Landis & Gyr sensors.

Indoor environment monitoring was tested as well with Elsys ERS Eye and Elsys ERS CO2 sensors. These sensors are key in ensuring a better usage of office spaces by measuring the occupancy of specific areas (e.g. meeting rooms) as well as the air quality (CO2 levels).

Parking space occupancy monitoring is an area where IoT can have a positive impact as it enables better guidance and eventually can assist cities with urban planning. In the current case, this was assessed with the Bosch PLS sensor.

Finally, the AÜW made ran tests in their offices concerning door surveillance thanks to Miromico Tabs and custom lever handle alarm system (Ascoel Push Button and Comtac LPN DO).

1 DSC00994 BOSCH Parkplatz

Bosch Smart Parking Lot Sensor (photo by AÜW)

The rapid deployment of pilot projects enabled by our IoT system allowed generating the first learnings in a lean way, i.e. before spending significant R&D resources. The results of this initial study will be used to develop and scale production-ready use cases fitting the regional needs of AÜW and the Allgäu region.

The integration of the Akenza Core was a key element of our pilot project. It enabled us to test several use cases and connected devices without dealing with the complexity of the whole IoT infrastructure.
Andreas Klär, Allgäuer Überlandwerk

Are you ready for your next IoT project?

Do not hesitate to get in contact with us at

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text:
What is IoT in Simple Words?

Published on by Ana Grossmann

IoT stands for the “Internet of Things”

The Internet of Things (IoT) describes a network of interconnected physical objects (“things”) to the internet or/and to each other, which are able to collect and transfer data over a network without human intervention.

The purpose of this is for the devices to communicate with each other, collecting, sharing, sending and applying the data, analyzing behaviours and optimizing the use of the environment they’re set in.

The use of IoT technologies has created endless possibilities. A ‘thing’ can refer to any sensor or physical device that can convert analog signals into digital data. The option of digital retrofitting is becoming increasingly popular, offering the opportunity of upgrading old systems with IoT. The motivation for the use of IoT in business is usually in connection with reducing costs, visualising usage patterns and habits, automating processes and effectively adapting to the changing business environment. This is why the words such as ‘optimizing’, ‘efficiency’ and ‘smart’ are often found in connection to this topic.

Network diagram

The 4 IoT Architecture Components

1. Physical Devices and Controllers.

The ‘things’ in IoT. This is also known as the ‘perception layer’, where analog signals are converted into digital data and vice versa. There are three subcategories:

- Sensors: these collect physical parameters.
- Actuators: translate digital signals into physical actions.
- Machines and devices: forming an integral part of industrial machinery.

2. Connectivity Layer.

This is the layer or ‘communication’ across the devices, network and the cloud. In akenza’s case this layer works with a Data Gateway, which works as a translator between the different protocols of the hardware and software, allowing for encryption and decryption of IoT data.

The communications involve different network connectivities. These technologies usually differ in their power consumption, bandwidth capabilities and latency characteristics. To read more about the IoT connectivity landscape and examples of use cases, click here.

Last but not least, once the individual parts are connected to the network, they use messaging protocols to share the data across the networks. These could be understood as the ‘packaging of the message’. In akenza’s case those are:

HTTPS - This a document centric, authentication and security protocol widely implemented in browser and web services. It works based on a request-response protocol for client-server computing, optimized for mobile devices.

MQTT - Is a data-centric, lightweight messaging protocol built on top of TCP/IP stack for centralized data collection from low-powered devices.

CoAP - This is a special Internet Application protocol which enables devices to communicate between each other and between ‘nodes’ to communicate with the wider network using similar protocols. CoAP is also being used via other mechanisms, such as SMS on mobile communication networks.

3. Processing Layer

During this step, raw data is made useful by accumulating, storing and processing.

The data accumulation occurs through an API, which defines whether data is relevant to the business requirements and where it should be placed. The final goal is to sort out a large amount of diverse data and store it in the most efficient way.

Together, the data accumulation and abstraction stages veil details of the hardware, enhancing the interoperability of smart devices.

