Bedroom games are fine ... but I need a woman who won't play with my heart.
After years in the military, I've faced down a lot of things, and there's not much I shy away from. Except relationships. Because when you catch your wife in bed with another man, that tends to sour even the most hardened man against women.
But if I'm going to make her mine, I'll have to not only keep her safe, I'll have to prove to her that I've conquered my own fears and doubts. That I'm done looking into the past, and that all I want is a future—with her.


More American money has gone toward investing in European stocks than any year since 1977, according to Goldman Sachs. In the first half of this year alone, U.S. investors poured $65 billion into European equities. So why are investors looking across the pond? It can't be for better returns this year, as the S&P 500 is up 18.4 percent this year, while the continent's best-performing market has been France, with its CAC up 13.1 percent. Two reasons float to the surface then: diversification, plain and simple; or playing the bottom, betting on larger returns when Europe comes back. So which type of investor are you? Someone who's staring the gift bull in the mouth, or someone who's rolling the dice in Europe?
Singapore, an economically developed Southeast Asian island nation, is rebounding, with a surprising jump of 3.7% in its economic growth in the second quarter after two consecutive years of sluggishness. The country seems to have been boosted by an unexpected rise in manufacturing and gains in the service sector. One way to invest in Singapore is through the iShares MSCI Singapore ETF (EWS).


Green Bay Packers tight end Andrew Quarless has seen himself grow as a person during his time with the team.
"I looked at myself early in my career as a little more guarded," said the sixth-year man out of Penn State. "I just started a Twitter (account), after four or five years. That's not the average for an NFL athlete. I think now, going further in my career, I'm trying to reach out more. Let the fans reach out more to me."
Quarless also accomplished that goal by being a part of the 10th annual Packers Tailgate Tour that made a stop at Sheboygan's Blue Harbor Resort on Saturday.
"This whole tour, is just a fan appreciation. We appreciate the fans," Quarless said. "They own the team. They're a big part of our success. Just as much as they thank us, we thank them."
The five-day tour included stops in Menomonie, Prairie du Chien, Baraboo and Elkhorn, among others.
"This whole tour has been a great experience for me, just getting to places I probably normally wouldn't get to in Wisconsin," Quarless said. "That was the biggest thing for me."
Quarless is now the veteran presence at his position. His six years in the league are as many as his understudies, Richard Rogers, Brandon Bostick and Justin Perillo, have combined.
With that in mind, Quarless hopes to aid in the development of the players behind him on the depth chart.
"Being a veteran, you've been in positions like that before. You've been in the playoffs and you know what it means to win," Quarless said. "Anything I can do to help some of the younger guys and bring them up is what I do on the field."
During the question and answer portion of Saturday's event, the topic of the heartbreaking loss to Seattle in last year's NFC Championship Game came up.
"That was one of the worst losses of my whole life, my whole football career," Quarless told the crowd. "It's something that I'll never forget. It leaves a sour taste in your month. This is a new team, but it motivates us. We're meeting Monday. ... We're going to get it right."
With the start of a new season looming, Quarless is looking forward to a fresh slate. But he acknowledges that the past will be addressed.
"It's going to be brought up and then it's not going to be talked about anymore. We're going to bring it up and address it then move on," Quarless said. "It's going to be a new year, a new team and hopefully bring in some new, good rookies to help this program. We're looking good. We're feeling real confident."


Deborah Edison's Seattle-based organization, YouthCare, is often approached by people who want to help the city's homeless youth but aren't able to give money. Edison always urges people to find creative ways to follow their philanthropic instincts. The results are often more valuable than any one cash donation could ever be, like when one woman turned her 50th birthday party into a clothes and supplies drive.
"They ended up with a vanload of bras, coats, feminine hygiene products and other things that we always need," Edison says. She now advocates for volunteer drives as one of the most effective ways the general public can support a nonprofit.
Since many youth-serving organizations have only one or two full-time fundraisers, networking is always a challenge. Volunteer-led drives help everybody: they increase an organization's network of donors while pulling in more resources than most individuals could raise on their own.
Judy Whittier, director of community resources at the Bill Wilson Center in Santa Clara, CA, says that fundraising is all about "finding what each person can bring to the table," and sometimes they bring their friends, faith group, PTA or work colleagues. Such was the case when the Bill Wilson Center learned that their federal grant for a maternity home prohibited federally funded supplies, such as cribs, from leaving the center. A volunteer quickly stepped in to lead a drive for extra materials, and now the Center has enough on hand to let every parent keep their baby paraphernalia.
YouthCare requires their drive coordinators to complete a two-hour training session, like any other volunteer for the organization. "We want people to have a better idea of why kids are homeless," Edison says. By learning about essential youth-work topics—how to handle personal boundary issues and awkward situations, the need for confidentiality—fundraising volunteers become more effective spokespeople for the program.


Wu jian,Bai Guo-liang,Zhao Hui-yi,Li Xue. Mechanical and Thermal Tests of an Innovative Environment-friendly Hollow Block as Self-insulation Wall Materials [J]. Construction and Building Materials,2015,93C:342-349.
 Jian Wu,Guo-liang Bai,Ya Liu,Peng Wang,Shao-jun Fu. Compressive Strength and Block-Mortar Bond of a New-Type of Insulation Hollow Block [J]. Materials Science and Engineering.


text:
Preview: Random
A modern play about knife crime pairs up with a 50-year-old Yorkshire classic to show the parallels between vulnerable teenagers then and now
By Antonia Charlesworth
11 Feb 2019 No comments
Home Centre Stage Preview: Random
"Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you," is the motto of the West Indian family at the centre of Debbie Tucker Green's 2008 play Random. The one-woman show follows the minutiae of the family's everyday domestic life until one of them becomes the victim of a seemingly random knife attack.
New figures last month revealed that deaths among young people under 20 are at their highest since 2007-08, when Random was first written and performed. The number of deaths from knife crime in 2018 rose 10 per cent from the previous year to 276. In England and Wales there were 42,957 recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2018.
The highest rates after London last year were in West Yorkshire, where the play is now being staged by director Gbolahan Obisesan. Kiza Deen (pictured), known for her role as DCI Naomi Silva in Silent Witness and Sonia Albright in Hollyoaks, shape-shifts throughout the production into all the roles, including Sister, Brother, Mum, Dad and Teacher.
"She has the depth to understand the range of emotions required to make Random resonate with audiences and be affected by her performance," says the director, adding that Deen blew him away in audition. "She connected with the world of the play, found a voice for the characters and showcased her talents and intuition as an actor."
A previous Genesis Fellow and associate director of the Young Vic Theatre, Obisesan's credits include Cuttin' It, a play exploring FGM in Britain, and he received critical acclaim for his performance as Dr Martin Luther King Jr in The Mountaintop.
"Random is unique in how it explores the human experience and emotional turmoil around the heartbreakingly social concern of knife crime. In the play we see the fragility and disorientation of a family's experience of an unexpected incident. It's an incredibly beautifully crafted play," he says.
The 50-minute play is being performed in Leeds Playhouse's pop-up theatre – the former West Yorkshire Playhouse is currently awaiting a new theatre building. Obisesan says it will be "invigorating for everyone". It's being staged alongside the quintessentially Yorkshire play Kes, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.
"Experiencing the two parallel stories I imagine will feel like a 50-year juxtaposition of the lives of two different working-class teenagers," says Obisesan on the drawing together of the two plays.
Kes follows Billy Casper, a boy from a local estate who lives with his mother and bully of a brother and feels totally alone until he finds a kestrel to train. "It is open for interpretation, but I would suggest both plays have complementary themes of isolation and the search for continual freedom from concern, and freedom of expression.
"Ultimately it is the voice and experience of relatable but vulnerable teenagers. In these two plays about young people in Britain, we can potentially see ourselves, our families and the risks we must try to eradicate as a society for the next generation."
Random is at the Leeds Playhouse pop-up theatre, 4-16 Feb. Kes runs until 16 Feb (leedsplayhouse.org.uk)
Why don't we just… look at disadvantage in a new way?
by Ciara Leeming
Blog: Ellie Harrison
Blog: Annie Lloyd
Interact: Responses to Preview: Random

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Heat transfer fluid systems are an integral part of the entire system of oil and gas processing. Initial production, transport, refining, and recycling all require the use of heat transfer fluids. Offshore platforms use Therminol liquid-phase heat transfer fluids for facility heating and regeneration of glycols that are used to remove water from the natural gas produced. Refineries use liquid-phase heat transfer fluids to heat reboilers and columns for the distillation of oil and oil-based products. Companies that reprocess and then recycle used lubricating oils use Eastman Therminol® heat transfer fluid in very high-temperature, high-vacuum distillation operations. Pumping stations placed along oil pipelines use heat transfer systems to help control the viscosity of the oil that is moved through the line.


text:
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace League\Uri;

use League\Uri\Interfaces\Uri as DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\UriInterface as Psr7UriInterface;
use ReflectionClass;
use function array_intersect;
use function array_pop;
use function array_reduce;
use function explode;
use function get_class;
use function implode;
use function in_array;
use function sprintf;
use function strpos;
use function strtolower;

/**
 * Factory class to ease loading URI object.
 *
 * @package    League\Uri
 * @subpackage League\Uri\Schemes
 * @author     Ignace Nyamagana Butera <nyamsprod@gmail.com>
 * @since      1.2.0
 */
class Factory
{
    /**
     * Supported schemes.
     *
     * @var string[]
     */
    protected $map = [
        'http' => Http::class,
        'https' => Http::class,
        'ftp' => Ftp::class,
        'ws' => Ws::class,
        'wss' => Ws::class,
        'data' => Data::class,
        'file' => File::class,
    ];

    /**
     * Dot segments.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected static $dot_segments = ['.' => 1, '..' => 1];

    /**
     * supported URI interfaces.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected static $uri_interfaces = [
        DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface::class,
        UriInterface::class,
        Psr7UriInterface::class,
    ];

