text:
Whitewater crash course on the Biggest Little River
Benjamin Spillman
bspillman@rgj.com
(RGJ journalists Benjamin Spillman and Jason Bean recently paddled the Truckee River from Truckee to Pyramid Lake. In this story, Spillman learns to kayak and they paddle from Truckee to Reno, facing the biggest rapids on the river.)
As a journalist I'm used to watching people struggle to answer tough questions.
I'm not used to being the one struggling.
But that's exactly where I found myself several weeks ago as I waded, soaking wet, out of the Truckee River.
"Are you ready to do this for about 20 miles a day," asked Charles Albright, a longtime paddler on the Truckee and other Sierra Nevada streams.
The obvious answer was no.
In the previous two miles of paddling I'd dumped my boat about a half-dozen times. By the time we reached the White Fir Street bridge behind Patagonia, I was too exhausted to keep pace with the other boaters who started in Mogul with a plan to reach downtown Reno before dark.
Unfortunately, the easy answer wasn't going to do me any good. I was on the river to practice for a paddle trip over the length of the Truckee River, which runs 105 miles from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. The trip was about two weeks away, and answering no to Albright's question would have been meant pulling the plug before it even started.
But it was obvious to me, and likely Albright and the others, that if I couldn't complete an easy, eight-mile float through town, there was no way I was ready to take on the whole river.
So I did what I've seen other interview subjects do when the desired answer doesn't mesh with reality. I mumbled through some non-statements about needing to keep practicing and pulled my boat to the riverbank so the others could continue without me.
The genesis of a (bad?) idea
A casual observer might think the fact I was learning how to paddle on moving water just weeks before a river trip that included class IV rapids was an indication things were hastily planned.
They'd only be half right.
Sure, videographer Jason Bean and I had agreed to paddle the Truckee for journalistic purposes just a few days earlier. But I'd had an inkling for a couple of years that this trip was in my future, whether or not I was prepared to make it.
The first clue came sometime in 2014, shortly after starting my job as the outdoors reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal.
I'd heard mention of a Truckee River trip by former RGJ journalists Brian Beffort and Scott Sady in 1999. I skimmed through the archives to learn Beffort and Sady rafted from Tahoe to Pyramid in three days. Then I pretty much forgot about it.
Tackling a potentially dangerous, multi-day trip based on a skill I didn't possess was easy to push off to another day. Still, the idea hovered in the background of my life with all sorts of other anxieties.
It started echoing louder in April when
Bean pitched an end-to-end Truckee River trip to a group of reporters and editors. And unlike so many ideas people toss out in meetings, this one didn't die before it landed.
Quite the opposite. Everyone loved it. Not only that, they loved it so much they thought it needed to happen as soon as possible, and within a few minutes we had a planned departure date.
The date was roughly two weeks out. No more time to procrastinate. I had to learn to paddle. Fast.
My first call was to Albright. I knew him only as the voice on the other end of a phone call for a story I'd done about snowpack and river levels.
I'd been told he was the dean of Truckee River paddling in Reno, and it turned out to be true. Albright has an encyclopedic knowledge of the river, and is incredibly enthusiastic about encouraging other people to take up water sports.
By the end of that conversation, he was urging me to borrow one of the dozens of boats he owns to join a weekly river outing.
Crash course on river travel
The plan was to join Albright and friends on their weekly paddle from Mogul to downtown Reno.
As I sat in the boat on shore, I did my best to listen to advice, such as how to lean downstream in current and that if a collision is inevitable to lean into boulders.
The main thing I remember, however, before shoving off was Albright saying that normally he would have a green paddler give the boat a try in flat water before hitting the river.
By then it was too late.
The next hour or so of my life was chaos.
For starters, I had no idea how to steer the boat. The only times I'd paddled previously was on flat water where you can steer by merely using a forward stroke on one side of the boat or another. That's not very effective on moving water, I quickly learned, and I found myself being carried by the current into branches, rocks and gravel bars.
While the others glided through the current, I struggled mightily just to move the boat one way or the other to avoid obstacles. It was exhausting. I can't tell you how many times I flipped the boat or fell out, but I can tell you it was a regular occurrence. Without a dry suit, I would have risked hypothermia; I was expending so much energy that inside the suit my clothes were entirely soaked through with sweat.
By the time we reached Patagonia it was clear I would never reach downtown before dark. I dragged my boat out of the water and caught a ride back to town.
The only thing that kept it from being a complete failure was the advice I got from Albright and the other paddlers. One boater, Todd Barber of Reno, offered to loan me a larger inflatable boat. I took him up on the offer.
I scheduled another practice session, this time with Scott Sady at the whitewater park downtown. In addition to being a successful professional photographer, Sady's one of the most skilled and avid kayakers in Reno.
Bean and I were going to need someone with experience to join us for the first stretch of river between Lake Tahoe and Reno, because that's the segment with nearly all of the real rapids. Sady was on board.
The whitewater session was much more productive. The park has a variety of features that let people of different skill levels practice maneuvers without having to travel downriver.
Sady showed me different paddle strokes and maneuvers that helped me understand how to enter, cross or leave the current. After about two hours, I could handle going through the features in the park.
After one more session in the whitewater park and a practice run from Mayberry Park to downtown with the boat loaded with gear, it was time to tackle the river for real.
On the morning of Thursday, May 12, Bean, Sady and I launched our boats into the river in Truckee. We chose the location because, despite the solid winter snowpack, there still wasn't enough water upstream to paddle from Lake Tahoe.
Our plan was to paddle from Truckee through the biggest rapids until we reached Farad, where we had permission to camp on NV Energy's power plant property.
After about the first mile of paddling through Truckee, I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I was reverting to bad habits with my paddle strokes, oversteering which was contributing to fatigue.
But after a quick stop to rest, the butterflies settled in my stomach and my boating settled into a nice pace. We soon paddled out of the urban area, through a portion of the river that's marked by a private fishing club and into what passes for wildland on the Truckee.
After about 10 uneventful miles, we reached the Little Truckee River inflow near Boca reservoir. The plan was a quick lunch stop before heading into the biggest rapids on the river. What we didn't plan for was our first serendipitous encounter with a river expert.
River guide Frank Pisciotta was fishing with a client when we pulled up.
Pisciotta, 72, has been fishing the Truckee since 1979. He's spent countless days on the river in those decades and even though my thoughts were preoccupied with the upcoming rapids, I couldn't help but to be inspired by Pisciotta.
He talked about the contrast between experiencing the Truckee River by car versus wading into the water. The latter, he said, is the only way to enjoy the experience of escaping from the challenges and anxiety of daily life.
"My spiritual salvation is in the water," Pisciotta said. "Once you are in the river … your life could be collapsing, your business failed, something dramatic happening and you are not even thinking about it."
The Truckee gets real
Downstream from Boca is where you'll find the most serious rapids on the Truckee River. We were facing at least five sets of Class III or Class IV rapids, on a scale of six.
The most serious is the Bronco and Jaws set near Floriston -- a quarter to half-mile stretch with some big drops and steep river banks that make it hard to portage.
In the days leading up to the trip I'd made some trips to Floriston. I told myself I was scouting the rapids, but really I was mainly looking for a way to avoid running them.
It didn't help that two days before we left I'd covered some Reno Fire Department swiftwater rescue training at that very location. A raft piloted by another rescue group that was also training approached the rapids.
They lined up their approach, entered the whitewater and three of the four people in the boat promptly fell out.
So when Sady and I climbed out of the water to scout the section I was mainly wondering how I might carry my boat around.
But something changed when we were overlooking the river. Sady pointed out a line he planned to run in a way that made it seem pretty simple: approach from the center, hit the fast water and paddle forward as hard as possible.
Once I was able to envision running the section my decision was made. I wanted to try it.
Sady went first while Bean shot video. As expected, he shot through the rapid with no problem, popped out the other side and gave me the signal to go. So I went.
I approached from the center and paddled forward as hard as I could. I remember the water splashing over and around me and realizing the boat was still upright and moving forward.
I popped out the other side, paddled to shore and got out of the boat. My hands were shaking but it felt great.
On video it was obvious from my furious paddle strokes my adrenaline was running high.
Bean made his run. Without the benefit of a kayak with knee straps the big water bounced him from the boat despite a solid approach. Fortunately, he was able to grab his paddle and boat and make an easy float to slower water.
As we resumed paddling downstream I felt a huge sense of relief. I'd gone from being unable to keep a boat upright to running the biggest rapid on the Truckee River in just a few weeks.
Little did I know there was much more drama to come.
More rapids, camping at a body dump and a scare
I was pretty tired by the time the Farad power plant came into view. We'd received permission from NV Energy to camp in a meadow adjacent to the Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway and I was looking forward to it.
Although I couldn't get the phrase "dead body exit" out of my mind.
During a conversation with a source a few days earlier, I happened to mention our camping plans. Her response was to say she'd heard Farad called the "dead body exit" in the past and was reminded of the name thanks to a recent news story.
I did a Google search and found that, sure enough, just about a month or so previous someone had, indeed, dumped a human body near the Farad exit from Interstate 80. A suspect was arrested but the tragedy was on my mind. It mainly served as a reminder that while it's easy to lose yourself traveling on the river you're never really far from societal problems on the shore.
The real scare on the trip didn't happen until the following day.
After an uneventful night we launched our boats around 9 a.m. on Friday the 13th. Our biggest rapid that day was about four miles downstream at a place called Dead Man's Curve.
That's where the river makes a sharp left turn in the middle of a small canyon. To the right is a large rock wall that boaters need to avoid. But if you go too far left, you'll end up getting pinballed through a boulder garden. Even if you hit the rapid just right, you're still going to bounce through some bumpy water.
Sady ran first with me not far behind. He entered the rapid at the right angle but his boat stopped briefly in a hole -- just long enough to make me wonder if I needed to do something to avoid him. Fortunately, he got moving again, but the instant threw my timing a bit.
I managed to bounce through. But because I was so focused on regaining my line it took me some time to get to shore after popping out below the rapid.
By the time I turned around to look back at the rapid, Bean was already in the water. None of us are sure how long he was under but it was long enough that by the time he emerged, he was exhausted and shaken.
"I thought I was going to die," he repeated a few times as he made it to shore.
We spent the next 30 minutes or so on the river bank recovering and buoying ourselves for the rest of the day, which still included another 15 miles or more of river.
A struggle and a refreshing finish
After the scare at Dead Man's, we still had to run Staircase, the final major rapid before the river smoothed out for the paddle into Reno.
Scouting Staircase was more difficult than running it. To get a good look, we had to take out on the left side of the river and fight through thick brush. The line to run the rapid was on the right which meant, after fighting through the brush to get back to the boats, we had to paddle hard across the river to make the run.
But that wasn't the main event, as it turned out. Sadly, my strongest memory of the segment was the portage at Washoe-Highland dam.
The portage is on the left side of the river and involves dragging boats through brush, over a concrete retaining wall, through an RV park and down an embankment below the dam. After more than a half day on the water, it's a tough assignment. And to make matters worse the river flow weakens downstream due to diversions.
The flows diminish noticeably around Mogul, and we spent much of the final miles of the day trying to avoid getting hung up in shallow water.
After paddling all day, it was frustrating and exhausting to keep getting stuck in shallow water. For future trips, I'd recommend taking out at Crystal Peak Park in Verdi and skipping ahead to Mayberry Park in Reno, which would bypass the portage and the shallow spots near Mogul.
Still, it was great paddling into Reno after running rapids much of the previous two days.
Knowing the most challenging rapids were behind us was a huge relief, and the satisfaction of running rapids I'd planned to avoid was incredible.
To top it off, we reached our takeout point at White Fir Street at about 4 p.m. on a Friday, timing that coincided with the weekly beer sampling at the nearby production facility for the Brewer's Cabinet.
The anxiety of the previous days washed away while we relaxed with a post-float beverage. I was finally looking forward to the rest of the trip, through Reno, Sparks and on to Pyramid Lake.
(Come back to the RGJ for more on upcoming segments of the river, including how the challenges of homelessness and drought affect the river and community in Reno and Sparks, the hidden beauty of restored river segments east of Sparks and the segment of river on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation that few people get to experience.)


