Some low-information voters' views are more moderate than those of high-information voters, they are less likely to vote, and are looking for a candidate they find personally appealing. They tend to be swing voters, and they tend to vote split-ticket more than well-informed voters do, researchers say because they lack a coherent ideology.
Seems to me this Wikipedia article sounds biased. Voting a split-ticket may be a good thing; it might help to break up some of the partisanship in Washington.
These publications were likely precursors to applications such as DI-Guy (now a part of VT MÄK) for team-building and ECOSim for modelling community ecology. Below is an introductory video showing how simulations work in DI-Guy.
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Another video shows how crowd scenarios can be set up in the software.
Individuals in clinical training programs concerned with critical medical care must learn to manage clinical cases effectively as a member of a team. However, practice on live patients is often unpredictable and frequently repetitive. The widely substituted alternative for real patients-high-fidelity, manikin-based simulators (human patient simulator)-are expensive and require trainees to be in the same place at the same time, whereas online computer-based simulations, or virtual worlds, allow simultaneous participation from different locations. Here we present three virtual world studies for team training and assessment in acute-care medicine: (1) training emergency department (ED) teams to manage individual trauma cases; (2) prehospital and in-hospital disaster preparedness training; (3) training ED and hospital staff to manage mass casualties after chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive incidents. The research team created realistic virtual victims of trauma (6 cases), nerve toxin exposure (10 cases), and blast trauma (10 cases); the latter two groups were supported by rules-based, pathophysiologic models of asphyxia and hypovolemia. Evaluation of these virtual world simulation exercises shows that trainees find them to be adequately realistic to "suspend disbelief," and they quickly learn to use Internet voice communication and user interface to navigate their online character/avatar to work effectively in a critical care team. Our findings demonstrate that these virtual ED environments fulfill their promise of providing repeated practice opportunities in dispersed locations with uncommon, life-threatening trauma cases in a safe, reproducible, flexible setting.
Here are two samples of training videos posted on YouTube by Designing Digitally.
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While the video samples above are not real-time, live interactions, they do give an idea of how virtual worlds can be used in real world applications.
Today's cartoons are ones that struck my fancy. I especially like the phrase "operation inherent reluctance"--it seems to capture the moment. While the half-measures being taken to control ISIS are better than 'boots on the ground', these half-measures could be a measure or two more effective, IMHO.
To be up front, music is not my forte (pun intended). And synth, aka synthesizer, is a complex topic with a number of different approaches. The approach I'm taking today is using your computer to synthesize digital music, not necessarily for performing it. To see some of the options for music synthesis, take a look at Wikipedia's Comparison of audio synthesis environments.
My original idea was to find a way to generate music for use as background in videos and games. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. But I did finally find what I was looking for--Wikipedia calls it a software Digital Audio Workstation.
The reason for producing music locally, that is on my computer, is the difficulty in knowing what can be used legally from the music sites found online, such as SoundCloud, Jamendo, and ccMixter. There are more such sites listed at Hongkiat. While these sites offer music with specified fair use rights, sometimes it's unclear whether a specific piece is open for use or not. For more info on fair use, here's a link to the FAQ at Creative Commons.
Using the right term--software DAW--for the task at hand, I found this article, "The 19 best DAW software apps in the world today." If you have a Mac, Apple's GarageBand would fill the bill; Apple says it's built into every Mac. Mutools' MuLab looks good. The others are well worth checking out as well.
I downloaded and installed a demo of Renoise, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux and in 32- and 64-bit versions. The full version is EUR 65, USD 89.
The application is impressive, to say the least, and well-documented. There are a number of sample songs and tutorials. And it appears that I'll be able to open and play with files generated in other file formats. Think mixing. Exploring this app will take some time.
Which brings us back to the original question--what to do about using pre-recorded music from music sites online? The results are still out, but now I have more options.