    /**
     * new instance.
     *
     * @param array $map An override map of URI classes indexed by their supported schemes.
     */
    public function __construct($map = [])
    {
        foreach ($map as $scheme => $className) {
            $this->addMap(strtolower($scheme), $className);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Add a new classname for a given scheme URI.
     *
     * @throws Exception if the scheme is invalid
     * @throws Exception if the class does not implements a supported interface
     */
    protected function addMap(string $scheme, string $className)
    {
        if (!is_scheme($scheme)) {
            throw new Exception(sprintf('Please verify the submitted scheme `%s`', $scheme));
        }

        if (empty(array_intersect((new ReflectionClass($className))->getInterfaceNames(), self::$uri_interfaces))) {
            throw new Exception(sprintf('Please verify the submitted class `%s`', $className));
        }

        $this->map[$scheme] = $className;
    }

    /**
     * Create a new absolute URI optionally according to another absolute base URI object.
     *
     * The base URI can be
     *

     *
UriInterface
     *
DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface
     *
a string
     *

     *
     * @param mixed $base_uri an optional base uri
     *
     * @throws Exception if there's no base URI and the submitted URI is not absolute
     *
     * @return DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface
     */
    public function create(string $uri, $base_uri = null)
    {
        $components = parse($uri);
        if (null !== $base_uri) {
            $base_uri = $this->filterBaseUri($base_uri);
            $className = $this->getClassName($components['scheme'], $base_uri);

            return $this->resolve($this->newInstance($components, $className), $base_uri);
        }

        if (null == $components['scheme']) {
            throw new Exception(sprintf('the submitted URI `%s` must be an absolute URI', $uri));
        }

        $className = $this->getClassName($components['scheme']);
        $uri = $this->newInstance($components, $className);
        if ('' === $uri->getAuthority()) {
            return $uri;
        }

        $path = $uri->getPath();
        //@codeCoverageIgnoreStart
        //because some PSR-7 Uri implementations allow this RFC3986 forbidden construction
        if (0 !== strpos($path, '/')) {
            $path = '/'.$path;
        }
        //@codeCoverageIgnoreEnd

        return $uri->withPath($this->removeDotSegments($path));
    }

    /**
     * Returns the Base URI.
     *
     * @param DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface|string $uri
     *
     * @throws Exception if the Base Uri is not an absolute URI
     *
     * @return DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface
     */
    protected function filterBaseUri($uri)
    {
        if (!$uri instanceof Psr7UriInterface && !$uri instanceof UriInterface) {
            return $this->create($uri);
        }

        if ('' !== $uri->getScheme()) {
            return $uri;
        }

        throw new Exception(sprintf('The submitted URI `%s` must be an absolute URI', $uri));
    }

    /**
     * Returns the className to use to instantiate the URI object.
     *
     * @param string|null $scheme
     * @param null|mixed  $base_uri
     */
    protected function getClassName($scheme, $base_uri = null): string
    {
        $scheme = strtolower($scheme ?? '');
        if (isset($base_uri) && in_array($scheme, [$base_uri->getScheme(), ''], true)) {
            return get_class($base_uri);
        }

        return $this->map[$scheme] ?? Uri::class;
    }

    /**
     * Creates a new URI object from its name using Reflection.
     *
     * @return DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface
     */
    protected function newInstance(array $components, string $className)
    {
        $uri = (new ReflectionClass($className))
            ->newInstanceWithoutConstructor()
            ->withHost($components['host'] ?? '')
            ->withPort($components['port'] ?? null)
            ->withUserInfo($components['user'] ?? '', $components['pass'] ?? null)
            ->withScheme($components['scheme'] ?? '')
        ;

        $path = $components['path'] ?? '';
        if ('' !== $uri->getAuthority() && '' !== $path && '/' !== $path[0]) {
            $path = '/'.$path;
        }

        return $uri
            ->withPath($path)
            ->withQuery($components['query'] ?? '')
            ->withFragment($components['fragment'] ?? '')
        ;
    }

    /**
     * Resolve an URI against a base URI.
     *
     * @param DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface $uri
     * @param DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface $base_uri
     *
     * @return DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface
     */
    protected function resolve($uri, $base_uri)
    {
        if ('' !== $uri->getScheme()) {
            return $uri
                ->withPath($this->removeDotSegments($uri->getPath()));
        }

        if ('' !== $uri->getAuthority()) {
            return $uri
                ->withScheme($base_uri->getScheme())
                ->withPath($this->removeDotSegments($uri->getPath()));
        }

        list($base_uri_user, $base_uri_pass) = explode(':', $base_uri->getUserInfo(), 2) + [1 => null];
        list($uri_path, $uri_query) = $this->resolvePathAndQuery($uri, $base_uri);

        return $uri
            ->withPath($this->removeDotSegments($uri_path))
            ->withQuery($uri_query)
            ->withHost($base_uri->getHost())
            ->withPort($base_uri->getPort())
            ->withUserInfo($base_uri_user, $base_uri_pass)
            ->withScheme($base_uri->getScheme())
        ;
    }

    /**
     * Remove dot segments from the URI path.
     *
     * @internal used internally to create an URI object
     */
    protected function removeDotSegments(string $path): string
    {
        if (false === strpos($path, '.')) {
            return $path;
        }

        $old_segments = explode('/', $path);
        $new_path = implode('/', array_reduce($old_segments, [$this, 'reducer'], []));
        if (isset(self::$dot_segments[end($old_segments)])) {
            $new_path .= '/';
        }

        if (strpos($path, '/') === 0 && strpos($new_path, '/') !== 0) {
            return '/'.$new_path;
        }

        return $new_path;
    }

    /**
     * Remove dot segments.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    protected function reducer(array $carry, string $segment)
    {
        if ('..' === $segment) {
            array_pop($carry);

            return $carry;
        }

        if (!isset(self::$dot_segments[$segment])) {
            $carry[] = $segment;
        }

        return $carry;
    }

    /**
     * Resolve an URI path and query component.
     *
     * @internal used internally to create an URI object
     *
     * @param DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface $uri
     * @param DeprecatedLeagueUriInterface|UriInterface $base_uri
     *
     * @return string[]
     */
    protected function resolvePathAndQuery($uri, $base_uri)
    {
        $target_path = $uri->getPath();
        $target_query = $uri->getQuery();

        if (0 === strpos($target_path, '/')) {
            return [$target_path, $target_query];
        }

        if ('' === $target_path) {
            if ('' === $target_query) {
                $target_query = $base_uri->getQuery();
            }

            $target_path = $base_uri->getPath();
            //@codeCoverageIgnoreStart
            //because some PSR-7 Uri implementations allow this RFC3986 forbidden construction
            if ('' !== $base_uri->getAuthority() && 0 !== strpos($target_path, '/')) {
                $target_path = '/'.$target_path;
            }
            //@codeCoverageIgnoreEnd

            return [$target_path, $target_query];
        }

        $base_path = $base_uri->getPath();
        if ('' !== $base_uri->getAuthority() && '' === $base_path) {
            $target_path = '/'.$target_path;
        }

        if ('' !== $base_path) {
            $segments = explode('/', $base_path);
            array_pop($segments);
            if (!empty($segments)) {
                $target_path = implode('/', $segments).'/'.$target_path;
            }
        }

        return [$target_path, $target_query];
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Aker Solutions is a global provider of products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry. Since 2013, we have been Aker's preferred staffing supplier and have placed 100's of personnel for them around the world from graduate to executive / management level. Our track record of attracting and retaining top talent has delivered individuals who have provided an invaluable contribution to the client, giving them confidence in our ability to support them above and beyond their recruitment needs and helping to excel their business forward.
Aker Solutions' project portfolio in Stavanger and Oslo is expanding following the award of contracts from Statoil to provide subsea production systems and services for the Troll Phase 3 and Askeladd natural-gas developments offshore Norway. We are consequently recruiting for several engineering and subsea roles to strengthen their teams and prepare for future growth.
We are keen to hear from: Electrical engineers, Process engineers, Safety engineers, Mechanical engineers, Instrument engineers and all Subsea specialists.
If you are looking for a new opportunity in Norway, search our latest job opportunities below and apply today, we look forward to speaking with you.