Most homeowners only realize the need for a new roof once it starts leaking. Roof problems often cause leaks that require water-damage repair, but according to Angie's List, it is not always necessary to replace the entire roof. Roof repairs occur frequently among homeowners in the Bay Area.
If you perform annual maintenance on your roof, it should survive the elements relatively unscathed. However, how do you know if roof repair in San Francisco will resolve some maintenance problems or if you need to reroof the house? Call San Francisco Flood Repair at 415-529-5637, any time of the day or night, to schedule a thorough and professional roof checkup.
Most roofs consist of asphalt shingles, which typically last 20 to 25 years. However, some factors may influence its life span, such as lack of sufficient ventilation. If there is only one layer of shingles, you may require roof repair, but if several layers exist on a 20-year-old installation, you may require a new roof.
Shingles buckle and curl over time, and misshapen ones may indicate the need for a new roof. Look for shingles that are losing granules or curling at the edges. Broken or loose shingles also signal the need for repair.
Roof valleys direct rain toward gutters and prevent water from pooling. Standing water can cause roofs to collapse from water damage. A compromised valley makes the roof susceptible to leaks, so look for damaged or missing shingles in these areas.
If your roof appears patchy because of missing shingles, Bob Vila says you need a new roof. Shingles fall out of position after years of sun exposure, rain, earthquakes and other natural elements.
Chimney flashing can cause concern, especially if constructed from roof tar or cement, which may erode over time. Check for cracks and other insulation problems. You may need to replace old flashing with a watertight, long-term fitting made of metal.
As the lifecycle of your roof nears its end, the shingles begin losing granules. You can climb onto the roof to check, but it is easier to look in your gutters. Roof valleys direct these granules into the gutter system, where they accumulate and frequently cause gutter blockages.
If you can see daylight peeking through your roof boards, it needs repair. Climb into your attic and check for light entering through the ceiling, and at the same time, test for moisture within the insulation system, as this indicates leaks and possible water damage from pooling.
For a complete roof checkup and an assessment of potential water damage repair, trust the professional and experienced team at San Francisco Flood Repair. Call us today 415-529-5637.


text:
Cotoneaster tytthocarpus är en rosväxtart som beskrevs av Antonina Ivanovna Pojarkova. Cotoneaster tytthocarpus ingår i släktet oxbär, och familjen rosväxter. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Oxbär
tytthocarpus

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Namakera Mining Company Limited is a mining company located in Eastern Uganda near the towns of Mbale and Tororo, approx. 190 km from the Uganda capital, Kampala and close to the border with Kenya. The Namekara Vermiculite deposit is hosted in the Bukusu Complex, one of a number of Carbonatites in the Uganda/Kenya border area and the only one known to host commercially viable vermiculite. Namekara is the registered holder of Mining License ML 4651, upon which it operates the Namakera Vermiculite Mine and conducts exploration activities on the Busumbu Phosphate Project. Namekara is also the registered holder of Exploration License EL 1534 that covers the majority of the Bukusu Complex and which is also considered prospective for vermiculite, phosphate, copper, iron, zircon and rare earths mineralisation..
• Perform General Office Clerical work in Kampala.
• Provide administration support to Operation Team of Namekara Mine.
• Any other duty assigned to by your supervisor from time to time..
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to establish & maintain effective working relations in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to work under Pressure and to multi task in a tight schedule.
• Hold a Valid National Identification Card.


Thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip), formerly known as VDUP1 or TBP-2, interacts with thioredoxin at its active-site thiols. Txnip plays important roles in diverse physiological or pathological processes. In many cancer cell lines or cancer tissues, the expression of the Txnip gene is down-regulated because Txnip can inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis, it is thought that low Txnip expression may contribute to cancer development. Txnip is also identified as a negative regulator for cellular glucose uptake and Txnip knock-out mice exhibit abnormalities in glucose and lipid metabolism.
 Chutkow WA, et al. J Biol Chem. 2008,25;283(4):2397-406.
 Yu FX, et al. J Biol Chem. 2010,13;285(33):25822-30.


text:
FRED BENJAMIN
Roy Hamilton – Singer
Filed under **Petitions**, Singer
Roy Hamilton poses for a studio portrait in 1955 in the United States. (Photo by Gilles Petard/Redferns)
We are endeavoring for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
for his significant contribution to the Music Industry.
To: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
*This petition is addressed to:
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation
and concerns the matter of the induction of artist Roy Hamilton
to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio.
Roy Hamilton made significant contributions to the music industry, both through his own hits and his widespread influence on many of the artists of his era and artists who would emerge after him, including Brook Benton, The Righteous Brothers (who covered two of his biggest hits, Ebb Tide & Unchained Melody), Jackie Wilson, and most notably Elvis Presley, all of whom, with the exception of Benton, has already been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Roy Hamilton has already been honored with inductions to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, The Hit Parade Hall of Fame, and an honorary laureate degree from Morris Brown University for the lasting imprint he left on the music industry, and we feel its time the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did the same.
We formally petition that Roy Hamilton is nominated and inducted
into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame with all due speed.
The Undersigned
The Roy Hamilton Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Petition to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was created by Fans of Roy Hamilton and written by Maria & Roy Hamilton, Jr. (goldenboy71@earthlink.net).
To see information on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame click the link below:
http://rockhall.com/
Brook Benton, Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte, Jackie Wilson, Roy Hamilton, Roy Hamilton Jr.
iforcolor
ARCHIVIST, EDUCATOR, HISTORIAN, and ARTiST
Dale Shields is a professor of theatre, director, and actor (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional).
Research Accomplishments:
The 2017 winner of The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award®, 2017 and 2015 Tony® award nominee for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award, and the winner of the 2017 AUDELCO/"VIV" Special Achievement Award. In 2020 He was also awarded The Actors Fund / Encore Award
On the web, he is the archivist and historian of Iforcolor.org and Black Theatre/African American Voices [Facebook] (theatre, music, and art). He has taught classes and workshops at SUNY Potsdam, Susquehanna University, Denison University, Randolph-Macon College, Macalester College, The College of Wooster, Ohio University, Wayne State University, and the Joseph Papp Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival).
B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees from Ohio University.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Phnom Penh Post - Cut-off age expanded for civil service exams
Cut-off age expanded for civil service exams
Sen David and Yesenia Amaro | Publication date 27 January 2017 | 08:03 ICT
Medical students learn to operate at the University of Health Science in Phnom Penh last year. Athena Zelandonii
Sen David and Yesenia Amaro
Prime Minister Hun Sen this week issued a sub-decree exempting medical professionals from age restrictions on the civil service entry exam, while raising the age limit for professionals in other fields and eliminating it entirely for those already working as a public servant.
The cut-off point for those seeking to take the civil service entry exam was previously 30 years old. Hun Sen on his Facebook page said the age restriction had led to a loss of human resources as it prevented some professionals from working for the government.
"After discussing with Health Minister [Mam Bunheng] and Minister of Public Function [Pich Bunthin], I decided to sign this sub-decree to exempt the age condition for 30 positions in the health sector," he wrote. "I also exempt the [age limitation] for others in the civil servant sector."
Some of the 30 positions include doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and midwives, among others. The age limit for those holding a doctorate degree will also be eliminated, while it will be raised to 40 years old for those holding a master's degree and 35 for those with a bachelor's degree in fields outside the medical sector.
Chum Sopha, executive director of the Health and Development Alliance, said doing away with the age restriction was a positive step. The health sector workforce is "still not enough to fulfill the demand", he said.
Hong Someth, a dentistry professor at the University of Health Science, said the move will give dentistry graduates more breathing room to take the test, especially given that dentistry students are required to study seven years, compared to only six years in nearby countries.
"If you limit the age, it will make it harder for those who are older," he said. However, Cambodian-American doctor Mengly Quach, who has frequently criticised the Kingdom's health sector, said if you have the workforce, but they don't have the qualifications, it won't matter.
He said the government needs to tackle the issue from the bottom up, starting with a good medical curriculum, teaching and training. "There's so much that the government should be looking at [in the health sector]," he said. "There are a lot of issues."
Contact authors: Sen David and Yesenia Amaro
PM promises to work harder
Belt-tightening time, PM says
PM calls to slow hiring of new civil servants
Government payroll to grow
'Don't pull rank' with traffic cops, Kheng says
Pay teachers on time, officials told
Late payments that teachers have long criticised have caught the attention of Cambodia's acting Minister of Education, who has instructed provincial education departments to
Salary hike in the making for local officials
Testing for civil service on radar
Meet the man behind the exams


text:
// Copyright 1998-2015 Epic Games, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