4. Application Layer

The application varies between complexity and function, using different technology stacks and operating systems. Some examples are:

- Device monitoring and control software.
- Mobile apps for simple interactions.
- Business intelligent services.
- Analytic solutions using machine learning,

This layer can be connected to any application through the akenza platform. This offers a software development infrastructure with read-to-use instruments for data mining, advanced analytics and data visualization.

The Benefits of IoT?

An IoT system enables devices to interact, collaborate and learn from each other's experiences, enabling machine learning and artificial intelligence. What benefits can this technology bring to the end consumer?

- Cost reduction.
- Efficiency and productivity.
- Business opportunities.
- Improved customer experience.
- Mobility and agility.

One of the biggest benefits of IoT is that it allows an insight into data that projects habits, allowing to influence behavior based on that data, and propelling change.

Examples of IoT Technology

Here you can find a list of cases and projects based on IoT:

How IoT is revolutionizing the cleaning industry: The Case of soobr Ltd.

Soobr Ltd.
(/ ‘suber’ = clean in swiss dialect) optimises the planning and execution of cleaning tours based on data and artificial intelligence.

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IoT Solution for People Flow Supports Retail & Smart City

Looking for a solution with state of the art technology to streamline people flow and traffic in your business space, exit & entry points? Currently, retailers including supermarkets and banks have a challenge that is quite new to them: How to make sure there aren’t too many people in their facility at the same time. IoT solutions that implement automatic people traffic and flow measures are the easiest, quickest and safest way to solve this challenge without additional manpower. They measure the number of people in a store - already at the entrance.

Optimized logistics in glass recycling through Smart-Waste solution

By attaching sensors with low energy consumption and long service life to the waste containers, it is possible to centrally monitor and predict the container's filling level. This enables improved planning of disposal tours and thus increases the efficiency of waste management.

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text:
A number of years ago, I finally took the step to walk into a drug and alcohol counselor’s office. By the time I reached that office, it felt like I was gasping for air, drowning in a rowboat that reeled in 40-foot swells. I desperately needed a life preserver. I was exhausted and wanted to fix someone else’s drinking problem. I also wanted to get the knots out of my stomach and the fear out of my life. I had tried everything I could think of. I was pretty sure even then that it was a disease, not a poor moral choice. I didn’t like how this bear of a disease was affecting me. It was ripping apart everything good and hopeful in the script I had written for my life.

A few minutes into the session, the counselor asked me why I was there. I didn’t want to sound like I was completely uninformed about the disease of alcoholism. So, I answered by saying, “I want to figure out how to navigate better in the midst of active alcoholism.” I didn’t come right out and say I wanted to fix someone else, although it was true. Instead, I said that I wanted to fix me.

I remember the smile and compassion of that professional. I felt safe. I’m sure now as I look back that the person had probably heard others like me frame their reason for coming in a similar way. And then I heard what I had hoped to hear: “I am glad to see you, glad to help you, and to help you learn new thinking and actions so that you can begin to recover. I will also ask you to attend Al‑Anon.” So, I did that—I trusted and joined Al‑Anon—shaking and full of fear. I will be forever grateful.

By Linda S.

The Forum, July 2019


text:
Tractor-loader “Technician”

Tractor loader “Technic” from the Polesie company with a moving bucket and a driver Vivid colors make the toy even more attractive. The realistic design and functionality of the toy will significantly diversify the games in the sandbox or at home, and the exceptional workmanship and the absence of small parts make the toy acceptable for the smallest tractor lovers.

Gift Wrap Design

Boys (KD0.000)

