We meant to write to you immediately upon our return, so thank you for your email. We had a wonderful trip. We expected beautiful scenery, impressive archaeological sites, and excellent food, but truly it was spectacular. I don't have time — due to work – to write at length now but I do want to say that almost all the hotels were magnificent and we would gladly return to most of them. We enjoyed the hikes very much. Perhaps the hike in Vendicare was less interesting than the others, as the landscape is not as varied, and the walk from Castelmola from Taormina was not really a hike, but the intermediate three days (Etna, the Alcantara Gorge, and the hike to Monte Venere) were amazing.
We would like to comment Francesco, of Easy Sicily, for the fact that everyone went smoothly. At no point did the arrangements falter; our luggage was always where we expected it to be, we were always picked up on time, and he really went above and beyond the call of duty, especially with regard to some unexpected baggage problems. When we arrived on the first evening on the Vueling flight from Florence to Catania, our luggage did not arrive with us. In fact, the airline had removed everyone's luggage from the plane in order to lighten the weight, but we did not know until we landed. Then it was rather chaotic but eventually we learned that the luggage would arrive anytime within the next five days. Francesco took us to a mall so we could shop for the necessary items including hiking boots and bathing suits. The luggage finally arrived to our hotel on Sunday morning. Francesco was the one who kept in touch with the airport, went there to pick it up, and had it delivered by our Etna guide on Sunday morning. I don't know how we would have managed this whole situation without him.
I would say that my favourite hotel was in Agrigento — Baglio della Luna. The setting was stunning, the rooms very comfortable, and the dinner delicious. They also helped us to arrange excursions to the Valley of the Temples and also the Scala dei Turchi. The least favourite event was the drive from Agrigento to Palermo. The driver was the son of the person who had originally been supposed to drive us, and the son was a very nervous driver who spent the entire drive with his finger on the "scan" function of the radio, so that for two or three hours we were subjected to hearing snippets of music, talk, etc, on a continuous loop. It was very unpleasant, but as he did not speak English and he was nervous anyway we did not say anything. This was the only part of the trip was that less than professional.
For restaurants we relied quite a bit on the recommendations in the materials that Francesco had given us. I will ask our children if they have any recommendations to make in addition to those. We did have a lot of gelato and granite, and also fish (except for Barry, who is vegan). We did not have very much pizza.
If we were to do this same trip again, we would ask to stay somewhere other than Nicolosi for the sabbath. There was not really enough to do there in terms of walks, nice churches and things to see. The sabbath in Palermo was excellent, as there are plenty of things to do that do not cost money. The hotel there, by the way, was outstanding. (Ibis Style). We highly recommend it.
That's all I have time for now. We can't say enough good things about Sicily, and about the organization of the trip, and we hope very much to be able to do another such trip in the future. I will also say the same on trip advisor!


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Birmingham Smart City
Technology and Places
Category Archives: Digital Inclusion
Birmingham Smart City, Digital Inclusion, Skills & Employment
Action needed on digital skills crisis says Committee
June 20, 2016 suritasolanki	Leave a comment
The Science and Technology Committee publishes a report warning that the UK risks being left behind if the Government does not take more action to address the digital skills crisis.
Report findings
12.6 million adults in the UK lack basic digital skills; 5.8 million people have never used the internet; only 35% of computer teachers in schools have a relevant degree and 30% of the required number of computer science teachers have not been recruited; and 13% of computer graduates are still unemployed 6 months after leaving university. This digital skills gap is costing the UK economy £63 billion a year in lost GDP.
The gap between digital skills possessed and digital skills needed demonstrates a long-running weakness in the UK's approach to this crisis. The Committee is calling for:
Digital skills to be made one of the core components in all apprenticeships, not just 'digital apprenticeships'.
Industry led vocationally-focused digital careers advice in universities.
Universities to provide 'code conversion courses' to help graduates from non-computer science backgrounds enter the tech sector.
After introducing the much needed computer curriculum in schools, the Government to establish a forum for employers to feedback on the continuing development of the curriculum, and Ofsted to include it in its school inspections.
A review of the qualifying requirements for 'shortage occupation' IT jobs under 'Tier 2 visas', to allow SMEs to get critical digital skills from abroad.
Apprenticeship scheme processes to be simplified to allow SMEs to participate more easily.
Science and Technology Committee Chair, Nicola Blackwood MP said:
"The UK leads Europe on tech, but we need to take concerted action to avoid falling behind. We need to make sure tomorrow's workforce is leaving school or university with the digital skills that employers need.The Government deserves credit for action taken so far but it needs to go much further and faster. We need action on visas, vocational training and putting digital skills at the heart of modern apprenticeships.
The Government's long-delayed Digital Strategy must now be published without delay, and it must deliver. The Government has introduce a range of measures to help, particularly by expanding the scale of the apprenticeship programme and introducing a new computer curriculum in schools, but it needs urgently to present a vision and coherent strategy that brings these together."
The MPs question why the Government has taken so long to produce the long-promised 'Digital Strategy' and call for it to be published without further delay. The Committee warns that the Strategy needs to go further than merely listing cross-government digital activity, but present a vision for the future delivered by collaborative work from all involved—industry, educators and Government.
Download the report here http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news-parliament-2015/digital-skills-crisis-report-published-16-17/?platform=hootsuite
Digital Skills Gap
Birmingham Smart City, Digital Inclusion, People
Net Squared Midlands – global network connecting technology and social impact
May 11, 2015 PRBham	Leave a comment
Immy Kaur, Impact Hub Birmingham co-founder, speaks to Net Squared Midlands members and guests, May 2015
Net Squared Midlands, the local branch of the global Net Squared network which organises events for anyone interested in the connection of technology and social impact, held its first event in the Midlands at the Impact Hub Birmingham on Wed May 6 2015 as part of the Hub's launch festival Demo B.
Members and guests heard about Net Squared and its global mission, and the other local branches in the UK. Immy Kaur, Hub co-founder, also gave an insight into how the Hub was started and the success of their crowdfunding campaign.