#pragma once

class AMatineeActor;
class UInterpData;
class UInterpGroup;
class UInterpTrack;

#include "MatineeGroupData.h"
#include "MatineeTrackData.h"

#include "Toolkits/IToolkitHost.h"
#include "Toolkits/AssetEditorToolkit.h"

/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   IMatineeBase.  Base class for matinee
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
class IMatineeBase
{
public:
	virtual AMatineeActor* GetMatineeActor() = 0;
	virtual UInterpData* GetInterpData() = 0;

	virtual void ActorModified( bool bUpdateViewportTransform = true ) = 0;
	virtual void ActorSelectionChange( const bool bClearSelectionIfInvalid = true ) = 0;
	virtual void CamMoved(const FVector& NewCamLocation, const FRotator& NewCamRotation) = 0;
	virtual bool ProcessKeyPress(FKey Key, bool bCtrlDown, bool bAltDown) = 0;

	virtual void AddKey() = 0;

	virtual bool KeyIsInSelection(class UInterpGroup* InGroup, UInterpTrack* InTrack, int32 InKeyIndex) = 0;
	virtual void AddKeyToSelection(class UInterpGroup* InGroup, UInterpTrack* InTrack, int32 InKeyIndex, bool bAutoWind) = 0;
	virtual void RemoveKeyFromSelection(class UInterpGroup* InGroup, UInterpTrack* InTrack, int32 InKeyIndex) = 0;
	virtual void ClearKeySelection() = 0;

	virtual void DrawTracks3D(const FSceneView* View, FPrimitiveDrawInterface* PDI) = 0;
	virtual void DrawModeHUD(FEditorViewportClient* ViewportClient,FViewport* Viewport,const FSceneView* View,FCanvas* Canvas) = 0;

	virtual void BeginDrag3DHandle(UInterpGroup* Group, int32 TrackIndex) = 0;
	virtual void Move3DHandle(UInterpGroup* Group, int32 TrackIndex, int32 KeyIndex, bool bArriving, const FVector& Delta) = 0;
	virtual void EndDrag3DHandle() = 0;
	virtual void MoveInitialPosition(const FVector& Delta, const FRotator& DeltaRot) = 0;

	virtual void SelectTrack( UInterpGroup* Group, UInterpTrack* TrackToSelect, bool bDeselectPreviousTracks = true ) = 0;

	virtual int32 GetSelectedGroupCount() const = 0;
	virtual int32 GetSelectedTrackCount() const = 0;
	virtual FSelectedGroupIterator GetSelectedGroupIterator() = 0;
	virtual FSelectedGroupConstIterator GetSelectedGroupIterator() const = 0;
	virtual FSelectedTrackIterator GetSelectedTrackIterator() = 0;
	virtual FSelectedTrackConstIterator GetSelectedTrackIterator() const = 0;

	virtual void StartPlaying( bool bPlayLoop, bool bPlayForward ) = 0;
	virtual void StopPlaying() = 0;
	virtual void ResumePlaying() = 0;

	virtual void StartRecordingMovie() = 0;
	virtual bool Hide3DTrackView() = 0;
	virtual void ToggleRecordMenuDisplay() = 0;
	virtual void ToggleRecordInterpValues() = 0;
	virtual bool IsRecordingInterpValues() const = 0;
	virtual void ResetRecordingMenuValue(FEditorViewportClient* InClient) = 0;
	virtual bool IsRecordMenuChangeAllowedRepeat() const = 0;
	virtual void SetRecordMode(const uint32 InNewMode) = 0;
	virtual void ChangeRecordingMenu(const bool bInNext) = 0;
	virtual void ChangeRecordingMenuValue(FEditorViewportClient* InClient, const bool bInIncrease) = 0;

	virtual int32 GetCameraMovementScheme() const = 0;
	virtual int32 GetNumRecordRollSmoothingSamples() const = 0;
	virtual int32 GetNumRecordPitchSmoothingSamples() const = 0;
	virtual void LoadRecordingSettings(FCameraControllerConfig& InCameraConfig) = 0;

	virtual void InvalidateTrackWindowViewports() = 0;
	virtual bool Show(bool bShow) = 0;
	virtual void Close(bool bForce) = 0;

	//Slate exclusive
	virtual void FinishAddKey(UInterpTrack *Track, bool bCommitKeys) {check(false);}
};

/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   IMatinee
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/

class IMatinee : public IMatineeBase, public FAssetEditorToolkit
{
public:

	bool Show(bool bShow) override {return false; }
	void Close(bool bForce) override { CloseWindow(); }
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Scott 35 said some time ago that he had some info on the use of resistors to control the speed of a overhead crane motor. If you do could you post them or e-mail them to me? I have 2 weeks vacation and would have the time to study them before i go back to work. I would really like to have a better answer for the boss than, "it appears to be ok electrically, don't know why it's not working?!" Thanks, spkjpr.
What type of Information are you looking for? Typically on the old Cranes the hoist drive was either a wound rotor motor (AC) with a drum or rheostat controller or a DC Motor and Controller that had either a step type series controller or a drum controller with stages of grids. The newer ones typically have some type of Electronics control (Tube type or solid state) interfaced either in a DC controller or the rotor circuit of a wound rotor motor.
I have been retired for about 6 years so I have purged many of my prints but I may be able to find some information if I knew specifically what you are looking for. If you can specify what type of system you have and if dynamic and/or regenerative braking is involved I will look through my old information and see if I can find something that might be of help to you. In your application do you also use bridge and carriage drives?
If you have multiple drives do they all use the same technology?
Could you scan and E-Mail a few of your Schematics, so I can draw them in AutoCAD then post here?
I can easilly draw up and post simple Wound Rotor Schematics, but it would be nice to have more precise details to add with the drawing which relate to Cranes.
If you can scan and send, save as .GIF or as .JPG with compression [or use PKZIP].
Tom r and Scott. The motors in question are wound rotor AC with no dynamic braking. We have 3 different P&H cranes that all use this system. Thanks guys, I'll keep checking here in between Christmas parties.


At present most gamers, both teenagers and adults, around the globe spend more than 4 hours a day playing video games. It is clear that people who use their computers extensively for playing video games tend to suffer in many social and academic aspects. As your doctor may have said countless of times, everything should be undertaken in moderation. Although a lot of us endeavour to limit ourselves it occasionally becomes extremely difficult due to peer pressure or the satisfaction of achieving. In most cases people tend to lose track of time and get carried away quite easily. However there are some serious health issues which you should all be conscious of when playing video games.
Here are some tips which will help reduce the chances of harming your body in the long term.
Regular breaks help your body recover from uncomfortable positions and help reduce the risk of long term health risks. Taking a break every 30 minutes should be enforced, even if it is only to grab a cup of coffee. The main objective within this scenario is to keep your muscles moving.
Posture is highly important while using the computer to ensure you maintain a proper posture be sure to change your seating position frequently to help avoid discomfort. Ensure your chair is set to help your lower back. To prevent lower limb discomfort ensure your feet are flat on the ground, with your legs and feet forming a 90 degree angle. Keeping your hands and wrists straight can also prevent blood clots. Finally ensure your monitor is positioned straight where your neck does not have to move to view any particular side or angle.
Clicking the same buttons on your keyboard or mouse can cause repetitive strain injury (RSI) in the long term. Simple steps such as light touches on either device will help reduce the forces acting against your finger tips. It is a good idea to take advantage of shortcuts or macros within any game as it will reduce the amount of keys required to complete any given task. Relax your arms and hands as much as possible when you are not playing, and ensure your arms and wrists maintain relaxed position while using either device to reduce the applied pressure.
Symptoms which should be observed early include, lower and upper back pain, stiffness of the arms of leg appendages, sleepiness, neck pain, muscle spasm, eye syndrome (lack of moisture, pain includes itching, fatigue and burning sensations), headaches, blurred vision, increase sensitivity to light. Other computer addictions include irregular mood swings, unbalanced diet or forgetting meals, tiredness or lack of sleep due to heavy gaming. All these symptoms are serious and affect your mental and physical states over a long period of time. If unattended many illnesses may erupt in the near future. Remember to look after yourself and to take things in moderation.
never!! i sit so iam in pain so it keeps me awake longer i punish myself by not eating if i fail at something. constant clots make sure i never stand for to long so i must get back to what i was doing. iam always angry cuz my eyes are burning. iam sure there are a few iam missing but iam so angry and tired I JUST CANT THINK RIGHT NOW.
The RSI is not too surprising..
thank you for the tips, i have not relalized it could be so bad, i will definatly make sure to tremember to get up every 30mins!