SKU: 36988 Category: Tag:


text:
Sunday, 20 November 2011

Mary's Day Off

He’s the last of the hitchers and that makes him the king. Tall, he was handsome once. Wild, hungry and awful he is invisible. There is a cardboard sign that time and the rain has left blurred so he could be heading anywhere. The King would have tossed it had it not been true. He is heading anywhere, and especially now anywhere but here. Here is Illbourne Services. The King has been here for three days. Three more and Noddy Holder will be right.
“You’re like that old man,” says Mary.
“I am,” says The King who agrees over a burger-n-cheese (no cheese).
Illbourne Services has three restaurants, two are shut. There is a newsagent that mostly sells chocolate and a chocolate shop that only sells coffee. Neither is ever open. Mary (she said, laid off six weeks before) still comes in to work. She told The King of her three children. Two that have left home and one that she wishes would. She misses the youngest most, though the youngest is the one that remains. The King had listened to Mary’s whole life that first night and in the six hours that had left they had filled in the mazes and coloured in the cartoons on the kid’s menus. Let go by memo no one has come to take back her keys, she said. Mary wipes down a table already clean. She says now, “ People spot him, walking the land.”
“Hitching. It’s a funny time of year for it. Everyone’s so full of good cheer they don’t want to spend time with anyone that’d spoil it. Feed the world, man.”
“Well quite,” she says, dismissively. “Some don’t believe he exists. I do.”
“Like Santa?”
“Are you going to be sick?”
She won’t let him help so he looks out at the world embarrassed. The car park is empty but for Mary’s fridge-coloured Cinquecento. Spoilers, a crumpled near-side and a boot full of speakers. It had been her second sons, but he’s doing time for getting caught. The King catches the eye of a cat. The cat looks down and hurries away. The cool kid spied in Matalan.
The King had once been just another barbarian. From Scratchwood to Fleet, Charnock Richard to Sanbach he’d stood in the 80s with a dozen others at each stop, on every A road, at every services. Students, drop outs, and people – mostly people. Ten years on and all alone, unless it was Stonehenge or Glastonbury and that highway to hell the A303. Then last year and there’d been just the two of them and when they’d met on the slip for Watford Ennio Morricone had been playing, all dust and narrowed eyes. They’d stood neither moving but for the wasp that had dipped between them. An hour until there had come a ride, not his. His rival had nodded, understanding. He had his ride home. He had touched a finger half to his cap. Now there was only The King.
He turns back. His lunch has gone, so too the mop and bucket. Mary looks at him in interest. Having to say something he says, “My Walkman.”
“Goodness, I remember them. I had one, Sony. Blue.”
“I need new batteries. I don’t suppose?”
He can suppose but there are none for sale here. In the newsagents no doubt, but the newsagents is closed even for last year’s best seller or a giant bag of jelly bears and Mary doesn’t want to get into trouble for breaking in. So she says and in any case she is sure she wouldn’t know how. But Mary remembers she has some herself and waddling away returns with two from the cheap vibrator she keeps in her bag for the quiet shifts. They are old and flat but the Walkman is broken anyway, choked months before on Julian Cope still tangled and torn within.
Later and folding her knickers up to put in her bag Mary promises that she will look up their hitcher. She makes him move to mop the floor where he still lies. A little later she leaves him in the forecourt. She can’t when he asks give him a lift, she is a woman alone and it isn’t safe for her to pick up hitchers.