Local Net Squared Midlands co-organisers, Pauline Roche of social enterprise RnR Organisation from Birmingham and Paul Webster digital connector from Mansfield, gave short talks about some of the work they do around tech for good in the voluntary sector. As well as the pair co-organising the national VCSSCamp unconference for infrastructure organisations, Pauline spoke about open data and her involvement with networks and events Open Mercia, West Midlands Open Data Forum and Open Data Camp while Paul spoke about his work on the LASA Connecting Care project.
Local Birmingham techy members recommended that the organisers publicise Net Squared Midlands on the new Birmingham discussion forum for all techy people Birmingham IO which Pauline has done. Her post there has had 41 views already.
Paul and Pauline explain that whether you are a not for personal profit organisation in the traditional sense, a venture capitalist, a programmer, an individual with a great idea, or a social changemaker, NetSquared Midlands is here to help you make connections and add to the community around innovating for good in the Midlands.
They say that these events are great opportunities to learn what others are trying, see successful projects and platforms, hear about developing technologies, make new friends and collaborate on new projects.
The next event is being planned for September 2015 but in the meantime, members and others are being encouraged to use the Net Squared Midlands meetup page for dialogue and suggestions.
#smartbrumBirmingham IOCollaborationConnecting CareDataopen data
Birmingham Smart City, Connectivity, Digital Inclusion, Skills & Employment
Ladywood Health & Community Centre – first to reap WiFi benefits!
March 24, 2015 suritasolanki	Leave a comment
Members of the public wanting to improve their computer skills or access useful online services at Ladywood Health and Community Centre will no longer have to go elsewhere following the installation of free WiFi for visitors.
Despite being commonplace in today's society, those using the centre had been long used to being told there wasn't any internet connection – and sometimes resorted to asking if they could use staff computers to access the internet.
But now though, thanks to Birmingham City Council's Digital Birmingham team and the Government's Super-Connected Cities Programme, the building on Vincent Street West, is amongst the first Birmingham buildings to go live with safe, secure public WiFi through the scheme.
Read the full press release here.
#smartbrumconnectivityWireless
Digital Inclusion, Innovation, Open Data & Information Market Places
Data and open data skills for Birmingham community and voluntary groups at these Social media Surgeries.
January 21, 2015 Nick Booth	Leave a comment
First published on the Social Media Surgery blog.
Could your community group or charity be more effective if you collected information in different ways, used it better, shared it with the right people? Would it help if you could more easily find information that government has about the places or perhaps the people you are trying to help?
We are experimenting in Birmingham with how we can use the social media surgeries to share not just social media skills with local community groups and charities, but also data skills.
If you want a chat – even to find out what we mean – please click the links below for anyone of the surgeries for the following areas and sign up…
Central Birmingham Social Media
Moseley and Kings Heath Social Media Surgery
Kings Norton Social Media Surgery
As always we start with you and your group. What are you trying to achieve? What skills and tools do you have at the moment? Can we show you new ideas that could help you achieve more? Can we help you in practical ways use those skills and tools – there and then? Always the same relaxed approach of a social media surgery.
What's your aim?
Our ultimate aim is to encourage more community groups and local charities to find good uses for Open data. This is numerical information that government shares in public, so we can have a better understanding of the places we live in and the way government works. But we won't throw you into anything difficult, we'll start where you are and help you with the numbers and skills that matter to you.
Is there any information online?
As we work with people we'll learn together how to solve problems. We'll describe what we're doing and share it here on the blog. We will also be writing about things that might help you, tools, sites where data is stored, examples from other organisations.
I have no idea what you mean when you say open data!
Sorry – it is jargony. Open government data is when government shares information on the internet that it owns and grants you and I permission to use it (using an open government license) A simple example is local government releasing a monthly list of all spending over £500. You can find the Birmingham one here. But don't be phased by any of this – we want to help you develop the understanding and skills that might be useful for what you are trying to achieve.
Birmingham Open data and Skills Hubopen dataopendata
Digital Inclusion, People, Technology
Innovation Birmingham Campus-based Memrica seeks pilot population of people living with early dementia to test new memory app
January 20, 2015 piap2014	Leave a comment
Memrica; a tech start-up based at the Innovation Birmingham Campus is developing a mobile aid for people with memory problems, including the early stages of dementia.
A grant from Nominet Trust, the UK's leading 'tech for good' funder has been awarded to develop the first roll-out of the app, which is called 'Memrica Prompt'. Designed to reduce the anxiety and frustration caused by forgetting essential information, it creates a virtual link between the things people want to remember and the objects and people around them. It also offers a smart reminder system, which collates data, image and voice files to prompt the user about day to day tasks and appointments. By increasing confidence and prolonging independence, the app is designed to delay the need for more extensive health and social care, and reduce stress for families and carers.
The tablet and smartphone app is being designed and developed in collaboration with people with dementia, their carers and clinical experts. A pilot population of those with early stage dementia –particularly people under 65, who enjoy using smartphone and tablet apps and already have an iPhone or iPad – is now sought to test the app.
Mary Matthews, Founder of Memrica said: "44 million people worldwide live with dementia and this number is expected to triple by 2050. Eight per cent of those diagnosed with dementia are under 65. However, when it comes to using technology, research from Deloitte suggests that by 2020, the gap between smartphone and tablet usage for the over 65's and younger generations will be negligible.
"Memrica Prompt is a memory aid that can be built over time with photos, prompts, references and calendar notes to make all aspects of everyday life easier, such as going to the hairdresser or doctors, as well as relating to family and friends. Each subscription package gives access to up to five users, enabling loved ones and carers to contribute information to the app."
"We have created the Memrica Prompt test application on the iOS Apple platform and are now seeking 50 people either living with early onset dementia, or who are worried about failing memory, to help test the initial versions and then participate in a pilot. The outcome of the trial – which will be independently run by Coventry University's Health Design Technology Institute – will be vital to shaping the continued development of the app."
The Memrica Prompt app is expected to launch to the public this summer. Organisations that have already had input into the development of Memrica include Young Dementia UK, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Worcestershire Early Intervention and Manchester Early Onset Dementia Services.
Memrica is one of the tech start-ups on Innovation Birmingham's Entrepreneurs for the Future programme, where the Entrepreneurs in Residence have assisted with the development of the business plan.