Baseball needs to be globalized to gain strength and influence worldwide, and achieve its reintegration into the Olympic Games program, said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the International Baseball Amateur Federation here Friday.
In a press conference at the Adolfo Luque Hall in Havana�s Latin American Stadium Friday, Fraccari criticized the steps taken by former IBAF administrations, saying that they maintained baseball as a sport without tradition, lacking unity and global vision.
He said baseball needs the active participation of all the national federations grouped by IBAF to intensify institutional pressure on professional teams.
Regarding Cuba, Fraccari said this Caribbean country should be a solid part of this new project pursuing the return of baseball to the Olympic Games, as a cardinal objective.
Fraccari, who took the IBAF presidency in 2009 and was reelected in December 2011, highlighted the support received by the leaders of all the professional leagues, including the Major League Baseball (US), to allow their players to take part in scheduled tournaments, which will surely have an impact on the Olympic Committee.
Up to now, one of the main excuses by the International Olympic Committee to take baseball out of the Olympic program is based on the brief participation of the worldí¢ï¿½í–s best players in the IBAF tournaments, with the exception of Cuban players.
With the implementation of the World Baseball Classic, IBAF gained strength and credibility. Now, it will focus on its own working agenda on the global development of baseball, trying to involve the biggest number of countries as possible.
The World Baseball Classic impressed the IOC officials so much that they were forced to place the sport in the selected group of sports for an analysis for their return to the Olympic Games program.
Antonio Castro, third vice-president of the IBAF Executive Committee, said the level of the least developed countries should be increased.
Castro also urged the national federations to play an active role in the steps to follow, proposed by IBAF, recognized Cuba as one of the nations with greatest strength and authority, and blamed the lack of unity and organization in baseball for its exclusion from the Olympics.
IBAF will have the 3rd World Baseball Classic in March 2013 and the 1st Premier 12 Tournament in 2015, an exclusive competition for the 12 top baseball teams in the 2013 World Classic.
There will be tournaments for the under-12, under-15, under-18 and under-21 (junior) categories.
This will establish a consistent development between the different categories, and a noticeable growth of quality baseball from early ages.


The deal also includes a club option of a further year, with the 22-year-old striker putting pen-to-paper earlier today.
Luer was signed from non-league side Burgess Hill Town in January 2015 and initially went into the Tigers' Development Squad, although he was quick to make an impression at senior level when scoring twice in six appearances last season.
His only first team appearance this season was cut short by injury, in the EFL Cup victory over Exeter City last August, although he has been back in action for the Club's U23s in recent weeks.


text:
Book Review: Astral Travel & Aura Viewing
by Yvette LaBlanc
Review by Bob Peterson
Don't judge a book by its cover. Here's why: Yvette LaBlanc's 165 page book Astral Travel & Aura Viewing has a really blah cover, and a blah title, but it's really not bad at all. Like all OBE books, there's good and bad.
What I liked most about this book is its no-nonsense approach. There's almost nothing extraneous. It's all practical. She doesn't waste time or words. She spends almost no time telling stories or touting theories; it's all good information.
The book is divided into four parts.
In part one, she gives OBE definitions and preparation. It's all practical and good information.
Part two, the next 82 pages, is a concise but detailed set of different OBE techniques. It's almost like a recipe book. Very few books in the genre devote that much space to techniques, and I applaud her for that. She details many techniques; lots of things to try.
Some of her techniques were surprisingly new to me (although I doubt many would work on a stubborn mind like mine). I've read almost every book on OBE and studied every OBE technique under the sun, but LeBlanc has some unique new ideas.
My favorite example relates to how breath is used. A few rare OBE books talk about the importance of breath control in regard to OBEs (author Robert Crookall devoted an entire book to the subject), but the subject is largely ignored by the vast majority. But in one of LeBlanc's techniques, she recommends slowing down your breath, then pausing a second or two after you exhale. During this exhale pause, you try to separate your astral from your physical body, and she says sometimes it works. Most people would be deathly afraid that their body would stop breathing.
Many OBE beginners are very much alarmed when they get close to the jumping-off point and lose their awareness of their body's breathing. They think "Oh my God, my body's stopped breathing!" and abort the experience, even though it's really still breathing, but they've just lost awareness of it. Rookie mistake. LeBlanc deliberately tries to use that pause after you exhale to initiate an OBE. Of course, in order for this to work, you have to just blindly trust that your body's autonomic nervous system will take over and continue breathing while you're out-of-body. An interesting concept, and definitely worth trying. Note that you don't want to force your breath to be unnaturally slow; it needs to be a natural progression to slow breathing. It's interesting to note that my breath is naturally very slow to begin with.
Part three of the book is what I didn't like. It's all narratives of the author's OBEs, and in my opinion, they are sorely lacking. Her narratives are way too short and nondescript. Books like Robert Monroe's Journeys Out of the Body, Fred Aardema's Explorations in Consciousness and Jurgen Ziewe's book Multidimensional Man are chock full of amazingly vivid descriptions of astral worlds, breathtaking vistas, and eye-opening adventures. They draw you into the scene and you can feel the excitement of standing in a strange new world. By comparison, most of LeBlanc's narratives are as "blah" as her cover. For example, here's one of her narratives:
I projected to a crystal and moved all around it. I was tiny; it was gigantic. The experience was life altering.
That's it. That's the whole experience. She doesn't say why this particular OBE was life altering. She doesn't describe what she felt or what she saw, the colors or the enormity. She doesn't set the scene or paint the picture. Why was it life altering? The reader is left to wonder.
Most of her OBE accounts are like that: very short and uninspiring. It's almost enough to make me wonder if LeBlanc is the "real deal." You can just tell authors like Monroe, Aardema, Ziewe and many others have genuinely "been there" because of the way they describe the experience. I don't get that warm fuzzy feeling with this book's narratives. Regardless, I still say the book is good, and worth buying for the technique section alone.
Earlier I said that there's nothing extraneous in the book, but some would argue the point because of part four. Part four is about aura viewing. If you're into auras, this is also good, practical information. It has little to do with OBE (even though she makes a good effort at tying the two together), but it's still good information about auras, and it's short enough to not be annoying. The book's title includes "& Aura Viewing" so I can't fault her for including this information. If the book was just called "Astral Travel" I'd complain about extraneous information about aura viewing. But I bought a book on "astral travel AND aura viewing" so part four is definitely fair game. I can't fault her. I'd have a problem if the aura viewing section outweighed the astral travel sections, but it didn't. It was a good size, and good information.
Ms. LeBlanc needs some help with her OBE narratives, but don't let that discourage you from buying her book. I had low expectations, but was actually impressed with it. I liked her no-nonsense, lay-it-on-the-line approach to OBE. Her techniques were solid and her information was good. She doesn't beat around the bush or make you wait for the good stuff. She dives right in and tells you how to approach the OBE. There are better OBE books out there, but I still give it a thumbs up.
Thanks for the review. I will definitely check this book out.
Blogger August 7, 2017 at 10:20 PM
If you want your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend to come crawling back to you on their knees (no matter why you broke up) you need to watch this video
Controlling Your Reality in an OBE by Bob Peterson...


text:
\section{Introduction}

Modern eye tracking sensors offer a suitable alternative to  conventional input devices (i.e. keyboard and mouse) for users for whom manual interaction might be difficult or impossible. However, gaze-based interaction has well-known challenges the most important of which are (1) \textit{Midas touch} where a system cannot distinguish the basic function of the eye (i.e. looking and perceiving) from deliberate interaction with the system, and (2) \textit{eye jitter} which is caused by small physiological eye movements occurring during a fixation to perceive a scene visually \cite{JitterDefinition}. In this paper, we propose EyeTAP (Eye tracking point-and-select by Targeted Acoustic Pulse), an effective multimodal solution to the Midas touch problem. Specifically, our method integrates the user's gaze to control the mouse with audio input captured using a microphone to trigger button-press events for real-time interaction.

The contributions of this paper are twofold. Firstly, we have designed and developed an effective, multimodal interaction technique EyeTAP. The proposed approach is low-cost and allows for a completely hands-free interaction solution between the user and the computer system using only an eye-tracker and an audio input device. Secondly, we present two independent user studies each with two experiments comparing EyeTAP with all other widely-used interaction techniques. The analysis of the results clearly shows that using EyeTAP has at least comparable performance with the mouse. Furthermore, EyeTAP reaches competitive performance with the remaining eye-based interaction methods in cases where users would have restricted physical movement, or where manual interaction with an input device is not possible, e.g. medical practitioner having both hands busy.

\section{Related Work}

In eye-based interaction, the Midas touch problem occurs when a user accidentally activates a computer command by looking when the intention was simply to look around and perceive the scene. According to Jacob \cite{MidasTouchDefinition}, this problem occurs because eye movements are natural, e.g. the eyes are used to look around an object or to scan a scene, often without any intention to activate a command or function.  This phenomenon is one of the major challenges in eye interaction techniques and diverse methods have been proposed to address the Midas touch problem. The solutions can be categorized into four groups according to the interaction technique they employ: (a) dwell-time processing, (b) smooth pursuits, (c) gaze gestures, and (d) multimodal interaction. Below, we describe each of these solutions and provide example use-cases.

\subsection{Dwell-time processing}
Dwell-time is the amount of time that the eye gaze must remain on a specific target in order to trigger an event. Researchers have tried to detect specific thresholds to handle the Midas touch problem \cite{ProbabilisticDwellTime, FocalFixations}. For example, Pi \emph{et al.} proposed a probabilistic model for text entry using eye gaze \cite{ProbabilisticDwellTime}. They reduced the Midas touch problem by assigning each letter a probability value based on the previously chosen letter such that a letter with lower probability requires a longer activation time to be activated and vice-versa. Velichkovsky \emph{et al.} applied focal fixations to resolve the Midas touch problem by assigning the mean duration time (empirically set to 325 ms) of a visual search task to trigger a function \cite{FocalFixations}.