text:
Adirondack Rock: A Rock Climber's Guide
Author: Jim Lawyer and Jeremy Haas
Review by: ALANWECHSLER
Adirondack Rock Press, 2008
Softcover, 652 pages, $36.99
Available at www.adirondackrock.com
Don Mellor, the author of Climbing in the Adirondacks, still remembers the letter he received from some Canadians who used the book to try to find a climbing route. They spent the day bushwhacking through the woods and were not happy about it.
"Do you sniff glue? Do you work with strong chemicals?" the climbers asked. The two-page letter was embellished with stick-figure drawings of Mellor being run over by a bus, hanging from a tree and being tossed off a cliff.
The lesson: Rock climbers take their guidebooks seriously, and woe to the author who misinforms, even inadvertently.
A good climbing guide can make the difference between a fun day on rock and an epic misadventure—an afternoon lost in the woods, an unplanned rappel that requires leaving behind expensive gear or, in the worst case, an injury or rescue.
We don't mean to disparage Mellor. Almost single-handedly, the "Dean of Adirondack Climbing" ushered in a new era of climbing in the 1980s and 1990s by documenting the hard climbs being put up in the Park, mostly around Keene Valley and Lake Placid and on Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain. The various editions of his guidebook are full of history and humor and capture a generation's worth of vertical exploration.
But the last edition came out a dozen years ago, and it was heavily weighted toward the popular High Peaks region. In recent years, many climbers—Mellor, among them—thought it was time for a new guidebook. And the dean was ready to pass the torch to someone else.
Enter Adirondack Rock: A Rock Climber's Guide, published this spring by Jim Lawyer and Jeremy Haas. This massive tome, with its glossy pages, color photos, detailed maps and schematic cliff drawings, will likely push Adirondack climbing to a whole new level.
For starters, it describes nearly 2,000 routes and variations—more than twice as many as previous guidebooks. It lists 242 climbing sites, ranging from popular roadside crags to rarely visited backcountry cliffs. And climbers are impressed: The authors sold 1,000 copies before publication.
In short, Adirondack Rock is the book that Northeast climbers have been waiting for. Building on Mellor's foundation, Lawyer and Haas have far surpassed everyone's expectations. I've been to most of the nation's great climbing areas— Grand Tetons, City of Rocks, Joshua Tree, Yosemite Valley, Eldorado Canyon and places all over the Northeast—and used dozens of guidebooks. This book beats nearly all of them.
Right now, non-climbers are thinking: What's the big deal? Well, when you're halfway up a 400-foot cliff and you can't find the next move because the route description was too vague, the guidebook is what you curse. Or when you arrive at a cliff and find it closed because peregrine falcons are nesting there—a possibility that the guidebook failed to warn you about. Or when you get lost in the woods just trying to find the cliff.
Ideally, a climbing guidebook will offer the history of each climbing site, including first ascents, and tips on when to go, where to camp and where to get a cold beer. Of course, it must also provide precise driving and hiking directions to the crags and, most important, details on each climbing route—its degree of difficulty, where the tricky spots are, how to stay on track, and how to get down safely.
Brian Kim on Esthesia (5.10a) on the Spider's Web in Keene Valley.
Adirondack Rock does all that, and then some. Sections on major climbing areas, such as Poke-O-Moonshine, include pagesize photographs, topo maps and schematic drawings that depict each route, showing such features as overhangs, chimneys, corners and cracks.
The new book also offers much more detail about climbing routes. Take the slab climb Catharsis, located on Poke-O's South Slabs.
Mellor's book describes the last pitch this way: "A hard friction move is followed by a leftward traverse and up to an overhang. Climb out and into the left-arching yellow overlap/corners. Stay in these until it is possible to break straight up and over a friction finish."
Lawyer and Haas write: "Step left, friction up to the overlap and break through in the middle. Climb rightward up to the second overlap, then undercling around the left end of this and up to the series of yellow left-arching, left-facing overlaps. Friction up the face immediately left of these overlaps, then break right through the arch just before its end (immediately left of the tan rock) and climb straight up the face via friction and flakes (secure but unprotected) to the tree ledge on the right."
Some might say it's too much information, that climbers should be able to find their own way once you get them started. Whether you agree or not, it's clear that Lawyer and Haas did their homework. They spent two years working on the book, climbing (between the two of them) most of the routes. For those they didn't climb, they pressed others for details. Sometimes they rappelled the route to see what it looked like. Often, they tracked down those who made first ascents, some living in other countries, to verify the historical information.
Lawyer, who retired a few years ago after selling his share of a software company, worked at the book pretty much full time. Haas, a schoolteacher, spent evenings, weekends and summer vacations at the task. For Poke-O-Moonshine alone, Lawyer and Haas spent nine days sitting below the base, methodically noting the details of the huge, roadside cliff with a spotting scope. The result is a stunningly accurate, graphical depiction of the cliff's numerous folds, contours, corners, faces and prows.
The book couldn't have been done without Lawyer's computer skills. He wrote his own software program to create illustrations and compiled a vast database.
The authors gave new difficulty ratings to some of the routes, for Adirondack climbers are notorious for "sandbagging" (giving a route an easier rating than it deserves). Some may see this as meddling with tradition, but the change will please novice climbers and others who like to know exactly what they're getting into. I've been sandbagged a few times myself up there.
Interspersed throughout the book are short and entertaining historical articles written by people who played a part in the region's climbing history, such as Alan Rubin, Gary Allan and Tony Goodwin.
Perhaps the most important thing about Adirondack Rock is the amount of new vertical terrain it covers, especially in the southern part of the Park. Climbers now have many more options, which might ease the overcrowding in places such as the Beer Walls in Keene Valley. With the price of gas hovering around $4 a gallon, climbers who live south of the Park might welcome the chance to try out new places closer to home, such as Crane Mountain or the boulders at Nine Corner Lake.
For those who like a wilderness experience, the book offers the beta on remote places, such as the cliffs near Avalanche Lake and a slide on Basin Mountain. The cover photo—of guide Emilie Drinkwater leading a 5.10 route on Snowy Mountain —perfectly captures the wilderness possibilities of Adirondack climbing. It also illustrates what's best about this book: Snowy Mountain is a spectacular climbing locale that was not included in earlier guidebooks.
Adirondack Rock leaves a reviewer few things to quibble about. One is the small type. Older climbers may need reading glasses to glean all the information packed into these glossy pages. There are some misspellings of names (the book's Web site has a list of minor corrections). What a pity more climbers didn't have names like Smith or Jones instead of Boissonneault, Kwasnowski or Kolokotronis.
Sarah Councell climbs Freedom Flight (5.10a), on Poke-O Moonshine.
Climbers will want to be careful not to leave this book unprotected in the rain. I once had a Shawangunks guidebook made with glossy paper, and when it got wet, all the pages became glued together. I had to throw it out.
The only other problem is the size. Mellor's book is light enough that I drilled a hole and ran a string through it, so I could carry it up complicated climbs. There'll be no doing this with Adirondack Rock—it weighs more than two pounds. Fortunately, the authors provide downloadable topos from their Web site, which you can print out and carry in your pocket. It seems they really have thought of everything.
The dean himself agrees. "In your hands is a remarkable book," Mellor writes in the foreword. "Jim and Jeremy have done their work with impressive diligence. … Having written so much myself, I respect them and the quality of their work even more."
Category: ClimbingGuidebooks
Book Review Categories
Biography / Personal history (39)
Guidebooks (48)
Skiing / Snowshoeing (4)
Field guides (21)