“It’s you,” Mary says next day, delighted. Her eldest-child’s-second-laptop sits between them. She shows him the site, one of several, where he is under the Loch Ness Monster but two above the Lord Numb. The last photo like many is a blur, a phone job on the move. According to the site he is Lord Lucan, Marc Bolan or more likely Richie Edwards – offered as proof The King seen in the rain, blurred, at the Severn View services. The King knows they are all wrong. Mary says, “Don’t you have a home?”
She does he was told, and comes here because of it. He did too but he hasn’t seen it since Castle Morten. Ever since he has been on the road, and ever since he has been looking for it. A converted horse box and a week-long rave with his family and his home, and then they’d gone and he left to walk and (with his thumb) to follow. He can still remember his wife’s final words, ‘Look, who the fuck are you?’ very cruel. So The King tells Mary, without their names because he remembers not a one. There might be children.
Mary goes to fire up the grill. Today for breakfast The King will be treated to the last of the cheese, orange and tasteless but this time the ‘with cheese’, will be. When the restaurant had been newly opened they had attracted a mouse. Mary had baited a trap with cheese just like this and the mouse had been caught neck broken and the cheese untouched. Meeting the cheese it seemed likely that far from being murdered the mouse had committed suicide. Mary cooks two burgers from the four hundred that remain in the cold store. Two burgers but hold the lettuce, pickle, onions and special sauce. The buns here never grow stale or hard like cake, but become crumbly like biscuit.
Returning she says, “I wanted to travel once, more than once obviously, when I was young. You must have seen some places. This,” she sprays the laptop with a bottle she will later clean with another, “says that you’ve been on the road for twenty years. I wanted to go to Istanbul. I wanted to go to Machu Picchu, I wanted to go to Brighton, when I was young.”
“But you had kids?”
“But I had a big, fat arse. No, the mysterious and the ethical are not for me. Every time I thought about going something would come up. Ten years ago and it was my first rabbit. I’d almost got to packing my bags, I’d got a one way ticket to Worthing. I’d told my husband I was off to the bright lights, to the big city, to find myself.”
The King likes the sound of that. He says, “To find yourself?”
“To find myself a nice big cock. But he begged and he whined. He bought me a new coat and we got Sky, and inside six months I’d worn my rabbit down to a pencil. I almost went again then but you know, there’s always another rabbit. It was glamorous, like Sex In The City. I spoke to a few people last night, I said you were here.”
The King ignores the last. He stopped listening after the word ‘cock’. Outside it is raining, the windows blur, hello the holidays. He ought to try and catch a ride but the only car he has seen since arriving here is that same Cinquecento. Used to the silence he reacts slowly to it now. Mary is waiting for an answer so he says, “I’ve been all over. Motorways and A roads, I’ve seen places you wouldn’t believe. People too. Most used to be hitchers,” he describes those who once had been older but nowadays were of an age. They too had hitched and had always promised that when they had a car, well then. He tells of truck drivers wanting company. There is the odd genuinely nice person, and every so often a kid in a stolen Merc. He has sung hymns. He has been so badly beaten he pissed blood for three days after.
He has listened, but mostly now he speaks because people want to be talked to, often not saying much beyond their name and so The King now plays a game. When taking a lift he will always use the name of the last person to have stopped. He spins a tale because people want him to, the rules; he has to use whatever he has learned but add whatever else he has not. “Once I spent the whole of the A66 being an old lady called Agnes, I’d been in the SOE during the war, captured and tortured. But still and after all that, chin up eh?”
“Right through the Lake District.”
“Ah,” says Mary, “My second son once sent me a postcard from Devon, Dartmoor anyway.”
“It’s a wild and beautiful place.”
“Not the prison.”

They come the next day so that they find The King where suffering winter’s sleet he has made himself a shelter in the play area. The sides both protected by and advertising exclusive membership of the RAC the little hut at the top of the slide has gained all the charm of a bus shelter. Coming out for a piss The King is knocked by a sound boom, recoils from a camera and is hedged in by optimistic London jackets sharing umbrellas complaining about the opening times of the empty Costa. He sees they are not from the BBC, but from the other side. A camera on him he steps backs from the bright light. A man with earphones and a special-forces vest sneers. Another with a serious face nods seriously and asks four times the same question until it is judged he has done so seriously enough. It takes a fifth attempt and then only once the make-up girl is satisfied they have the right sort of wet on The King do they allow him to answer.
“No one calls by. It’s miserable.”
The journalist can see that. The King has a large brolly above him and out of shot. More wet is applied from an atomiser between takes. The King continues, “They roar by waving a thumb, they laugh and call out abuse. Sometimes they stop and then drive off when you’ve run up. I lost my pack that way once. I learned a lesson that day.” Now and though no one else is on the road it’s harder, he tells the news crew. No one hitches and increasingly no one ever did. Students don’t drive clapped out heaps, everyone’s middle class except for the working class, who hate hitchers - bloody scroungers. “I’ve been here for ages now. I can’t go up on the motorway and no cars are coming in. This time of year it should be better, but it’s worse.”
“They call you The King, but who are you really? We need to know. Frankly, you need to know. You really do. Do you want to stay here else?”
The King caught, he plays his game, “My name’s Mary, I’ve got three kids. I work in the burger bar.”
Soon and in the cold the news crew have what they're getting even if not what they want. Shortly they are packed and loaded to go. Ahead of them already and warned that the camera would be on him The King waits up the slip, thumb out. He holds out his notice as the two vans slow to get their shot before rolling away and to the distant sound of the world.
Laughing, the sound man jerks his hand at The King.
It’s Mary’s day off. She’ll try again tomorrow.