Dwell time has been shown to be even faster than the mouse in certain tasks, e.g. selecting a letter given an auditory cue~\cite{SibertJacob2000}. However, with dwell time there is a trade-off between accuracy and speed \cite{10.1145/1028014.1028045, 10.1145/1452392.1452443, majaranta2006effects}. The method of applying focal fixations may be very subjective since searching time varies across users \cite{Bednarik_Gowases_Tukiainen_2009}. Moreover, increasing the threshold may increase the duration time of the entire interaction. Conversely, reducing the amount of dwell-time may lead to more errors for some users \cite{10.1145/1452392.1452443}.

\subsection{Smooth pursuits}
Smooth pursuits are a form of eye movement that occurs when a moving stimulus (e.g. an object or animation) is followed with gaze \cite{Barnes2012}. The method is typically implemented by using two visual points on the interface that appear on top and below each target. Then to activate the target the user must fixate on one of these points. This technique has been used to select targets~\cite{Pursuits}, control home appliances~\cite{AmbiGaze}, to activate functions such as mouse clicks~\cite{GazeEverywhere} or to use the music player on a smartwatch~\cite{OrbitsSmartWatch}. Schenk \emph{et al.} proposed a framework (GazeEverywhere) which enables users to replace mouse inputs \cite{GazeEverywhere}. This solution includes a computer to process gaze interactions (gaze PC),  a computer to show the results (unmodified PC) which are connected via a micro-controller to trigger mouse click events, and a glass pane to project gaze targets on a second screen.

Vidal \emph{et al.} introduced an interaction technique (Pursuits) for large screens using moving objects to be activated by eye gaze \cite{Pursuits}. They used a Tobii X300 eye tracker and a public display to select targets on the screen. Velloso \emph{et al.} presented a framework (AmbiGaze) to control ambient devices such as TVs and stereos (each assigned with an infrared (IR) beacon) with eye gaze using a head-mounted eye tracker \cite{AmbiGaze}. The system employs a server to process gaze inputs and control the devices. Esteves \emph{et al.} presented a framework for a multi-touch Android smartwatch (Callisto 300) to input commands using a head-mounted eye tracker (Pupil Pro) \cite{OrbitsSmartWatch}. They developed three use-cases: a music player, a notifications panel with six colored points on the smartwatch screen representing six applications (e.g. social media apps), and a missed call menu with four commands, call back, reply text, save number and clear the notification.

\subsection{Gaze gestures}
Gaze gestures are sequences of eye movements that follow a predefined pattern in a specific order~\cite{GazeGesture2007}. Researchers have proposed techniques which can be applied to analyze eye movements to detect unique gestures (e.g. ~\cite{GazeGesture2016, GazeGesture2007, GazeGesture2012, GazeGesture2010}). Drewes \emph{et al.} assigned up, down, left, right and diagonal directions to different characters on the keyboard thereby allowing a user to select a letter by moving the eye gaze in any direction \cite{GazeGesture2007}. In addition, they tried to distinguish between natural and intentional eye movements by using short fixation times during gesture detection and long fixation times to reset the gesture recognition. Istance \emph{et al.} developed two-legged and three-legged gaze gestures (up, down and diagonal patterns) for command selection to play World of Warcraft for users with motor impairment disabilities \cite{GazeGesture2010}.

In a similar work, Hyrskykari \emph{et al.} studied both dwell-time and gaze gesture interactions in the context of video games and found that gaze gestures had better performance for command activation \cite{GazeGesture2012}. Moreover, gaze gestures produced fewer errors than the dwell-time and led to less visual distractions. B{\^a}ce \emph{et al.} proposed an AR prototype, containing a head-mounted eye tracker and a smartwatch, to embed virtual messages to real-world objects to be shared with peer users~\cite{GazeGesture2016}. The authors integrated eye gaze gestures as a pattern to encode and decode messages attached to a specific object previously tagged by another peer user, thus using gaze gestures as an authentication mechanism for secure communication.

\subsection{Multimodal Interaction}
Multimodal techniques apply extra inputs from another modality (e.g. touch, audio, etc.) as the trigger of a function in addition to eye tracking. They can be divided into the following sub-categories: using mechanical switches, touch interaction, or facial gestures.

\subsubsection{Applying a specific (mechanical) switch}
For some specific domains, such as rehabilitation, and user groups (i.e. users with motor impairments or severe disabilities), researchers have applied specific switches to activate an event or function. For instance, Rajanna \emph{et al.} proposed a combined framework for users with disabilities which applies a foot pedal device to click on objects and to enter text~\cite{FootSwitch}. Meena \emph{et al.} applied a soft button on a wheelchair to control the movements of the wheelchair in different directions (horizontal, vertical and diagonal)~\cite{WheelchairSwitch}. Sidorakis \emph{et al.} applied a switch for a gazed-controlled multimedia framework on virtual reality head-mounted displays (Oculus Rift) to resolve the Midas touch problem~\cite{BinocularEyeTracking}. Biswas \emph{et al.} proposed a joystick to control point-and-select tasks for combat aviation platforms to address the Midas touch problem~\cite{JoystickSwitch}.

\subsubsection{Touch interaction}
Some researchers have proposed the integration of using touch interaction, for a limited number of functions, to increase the accuracy of target selection. Pfeuffer \emph{et al.} applied a cursor at the gaze point to be controlled by a finger holding a tablet where a finger tap on the screen leads to a click on the current location of the pointer (CursorShift method)~\cite{GazeAndTouch01}. In a similar study by Pfeuffer \emph{et al.}, the authors investigated the integration of finger touch and pen inputs on a tablet for zooming or annotating tasks on images \cite{GazeAndTouch02}. Although this technique was not introduced as a solution to the Midas touch problem, it can increase the accuracy of selection which leads to reducing Midas touch.

\subsubsection{Facial gestures recognition}
In \cite{FaceGestures}, Rozado \emph{et al.} studied the potential of using live video monitoring to detect facial gestures to enhance eye tracking interaction. In their work (FaceSwitch), they associated facial gestures (opening mouth, raising eyebrows, smiling and twitching the nose up and down) to simulate left and right mouse clicks and customized some keyboard functions such as page down key press.

Using a multimodal solution that combines eye-gaze with acoustic inputs (audio or speech detection) can be regarded as an alternative to the reviewed solutions and has the advantage of not requiring either extra hardware or a specialized user interface design. For this reason, we designed EyeTAP to use audio processing for selection. Our solution: (1) provides a hands-free interaction technique for users with special needs, and (2) addresses the Midas touch problem. Although there has been some work done on audio detection to simulate system events for computer interactions (e.g.~\cite{Blui, Cappella,DirectManipulationPatternRecognition}) the focus has been on signal processing for complex interactions. Conversely, in our work we applied acoustic inputs only as a way of sending commands.

\section{EyeTAP Prototype}

A simple mouse interaction consists of moving the pointer to a target (pointing phase), and clicking on it to trigger a function (selection phase). In the EyeTAP prototype the mouse pointer position is captured using the Tobii 4C tracker ~\footnote{https://tobiigaming.com/product/tobii-eye-tracker-4c/} and selection is done by generating an acoustic pulse by mouth (e.g. a mouth click) which is captured by a headset microphone (Logitech H370). The EyeTAP prototype was developed and the experiments were run on a commodity computer system: 64-bit Windows 10 PC with Intel i7 2.67GHz CPU, 12 GB RAM, 1 TB hard disk and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 graphics card. Thus, EyeTAP is a cost-effective system that can be applied at almost any work space. Figure \ref{fig:system_overview} illustrates the EyeTAP system setup.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.30 \textwidth]{figures/system_overview.pdf}
	\caption{EyeTAP system: The eye tracker is used to move the pointer from A to B. The user makes an acoustic pulse by mouth and the signal processing module interprets the signal as an input and triggers a click event to select B. The system has an ambient noise tolerance of up to 70 dB.}
	\label{fig:system_overview}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Eye Tracking: Pointing Phase}
The Tobii SDK (TobiiEyeXSdk$-$Cpp$-$1.8.498) supports different events related to eye tracking activities such as providing the location of the current eye gaze, positions of both eyes, fixation points and user presence in front of the eye tracker. We employed the eye gaze library (API) to obtain users' gaze locations. These locations show the current gaze position on the screen as pixels. The SDK supports eye movements in a 3D coordinate system (horizontal, vertical, depth) but we applied a 2D coordinate system (x,y) such that the mouse cursor was synchronized with the gaze positions to control the mouse pointer on the screen. Eye-tracking for the EyeTAP prototype was developed in C++ and integrated as a new plug-in into the Tobii SDK.

\subsection{Auditory Processing: Selection Phase}
To simulate a click on the item to be selected a headset microphone listens to the user while suppressing the background ambient sounds/noise (conversations in office and equipment sounds) in real-time. The intensity of the mouth noise and distance of microphone is adjusted by the user before the test. A detected pulse in the real-time audio signal (a value larger than a predefined threshold) is regarded as a click. The threshold's value can be adjusted based on the environment to reduce background ambient noise. The EyeTAP prototype has an ambient noise tolerance of up to 70 dB. When a significant increase in the frequency spectrum (greater than the threshold) is detected a mouse click event is triggered. In general, recording is categorized into two phases: audible and silent periods. Any audible period with an intensity greater than the predefined threshold will be detected as an input signal to the system as the binary 1; similarly, values smaller than the threshold value are regarded as binary 0. The intuition behind the auditory processing was inspired from the simplicity of the Morse code~\cite{morse_code}, which consists of a series of ON/OFF signals triggered by tone or light. Information is interpreted using dots and dashes and therefore can be used to represent transmitted signals through a sequence of True/False variables.