"Elegant, sparkling, and super chic.
Lush, full-bodied, and incredibly realistic looking, the Norway Green Spruce Artificial Christmas Tree is well worth the money. It comes in four different sizes so you can choose the best option for your indoor space, and each size includes a sturdy metal tree stand. It's easily our top choice for overall best artificial Christmas tree.
Reviewers agree that this Christmas card-worthy tree is virtually unmatched in terms of quality and design. It has crush-resistant branch tips that are made from real tree branches, so holiday guests will be fooled into thinking it's the real thing. The upswept branch design is perfect for hanging ornaments, and the dark green color looks rich and vibrant.
The tree is shipped in sections that require some assembly, but reviewers report that it's easy to put together. Customers consistently praise the Norway Green Spruce for being full and realistic, and say that it has a "good shape"—just be sure to fluff out the branches.
The seven-and-a-half feet hinged tree comes with easy-to-fluff branches. These components are covered in 1,346 tips to make them look full bodied and genuine. Plus, it contains the classic silhouette that looks timeless in just about any setting.
Beyond its look, buyers love how easy it is to assemble the three-piece tree. Several were skeptical to invest in an online artificial option, but once they put some effort into plumping out the branches, they were blown away by the quality and design of it. Consider it a great option to go with if you want a standard tree you can completely deck out for the holidays.
Over 1,000 reviews, a four-star rating and a best seller label make this a standout product in the artificial tree category. Backed by an eye-catching design, and an even better price point, this six-foot stunner earns top marks from us.
The artificial pine features lusciously full branches—1000 tips in total—to create the look of a genuine tree. And the sturdy metal base helps keep it standing tall throughout the entire season. When the festivities are over, the tree's hinged body easily disassembles into three pieces and can be placed in a Christmas tree bag for effortless storing. Measuring 72" x 55" x 6', it'll look great in any apartment, condo or bedroom that's in need of an option slightly smaller than a standard-sized tree.
Customers consider this pick a steal. For under $50, they love the beautiful look and feel it provides. Plus, they claim it has the easiest set-up ever. Seem too good to be true? Take a look at the reviews to understand why buyers are favoring this best seller.
When it comes to filling your space for the holidays, there's nothing more wonderful than a big—and beautiful—tree. When it comes to finding a sizable option, the National Tree Company brings you a Dunhill Fir Tree that ranks highest in the large tree category.
Their nine foot beauty contains a classic full shape, made with tips comprised of True Needle—a technology that uses molded plastic to mirror the look and feel of genuine tree branches. The pre-strung lights have nine different colors and actions, so you can choose the best option for your home. This tree also includes a sturdy metal stand that folds up for your convenience. Reviewers write that you do have to separate and fluff each stem to ensure that your tree has a full appearance—it won't look like the pictures right out of the box. The fluffing and shaping instructions are provided in the instruction booklet.
Additionally, this choice comes pre-lit with 900 LED lights and backed by a 3-year lights warranty and 5-year tree warranty. Given its high price tag, it's comforting to know your investment is backed by an extra guarantee. Pricing and all, it still comes highly recommended by those who made the splurge on this bountiful option.
Here's another front-runner that boasts many amazing qualities, though it does have a higher price point than other options on this list. The National Christmas Tree Jersey Fraser Fir is pre-lit, unlike the first option, and comes with a realistic fraser fir disposition. It runs much larger—nine feet tall to be exact—which contributes to the high cost. Despite these differences, users swoon over its stylish and life-like design, making it a home favorite for all.
The tree has an authentic look thanks to the branch tip technology that works to give it some realistic features. The branch tips are crush-resistant, so you're guaranteed a full-bodied tree right when you take it out of the box. For added flair, it's pre-strung with 1500 clear lights that are resistant to bulb burnouts—which is a big decorating plus. Then, once the season's over, the hinged branches disseminate into four sections, while the stand easily folds away. You'd never guess a 9' x 6.5' x 6.5'' tree would have a takedown so easy.
The most talked about asset of the tree among reviewers is how beautiful and full it looks. So for those taking a first stab at an artifical option—and have the space to fit a big one—this fraser fir should be held in high consideration.
Pre-lit trees can be a real time saver as you don't have to wrestle with stringing strands and attempting to get them all evenly spaced. With a pre-lit artificial option, you just plug it in, and voila! This pre-lit tree from National Tree stands 7.5 feet tall, is 58 inches around, and comes with 750 lights. No matter the room you place it in, it's prepped to make a big impact.
Can't decide if you're more of a white or colorful light kind of family? You don't have to choose. This tree comes with both, and you can change between the two with an easy-to-use foot control as often as you like. There are more than 1,899 branch tips in all, and they feature the company's Feel-Real technology which molds them from actual tree branches. Customers note that the tree is high quality and the lights are bright and lovely. While some say it takes a bit of time to set up and fluff, once you do it makes a stunning sight during the holidays.
Just because space is limited doesn't mean you can't still put up a Christmas tree that will make a big, festive splash. Though it be little, this tree from Nearly Natural is mighty pretty. It stands just three feet high and 21 inches wide, so it can fit nicely in a small corner or even on a tabletop. It's also a great tree to put in a kid's bedroom.
Best of all, it's already decked out with lights—100 of them, to be specific—so you don't have to worry about stringing them. Just plug it in and watch it glow. The lights are also designed so that if one goes out, the rest of them keeping on working—which is huge a relief if you've ever dealt with Christmas tree lights without that feature. The tree is made of more than 130 faux pine tips and is also peppered with pine cones for a rustic feel so realistic people might just mistake it for a real one. Customers say the tree is well made, easy to set up, and really adds Christmas spirit to their small space.
Want to take the hassle out of tree trimming? Go with this Frosted Berry Pine tree from Wayfair. We promise: It'll look good even without adding a single touch. Clad with 250 clear lights, built-in berries, grapevine twigs and pinecones, it delivers an elegant pine design that looks like it belongs outside. Plus, the frosting on each of the branches adds an authentic extra touch.
At seven feet high, this decorative accent falls within the constraints of a standard tree. However, the reviews do suggest it runs slightly slimmer than expected. That said, the commentary consistently speaks to the high-quality, which is far above expectations given the price. With free shipping and a 30-day return policy, you have nothing to lose going with an artificial option that mirrors something straight out of nature.
Everything looks prettier in pink—even your Christmas tree! For an unconventional take on this holiday staple, this glistening pink tree will be a welcome addition to your home. It stands six feet tall and has 1,477 PVC branch tips that give it a full and realistic appearance. Storing this gorgeous decoration is easy thanks to the hinged design and foldable stand.
Reviewers say that the price is just right and it's easy to assemble. If you're looking to stand out from the crowd this year, this bubblegum beauty deserves your full attention.
Dreaming of a white Christmas? Now is your chance to ensure you've got some white on Christmas Day with this 8-foot tree. With 1150 PVC tips you'll be sure to have a full tree. A heavy-duty metal stand ensures it stays upright and safe all December long, while the hinged branches make for easy set-up and storage.
For an extra-stylized touch, hang one color of ornaments this year (perhaps pink or red) for a super trendy and fashion forward tree you'll remember for years to come.
When you've got heavy decorating to do, this Carolina Pine from National Tree is down for the job. This tree is no lightweight—coming in at a mighty 59 pounds—but that means it's strong and sturdy enough to hold all your trimmings. You don't have to worry about sagging branches or heavy ornaments slipping off and crashing to the floor, this is a tree that's meant to hold it all.
The tree measures 7.5-feet tall and is 59 inches in diameter. It's pre-strung with 750 clear lights covering its 1,393 branch tips. It all comes together with metal hinges, and it's both flame-resistant and non-allergenic. It's also peppered with pinecones for a straight out-of-the-woods vibe.
For those who love the look of crisp, freshly fallen snow, the Pre-Lit LED Flocked Mixed Pine Tree with 500 Warm White Lights from Home Accents Holiday is a superb choice for your home Christmas tree.
The tree's soft, glowy lights and snow-frosted branches evoke a peaceful, wintry forest landscape—suffusing your living room with a cozy and warm ambiance, just in time for the holiday season. This towering 7.5-foot tree boasts a very lifelike appearance, with 1586 artificial branch tips that round out its full shape. Just be sure to fluff the tree for the most realistic appearance. Elegant, sparkling, and super chic, the Pre-Lit LED Flocked Mixed Pine Tree is a snow-kissed Christmas staple.
We bought three top-rated artificial Christmas trees and our reviewers tested them daily for weeks on end during the holiday season. We asked our testers to consider the most important features when using these artificial trees, from their size to their style. We've outlined the key takeaways here so that you, too, know what to look for when shopping.
Size Naturally, you're going to want to consider the size of the artificial tree you buy in relation to where you plan to put it. Think about its height and width, as well — there are slim trees available that'll take up less space in tight rooms. Don't forget to consider storage, too; the larger the tree, the more room it'll take up in storage the rest of the year.
Style Artificial Christmas trees come in many styles. There are realistic faux trees that could pass for real plants, as well as "frosted" trees that look like they have snow on them. On the other end of the spectrum, you can get pink, silver, or other colored Christmas trees that make a bold statement during the holidays. It all depends on your personal style.
Lights You'll likely come across many pre-lit artificial Christmas trees, which have built-in lights spread throughout their branches. This can save you a lot of time when it comes to decorating, but some people still prefer to use their own strings of Christmas lights on an undecorated artificial tree.
"The overall shape and color of this tree was very natural," declared one of our testers. "It's full without looking artificially fluffy and asymmetrical in the right places!" One reviewer also said that the base is "light but feels secure, which is especially important in a house with a cat." The fluffing process, however, was very time-consuming, according to one of our testers: "It took two of us about two hours to get it into a shape we were somewhat satisfied with, and it easily could've taken two more." One reviewer also noted that its needles were fairly sharp, so he opted to use gloves to avoid scratches.
One of our testers was "pleasantly surprised" about how easy this tree was to assemble, as well as how natural it looked: "The overall appearance is really pleasing," she said. "I'm used to real trees, so I was afraid I'd be bothered by the look of an artificial one. But once it was up and fully decorated, it really didn't feel fake." One reviewer also liked that its branches were flexible, which made it "easy to move them to where they were needed for ornaments." On the other hand, one of our testers thought that the tree's base wasn't very attractive: "The screws that fasten the tree to the base are silver, which really stick out against the green tree/black stand," she said. One reviewer also noted that a few needles came off during assembly.


text:
THE WEEKLY RIOT
TALES OF AONA
Electro Punk UNIITY Releases Abrasive, Empowering New Single
Posted byModerator October 30, 2022 November 29, 2022 Posted inPress ReleaseTags:heart riot, heart riot media, heart riot pr, lance waste, music pr, music publicist, new music, One-step, Unity
Vital Stats:
Artist: UNIITY
Release: One-Step (Closer To The Edge)
Release Date: 11/25
Genre: Punk/ Electro Punk / Nu Punk
Suggested For Fans Of: Deli Girls, N8NOFACE, Crystal Castles
Heart Riot client, Electro punk musician UNIITY has released their newest single, the edgy, hip, and aggressive "One-Step (Closer To The Edge)". Lyrically, UNIITY uses her experiences as an LGBTQ+, POC woman to craft an anthem of empowerment for those who have experienced abuse and racism in their daily lives.
"One-Step (Closer to the Edge) is a glimpse of my unapologetic and raw anger towards the complexities of being a black woman in the music industry and hints at the abuse I and many single mothers in my community encountered," explains Raven Clark, the brainchild behind UNIITY. "The constant belittling remarks, racism, over-sexualization at a young age, and the lack of credit is just the surface of the things I, and many other musicians of color, constantly battle. It's the final answer to the question of 'What happens when your cup has spilled over?' "
"One-Step (Closer to the Edge)" is the first step of an album rollout cycle for UNIITY's upcoming debut album, HER TEETH, released May 12, 2023. It was produced by Phyuture Phyx (Joshua Hall), sickboy (Shay Magleby), Raven Clark (Unity) and features band member William Blake. Along with the single, there is a planned music video released in December, filmed by Trigger Happy Production.
"One-Step (Closer to the Edge)" is now available across all major streaming platforms. Listen to it on Spotify now or watch on YouTube below.
UNIITY is the new, genre-warping, Avant-punk brainchild of Raven Clark, a Philadelphia-raised artist currently based in Cleveland, OH. Her mission and legacy is the unification of the emerging scene of independent, LGBTQ+, POC women in punk. Raw, gritty, and experimental- UNIITY pushes the boundaries of what is considered punk music, pulling as much influence from hip-hop and techno as from black metal or hardcore. Distorted electronic beats and massive ambient guitars support gut-punching vocals that can range from hissing to singing to unclean screams that seem impossible for her small stature.
UNIITY's EP titled, HIIVES is a collection of 10 works chosen from a much larger unreleased discography for their themes of personal sacrifice, death, hopelessness and the ever present struggle that accompanies being a woman of color living in poverty. HIIVES was released in March of 2022 following the conclusion of her first tour at the age of eighteen. UNIITY's debut album titled, HER TEETH showcases the new works of UNIITY under a mature and polished spectacle. Taking influence from artist such as Zheani, Boy Harsher, and N8NOFACE, "HER TEETH" is a more evolved sound from her first EP.
In just under two years, nineteen-year-old UNIITY has gone from attending basement shows on the streets of West Philadelphia to building bridges and a strong community for young punks of color in multiple cities such as Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Baltimore. Garnering most of her attention from having shared the stage with the likes of White Ring, Sect Unit, Kris Baha, Mvtant, Trace Amount, and many more.
Connect With UNIITY:
LINKTREE / SPOTIFY / INSTAGRAM
Lance Waste for Heart Riot
Email: heartriotmedia@gmail.com
WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / SPOTIFY / TIKTOK / TWITCH
Living Room Romantics Releases Debut Single "On Fire"
South Carolina Rapper GIANT FETUS Drops "Say What?"
https://www.tiktok.com/@gethypedtiktok
gethypedwebsite.wordpress.com


text:
\section{Introduction}
In the past years, one of the practical researches on capacity issues was on the design of the coded modulation working over the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ-ch}
y = x + n,
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $y$ and $x$ are the output- and input signal of the channel, and $n$ is the received AWGN component from a normally distributed ensemble of power $\sigma_N^2$ denoted by $n \sim \mathcal{N}(0,\sigma_N^2)$.

