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Home Games Swarm - Swinging and Shooting Action in VR
Swarm – Swinging and Shooting Action in VR
Adam Braunstein
VR is maybe the most impressive technological achievement of this past decade. To be able to put on a headset and become immersed in a whole other world with graphics that are wildly impressive at times is something that a lot of us could not dream was possible, and now it has become one of the main platforms to game on.
VR games have been hit or miss for the most part though, with a lot of games failing to find the balance between entertainment and VR interaction. Some games just nail the idea of putting you in a game though and with Swarm VR, you get a very gamey experience that is both completely insane and also beautiful chaos that fully utilizes the VR platform to create an experience that just would not translate the same anywhere else. As VR titles seem to continually copy each other with few new ideas being pushed forth, Swarm VR is certainly a breath of fresh air.
We get started with a short tutorial here that shows you how everything works. In Swarm, you are essentially Spider-Man with guns. That's the phrase the developers use to describe the experience here and while that is pretty lofty of an expectation to create, it is not that far off. You're equipped with two guns equipped with grappling hooks on them and if you are thinking that this sounds pretty damn cool, you are not wrong.
The basic gameplay comes down to swinging around like Spider-Man practicing his moves while lighting up robots with dual guns in slow motion and the result is a dizzying spectacle that truly feels like you are being thrust into a game from the old days of gaming. That's to say, Swarm feels like a VR version of something like Space Invaders. Rather than focus on the incredible worlds you can create in VR and the amazing physics systems that can be utilized, Swarm focuses on one thing, having fun.
What it feels like to play
Playing Swarm is a mix of amazing ideas mixed with varying levels of execution. The levels go down like this, you're thrust into an arena that is filled with tons of platforms for you to latch onto, and from portals in the sky, robots spawn to attack you. Simple enough right? This is all driven by the grappling hook gameplay and the idea here is that you can latch onto these platforms to launch yourself all over the arena to take out the enemies coming at you.
Though it is a bit jarring at first, you will soon be swinging and shooting like a pro and the feeling is simply exhilarating. The graphical style is also pretty unique in that it is somewhere between cell shading and straight-up comic book visuals and while that might not be that great looking on a flat screen, in VR, this effect truly makes you feel like a superhero. The enemies are nicely varied as well and with each level, you can expect to see a new variant or two to change up the gameplay as well as a massive, hulking boss to contend with. This is where I really started to respect the game's vision here. It would have been easy enough to just throw the same old robots at us over and over, but here, we get new weapons and new enemies to use them against to keep the experience fresh.
What will Keep you Playing?
With a nice variety of levels and a great number of thrills even in the replaying of previous ones, Swarm definitely is a small-budget title with big-budget ambitions. The developers at Greensky Games are also dedicated to increasing the content and they have a strong rapport with the community, often reaching out to YouTube reviewers for feedback and that connection with the community is a great thing that usually yields great results.
There are leaderboards here as well which lend themselves to the arcade nature of the game and it really adds to the old school feel they have going here and is a nice addition in a game where you wouldn't normally assume would have one.
Preparation-
In terms of playspace needed to play Swarm, you really won't need all that much. Most of your movement in this game will be vertically with your arms and maybe leaning from side to side as you are flying through the air. You might be turning around a lot as well, so at least be sure that you have a 360-degree area cleared of objects because the action ramps up pretty fast and intensely.
Intensity- 8/10
I recorded my 30-minute workout on a Fitbit and played on an Oculus Quest 2 headset.
Calories burned: 164
Calories burned per minute: 5
Average Heart Rate: 104
Max Heart Rate: 130
Active Minutes: 23
Swarm probably won't be too intense for most in a physical capacity, but from a visual and purely experience perspective, this is one of the more intense games you can play in VR. Whether it is the wild visuals in VR or the fast-paced gameplay that has you literally soaring through the air pulling off moves that would belong comfortably in the Matrix, the game is as intense as it gets. Playing on the harder difficulties will also get the heart rate going as the enemies are that much deadlier and you have to be extremely quick with your grapples and swings to make sure your dodges are on point.
Arms- 8/10
Most of the action taking place in Swarm has to do with your arms. Swinging, pulling to gain momentum, and aiming and firing your weapons all are done via your arms and it is heavily recommended that you stretch to start out. While you won't be building any real muscle tone with this game, there is a good chance you will be tiring out those arms and shoulders awfully quickly with enough game time here, so if you are looking for a good way to get active in VR quick, this is a great way to do it.
Legs- 5/10
There is no actual need for your legs in this game and because of it, you can easily play while seated. This might be an advantage for some, but immersion-wise, it definitely takes you out of it a bit for sure. I played standing up and I actually decided to use my legs a bit to dodge out of the way when enemy gunfire and missiles were coming my way. Now, this isn't exactly realistic at all since you can't really jump to the side while flying through the air, but this is a comic book game about flying through the air with two guns with grappling hooks attached to them, so it doesn't take away from the experience all that much.
Core/Balance- 7/10
One of the biggest things you need to take note of here is your balance. This game has you flying through the air like a superhero and turning around 360 degrees all the time and craning your neck to see enemies coming at you from above, below and all sides will constantly have you disoriented here and more than a few times I was thrown off balance from the absolute insanity taking place in my headset. Swarm won't be working out your core all that much, but balance-wise, this is a true test of how well you are acclimated to VR and I would not recommend this game to new players to VR as it really tests the limit on both your toleration for heights as well as your balance. Make sure you won't have anything in the immediate area that would hurt falling into. This seems like an obvious statement, but with Swarm, it is particularly true.
Time Perception- 8/10
If there is one thing Swarm really nails, it is the feeling that you are this superhero swinging and shooting through the air while trying to take down the alien menace that is attacking your world. With the fun little comic styled cutscenes and the energetic music and visuals, it is very easy to find yourself getting lost for a bit in Swarm and the energetic gameplay just does not let up one bit throughout your time with the game. As far as how long you will be able to play through, that is a bit tough to say because different people will have different feelings about how much they can tolerate here. As far as my play sessions went with Swarm, I usually hopped in for 15-20 minutes or so outside of my initial fitness test with the game and that felt like the sweet spot for me.
Replayability- 8/10
Swarm has an interesting gameplay loop to it and although the initial content isn't all that lengthy, the gameplay itself has kind of an ageless feel to it that harkens back to the days of old-school arcade games. If you are familiar with how those games worked, they were pretty much endlessly repayable simply because of the fact that you could rack up high scores every round and the addiction to beating your previous best scores became one of the prime factors for creating the first generation of gamers. Swarm has that sort of appeal with the leaderboards and the variety of ways you can choose to approach each level. Will you constantly swing from platform to platform, slowing time in mid-air to take out your enemies or will you go slower, hanging from a particular platform as you carefully pick off each enemy from there? It's a great mix and allows for multiple playthroughs.
Fitness Scalability- 7/10
As stated before, you can play Swarm while seated. That being said, you will get way less out of it from a fitness perspective. If you play standing though, the biggest thing to alter the kind of workout you will be getting is the difficulty. While the easiest difficulty will be a rather light affair in the fitness department, the hardest difficulty will have you working up quite a sweat as you'll be frantically swinging as fast as possible to dodge the more damaging fire from the alien army. You won't be getting any amazing workout here in general, but for those looking to work up a sweat, the hard difficulty will definitely give you what you want.
Dizziness/ Lack of Nausea- 7/10
This category is where Swarm gets into a bit of trouble because although the developers have done everything in their power to make sure you have plenty of options to lower nausea and dizziness while playing, there is still nothing to get you ready to literally soar through the air as you do in this game. As a veteran of VR, I found myself a bit taken back at the start, unsure if I would be able to handle the intense action taking place in front of me and being completely thrown off balance by the initial level. After a while though, I was able to get acclimated to the various systems at play and got my bearings and from there, I had an awesome time with the over-the-top VR spectacle before me.
Social Multiplayer- 7/10
While not an actual multiplayer game, Swarm does a solid job in trying to come up with ways to stay connected to the VR community and that is done with the leaderboards. It is here where you can see your scores calculated at the end of each level and this is impacted by everything from speed completed to the number of hits taken and gives you a reason to keep returning to try to get the top score in the world.
VR Fit Score- 7.2/10
Game Score- 7/10
Swarm is an incredibly original VR shooter with some impressive swinging mechanics that creates an exciting experience that gives you a true thrill that only a VR platform could deliver. The enemies are unique and there are more introduced the more you play and between that and the addition of new weapons and gameplay mechanics like slow motion, there is plenty here to entertain you and friends new to VR for quite some time. The developers are adding more content as well and seem very dedicated to keeping the game updated which means well for the future of the game.
Some people just will not be able to handle the wild gameplay and might find themselves sickened at the high-flying action taking place. A very specific type of player will enjoy this game as there is very little story here and repetitive gameplay will possibly grate on some people very quickly. To add to this, the $24.99 price tag might be too much to pay for what seems like a limited experience.
Swarm is available for $24.99 on the Oculus Quest Store and playable on the Oculus Quest 1 and 2.
Previous articleBoomBox VR Game Review – An Excellent VR Drumming Experience
Next articleSkyrim VR- An endless fantasy world to explore at your leisure
Adam Braunstein is a VR gamer, videogame writer, actor, and all around gaming enthusiast. After experiencing VR for the first time at VR World in New York City, Adam became enthralled in this other reality that allowed the limits of imagination to be broken and has since been a dedicated VR gamer anxious to spread the joy that this amazing platform can bring. When out of the Virtual Reality, he can be found at the gym, playing sports with friends and playing guitar/singing.
VR Game Reviews


At the heart of this powerful vacuum cleaner is a motor embodying the latest technology from Panasonic for maximum efficiency using minimum power. By utilising the high efficiency of Eco Max technology with our patented 3D Inducer Fan, this vacuum cleaner is able to generate 420 watts of mega suction power from 1400 watts of input power.
The EZ Release system makes vacuuming your home so much more efficient. It is extremely flexible: by using the foot pedal, you can quickly switch between floor and furniture nozzles. It makes cleaning hard to reach areas, such as behind furniture or on the walls and ceiling easier than ever.
With big wheels that run smoothly over carpets and floor and an 11 metre radius of action, this vacuum cleaner is super easy to manoeuvre around furniture, stairs and a multitude of surfaces. On board tool storage also makes it super easy to switch between attachments, with a dusting brush, upholstery nozzle and parquet nozzle all attached to the vacuum cleaners handle.