\section{Evaluation}
\label{Evaluation}
To evaluate the effectiveness of the developed EyeTAP prototype, we ran two independent user studies each with two internal experiments with 33 participants (13 female, from 22 to 35 years old, SD=2.96). All subjects partook in both experiments. Prior to running the experiments, subjects were informed about the purpose of the study, trained on each of the methods to be tested, and participated in a pre-test questionnaire probing them on their background in the fields of eye tracking, voice recognition technologies and their preferred kind of interaction in the case of hands-free alternatives. The Tobii calibration software was used to calibrate the system for each participant before starting the study. At the end of the two experiments subjects filled out a post-test questionnaire, which consisted of the NASA TLX questionnaire \cite{nasa_tlx} followed by specific questions about the subjects' perceptions of the different interaction methods. The order of interaction method was randomly selected for each participant. We played an artificial ambient noise through stereo desktop speakers of 50 dB to simulate a typical work environment since EyeTAP and voice recognition rely on audio inputs.

\subsection{User Study 1: Matrix-based Test}
In the first experiment, the EyeTAP interaction method was compared with: (a) the mouse, (b) dwell-time, and (c) eye tracking with voice-recognition. In this experiment, a matrix of buttons (targets), were randomly distributed across the screen. The task of the subjects was to point and click on buttons shown on the screen in increasing numerical order for various levels of difficulty from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard), described in detail below. The order of interaction methods seen by each subject was randomly selected for each participant however, the level of difficultly was presented in ascending order.

\subsubsection{Stimulus}
The stimulus consisted of 77 buttons (11 columns $\times$ 7 rows) some labeled with numbers and others not, which covered the entire screen at a resolution of 1920 $\times$ 1080 pixels on a Dell P2411Hb monitor. Two marginal columns (far left, far right) and two rows (top, bottom) were removed from the active selection due to the high difficulty to be selected by users during the pilot-test. Buttons that were not labeled are considered as \textit{barriers} or \textit{distractions}. To provide feedback to the subject, labeled buttons change color after the user has successfully pointed and selected on the correct button. Wrongly selected barriers (buttons with no label) are highlighted in red. The level of difficulty of the stimulus was also increased across subject trials. This was done by increasing the number of targets that had to be selected by the subject. Five levels of difficulty were used for each interaction method: level 1 (4 targets), level 2 (6 targets), level 3 (8 targets), level 4 (10 targets) and level 5 (12 targets). Targets were randomly distributed over the entire screen for each level. Figure \ref{fig:test_screenshot} shows the matrix-based test during difficulty level 5. The cursor that was used was a black circle because it is easier for users to keep it on the target's boundary rather than a pointer.

\begin{figure}[htp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[scale=0.35]{figures/matrix_test_screenshot.pdf}
	\caption{The matrix-based test for difficulty level 5. Target buttons are distributed randomly across the screen. The red button illustrates an error. The black circle on number 12 shows the current eye gaze location. Labels were enlarged for higher visibility.}
	\label{fig:test_screenshot}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Mouse}
For the mouse method (our baseline method for comparison), subjects simply used a mouse to move to targets and select them in numerical order.

\subsubsection{Dwell-time}
For the dwell-time method, where an internal timer is used to determine if a target was selected. The range of dwell-time is in (300-1100) milliseconds for target selection \cite{vspakov2004line}. Then we defined the target activation threshold to 500 milliseconds, since it showed best performance in \cite{mackenzie2012evaluating} and participants preferred a dwell-time around 500 ms in a user study \cite{vspakov2004line}. In other words, a target was selected when a subject focused on a target for 0.5 seconds, and if the subject moved their gaze away from the target prior to 0.5 seconds the target selection process would restart.

\subsubsection{Eye Tracking with Voice recognition}
For voice recognition, eye tracking was used for pointing and voice for selection. The method was developed using the built-in Windows 10 speech recognition capabilities available in the .NET framework. We implemented a C\# application to respond to the activation keyword 'select' to trigger a mouse click. The same microphone was used as for the EyeTAP test.

\subsubsection{Measures}
\label{MatrixBasedVariablesDetails}
The following variables were recorded: \textit{completion time}, \textit{path cost of selecting targets}, \textit{error locations}, and \textit{cognitive load} (based on the NASA TLX scores). An internal logging module recorded subjects' actions, selection times, as well as the number of correct and wrong selections.  For the path cost measure the shortest path between targets and the produced path by each interaction method was processed. To compare the shapes of the generated paths, we used the dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm~\cite{1104847, 1163491,1163055}. Since DTW works on a time-value domain the paths produced by the eye tracker were decomposed into their horizontal and vertical values and compared with their associated shortest path models' \textit{X} and \textit{Y} values. We applied the built-in \textit{DTW} function in the Python DTW 1.3.3 module \footnote{https://github.com/pierre-rouanet/dtw} to measure the deviations of each path from the shortest path model.

\subsection{User Study 1: Dart-based Test}
The purpose of this experiment was to measure the accuracy of EyeTAP in comparison to the previously proposed eye-based interaction methods. The task of the subject was to select, as accurately as possible, the bull's-eye of a dart target using each interaction method. In this experiment, the eye tracker was used for the pointing phase for each of the interaction methods, however selection of the target was triggered by different methods, i.e. dwell-time, voice command or EyeTAP acoustic signal. In order to take into consideration the fact that eye tracking has different accuracy in different regions of the monitor, we computed an average value based on five trials for each interaction method where the stimulus was shown at different areas of the screen near the center of the screen randomly. Each new randomly chosen trial began two seconds after selection of the previous target, allowing users time to change their gaze and to focus on the new target. For the dwell-time method, a countdown (5 to 0) representing remaining 100 milliseconds was displayed during the selection phase and users needed to focus on the dart shape before this time was up.

\subsubsection{Stimulus}
The stimulus for this experiment consisted of a dart-like target with three circles, green (0 to 30 pixels radius), blue (30 to 60 pixels radius) and red (60 to 90 pixels radius) as in Figure \ref{fig:circular_based}. Points within the center area i.e. green have the lowest range of distances to the bulls-eye; each other co-centric circle has a larger range of distance values. Any point lying outside the three co-centric circular areas is considered as having a fixed maximum distance of 90 pixels. For this experiment, a cross-hair icon was used.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.23\textwidth]{figures/circular_based_test.pdf}
	\caption{Dart-based test stimuli: the accuracy is highest in the green area. The cross-hair icon indicates the correct eye gaze location.}
	\label{fig:circular_based}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Measures}
The purpose of this test was to measure the selected point's distance on the dart target to the center of the core circle (in green), thus the accuracy is measured in pixels. Since the measured trials are chosen randomly, the average is calculated to compare different methods based on accurate selection.

\subsection{User Study 2: Ribbon-shaped Test}
In order to compare our method to other studies, we performed the FittsStudy~\cite{wobbrock2011effects}. This study is used to analyze pointing interaction methods in accordance to well-established academic standards. As part of this study, we measured three metrics to compare the performance of all interaction techniques for point-and-select tasks, (1) \textit{throughput}, (2) \textit{movement time} and (3) \textit{error rates} for ribbon-shaped targets (see figure \ref{fig:fitts_overview}). We applied the FittsStudy application \footnote{http://depts.washington.edu/acelab/proj/fittsstudy/index.html} by Wobbrock \emph{et al.} \cite{wobbrock2011effects}. The test session includes three distances (256, 384, 512) and two widths (96, 128) pixels.

\subsection{User Study 2: Circle-shaped Test}
This test is similar to the Ribbon-shapped test, however, contains different target shapes. Figure \ref{fig:fitts_overview} illustrates the screenshots of both test applications. This experiment contains uni-variate endpoint deviation (\textit{SD\textsubscript{x}}) through one axis and bi-variate endpoint deviation (\textit{SD\textsubscript{x,y}}) through both axes for throughput calculations which results in better Fitts' law model \cite{wobbrock2011effects}.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.25 \textwidth]{figures/fitts_overview.pdf}
	\caption{Screenshots of the 'FittsStudy' application \cite{wobbrock2011effects}. Top figure illustrates the ribbon-shaped stimuli and the bottom figure shows the circle-shaped stimuli. The highlighted targets are shown in blue to represent the active target to be selected.}
	\label{fig:fitts_overview}
\end{figure}

\section{Results}

To determine the effectiveness of the EyeTAP method, we analyzed the results of our experiments using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni posthoc tests with the IBM SPSS software \footnote{https://www.ibm.com/analytics/spss-statistics-software}.

\subsection{User Study 1: Matrix-based User Study}
A two-way repeated measures ANOVA (methods $\times$ difficulty levels) was performed to examine the effect of interaction type on: (1)  \textit{completion time} and (2) \textit{path costs of target selection} for each method and difficulty levels.

\subsubsection{Completion time}
We found a significant effect of interaction method on completion time (F(12,384)=8.51, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between mouse ($M=8017.955~ms$, $SE=645.433~ms$) and all other eye tracking methods (see figure~\ref{fig:matrix_completion_time}). In addition, EyeTAP ($M=19998.812~ms$, $SE=2122.329~ms$), dwell-time ($M=11154.830~ms$, $SE=788.395~ms$) and voice recognition ($M=26904.333~ms$, $SE=2467.576~ms$) are significantly different (\textit{p} < .05). Figure \ref{fig:matrix_completion_time} illustrates the average completion time per method for 8 targets per level ($\frac{40~targets}{5~levels}$).