At the finite alphabet input, the Shannon channel capacities are calculated by the mutual information \cite{Shannon1948}
\begin{equation}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ1}
\rm{I}(X;Y) =\rm{H}(Y) - \rm{H}(N)
\end{array}
\end{equation}
where $\rm{I}(X;Y)$ is the mutual information, ${\rm{H}}(Y)$ is the entropy of the received signal,  ${\rm{H}}(N) = {\log _2} (\sqrt{2 \pi e \sigma_N^2})$ is that of the AWGN \cite{Verdu2007}.  The numerical results of \eqref{equ1} are shown in Fig. 1.

In the practical study, one can target a value of the mutual information by designing the coded modulation scheme  \cite{Ungerboeck1982,Poor2011} and simulate the bit error rate (BER) performance, where the BER at $10^{-6}$ or $10^{-8}$ is regarded as an approximation of  ``arbitrarily small error probability" whereat bit-energy to noise ratio is used to the comparison at horizontal axis with the mutual information.

More accurate estimation of approaching the channel capacity requires the theoretical analysis based on asymptotic investigations. A good example can be found from the research of BPSK plus low-density parity-check (LDPC) code  that approaches the channel capacity at 0.5 bits/s/Hz at a gap of 0.0045dB \cite{Chung2001}.

\begin{figure}[htb]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{BPSK_QPSK}
	\caption{Mutual Information of BPSK and QPSK}
	\label{Fig3}
\end{figure}

In contrast to the above well-developed approach, the present authors propose a signal separation method that divides \eqref{equ-ch} into two
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{s-1}
y_1 = x_1 + n,
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
and
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{s-2}
y_2 = x_2 + n,
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
for increasing the spectral efficiency further, where $x_1$ and $x_2$ are the separated signals and $y_1$ and $y_2$ are the corresponding received signals \cite{jiao}.

To target ABR of the conventional BPSK, we use BPSK modulation to $x_1$ and create a new modulation, referred to as the double mapping modulation, to work with $x_2$ for making it separable from $x_1$.  By such, signal $x_2$ can transmit additional information bits without consuming any more power in comparison with the conventional BPSK.  Consequently, one can find that $x_2$ brings a direct ABR gain and contributes to bit-energy to noise ratio as well.  The simulation results substantiate the above theoretical envisions.

Throughout the present paper, we use the capital letter to express a vector in Hamming space and the small letter to indicate its component, e.g.,  $A = \{a_1,a_2, ...., a_M\}$, where $A$ represents the vector and $a_i$ the $ith$ component, and use bold face letter to express the signals in Euclidean space with two dimensional complex plan.  In the derivations, we use $\hat{y}$ to express the estimate of $y$ at the receive through out the paper.

\section{Communication Scheme}
Let us consider two independent binary source bit sequences, which are expressed
in vector form of $C^{(i)} = \{c^{(i)}_1,c^{(i)}_2,..,c^{(i)}_{k_i},...,c^{(i)}_{K_i}\}$, where  $c^{(i)}_{k_i}$ is the $kth$ information bit (info-bit) of $C^{(i)}$ and $K_i$ is the length of each source subsequence, and $i=1,2$ indicates the two sources, respectively.

The two source bit sequences are encoded to  $V^{(i)} = \{v^{(i)}_1,v^{(i)}_2,..,v^{(i)}_m...,v^{(i)}_{N}\}$ by using two different channel code matrices
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ-code-1}
v^{(i)}_{m} = \sum\limits_{k_i}g^{(i)}_{{m}k_i}c^{(i)}_{k_i}
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $v^{(i)}_m$ is the $mth$ code-bit of $V^{(i)}$ with $v^{(i)}_m \in (1,0)$ and $g^{(i)}_{mk_i}$ is the element of the code matrix $G^{(i)}$.

\subsection{Signal Modulation}
For simplification, the series' indices of the code-bits of $V^{(1)}$ and $V^{(2)}$ are omitted in our organization of the two signals in the following derivations.

First, we define $x_1$ by using the conventional BPSK, in the complex plan, to the modulation of each bit from $V^{(1)}$ as
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{x_1}
\textbf{x}_1 = (\sqrt{E_{x_s}},j0)   \ \ \ \ \  \ for \ \ v^{(1)}=0  \\
\textbf{x}_1 = (-\sqrt{E_{x_s}}, j0)  \ \ \ \ for \ \ v^{(1)}=1
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $E_s$ is the symbol energy of $\textbf{x}_1$ and $j=\sqrt{-1}$.

Secondly, for constructing $x_2$, we define a rotation operator $\Gamma_{\beta}=e^{j\beta}$ to rotate a vector for angle $\beta$ in complex plane, e.g.,
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{x_2}
\textbf{z}'= \Gamma_{\beta}\textbf{z} =\textbf{z}e^{j\beta}
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $\textbf{z}'$ is the vector from the rotation of $\textbf{z}$ by angle $\beta$. To complete the operator's explanations, we note that $\Gamma_0=1$ and $\Gamma_{\beta}\Gamma_{-\beta}=1$ hold.

The code-bits of $V^{(2)}$ are mapped onto $\beta$ one another as follows:  $v^{(2)}=0$ is mapped onto $\beta=0$ and $v^{(2)} =1$ onto $\beta =\pi/2 $.   The signal $x_2$ is converted to a vector version by $\textbf{x}_2$ in the complex plane by
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{x_2}
\textbf{x}_2= \Gamma_{\beta}\textbf{x}_1 =\textbf{x}_1e^{j\beta}
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $\textbf{x}_2$ is the modulated symbol carrying one bit by the rotation angle $\beta$.  We refer to $\textbf{x}_2$ as the out-layer signal and $\textbf{x}_1$ as the inner BPSK signal.

\begin{figure}[htb]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=0.26\textwidth]{Constellation}
	\caption{Constellation of the proposed scheme.}
	\label{Fig2}
\end{figure}

\begin{table}[htb]
	\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
	\centering

	\small
	\caption{Signal modulation results.}
	\label{Table1}
	\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
		\hline
		\tabincell{c}{$v^{(2)}$} & \tabincell{c}{$\beta$} & \tabincell{c}{$\textbf{x}_{2}$} \\
		\hline
		\multirow{2}{*}{$0$} & \multirow{2}{*}{$0$} & \tabincell{c}{$\textbf{s}_{1}$} \\
		\cline{3-3}
		& & \tabincell{c}{$\textbf{s}_{3}$} \\
		\hline
		\multirow{2}{*}{$1$} & \multirow{2}{*}{$\pi/2$} & \tabincell{c}{$\textbf{s}_{2}$} \\
		\cline{3-3}
		& &\tabincell{c}{$\textbf{s}_{4}$} \\
		\hline

	\end{tabular}
\end{table}

Since $\textbf{x}_1$ has two possible values, each value of $v^{(2)}$ can be mapped onto two possible points in the complex planes as shown in Fig. 2, where
$\textbf{s}_1$ and $\textbf{s}_3$ are the mapping results of $v^{(2)}=0$,   and $\textbf{s}_2$ and $\textbf{s}_4$ the results of $v^{(2)}=1$.  We refer to the modulation as the double mapping modulation (DMM) because one value of $v^{(2)}$ is mapped onto Euclidean space for the two points as shown in Fig. 2.  The DMM is listed in Table I for the demodulations latter.

We note that the boldface letter $\textbf{x}_1$ and $\textbf{x}_2$ are used to replace signal $x_1$ and $x_2$ in \eqref{s-1} and \eqref{s-2} and the both signals share the same symbol energy of $E_s$.

Finally, because $\textbf{s}_k$ contains total information bits carried by $\textbf{x}_1$ and $\textbf{x}_2$, the transmitter uses it as the channel input to
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ-code}
\textbf{y}=\textbf{s}_k + \textbf{n} = \Gamma_{\beta}\textbf{x}_1 + \textbf{n}
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $\textbf{s}_k$ is the transmit symbol and $\textbf{n}$ is the two dimensional noise.

\subsection{At Receiver}
In the proposed method, the receiver needs to record all signals in a storage for the demodulations of $\textbf{x}_2$ and $\textbf{x}_1$ separately.  Actually, the signals will be used twice: one time for the demodulation of $V^{(2)}$ and the other for $V^{(1)}$.  The procedures of the information recovery are done inversely with respect to that at the transmitter.

At first, out-layer signal $\textbf{x}_2$ is demodulated by
\begin{equation}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ3}
\hat{\textbf{y}} = \textbf{s}_1 \ \ or \ \ \textbf{s}_3  \ \ for \ \ v^{(2)} =0  \\
\hat{\textbf{y}} =\textbf{s}_2 \ \ or \ \ \textbf{s}_4  \ \ for  \ \ v^{(2)}=1  \\
\end{array}
\end{equation}
where $\hat{\textbf{y}}$ is the estimate of $\textbf{y}$ in the demodulation of $v^{(2)}$.  By using a conventional decoding method, one can obtain recovered info-bits denoted as $\hat{C}^{(2)}$.

Secondly, once $\hat{C}^{(2)}$ has been obtained, the receiver reconstructs all code-bits of $V^{(2)}$ by using \eqref{equ-code-1} and finds each value of $\hat{\beta}$ in table I.

Then, the demodulation of $\textbf{x}_1$ can be done by
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ-recove}
\textbf{y}_1= \Gamma_{-\hat{\beta}}\textbf{y} =
\Gamma_{-\hat{\beta}}\Gamma_{\beta}\textbf{x}_1 + \textbf{n}'
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $\textbf{y}_1$ is the recovered signal for demodulation of the inner BPSK, $\hat{\beta}$ is the estimate of the rotation angle related to the reconstructed bit value $v^{(2)}$.

Then, one can use a decoding method and recover the info-bits carried by $\textbf{x}_1$ denoted as $\hat{C}^{(1)}$.

We note that the symbol energy $E_s$ is used for the demodulation of $v^{(2)}$ one time and is reused for $v^{(1)}$ another time. While the SNRs with the two demodulations are the same because the rotation operator does not change the amplitude of the signal and the variance of the noise as well.

\section{Beyond the Channel Capacity}
In this section, we show the advantage of this approach for achieving higher ABR beyond that of BPSK input by the theoretical analysis and the simulations as well.