  1. I've hitched just twice in my life, but given lifts in my clapped out old heap ten times that. These days, as you say, it is actually impossible for me to give anyone a lift, as I never see an outstretched thumb or a grubby sign. The best hitch I provided actually turned into a party in the car as, having picked three people up going to Cropredy, we got stuck in a traffic jam, so I popped the boot and passed out the cans. This was in the hard-eyed eighties, when nobody had any time for anyone else.

    This is a powerful lament to a bygone age; an eulogy for a state of mind that seems to be lost, perhaps stuck at Scratchwood, terrified that HMS Belfast may go to action stations.

    And it's December 22nd, yes?

  2. Cool story!
    To be honest I had to read it twice, but the second time around I really enjoyed it.
    Nice take on the hitcher theme.

  3. Very kind, and it does need some polishing aye.


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Pundits On Drugs

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Pundits On Drugs

Pundits on drugs. Image via The Telegraph.

Politics is an idiot’s game. In fact, it’s been an idiot’s game ever since the first 2 ‘geniuses’ got together in an attempt to solve a very simple issue: how, at a time when things were a bit more, well, visceral, a couple of poltroons might scheme to overthrow their supposed betters. This is, of course, a good thing, for when aristocrats conk, people will be forced to cooperate. They’ll get smarter and better organized, until a new dilemma emerges. People, after all, still need to be led. People, who’ve improved, as a whole, are still and always will be a mob, ruled by intangibles few can ever hope to master. And people, whether they’ve got their heads in the clouds or their asses in the mud, are still aristocrats at heart, and forever part of this transaction.

So what now? Enter theatrics. Sure, ‘force’ may now be out of the question, but one of the reasons why force has worked so well is that it’s just so dazzling, and not entirely predictable. There’s a mystery both to retaliation as well as its aftermath that grips society and keeps it in check. In a way, then, force is also the politics of the amphitheater, and few things are as theatrical as moral indignation, whether it’s directed at music, unpopular opinions, or the final bogeyman: drugs. The last one is especially touchy, since control (of oneself, of others) is such a deep part of the human condition, to our survival instinct, and, in people’s seemingly never-ending well of insecurity, it is never quite enough to disapprove of something. This disapproval must be elevated to policy, and the policy, in turn, must transform back into a well-cherished value, as to not ‘merely’ be law. This is why drug policy is so backwards the world over, and why, when the police is under attack, drug regulation crumbling, and the old, misplaced, child-like, rococo ‘need’ to keep everything — including people’s bodies  — under one’s own thumb is no longer so obvious, the pundits try to dazzle us, instead.

Drugs, to me, are a very clear-cut thing. And, more than a thing, they are a decision — a mode of being, really — for the thinking behind an indulgence is far more important than the decision itself. Drug addicts are sick, and I don’t mean this in the silly, PC sense of ‘diseased,’ but that they have an existential crisis that’s overtaken them, and an immaturity that feeds upon every other aspect of their lives. For every drug addict, however, there’s a dozen (if not more) drug users, because, well, people want to feel nice, and a few bucks is easier to come by, now, than in any other point in human history. Yes, the consequences of such can be destructive, but 1) the same can be said of a million other things that good sense tells us not to regulate, many of them far worse than America’s comparatively non-existent drug problem; 2) the cost of regulation cuts much deeper ethically, socially, and economically than drug use ever will, for while the proportion of drug addicts will always stay quite low, given what is known of human norms and bell curves and the like, the desire to stamp out desire is an uphill battle with dubious rewards and far too many unintended consequences.

