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HB Blog

Insights from the leadership at HB on technology and culture

AI-Powered Drones Are Coming: What It Means for Business

on November 15, 2016

AI-Powered Drones Are Coming What It Means For Business.jpg

IBM Watson recently partnered with a drone company in search of new advancements. The result? Artificial intelligence (AI) powered drones. Advanced computer programming lets drones make decisions on their own. They can be piloted by software that simplifies the commands while opening a whole new world of possibilities.

AI-powered drones—drones operated using artificial intelligence—are certainly not the first advancement in drone technology, but they are one of the most promising and sophisticated advancements we’ve seen to date. To suggest this is a game-changer is an understatement. Technology of this sort could transform the business world as we know it.

Consider the Benefits of AI Drones

We’ve seen piloted drones for years. Why should smart ones make a difference? As it turns out, automation offers particular benefits, especially for businesses. AI-powered drones don’t need specific pilots for every unit, and as a result they offer:

  • Increased productivity. Unlike pilots, AI drones don’t need breaks, so they can work harder for longer.
  • More efficient flight paths. AI drones can use GPS mapping and other technologies to find the most direct route.
  • Mobile weather decisions. Some AI drones can avoid poor weather on the go. Pilots should plan ahead of time, but artificial intelligence provides the ability to avoid interference instantly.
  • Higher efficiency. Since they don’t need individual pilots, multiple drones can be flown under the supervision of one person. An entire fleet is a possibility, even for the smallest businesses.
  • Advanced steering. Automated drones can fly around obstacles. Trees, power lines, and buildings present challenges under normal circumstances, but mapping technology can easily overcome them.

Leverage AI-Powered Drones for Increased Efficiency

While AI-powered drones offer plenty of general benefits, there are also specific applications where these drones can serve their purpose better than others. Surveyors and map making companies, for example, can use drones to fly over areas in need of examination. The devices can be fitted with cameras and other mapping equipment for highly detailed readings.

In addition, automated drones provide many opportunities for retail businesses. Imagine a future where your fast-food order is dropped at your doorstep by a drone, or your online order gets zipped into your window. Stores deliver small packages quickly and efficiently, with fewer risks of merchandise mishaps.

Perhaps the biggest customer for future drone deliveries is the United States Postal Service. Mail could be dropped at specific locations following the most efficient path instead of long and curving roads. Because drones don’t stop for lunch breaks, costs would be slashed.

AI drones offer exciting possibilities for security companies as well. They provide aerial views and tireless surveillance without extensive installation. Law enforcement agencies can benefit in particular. Drones could survey for crime or watch riotous crowds from above. It’s possible they could be fitted to eject crowd-dispersing agents like smoke grenades, elevating crowd control without placing officers or protestors in danger.

Plan for the Future

There are hundreds of potential uses for automated drones, and companies must keep up with future technology to stay competitive. Businesses from security to packaging can benefit, but that’s just the beginning. Smart entrepreneurs should consider specific ways drone technology—especially smart drones—can transform how they do business. AI-powered drones are likely the next step for digitally upgrading your business. Keep an eye on drone development and how it will affect the future of your business.

Photo Credit: Aerix Drones Flickr via Compfight cc


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Wednesday, 15 June 2011

7:20 Ripon (15th June) - Result

A very restricted median auction over 5f.

This looks a fine opportunity for Last Bid to gain her first win. Easterby's filly by Vital Equine has form to beat Superplex & Arachis Bow on recent Beverley running. These performances were all the more meritorious because Last Bid has been very slow from the stalls. A wide draw didn't help her cause but this youngster has ability to win a race at this lowly level. The major concern today is whether she will continue this slovenly trend. Even if slow away she could well run a big race but would be a force to be reckoned with if getting away on level terms. I would be tempted to bet in running because much bigger odds may be available if tardy away.

Superplex would seem to have his work cut out beating Last Bid if John Quinn's juvenile ran his race. There is a possibility this son of Multiplex disappointed because his second behind Cravat - beating a number of juveniles who have gone on to win - was respectable form. In addition, losing in a head-bob finish at Catterick may have indicated that point. There could be more to come.

Maltease Ah has shown ability at a limited level. On balance, her form doesn't look as strong as the above mentioned.

Wish Again may have claims for David Nicholls for the simple reason the stable has a fair place rate with their debutantes. If heavily backed it would be a positive. The downside is that in a race of such a restrictive nature proven form most often prevails.

Conclusion: ''Last Bid has strong claims, especially if starting on terms. That is the quandary.It is probably best to consider she will be a few lengths adrift and why much greater odds may be available in running. Even with such a tardy nature, I would give Easterby's bargain buy (800gns) the edge over the opposition. Superplex may have disappointed at Beverley when behind Last Bid but that is a matter for debate. Wish Again would have claims if substantially backed.''

HCE: ''Last Bid is learning with experience and gained her first win with a professional performance. Superplex was outclassed as seen at Beverley. The second and third have claims in a poor race but may be vulnerable.''

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Quarter-Final 3: Australia vs Pakistan Preview

Written by Rick John Henry for @HollywoodbetsFollow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!

Australia vs Pakistan | Friday 20 March | Adelaide | 05:30

The Australians touched down for preparation in Adelaide around the same time that Pakistan were booking their place in the knockout stage. The competitive streak that exists between these two cricketing giants will no doubt ensure a fascinating encounter. Unpredictable, erratic, schizophrenic. These are all words commonly used to describe Pakistan and the way that they go about the game. Often such monikers can inspire dread in opponents rather than confidence. Australia simply do not know which Pakistan will pitch up in Adelaide. They’ll be aware that if it is the same one that was practically breathing fire in their beating of South Africa, Australia will be in for a long evening.

To Win Match
Australia  1/4
Tie  35/1
Pakistan  32/10

It was not long ago that Australia were in the UAE, cruising to a 3-0 ODI series victory over their opponents. Admittedly Pakistan conspired to lose the final fixture from a relatively commanding position but the Australians were clearly the better side throughout the tour. The problem is that Pakistan are seriously dangerous. The consolation is that Pakistan are also a danger to themselves. Patience will be key for the Australian side in this knockout fixture, as Pakistan will always offer up chances for their opponents to get into the game. If the Australians take these opportunities they should have no problems disposing of their subcontinental counterparts and booking a place in the next round. Let such opportunities slip and it could well be a perilous afternoon for the home side.

The biggest positive for Australia is the amazing balance they have found within the side. An aggressive opening partnership, Warner at his belligerent best, gives way to cool-headed Steve Smith. Michael Clarke is another middle-order anchor. Shane Watson, orchestrating a resurgence in form at number five, gives way to Glenn Maxwell who is all firepower. James Faulkner appears after Brad Haddin and can provide a monumental upswing in momentum with his power-hitting. Bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc can also wield willow effectively. With the ball, Johnson is slowly starting to find his rhythm as a first-change while Starc has been a revelation bowling at the death. It is very tough to earmark a weakness in this Australian side. One might be tempted to view their batting collapse against New Zealand as a symptom of a greater problem, but every side is entitled to one blip on their way to a trophy. It seems unlikely such an abject performance with the bat will occur again.

In contrast, Pakistan’s weaknesses are laid out plainly for all to see. Their batting, especially when chasing, can be labelled shaky at best while they are often quite lacklustre in the field. Their bowling attack is a clear strong suit and if the fielders back that up, sides find it very tough to squeeze runs out of Pakistan. Bowling has always been Pakistan’s preference and it is the hope that Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali can dominate to the extent that it takes their nation all the way to the trophy. Due to the much spoken about new laws, the ability for sides to contain batsmen, especially at the death, has become severely limited. Pakistan have been quicker than most to realise that picking up wickets is the only way to stop sides motoring through the final fifteen overs and it is here than Pakistan’s death operators have excelled.

Mohammad Irfan will play no further part in the World Cup due to injury, which probably serves to uncomplicate the Pakistani selection process. Misbah-ul-Haq continues to play the rock in his side’s middle-order and his contribution, as always, will be vitally important. Pakistan will probably be ruing the decision to omit wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed in the opening matches due to his poor form in New Zealand. He is scoring runs at the top of the order and seems to possess the grit required to see him through difficult patches. In spite of all of Pakistan’s explosive game-changers they remain a dodgy unit precariously reliant on their bowling exploits. They could well be the end of road for cricket’s spirited nomads.

The Adelaide Oval will host this important knockout fixture, home ground advantage obviously suiting the Australian outfit. Pakistan have only ever beaten Australia once at the Adelaide Oval in their entire ODI history, way back in 1996. They lost to India at the ground in their opening World Cup match but recovered to cruise to victory against Ireland most recently. The weather is unlikely to disturb proceedings.