\subsection{Theoretical Analysis}
In the proposed method, the parallel transmission of $\textbf{x}_1$ and $\textbf{x}_2$ are encoded independent of each other.  The signal separation at the receiver is equivalent to tunnel two parallel channels to transmit the two signals separately. Thus, the overall ABR should be a problem of the summation accordingly.

As has  been known, the concept of ABR is built upon maximum transmission bit rate, of which the BER should be infinitely  small. In comparison with the conventional coded modulations, the inner BPSK signals $\textbf{x}_1$ requires  error free of $\hat{\beta}$ for approaching to the channel capacity BPSK.  Thanks for Shannon theory of the channel coding that promises the existence of the channel codes to minimize the error probability of $C^{(2)}$ to infinitely small.  Consequently, the error probability of $\hat{v}^{(2)}$ can also be infinitely small because it relates to the info-bit in linear manner, so does $\hat{\beta}$.

Thus, we can analyze the ABR of the inner BPSK signal $\textbf{x}_1$ with assumption of $\hat{\beta}=\beta$ in \eqref{equ-recove}.  The demodulation equation can be resolved into the following two
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ-x112}
y_1= x_1 + n_I     \ \ \ \    for \ \ \  \hat{\beta}=0 \\
y_1= x_1 + n_Q        \ \ \ \   for \ \ \  \hat{\beta}=\pi/2
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
in forms of two scalar equations, where $ x_1 \in \{-\sqrt{E_s}, \sqrt{E_s}\}$,  $n_I$ and $n_Q$ are the two noise components perpendicular to $y$- and $x$ axis, respectively.

It can be found that \eqref{equ-x112} is essentially the same as that of conventional BPSK with the same symbol energy and the same noise term of $n_I$ or $n_Q$, which are statistically same with variance of $\sigma_I^2=\sigma_Q^2=\sigma_N^2/2$.  Thus, it is found that ABR pertaining to $x_1$ can be the same as the channel capacity of BPSK input.

Consequently, we can find that the ABR from transmission of
$\textbf{x}_2$ brings an extra ABR to the proposed method for beyond the capacity of BPSK.  The gain can be estimated based on the squared Euclidean distance and the noise term with respect to that of the inner BPSK.   The squared distance of the out-layer signal is found at $2E_s$ and the noise term is $\sigma_N^2$, while those of the inner BPSK signal are $4E_s$ and $\sigma_N^2/2$.  For having same bit-energy to noise ratio,  the code rate with $\textbf{x}_2$ can estimated by
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{equ-x111}
R_1/R_2 > \frac{8E_s/\sigma_N^2}{2E_s/\sigma_N^2} = 4
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
or
\begin{eqnarray}
R_2 < R_1/4
\end{eqnarray}
Thus, the additional ABR from $\textbf{x}_2$ can be roughly at 1/4 of the $\textbf{x}_1$.  Considering that the BER performance of $\textbf{x}_2$ should be much better than that of $\textbf{x}_1$ for preventing its error effects in \eqref{equ-recove}, the code rate of $\textbf{x}_2$ can be fewer than 1/8.

The practical design will be studied by the simulations next.

\subsection{Simulation Result}
In this subsection, the system simulations are performed, exactly along the procedures of section II, for showing the spectral efficiency gain of the proposed method with following specifications.

The targeted spectral efficiency of the simulation can be set at
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{x2-1}
\eta = R_1 + R_2
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
where $\eta$ is the spectral efficiency of the proposed method, $R_1$ is the code rate used to $\textbf{x}_1$ and $R_2$ to $\textbf{x}_2$.

By an appropriate selection of $R_1$ and $R_2$, and minimization of the BER to $10^{-8}$, the spectral efficiency $\eta$ in \eqref{x2-1} is regarded as the ABR of this approach.  Aiming at the BPSK modulation, we use $R_1=1/2$ to the channel code of $\textbf{x}_1$ and moderate code rate $R_2$ for the use to $\textbf{x}_2$ as explained in appendix.  It is found $R_2$ is a gain factor of this approach.

For examining the performance, we use the bit-energy ratio to noise as the measurement.  Since the simulations are taken with ratio of symbol energy to the noise term, i.e., $E_s/N_0$, we need to make the conversion of
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{l}\label{x2-2}
E_b/N_0 = E_s/N_0 - 10log_{10}(\eta)
\end{array}
\end{eqnarray}
to bit-energy to noise ratio, where $E_b$ is the bit-energy and $N_0$ is the corresponding noise term.  It is noted that the gain factor $R_2$ can contribute to $E_b/N_0$ as shown in \eqref{x2-2}.

Before performing the system simulation, we address the following the problem of the error effect from $\hat{\beta}$ to the demodulation of $\textbf{x}_1$.

A key to minimize the error rate of $\hat{\beta}$ is to reduce the error probability of the info-bits of $C^{(2)}$. For a given SNR, using the channel code having smaller code rate to $\textbf{x}_2$ can be an effective method. By such, the error rate of $\hat{v}^{(2)}$ or $\hat{\beta}$ can be significantly minimized accordingly.  However, reducing $R_2$ can withdraw its ABR contributions from $\textbf{x}_2$ to the total spectral efficiency as shown in \eqref{x2-1}.  Thus, a trade-off must be made.

By doing the extensive simulations with the reference of the analysis on Euclidean space in the last subsection, we use one LDPC of code rate $R_2=1/12$ to  $\textbf{x}_2$ and another LDPC of $R_1=1/2$ to $\textbf{x}_1$ in the simulations.  The relevant issues are provided in the appendix.

To be specified, we use the Matlab 2019a to perform the simulations, where the LDPC ( DVB-S.2) of code rate $R_1=1/2$ with 64800 code-bits and the constructed LDPC of code rate $R_2=1/12$ are used to $\textbf{x}_1$ and $\textbf{x}_2$, respectively.  The belief-passing algorithms are used for 50 iterations.  The results of BER performance are plotted as shown in Fig. 3, where we can find that bit-energy to noise ratio of 0.27 dB can reduce the BER to $10^{-8}$.  The gap between the simulation result and the channel capacity of BPSK at 0.5 bits/s/Hz is found at 0.08dB.  In comparison with the conventional BPSK using the same LDPC, a significant gain of 0.67dB gain is found.

\begin{figure}[htb]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{BER_EbN0}
	\caption{The BER comparison with BPSK and QPSK.}
	\label{Fig3}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[htb]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=0.4\textwidth]{Gain_dB}
	\caption{The spectral efficiency gain.}
	\label{Fig3}
\end{figure}

Moreover, considering the gain from $R_2$ in \eqref{x2-1}, i.e., at spectral efficiency of $1/2+1/12 \approx 0.58$ bits/s/Hz, we find 0.32 dB gain over the mutual information of BPSK input as shown in Fig. 4, where the vertical axis indicates the bits/s/Hz and horizontal axis the bit-energy to noise ratio.

Besides, we provide the simulation results of BPSK modulation using LDPC DVB-S.2 in Fig. 4 as reference for showing the gain as well.

Finally, in the recovery of $\hat{\beta}$, we use the results of $\hat{v}^{(2)}$ directly instead of using \eqref{equ-code-1} in all simulations of this paper for saving computing power of this research.

\section{Conclusion}

In this paper, we proposed a parallel transmission method, wherein the DMM is created for separating the parallel transmission signals for increasing the spectral efficiency. Both the theoretical analysis and the simulation results show the significant gain over the Shannon channel capacity of BPSK input.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