To others, however, the obvious is not so obvious, and of all the razzle-dazzle pundits of the past decade or so, legal commentator and professional moron Nancy Grace might very well be the best of them. In a way, she is perfect for the role of ‘enforcer,’ because while she’s forever barred from the use of force, she still knows how to approximate it; knows what to say and, more importantly, how to say it, so that the thing still looks like the power-struggle of yore, all the while taking pretend-positions that dupe her loyal following into praising not her theatrics, but her dignified moral sense. Sure, some may be bigger, and some may be louder, but she has two suicides under her belt and a much-criticized sob story — advantages, of course, that few pundits can claim. Most recently, she was involved in a spat with rapper 2 Chainz, who came on her show to discuss the legalization of marijuana, but was treated, instead, with the sort of condescension one only sees towards children.

Grace begins with the most transparent of these tools: the guilt-trip. This is when the child knows, or ought to know, that he’s done wrong, and the adult’s voice slows down, becomes measured, articulate, so that each word can be fully heard. She informs him that he’s a “star,” and that so many “look up to him” — a lie I’ve often repeated to children, myself, especially to the wannabe leaders among them. She asks why, despite his 4.0 at college, he’s for the legalization of marijuana, all the while some ‘naughty’ clips from his music videos play, thus casting doubt on both his character and intellect and obviating her own praise. He giggles (he’s on to her!) as she gently chides him for his lyrics, rolling her eyes. The images, at this point, come fast, as if to slip by you, as 2 Chainz calmly rejects her stupidity: a stupidity that, as per Grace’s style, reaches its Maury Povich-level heights when she plays a video of a mentally ill woman giving drugs to her toddler, and extrapolates some kind of epidemic from all this. 2 Chainz stays calm, for he is NOT a child, sees through the bullshit, and even says so on multiple occasions, delivering a story of enforcement-related waste that shuts Nancy up for a few seconds before she begins the same hysterical cycle anew.

It is silly, of course, to have to sit through this, and to think that there are people out there who’d sit through it, too, and take it seriously. I mean, forget, for a second, all the good, perfectly selfless arguments for drug legalization, here, on the one hand, and Nancy Grace’s high dudgeon on the other. Look down, for a moment, towards Mexico, and towards South America, and reflect on the fact — listen carefully, now, for we are no longer in the realm of hypotheticals — the fact that the region is a sewer; that after decades of trying to control the drug cartels, millions of people are forced to live in de facto war zones amidst pure economic anarchy; that entire towns are uninhabitable and that no one plans to do a damn thing about it, for the most obvious solution is so egregious, so heretical, that terror, we are told, is preferable to living. All this, it should be noted, so that Nancy Grace and others of that kidney could sit safe — morally superior, really — with the knowledge that no child in America can be bullied into a bong-hit by some psychotic.

Although the crux of my argument is liberty, I will not end with that horrible platitude: ‘Give me liberty, or give me death!’ The purpose of the law, as I see it, is to preserve life, first, and wisdom second, and the best one could say for liberty is that it allows the other 2 to reach their meridian. Yet freedom, for some reason, is what’s feared most deeply, no matter how irrational this is. Had Nancy Grace been born in 2050, best believe she’d find something else to be outraged over: many (if not all) drugs will be legal by then, but what of sex chambers (a la Woody Allen’s Sleeper), or marriage between man and terrier, the right to bear ass with neither shame nor trepidation, and other seemingly endless ‘attacks’ upon the fabric of our planet? This, I’m afraid, is too much to think about right now, for it is too distal, and too forward. Now, if you want my advice… ah, fuck it, Nancy! Go grab some blunt-wrap and a lighter, and let 2 Chainz show you how to roll it!

[This article first appeared on the Cosmoetica website on 1/20/15.]


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Space Quest
Written by Bertie Gilbert

Two reviews of Space Quest on Letterboxd describe it as a piss take of Star Wars/Star Trek and the hype over their next films, the most anticipated of these being Star Wars: the Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan), which Abrams has directed. And he deserves it. Looking back at Abrams’s Star Trek reboot films, Star Trek (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) and Star Trek Into Darkness (OrciKurtzman and Damon Lindelof), the story isn’t the strongest element, but Abrams directs them with a vision, almost like Star Wars: the Force Awakens test footage. Say what you will about the Alternate Reality – which I regularly criticise – but it’s not entirely Abrams’ fault.