VERDICT: Australia 1/4
Australia are resounding favourites and I can’t help but feel that it will take something monumental to stop them from going all the way to the final. Pakistan definitely possess a truly unpredictable quality, capable of the sublime one minute and the atrocious the next. While World Cup knockout matches can indeed be decided on individual performances, the Australians seem more likely to keep their nerve.

Bet on this match now at Hollywoodbets.net! Haven’t got an account? Open one here now.


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April 16, 2013

Office 365: Have to press "Sign In" twice to log in with new login UX

If you're using 3rd party password manager application, such as LastPass, you might run into issue where you need to press "Sign In" button twice in order to log in.

  1. Type in username + password
  2. Press "Sign In"
  3. You see the progress indicator flash beneath the user name text box shortly, but nothing else happens
  4. You press "Sign In" the second time
  5. You get authenticated and logged in

This is due to new ADFS improvement made in the new Login UX. The improvement is great for ADFS users as it verifies the user name field automatically when focus moves away from the user name box, BUT for us password add-on users it will cause nasty side effect of having to hit Sign In twice. This is because user name validation javascript is not run when password manager injects username and password to the form.

Keep pressing that Sign In until you're in.

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Archive | March 2015

Avotaynu Online is here!

Adam Brown

Adam Brown

Exciting news for Jewish genealogists is the launch of Avotaynu Online, a free online resource that includes all articles from 2007–2011 published in the print and PDF version of AVOTAYNU, the International Review of Jewish Genealogy, a magazine many subscribe to.

The principal architect of this new online resource is Adam Brown, the founder of the Jewish DNA Project at Family Tree DNA and a curator at

Their press release describes it as:

A new venture intended to stimulate collaboration among Jewish genealogists in all its forms, including conferences and meetings, DNA studies, online family trees, social networking, the development of genealogical standards suitable for the Internet age, and developments in related fields (i.e., history, law, computer science) that have an impact on Jewish genealogy. Leading participants in these areas will provide in-depth reports on events and discoveries on a regular basis.

I was very pleased to see all the articles about Jewish DNA; perhaps I will report on them in another blog post once I have read them all:

Continue reading

Y haplogroup humor

Esto’s cartoons often really hit the spot. This one really reminds me of my husband and myself.

Geneapalooza Male Line

Cartoon by Esto Frigus of Geneapalooza, used by permission

When I told my 98% Ashkenazi husband that his Y-DNA haplogroup (E1a1 aka E-M44) probably originated in Timbuktu, he started dancing around the room shouting “I am black!”

Continue reading

Using your DNA test results: the Basics for Genealogists

How do you use autosomal DNA testing to enhance your genealogical research without having to take a PhD level course? This is a question several of my cousins have asked me, so here is my attempt to answer.

Chromosome Map of Kitty’s Closest Matches using her segment mapper tool

  • First of all, get as many relatives to test as you can. The more data you have, the easier it is to make useful comparisons and sort new DNA relatives into their related family lines. The closer family members shown in my chromosome map above are all cousins I convinced to test.
  • Secondly, make sure you know how to use a spreadsheet: sorting, deleting rows, inserting columns; you only need to know the easy stuff.
  • Third, check your understanding of how DNA works. Perhaps read my basics page – – and follow up with whichever lessons, books or videos appeal to you among those that I suggest or that you find listed in the ISOGG wiki –
    Also lots of beginner questions are answered in the FAQ I keep for the DNA-NEWBIES mailing list on yahoo; a copy is on this blog – – so check there when something is confusing.
  • Fourth, bookmark a page with an explanation of all the acronyms – this is a good one: – a key term is cM. You do not need to understand the definition of a centimorgan (cM), hardly anyone does; just accept that it is the best measure of the importance of a DNA match, the larger the better.

Now to the practical application of all this, using shared DNA segment data to find relatives, preferably those 3rd and 4th cousins that your family no longer knows of. Click on success stories on this blog to read about some of the cousins I have found with DNA.

When people are shown as matches to you or your relatives, the testing company will make a guess as to how closely related they are. Beyond 3rd cousins, it is not possible for them to make an accurate estimate because of the random nature of DNA inheritance.

Continue reading

I am traveling to Norway in June

Excitement! I am visiting Norway with a cousin from June 18-26 to walk where our ancestors walked. Any Norwegian cousins I have not already contacted please get in touch if you want to meet up! I will put my exact travel plans, as they develop, at the end of this post: roughly Bergen to Etne to Bergen to Oslo to Drammen to Kristiansand …

Pastures on ancestral farms, photo by John Quinn 2010

I visited Norway in the 1980s. I went to Stavanger for a tournament and I had no idea where my ancestors had lived nor did I think much about it, other than announcing proudly to my hostess that I was descended from King Harald the Finehair, according to a cousin’s research. She gave me a funny look.

Now I know that everyone in Norway is probably descended from that king who lived in 850 A.D. Various mathematicians have proven this concept (see my blog post on how many ancestors for more on that). Since Norway lost about 2/3 of its population to plague in the 1300s, I would guess that everyone who survived that, and has descendants, is an ancestor to all of us of Norwegian descent.

However after almost 20 years of doing family history research, I have learned a great deal about the farms my ancestors lived on and the lives they must have lived. Norway has these wonderful local history books, called bygedebuks, and often referred to as “farm books” which tell you much about the farm as well as everyone who lived there and how they are related. So I am making an itinerary which includes many of our ancestral farms.

Also I was lucky to have ancestors who liked to write, so I have many family stories preserved on my family history site at – one of my favorites is my grandad’s story of their immigration trip from Kristiansand to Brooklyn, NY.
Continue reading

Lets All Help Collect DNA Statistics

The DNA relationship statistics listed at ISOGG are invaluable for figuring out how you are related to new DNA relatives. This diagram shown there is a big help too:

DNA relatedness cousin tree courtesy Dimario, Wikimedia Commons

DNA relatedness cousin tree courtesy Dimario, Wikimedia Commons

More statistics would be even better so I am delighted to make the following request.

Genetic genealogicist Blaine Bettinger has decided to collect cM numbers for known close relationships from all of us who have tested. Read about it on his blog and then contribute yours. He wants family statistics out to 3rd cousins.

Blaine explains how easy to provide those numbers if you are tested at Family Tree DNA, but 23andme includes the X in their totals which skews the results. Plus they include segments smaller than 7cM which is not what Blaine wants. So I decided to make a step-by-step how-to for 23andme statistics collection.

Better is if your 23andme or tested family members are all uploaded to Then you can easily get the statistics there. Just run the one-to-many with the normal default of 7cM for each family kit and look in the columns Total cM and largest cM under Autosomal.

Continue reading


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Blade Show 2008 NEWS!

Our agent at the Blade show has returned and finally gotten around to writing out some of the news he found there. Here goes!

Ranger Knives has been bought by Ontario. Delivery will be more
consistent. Look for new models and new variations after the dust
settles. Stock my be hard to get on core products for the next 60 days.

Look for a new video on the history of the puukko from Kellum. We
should have it in stock within a couple weeks.

SOG will be introducing a new smaller version of the access card in
August–in will be available in black as well as a stainless finish.

Surefire has introduced a tactical pen–in a twist top style as
opposed to capped–which will be available in July we are told.

We hope to have a line of US made forged shears and scissors by the
middle of summer

Queen is launching a new collaborative series with Joe Pardue called
“Grass Roots”. The first one is due in July.

Canal Street has a “Half Moon Trapper” due some time this summer.

United is back in action, with dozens of new items due over the next
several months. From functional to fantasy, and at all price points,
it will be some exciting new products.

Spyderco has come up with a ceramic version of the Duck Foot
sharpener. It is not cheap, our selling price will be about $200,
but it is impressive in its versatile usefulness.

There will be a new small Mim Spyderfly from Spyderco–stay tuned for
more details about this. Also the trainer version of the G10 small
fly is landing in our building this week.

Kershaw previewed their OD-1 Flipper knife that has a cool, but
complicated, mechanism. it has G10 on one side of the handle, and
stainless steel on the other.
They are also introducing another new flipper knife called the Zing–
it will be available in orange and black, and is designed by RJ
Martin. No good delivery information at this time on either of these

Kershaw will have a black version of the RAM available sooner than
later. They will also introduce a new Ken Onion knife called the Rat
Pack.. It has a nice swell to the handle, and fits your hand nicely.

Lastly, Kershaw previewed a knife tentatively called the Cadre. It
uses amazing 3-D design technology and over-the-top materials. If it
gets made it will be limited in qty and high in price–both figures
in the 4-500 range.