Dr David Hardman MBE, CEO of Innovation Birmingham said: "Mary and her team have developed a new application in an area that is completely underserviced. The amount of interest from organisations such as Bupa, Young Dementia, Alzheimer's Society and a number of NHS Trusts is very pleasing to see. The financial support from Nominet Trust to get the Memrica Prompt app to the test stage has been vital, and the importance of such funding to provide grants for 'Tech for Good' initiatives such as this cannot be underestimated."
The Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) business incubation centre, provides bespoke mentoring and business planning to achieve investor readiness, as well as free telephone usage, 20Gbit/s broadband and office space for nine months; a package which has a monetary value of £10,000. Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, e4f is unique to Birmingham and is specifically designed to harness and support the city's burgeoning tech community.
To participate in the trial of Memrica Prompt, please email Mary Matthews, founder: mary@memrica.com.
Birmingham Smart City, Digital Inclusion, Open Data & Information Market Places, Skills & Employment, Technology
Innovation Birmingham Campus-based Majestic comes 2nd in the Midlands in Deloitte's Tech Fast 50 awards
December 4, 2014 piap2014	Leave a comment
Majestic –Innovation Birmingham Campus' largest tenant – has come second in the Midlands, and 17th overall, in the Deloitte Fast 50 awards programme, which took place last night. In five years, the web index creator's turnover has grown by 1,571 per cent.
Majestic's web index is far larger than Yahoo's ever was, being the largest global commercially available link index available. Its client portfolio includes some of the best known international technology brands, who use the Topical Trust Flow product to rank and analyse the influence of all online web and twitter pages.
Having been based at the Innovation Birmingham Campus since its inception, Majestic has just expanded the size of its office to over 3,000 sq ft, to accommodate its growing team of 20 and suite of servers.
Vijay Thakrar, Technology Partner for Deloitte's Midlands region said: "The Deloitte Fast 50 gives great profile to technology companies and is internationally recognised as being one of the most important business awards in the sector. Achieving sustained revenue growth of 1,571 per cent over five years is a tremendous accomplishment – Majestic has proven that its leadership has the vision and determination to grow in competitive conditions and its exceptional growth puts it in select company."
Majestic's groundbreaking specialist search engine has been designed to categorise the entire World Wide Web, eradicating the need for manually categorised website directories. Its purpose-designed technology continuously crawls the web in order to map links between websites. Over seven hundred billion web pages – including all Twitter accounts – are filtered into 800 topics to enable easy analysis and comparison. Trust Flow scores are also provided, where higher rankings are achieved by having links directly relevant to a web page.
Majestic's search engine is multi-lingual and enables analysis of the web to be fully automated. For organisations that want to boost their own web presence, it provides clear results as to which sites are more influential to link to, without actually viewing any web pages.
Dixon Jones, Marketing Director of Majestic said: "Our company has experienced considerable growth because we are passionate about creating brand new technology for a global audience. Being recognised in Deloitte's Tech Fast 50 awards is a great accolade for Majestic, especially since we've ranked higher than well-known brands such as notonthehighstreet.com, Just Eat plc and Sky Scanner.
"Our Topical Trust Flow product provides analysis on every live page on the World Wide Web and every Twitter account. Currently, this is over seven hundred billion pages, but the number increases by the minute. If you want to know who the most influential politicians are on twitter, we can tell you in an instant. While Google continues to make advancements, it does not have a feature similar to our Trust Flow scoring mechanism, so comparing how influential Twitter accounts and web pages are is a functionality we lead on, globally."
Topical Trust Flow is designed to assist outreach and inbound marketeers, advertising strategists, PR professionals and business analysts. When comparing two of the world's most influential Twitter accounts; Lady Gaga and Barack Obama, there is virtually no overlap in the topics that they rank most highly for, but their overall Trust Flow scores are very similar.
For advertisers, the new search engine can decipher the topic of every web page, so can inform which messaging is likely to be most effective to the audience.
For more information, visit https://majestic.com/
Digital Inclusion, Skills & Employment
Over 30 gaming and ICT professionals from across Europe will attend Innovation Birmingham's LAUNCH Conference this week
Innovation Birmingham's fifth annual LAUNCH Future Gaming & Digital Conference has attracted a large delegation of gaming and ICT professionals from across Europe. The delegation has been facilitated by the BOO-Games project, which unites and promotes the gaming industry across nine countries in Europe.
Taking place at the Innovation Birmingham Campus, the focus of Thursday 20th November's conference agenda is 'Grads In Games – Launch a Career', which is run in conjunction with gaming recruitment specialist Aardvark Swift. Friday 21st's conference theme is 'Develop Inspired' to harness the burgeoning community of indie games developers located within the region and beyond.
In addition to the European delegation, LAUNCH has attracted registrations from over 20 universities and colleges from across the UK. Over 300 people will attend the two-day event, which will showcase some of the biggest names in digital gaming.
Speakers include Lee Stott, Technical Evangelist for Microsoft UK; Kyle Jobson, Video Game Producer for Flix Interactive; Richard Semmens and Jafar Soltani of Microsoft Rare Studios; Helana Santos, Lead Programmer for Modern Dream; Jason Fielder, CTO of Exient; Oscar Clark, Everplay Evangelist for Unity Technologies; Chris Sterling of Worldweaver; Paul Norris, Creative Director of Mad Fellows; Charu Desodt, Senior Producer of Microsoft's Lift London studio; Ant Thomas from Marketing Birmingham; Cliff Dennett, CEO of Soshi Games; and Trevor Williams, COO of Playground Games.
Pia Pearson, Digital Marketing Manager and Head of LAUNCH at the Innovation Birmingham Campus said: "The LAUNCH Conference and regular events programme is one of the largest activities of its kind for the UK's digital gaming industry. This is the fifth year for LAUNCH, and over that time we have delivered over 40 highly engaging events for the digital gaming industry, ranging from meet-ups and studio showcases, to the annual Meet The Games Press event and this – the flagship two-day LAUNCH Conference.
"Partners and sponsors such as Aardvark Swift, bluegfx, Boo-Games, Business Birmingham, Creative Skillset, Develop, Game Republic, Microsoft, TIGA, UKIE, and for the first time this year – Google, ensure the LAUNCH event series tackles the themes and issues that matter most to the industry."