A director might have creative authority over a film (apart from the producers), but what Abrams did was to not alter elements that clearly weren’t working, rather than create those faults himself. And yeah, those new films did cause a rift in the fanbase, and it’s for a good reason, but it shows that Abrams, when applied to something that already works on its own, can make it even cooler. Look no further than the final shot of the first Star Wars: the Force Awakens trailer. That shot on its own could be a whole trailer by itself.

To be honest, it looks more “realistic”, in the visual sense, than any of the other Star Wars films. That’s not just because of advances in digital technology, but because of the choices made in using it. Already, I’m sold on a franchise that didn’t really appeal to me before. I do like Star Wars, but the matte boxes and jump-cut/crossfade explosions were always a bit weird.

But I’m not going to judge a sci-fi film on its special effects – pulp appeals to some people. And, as someone who used to think Doctor Who was pretty neat – especially the Classic Series – I’ve come to see special effects as simply a story-telling mechanism. So Space Quest, then. And not the video game series, either.

Space Quest is a television series within the short film Space Quest, and is clearly an homage to Star Trek. And I do think it’s an homage. Why? Because making a film so accurate in spirit yet also with such a precisely-controlled Roger Corman-esque B-movie feel to what inspired it takes so much INSANE passion for that subject that dismissing it as a piss-take would be to accuse the film-maker of having instead an insane hatred.

There’s that shot of the door closing, which I guess was done through rota-scoping? And the simulated English dubbing of what’s supposed to look originally “foreign”. The reason genuine B-movies include these production methods is because of low budgets and unimaginative film-making. But with today’s access to technology, none of that comes-up unless done… deliberately.

There’s a myth that film-making is difficult. But it’s not. Making a film is easy. What’s difficult is making a good one.

And what takes even more skill is making a film resembling one that isn’t. A film so good it doesn’t look it. My previous review acknowledged the fun pulpiness of a film otherwise terrible – but the difference was, that was supposed to be good. Whereas Space Quest is a step-backwards to a more primitive style of film-making.

In an age of going forwards, going backwards requires more creative acrobatics than simply making a good film with special effects that aren’t laughable. So in creating special effects that recall cult sci-fi, when it’s easier to make them professional, they’ll actually not laughable at all. They’re applaudable. Abrams has been openly promoting his use of practical effects when making Star Wars: the Force Awakens, rather than digital effects.

One can only hope so. It makes “Episode VII” aesthetically consistent with its preceding instalments. Even though there’ll still be digital effects, simply because it’s more convenient in some places. Every mainstream film uses digital effects. Even genres that wouldn’t obviously seem to require digital effects use digital effects.

They’re shooting it on film, too. Actual film! Which means that Star Wars: the Force Awakens isn’t just called a “film”, but really is one. And I care about film more than digital, because it’s less convenient for shooting.

Yes, there’s a better picture quality, and every other reason you can find listed in Mark Kermode’s The Good, the bad and the Multiplex, but apart from that – it requires more care and precision. Which means, if a production’s using celluloid, it tells me the film-makers are of a certain mindset that ensures at least some immediate quality. There’s that question of – so if Space Quest didn’t emulate B-movies, would Space Quest be any good? But that’s question’s invalid.

Because, if Space Quest didn’t emulate B-movies, Space Quest would be pointless. I think. But that’s how I’ve read it. Just about every Bertie Gilbert film is about contrast in some way – contrast between the sane and the insane, contrast between one time period and another, and in some ways, contrast between between two ends of an infinite spectrum.

The contrast here is between digital and film, with digital being a bookend to the “main event”, like old cinema programmes that would present the feature with a shorter, less impressive piece, a… “B-movie”. And although the digital scenes are more presentable, ticking the boxes of YouTube’s video player, the Space Quest film itself is a better achievement because there was more to get right. It’s easy to reassure yourself with the knowledge that something can be added later, but it takes real balls to say “We’re doing it NOW!”. There’s a reason Gilbert’s considered the new Wes Anderson.