German made Boker will go up about 5 percent in late summer so if you
are eyeing a knife from them, better not dally.

Bradley knife company will produce an automatic version of their
Alias in the next few weeks. As with all there other products, it
will be built by Benchmade.

Microtech torx tools will finally be available shortly. They will
not be cheap, and it will be a limited time of availability.

Becker Knife & Tool will finally be available this fall from KaBar.
Look for products to be released in the following order: #11, #2,
#9, #7, #3, and at some point a carbon san mai version of the #11.

KaBar will also produce a stacked leather handle version of their
popular tanto model. It will be available in both plain and part
serrated, and should be out in 30 days.

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The missing melancholy of Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049, like many modern reboots or sequel to popular 80-90’s movies, misses the mark spectacularly by failing to identify what made the original great, and ends up being all form and no substance.

Since the turn of the XXIst century, there is an ongoing movement to either produce remakes, reboots or sequels to popular movies produced in the 80’s and 90’s. Tron, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters and Star Wars are only a few names in a list so long that apparently nobody took the time to make it. Its prevalence in the current cinema landscape doesn’t mean its a sure way of turning a profit though, there have been some hits and misses, whether directors try to stick to the original material or to interpret the existing universes more liberally.

Blade Runner 2049, for example, is the perfect example of a modern production team that wanted to stick to the original’s guns, but failed to identify the secret ingredient that made the original Blade Runner movie so popular. When I went to see Blade Runner 2048, my only memory of Blade Runner was an image of the apartment with creepy automatons and dolls, bathed in fog and diffuse light. It was an unsettling image, but not necessarily a negative one, as in my mind it was peaceful.

With loud horns blaring and almost non-stop violence, Blade Runner 2049 seemed so far off the mark of my memory of Blade Runner that I started doubting myself. To get to the bottom of my memory, I watched the original again just to be sure. And then it hit me. Blade Runner wasn’t really about flying cars, police work nor combat. It was about what makes us human and the unfairness of the Replicants’ artificially low lifespan and the melancholy and violence that results.

Before watching the original, Blade Runner 2049‘s initial plot was weak at best. Limited-lifespan Replicants were deemed dangerous enough to get banned, prompting the creation of the Blade Runners but somehow a company was able to manufacture more of them, and with no artificially limited lifespan to boot. This isn’t that far fetched if it was real life but in the contained fictional environment of the Blade Runner universe set by the first movie, it seems like a stretch. After watching Blade Runner again, it looks like a huge plot mistake. Indeed, the limited lifespan is what triggered the four original Replicants to embark on a journey back to their creator, ultimately giving a powerful and classic Oedipal image of a father killed by his own offspring and prompting Roy to poetically muse about the value of his experiences at the apex of what looked like a one-sided chase.

Instead, Blade Runner 2049 went for the more traditional messiah trope and an utterly useless goose chase. This actually leaves the messianism for an ulterior movie while failing to make it desired as the main character seeming self-discovery is simply wasted. Most of the tension in the original movie was created by the imbalance between the frail human Blade Runner with open-ended lifespan and the superior Replicants with limited lifespan, whether it is between Deckard and Roy or Deckard and Rachael. This is quickly dissipated from the new movie past the first few minutes when we learn that Officer K is himself a Replicant.

While watching Blade Runner 2049 I was thinking it was a mistake to give a Blade Runner role to professional emotionless actor Ryan Gosling, but in hindsight this isn’t a casting mistake, but yet another character writing one. The first movie initially presented Replicants as disposable labor or worse, a ruthless threat, but then proceeds to feature stoic humans and emotional Replicants, interestingly turning the prejudice on its head. Nothing of the sort happens in Blade Runner 2049 as we finally learn that the whole investigation into Officer K’s past was for nothing.

This cruel lack of melancholy is also reflected in the new title’s original soundtrack composition. Hans Zimmer himself seems to me like a more conservative pick than Vangelis back in 1982, and it shows in the result. Blade Runner 2049 features a polished soundtrack with powerful and oppressive synth strings across the board, while the original Blade Runner soundtrack feels more experimental, with the use of saxophone that brings the melancholy notes that sorely lacks both in the recent movie, including its soundtrack.

To conclude, Blade Runner 2049 has many plot holes on its own, but what really makes it a failure in my mind is the radical change of tone between the two movies. Never mind the flying cars, the neon signs and the constant rain that actually had a purpose in the first movie in one of the most striking scene, it’s the missing melancholy that buries Blade Runner 2049 as a failed sequel.

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Human Journey

June 8, 2014: Diving From 90 Feet Above Havana Bay, Free the Dancing Bears and More

Former Olympian Blake Aldridge dives from a 90 foot platform above Cuba’s Havana Bay. He says that even though he’s been diving his whole life, hitting the water still hurts. (Photo courtesy Red Bull Cliff Diving)

Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend.

Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend on radio, or listen below!

Hour 1

– Pat Farmer ran 13,000 miles pole-to-pole in 2011, from the north to the south, averaging two marathons per day, without a day off. He regularly had to run more than 70 miles per day through Central and South America to make up for lost time in the Arctic. The jaw-dropping feat is something that most people couldn’t fathom; yet Farmer, a former member of Australia’s House of Representatives, refers to his most recent Middle East Peace Run as his “greatest accomplishment.” Farmer explains that the 900-mile run through Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine brought people of different religions and cultures together through their common enthusiasm for sports. While the run wasn’t without tense moments, Farmer says that the goals of finding common ground across national and religious borders were fruitful and successful. Listen here.

– Domesticated dogs have evolved with humans as their caretakers, earning their keep by offering protection, loyalty and companionship. These characteristics also make them ideal soldiers in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. And sometimes dogs provide comfort to families when soldiers don’t come home. Christy Ullrich Barcus tells of one family’s struggle to cope with the death of their son and brother and how Eli, his retired service dog, provided comfort to all of them. The June 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine features many services that “The Dogs of War” provide on the battlefield. Listen here.

– Spring is a season of romance for many animals. Famously birds and bees bring babies into the world, but Whitney Friedman studies how dolphins do so as well. The National Geographic Young Explorer studies the dynamics of male bands of dolphins in Australia’s Shark Bay as they try to woo female dolphins into mating through coordinated leap displays and other methods. Listen here.

– Across the United States, the number of people commuting to work by bicycle is slowly, but steadily growing. But the carbon-free, traffic reducing commuting option is often coupled with dodging cars who drive without much concern for their safety. Robert Kotch, owner ofBreakaway Courier Systems, a Manhattan-based company that runs bike messengers across New York City says that it is possible to ride for years in high-traffic areas for years without getting hit by a car. Kotch shares some of his time-tested tips to help commuters get to work safely, if a little sweatier than their four-wheeled peers. Listen here.

– Camping is a good way to escape the crush of the city, in exchange of forgoing some of the creature comforts of home. But National Geographic gear guru Steve Casimiro has tips to enjoy the outdoors safely and comfortably with some important tools, like a fuel free LED lanterna bike helmet that allows more air flow but provides better protection and “magical” knee protection. Listen here.