The universities that will be in attendance for the 'Launch a Career' day include those with specialist digital gaming and computer science departments such as the University of Northampton, Staffordshire University, De Montfort University, University of Birmingham, and Birmingham City University.
The LAUNCH Conference will provide delegates with an insight into the industry's latest innovations, trends, online tools, computer games, mobile products and services. Delegates will also be able to get hands-on with cutting-edge technology via the interactive exhibition, which will feature a dedicated showcase for gaming start-ups to demonstrate their latest creations.
Pia Pearson added: "The UK games industry is the second largest in the world after the US, and the West Midlands is home to 25 per cent of the country's total games workforce. This region has become a hub for games and digital media, with the Innovation Birmingham Campus being home to 18 games studios."
Digital Inclusion, Economy, ICT & Energy Efficiency, People, Technology
Innovation Birmingham runs UK-wide competition to discover the brightest clean-tech talent
October 22, 2014 piap2014	Leave a comment
Innovation Birmingham has hosted the UK heat of the European-wide CleanLaunchpad competition, where the eventual winners and two runners up will collectively receive €17,500 to develop their clean-tech products/services. The competition is one of the initiatives being run by Innovation Birmingham's Climate-KIC team.
The competition entrants for the UK heat were located across the country. Cambridge-based bio-glue manufacturer Cambond has come out as the overall winner of CleanLaunchpad UK. The company, which makes adhesives from biomass feedstocks (including algae), using a low-carbon, cost effective process will now progress to the European-wide final in Valencia at the end of October.
Cambond will be joined by the UK joint runners-up; Derby-headquartered Adaptavate and London-headquartered Desolenator. Adaptavate has developed a natural compostable plasterboard, suitable for use on heritage buildings and traditional homes, while Desolenator has produced a solar-powered means of desalinating water.
CleanLaunchpad is Europe's largest clean-tech business idea competition. The UK is one of 10 countries taking part, along with The Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Cyprus, Greece and Denmark. As well as the cash prize, the winner of the European final, which is held annually, will also receive a place on Climate-KIC's Accelerator programme.
Catherine Shelley, Innovation Birmingham's Climate KIC Programme Development and Delivery Officer said: "Many of the innovative concepts that came onto the CleanLaunchpad competition at the beginning of the process have made genuinely impressive progress with developing their products, plans for reaching the mass market and the quality of their pitching. We are confident that Cambond, Adaptavate and Desolenator will do the UK proud in the final, and I really hope that all entrants keep developing their ideas."
CleanLaunchPad is a Climate Knowledge Innovation Community (Climate KIC) project, which Innovation Birmingham is a delivery partner for. Climate KIC is the EU's main climate innovation initiative, and was one of the first Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) created by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in 2010. The EIT is the European Union body tasked with creating sustainable European growth and jobs while dealing with the global challenges of our time.
Birmingham Smart City, Digital Inclusion, Economy, People, Skills & Employment, Technology
Coventry's Serious Games Studio strikes up new partnership with Innovation Birmingham's LAUNCH Digital Gaming event programme
September 18, 2014 piap2014	Leave a comment
Coventry University's Serious Games Studio has signed up as a partner of Innovation Birmingham's LAUNCH event series for digital gaming and mobile app developers.
LAUNCH is the biggest event programme of its kind outside of London, connecting and supporting the region's burgeoning digital gaming sector. The highlight of the annual programme – which is now in its fifth year – is a two-day conference for over 300 indie games developers, held during November at the Innovation Birmingham Campus. The Serious Games Studio has signed up as a partner ahead of the conference on 20th -21stNovember 2014, in order to promote the ERDF funded support available to West Midlands-based gaming companies needing to develop a proof of concept.
Features of LAUNCH's November conference include a 'grads in games' programme by industry recruitment specialists Aardvark Swift, as well as a dedicated session from Microsoft on cloud gaming.
Pia Pearson, Digital Marketing Manager and Head of LAUNCH at the Innovation Birmingham Campus said: "Working alongside Coventry's Serious Games Studio is a natural expansion of the LAUNCH programme and a great way to promote the support on offer to indie games developers based within the West Midlands.
Digital Inclusion, ICT & Energy Efficiency, Technology
Education Tech Start-Up Wambiz Secures £600,000 Investment
August 20, 2014 piap2014	Leave a comment
Innovation Birmingham Campus-based WAMBIZ, a start-up tackling the issue of student retention in further education, has secured over £600,000 of angel investment following its latest round of funding.
The business creates VENs (virtual engagement networks), which connect students with educators to deliver crucial course and student information via a channel they will regularly use.
Co-founded by Harry Jawanda and Andrew West – who met when playing hockey for England, the private social networks created by WAMBiz provide a safe means for students to connect, communicate and collaborate with peers, teachers and institutions in an engaging, yet controlled way.
The investment was made by Allan Murdoch, the former Executive Chairman of HIPCOM, a leading telecoms provider, who has created a consortium of investors to back new tech start-ups.
The group has already invested in such companies as Forge Special Projects which delivers technology to festivals and events, Stylect a shoe app and Shareight which creates a virtual high street on your mobile.
Harry Jawanda CEO and co-founder of WAMBIZ said:
"Institutions are losing millions in funding each year through students dropping out within the first three months of the school year. Much of this is down to a lack of initial engagement between the student and teachers and institutions. WAMedu offers a solution and bridges that gap. We help build engagement between these audiences through our understanding of how social networks have changed the way we all communicate. "
Read full article on the Innovation Birmingham Campus news page, here>
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This will be a UK first! An outstanding development for both riders and organisers, this will allow the riders to be tracked in real time, which will not only improve safety, but will also enable organisers (RallyMoto in this case) to enforce speed controlled zones on the route. The system will be piloted at the Pikes Peak roadbook navigation rally in March, the opening round of the 2015 RallyMoto Cup.
All I need to do now is install an additional auxiliary power supply directly from the battery up to the bars so that the tracker can be installed.
This is a huge leap forward for motorcycle rallying in the UK and indeed other race formats, so we're all really excited as competitors and hoping it goes well!