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HomeIsrael's schools reopen, then some close, leaving parents flummoxed
Israel's schools reopen, then some close, leaving parents flummoxed
Dina KraftJune 15, 2020Image by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty I...
Image by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty I...
"Put on your masks," a security guard instructed backpack-wearing adolescents Sunday morning as they streamed into their middle school in in northern Tel Aviv. They lined up to show him the signed declarations by their parents that they are fever-free.
When one maskless boy said he forgot his, the guard shouted, "Anyone have a spare mask for him?"
Two blocks away, the gates were locked at the high school campus of the school, called Ironi Daled. No students would arrive Sunday, Monday — or for the next two weeks. An 11th-grader at the school tested positive for Covid-19, according to a notice released Saturday night, so all staff and students at the high school were immediately placed in quarantine.
Will Israel really annex the West Bank (and what happens next)? Join Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of The Forward, on June 17 at 11 a.m. EDT for a conversation with David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Click here to sign up.
It's one of at least 140 Israeli schools that have closed down in recent days because a student or staff member has contracted Covid, reflecting a resurgence of cases across Israel in recent weeks following the reopening of schools, shops and other businesses. Infection numbers soared from low single-digits to as high as 200 a day last week.
The country's schools reopened abruptly in mid-May, after plans were shelved for a gradual reentry in which students were meant to meet in "capsules" of 15 to provide adequate room for social distancing. Instead, most returned to classrooms of 30 to 40 students where the education-ministry guidelines to sit 6.5 feet apart were impossible to follow. Enforcing rules to wear masks appeared spotty at best.
Image by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via G...
An Israeli pupil wearing protective gear heads to his classroom upon return to school after the COVID-19 lockdown, at Hashalom elementary in Mevaseret Zion, in the suburbs of Jerusalem, on May 3, 2020.
Israeli parents have been left to navigate the risk factors for their own children.
"There was a rush to open everything, but it felt like it was done without any real plan," said Yochai Bar Sinai, 38, a computer programmer who lives in Jerusalem and has three children. The oldest attends an elementary school that was shuttered after a teacher tested positive.
Bar Veinstein, 48, a Tel Aviv father and chief executive of a software company said he understands the economic pressure to reopen, but sees Israeli schools as something of a cautionary tale for other countries looking to reopen schools, citing what he called sloppy enforcement of health guidelines here.
"We went from one extreme (of lockdown) to the other of doing nothing, it's just nonsense," he said.
Mili Neeman, a 42-year-old Tel Aviv business consultant, decided to keep her daughter, a seventh grader, at home despite school's reopening. She found the situation too risky once she saw, she said, that social-distancing and mask-wearing rules were not strictly enforced.
"I feel that at times like this it's our job as parents to use our instincts and think for ourselves," Neeman said. "Just because the government decided to open schools again does not mean it's the right decision for everyone.
"Going from zero to 60 in one day and not enforcing rules in the school – leaving it up to principals to decide how to arrange everything allowed the principals to say, 'It's difficult for us to abide the guidelines,'" she added
An education-ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that enforcing the guidelines given to schools has been challenging, which is why principals have been given discretion.
In Pardes Hannah, a town in central Israel, Michal Avrahmi, has been frustrated by the handling of the post-lockdown return to the K-12 school her two sons attend. She attended a recent meeting between administration and parents by Zoom to discuss the health guidelines, where she, along with other parents complained that the school was functioning as if it was in "non-Corona times".
"There's a sense of chaos," said Avrhami, 49, a graphic designer. "And then the straw that broke the camel's back is when we heard two girls in the high school were exposed to someone with Corona. We received word from another mother in the school, but it turns out that the school administration knew the day before."
She described a breakdown in trust of the government, especially after reports of both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin breaking quarantine rules over Passover.
"I don't know who to believe," she said. "I've stopped believing what the government ministers tell us since they told us to have Passover seders on our own and then did not follow their own rules and had the holiday with their relatives."
Israeli pupils wearing protective gear make their way to their classroom upon return to school after the COVID-19 lockdown, at Hashalom elementary in Mevaseret Zion, in the suburbs of Jerusalem, on May 3, 2020.
This new level of concern accompanying the uptick in cases comes after Israel emerged from the initial phase of the Corona crisis better off than many of its neighbors in Europe and to the devastating death toll and infection levels in the United States. To date there have been more than 19,000 cases and 302 deaths out of a population of 8.6 million.
Israel went into stringent lockdown by mid-March, and for weeks residents were limited to a 328-foot radius of their homes, except to visit grocery stores or pharmacies. An emergency order enabled the Israeli government to track cellphones for contact tracing.
Because the infection rate was so low when schools reopened a month ago, it was not considered overly risky. A parallel reopening of schools and businesses in Europe has not led to a spike in cases.
European Union education ministers attribute the lack of a significant rise in cases to having smaller class groups and close cooperation with health services to enforce restrictions like social distancing.
Hagai Levine,an epidemiologist and professor of public health at Hebrew University in Jerusalem said that so far, it does not appear that Israeli schools themselves are major centers of infection or spreading of the virus.
But he said there needs to be much broader change in people's behavior.
"In Israel we are a very warm society that lives closely together, shaking hands, hugging — we need to change that, and it's not easy," Levine explained. "We also need to learn how to live with masks. This is not easy in Israel, especially during the extremely hot summer."
Dina Kraft is a journalist based in Tel Aviv. Listen to her podcast about relationships between individual Israeli Jews and Palestinians, The Branch, produced by Hadassah.
Dina Kraft
Dina Kraft is a journalist based in Tel Aviv, she writes for The Christian Science Monitor and The Los Angeles Times where she reports on Israeli and Palestinian politics, culture and society. She can be reached at dinakraft.com and on Twitter @dinakraft.
Israel's schools reopen, then some close

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


When I got the press release for this show announcement, I had to read the venue location a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly. Ladies and gentlemen, the wild soul man and smooth crooner, Charles Bradley, is playing an intimate show at the Echo on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. If you don't know how Charles Bradley is and you're a fan of soul, r&b, blues and a riveting live performance, you need check this fella' out! We just caught Bradley at Spinner's SXSW party and were literally blown away. His weathered vocals, crooned with delight as he busted out a few soulful howls and yells. It was electric! Not to mention, at 62, Bradley can shake down any young rocker on the dance floor. The man was movin' and groovin,' owning the stage and crowd before him. He even did the rock 'n roll splits!
Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band will be performing at the Echo on May 4 in celebration of his Bradley's debut alum, No Time For Dreaming. Bradley is part of the Daptone family so you know his album has got to be damn good and his live show even better. Tickets to the show are only $12 and open to those 18-and-over. You can buy your tickets via TicketWeb here! Be sure to get on this show asap, because it will sell out!
This entry was posted in Hot New Band Alert, Just Announced and tagged Charles Bradley, Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, concerts, echo, funk, indie, legends, r&B, Shows, soul, SXSW, tickets on March 30, 2011 by Sandra Burciaga Olinger.


from the list. Perhaps beg one of the maintainers lol.
animate/inanimate distinction is important to generate some later change).
patient in the process or shifting it to post verbal position.
I'll extend the use of the locative marker to indefinite animates as well.
language would just start dropping prepositions like that.
and I would be grateful for suggestions to make this more realistic.


Making 205 nations coexist on one convertible.
The car even made an appearance at the 22nd Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit, MI, an annual one-day event that drew in an estimated 1 million visitors.
After 3 very sweaty days in a warehouse, a masterpiece was born.


Which ABC Show Has the Most Facebook Fans?
You helped make the World News Now fan page on Facebook #1 among ABC shows. World News Now has 3,594 fans, followed by "World News with Charles Gibson" page with 3,100 fans and the "This Week" page with 2,200 fans.
Launched in February, the World News Now page gets about 100 new fans every day – probably added around 3:00 in the morning.
The show even celebrated the other night morning with a video. Click here to see it and to join the World News Now fan page.