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/matrix_overall_completion_time.pdf}
	\caption{Average completion time of point-and-select tasks for all participants obtained from the matrix-based user study for 8 targets per level ($\frac{40~targets}{5~levels}$). Completion time was significantly different for all techniques ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:matrix_completion_time}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Path costs of target selections}
To examine the paths produced by selecting targets we compared the original locations of the targets and the shortest path (ideal path model), as described in Section \ref{Evaluation}. For each method, we had a $\frac{distance}{cost}$ measure to the shortest path. This metric can be regarded as the \textit{footprint} of each interaction technique on the display. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA (methods $\times$ difficulty levels) showed that there was a significant effect of interaction type on path cost (F(12,384)=2.57, \textit{p} < .05). A Bonferroni posthoc test showed that dwell-time ($M=76.73~pixels$, $SE=5.09~pixels$) produced the shortest path among all other interaction techniques, even better than the mouse interaction ($M=109.25~pixels, SE=3.82~pixels$)
with \textit{p} < .05. However, there is no significant difference between dwell-time ($M=76.73~pixels$, $SE=5.09~pixels$), EyeTAP ($M=84.80~pixels$, $SE=3.59~pixels$) and voice recognition ($M=82.03~pixels$, $SE=4.41~pixels$). Figure \ref{fig:dtw_all}, which shows the path costs for all interaction methods, reveals that eye tracking movements produce significantly lower movements than mouse on a large screen.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/dtw_all.pdf}
	\caption{Mean path cost comparison calculated using the dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm. All eye tracking techniques have shorter path lengths than mouse interaction for traversing items on a screen ($p < .05$).}
	\label{fig:dtw_all}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Errors in target selections}
To measure the effectiveness of each Midas touch solution we need to consider a penalty for wrongly selected neighboring targets. Those targets are shown in red on the screen (see figure \ref{fig:test_screenshot}). We projected the locations of errors per each interaction method, since difficulty level 5 has the highest number of targets (12 targets) on the screen, we illustrate the locations for this difficulty level in Figure \ref{fig:error_locations}. EyeTAP has the highest number of errors, however the figure reveals the potential regions of the screen which are more error prone. As shown in the figure, most errors occurred from the center towards the right side of the screen. In fact, the right side of the screen produces more errors than the left side. Moreover, the lower side produces more errors than the top side. Feit \emph{et al.} showed that the same bottom and right regions of the screen have lower accuracy \cite{feit2017toward}. We confirm their results and also demonstrate that the same regions are also more error prone.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.43 \textwidth]{figures/error_locations.pdf}
	\caption{The locations of errors during the matrix-based user study (figure \ref{fig:test_screenshot}) for difficulty level 5. The right side of the screen as well as bottom side are more error prone than the left and top sides.}
	\label{fig:error_locations}
\end{figure}

\subsection{User Study 2: Dart-based User Study}

We performed a one-way repeated measures ANOVA to compare the effect of the different interaction methods on accuracy. The results of the ANOVA showed all eye tracking methods have statistical difference (F(3,96)=104.92, \textit{p} < 0.001) on selection accuracy. In fact, the mouse interaction has the lowest distance to target (higher accuracy) compared to eye tracking techniques. EyeTAP ($M=45.11~pixels$, $SE=2.28~pixels$) achieved the highest mean pixel accuracy compared to dwell-time ($M=35.30~pixels$, $SE=2.11~pixels$) and voice recognition ($M=29.27~pixels$, $SE=2.07~pixels$). Figure \ref{fig:dart_results_chart} depicts the results of the accuracy test.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/dart_results_chart.pdf}
	\caption{The mean distance to target in pixels for dart-based experiment ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:dart_results_chart}
\end{figure}

\subsection{User Study 2: Ribbon-shaped Test}
A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed to examine the effect of interaction type on: (1)  \textit{movement time}, (2) \textit{throughput} and (3) \textit{error rates} for each interaction method.

\subsubsection{Movement time}
We found a significant effect of the interaction method on movement time (F(3,96)=69.42, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between mouse ($M=684.15~ms$, $SE=16.80~ms$) and all other eye tracking methods (figure~\ref{fig:ribbon_movement_time}). In addition, among all eye tracking methods, dwell-time ($M=599.39~ms$, $SE=18.76~ms$) achieved significantly lower movement time than EyeTAP ($M=1794.89~ms$, $SE=170.90~ms$) and voice recognition ($M=2014.20~ms$, $SE=89.28~ms$) techniques. However, there is no statistical significance between EyeTAP and voice recognition. The lower movement time of dwell-time method compared to the mouse interaction is associated with the low activation time (500 ms).

\begin{figure}[htbp]
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/ribbon_movement_time.pdf}
	\caption{The calculated movement time per method for the ribbon-shaped test ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:ribbon_movement_time}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Throughput}
We found a significant effect of the interaction method on throughput (F(3,96)=75.13, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between dwell-time ($M=3.30~bits/sec$, $SE=0.36~bits/sec$) and all eye tracking methods (figure~\ref{fig:ribbon_tp}). The mouse ($M=4.81~bits/sec$, $SE=0.11~bits/sec$) achieved higher throughput than the eye tracking methods. However, there is no statistical difference between voice recognition ($M=1.15~bits/sec$, $SE=0.09~bits/sec$) and EyeTAP ($M=1.34~bits/sec$, $SE=0.12~bits/sec$).

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/ribbon_tp.pdf}
	\caption{The calculated throughput per method for the ribbon-shaped test ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:ribbon_tp}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Error rates}
We found a significant effect of the interaction method on error rates (F(3,96)=27.15, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between mouse ($M=0.01~errors$, $SE=0.005~errors$) and all eye tracking interactions (see Figure~\ref{fig:ribbon_error_rates}). In addition, dwell-time ($M=0.28~errors$, $SE=0.03~errors$) reached a higher error rate than EyeTAP ($M=0.18~errors$, $SE=0.02~errors$) and voice recognition ($M=0.10~errors$, $SE=0.02~errors$).

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/ribbon_error_rate.pdf}
	\caption{The calculated error rates per method for the ribbon-shaped test ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:ribbon_error_rates}
\end{figure}

\subsection{User Study 2: Circle-shaped Test}
A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed to examine the effect of interaction type on: (1)  \textit{movement time}, (2) \textit{throughput} and (3) \textit{error rates} for each interaction method. This experiment is similar to ribbon-shaped test but contains an extra metric to measure throughput of each method.

\subsubsection{Movement time}
We found a significant effect of the interaction method on movement time (F(3,96)=67.48, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between EyeTAP ($M=1578.95~ms$, $SE=95.34~ms$), dwell-time ($M=638.80~ms$, $SE=24.35~ms$), voice recognition ($M=2123.35~ms$, $SE=132.42~ms$) and mouse ($M=727.91~ms$, $SE=46.12~ms$). However, there is no statistical difference between mouse ($M=727.91~ms$, $SE=46.12~ms$) and dwell-time ($M=638.80~ms$, $SE=24.35~ms$). Figure \ref{fig:circle_movement_time} illustrates the mean movement time per method for the circle-shaped test.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/circle_movement_time.pdf}
	\caption{The calculated movement time per method for the circle-shaped test ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:circle_movement_time}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Throughput}
Since the circle-shaped test contains two variations (uni-variate, bi-variate) to measure throughput \cite{wobbrock2011effects}, we ran a two-way repeated measures ANOVA (throughput $\times$ variation) and found a significant effect of the interaction method on throughput (F(3,96)=19.75, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between
mouse ($M=4.16~bits/sec$, $SE=0.18~bits/sec$), dwell-time ($M=3.20~bits/sec$, $SE=0.25~bits/sec$), voice-recognition ($M=1.24~bits/sec$, $SE=0.07~bits/sec$) and EyeTAP ($M=1.04~bits/sec$, $SE=0.13~bits/sec$). However, there is no statistical difference between voice-recognition ($M=1.24~bits/sec$, $SE=0.07~bits/sec$) and EyeTAP ($M=1.04$\newline$bits/sec$, $SE=0.13~bits/sec$). Figure \ref{fig:circle_tp_chart} shows both variations of throughput per interaction method.

\begin{figure*}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.73 \textwidth]{figures/circle_tp_chart.pdf}
	\caption{The calculated throughput for both uni-, and bi-variations per method for the circle-shaped test ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:circle_tp_chart}
\end{figure*}

\subsubsection{Error rates}
We found a significant effect of the interaction method on error rates (F(3,96)=18.25, \textit{p} < .001). A posthoc Bonferroni comparison test showed a significant difference between mouse ($M=0.02~errors$, $SE=0.01~errors$), dwell-time ($M=0.23~errors$, $SE=0.03~errors$), voice recognition ($M=0.13~errors$, $SE=0.02~errors$) and EyeTAP ($M=0.28~errors$, $SE=0.02~errors$). Voice recognition ($M=0.13~errors$, $SE=0.02~errors$) reached the lowest error rate among eye tracking methods, however, there is no statistical difference between dwell-time ($M=0.23~errors$, $SE=0.03~errors$) and EyeTAP ($M=0.28~errors$, $SE=0.02~errors$). Figure \ref{fig:circle_error_rates} illustrates the calculated error rates for the circle-shaped test.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/circle_error_rates.pdf}
	\caption{The calculated error rates per method for the circle-shaped test ($p < .001$).}
	\label{fig:circle_error_rates}
\end{figure}

\subsection{EyeTAP rating by users}
We asked participants to evaluate the overall performance of EyeTAP in the post-test questionnaire on a scale from 1 (worst) to 5 (best). EyeTAP reached the average rate of 3.64 ($SD=0.99$) by 33 users. In addition, Users were asked to select multiple interaction techniques. Figure \ref{fig:techniques_rating_chart} illustrates the popular interaction techniques by users obtained from the post-test questionnaire. EyeTAP reached the second desired eye tracking technique.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=0.47 \textwidth]{figures/techniques_rating.pdf}
	\caption{The recorded users' multiple choice of interaction techniques among 33 participants.}
	\label{fig:techniques_rating_chart}
\end{figure}

\subsection{NASA TLX scores}
Figure \ref{fig:nasa_tlx_chart} shows the NASA TLX scores for all interaction methods obtained during the user study. The overall workload is the average of scale values since we assume all scales equally important and therefore eliminated the weighting calculations to apply a simplified version \cite{nasa_tlx_20} of the basic NASA TLX ratings \cite{nasa_tlx}. According to our findings, the dwell-time method has the lowest workload among other eye tracking techniques. However, EyeTAP shows relatively lower workload compared to voice recognition technique.

\begin{figure*}[htbp]
	\centering
		\includegraphics[width=.99 \textwidth]{figures/nasa_tlx.pdf}
	\caption{The NASA TLX scores for the interaction methods. (Left) Comparison of each method based on different scales. (Right) The overall mean workload of tested interaction methods.}
	\label{fig:nasa_tlx_chart}
\end{figure*}

\section{Discussion}
Regarding the experiments with the reviewed Midas touch solutions, we found several benefits and disadvantages of each method. We discuss each method individually.