Does not quite look like a reliable tracking system. But in any case, try for this use a program for https://uboro.io/gps-tracking-features tracking features. For me it is the best app in this sense. If I need to track my trucks, harvesting helps me easily do it.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Io Racing 2015 support!


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Joan van Ark and Friends: University Pigs Graduate to Greener Pastures
One evening in late May of 2006, six piglets, ranging in age from two months to four months, stepped out of a transport van and into a cozy pen in our Northern California Shelter's hospital building. Though weak, coughing, and still sutured from recent surgeries, the youngsters appeared eager to take on the new life before them.
Just a few days earlier, they had faced a decidedly bleaker future. The piglets were living at a university veterinary hospital, where they had been used as teaching tools. After students had performed practice hernia operations on them, the animals, identified only by numbered ear tags, were no longer of any use to the school. They were to be sold at auction, the first step in a journey leading inexorably to the slaughterhouse.
That is the end met by countless farm animals used in university veterinary classes every year. Some schools have their own facilities for breeding and raising animals specifically for student use; others borrow subjects from local farmers and return the animals once students are done with them.
Regardless of their provenance, all such animals are viewed as disposable materials, existing merely to serve a function in the educational process. Sometimes, however, a human participant in that process steps beyond her own role as a student and becomes a lifesaver. One of the members of the class that operated on the piglets recognized them not merely as bodies, but as fellow creatures with feelings and personalities of their own. Learning what awaited them, she petitioned for their lives to be spared. And, learning of their need for a home, we gladly opened our doors.
The morning after the young pigs arrived at our Northern California Shelter, we watched them rise for their first sanctuary dawn, which they greeted with reckless joy. At Farm Sanctuary, the ear tags came off for good, and Numbers 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60 became our dear friends Simon, Cesak, Stacey, Charlotte, Johnny, and Joan van Ark.
Though safe from the cruelties of exploitation, two of the piglets were not yet out of the woods. Simon had suffered so much tissue damage during his ordeal at the university that he required a second surgery. When this operation failed to relieve his suffering and no other treatment options remained, we knew the kindest thing we could do was to help this sweet piglet to a peaceful end.
Even as we mourned Simon, however, our other invalid gave us reason to celebrate. Cesak, who had caught an infection during his surgery at the school, also required a second operation, but he made a full recovery. With lots of attention from his new caregivers, this loving, vivacious pig flourished, joining feisty Stacey, laid-back Charlotte, light-hearted Johnny, and brave Joan among the shelter's other rescued pigs. No longer surgical learning tools, the close-knit friends became teachers to their caregivers and visitors, demonstrating how to embrace life with an open heart each and every day.


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Home » Ralph Rapson, 93, a Modernist Who Drew to the End
Ralph Rapson, 93, a Modernist Who Drew to the End
Ralph Rapson
Case Study House No. 4, "The Greenbelt House," designed in 1941.
Image courtesy Ralph Rapson & Associates
The Rapson Rapid Rocker, debuted in 1945.
The U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, completed in 1954.
The original Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, completed in 1963.
Bette Hammel
Photo by Franz Hall, courtesy Ralph Rapson & Associates
Ralph Rapson, FAIA, regarded as one of the foremost architectural draftsmen of the 20th century and Minnesota's premier Modern architect, died of heart failure on March 29 at his Minneapolis residence. He was 93 and still working at his office the day before. "For him, it wasn't really work, it was what he enjoyed the most. He was drawing a cabin and making furniture designs," says his son Toby, president of Rapson and Associates. Drawing was one of Rapson's special talents and professional trademarks, despite the loss of his right arm, which was amputated during boyhood. He used his left hand as deftly as any artist.
As dean of the University of Minnesota School of Architecture for 30 years, and designer of the original Guthrie Theater, completed in 1963, Rapson became an inspiration for hundreds of graduates who founded their own firms. The Michigan native graduated from the University of Michigan in 1938, then studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art under Eliel Saarinen, working with noted designers including Charles and Ray Eames, László Moholy-Nagy, and Alvar Aalto. Later he joined the Saarinen architectural office. While at Cranbrook, he also began designing furniture. The popular "Rapson Rapid Rocker" debuted in 1945 as part of the Knoll furniture line and has since been re-issued.
Thoroughly imbued with Modernism, the new materials and technology, Rapson moved to Chicago in 1941 and began his illustrious career. There he designed one of the first Case Study houses: Case Study House No. 4, the "Greenbelt House." The iconic 1,800-square-foot residence includes a central interior enclosed by a translucent wire-glass roof, intended to bring nature indoors. Some four decades later it was rebuilt for an exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art—and, recently, his office designed a line of prefabricated modern houses, "The Rapson Greenbelt," based on one of his original 1941 designs.
Rapson joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and by 1951 was recruited to design the first modern American embassies in Europe, including those in Stockholm and Copenhagen. He came to Minnesota in 1954 to head the university's School of Architecture where he encouraged practicing architects to teach the challenges of the profession. Although his academic duties meant less time for running a practice, Ralph Rapson and Associates—staffed by his son Toby and recently his grandson Lane—remained productive. His work was recognized with many honors including five national awards from the American Institute of Architects; the ACSA/AIA Topaz Medal for Educational Excellence, in 1987; and five Progressive Architecture awards. Also, he was the first Minnesota Gold Medalist, in 1979.
By far Rapson's best known building was the Guthrie Theater, designed for Sir Tyrone Guthrie, a brilliant but demanding client who clashed many times with the architect. The rectilinear building contained a unique thrust stage that jutted into its auditorium. Guthrie opposed Rapson's desire to surround the stage with seating in a zig-zag pattern. Guthrie also objected to the building's exterior design, which was clad by a Mondrian-like patterned screen made of plywood, intended to frame attendees inside a glass-walled lobby. In the end, Rapson prevailed and his design was praised as one of the most innovative theaters of the post-war era. Today, a similar thrust stage exists at the new Guthrie Theater, designed by Jean Nouvel—an homage to the original building, which was demolished soon after Nouvel's work opened in 2006.