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Worldwide smartphone shipments fall by 8.7% in Q2 2022 — IDC
By Back End News on August 1, 2022
Market intelligence firm International Data Corp. saw a decline of 8.7% year over year (YoY) in worldwide smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2022 (2Q22). The IDC said that this is the fourth consecutive quarter that shipments declined falling to 286 million units in the quarter or about 3.5% lower than forecast.
"What started out as a supply-constrained industry earlier this year has turned into a demand-constrained market," said Nabila Popal research director with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team. "While supply improved as capacity and production were ramped up, roaring inflation and economic uncertainty have seriously dampened consumer spending and increased inventory across all regions."
Popal also noted that original equipment manufacturers (OEM) have cut back orders for the rest of the year with Chinese vendors making the biggest cuts as their largest market continues to struggle.
Smartphone shipments decline by 8.9% in Q1 2022 — IDC
IDC: Worldwide smartphone shipments forecast to grow by 7.4% in 2021
"Although we do expect demand to start picking up in some regions towards the end of the year, the outlook for the 2022 smartphone market will definitely be revised down a few points," Popal said. "We continue to believe that any reduction today is not demand that is lost, but simply pushed forward."
Smartphone vendors
From a regional standpoint, the largest second quarter decline was in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as expected, with a 36.5% YoY drop as the war in Ukraine continues to hamper the region. However, from a volume standpoint, CEE only accounts for 6% of global shipments, so the biggest drawdown on global volumes came from China, which declined 14.3% year over year. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC), which accounts for nearly half of all shipments worldwide, also declined 2.2% in 2Q22. All other regions, except Canada, saw low-to-mid single-digit declines.
Despite the challenging environment, vendor positioning was not altered much during 2Q22. Samsung held the top spot with a 21.8% share and healthy growth in all regions except Europe. Apple came in second with 15.6% share, while Xiaomi came in third narrowing the gap to 13.8% share. vivo and OPPO ended the quarter tied for the fourth position with 8.7% and 8.6% share respectively.
Categories: Reports
Tagged as: apple, idc, IDC Smartphones, Oppo, samsung, smartphone shipments, Vivo, Xiaomi
Discounts on fares and other special benefits await beep users
PLDT expands int'l data capacity with US-Transpacific cable system


All three of the new names added to training camp are members of the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) this season. All are signed specifically to ECHL contracts so in any event where Payerl, Yogan, or Ratchuk get brought to the Admirals it comes on a loan or PTO basis from the Cyclones.
Payerl is an undrafted winger that has spent the majority of his career in the AHL under the Penguins banner. He has also played twice in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He doesn't post eye popping offensive numbers, 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in the last two AHL seasons he's played (84 games), but at 6'3″ and 218 lbs. he has the frame that can muscle it out on the lower lines and eat up minutes on the ice.
Yogan was drafted in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers. In his last year in junior hockey, 2011-12, he had an incredible scoring season for the Peterborough Petes: 79 points (41 goals, 38 assists) in 66 games. Added Fun Fact: He was teammates with Austin Watson and Trevor Murphy that season. Since, his pro career has slightly been tumbleweeds. His scoring numbers have receded and he's going from an NHL draft pick, to AHL talent, to ECHL talent. Perhaps this new backdrop of Milwaukee/Cincinnati can reignite his scoring touch.
Ratchuk, were he to actually be a mainstay on the Admirals, would be the oldest defenseman on the roster at 27-years old. He was a second round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006 but has yet to play a game in the NHL. His time as a pro has been split between the AHL (147 career games) and ECHL (175 career games). Looking at his track record I'm going to take a guess injuries played a part in him going from 69 games played with the Wheeling Nailers in 2013-14 to 28 games played last season. No matter, he's set to join his fourth different ECHL team this season and -should he stay healthy- can hopefully provide his 2013-14 level of performance.
In addition to these Cyclones being brought into training camp the roster list reveals some of the new uniform numbers for the Admirals: #6, Kristian Näkyvä… #7, Conor Allen… #8, Trevor Murphy… #10, Max Görtz… #25, Max Reinhart… #61, Brandon Whitney… #85, Mikko Vainonen… #91, Vladislav Kamenev.
The Admirals training camp roster should expand when some more faces arrive from Nashville in the coming days (e.g. Cody Bass, Jamie Devane, Juuse Saros, and more). I'd anticipate some moves being made in advance of Friday's exhibition game against the Rockford IceHogs. As far as spotting guys tomorrow though? This list should help you out.
Once again, I'll be at the MSOE Kern Center tomorrow morning for the start of training camp. You can check out the full training camp schedule here. Hope to see you rinkside.


The local weather people are great for predicting when snow and ice might fall. However, for all of their predictions, they sometimes cannot tell ahead of time how intense the winter storms will be nor what kind of impact they will have on the local roadways. When your company has been hired to keep the wintertime roads safe, you need to get ready well before the stormy weather hits. You can prepare now by ordering supplies like new front blades for your trucks, bulk road salt, de-icing liquid, and more by going online today.
One of the perks of preparing now centers on saving money. When storms approach, suppliers can raise their prices to profit from the increased demand. When you want to save money and stay on budget during this season, you can go online and find out what the prices are for rock salt and other supplies.
While the weather is nice, the prices may be at their lowest. You can place your order now and have enough to go around once the ice and snow falls without letting your budget take a hit. The chart is set up to tell you how much each quantity costs and in what quantities the rock salt is available. You can order enough to get through an entire season's worth of storm by referring to the chart on the website.
Another factor that will determine how much you pay involves the location for where you are ordering the rock salt as well as to where you would like it delivered. Locations that are farther away or those places that typically see more snow and ice in the wintertime may have to pay higher prices than those places that are closer to the company or see less snow and ice each season.
You can refer to the location and delivery mandates on the chart to safeguard your budget. You can also decide if you want to pick up the rock salt yourself or have it delivered to you.
Your company is the only thing that stands between the icy roads and drivers' safety. You can gear up now to sand down the roads and keep the highways and interstates safe during snow and ice storms by buying your supplies online now. You also can save money.


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Drew Davies unveils nostalgic video for new single 'Mrs Taylor'
Alternative rock soloist Drew Davies has unveiled the video for his track 'Mrs Taylor' – a song written during a moment of nostalgia.
The track was recently premiered via Clash Magazine and is an ode to the mother of a childhood friend. "When I learned of her passing I immediately started writing lyrics and music," he comments.
Set in the Yorkshire countryside, the video shows clips of the village where Drew grew up, and has a hazy retro-feel, punctuated with shots of the beautiful natural topography.
"I grew up in the South Yorkshire countryside and so wanted to shoot somewhere that would capture the expansiveness and beauty of the area. We shot near some family in North Yorkshire but also in the village where I grew up. We wanted to create the feeling of looking in the rearview mirror at my childhood and we retraced some steps I took in my early years; all as a way of commemorating the memory of Mrs Taylor" he explains.
'Mrs Taylor' on Spotify – Apple Music
Follow Drew Davies:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify


Whether your growing fresh vegetables in the city, using the urbanized, SquareFootGardening (SFG) Grid to harvests fruits, or growing a rooftop garden for herbs, many Treehuggers know the value and joy of cultivating their own garden. We're curious to know how many of us out there are growing their own! If you're not already growing a garden but are looking to get started, make sure to check out You Grow Girl or Garden Wise for some helpful hints to help you get started! As always, comments are welcome below.


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Emmy Awards 2021: The Crown, The Queen's Gambit and Ted Lasso the big winners, along with Netflix
Here's everything you need to know about this year's awards
Aoife MoriartyCulture Writer
Olivia Colman with her Emmy award for 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series', at the The Crown Primetime Emmys Celebration at Soho House in London, England on 19 September 2021 (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The 2021 Emmy Awards, television's biggest event, took place last night with streaming platforms Netflix and Apple TV Plus dominating the major categories.
Tied for the most wins this year were The Crown and The Queen's Gambit, both Netflix productions, with 11 wins apiece.
Not too far behind though with seven Primetime Emmys was new comedy Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus), starring Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach who is hired to coach a Premier League team, despite his total lack of experience.
NBC was the only non-streamer or cable channel to make a big impact, with eight wins for sketch show Saturday Night Live.
73rd Annual Emmy Awards: the big winners
The big wins on the night included Olivia Colman for Outstanding Lead Actress in the drama series category, for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. Colman was also nominated last year for the same role, but lost out to Zendaya for her performance in HBO series Euphoria.
The male equivalent of the award went to Josh O'Connor, who plays Prince Charles in the Netflix series.
The Crown also took home one of the biggest awards of the night, for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as earning wins for its writing and direction.
It also bagged a supporting actor win for Tobias Menzies as the late Prince Philip, alongside a supporting actress nod for Gillian Anderson, who plays Margaret Thatcher in the series.
Jason Sudeikis was named Outstanding Lead Actor in the comedy series category for Ted Lasso, which also scooped awards for supporting actor, supporting actress and outstanding comedy series.
Meanwhile Jean Smart walked away with Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for HBO's Hacks, which tells the story of a famous comedian who enlists the help of a Gen Z writer to help her stand-up stay relevant.
Hacks also won in the comedy category for both its writing and direction.
In the Outstanding Limited Series category, for once-off drama productions or TV films, The Queen's Gambit beat out Mare of Easttown and WandaVision to reign supreme. It also won an award for its direction.
The chess-based drama lost out to Kate Winslet though in Mare of Easttown for Lead Actress in this category.
While Ewan McGregor won the male equivalent of this award for Halston, the Netflix miniseries about the designer of the same name.
Other major awards
While The Crown, Ted Lasso and The Queen's Gambit were undoubtedly the biggest winners at the 2021 ceremony, there were major awards doled out elsewhere too.
Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You, about a young black woman's sexual assualt, won for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, after being 'snubbed' in 2020. It was screened on HBO in the US and BBC One in the UK.
The musical Hamilton (Disney Plus) won 'Outstanding Variety Special' while RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1) had five wins in the Reality or Competition Programme category, bringing its total Emmy wins to 24 in total.
Don't Look Up - Everything you need to know about the new Netflix dark comedy flick starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio
Our top streaming picks on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV Plus and NOW this weekend
StreamingInventing Anna: Netflix series about fake New York heiress Anna Delvey will be a must watchBased on true events, the new drama about living the Instagram high life on other people's dime comes courtesy of Bridgerton and Grey's Anatomy producer, Shonda Rhimes
Here are the most watched Netflix TV shows and films in Ireland last week
NetflixNetflix is now offering weekly stats for the most watched TV shows and films in almost 100 countries across the globe, with some very interesting surprises
Domhnall Gleeson to play a serial killer opposite Steve Carell in new limited series The Patient
EntertainmentThe Irish actor is set to take on the title role in the upcoming psychological thriller about a serial killer who takes a psychotherapist hostage
Bel-Air trailer for Fresh Prince reboot reveals a darker, dramatic take on 1990s sitcom
Now TVFrom Will Smith's Westbrook Studios comes an imaginative retelling of the story of the boy from West Philadelphia, born and raised
The Morning Show will return to Apple TV Plus for a third season
Apple TV+Starring and executive produced by Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, drama series set in the cutthroat world of US morning television has been renewed for a new season
In the NewsFrench presidential hopeful Eric Zemmour found guilty of hate speech over child migrants commentThe far-right presidential candidate has two previous hate speech convictions and has been investigated 16 times in total over incendiary remarks on immigration and Islam
Top 10 highest earning musicians of 2021 were all men, aside from Taylor Swift
StreamingSwift is the only woman featured on the new list of 2021's highest musical earners, with no acts in the top 10 from outside the US and Bruce Springsteen coming out top