Hour 2
– Not all diving boards are created equal. The Olympic 33-foot high dive might be daunting to non-divers, but Blake Aldridge has learned through personal pain that water feels significantly harder when it’s being approached from a 90-foot cliff. The British diver won the year’s first event of Red Bull’s Cliff Diving World Series in Cuba and explains that it was a large adjustment to triple his diving height. Aldridge also disagrees with Boyd that colliding with the water might be easier if divers wore baggy swim trunks, rather than their skimpy Speedo suits. The Series’ second event is June 7 in Forth Worth, Texas. Listen here.
– Scouring the ocean’s depths for something recently lost is difficult enough, as was learned this past spring when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing; with that in mind, locating a wrecked ship that sunk nearly 500 years ago can seem much more daunting. Richard Lundgren spent 20 years searching the Baltic Sea’s frigid depths for the legendary Swedish war ship, Mars. With perspective from historian Johan Ronnby, they confirmed the ship’s location. The divers explain how they dove to the bottom of the Baltic to confirm their finding and how they hope to honor the legendary ship’s legacy. Listen here.
– As the economists and ecologists ponder the world’s booming population and the increasingly high-protein dietary demands of the developing world, one of the most pressing questions of humanity’s future remains, “How will we feed everybody?” In the June 2014 issue of National Geographic magazineJoel Bourne looks at aquaculture’s role in the planet’s food future. Bourne explains that large fish pens in the open ocean could provide healthy, clean fish for millions, but that the cost could potentially be prohibitive, when compared with the lower quality fish mills in rivers closer to land. Listen here.
Sloth bear cubs are stolen from their mothers when they're young and raised by poor communities to be "dancing bears" for tourists. That practice has now ended by providing financial and educational opportunities to uplift them from their poverty. (photo courtesy of Wildlife SOS)
Sloth bear cubs are stolen from their mothers when they’re young and raised by poor communities to be “dancing bears” for tourists. That practice has now ended by providing financial and educational opportunities to uplift them from their poverty. (photo courtesy of Wildlife SOS)
– The best conservation programs strike a delicate balance between condemning a practice that abuses and endangers animals, but doesn’t leave people hungry or without an income. Kartick Satyanarayanco-founder of Wildlife SOS, shares the story of one of his group’s biggest conservation successes when they were able to wean a small community off the brutal practice of creating “dancing bears” for tourism that was endangering local sloth bear populations. Satyanarayan’s group offered financial and educational inducements to help the group create a conservation-based economy around saving the bears they once abused. Satyanarayan explains that he hopes to replicate the model in similar communities. Listen here.
– In this week’s Wild Chronicles segment, Boyd shares the story of a recent scuba diving trip to Anguilla. Boyd, who is decidedly a non-beginner diver, made a classic beginner mistake by becoming too enthralled with a ship sunk 85-feet below the ocean’s surface. He explains the series of events that led him to the surface, hoping he didn’t get decompression sickness. Listen here.
Justin O'Neill produces the weekly radio program National Geographic Weekend with host Boyd Matson. Check it out on on SiriusXM satellite radio (XM channel 133 Sundays at noon), subscribe to the iTunes podcast, or stream it directly to your smartphone with Stitcher Radio.

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Oregon Homeless Resources: Housing, Medical, Food, etc.

The Street Roots newspaper has an excellent print insert of local resources. That directory is now online, at the Rose City Resource website. We know how much work is involved compiling such a a list and we thank them for it.

Other social service resources for people without shelter:

1) Local non-profit directories: IIn Washington County we have this terrific Community Action site. Call your own 211 service or your public library for your local referrals.

2) 211 Info (web) or telephone lines:

Dial 2-1-1

All 2-1-1 phone lines open Monday-Friday 8am-6pm

If 2-1-1 does not yet work from your phone, the phone lines below will access 2-1-1 services Monday-Friday 8am-5pm:

Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties

SW Washington: Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania and Wahkiakum Counties

Crook County: 1-866-441-6435

Deschutes County: 1-866-442-0954

Jefferson County: 1-866-443-5863

Yamhill County: 1-866-698-6153


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25 March 2011

Patent Reform Exposed Part V – Support

Failure of support - Tacoma
Narrows bridge
In our previous article on IP Australia’s proposed reforms (before we were distracted by Ministerial announcements) we looked at the UK/European-style enablement provision in the reform Bill, and suggested that the US law might provide a better model.  At the very least, when the US Act intends to make ‘enablement’ a requirement for a valid patent, it at least uses the word ‘enable’!

We also suggested that if the intention is to require enablement commensurate with the scope of the claims, the legislation should say so.  In other jurisdictions this result has only been achieved through the development of a body of case law, and IP Australia’s hope that this will somehow be magically imported could well be misplaced.

The reason for recapping our main points on enablement is that the subject of this article – the requirement for claims to be ‘supported’ by the description – is one that even IP Australia concedes involves some overlap with enablement, as well as with inventive step.  We question whether this conflation of distinct requirements for a valid patent is useful or productive.

But, to get to the point, IP Australia is proposing to abolish the ‘fair basis’ requirement of subsection 40(3), and replace it with a requirement that ‘the claim or claims must be … supported by matter disclosed in the specification’.

The leading authority on the Australian law of fair basis is the High Court’s decision in Lockwood Security v Doric Products [2004] HCA 58.  Essentially, fair basis requires that the scope of the claims be consistent with ‘what the body of the specification read as a whole discloses as the invention’ (at [99]).

Notably, fair basis is quite distinct from other requirements under the Patents Act 1990 (a point that the Lockwood High Court was at pains to emphasise, at paragraphs [46]-[49]).  For example, a specification might include claims that are not enabled, in the current sense that there is no description of even a single embodiment in sufficient detail to enable a person skilled in the relevant art to put the invention into pactice.  Yet the claims may still be fairly-based, if the description makes quite clear what the inventor considers the invention to be, and the claims are consistent with this.

The concept of ‘support’, as it is understood in the European context, and proposed by IP Australia to be adopted here, is somewhat different.  In particular, in addition to requiring that there be appropriate ‘basis’ in the description for each claim, ‘support’ requires that the scope of the claim not exceed that which is justified by the extent of the disclosure and the technical contribution to the art that the inventor has made.

This concept of ‘support’ therefore overlaps with enablement and inventive step, the latter being so because it is not possible to assess the extent of the inventor’s ‘technical contribution to the art’ without looking at the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art.  In essence, the greater the inventive step achieved by the inventor, the broader will be the claims that might legitimately be ‘supported’ by the disclosure.

We confess that we find the interdependency between various grounds of invalidity under the European patent law to be frustrating and confusing.  In particular, the focus on ‘technical contribution’ in Europe stems from the very definition of an invention under the European Patent Convention (EPC), and crops up not only in the evaluation of ‘support’, but also in other contexts such as the assessment of whether or not a claim falls within one of the specific exclusions in the EPC (e.g. a computer program ‘as such’).

We do not really wish to see a similar regime introduced into the Australian law, and we think that there is much to be said for maintaining distinct and exclusive roles for each requirement under the Patents Act, as advocated by the Lockwood High Court.

Having said that, the current situation is clearly problematic, in that there is a gaping hole between the existing ‘enablement’ and ‘fair basis’ requirements that can be exploited by patentees to (as Lord Hoffman expressed it in the UK decision on Biogen v Medeva [1996] UKHL 18, at [75]) ‘stifle further research and healthy competition by allowing the first person who has found a way of achieving an obviously desirable goal to monopolise every other way of doing so’.  This can be achieved under the current law by enabling a single embodiment, while making broad statements (for example using functional language) about the overall scope of the invention.  Lockwood is, arguably, a case in point.

However, we wonder whether a strengthened enablement requirement might be sufficient in itself to close the hole, without necessarily creating new overlaps and interdependencies between distinct requirements for patentability?

All jurisdictions seem to struggle to some degree with the issue of how broadly an inventor might be permitted to claim.  It is generally agreed that claims should not be necessarily limited to the embodiment(s) disclosed in the specification, but that inventors are nonetheless under an obligation to  make clear and credible  statements supporting the scope of the monopoly to which they consider themselves entitled.  Often, a greater technical advance will entitle the inventor to claim a wider monopoly, however we would think that this principle can be implemented as an aspect of enablement, e.g. disclosure of significant advances that underlie the practical development of new technical fields will necessarily enable claims of broader scope.  A reasonable approach to enablement should not be inflexible in this regard.

In the Draft Explanatory Memorandum, IP Australia suggests that harmonisation of the Australian law with overseas jurisdictions’ requirements will reduce complexity and uncertainty for applicants seeking patent protection internationally.  But introducing a European-style ‘support’ requirement will not harmonise Australian law with the US ‘written description’ requirement, or with Canadian law.  Coincidentally (or perhaps not), the New Zealand Commerce Committee recommended identical amendments to ‘enablement’ and ‘support’ requirements (in clause 37 of the new Patents Bill) to those currently proposed by IP Australia.  However, harmonisation with UK and New Zealand law may be illusory, because there is no guarantee that the courts will interpret the same words in the same way in each jurisdiction.

Overall, we cannot see what is so great about the European approach to ‘support’ that Australia should wish to adopt it.  The requirement to assess ‘merit’ or ‘technical contribution’ of the claimed invention in order to assess ‘support’ for the claims complicates the analysis, and if anything increases uncertainty.

There is certainly room for improvement, but strengthening the enablement requirement will go a long way to solving existing problems.  We fear that the ‘support cure’ may be worse than the ‘fair basis disease’!

Mike Biagio said...

Perhaps they should state it more specifically in that there should be an enabling disclosure of how the invention works, AND support for the broader scope of the invention as well (i.e. different embodiments and alternatives, as well as actual broad langage used).

Patentology (Mark Summerfield) said...

Thanks for your comment, Mike. The idea seems to be that what you are suggesting will be covered by the combination of the new 'support' requirement, and the 'expanded' enablement requirement. Whether the use of the European/UK language is enough to import all of the corresponding principles seems doubtful, and this is not necessarily desirable anyway (even if IP Australia thinks so).