Tom Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota College of Design, observes that Rapson's passing marks the end of an era in American architecture. "Ralph was the last of the second generation of Modernists in America still practicing," Fisher says. "He will be very much missed by the thousands of people he influenced."
Throughout his married life, Rapson, sketchbook under his arm, and his late wife, Mary, often traveled abroad to see landmark buildings. Many delightful watercolors resulted, which his friends and legions of admirers have collected. He was a warm-hearted family man, customarily sporting a bow tie, ever-gracious to students and faculty alike. In addition to his son Toby, Rapson is survived by his elder son, Rip, who is president of the Kresge Foundation, and six grandchildren.
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Parkinson's protein blueprint could help fast-track new treatments
by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Researchers have solved a decade-long mystery about a critical protein linked to Parkinson's disease that could help to fast-track treatments for the incurable disease.
The research, published in Nature, has for the first time produced a 'live action' view of the protein, called PINK1, in exquisite molecular detail.
The discovery explains how the protein is activated in the cell, where it is responsible for initiating the removal and replacement of damaged mitochondria. When the protein is not working correctly, it can starve brain cells of energy, causing them to malfunction and—in the long term—die, as happens to dopamine-producing cells in Parkinson's disease.
The discovery is the culmination of a project spanning eight years and provides the first detailed blueprint for the discovery and development of therapeutic agents that could help to slow or even stop the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Led by Ph.D. student Mr Zhong Yan Gan and Professor David Komander, the multidisciplinary team at WEHI used innovative cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) facilities and research to make the discovery.
Turning off the switch
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the death of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. More than 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease, including more than 80,000 Australians.
Currently there are no approved drugs that can slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's disease, with available therapies only able to treat and alleviate symptoms.
Microscopy image showing Parkin (cyan) accumulating at the mitochondrial membrane (magenta). PINK1 recruits Parkin to help repair damaged mitochondria. Credit: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Ph.D. student and first author Zhong Yan Gan said the research provided an unprecedented view of a protein called PINK1, known to play a critical role in early onset Parkinson's disease.
"Many papers from laboratories around the world—including ours—have captured snapshots of the PINK1 protein. However, the differences in these snapshots has in some ways fuelled confusion about the protein and its structure," Mr Gan said.
"What we have been able to do is to take a series of snapshots of the protein ourselves and stitch them together to make a 'live action' movie that reveals the entire activation process of PINK1. We were then able to reconcile why all these previous structural images were different—they were snapshots taken at different moments in time as this protein was activated to perform its function in the cell."
PINK1 protects the cell by tagging damaged mitochondria—the energy powerhouse of the cell—to be demolished and recycled. When there are defects in PINK1 or other components of the pathway, it starves the cell of energy by preventing the recycling and replacement of damaged mitochondria with healthy ones.
"One of the critical discoveries we made was that this protein forms a dimer—or pair—that is essential for switching on or activating the protein to perform its function. There are tens of thousands of papers on this protein family, but to visualize how this protein comes together and changes in the process of activation, is really a world-first," Mr Gan said.
Drug discovery potential
Professor Komander said his lab's discovery paved the way for developing therapeutic agents that 'switch on' PINK1 to treat Parkinson's disease.
"There are currently no disease-modifying drugs available for Parkinson's disease—that is, there are no drugs that can slow progression of the disease or halt its development," Professor Komander said.
Credit: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Malfunctions in PINK1, or other parts of the pathway that control mitochondrial repair, is thought to be a key feature in certain cases of Parkinson's disease. However, this information is particularly relevant for a subset of young people who develop Parkinson's in their 20s, 30s and 40s due to hereditary mutations in PINK1.
Professor Komander said the discovery would lead to new opportunities to exploit this pathway for Parkinson's disease therapies.
"Biotech and pharmaceutical companies are already looking at this protein and this pathway as a therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease, but they have been flying a bit blind. I think they'll be really excited to see this incredible new structural information that our team has been able to produce using cryo-EM. I'm really proud of this work and where it may lead," he said.
Dr. Alisa Glukhova said the discovery was made possible thanks to the new custom-built cryo-EM facility jointly funded by WEHI and Bio21 Institute and WEHI's recruitment of structural biologists with expertise in using the technology.
"This is the first time that we have used cryo-EM at WEHI to solve the structure of small proteins such as PINK1," Dr. Glukhova said.
"This revolutionary technique has only been available in the past five years, and this work was made possible because WEHI has invested in this facility and the expertise needed to make the best use of the technology. It is a great example of how innovative technologies can really drive forward research and lead to transformative discoveries."
More information: Zhong Yan Gan et al, Activation mechanism of PINK1, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04340-2
Provided by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Citation: Parkinson's protein blueprint could help fast-track new treatments (2021, December 23) retrieved 29 January 2023 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-parkinson-protein-blueprint-fast-track-treatments.html
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Q: Zero of energy and chemical potential in a superconductor I am having trouble grasping some concepts related to how energy is measured in a superconductor. In BCS theory, we are given the energy of the quasi-particles as $E = \sqrt{\varepsilon^2 + \Delta^2}$ in which $\varepsilon = \frac{\hbar^2k^2}{2m} - \mu$, with $\mu$ being the chemical potential. As such, we find the quasi-particles exist with a minimum energy of $\Delta$.
My questions are as follows:

*

*What is the zero of energy in a BCS superconductor? In other words, when we say that the quasi-particles have a minimum energy of $\Delta$, are we saying that the quasi-particles exist at an energy that is at least $\Delta$ above the ground state? So the energy of the ground state equals zero? Does this mean that $\mu$ is measured relative to the energy of the ground state?

*What species of particle does the chemical potential $\mu$ control? Does $\mu$ control the number of Cooper pairs in the superconductor or the number of electrons in general? Can there be two different chemical potentials for Cooper pairs and the quasi-particles?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Share this Story: Changes coming to Wetaskiwin bylaws to regulate cannabis
Changes coming to Wetaskiwin bylaws to regulate cannabis
Christina Max
Sep 27, 2018 • 2 years ago • 2 minute read
After months of discussions and public input, City of Wetaskiwin council is finalizing the rules around the sale and use of cannabis in the city.