text:
Culture, its evolution and anything inbetween
Tag: cognition
Babies know who's boss, whose boss, and who knows what else.
A forthcoming paper (grateful nod to ICCI) in PNAS from Olivier Mascaro and Gergely Csibra presents a series of experiments investigating the representation of social dominance relations in human infants, and it's excellent news: we're special.
Social dominance can be inferred in a couple of ways. Causal cues such as age, physical aggression and size can tell us about the dominance status of an individual quite intuitively, so we can make a sensible decision about whether or not we get into a scrap with them. Another way we can establish this is to look for direct realisations of dominance, such as who gets the banana if two hungry chimps both want it; chances are, little Pan Pipsqueak isn't going to get a look in. In order to be useful, we also have to use this information to expect certain things from the individuals around us, so those representations have some property of stability across time that allows us to have those expectations. The question being explored in this paper is whether the representations we have are about the relationship between the two agents who want the banana, or the individual properties each of them has.
In a series of experiments using preferential looking time as a dependent measure, human infants (9 and 12 month olds) were exposed to videos of geometric figures exhibiting similar goal-directed behaviour. Then they would watch, say, a dominant triangle picking up the last figurative banana when the nondominant pentagon also wanted it. For expository purposes and posterity's sake, I have constructed an artist's impression of a dominant triangle and a subordinate pentagon in MSPaint (below, right):
A dominant triangle and subordinate pentagon (artist's impression).
I'm not just showing off my extraordinary artistic talent here; the good thing about these agents is that there are none of the cues like size or aggression that can give rise to the assignment of individual dominance properties. The task also doesn't indicate anything similar; it's just about who gets the desired object when there's only one left. In other words, the goal-directed actions of two agents are in opposition. After seeing a triangle beat a pentagon to an object of 'banana' status, 12 month olds looked for longer when they were then presented with an incongruent trial where the pentagon gained over the triangle. 9 month olds (understandably?) couldn't care less. So, on the basis of this social interaction alone, the 12 month olds were able to notice when something unexpected happened.
To rule out the possibility that this was just the result of some simple heuristic such as "when triangle and pentagon are present, triangle gets the object" and make sure the infants really were assigning some dominance, another experiment (with 12 and 15 month olds) showed the same test video of the two agents collecting little objects. This time, however, the preceding video was of the triangle dominating a little walled-in space that the pentagon also wanted to inhabit. The 12 month olds had no idea what was up, but the 15 month olds generalised from the first "get out of my room" interaction to the "I get the last banana" interaction. So, 15 month olds can extract, just from watching a social interaction, the dominance status of agents and can generalise that information to novel situations. So if a 15 month old watches you lose your favourite seat in front of the TV, they'll also expect you to miss out on the last slice of pizza, because you're a loser.
What we still don't know is whether they think your belly is inherently yellow, or if you're just a pushover when interacting with a particular person. Is it the relationship between the triangle and pentagon that the babies are tracking, or do they just give each agent some sort of dominance score? This was addressed in experiment 4, where infants were presented with two interactions: one between A and B, where A wins, and then another between B and C, where B wins. If the babies are assigning an individual value to each agent, they should have some sort of linear, transitive representation of dominance like A > B > C. If they're then presented with a novel interaction between A and C, they would have the expectation that A will beat C. So if they stare in surprise at a trial where C wins, we know it's violated that kind of expectation, and that they're representing this stuff linearly – I.E. each agent has a dominance value. In contrast, if the infant is tracking the relations between agents, they can't really have an expectation of what will happen when A and C both want a banana, because they've never seen C before. The results find that the infants look preferentially when they get an incongruent trial using agent pairs they have seen before – as we'd expect from the previous experiment. When they're presented with a new "I get the last banana" interaction between A and C, however, there's nothing startling about it when C wins – which means their expectations are not based on something like A > B > C.
The only tiny little harrumph I have about this result is that all it does is falsify the linear representation account. Though I think their account is absolutely right, it'd be nice to see something more predictive come out of the relation-representation hypothesis that is a little more falsifiable. But this result is pretty huge, and stands in contrast with what we know about social cognition in other animals like baboons (Cheney et al, 1995; Bergman et al, 2003), lemurs (Maclean et al., 2008) and even pigeons (Lazareva & Wasserman, 2012), who seem to employ this sort of hierarchical, transitive inference when presented with novel interactions. It may also muddy the waters a little when we want to make the appealing claim that, since language surely emerged in order to enable communication as we navigated a social environment, hierarchical social cognition gives rise to the processing of languagey things like hierarchical syntax or our semantic representation (Hamilton, 2005), which can be characterised as hierarchical (e.g. hyperonym > hyponym). If we consider the nature of the human social environment, though, it should seem more intuitive that something more reliable than simple transitive inference is necessary in order to successfully navigate through our interactions. Due to our prolific production of (and reliance on) culture, humans have a much more diverse range of social currencies, which correspond to values for things like money, intelligence, blackmail information, who your friends are, ad infinitum. That means it's pretty reasonable that our social cognition needs new strategies in order to get by; we have a little more to consider than just who's big and angry enough to get all the bananas.
Bergman, T., Beehner, J., Cheney, D. & Seyfarth, R. (2003) "Hierarchical Classification by Rank and Kinship in Baboons" Science 14(302), 1234-1236.
Cheney, D., Seyfarth, R. & Silk, J. (1995) "The response of female baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) to anomalous social interactions: evidence for causal reasoning?" Journal of Comparative Psychology 109(2), 134-141.
Hamilton, D.L. (2005) Social Cognition: Key Readings (p. 104) Psychology Press
Lazareva, O. & Wasserman, E. (2012) "Transitive inference in pigeons: measuring the associative values of stimulus B and D" Behavioural Process 89(3), 244-255.
Maclean, E., Merritt, D. & Brannon, E.M. (2008) "Social complexity predicts transitive reasoning in prosimian primates" Animal Behaviour 76(2), 479-486.
Mascaro, O. & Csibra, G. (forthcoming) "Representation of stable dominance relations by human infants" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Author RachaelPosted on 20 April, 2012 28 September, 2012 Categories Evolution, Evolution, Reviews, ScienceTags Animal Cognition, cognition, culture, evolution, Human Cognition, social cognition1 Comment on Babies know who's boss, whose boss, and who knows what else.
In Search of the Wild Replicator
The key to the treasure is the treasure.
– John Barth
In view of Sean's post about Andrew Smith's take on linguistic replicators I've decided to repost this rather longish note from New Savanna. I'd orignally posted it in the Summer of 2010 as part of a run-up to a post on cultural evolution for the National Humanities Center (USA); I've collected those notes into a downloadable PDF. Among other things the notes deal with William Croft's notions (at least as they existed in 2000) and suggests that we'll find language replicators on the emic side of the emic/etic distinction.
I've also appended some remarks I made to John Lawler in the subsequent discussion at New Savanna.
* * * * *There's been a fair amount of work done on language from an evolutionary point of view, which is not surprising, as historical linguistics has well-developed treatments of language lineages and taxonomy, the "stuff" of large-scale evolutionary investigation. While this work is directly relevant to a consideration of cultural evolution, however, I will not be reviewing or discussing it. For it doesn't deal with the theoretical issues that most concern me in these posts, namely, a conceptualization of the genetic and phenotypic entities of culture. This literature is empirically oriented in a way that doesn't depend on such matters.
The Arbitrariness of the Sign
In particular, I want to deal with the arbitrariness of the sign. Given my approach to memes, that arbitrariness would appear to eliminate the possibility that word meanings could have memetic status. For, as you may recall, I've defined memes to be perceptual properties – albeit sometimes very complex and abstract ones – of physical things and events. Memes can be defined over speech sounds, language gestures, or printed words, but not over the meanings of words. Note that by "meaning" I mean the mental or neural event that is the meaning of the word, what Saussure called the signified. I don't mean the referent of the word, which, in many cases, but by no means all, would have perceptible physical properties. I mean the meaning, the mental event. In this conception, it would seem that that cannot be memetic.
That seems right to me. Language is different from music and drawing and painting and sculpture and dance, it plays a different role in human society and culture. On that basis one would expect it to come out fundamentally different on a memetic analysis.
This, of course, leaves us with a problem. If word meaning is not memetic, then how is it that we can use language to communicate, and very effectively over a wide range of cases? Not only language, of course, but everything that depends on language. Continue reading "In Search of the Wild Replicator"
Author BBenzonPosted on 15 March, 2012 14 July, 2013 Categories Evolution, LinguisticsTags cognition, cultural evolution, culture, evolution, lamb, language, language evolution, linguemes, meme, replicator14 Comments on In Search of the Wild Replicator
Evolang Previews: Cognitive Construal, Mental Spaces, and the Evolution of Language and Cognition
Evolang is busy this year – 4 parallel sessions and over 50 posters. We'll be posting a series of previews to help you decide what to go and see. If you'd like to post a preview of your work, get in touch and we'll give you a guest slot.
Michael Pleyer Cognitive Construal, Mental Spaces, and the Evolution of Language and Cognition Poster Session 1, 17:20-19:20, "Hall" (2F), 14th March
Perspective-taking and -setting in language, cognition and interaction is crucial to the creation of meaning and to how people share knowledge and experiences. As I've already written about on this blog (e.g. here, here, here), it probably also played an important part in the story of how human language and cognition came to be. In my poster presentation I argue that a particular school of linguistic thought, Cognitive Linguistics (e.g. Croft & Cruse 2004; Evans & Green 2006; Geeraerts & Cuyckens 2007; Ungerer & Schmid 2006), has quite a lot to say about the structure and cognitive foundations of perspective-taking and -setting in language.
Therefore an interdisciplinary dialogue between Cognitive Linguistics and research on the evolution of language might prove highly profitable. To illustrate this point, I offer an example of one potential candidate for such an interdisciplinary dialogue, so-called Blending Theory (e.g. Fauconnier & Turner 2002), which, I argue, can serve as a useful model for the kind of representational apparatus that needed to evolve in the human lineage to support linguistic interaction. In this post I will not say much about Blending Theory (go see my poster for that 😉 or browse here ), but I want to elaborate a bit on Cognitive Linguistics and why it is a promising school of thought for language evolution research, something which I also elaborate on in my proceedings paper.
So what is Cognitive Linguistics?
Evans & Green (2006: 50), define Cognitive Linguistics as
"the study of language in a way that is compatible with what is known about the human mind, treating language as reflecting and revealing the mind."
Cognitive Linguistics sees language as tightly integrated with human cognition. What is more, a core assumption of Cognitive Linguistics is that principles inherent in language can be seen as instantiations of more general principles of human cognition. This means that language is seen as drawing on mechanisms and principles that are not language-specific but general to cognition, like conceptualisation, categorization, entrenchment, routinization, and so forth.
From the point of view of the speaker, the most important function of language is that it expresses conceptualizations, i.e. mental representations. From the point of view of the hearer, linguistic utterances then serve as prompts for the dynamic construction of a mental representation. Crucially, this process of constructing a mental representation is fundamentally tied to human cognition and our knowledge of the world around us. Continue reading "Evolang Previews: Cognitive Construal, Mental Spaces, and the Evolution of Language and Cognition"
Author MichaelPosted on 10 March, 2012 10 March, 2012 Categories Evolution, Linguistics, ScienceTags cognition, Cognitive Linguistics, Evolang IX, Evolution of Language, language evolution, psychologyLeave a comment on Evolang Previews: Cognitive Construal, Mental Spaces, and the Evolution of Language and Cognition
Animal Cognition & Consciousness (II): Metacognition & Mentalizing
As I wrote in my last post, three kinds of behaviours are most often discussed in debates about animal consciousness and cognition:
"1. Mirror self-recognition
2. Tests of metacognition;
3. Metacognition of others' mental states" (Gómez 2009: 45)
After having discussed the first capacitiy in my previous post, I will discuss the latter two in this post, starting with metacognition, that is being aware of one's own knowledge states, and then turn to being aware of other's mental states.
Metacognition.
Being aware of one's own mental states, i.e., reflective consciousness, surely seems to be one of the most crucial components of self-awareness. In one paradigm used to test for metacognitive awareness, monkeys were trained to select, out of a number of two or more images, the one that is identical to an image they have been shown earlier. As is to expected, the monkeys' performance progressively deteriorated the longer the delay was between the sample image and the selection task.
Continue reading "Animal Cognition & Consciousness (II): Metacognition & Mentalizing"
Author MichaelPosted on 12 January, 2012 12 January, 2012 Categories Evolution, ScienceTags Animal Cognition, cognition, Consciousness, human evolution, Mentalizing, metacognition, theory of mind4 Comments on Animal Cognition & Consciousness (II): Metacognition & Mentalizing
Animal Cognition & Consciousness (I): Mirror Self-Recognition
Darwin made a mistake. At least that is what Derek Penn and his colleagues (2008) claim in a recent and controversial paper in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Darwin (1871) famously argued that the difference between humans and animals was "one of degree, not of kind."
This, according to Penn et al. is of course true from an evolutionary perspective, but in their view,
"the profound biological continuity between human and nonhuman animals masks an equally profound discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds" (Penn et al. 2008: 109).
They hold that humans are not simply smarter, but human cognition differs fundamentally and qualitatively from that of other animals.
One pervasive proposal is that we do not simply possess a unique set of cognitive capacities, but that it might be consciousness itself that is uniquely human as well, a view that goes back at least to Descartes (Burkhardt & Bekoff 2009: 41). However, there are also many scholars and researchers who agree that there is evidence for higher-order cognition in nonhuman animals ( 'animals' after this) and that they might possess at least some degree of consciousness (Burkhard & Bekoff 2009: 40f.).
In this and my next post, I will write about three kinds of phenomena that are most often discussed in debates on whether animals have some form of higher-order cognition and consciousness or not: self-awareness, awareness of one's own cognitive states, and awareness of others' cognitive states and intentions.
Continue reading "Animal Cognition & Consciousness (I): Mirror Self-Recognition"
Author MichaelPosted on 8 January, 2012 2 October, 2012 Categories Evolution, ScienceTags Animal Cognition, cognition, Conscioussness, human evolution, Human Uniqueness, Mirror Self-Recognition4 Comments on Animal Cognition & Consciousness (I): Mirror Self-Recognition
Does a Smart Phone make Smart Science?
A new paper in plos one, published today, has shown that experiments on human cognition needn't be confined to the lab.
Experiments on human cognitive abilities, such as language, often rely on testing small and homogeneous groups of volunteers (mostly undergraduate students) coming to research facilities where they are asked to participate in behavioral experiments. This arrangement is not ideal as your sample will not be representative of the population as a whole and will also be restricted as there is only so many participants that money and time will allow you to get into the lab to be tested.
This new research by Dufau et al. shows that the sampling limitations which laboratory experiments produce can be overcome by using smartphones. Using smart phone technology, data can be collected for cognitive science experiments from thousands of subjects from all over the world.
To illustrate how this can be done the authors carried out a large-scale study using iPhone and iPads. This was a linguistic study looking at people's ability to distinguish words from similar non-words.
The project, which began in December 2010 has managed to collect data from 4,157 subjects in just 4 months! This can be compared with the English Lexicon Project which acquired a similar volume of data using traditional methods which took more than 3 years.
The data was collected using applications which were produced in seven languages (English, Basque, Catalan, Dutch, French, Malay, Spanish). Smartphones can also support studies in alphabets other than Roman including Chinese, Greek, and Japanese. This creates the opportunity to create large-scale cross linguistic studies without even having to move from behind your desk.
Whilst the example here is linguistic there is every reason that smart phones can be implemented in looking at how universal other areas of cognitive behaviour are. Or even neurosceince and experimental philosophy. I wonder if it would be possible to carry out experiments using transmission chains using smart phones.
However, I do worry that using things like iPhones will have the same problems as using things like mechanical turk, as it means that experimenters will not be able to make sure that participants are carrying out the tasks properly and removes quite a lot of control. Smartphones are also still a luxury and therefore only people within a certain socio-economic class will have smartphones, so maybe these methods may not reach such a wide audience, which seems to be why they're being proposed in the first place.
The authors of the paper are hailing smartphones "a potential revolution in cognitive science" but only time will tell if this really kicks off!
Stephane Dufau, Jon Andoni Dun abeitia, Carmen Moret-Tatay, Aileen McGonigal, David Peeters, F.-Xavier Alario, David A. Balota, Marc Brysbaert, Manuel Carreiras, Ludovic Ferrand, Maria Ktori, Manuel Perea, Kathy Rastle, Olivier Sasburg, Melvin J. Yap, J (2011). Smart Phone, Smart Science: How the Use of Smartphones Can Revolutionize Research in Cognitive Science PlosOne, 6 (9) : 10.1371/journal.pone.0024974
Author HannahPosted on 29 September, 2011 29 September, 2011 Categories Science, Science NewsTags 10, Carmen Moret Tatay, cognition, David Peeters, English Lexicon Project, Jon Andoni Dun, Kathy Rastle, language, Ludovic Ferrand, Manuel Carreiras, Manuel Perea, Marc Brysbaert, Maria Ktori, Olivier Sasburg, population, research, Science, Smart Phone, Stephane Dufau, Xavier Alario1 Comment on Does a Smart Phone make Smart Science?
The evolution of computer science: Connecting top-down and bottom-up
David Krakauer from the Santa Fe Institute asks "what is intelligence?" and discusses the rift in the field of computer science between the top down, symbolic approach to cognition (how can we make a machine play chess?) and the bottom-up, inferential approach (how can we evolve a general-intelligence machine?). He suggests that the singularity – when machines will outpace human beings – will occur only when machines master both aspects. But is it a good idea to trust them?
This is a typical SFI talk, sweeping over evolving brain size, poetry, the Turing test, Evolution, the Matrix, Blade Runner and Doctor Strangelove. Fantastically, Krakauer mentions my work on a cultural singularity that I blogged about here!
Ultimately, his point is very similar to Adam Curtis' documentary All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, which is also brilliant.
See Krakauer's talk here.
Author SeanPosted on 23 September, 2011 23 September, 2011 Categories UncategorizedTags Adam Curtis, bottom up, cognition, David Krakauer, evolution, SFI, top downLeave a comment on The evolution of computer science: Connecting top-down and bottom-up
Cognitivism and the Critic 2: Symbol Processing
It has long been obvious to me that the so-called cognitive revolution is what happened when computation – both the idea and the digital technology – hit the human sciences. But I've seen little reflection of that in the literary cognitivism of the last decade and a half. And that, I fear, is a mistake.
Thus, when I set out to write a long programmatic essay, Literary Morphology: Nine Propositions in a Naturalist Theory of Form, I argued that we think of literary text as a computational form. I submitted the essay and found that both reviewers were puzzled about what I meant by computation. While publication was not conditioned on providing such satisfaction, I did make some efforts to satisfy them, though I'd be surprised if they were completely satisfied by those efforts.
That was a few years ago.
Ever since then I pondered the issue: how do I talk about computation to a literary audience? You see, some of my graduate training was in computational linguistics, so I find it natural to think about language processing as entailing computation. As literature is constituted by language it too must involve computation. But without some background in computational linguistics or artificial intelligence, I'm not sure the notion is much more than a buzzword that's been trendy for the last few decades – and that's an awful long time for being trendy.
I've already written one post specifically on this issue: Cognitivism for the Critic, in Four & a Parable, where I write abstracts of four texts which, taken together, give a good feel for the computational side of cognitive science. Here's another crack at it, from a different angle: symbol processing.
Operations on Symbols
I take it that ordinary arithmetic is most people's 'default' case for what computation is. Not only have we all learned it, it's fundamental to our knowledge, like reading and writing. Whatever we know, think, or intuit about computation is built on our practical knowledge of arithmetic.
As far as I can tell, we think of arithmetic as being about numbers. Numbers are different from words. And they're different from literary texts. And not merely different. Some of us – many of whom study literature professionally – have learned that numbers and literature are deeply and utterly different to the point of being fundamentally in opposition to one another. From that point of view the notion that literary texts be understood computationally is little short of blasphemy.
Not so. Not quite.
The question of just what numbers are – metaphysically, ontologically – is well beyond the scope of this post. But what they are in arithmetic, that's simple; they're symbols. Words too are symbols; and literary texts are constituted of words. In this sense, perhaps superficial, but nonetheless real, the reading of literary texts and making arithmetic calculations are the same thing, operations on symbols. Continue reading "Cognitivism and the Critic 2: Symbol Processing"
Author BBenzonPosted on 14 July, 2011 Categories Linguistics, ModellingTags children, cognition, Cognitive Structures, David Hays, HRAF, language, linguistics, MLN, models, Nouns John, NP, reading, Science, selection, semantics, SUNY, Symbol Processing, syntax, VP, William Benzon2 Comments on Cognitivism and the Critic 2: Symbol Processing
Elephants give each other a helping trunk
A study published on PNAS.org yesterday has shown that elephants might have shared goals which gives them the ability to co-operate.
An experiment was done using the classical 1930s cooperation paradigm used to test the co-operative abilities of monkeys and apes. This paradigm is used to explore the cognition underlying coordination toward a shared goal. This explores what animals know or learn about the benefits of cooperation and also tests their ability to comprehend a partner's role in cooperation.
The experiment comprises of 2 animals who need to work together to pull 2 ends of the same rope in order to pull a platform towards them which holds a reward such as food.
Experiments such as this have never been done on animals apart from primates before. Plotnik et al. (2011) subjected this experimental paradigm to elephants and have shown that elephants can learn to coordinate with a partner. The elephants also delayed pulling he rope for up to 45 seconds if the arrival of their partner was delayed which showed that they comprehended that there was no point to pulling on the rope if their partner lacked access to the rope. The elephants learnt that this was the case much more quickly than has been shown in Chimpanzees in other studies.
Observations from the wild suggest that in nonhuman primates these co-operative abilities exist but experimental results have been mixed. Plotnik et al. (2011) claim that convergent evolution may have lead elephants to have reached a level of cooperative skill equal to that of chimpanzees.
You can see a video of the elephants doing the experiment here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9417000/9417308.stm
Plotnik, J. M., R. Lair, w. Suphachoksahakun & F. B. M. de Waal (2011)
Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task. PNAS 2011 : 1101765108v1-201101765.
Author HannahPosted on 8 March, 2011 8 March, 2011 Categories Evolution, Science, Science NewsTags animals, cognition, cooperation, elephants, evolution, experiment, monkeys, PNASLeave a comment on Elephants give each other a helping trunk
Imitation and Social Cognition (III): Man's best friend
In my two previous posts (here and here) about imitation and social cognition I wrote about experiments which showed that
1) young children tend to imitate both the necessary as well as the unnecessary actions when shown how to get at a reward, whereas wild chimpanzees only imitate the necessary actions.
2) both 14-month old human infants as well as enculturated, human raised-chimpanzees tend to 'imitate rationally.' That is, they tend to be able to differentiate whether an agent chose a specific way of performing an action intentionally, or whether the agent was forced to performing the action in this specific manner by some constraint.
It can be argued that these experiments demonstrate that human infants and young children show an early sensitivity to the communicative intentions of others. That is, they seem to be able to infer that a demonstrator's specific (and 'odd' ) actions are somehow relevant, because she chose this specific manner freely (see also these two extremely interesting posts by the philosopher Pierre Jacob, on which my own post is partly based)
The fact that human-raised chimpanzees also show this sensitivity suggests that enculturation plays an important part in this process.
In a very interesting study, Range et al. (2007) used an experimental setup similar to that of Gergely et al. (2002) (which i described in my second post, here) to test whether other 'enculturated' and domesticated animals show the same kind of sensitivity: dogs.
Continue reading "Imitation and Social Cognition (III): Man's best friend"
Author MichaelPosted on 26 February, 2011 26 February, 2011 Categories Research Blogging, ScienceTags animals, cognition, culture, evolution, imiation, Science, social cognition2 Comments on Imitation and Social Cognition (III): Man's best friend
James Winters
Bill Benzon
Stefan Hartmann
Michael Pleyer
Christian Kliesch
Rachael Bailes
Richard Littauer
Spurious correlations
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BBenzon on A quick guide to cultural evolution for humanists
Marco Smolla on A quick guide to cultural evolution for humanists
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halil on Systematic reviews 101: Systematic reviews vs. Narrative reviews
Divergence and Reticulation in Cultural Evolution
A quick guide to cultural evolution for humanists
The computational envelope of language – Once more into the breach
Language Evolution at the UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference
Call for Contributions: Public Engagement in Language Evolution session
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Envision Response is an agency I used for over ten years when I was Director of Marketing at Space Bag a then division of ITW. They were partners with us in growing the home storage category. We were the market leaders and they helped us dramatically grow our retail business by creating compelling profitable DRTV ads which supported our national retail presence and growth. They are an asset to any company.
Sean and Envision are fantastic. It is rare these days when an owner is so involved in the process from beginning to end. This is the way I run my company and knowing Sean is engaged gives me comfort and the confidence to send my clients to them. Envision knows the DR business!
We have worked with many agencies over the years and I can't say enough good things about Envision - They are creative, knowledgeable, professional, accessible and extremely personable. You are never in the dark when you are working with the team over at Envision - they are there when you have questions or concerns and are constantly communicating. Keep up the good work!!!
Envision Response stands as a ready and willing partner in the success and future of your brand and your company's vision.
We have ideas. Lots of them. However, what's more important is that we know your goals and put our efforts towards helping you realize them.
This not only pertains to the clients we choose, but also to our working approach, aesthetic, and our transparency.
We take an informed, holistic approach to marketing, including detailed research, digital strategy, and visual media production.
We are laser-focused on elevating your brand through all visual mediums, and strive to create cohesive campaigns with attention to every single detail.
Tracking allows us to quantify our collective success and see what is working and what is not, making adjustments when necessary. We consider periodic reporting essential to our collective success in communication.
We realize that time is of the essence, and work with clients to establish a realistic schedule, to which we stick, delivering exactly what you need within the timeframe promised.
Every great collaboration starts with a conversation.
We know how valuable your brand is to you and we realize the challenges involved in amplifying your voice to the masses. Let's talk about your trajectory and how Envision Response can help you be the brand you've always envisioned.
We are a performance based brand marketing + creative agency at the nexus of digital marketing and direct response. We're a team of creative minds and strategists dedicated to amplifying your brand through proven marketing techniques and imaginative storytelling.