As a Kiwi, you will probably want to keep a close eye on this, because when your Commerce Committee got its hands on the NZ Patent Bill last year, one of the amendments it made was to intriduce the same language to the disclosure/enablement and fair basis/support provisions in subclauses 37(1) and (2).

Given recent announcements regarding trans-Tasman cooperation, a suspicious person might see the long arm of IP Australia at work in these changes! Or we could take the Committee's explanation at face value, and accept that it simply decided, of its own volition, to copy the UK Patents Act 1977.

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Power Distribution and Management

IEC 60947-2 the “all-risk” insurance for circuit breakers – Part 2

IEC 60947-2 obviates risk and ensures safety and reliability. Its requirements have grown in number to keep pace with evolving technologies and reliability needs of electrical distribution.

COM-POWER-CH19ENCircuit breaker categories A and B

The standard sets out two main circuit breaker selectivity categories: A and B.
Category A: These circuit breakers are typically miniature circuit breakers (MCB) and molded case circuit breakers (MCCBs). They operate at the socket outlet end of final distribution. In the event of a short circuit they trip immediately.
Category B: These circuit breakers have withstand breaking capability. They don’t necessarily trip in the event of a short circuit, which allows downstream circuit breakers to switch off. Their place is in incoming switchboards.

Icu and Ics: essential to operational reliability

Across both categories, circuit breakers must deliver reliability. The two IEC 60947-2 requirements which ensure that reliability are:
• Ultimate breaking capacity (Icu)
• Service breaking capacity (Ics)
Icu is the maximum short-circuit current that a circuit breaker can break without damage. That maximum might be 6,000 or 10,000 amps. Or when it comes to MCCBs, as high as 200kamps. However, in a sense, Icu is essentially as statement of quality for a specific voltage rating.
And that’s where Ics comes in. It is expressed as a percentage ratio of Icu and tells you the maximum short-circuit current if a circuit breaker can break three times and still resume normal service. The higher the lcs, the more reliable the circuit breaker.

Suitability for isolation: seeing is believing

Among the requirements that must be visible even on an installed circuit breaker is suitability for visible isolation. It is particularly important. If a circuit breaker is turned off, it should indicate so visibly. It should not be able to indicate otherwise if the contacts are not open. In other words, it offers proof of isolation.

Positive contact indication. The independent mechanism (green strip) shows if the circuit is fully isolated

Positive contact indication. The independent mechanism (green strip) shows if the circuit is fully isolated

Pollution degrees: should be in all specifications

A requirement that I think is particularly important point and is not often found in general specs is degree of pollution. It determines in what kind of environment circuit breakers can be installed. In a building where there is no dust no humidity, the circuit breaker is comfortable. But in an outdoor public installation, for example, or manufacturing facility there’ll be dust. It might cause leakage currents, affect electrical properties, and lead to dangerous arcs.
I say a useful rule of thumb for household applications it that devices should be pollution degree 2. In my opinion, it’s the right degree for low-pollution non-conductive applications. For more heavy-duty applications, like incoming switchboards for utilities and factories, pollution degree 3 is mandatory. It means circuit breakers withstand conductive pollution dust, humidity, you name it.

Conformity assessment and certification, independent and indispensable
IEC 60947-2 sets out many more requirements. I’ll be running through them in Part 3. But there’s a point I’d like to emphasise first.
It is that all circuit breakers should be conformity assessed and certified compliant in independent, highly reputed third-party laboratories. The standard actually sets the conformity tests – very close to operating conditions – that circuit breakers should undergo.

> See IEC 60947-2 the “all-risk” insurance for circuit breakers – Part 1

> See IEC 60947-2 the “all-risk” insurance for circuit breakers – Part 3

11 Responses
  1. Sunil Kr Dalakoti

    Nice. But I would like to know about Icw mentioned along with two other rating described above. Also the risk assement w.r.t. temp. rise during fault condition?

    • Vladislav Tverdochleb Vladislav Tverdochleb

      Hello dear Sunil Kr Dalakoti,
      The Icw, is the short time withstand current characteristic, used in B selectivity category barkers. Usually it is air circuit breakers with nominal current 800-6300A. The Icw is the prospective current during trip delay of circuit breaker without repulsion of contacts. The time delay set in this type circuit breakers is usually given between of 0,05 to 1 second.
      More details on the point of the Icw you can find by following links:

  2. Abdul Whab

    Dear i have a bit more confusion about Ics (service rated capacity). Can you please elaborate more?

    • Vladislav Tverdochleb Vladislav Tverdochleb

      Dear Abdul, let me be short:
      For the Icu (ultimate SC breaking capacity) the test sequence of operations is O – t – CO (one trip with prospective short circuit value).
      For the Ics (service SC breaking capacity) the test sequence of operations is O – t – CO – t – CO.
      Isc is usually expressed as value of prospective breaking current in percentages (25%,50%, 75%, 100%) of Icu. For example:
      If Ics = 15kA and Ics=100% Icu, it means that device can break ultimate short circuit 15kA more than one time.
      If Ics = 15kA and Ics=75% Icu, it means that device can break without damage 15kA and more than one time if short circuit value is approx. 10kA.
      As higher percentage, as more reliable device to withstand short circuits.

  3. Abdul Whab

    —–> it means at 75% of Icu the device will protect only once the max 15KA short circuit and after that the breaking capacity of the device will reduce to 75% Icu till the end of life.
    —–> how we will calculate the Icm value of a particular circuit breaker and why this value not written on the circuit breaker? what is the reletion of Icm with the power factor?

    • Vladislav Tverdochleb Vladislav Tverdochleb

      Dear Abdul,
      1. It means that MCB can disconnect circuit @15kA at least once and will be suitable for further use and @10kA at least 3 times and also remain suitable for use. Usually CB’s can withstand more breaking circles and designers (specifiers) shall keep the safety margin for breaking capacity of the breaker vs estimated short circuit.
      2. Icm (short circuit making capacity – when CB is closing in short circuit conditions) according standard shall be not less than Icu and multiplied by coefficient (n) linked to power factor, e.g.:
      PF=0,7 => n=1,5
      PF=0,5 =>n=1,7, ect.

  4. Abdul karim

    as per the article above, if I have a LV switchgear with fault level of 44KA for 3 sec, what will be the Icu of outgoing MCCB.
    I proposed to have MCCB with 50KA Icu & Ics , however, the consultant is asking to have 85KA since he considered the 50KA as Icw & he converted the 44KA/3Sec to 85KA/1sec.
    I advised him that MCCB don’t have Icw ( it is only for Cat B-ACB incomer) and 50KA Icu & Ics of MCCB will be enough to break the circuit with 44KA without damage

    kindly advise who is right

    • Ugrase Vishawakrma

      Icw : short circuit withstand current,
      Icw can be used in incomer section and wherever need discrimination in system because incomer handling whole distribution network, if short circuit occur in downstream that time incomer should not be tripped. Where short circuit happened that circuit breaker should be tripped.

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Google: the effects of personalized search are very light

On Twitter, Google’s Danny Sullivan said that personalized search does not change the search results very much. The location from which you search and the language in which you search matter much more:

The Ranking Monitor in SEOprofiler enables you to find out how your website is listed in different regions. You can create your SEOprofiler account here:

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Johannes Selbach

Johannes Selbach is the CEO of SEOprofiler. He blogs about search engine optimization and website marketing topics at "".


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Designing spaces for today’s high-tech hobos

Image courtesy of Office Snapshots

Image courtesy of Office Snapshots

One of my favorite sessions from last month’s South by Southwest interactive conference was “The Productive Workplace: UX, Technology & You”. The panel included UX designers, workplace architects and an MIT technologist, all talking about how to improve today’s workspaces.

In the past few months, I’ve read a number of articles bemoaning the cubicle, or, as our own Barclay Pollak put it:

Do you know why I enjoy working from home or remotely? I’m not confined to my cube! Everyday 60 percent of Americans go to work and spend eight hours in a box. It shouldn’t come as a big shock that 93 percent of workers despise cubicles according to Yahoo! Finance. Nikal Saval, author of the book “Cubed” says the cubicle, “connotes dread, hatred, the terrible white collar life.”

But I’ve read just as many articles pointing out the shortcomings of the open-office environment:

Despite its obvious problems, the open-office model has continued to encroach on workers across the country. Now, about 70 percent of U.S. offices have no or low partitions, according to the International Facility Management Association. Silicon Valley has been the leader in bringing down the dividers. Google, Yahoo, eBay, Goldman Sachs and American Express are all adherents. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg enlisted famed architect Frank Gehry to design the largest open floor plan in the world, housing nearly 3,000 engineers. And as a businessman, Michael Bloomberg was an early adopter of the open-space trend, saying it promoted transparency and fairness. He famously carried the model into city hall when he became mayor of New York, making “the Bullpen” a symbol of open communication and accessibility to the city’s chief.