During a special council meeting Sept. 17, council passed a resolution directing administration on the proposed bylaw amendments that will be required as a result of cannabis legalization
Changes coming to Wetaskiwin bylaws to regulate cannabis Back to video
Recommended changes to the Land Use Bylaw include: that cannabis retail store setback would restrict the location of Cannabis Retail outlets but would not restrict the uses being buffered (i.e. it would be a one-way buffer); there is to be a 100-metre setback from parks, playgrounds, schools, child care facilities, libraries and hospitals and a 50-metre setback from liquor stores and other cannabis retailers. There will be a maximum of three cannabis retail stores allowed in the city. That number will be reviewed by council in March 2020.
A random selection process will be used to determine which three applicants will be eligible to be granted a permit.
The selection process:
Will only include applicants that have applied through the province and are eligible to apply through the City and can prove same.
Will be open to accept applications until 10 a.m. on Oct. 10.
Will place all applicants in an order. This way if any of the selected applications do not proceed for any reason, the next applicant in line will be able to proceed with their application.
Will use the list of applicants and the order of selection therein until March 2020 when the number of retail permits issued will be reviewed.
Finally, Land Use Districts where Cannabis Retail would be a permitted use are in the C1, C2, C3, C5, DDO and M1 districts, provided they are able to meet the specific use regulations.
Under the Development Safety Code and Engineering Fee Bylaw, council is proposing a $500 fee to enter the random selection process, $5,000 for the development application fee for those retailers chosen in the random selection process. In the event an applicant wishes to withdraw their development permit application, the following refund schedule is proposed: 100 per cent refund of the permit fee if prior to any review by the Development Authority; 50 per cent refund of the permit fee after review by the Development Authority but prior to a decision being made on the permit application and no refund once a decision has been made by the Development Authority
Council is also proposing, that the hours of operation for cannabis retailers be the same as liquor stores in the Business Hours Bylaw, which is 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, weekend days and statutory holidays.
Under the Community Standards Bylaw, cannabis cannot be consumed in public places.
First reading of the proposed Land Use Bylaw amendments and the proposed changes to the Development Fees Bylaw took place at the Sept. 24, council meeting. A public hearing will be held for the proposed Land Use Bylaw amendments at the Oct. 9 council meeting at 4 p.m.
Changes to the Development Safety Codes and Engineering Fee Bylaw don't require a public hearing but the public is invited to share their thoughts with the City prior to it going for second and third reading.


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Jade Raymond and Hermen Hulst on why Sony is buying Haven Studios
"We've been very impressed with the progress that Haven has made"
Feature by Christopher Dring Head of Games B2B
There's something a little different about PlayStation's plan to acquire Haven Studios.
Historically, Sony likes to have a little dating period with a developer, where they might release a few games together before they get married. It's what happened with Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Media Molecule, Insomniac and Housemarque.
Yet Sony announced its partnership with Haven a little over a year ago. The developer may be full of established faces who are responsible for hit games such as Assassin's Creed, but it's still a new studio. It's still growing. It's not even announced the PS5 game it's working on, let alone released it. So why do the deal now?
"You're right, we could have just carried on in the capacity of them being an external development partner," acknowledges PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst. "But what Haven has created is so exciting for us, there was just a desire to deepen that relationship. We have been very impressed with how Haven is coming together.
Jade Raymond, Haven Studios
"It's just easier for us to invest in the team and game more deeply this way. It is testament to the fact we've been very impressed with the progress that Haven has made. They're actually exceeding a lot of the plans, including in terms of time, which very rarely happens in game development, let me tell you. So we thought: Let's invest deeply and do this properly."
Haven Studios head Jade Raymond adds: "It's testament to the talent, and the amazing relationships and trust we have between the team. A lot of these people have worked together over decades on many AAA games. We've created new IPs together. Many of them have gone on to work at different studios with me. That's really a big leg up when you all know each other's strengths and weaknesses. You know how to work together, and you have done this before."
The fact that the game is coming along strongly is certainly one very good reason to sign up the Haven team. But the acquisition will also give PlayStation something it has never had: A developer in Canada.
Canada is one of the biggest producers of AAA games in the world. Most major games companies have a presence in the country, including Activision Blizzard, EA, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, Square Enix, Tencent, Take-Two and Ubisoft. It's actually a surprise to realise that PlayStation wasn't among them.
"It is incredibly exciting for us to be there, but also to have people that are native to the area and knows everyone," says Hulst.
"I have already seen the calibre of people that Haven has been able to attract. We are finally in Canada, we're finally in Quebec, and we've hit the ground running with a team that's deeply embedded in the area. As you know, we've always been heavily represented on the East Coast of the US, in Tokyo, in the UK, in Amsterdam, and now in Helsinki with Housemarque. So it's great to be able to tap into pools of creative talent in different parts of the world."
"This [acquisition] is what I would have ultimately hoped for in my dreams"
Raymond adds: "On a personal level, I like the fact we're between the West Coast studios and the European studios where Hermen is. So we can have the perfect time schedule for collaborations."
Raymond is used to working within large organisations, having spent much of her career at Ubisoft, EA and Google. However, setting up Haven was a chance to move away from all that and become an independent. In an interview last year, she told us how excited she was to be back making games after several years in executive roles. The Sony acquisition may look like a step away from that idea, but Raymond says that's not the case.
"This [acquisition] is what I would have ultimately hoped for in my dreams. You talked a bit about a dating period and then getting married, but we did have a year of dating, where we worked really closely with Connie [Booth, SVP and head of internal production] and Hermen, and all the teams at Sony. We got to see what they have to offer and how they work. The [Haven] team continues to feel like this is the best experience that we've had in our careers. It's been amazingly collaborative, with so many talented people to work with and inspiring studios to exchange ideas with. The team felt like we could really make the best quality game if we were part of the PlayStation family.
"[Last year] I was talking about my personal desires to get back to working on games. That isn't changing. Sony isn't asking me to change my role. Things are remaining the same to me, and I get to focus on creating a new IP with the team that I love day-to-day, only with more support, which actually means I can focus even more on the game. This is the ideal outcome."