Halinski: TSA has approximately 250 individuals operating overseas and a mandate to promote the implementation of global transportation security processes, while ensuring compliance with worldwide and TSA standards. Mission areas include: Compliance, Engagement/ Outreach, Capacity Development.
The key to fulfilling this mission is developing good relationships with the host government. TSA can't tell the host government what to do.
Staff screening: two schools of thought – single point of failure, vs. holistic approach to insider threat. ICAO is soon to come out with a staff screening requirement, but TSA believes that's a single-point-of-failure, and that instead, we should have a layered affect, with background checks, random searches, etc.
National Cargo Security Program Recognition: looking at how foreign governments are doing cargo, then accepting their procedures if they are acceptable.
A 100% inbound cargo strategy is based on a risk based model. We will have to "sell" this, whatever process TSA develops, to the world, since we cannot mandate what foreign governments do – we can only mandate what U.S. air carriers do.
AIT/body scanners: TSA has moved forward with deployment – the EU is deploying the millimeter wave. We are seeing that body scanners are becoming much more accepted world wide.
Gefen: Ben Gurion is a medium sized airport, conducting about 12 million enplanements per year.
Passenger security in Ben Gurion is only one part of airport security. The main objective is to prevent explosion or hijacking on an airplane departing from Israel. Ben Gurion must also keep an eye towards budget, image and customer service.
There are four levels of security: a supportive infrastructure, state of the art technologies, regulations and the human factot (well trained and educated security personnel).
Passenger security starts with a short interview done by a security agent to determine the level of threat – we have several levels of threat. We use various materials and protocols, along with detection of suspicious behaviors. We check bags through CT scanners according to the level of security of the passenger. The process ends with passenger inspection before entering the sterile zone.
In the next few years, expect some changes to the passenger process in Ben Gurion – known as "the advanced technology concept," which means implementing a holistic security solution, blending our human factor processes and technologies.
Gefen believes that there is nothing better than the "eye and touch" of a human security agent.
LoBello: noted that unlike passenger and baggage screening, air cargo screening is the responsibility of the air carrier.
The need for mutual recognition – ensure that air cargo is protected within various and changing government mandates; supply chain focus means securing 'once,' at the origin, having reliable partners and use of existing programs. The final focus is on technology and training.
The screening of air cargo is significantly more complicated than baggage – passenger bags are transported to security, prepare for security, with simple, density, definitive single commodity security clearing. Cargo is the complete opposite.
Ben DeCosta opened up the issue of Duty Free, liquors, and perfumes so that individuals are better able to buy and transport these items, without losing them at screening checkpoints. Halinski said that the EU has established 4 different types of technologies, from the most intrusive (open the bottle and pass a test-strip into it), to technology that allows you to keep your bottle(s) in the bag. However, he pointed out that airports tend to buy the cheapest technology, rather than the most effective.
TSA's response to the duty free and LAGS issue is to conduct pilot-programs and see what works.
Gefen was asked about his impression of U.S. TSO's – he adroitly deflected the question, "I'm not in a position to criticize the TSA." However, DeCosta followed up by asking how Israel manages to do the security process and not only provide customer service, but make the passenger feel safe (something the U.S. TSA has been criticized for in the past).
Gefen responded that not everyone has to go through the exact same process but that it looks like everyone goes through the same process – not everyone takes off their shoes, but only a few selected people. However, they are moving to a single technology system that will check everyone the same, but (apparently) retain the risk based processes that are currently in use. (Author's Note: language barriers here prevented a clear understanding of where Israel is going in the future of screening).