These new floor plans are ideal for maximizing a company’s space while minimizing costs. Bosses love the ability to keep a closer eye on their employees, ensuring clandestine porn-watching, constant social media-browsing and unlimited personal cellphone use isn’t occupying billing hours. But employers are getting a false sense of improved productivity. A 2013 study found that many workers in open offices are frustrated by distractions that lead to poorer work performance. Nearly half of the surveyed workers in open offices said the lack of sound privacy was a significant problem for them and more than 30 percent complained about the lack of visual privacy. Meanwhile, “ease of interaction” with colleagues — the problem that open offices profess to fix — was cited as a problem by fewer than 10 percent of workers in any type of office setting. In fact, those with private offices were least likely to identify their ability to communicate with colleagues as an issue. In a previous study, researchers concluded that “the loss of productivity due to noise distraction … was doubled in open-plan offices compared to private offices.”

So what’s the right answer? With more and more people telecommuting at least part of the time, the fact is that top talent now chooses to come into the office and that very flexibility is one of the key perks to increase employee retention. Office spaces need to be designed so that people don’t just want to come to the office, but also so that they can be productive when they need to come to the office.

A recent Harvard Business Review article highlights the link between workspaces and employee satisfaction:

At the global commercial real estate services firm CBRE’s new office in Los Angeles, there are no assigned offices or workspaces; instead, employees can choose from 15 different space typologies based on their activities and needs each day (from collaboration rooms, to comfy couches, to acoustically-treated, single-person glass enclaves.) To encourage this mobility and flexibility, CBRE provided employees with work-from-anywhere mobile technology and created a paperless office environment by digitizing almost all paper files. The firm literally and figuratively brought the walls down to encourage collaboration across divisions, increase productivity, and enable their employees to work in a whole new way.

Workplace choice is just one part of a broader culture of autonomy. With the support of organizational policy, and the right alignment of tools and technology to optimize productivity, it allows workers to optimize their own job performance, leaving them more satisfied, motivated, and creative – exactly the sort of employees you need to deliver high performance.

What I like most about the CBRE example is their idea of mobility and flexibility. It’s not just about working from home. Real talk here: most of us can’t always work from home. But we can redefine remote work. It doesn’t have to mean working from across town, sometimes it just means the ability to work from across the office. With VoIP technology, powerful laptops and high-speed internet, we’re not tethered to our desks anymore. We’re high-tech hobos, who can, and should, pick up and move to whatever space is most conducive to the kind of work we’re trying to accomplish at that moment. Designing our workspaces around that kind of flexibility is a key element of employee satisfaction and productivity.

About Kris Prusynski

Kris works on the Commercial Marketing team at TDS Telecom and helps TDS achieve their online objectives through digital marketing and website optimization. She has worked in the digital marketing space for over 15 years, in product categories as diverse as shoes, banking, beds and pig farming supplies (really!). Kris has both undergraduate degrees and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and therefore bleeds Badger red. She’s a veteran blogger on topics ranging from digital marketing to Wisconsin fish frys to the sweet necessity of ugly office sweaters. Nowadays, you’re more likely to find her on Twitter or Google+ trying to decipher the mysteries of A Song of Ice and Fire. In her spare time, you can find Kris kayaking, hanging out at the dog park, or thinking about lawn care.

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One Response to Designing spaces for today’s high-tech hobos

  1. Russell Conner November 5, 2015 at 11:41 am #

    As an introvert, I find the office experience distracting and unproductive.
    The constant random interruptions while trying to do complex tasks or analyze complex problems makes working at home priceless.

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Data are becoming the new raw material of business
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Last year, for the first time, Akamai saw more than 50% of holiday traffic from mobile devices during certain periods of the day.  This trend will undoubtedly continue as shoppers embrace multi-channel experiences while accessing content from different devices at different times of the day.  Akamai's Real User Monitoring (RUM) provides retailers with a detailed understanding of the actual page load time visitors experience across the myriad of devices and networks.  Akamai Ion provides the fastest acceleration for content accessed on all types of devices and networks including the unique challenges of responsive web design, congested cellular networks and those pesky API calls which slow down the mobile app experience.

Is HTTP/2 worth the performance price of TLS?

HTTP/2 (h2) is incredibly exciting: The first major rev to HTTP in 15 years, focused on modern web development, performance minded, etc., etc.  But one thing that has people looking at it with trepidation is that to use it you effectively need to move your site over to TLS (i.e. HTTPS).  Though not a requirements in the protocol, no major browser has plans to put h2 in the clear.  Whether you think this is a good thing or a bad thing ( I personally am thrilled ) it brings front and center the questions you may have been avoiding: should I move my site to TLS? We have done extensive testing of h2 performance.  Akamai's Foundry team spent time after every significant revision of the draft specification seeing what worked and what did not.  What we saw was consistent: improvements in page load time in the common case between 0% and 25%.  What is significant about these particular numbers is they are comparing an HTTP version of a site against an HTTPS version using TLS and h2.  In other words, the 'goodness' of h2 should make up for the overhead of TLS and then some in most cases.  Performance can be very situational, so mileage will vary in specific scenarios and on specific webpages, but it is exciting to see improvements on the horizon.

Stephen Ludin is a Chief Architect for Akamai's Web Experience group. He currently heads the company's Foundry team - a small group dedicated to innovating on the edge of technology. He joined Akamai in 2002 and works out of Akamai's San Francisco office. His primary focus has been on projects related to the core proxy technology that is responsible for routing, accelerating, and securing Akamai's traffic.

How Can You Trust a Website?

During an early summer morning on August 1982, in the brightly lit hallway of a non-descript academic building on the campus of University of California Berkeley, two scientists who were working on what the world will later know as the Internet, had a brief but very important conversation:

"How can we trust ARPANET?"

"Because you can trust your colleagues."
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Month: April 2010

Weblog Service System Maintenance from 15th to 16th of April 2010

A system upgrade on the server infrastucture which hosts this Weblog Service is scheduled from 15 April 2010 18:45 until 16 April 2010 00:15. During this time, the Weblog Service will be down and all Blogs are inaccessible.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

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Gartner Blog Network

Category: 'enterprise-architecture' Blog Posts

from the Gartner Blog Network

Future Predictions for EA in the Next Decade

by Philip Allega  |  February 2, 2018

Research for your Journey to the Future In our everyday research, Gartner asks the question, "How can we help?" Gartner Predicts research asks the question, "Where will you need help tomorrow,...

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Strategy and Innovation Roadmapping Tools

by Philip Allega  |  January 8, 2018

[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignnone" width="300"] Roadmapping: A view of roadmaps, and a roadmap of roadmaps[/caption] Strategy and Innovation Roadmapping Tools are new to Many, Even if the Techniques are Known Gartner has...

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Enterprise Architecture and Scenario Planning

by James Mcgovern  |  April 28, 2017

I am conducting research into the best practices in how Enterprise Architecture teams perform scenario planning. Enterprise architecture teams are the group to answer questions such as: What happens if the...

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Classifying Approaches to Enterprise Architecture Governance

by James Mcgovern  |  April 24, 2017

I have the opportunity to interact with hundreds of organizations of varying levels of maturity and their approach to the practice of enterprise architecture governance. Across each of these organizations, there are various flavors...

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Should Security Architecture remain separate from other Architecture disciplines?

by James Mcgovern  |  April 19, 2017

In my travels, I have come to observe that many organizations separate out security architecture from other architectures. Does this make sense? Large organizations often have governance practices such as...

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Cut and Paste Enterprise Architecture

by James Mcgovern  |  April 17, 2017

Throughout my professional career, I have been afforded the opportunity to learn a lot about the inner-workings of both P&C and Life insurers. The insurance industry has a consortium (ACORD) that...

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Enterprise Architecture: Why aren’t more organizations moving from good to great?

by James Mcgovern  |  April 7, 2017

Gartner publishes thought provoking research on the discipline of enterprise architecture. We aid our clients in developing their vision to stage planning a Business-Outcome-Driven Enterprise Architecture. We even provide a...

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Enterprise Architecture and Lean Thinking: Part One

by James Mcgovern  |  April 5, 2017

Prior to joining Gartner, I was an Enterprise Architect practitioner for a Fortune 100 enterprise that embraced Lean Thinking. The principles of driving both business-outcome driven EA and holistic technology...

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Can Document Review Inquiry help improve Enterprise Architecture Outcomes?

by James Mcgovern  |  April 3, 2017

Do you know what a Document Review Inquiry is? Sadly, I didn’t know what one was until I joined Gartner. After interacting with Gartner analysts over dozens of years while...