We have developed a new technique using laser frequency combs to improve the accuracy and stability of wavelength calibration of astrophysical spectrographs by up to two orders of magnitude. This "astro-comb" will provide a key advance in the resolution of changes in astrophysical Doppler shifts and redshifts, and thus may allow the discovery of Earth-like planets and new measurements of astrophysical dynamics relevant to cosmology.
Both of the leading techniques to find exoplanets rely on the planet's very small effect on its star. The radial velocity technique measures the star's "wobble" (and hence Doppler shift) due to the planet's gravitational pull as it circles; while the transit technique measures the dimming of a star's light as a planet passes in front of it. With current technology, both of these techniques can identify relatively large planets that have a noticeable effect on their star. Detection of the very small Doppler shifts (<10 cm/s) induced by smaller, rocky planets, like Earth and Mars, will require improved wavelength calibration that can only be provided by astro-combs.
For Physics.org's report on the topic, take a look at this article.
Another group, Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), has published images of their setup and reports on the TNG+Harps-N system.
But the one that really caught my attention was one about learning English: Take A New Test Aimed At The World's English-Language Learners. In an increasingly global world communication is more and more important, and English, in many cases, is becoming the default language.
Why English, you may ask. This excerpt from Wikipedia's article on world language touches on the reason why English is so widely spoken and approximates how many people speak it:
A world language is a language spoken internationally and which is learned by many people as a second language. A world language is not only characterized by the number of speakers (native or second language speakers), but also by its geographical distribution, international organizations and in diplomatic relations. In this respect, major world languages are dominated by languages of European origin. The historical reason for this is the period of expansionist European imperialism and colonialism.
The world's most widely used language is English which has over 1.8 billion users world wide...
The test NPR writes about is sponsored by Education First. You can access the test is at EF Standard English Test. It's free, can be taken over and over to assess your progress, is standardized, gives you an official score on the EF scale, and you can "post your EFSET results on your online profile as proof of your English skills to school admission officers, employers and friends." There are two types of EF tests: the quick one that take about an hour and the comprehensive one that takes about 2 hours. Both are free.
Steve Woodward, Child studying by solar light, ABC.net.au
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One of this year's Nobel prizes was awarded to the Japanese inventors of the blue light-emitting diode (LED). NobelPrize.org explains that
by using blue LEDs, white light can be created in a new way. With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long-lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources.
LEDs are basically semiconductors that have been built so they emit light when they're activated. Different chemicals give different LEDs their colors. Engineers made the first LEDs in the 1950s and 60s. Early iterations included laser-emitting devices that worked only when bathed in liquid nitrogen. At the time, scientists developed LEDs that emitted everything from infrared light to green light… but they couldn't quite get to blue. That required chemicals, including carefully-created crystals, that they weren't yet able to make in the lab.
Once they did figure it out, however, the results were remarkable. A modern white LED lightblub converts more than 50 percent of the electricity it uses into light. Compare that to the 4 percent conversion rate for incandescent bulbs, and you have one efficient bulb. Besides saving money and electricity for all users, white LEDs' efficiency makes them appealing for getting lighting to folks living in regions without electricity supply. A solar installation can charge an LED lamp to last a long time, allowing kids to do homework at night and small businesses to continue working after dark.
On average I'm currently receiving daily 2 to 4 spam emails from the Democratic Party, 2 to 3 spam emails from my state Senator Mark Begich, and the odd spam email from candidates in other states (Sheldon Whitehouse, really?). Most of them because I subscribed to Obama's Organizing for America, his grassroots campaign. Begich got my email address from a petition. If I contributed the minimum at each email, I'd be spending somewhere near $1000.00 a month. None of these organizations allow you to unsubscribe. Needless to say all of these emails go to the trash on arrival.
But the Democrats, in my view, are still preferable to the Republicans. Here are some cartoons poking fun at both.