"In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete.
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text:
'Souls RPG » Special Forums » LASKY » Canon
[m] we didn't start the fire
WARNING: This thread contains material exceeding the general board rating of PG-13. It may contain very strong language, drug usage, graphic violence, or graphic sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.
Somewhere in the desert, backdated to... mid-October?
By now she had spent as much time within the desert as she had without it, and yet Rahab still could not decide whether she liked it.
There was a sort of harsh beauty to it, she supposed.
No crops grew here; the sun, a virulent and unforgiving vampire, saw to that. Devoid of water and oftentimes of life itself, she struggled to comprehend that there were those who lived and died here without ever traveling beyond its merciless confines.
In the day when the sun was out, everything was a blistering white, and places on her body she had not known existed became gritty. During the nights, the sweltering heat died down to something resembling a reprieve... sometimes it was downright cool.
This back-and-forth between the temperatures was most tiresome.
So, it was beautiful – in its own way, as most things were – but that was all she could say with any certainty.
It was just another version of the sea; for some it was terrible and cold, or death to those who could not swim, while others found it to be a symbol of freedom, of endless possibilities.
Turning from her view of the vast, empty ocean of sand, Rahab walked slowly through the small city of patchwork tents. Some were little more than a pair of sticks and some tattered cloth, while others had clearly been made from old sails. They felt the same way about the desert as she did about the sea.
It was no longer the place where they would die under the foot of their captors, but fight for a cause entirely their own. It was not a faceless cause, however; they rallied around a would-be-Conqueror, their liberator.
Or, liberators, as it were.
Over time her standing here, as informal as it was, had clearly evolved into something she could not name. No longer did the jackals and hybrids look upon her with confusion or disdain, perplexed by her obvious dog and coyote heritage, but with something verging on grudging respect. Once, this would have frustrated her, to have responsibility and purpose thrust upon her all unwitting.
She was not like her pirate mother or her older sister, both of whom aspired to greatness. She sought only to avoid the tediousness of boredom, but in doing so she had garnered attention and influence in equal measure... At least insofar as such things were possible in a ragtag army of freedmen and revolutionaries.
What her sisters thought of this development, she had no idea, but she remained certain that they would make their opinions abundantly clear before long. It was not in their collective nature to let such things pass unremarked upon.
Rahab de le Poer
000 All the countries, other people, Everyone is fun
Tiamat did not know when the change in her had happened, but much like the length of days expanding and contracting with the season, it did not happen all at once.
She had seen the boy helping others with their shelters throughout the afternoon. When it came time to make his own, however, no one had remembered his acts of service. He was of an age that he would not have left his family if they were still around, and yet he was too old to be the responsibility of others. It was hard for those like him. They were the kind to slip between the cracks, and that was why Tiamat kept watch.
The sun was a slice of red on the horizon. Soon, their desert sea would be drenched in darkness. The night could be a relief, even in the winter, and it was during this time that the Bedouins would travel their longest distances. But they were not such hardy people - they were a disparate group, used to the patterns of the cities and the ports; used to the days and nights of their masters.
I help, she approached, speaking the common tongue of their region. The young jackal looked at her. It wasn't distrust she saw - that was something Tiamat was used to seeing - but rather a weariness that belonged to a person twice his age. He gestured at the ropes he had laid out around the corners. Tiamat understood, in part due to her own familiarity with the process. Her accent was barely passable, but they did not begrudge her the lack of harmony in the sounds anymore. They accepted her like she might be their own.
As far as Tiamat was concerned, she did belong to them.
They went around the edges of the goat skin and tied the ropes in silence. She always thought of her mother when she did this, but she found the memory did not sting like it once did. Time, sand, and the unforgiving sun had a way of exposing real injuries and burying all else.
When it came time to erect the tent, she found he had only a handful of mismatched poles, pieces salvaged from abandoned campsites they had passed. He would not be able to stand in his tent, nor do anything but curl into a ball while the cold night blustered around the edges.
I find, she decided. He shook his head. It's ok, he gestured. Sleep only.
No. She said, and the firmness of her voice made the boy shrink. Tiamat frowned. Cold night. I find. She said this more gently, but the effect of her power lingered in his downcast eyes. It made her feel the way she imagined the Arena felt, like what she wanted was the most important thing in the world. He nodded, agreeing now.
She left before the guilt could settle in.
The wind that wound through the camp was bitter, but Tiamat did not feel its bite. She was born for much colder climes.
There was more activity in the innermost parts of the camp site. The few who knew the ways to conjure fire were helping to teach the others, and though this was a kind gesture, Tiamat found herself having to warn them away from bringing the fires into their tents. It would not be a good night for flames - there was too much wind, too much fabric, and too many bodies close together.
As Tiamat left a tent that belonged to a woman and her newborn children, Rahab abruptly appeared before her, as she was wont to do.
This did not catch her off guard like it once did. Tiamat had long ago accepted that they had some bond like this - appearing as needed, for better or for worse. What are you doing right now? She asked, and continued on quickly, as if Rahab had already responded. Come with me. I need to find a tall pole, which I've heard you're quite good at.
Only a glint in her eye suggested humor, and the barest twinge of her lips.
HERE COMES THE
G E N E R A L
rahab rn
For whatever reason she could not say what she did throughout the day with any real certainty, only that by the time darkness fell and the camp was full of quiet, sleepy sighs, she had long since succumbed to the dreamless sleep of someone who had been busy.
There was an ever-growing list of things that had to be done, and it seemed like every time she fixed one thing or resolved an issue, two more had sprung up. It was like bailing water out of a boat with a thimble… and yet she simply could not allow it to sink, even when the shore was so close she could reach out and touch it.
Her mothers, who had fought on opposite sides of the Inferni and Cour des Miracles War, would likely look upon this decision to persevere as simple fanaticism.
It was with little preamble that Rahab once more found herself conscripted to one of Tiamat's many causes, as she had come to think of them. The coyote-hybrid found herself skeptically eying the fires that were being lit; it would benefit the many if they created a greater fire in the middle, where everyone could congregate… where they could be merry and warm on the eve of battle.
Ignoring the initial question — which Tiamat did not seem to notice or care about — Ray instead swung her staff up so it settled on her shoulder, stepping in line with smaller woman.
Your Arabic is bad, Rahab informed her of this as if she were simply talking about the current state of the weather. I am good with staffs, not at finding them.
In truth, she didn't need any help finding them; for every slave they freed there was another reason to celebrate, and liberation was a heady thing that sometimes led to heartache and heartbreak. It was true, she'd cut a swathe clean through a handful of those they'd freed, but it was done with a glad heart and fond laughter.
So far, she had heard no complaints.
In any case, her campaign of seduction was done; so Samira said, and so it would be. There had been others, of course, but it was the jackal woman who'd claimed her, and Rahab had no problem with this.
Why are you looking for a pole? She wondered while they walked, both to annoy her and to practice. It was a difficult language that did not come naturally to those who spoke English as a first language. After a moment, she repeated the question in a shared tongue to move their deliberations along.
In any case, if it's companionship you seek... Rahab grinned. look no further.