Anyway, point is – if these were two films, the Space Quest act in the middle is obviously the bigger achievement, because mimicking a specific style takes a certain kind of skill that requires a film-maker to go inside their own creativity and emerge on the other side having proven they can do minimal. And if I come out of Star Wars: the Force Awakens impressed with it, it’ll be because it looks like the Episode VII that should’ve already been released thirty years ago. The reason Star Trek Into Darkness is so controversial is because, even though it’s a good-looking film, it’s got “Star Trek” in the title, but doesn’t try to actually justify that on screen. And that’s the story here.

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Published by Alexander Sigsworth

Writing about Herobrine in The Characters That Define Us at Normal Happenings. Profile photo chosen for Gamers Blog Party: Summer 2019 at Later Levels. Known as the Purple Prose Mage at the Well-Red Mage.

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[Text] X-Men Origins: Wolverine, by David Benioff and Skip Woods [review]

Ryan Reynolds is returning to the comic book genre next week, which has prompted me to look back at some of his previous efforts. We begin with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, by David Benioff and Skip Woods. After the success of the X-Men trilogy, 20th Century Fox decided to continue the franchise by producing a film which starred a specific mutant, but was still recognisably part of the franchise. Which means that, in the end, nobody is quite able to tell if X-Men Origins: Wolverine is actually X-Men Origins feat. Wolverine or Wolverine in “X-Men Origins”.

I’d argue that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is both of those things, which is why the narrative is such a mess. No mistake – in a spin-off focused on James “Wolverine” Howlett, we also see Victor “Sabretooth” Creed (from X-Men, by David HayterTom DeSanto and Bryan Singer), John Wraith, Kayla Silverfox, Fred “Blob” Dukes, Chris “Bolt” Bradley, David “Agent Zero” North, Wade “Deadpool” Wilson (Reynolds), Scott “Cyclops” Summers (from X-MenX2 by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris and X-Men: The Last Stand by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn), Emma Silverfox and Charles “Professor X” Xavier (from X-MenX2 and X-Men: The Last Stand). So that’s ten other mutants who appear in Howlett’s origin story. Hence calling it X-Men Origins: Wolverine, rather than Wolverine Origins or just Wolverine.

How can such a situation exist? Well, the truth about X-Men as a concept is that the characters only work when they’re together. That was the whole point of X-Men when they were created – to be a team, rather than just individual heroes. So as soon as one’s given the spotlight, and the others relegated to a supporting cast, they become another generic character.

The mutant abilities are only used as plot devices, it’s the relationships that matter. So the first mistake of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is in its approach, because it forgot the heart of the franchise that had even made it possible. The Critics Consensus shown on Rotten Tomatoes’ X-Men: The Last Stand page declares

X-Men: The Last Stand provides plenty of mutant action for fans of the franchise, even if it does so at the expense of its predecessors’ deeper character moments.

What happened to X-Men: The Last Stand? Well, X-Men and X2 were directed by Singer, who departed X-Men: The Last Stand to direct Superman Returns, and Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus says:

Bryan Singer’s reverent and visually decadent adaptation gives the Man of Steel welcome emotional complexity. The result: a satisfying stick-to-your-ribs adaptation.

Singer’s not just been praised as an emotive X-Men director, but as an emotive direct overall. To say that the reception to his two X-Men films at that point had only increased their reception, it’s not irrelevant that the following two X-Men films had decreased their reception. Singer’s absence from X-Men was noticeable, and it gave us X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But what exactly is wrong with it?

Well… it’s the extreme of what’s wrong with all prequels: X-Men established perfectly well that Howlett can’t remember his early life. And that’s all we needed to know for X-Men to be a well-told story. But X-Men Origins: Wolverine decides to reveal what happened anyway, despite the story being written around the inevitable crux of Howlett inevitably forgetting it all. Therefore, I’m inclined to ask – why does it matter?

The reason we started where we did with Howlett in X-Men is because it’s what we needed to know for the story to work. Any information before that, therefore, is something that was irrelevant to the story, so will be impossible to justify including. X-Men Origins: Wolverine feels like a footnote in a character history, the unimportant details of a biography that was excised and placed into its own film just because the information was there. It’s like one, long deleted scene that was deleted for a reason.