text:
Son of Respecting a Dead Guy
15 and 1/4 years ago I caught Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada in Cannes. I was an instant admirer. Directed by and starring Jones and based on a script by Guillermo Arriaga, it's a tautly absorbing, well-crafted morality (i.e., anti-racism) tale. I decided this morning that re-watching it might be a good idea. It's now on my Amazon watchlist.
Here are some impressions about the film and a press session that the producers staged in the hills above Cannes. Filed on 5.19.05, the piece was called "Respecting a Dead Guy."
"I've pledged not to wade into The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada until later this evening, but it's fair to repeat what other journos are saying, which is that it's highly respectable. Some (like the Toronto Sun's Bruce Kirkland) expressed surprise at how smartly composed and compassionate and thematically rich it is. Surprised because you never know what to expect from a first-time-out director. It could have been indulgent or precious or half-baked.
"It's also fair to report that I attended an American Pavilion interview late Wednesday afternoon between Jones and Roger Ebert. Ebert made it clear he'd had a positive reaction to the film. He also asked if anyone in the audience had seen it, and when I raised my hand he asked me what I thought and I offered a thumbs-up gesture.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada producer Michael Fitzgerald (left), director-producer-star Tommy Lee Jones (center) and Toronto Sun critic-reporter Bruce Kirkland at Thursday's press gathering at a wonderfully picturesque and soul-soothing villa in the hills above Cannes — 5.19.05, 12:35 pm.
View of Cannes and the Med from EuropaCorp-rented villa.
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a modern-day tale set in western Texas and northern Chihuahua, Mexico. It deals with a ranch foreman (Jones), a border patrolman (Barry Pepper) and an illegal immigrant named Melquiades Estrada who works for Jones. The second half is a horseback-journey film about redemption and seeing through prejudices and embedded attitudes.
"It's a film with a great deal of compassion and soul and a generally humanistic view of things. If you want your literary influences, check out Flannery O'Connor's work and William Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying.'
"In the press kit, Arriaga says he wanted "to make a study in social contrast between the land that's south of the Rio Grande river and the land that's north of it. About what ironies, injustices, glory, beauty and redemption you can find in this area that has its own character…something that cannot be imposed, something that has grown and evolved…something that cannot be controlled."
"Just before 11 am today myself and a few other journos (Kirkland, Stephen Schaefer, Desson Thomson, Harlan Jacobson, Shari Roman, etc.) were driven in a minivan from the Gray d'Albion hotel near the Croisette into the hills above Cannes, and eventually (the driver got lost) to a beautiful hilltop villa.
"The purpose was to allow for a brief schmooze with Jones, Arriaga, Pepper, young co-star January Jones and producer Michael Fitzgerald (whose other ventures include Colour Me Kubrick and Sean Penn's The Pledge).
Pepper said that Jones "has a very deep passion for strong visual composition and the poetry of words." He read some passages from his on-set journal, and on one page he described Jones as "a Southern badass with a ruthless work ethic and a heart the size of the Copper Canyon."
"He mentioned two things that Jones told him before shooting a couple of scenes — 'Keep it stupid simple' and 'don't do somethin', just stand there.'
"Jones was asked to articulate the film's themes, but he's not what you'd call a press-junket gabber. Aside from calling it 'a journey toward redemption,' he said, 'You're invited to read into it anything you deem appropriate…all you want, all you want.'
"Pepper said that Jones read aloud from the book of Ecclesiastes during shooting. Jones was later asked why. 'Because I like the book,' he replied. Jones' philosophy of directing actors, he said, is the same attitude he brings to handling a horse, which is 'never ask a horse to do what it can't do.'
"Jones was asked what doesn't work on the set as far as directing is concerned. 'Tantrums are not constructive,' he said. 'Egotism is not, I think, a good thing.'
"He said he's long wanted to direct a film of Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian,' and was asked a few years ago by then-Sony chief John Calley to write an adaptation of it in script form. He delivered it a year later but 'they said it was too violent,' he said.
"The session ended after an hour or so, and everyone was driven back to town.
"A wafer-thin and very beautiful dark-haired woman who does interviews for French TV sat next to me in the van on the way back. She was dressed in a sheer white dress and smelled like jasmine and musk.
"I glanced at a printed itinerary she was holding in her hand, and saw that she had three hair-and-makeup appointments set for today — one at breakfast, a second just after lunch and a third before going out this evening."
August 24, 2020by Jeffrey Wells13 Comments
Once Admired
"Was It The White Pants?"