Hulst adds: "We want the team to be fiercely autonomous from a creative perspective. I know from experience that that leads to the best possible games. We want that culture that she's nurtured, which is all about creating really positive and very fun connections between people. We want them to carry on doing that. We are here to help and we have created a really healthy organisation to enable that. [This acquisition] shouldn't take anything away, quite the opposite. What we are taking away are distractions, so that they can optimise that creative independence. That's what we're here to do."
Hermen Hulst, PlayStation
The Haven acquisition will continue Sony's investment in live service and multiplayer games. Although the company has made numerous online games before, it is best known today for cinematic single-player titles like God of War and Spider-Man. It's leaned into that reputation during the launch of PS5, both through the marketing and the titles it has released so far.
Yet the company is eager to diversify. Over the past year it has acquired an esports tournament (the fighting event EVO), its internal teams are hiring for live service developers, it is partnering with external multiplayer studios, and in January it made its most significant move yet by acquiring Bungie and the game Destiny.
And it's been supporting all this by strengthening its internal support teams to help manage multiple service-based projects.
"Obviously we will always carry on making these single-player narrative-based games such as Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us, and Horizon Forbidden West," Hulst emphasises. "But you've spotted correctly that we have invested in live service games, because that's incredibly exciting for us. It allows us to build larger worlds, it allows us to create really meaningful social connections between players.
"We have quite a few now in development or conceptualisation, so yes we are setting up capabilities internally. But exactly for that reason, it is so exciting for us to welcome to the family a group of people who have a lot of experience with live-service games. To have those central capabilities that we're setting up interact with people who have been doing it for a long time... that notion that demanding customers create great capabilities, that usually holds true in game development.
"It's really exciting for our central services and technology groups. For these to be working with a world class outfit like Haven... that's great. And it is aligned with the strategy of diversifying the kinds of games we are offering to our fanbase."
"[Live-service games] allow us to build larger worlds, it allows us to create really meaningful social connections between players"
Hermen Hulst, PlayStation Studios
For Sony, it's clear what Haven brings to the table. It's an experienced team working on the type of game that they're after, and it has the bonus of giving them a presence in Canada.
For Haven, Raymond says that Sony has lived up to its reputation of giving developers "the latitude to make the games we are dreaming of making."
"It is this reputation of really supporting creative teams and their vision, and the understanding of the development process and what it takes to get to that quality that we're trying to achieve.
"And of course we're excited about the PS5. The idea of making an exclusive PS5 game... we have a lot of PlayStation fans on the team, and it was a big draw factor to be amongst those first-party studios."
She adds: "PlayStation has its own unique secret sauce to getting to those amazing games. It's not by chance that you see so many 90+ blockbusters [from Sony]. It's because they do something a little differently, and that's been the thing that we've experienced over the last year."
The news of PlayStation buying another studio shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After the firm acquired Bungie in January, CEO Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz that "we should absolutely expect more." The result of the industry consolidation, however, has been a spike in valuations. There was a time when billion-dollar studio acquisitions were extremely rare, but there were three in January alone. Is that giving PlayStation pause?
"We carry on doing what we've always done," Hulst concludes. "We're always on the look out for fresh new experiences. We're always on the look out for the best talent in the industry. And preferably, the best talent in the industry that share our values around making games. I think Haven, and Jade, are people that just work really well with PlayStation Studios. We've seen that already very organically, with a natural flow of information sharing. Also, while they were independent, Jade came out with some core team to Amsterdam and were exchanging experiences and hopping on calls. That happened very naturally. We won't stop doing that.
"We don't have growth goals to communicate to you, but I can confirm we are always on the look out to work with the best talent in the industry, and to work on the most exciting and fresh new experiences."
Haven Studios LLC
Christopher Dring
Head of Games B2B
Chris is a 15-year media veteran specialising in the business of video games. And, erm, Doctor Who
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How "fixed" is the itinerary of the tour?? If we like a place very much, can we stay longer there?? If we don't like something can we move to the next place? I understand there are hotel reservations to be changed, but is this possible? Are there any fees associated with changing anything in the tour?
Changing a tour, after you are in Bhutan is completely possible. If it is just a minor change of places or attraction to visit, most often our Guide can decide instantly and make the changes. However, where changes involve changing the place of the stay, some hotels may charge cancellation charges and at other times, there may also be difference in the costs between hotels. So, as long as you are ready to bear the extra costs, if any, there is usually no problem for us to change. Cancellation charges are generally applicable during the peak tourists' seasons.


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2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS600 SUV Priced at a Bargain $161,550
No, really, that's a deal compared to the rest of the Mercedes-Maybach lineup. This GLS-class will arrive at dealers later this year.
By Colin Beresford
The Mercedes-Maybach GLS600 4Matic SUV will be the first SUV in the Maybach lineup, and it'll start at $161,550.
That starting price makes the Maybach GLS600 cheaper than the other Maybach offerings, including the S560 and S650 sedans.
The Maybach GLS600 will go on sale later this year.
When you combine Maybach with an SUV, one would expect it to command a starting price higher than the Mercedes-Maybach S560 and S650 sedans. But, Mercedes-Maybach announced that won't be the case with the 2021 Maybach GLS600 4Matic as it will start at $161,550, making it competitive with its ultra-luxury peers such as the Aston Martin DBX and the Bentley Bentayga.
More on the Mercedes-Maybach GLS600
Mercedes-Maybach GLS600: Chauffeur-Ready Top Model
Mercedes-Maybach GLS Confirmed for U.S. Production
2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS450 Has Impressive Moves
The Mercedes-Maybach GLS will be powered with an electrified twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 engine, a divergence from the twin-turbo V-12 offered in the S650. The engine in the Maybach GLS will churn out 550 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque, and the integrated 48-volt starter/generator can up that by 21 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque, albeit briefly. That engine is paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission which helps bring this SUV to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds.
Elsewhere, this Mercedes-Maybach is eye-catching and chauffeur-ready. This Maybach GLS, unlike the standard one, will be offered with only two rows, and the second row can be outfitted with either a pair of reclinable seats or a three-seat option. A chrome-clad grille and a two-tone paint option make it known without a doubt that this is a Maybach.
The Mercedes-Maybach GLS600 will reach dealers later this year.