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Following trends is good. Acting on the right ones is far better.

by Don Scheibenreif  |  September 16, 2016

How do you stay on top of macro trends? What is relevant and what isn't? Which ones do you track, act on,  or ignore? This is the challenge facing many...

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Notes from Ransom Hall: A Higher Ed Blog

A Powerful Mode of Thinking

Sean Decatur
June 25, 2018

Editor’s note: On June 17, 2018, President Decatur addressed new graduates of Stanford University’s chemistry department, from which he received his doctorate in biophysical chemistry in 1995. The following are excerpts from his address.

On potent lessons learned as a chemist

What drew me to chemistry was a mode of thinking: rigorous, quantitative observation; the construction and application of powerful models to explain observations; the formation of arguments and conclusions based firmly in evidence as opposed to conjecture; and creative inspiration to ask new questions, or reframe old questions. This last example is maybe the component of thinking that excited me the most, and it still guides and informs much of my regular thinking and work: because it is not just individual, small questions that one ponders or reworks, but rather full chains of inquiry that connect large, fundamental and at times socially impactful dilemmas (such as, how do we address neurodegenerative diseases?) to specific questions that can be probed and tested by rigorous experimental or theoretical methods (what are the roles of specific mutations in the tau protein that impact protein aggregation?). In other words, good questions fuel good thinking, and breakthroughs occur when one can see that the solutions to one set of problems provide a pathway to understanding a new and larger set of questions.

On the role of science in the liberal arts

Increasingly the “liberal arts” are put in opposition to studies in “STEM” — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “Liberal arts” is sometimes used as a shorthand for “the humanities,” leaving the sciences out of the picture completely. In fact, when I became president of Kenyon  — a school with a strong tradition in the liberal arts — I heard some puzzled comments from some friends on how and why a chemist would be chosen to lead an institution with a storied tradition in the liberal arts.

But there is no opposition between the STEM fields and the liberal arts, only complementarity. … Math and the natural sciences are original liberal arts disciplines. The false equation of “liberal arts” with the “humanities” does a great disservice; a liberal arts education is incomplete without a rigorous education in the sciences, and an education in the sciences is greatly enriched by a broader context of the humanities and arts. The key piece is that the purpose of the learning is to generate effective citizens in a democracy, and that study of these areas leads to the ability to write and communicate clearly, to engage productively in civic and commercial discourse, to take on roles of leadership in society, and to be recognized as an educated person. An education in scientific thinking is essential for this aim.

On the societal obligation to lift up others

I would like to return to the story of Carl Djerassi ’43. Not only is he another link between Kenyon and the Stanford chemistry department, his trajectory is a reminder of the importance of the liberal arts and access to educational opportunity. Young Carl came to the United States as a teen, a refugee from the war in Europe. Raised in Vienna, schooled in Europe, he and his mother found themselves in New York, separated from other family and friends, without work. Carl talked himself into a junior college — he had never completed high school — then transferred to Tarkio College in Missouri (with scholarship funds identified for him by Eleanor Roosevelt), and then transferred to Kenyon in order to pursue his interest in studying chemistry. At Kenyon, he found the challenging science education that he had been seeking, including opportunities to work closely with faculty members.

I had the opportunity to meet with Carl right before a recurrence of the cancer that would eventually take his life. When I asked him about the most memorable parts of his Kenyon experience, he described the community in which he lived: He formed close bonds with a group of students interested in literature and poetry, eventually living in the “writer’s house” on campus. Through these interactions with students and faculty, he further developed an interest in poetry, literature and art, interests that would not only become lifelong passions but a late-in-life career. He took a great deal of pride that, as a scientist, he was able to connect smoothly with the English students on campus, and this experience remained important to him.

We are at a cultural moment when the value of education, especially liberal arts education, is being questioned; where access and opportunity for education is being denied to talented young people, whether immigrants, refugees, members of underrepresented groups or students who lack the financial resources to attend college; when the value of both evidence-based scientific thinking and the beauty of poetry are being questioned.  As the Djerassi story reminds us, we have an obligation to create opportunity for talented, deserving students, and advocate for the greater value of liberal education.


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Cumulative Update 30 for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 has been released

Cumulative Update 30 includes all application and platform hotfixes and regulatory features that have been released for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016.

The cumulative update is intended mainly for solutions that are experiencing the problems described in the Knowledge Base article linked to below. However, you are advised to always keep your solution updated with the latest cumulative update. If you are in doubt about whether this cumulative update addresses your specific problem, or if you want to confirm whether any special compatibility, installation, or download issues are associated with this cumulative update, support professionals in Customer Support Services are ready to help you. For more information, see

The cumulative update includes hotfixes that apply to all countries and hotfixes specific to the following local versions:

Where to find Cumulative Update 30

You can see changes included in this cumulative update from KB4100768 – Cumulative Update 30 for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016.

You can press one of the countries in list above for a direct download or you can download the cumulative update from the Microsoft Download Center.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 is also available from containers. Containers are a way to wrap up an application into its own isolated box, you can pull the cumulative update containers from the Docker Hub.

To learn more about other Cumulative Updates already released for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 please see KB  3108728.

Before you install a cumulative update in a production environment, take the following precautions:

  1. Test the cumulative update in a non-production environment.
  2. Make a backup of the system or computer where the cumulative update is to be installed.

Additional Information

For information about how to install the cumulative update, see How to Install a Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cumulative Update. Note that if you upgrade to this cumulative update from a version older than Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Cumulative Update 6, you must run the development environment with elevated rights (run as administrator).

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Fragrance Favourites from our beauty buyers…

Will Gowing QVC's online Fragrance Boutique is packed with ideas to help you choose your signature scent.

You can also browse our Fragrance Boutique by category, so if you know that you love Oriental/Spicy scents, or more Floral scents, there's a destination for you.

I recently caught up with QVC Beauty Buyer, Tracy Ryan, to find out about some of her fragrance picks…

[Having trouble viewing this video? See YouTube's Help page]

In the video Tracy spoke about Judith Williams Man, Liz Earle Botanical Essence No.1 and L'Occitane Amber.

Visit the QVC Fragrance Boutique by following the link.

See you soon,

Follow @WillGowing on Twitter

1 Comment

  1. Susan McDonald November 20, 2013 at 7:12 pm -  Reply

    Why don’t the companies such as elemis, liz Earle etc, send out sample fragrances when a customer buys another product in their range. Surely it’s got to be worth it?

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Last week on Friday Jan 18th the second SAP CodeJam Huizen took place. Afterwards I was pondering: blog about it or not? I’d already written a fairly extensive blog on the first CodeJam, and there wasn’t that much new stuff to report. Besides I’ve been reasonably busy with work and other stuff, so my first idea was to skip it. Eventually I decided to get it done anyway, and in the last part of this blog post I’ll explain why.

The food

So what were the differences between the first and second edition of SAP CodeJam Huizen? Well, a very important one was of course the food 🙂 . It being middle of winter, we had some good old-fashioned Dutch ‘stamppot’ (loosely translated: hotchpotch or stew):

2013-01-18 17.59.36.jpg

Another difference was the way a number of first time attendees (on sapnwcloud) was taken care of: Matthias Steiner, one of the SAP experts on sapnwcloud, spent more than an hour introducing the newbies to the platform, including a discussion of the possible business models:

2013-01-18 15.20.03.jpg

2013-01-18 15.20.18.jpg

This introduction was very well received, and some of the participants did some cool things during the remainder of the event!

Room for improvement

The downside of both events: no participants from outside the SAP ecosystem, ‘just’ the usual suspects. I’ve already reached out to SAP and asked them to consider becoming a partner of the Dutch Java User Group, as that would give them the opportunity to broadcast the SAP Codejam event to the more than 1000 members of this user group. This might attract other developers: 6+ hours of hacking and socializing, for free, with good food, does sound like an attractive proposition, right? For this sapcodejam this initiative came too late however, so hopefully we’ll have some new participants (and true non-SAP Java developers) next time.

The most important difference I noted between the two events, and the main reason for writing this blog, was that the atmosphere seemed even more relaxed and enjoyable than last time. I want to attribute that to the fact that several people came to both the first and the second CodeJam. Therefore this second event felt more like a reunion. To build and foster a local community around a platform like sapnwcloud you need continuity and time. The fruits of this effort are in my biased view already visible, however small 🙂 . Of course we will host a third edition of the event near the summer, so stay tuned!