So when considering what types of Halloween costumes to suggest today, my thinking came round to focusing on how designers use fabric and what shapes and silhouettes they present. Also, local theaters, as opposed to well-endowed big-city ones, often costume the actors on a shoestring. Materials to consider for your own Halloween creation are cheesecloth, muslin, cotton lawn, light canvas, drapery lining, and such. Nick of Time Textiles discusses costume and dancewear fabrics and has a nice selection. Five yards of 60-inch wide fabric will go a long way and at $4.50 a yard costs, uhm, $22.50 (example is Aqua Pongee Woven Fabric).
USS Enterprise at warp (Paramount Pictures/CBS Studios), Universe Today
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To travel beyond our solar system and flyby the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri (4.3 light years distant), is a journey estimated to take 40 years one way, depending on the mode of propulsion used. That's a road trip with possibly no return. Wikipedia's article on interstellar travel is truly an eye-opener.
It's known that we cannot travel faster than light in spacetime, as explained on NASA's Status of "Warp Drive" page. After a reference to special relativity, the NASA author says:
One of the consequences of this Special Relativity is the light speed barrier [compared to the sound barrier earlier in the article]. Here’s another way to look at it. To move faster, you add energy. But when you get going near the speed of light, the amount of energy you need to go faster balloons to infinity! To move a mass at the speed of light would take infinite energy. It appears that there is a distinct barrier here.
The warp drive broke away from being a wholly fictional concept in 1994, when physicist Miguel Alcubierre suggested that faster-than-light (FTL) travel was possible if you remained still on a flat piece of spacetime inside a warp bubble that was made to move at superluminal velocity. Rather like a magic carpet. The main idea here is that, although no material objects can travel faster than light, there is no known upper speed to the ability of spacetime itself to expand and contract. The only real hint we have is that the minimum velocity of spacetime expansion during the period of cosmological inflation was about 30 million billion times the speed of light.
In describing how the warp bubble would work, author Brian Dodson says:
The warp effect uses gravitational effects to compress the spacetime in front of a spacecraft, then expand the spacetime behind it. The bit of spacetime within the warp bubble is flat, so that the spacecraft would float at zero-g along the wave of compressed and expanded spacetime. The net effect is rather like surfing, where you are nearly stationary with respect to the wave, but are traveling with the speed of the wave. Whereas many of the theoretical studies consider a warp bubble moving at ten times the speed of light, there is no known limit to the potential speed.
Planning a little space travel to see some friends on Kepler 22b? Thinking of trying out your newly-installed FTL3000 Alcubierre Warp Drive to get you there in no time? Better not make it a surprise visit — your arrival may end up disintegrating anyone there when you show up.
We're fast approaching the holiday season, and then a national election, so this is likely a good time to set up anti-stress measures. Mindfulness is easy to start, takes a lifetime to master, if ever. Praises of its benefits are sung by many. Dr. Russ Harris at The Happiness Trap says this about mindfulness:
‘Mindfulness’ is a hot topic in Western psychology: increasingly recognised as an effective way to reduce stress, increase self-awareness, enhance emotional intelligence, and effectively handle painful thoughts and feelings.
Although mindfulness has only recently been embraced by Western psychology, it is an ancient practice found in a wide range of Eastern philosophies, including Buddhism, Taoism and Yoga. Mindfulness involves consciously bringing awareness to your here-and-now experience with openness, interest, and receptiveness. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a world authority on the use of mindfulness training in the management of clinical problems, defines it as: "Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally."
Mindfulness is about waking up, connecting with ourselves, and appreciating the fullness of each moment of life. Kabat-Zinn calls it, "The art of conscious living." It is a profound way to enhance psychological and emotional resilience, and increase life satisfaction.
One article that I found particularly informative is CNN's "Destress your life in 10 easy steps." Day 5: The intensely frustrating line meditation promises to be helpful, although my favorite thing to do in line is people watch.
Berkley's Greater Good site features a talk by Jon Kabat-Zinn you may find interesting.