\subsection{Voice Recognition}
This interaction method showed relatively acceptable results but suffers from some limitations. In general, a voice recognition engine depends on the user's voice, gender, language, and accent. Additionally, it is not applicable to users with speech impediments. Another drawback is the need of prior training samples to detect words correctly. Furthermore, similar words may lead to false recognition as we experienced during our user study. The quality of the microphone and its distance to the user is also another factor to be considered for this kind of interaction. Regarding the accuracy of recognition, the choice of recognition software plays an important role. Finally, speaking out loud may not be suitable in certain working environments.

In general, voice recognition presented some challenges for the users in terms of wrongly recognized words, need for action word repetition, and delay between input and feedback. The subjects' rating of this technique was very low (9.1\%) in our user study. Voice recognition showed the highest completion time in the matrix-based test and highest movement time in the circle-shaped test and reached the highest cognitive workload among all interaction techniques. However, voice recognition showed the lowest error rates in both Fitts' study experiments and reached the lowest distance to target (highest selection accuracy) among other eye tracking techniques.

\subsection{Dwell-Time processing}
Dwell-time method showed the fastest completion time in the matrix-based test, and fastest movement time and highest throughput in both Fitts' experiments due to the low amount of activation time (500 ms). In addition, it reached the lowest amount of cognitive workload. However, it showed the highest error rates in the ribbon-shaped test and with EyeTAP in the circle-shaped test. Moreover, some users complained about eye fatigue after a while during test sessions.

\subsection{EyeTAP}
We found several benefits of using EyeTAP in comparison to the other interaction techniques. First of all, it has no dependent features, rather it requires only an acoustic pulse (making sound with mouth) near a microphone to send a signal. In fact, the output of EyeTAP in a noisy environment (up to 70dB) can appear deterministic after a number of repetitions. According to the results of our study, it achieved faster completion time in the matrix-based test, and faster movement time in the circle-shaped experiment than voice recognition. In addition, it showed a similar path cost (pointer footprint on display) with the other eye tracking techniques. It also achieved lower cognitive workload in comparison to the voice recognition technique. Furthermore, EyeTAP was the popular choice of interaction (36.4\%) compared to voice recognition (9.1\%). However, EyeTAP showed relatively lower accuracy and higher error rates than voice recognition, since most users had no prior experiences with this kind of interaction. The performance of EyeTAP can be improved with more training.

In general, EyeTAP is simple, integrates well into existing user interfaces, and allows for easy and accurate point-and-select interaction because it separates the actions of \textit{pointing} and \textit{selecting} to two different modalities while relaxing the requirement for accurate voice recognition. The results of our user study demonstrate that EyeTAP is a feasible alternative interaction technique. Moreover, it is a robust and effective solution to the Midas touch problem for eye tracking platforms and can be regarded as an alternative to voice recognition technique.

\section{Conclusion and Future Work}

In this paper, we proposed EyeTAP (Eye tracking point-and-select by Targeted Acoustic Pulse), an eye-tracking interface that addresses the Midas touch problem with acoustic input detection capabilities. EyeTAP allows for accurate and effective interaction without the need for extra equipment or user interface design for gaze-based interactions. The performance of the prototype was measured in two independent user studies with 33 participants based on eight criteria: (1) \textit{completion time}, (2) \textit{path cost of target selection}, (3) \textit{error rate}, (4) \textit{error locations on screen}, (5) \textit{accuracy of target selection}, (6) \textit{movement time}, (7) \textit{throughput}, and (8) \textit{cognitive workload}.

The results of our user studies showed that the dwell-time method outperformed other eye tracking techniques, including EyeTAP on most criteria. At the same time we found that EyeTAP, in comparison to to the other tested methods is a competitive and a promising solution and provides a faster task completion time, faster movement time and lower workload than voice recognition. In addition, EyeTAP showed similar performance compared to the dwell-time method and lower error rate in the ribbon-shaped experiment.

Moreover, our study showed that eye tracking has a lower footprint on the screen compared to a mouse pointer in time scale. Additionally, we confirmed that center regions towards the right and bottom side of the screen are more error prone than the left and top sides. Additionally, we developed two user tests that would be effective in studying different target selection for gaze-based interaction techniques.

Although we only developed the left mouse click event, EyeTAP demonstrates a completely hands-free or touchless alternative to mouse interaction for users with disabilities and users who need to avoid physical contact with input devices considering their workplace or situation. Thus, we believe EyeTAP can be regarded as a competitive technique to both dwell-time and voice recognition. In future work, we will apply the EyeTAP technique on AR/VR headsets to measure its usability in different case scenarios.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
A Biblioteca Nacional Austríaca (em alemão: , ÖNB), localizada em Viena, é a biblioteca nacional da República da Áustria. Fundada na Idade Média pelos Habsburgos, foi chamado de Biblioteca do Tribunal de Justiça (Hofbibliothek) até 1920. Ele está localizado no Hofburg, apesar de algumas coleções estarem localizadas no Palais Mollard-Clary.

Com mais de 7,4 milhões de registros, é uma das mais ricas biblioteca da Áustria. Contém o depósito legal,  a bibliografia nacional, o depósito de trabalhos acadêmicos, e também grandes coleções de incunábulos, mapas e atlas confeccionados em papiro e escritos em línguas artificiais, para além de vários documentos inconográficos.

Bibliografia

  Gabriele  Mauthe et Christian Gastgeber,  Die Direktion der Hofbibliothek zur Jahrhundertwende. Josef Ritter von Karabacek, Direktor der k.k. Hofbibliothek in Wien (1899-1917), catalogue de l'exposition de Papyrusmuseum, Böhlau, Vienne, 1999, 120 p.
  Murray G. Hall et Christina Köstner, »… allerlei für die Nationalbibliothek zu ergattern …«: Eine österreichische Institution in der NS-Zeit, Böhlau, Vienne, 2006, 617 p.
 Irina Kubadinov,  La Bibliothèque Nationale Autrichienne, Vienne 2004,

Ligações externas

  Site oficial
  Catálogo online
  Bibliografia online
  ANNO, arquivo de jornais numerizados
  ALEX, arquivo da História do Direito

Áustria
Cultura da Áustria
Viena


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text:
Two help MSP trooper being attacked at side of road
Charles E. Ramirez
Two men helped a Michigan State trooper being assaulted Monday by two other men at the side of a Berrien County road, officials said.
Trooper Garry Guild, a 21-year veteran of the state police, was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released, said Lt. Melinda Logan.
Logan said two men helped Guild after he allegedly was attacked at the side of the road by a motorcyclist who crashed and another driver, the brother of suspect on the motorcycle, who also pulled up and began attacking the trooper, police said. The good Samaritans were identified by police as a 50-year-old man from Plainwell and Jerry Burnham of Berrien Springs.
"Thankfully, those citizens were there and they helped protect the trooper," Logan said Tuesday. "They put themselves at risk and we deeply appreciate that."
On Tuesday, Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic identified the two men who attacked the trooper and charged both with several crimes. Both were arraigned on the charges Tuesday.
The first man has been identified as Michael Scott Barber, 21, of Gobles. Sepic said Barber has been charged with assault strangulation, a 10-year felony; third-degree fleeing and eluding police, a five-year felony; resisting a police officer and causing injury, a four-year felony; receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle, a five-year felony; and attempting to disarm a police officer, (a taser), a two-year felony.
Barber's bond was set at $75,000 and he's scheduled to appear at the Berrien County Trial Court in Niles on March 1, according to Sepic.
The second man, Travis Wise, 19, of Middlebury, Indiana, was similarly charged except for fleeing and eluding police.
Wise's bond was set at $100,000 and he's also scheduled to appear in court on March 1, Sepic said.
Before 9 a.m. Monday, Guild attempted to stop a speeding motorcycle traveling south on the U.S. 31 bypass near Matthew Road in Berrien Township. Barber was driving the motorcycle, according to Sepic.
Police said the driver initially stopped the motorcycle, but then accelerated and re-entered the freeway, officials said.
After leading Guild on a three-mile chase, the suspect tried to to maneuver in the triangular area between the freeway and an exit ramp when he lost control of the motorcycle, police said.
After crashing, the driver charged at Guild, according to state police.
Guild tried to subdue the man, but as he wrestled with him, a vehicle pulled up, a man got out and began attacking the trooper. The second man, who later was identified as Wise, the motorcycle rider's brother, allegedly punched Guild in the face.
The 50-year-old man and Burnham subdued the attackers and Guild was able to arrest the motorcycle rider.
Logan said police continue to investigate the incident and have discovered the motorcycle was stolen from Van Buren County.
"Trooper Guild followed all of the procedures," Logan said. "This was a unique situation."
cramirez@detroitnews.com


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