BRIAN FERGUS TYSON was born in Nottingham, England on July 19, 1933. He went to rejoin his beloved Jill, after a valiant battle with illness, in Lethbridge, Alberta on March 5, 2018.
Brian was a child in World War II, with all that implies. On the one hand, it meant the stress of aerial bombardment, and of a disrupted formal education caused by frequent house-moves; on the other, being transplanted, from the city of Nottingham where he was born, to the English countryside, nurtured in him an inextinguishable love of Nature, particularly birds–an interest he sustained–and which sustained him–throughout his life. In old country houses like "Bromptons" and "Shepherd Elmers Cottage," Brian learned to love the sights and sounds of the Essex and Suffolk countryside.
Years later, memories of his boyhood caused him to begin a long poem called Bromptons, which, although unfinished in words, was completed in music by his friend and composer John-Paul Christopher Jackson, whose "English Rhaposdy" it became. Brian wrote poetry all his life, and had poems published in numerous journals. The British countryside was also responsible for the birth of Brian's interest in drawing and painting, from the first crude sketches of aircraft and birds on the flyleaves of books, to his later efforts at landscape and bird painting in Southern Alberta.
The family's move to London at War's End in 1946, introduced Brian to wider interests. He began acting in School Plays at Wandsworth School, several "House Plays," plays with local community theatre, and every annual school play, until the year he left, when he was awarded the School Acting Prize. He also acted with the Central Stage society. The University of London provided Brian with an Honours degree in English, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and a Doctorate in English Literature, in which he studied closely the early manuscripts of Bernard Shaw. Brian produced numerous articles on Shaw, and three books published by two university presses.
Brian's interest in theatre was at all levels: he wrote a number of plays, several of which won provincial prizes, two of which were broadcast on radio, two performed and one published; and he continued to perform in University and community theatre. He directed plays both at Christ's College, in London, where he taught for seven happy years, and in Lethbridge, where he directed three plays prior to the emergence of the University Department of Dramatic Arts, a department he was instrumental in founding. Brian was on the advisory board that chose as the first member of that department David Spinks, whose friend Brian was proud to be until David's death in 2011. During his time in Lethbridge Brian adjudicated drama festivals in the city, and in Medicine Hat and Red Deer. After his retirement, he was, for five years, Theatre Critic of the Lethbridge Herald; and still continued a Theatre Blog up to the time of his death.
His love of music and folksong manifested itself in his guitar-playing and singing, usually with his beloved wife of 54 years, Jill, whom he first met during a folk-group rehearsal in London, in 1957. Together they played and sang in hospitals, schools, and churches, at weddings, and at funerals, and to entertain the young and the old.
Meeting and marrying Jill changed his life completely for the better. Sustained by her love and care, he was able to pursue the occupation he loved most, his vocation, teaching. His teaching career spanned two continents and thirty three years. Brian was proud to receive tributes to his gifts in the classroom from many of his students, some of whom he had taught more than thirty years before. He numbered among his former students the present Chief Rabbi of England, and numerous writers and academics. Former students dedicated books to him, and his teaching career at the University of Lethbridge culminated in his being awarded the Distinguished Teaching Medal in 1990.
Throughout his working life and retirement, inspiring and sustaining him in his professional and creative endeavours, was always the love of his life, soulmate, kindred spirit and life partner, Jill, whom he married in 1960, and loved above all else in the world. He also loved deeply and was very proud of his two sons, Fergus and Dominic, and their partners, Gail and Terry; and his granddaughter Alyssa and her partner Josh; step-granddaughter Frances and her fiancé James, step-grandson Andrew and step-great-grandchildren Ethan and Louie. They in turn loved him deeply and were thankful for a lifetime of precious memories.
Brian was a long-time member of McKillop United and Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Churches. The family is grateful to these two faith communities, and to Pat Varley, the Berti family and all of Brian's friends, for their support of Brian in his bereavement and illness; and to the doctors, nurses, and aids who provided him with such outstanding care. Brian lived as a disciple of Jesus, showing the genuineness of his faith by the way he faced the challenges of cancer with courage, dignity, and hope.
A Funeral Mass for Brian will be celebrated at OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION CATHOLIC CHURCH, 2405 – 12 Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta on Friday, March 16, 2018 at 10:00 A.M. That same evening at 7:00 P.M., an informal Prayer Service will be held at CORNERSTONE FUNERAL HOME, 2800 Mayor Magrath Drive South, Lethbridge, Alberta, which will include an Open Mic followed by a Reception. Everyone is welcome. If friends so desire and in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lethbridge and District Humane Society.
Brian was my mentor, the finest professor I ever had. His influence changed the course of my life, and no doubt this was true of many others who studied under him. In recent years we reconnected, and he always spoke of his love of Jill, as well as Fergus and Dominic. He left the world a better place and will be remembered by his former students for his great wit, brilliant teaching, and endless compassion.