One more shot of the event, to get an impression (apologies for the low quality of the pictures, I’m not a photographer, like some in this community):

2013-01-18 15.38.57.jpg

Conclusion & ‘call to action’

TL;DR: it was again a lot of fun, didn’t take too much effort to organize (thanks to my colleagues and the people from SAP) and I really hope we can build a strong Dutch community around sapnwcloud.

And while on the topic of local communities: I would love to see more CodeJams in the Netherlands, also (especially) around other platforms. In my opinion there’s still not enough enthusiasm for the sapcodejam initiative. So much more can be done! Now rumour has it that far away, in a town in the southern half of the Netherlands (we’re talking at least an hour’s drive from Huizen 🙂 ) something is in the works. Well, I can’t wait!

Thanks to everyone who was at the event, and I hope to see you back in Huizen in a couple of months!

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  1. Tammy Powlas

    Great ideas and suggestions, Fred.

    Your pictures are great.

    I’ve only been to one Code Jam, and that was with Thomas Jung and Rich Heilman (both always sensed when I needed help) – it is like an all-day hands-on TechEd.

    1. Fred Verheul Post author

      Thanks for the kind words, Tammy.

      This one wasn’t like TechEd (less guiding), but fun all the same. IMO the format lends itself very well to different set ups, since it’s such a small and informal event.

  2. L. van Hengel

    Hi Fred,

    Thanks for organizing this event again. As a ‘usual’ suspect you know i am always interested in events like this.

    Involvement from outside the SAP Community will be a challenge. I still remember how i as a Java Developer looked at SAP before i started working with it 😉 Maybe it’s a idea if someone from the NetWeaver Cloud team can do a presentation at the yearly Dutch Java conference J-Fall

    and show that nowadays you can you use the latest and greatest open-source frameworks on SAP NetWeaver Cloud to connect to SAP backends.

    1. Fred Verheul Post author

      Hi Leo,

      Presenting at J-Fall is an excellent idea! I know that NL-JUG partners can have a stand at the conference, so that could be one of the reasons for becoming a partner. I know SAP is looking at it (or they should be). But a presentation might even have more impact. Let’s wait and see 🙂 .

      Cheers, Fred

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Special Pop up show at The Hanger – Carnage & Dj Snake

As a Carnage fan, I truly hope you were able to attend his free pop up show at The Hangar in Miami this past Monday. If you didn’t make it, here’s what you missed out on. First, I bet you are wondering “how on earth was I suppose to find out about this show”. That’s the fun part! You weren’t suppose to find out until the day of. Carnage posted on his Instagram page, a link to a contact form where you were suppose to fill out all your information. Monday evening, the venue was released around 6 pm and it was no longer a mystery as to where he was performing. If you were there on time, you would have noticed the two extremely long lines to get in. One line was the regular admission line, but the other was the express lane. Carnage was a very smart man for doing what he did, if you wanted access to the express line, all you had to do was buy his album. I am very happy he did this, because in today’s generation almost no one buys a CD anymore. If you did not buy the CD, you were risking not getting in due to the lack of space The Hanger had compared to the amount of people that showed up. Stitches performed for a about an hour, and Carnage performed exactly at midnight. Most nightclubs in Miami won’t have the main Dj go on till about 2 am, so I thought it was a good idea that he performed at midnight since it was a Monday night. The venue did provide excellent opportunities for lights and sound, but they shut down certain sections of the club, only giving access to the main area. Carnage brought out DJ Snake towards the end of his performance and they both raged together on stage. I am glad they were able to perform together, they are both very talented young Dj’s. We hope to see a few more pop up shows from Carnage.

Remember Miami, Eat. Sleep. Rave. Repeat

(Featured Photo was taken from @DJCARNAGE Twitter feed, all rights belong to him)

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My favorite social issues/political twitter accounts (where my ideas germinate from)

Side note: last night’s championship game and unexpected chores kind of threw off my “still on vacation” schedule.

But at my watch party, politics came up and I brought up a conversation I had with a “friend of a friend”. Some conservatives are critiquing what was said at the Golden Globes and I brought up how indifferent I was to what actors/actresses say. That was not well received (at my party) but..hey…

That is politics these days: celebrity X from the liberal side says something, and celebrity Y from the conservative side says something different. And frankly, I care not at all.

If you want to understand what drives my thinking (and you might well NOT want to), I’d recommend you read Paul Krugman, Steven Pinker, Corey Booker, yes, even Barack Obama and, yes, even Hillary Clinton (though her days as a politician are long over, IMHO) and even what I’d call “the respected opposition” of David Frum, David Brooks and Mitt Romney.

Ok, one unexpected person: Kareem Jabbar (who writes columns, many which are very well thought out….he is using that UCLA degree quite well)

My political and social ideas come from sources such as these: (these do not include the sports accounts that I follow and enjoy)

Ok, I liked

But she’s blocked me (for personal reasons. And yes, you can read an account that blocked you on Twitter; just log out and you can read whatever you want).

The accounts that I troll:

January 9, 2018 Posted by | social/political | | 1 Comment

Figurehead Presidents?

Needless to say, Trump as POTUS disgusts me to no end. And at the outset I’ll say this: if Trump is the R nominee in 2020 (as I fully expect him to be) and Oprah is the D nominee, I will swallow some pink bismuth and vote for Oprah. Reason: nuclear codes; I see her as less likely to start a nuclear war than that unqualified, egocentric, walking-talking example of the Dunning-Kruger effect that we have in office right now.

But the very idea that it is a realistic possibility (albeit, I hope, an improbable one) that our country will choose two TV show hosts as the nominees for the highest office in the land makes me ill.

I think that this article sums it up for me:

Indeed, the magical thinking fueling the idea of Oprah in 2020 is a worrisome sign about the state of the Democratic Party. That Ms. Winfrey could probably beat those considered likely front-runners — Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand — is testament to how demoralized and devoid of fresh political talent the post-Obama party has become.

In a way, the conversation on the left (and the anti-Trump right) around Ms. Winfrey is more troubling than the emotional immaturity and anti-intellectualism pulsing out of the red states that elected Mr. Trump. Those voters have long defined themselves in opposition to the intellectual seriousness Democrats purport to personify.

If liberals no longer pride themselves on being the adults in the room, the bulwark against the whims of the mob, our national descent into chaos will be complete. The Oprah bandwagon betrays the extent to which social causes and identities — and the tribal feelings they inspire — have come to eclipse anything resembling philosophical worldviews. American politics has become just another team sport, and if suiting up a heavy hitter like Ms. Winfrey is what it takes to get the championship ring, so be it.

The idea that the presidency should become just another prize for celebrities — even the ones with whose politics we imagine we agree — is dangerous in the extreme. If the first year of the Trump administration has made anything clear, it’s that experience, knowledge, education and political wisdom matter tremendously. Governing is something else entirely from campaigning. And perhaps, most important, celebrities do not make excellent heads of state. The presidency is not a reality show, or for that matter, a talk show.

Yep, I’ll say it: MY POLITICAL PARTY SUCKS. But the other one…OMG….

My own bias I have various biases (as do all humans) and one of mine is what I call a “competency bias”. I expect people in high offices to know what they are doing; just sharing my values and goals is not sufficient. Example: I’d agree with Jill Stein on many issues..probably more issues that I’d agree with Mitt Romney. But if those were the two nominees, I’d vote for Romney.

Via Paul Krugman:

Let’s be honest: This great nation has often been led by mediocre men, some of whom had unpleasant personalities. But they generally haven’t done too much damage, for two reasons.

First, second-rate presidents have often been surrounded by first-rate public servants. Look, for example, at a list of Treasury secretaries since the nation’s founding; while not everyone who held the office was another Alexander Hamilton, over all it’s a pretty impressive contingent — and it mattered.

There’s an ongoing debate over whether Ronald Reagan, who was given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s five years after he left office, was already showing signs of cognitive deterioration during his second term. But with James Baker running Treasury and George Shultz running State, one didn’t have to worry about whether qualified people were making the big decisions.

Now, for me, the situation with Reagan was NOT ok; I want my POTUS to be mentally alert and fully aware of what is happening and able to make thoughtful be in charge. Having an average figurehead who spouts the “correct slogans” is not enough for me.

January 9, 2018 Posted by | politics, politics/social, social/political | | Leave a comment


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Blushing x Freedom

Blushing x Freedom

In 2016, Blushing Confetti teamed up with Freedom to create a line for their partner charity, Children’s Cancer Institute. Our design was filled with double dipping, finger licking fun and was inspired by some of our favourite childhood memories spent in the kitchen. We created two tea towels featuring classic Blushing style brush lettering and pastel tones. The collaboration was followed by baking a fresh batch of cookies and licking the bowl… obviously!

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