text:
Cause 270 of 2017 (Formerly Nakuru ELC Cause 62 of 2012)
Titame Ole Sankei v Johnson Kiptumai Cheruiyot; Kapset Tea Factory Company Limited (Interested party) [2021] eKLR
Titame Ole Sankei v Johnson Kiptumai Cheruiyot; Kapset Tea Factory Company Limited (Interested Party)
Environment and Land Court at Narok
Mohammed Noor Kullow
Advocates:
Mr. Mutai for the Interested Party
Narok
History Advocates:
One party or some parties represented
Case Outcome:
Notice of motion dismissed
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND LAND COURT
AT NAROK
ELC CAUSE NO. 270 OF 2017
FORMERLY NAKURU ELC CAUSE NO. 62 OF 2012
TITAME OLE SANKEI.............................................................PLAINTIFF/ 1ST RESPONDENT
JOHNSON KIPTUMAI
CHERUIYOT............................................................................DEFENDANT/ 2ND RESPONDENT
KAPSET TEA FACTORY COMPANY LIMITED..........INTERESTED PARTY/ APPLICANT
1. By Notice of Motion dated 29th January, 2020 the Applicant sought for the following orders: -
a) That this Honourable court be pleased to discharge the Orders of Injunction issued on 9th July, 2019 restraining the 1st Respondent by himself, agents, employees, or any person acting on his behalf from selling sub-dividing, putting up structures, felling trees or in any manner interfering with the Applicant's property known as Title No. CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055 pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
b) That the costs of this Application be provided for.
2. The Application is based on the grounds thereof and the Supporting Affidavit dated 29.1.2020. The applicant avers that it is the lawful registered proprietor of all that parcel of land known as CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055 measuring approx. 89.55 hectares, having purchased the same from NOOYUAT SANKEI and FELIX MAINA SANKEI vide a Sale Agreement dated 26th April, 2018; who were the immediate registered owners of the said land. Subsequent to the sale, the said vendors executed the transfer forms and obtained the Land Control Board Consent before the property was eventually transferred and lawfully registered in the names of the Applicants
3. It is their contention that the orders issued were detrimental to the applicant since they are interfering with their constitutional rights as to ownership, use of property and thus they stand to suffer irreparable loss unless the orders sought herein are granted.
4. They further state that at the time of the said sale transaction they were not aware of the existence of this suit and only became aware of the same when it was served with the orders of this honourable court issued on the 5th July, 2019. The land parcel no. CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055 is among the properties that the defendant obtained an injunction against.
5. It is their assertion that the said interim order of injunction is taking a negative toll on its lawful activities that it has been carrying out in the said property. The said orders were issued in their absence.
6. The Plaintiff/1st Respondent was not opposed to the said Application and therefore did not file any response or written submissions thereto.
7. The 2nd Respondent on the other hand opposed the application. He filed a Replying Affidavit dated 24.02.2020 in response to the Application dated 29.01.2020. It is the Respondent's assertion that the honourable court by granting an order for injunction dated 5th July, 2019, was satisfied with the grounds set in his application dated 24th April, 2018 and 30th October, 2018. He demonstrated to the court that there was a prima facie case with a probability of success and stands to suffer irreparable damage that cannot be compensated by an award of damages
8. He did contend that the application herein was solely based on the unmerited assumption that the title to land parcel CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055 was a good title to the land. Occasioning the applicant with the overriding interests to the land known as CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055, which is not the case; the applicant did not carry out due diligence before buying the land.
9. It was his position that CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055 makes up about 14% of the total suit land whose ownership is contested in the suit and that should the orders are discharged on the part of the applicant, then his constitutional rights to ownership and use of land will be greatly infringed and violated.
10. When the matter came up to confirm compliance, the applicant indicated that they had filed their written submissions as directed, however, i have not seen a copy of the same on the court record.
11. I have read and considered the Application and the responses thereto and the submissions by the 2nd Respondent and the various authorities cited and I have taken the same into account in arriving at my decision.
B. DETERMINATION AND ANALYSIS
12. The main issue for determination from the present Application is: -
a) Whether the Interlocutory Injunction issued on 5.07.2019 can be discharged as sought.
A) Whether the Interlocutory Injunction issued on 5.07.2017 can be discharged as sought
13. Order 40 Rule 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules provides that an order for injunction may be discharged, varied or set aside by the court on application by either party dissatisfied by the order.
14. Interlocutory injunctions are meant to preserve the substratum of the suit pending the hearing and determination of the suit. The grant of interlocutory injunctions is not meant to occasion prejudice to any party. In this particular case the Interested Party/ Applicant avers that it is the legal and rightful owner of the land parcel CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055 having bought the same from vendors NOOYUAT SANKEI and FELIX MAINA SANKEI vide a sale agreement dated 26th April 2018 Hence it has a purchaser's interest over the sui land. It is my considered view that should court find that the plaintiff/ Respondent did not deserve the grant of the injunction, the applicants would be able to be compensated by way of damages which in this case can be quantified from the sale agreement as the purchase price from the vendors.
15. Before the grant of the Orders of Injunction in dispute in the present Application; the application was heard and in a ruling delivered on 5th July, 2017, I held that the applicant had established a prima facie case with a probability of success warranting the granting of an order of temporary injunction for purposes of preserving the suit property pending the hearing and determination of the case.
16. Despite having the locus to bring the present Application as specified under the Civil Procedure Rules; I wish to state that the Applicant/ Interested Party has not clearly demonstrated why the said order of injunction ought to be discharged.
17. There is no demonstration of fraud of non-disclosure of material facts on the part of the 2nd Respondent at the time of applying for the interim orders of injunction. The Applicant herein only states that it is the rightful and registered owner of the said portion of the suit land being, CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17055.
18. It is important to point out that the issue of ownership of the whole of the suit land is at the center of the suit herein; and the same can only finally settled upon the hearing of all the parties herein and evidence being adduced before the question of ownership can be ascertained.
19. The importance, aim and purpose of an interlocutory injunction cannot be understated. An Interlocutory Injunction is a common law remedy which seeks to preserve the suit property pending the earing and determination of the suit.
20. The important consideration before granting a temporary injunction is the proof that any property in dispute in a suit is in a danger of being wasted, damaged or alienated by any party to the suit or wrongfully sold or that a party threatens or intends to remove or dispose the property, the court is in such a situation enjoined to grant a temporary injunction to restrain such acts and preserve the suit property.
21. The upshot of the foregoing is that, I find that the Notice of Motion Application dated 29.01.2020 is not merited and the same is therefore dismissed with costs to the 2nd Respondent. I accordingly order that the Injunction issued on 5th July, 2017 in respect to CIS MARA/ OLOLOLUNGA/17052 – 060, to remain in place pending the hearing and determination of the suit. Further, the parties herein are directed to set the suit for hearing on a priority basis. It is so ordered.
DATED, SIGNED AND DELIVERED VIRTUALLY AT MIGORI ON 8TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2021.
MOHAMMED N. KULLOW
RULING DELIVERED VIRTUALLY IN PRESENCE OF;-
NO APPEARANCE FOR THE APPLICANT
TOM MAURICE – COURT ASSISTANT