These Guidelines shall be used only in the event that the Schools Division Office (SDO) still has available Teacher I positions left after having implemented DO 7, s. 2015. Thus, all applicants who have passed the evaluation process set forth in DO 7, s. 2015 (i.e. those who have achieved 70 points and above) shall have been appointed and assigned to their respective stations before these Guidelines are used.
The Hiring Guidelines for the Remaining Teacher I Positions for School Year (SY) 2015-2016 are enclosed for the information and guidance of all concerned.
The issuance of these Guidelines aims to augment the need of qualified applicants in schools divisions with great teacher requirements.
These Guidelines shall be used only in the event that the Schools Division Office (SDO) still has available Teacher I positions after having implemented DepEd Order (DO) 7, s. 2015 on the Hiring Guidelines for Teacher I Positions Effective School Year (SY) 2015-2016.
Only new applicants and applicants who were not included in the initial Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA) DO 7, s. 2015 shall be covered by these Guidelines.
Last 27 March 2015, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued DepEd Order (DO) No. 7, s. 2015 on the Hiring Guidelines for Teacher I Positions Effective School Year (SY) 2015-2016. As there are schools divisions that do not have an adequate number of qualified applicants to fill their teaching positions after having implemented the evaluation and selection process set forth in the aforementioned Order, there is a need for the issuance of additional guidelines on the hiring of teachers to ensure that our public elementary and secondary schools have sufficient, quality teachers.
To augment the need for qualified applicants in schools divisions with great teacher requirements, these hiring guidelines are hereby promulgated for the remaining Teacher I positions left unfilled after having implemented DO 7, s. 2015 effective SY 2015-2016.
Applicants who have previously undergone the SY 2015-2016 evaluation process (per DO 7, s. 2015) but were not included in the initial Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA) shall be covered by these guidelines. These applicants shall no longer undergo the entire evaluation process again; only a recalibration or updating of points in accordance with the modified points system set in these Guidelines shall be done.
The remaining positions shall also be open to new applicants. These applicants shall undergo the evaluation and selection process set forth in this Order.
Applicant refers to a person who holds a valid certificate of registration/professional license as a teacher from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) seeking to be appointed to a Teacher I Position.
Bona fide resident refers to an applicant who has been residing for at least six (6) months at the barangay, municipality, city or province in which the school being applied to for a teaching position is located, as evidenced by the Personal Data Sheet (CSC Form 212, Revised 2005) and a Voter's Identification Card or any proof of residency deemed acceptable by the School Screening Committee.
An applicant who has taught as an LGU-funded teacher, Kindergarten Volunteer Teacher (KVT) or substitute teacher for at least one (1) school year in the barangay, municipality, city or province where the school being applied to for a teaching position is located shall also be considered as a bona fide resident, to be validated by a certificate of employment.
Locality refers to the barangay, municipality, city or province where the school being applied for is located.
Qualified applicant refers to an applicant who has been screened and who, therefore, meets the evaluation and selection criteria used by the Schools Division as provided for in the enclosed guidelines.
Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA) refers to the official list of applicants who obtained an overall score of seventy (70) points and above based on the criteria set and as a result of the evaluation and selection processes.
Public school teachers requesting for transfer to another station are not considered new applicants and are therefore not subject to these hiring guidelines. DepEd Order No. 22, s. 2013, otherwise known as the "Revised Guidelines on the Transfer of Teachers from One Station to Another," shall be strictly observed.
Upon a teacher's appointment, assignment to a station, and acceptance of the position, he or she shall not be transferred to another school until after rendering at least three (3) years of service in that school.
Residents of the locality, LGU-funded teachers, substitute teachers, volunteer teachers, and Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) graduates under the 1000 Teachers Program (1000 TP) shall be subject to these hiring guidelines.
As provided in Section 26 (b) Paragraph 2 of RA 9293 entitled "An Act Amending Certain Sections of Republic Act Numbered Seventy-eight Hundred and Thirty-six (RA 7836), Otherwise Known as the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994," teachers who have not practiced their profession for the past five (5) years shall be required to take at least twelve (12) units in education courses, consisting of at least six (6) units of content courses.
Applicants who already applied for the initial round of hiring per DO 7, s. 2015 shall no longer resubmit their documentary requirements but may submit additional supporting documents to update their points.
New applicants shall register to the Department's online system at application.deped.gov.ph, where they must encode their Personal Data Sheet (PDS) and select the division(s) where they want to be ranked. Once submitted, a Unique Applicant Number (UAN) will be issued.
Each division shall assign an e-mail address (either its official division office's e-mail or its HR's e-mail) where the system will forward the applications.
Applicants who are not able to submit the UAN shall still be allowed to apply. The UAN shall not be treated as an eligibility requirement. Even without the UAN, applicants may still go through the evaluation process, be ranked in the Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA), and be hired.
The applicant assumes full responsibility and accountability on the validity and authenticity of the documents submitted, as evidenced by the Omnibus certification of authenticity (Item 5.2.i above). Any violation shall automatically disqualify the applicant from the selection process.
a. The Committee at the elementary level shall be chaired by the School Head with four (4) teachers as members. In the case of primary, incomplete elementary and multi-grade (MG) schools, the Committee shall be chaired by the cluster school head with four (4) teachers from the cluster schools as members.
b. The Committee at the secondary level shall be chaired by the School Head. The Department Head concerned and three (3) teachers from the different learning areas (as needed based on the school's vacancies) shall be members. For small secondary schools that do not have department heads, the School Head shall be the Committee Chair with four (4) subject leaders from different learning areas as members.
c. Committee members shall be identified by the School Head using the abovementioned specifications. The School Head shall then transmit the Composition of the School Screening Committee to the Schools Division Superintendent for the issuance of a corresponding Designation Order.
a. Ensures that the updated lists of vacancies are regularly posted at conspicuous places and at the websites of schools and teacher education training institutions at all times. The step-by-step procedure in applying for the remaining Teacher I positions, including a copy of this Order, must also be posted.
b. Receives applications and documents.
c. Verifies and certifies as to completeness, veracity, accuracy, and authenticity of documents.
d. Issues a certification to each applicant that it has received the application specifying the documents that have been submitted in support of the application.
i. The School Screening Committee shall not refuse acceptance of any application. If any of the required documents are incomplete or invalid, the Committee shall immediately notify the applicant to facilitate the complete and proper submission of documents.
ii. Regardless of being incomplete or invalid, however, all applications must still be forwarded to the Division Selection Committee, albeit such submissions must be noted and marked by the Committee.
e. Produces copies of the received applications and documents before submitting the original submissions to the Division Selection Committee. The copies are then to be compiled and/or bound, with a table of contents and proper pagination, and are to be kept in the Office of the School Head for records purposes.
In the evaluation of SPED elementary applicants, the SPED Division Coordinator shall be part of the Committee.
For MG schools, the Division MG Coordinator shall be part of the Committee.
In the evaluation of SPED secondary applicants, the SPED Division Coordinator shall be part of the Committee.
a. In schools divisions where there is no ASDS, the Superintendent shall designate an Education Program Supervisor as the Chair of the Division Selection Committee.
b. The official in charge of personnel actions shall provide secretariat services and maintain the minutes of proceedings of the selection and deliberation process. The minutes shall be signed by the Chair and all members of the Division Selection Committee.
a. Receives from the School Screening Committee the list of applicants with the corresponding documents.
b. Verifies the documents submitted by the School Screening Committee as to completeness, accuracy, authenticity, and veracity.
c. Evaluates applicants on Education, Teaching Experience, LET/PBET Rating, Interview, Demonstration Teaching, and Specialized Training and Skills based on the criteria set forth in these guidelines.
d. Reviews and consolidates the results of the individual ratings of applicants, based on the scores they obtained in each criterion for evaluation.
f. Sends to each applicant a written communication detailing the scores he or she has received for each evaluation criterion as well as the final overall rating, signed by the Chair.
g. Secures list of its LGU-funded teachers from the office of the provincial governor, city/municipal mayor, or provincial/city/municipal administrator.
h. Ensures that LGU-funded and volunteer teacher applicants go through the application process as provided for in these guidelines.
i. Recalibrates and/or updates the scores of applicants who have undergone the evaluation process per DO 7, s. 2015 in accordance to the guidelines set in this Order.
j. Submits the complete results of the evaluation of applicants, including pertinent records of deliberations, to the SDS for approval.
6.3 In cases involving applicants who may be assigned in a school located in an indigenous peoples (IP) community and/or serving IP learners, the School and Division Screening Committees may appropriately consult with IP elder(s)/leaders recognized by the community to verify and better assess such applications in reference to relevant provisions of these guidelines.
Education shall be rated in terms of the applicant's academic achievement. Thus, all subjects with corresponding units must be included in the computation.
Applicants with non-education degrees shall be rated using their GWAs in their baccalaureate degrees and the eighteen (18) professional units in education.
If the school issues a certification of GWA with a corresponding percentage rating that does not conform to the above table, the committee shall refer to the grading system of the school.
For schools with "unique" grading systems, a corresponding transmutation table shall be constructed.
Applicants with a Master's Degree (MA or MS) shall be given +1 point, while applicants with a Master's Degree and with a Doctorate (PhD) shall be given +2 points.
The Division Selection Committee may consider any other similar Bachelor's degree in Early Education.
b. In cases where there are limited eligible teachers with ECE units, the following measures may be adopted.
Upon appointment, the teacher shall be required by the SDO to earn ECE units gradually. Nine (9) ECE units may be earned at the end of Year 1; eighteen (18) units, Year 2; and twenty-one (21) units, Year 3.
c. Kindergarten teacher applicants must not be more than forty-five (45) years old.
In cases where applicants do not have the appropriate educational qualifications for SPED, they may still be evaluated but shall be categorized separately from those who have met the said requirements.
b. He/she must have at least three (3) years of experience in providing educational services to any of the categories of children with special needs. This is to be verified by a certification from the Principal to be submitted as part of the application.
c. A certification from the Principal that the applicant has had a Very Satisfactory performance rating for the last three (3) years must be submitted as part of the application.
Teaching experience in Early Childhood (EC) kindergarten/preschool, elementary, secondary, tertiary, higher education, Special Education (SPED), Alternative Learning System (ALS), Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET), learning institutions offering culture-based education programs for indigenous peoples (IP) – even prior to passing the LET – shall be given 0.50 point for every month of service but shall not exceed twelve (12) points.
The full 0.50 point per month of teaching experience shall be given to the applicants who have come from schools and institutions that are government-accredited or -recognized. Certificate/s of employment shall be used to determine validity of teaching experience.
If the total points reached by an applicant exceed ten (10) points, a rating of 10 is given.
The Committee shall rate applicants from Not Fully Acceptable (NFA), Fully Acceptable (FA), to Exemplary (E), using standards and equivalent points listed below for each of the three (3) listed competencies indicated thereafter.
Applicant's response contained many, if not all, of the target behaviors. His/her responses indicate well-developed skills and aptitude for that competency, which would most likely lead to job success. The person's responses are of superior quality for this job. Applicant's response covered some of the target behaviors, but not quite at the level that would be ideal for that competency. Still, the quality of the person's answers leads you to believe that he/she would be successful with some additional exposure and / or training. Applicant's response contained very few of the target behaviors. Either the behaviors he/she discussed were not at, or even close to, the level indicated in the target behaviors, or the person did not give you enough information for you to have confidence that he/she has that competency at the level needed for success.
The number of points attained for each of the three (3) listed competencies (Teaching Ability, Classroom Management, School Fit) shall be added and then divided by fifteen (15). The quotient shall then be multiplied by 0.10 or 10%. The product shall then be multiplied by 100.
Applicants shall be evaluated according to the rubrics indicated on the following pages.
Applicants for K to 3 who will perform Demonstration Teaching using the mother tongue of the locality where the school being applied for is located shall be given an additional +5 points on top of the score they have obtained.
An English Proficiency Test (EPT) shall be administered to applicants by the National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC). The respective Division Testing Coordinators shall coordinate with NETRC regarding the conduct and schedule of the exam in their division.
The RQA is the list of qualified applicants for appointment, which shall include their names, permanent addresses, and final evaluation ratings.
It shall be used in filling-up the remaining teacher vacancies only after having implemented DO 7, s. 2015 and there are still vacant Teacher I positions left.
The RQA should 1) publish applicants' names in alphabetical order, 2) show both the results of each criterion and the final overall rating, 3) only include those who obtained total scores of seventy (70) and above, 4) indicate the date of posting, and 5) be signed by the SDS.
Separate RQAs for Kindergarten, Elementary, and Secondary shall be prepared by the Division Selection Committees. The RQA for Kindergarten shall be prepared by the Division Selection Committee for Elementary Schools.
Subject area specialization of the qualified applicants shall be the primary consideration in the secondary school level. Thus, the applicant to be appointed should have the subject-area specialization needed by the school.
The RQAs for Secondary Schools shall be prepared by subject area specialization, as follows: English, Filipino, Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, Statistics, General Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Araling Panlipunan, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao, Music & Arts, Physical Education & Health, and SPED. Depending on the schools' TLE offerings, separate RQAs for Agri-Fishery Arts, Home Economics, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and Industrial Arts shall be prepared as well.
In schools with SPED teacher requirements, SPED specialization of qualified applicants shall be the primary consideration. As such, the applicant to be appointed should have the qualifications stated in Section 7.1.1.3.
Following DepEd Memorandum No. 141, s. 2013 on the Hiring of Graduates of 1000 Teachers Program of the Philippine Business for Education, qualified applicants under PBEd's 1000 TP program shall be given priority in hiring.
The RQAs should be ready by the last week of June 2015 so that qualified applicants may be appointed by 01 July 2015.
As a general rule, only applicants listed in the RQA are eligible for hiring and appointment, with priority given to bona fide residents of the barangay, municipality, city, or province (in the order as aforestated) where the school is located.
In cases where the number of qualified applicants from the barangay is greater than the number of available Teacher I items, priority in hiring shall be given to applicants from the barangay according to their overall rating (number score) in the RQA, from highest to lowest. The same rule shall apply in the appointment of applicants from the municipality, city, and province.
n cases where all those in the RQA have been appointed and assigned to their respective stations and there are still available positions, the concerned Schools Division Office shall coordinate with a neighboring SDO whose RQA has not yet been exhausted and facilitate their applicants' deployment to the Division, subject to the applicants' written concurrence. If an applicant refuses to be deployed to the other division, no deployment shall be effected. The evaluation process shall not be repeated; the scores given by the neighboring SDO shall be respected.
In the event that there are still available positions after having implemented the guidelines in this Order, a new call for the submission of applications shall be initiated by the SDO, for evaluation and selection subject to the criteria and guidelines set in this Order.
Post the signed, complete results (RQAs) in at least three (3) conspicuous places in the Division Office and on the website of the Division Office. The RQAs must have the contents indicated in Section 8.4.
Provide the School District and every kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school with copies of the RQAs for posting in their areas of jurisdiction. Regional Directors, LGUs, and Legislative District Representatives shall also be provided with copies of the RQAs.
Advise newly-hired teachers to report for their first day of work as soon as appointment papers are in order.
Submission of said report on a quarterly basis to the Office of the Secretary through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Development.
Aggrieved qualified applicants in the RQAs of the Schools Division Office and those who are disqualified under Item 5.2.i of these guidelines may file a protest or complaint, respectively.
The guidelines and criteria provided in this Order shall take effect immediately.
Hi, I already have an assignment order however I decided not to proceed because of the high risk at the place. May I know what are my options?
Ask ko lng po kung after sa posting ng RQA at nakasali ka sa list, kailangan talagang maghintay ng tawag o pwedeng ikaw na mismo ang pumunta sa school na pinag-applyan mo to inform them that you passed the RQA?
Can I ask po?SHS applicant po ako Nagparank po ako this year lumabas na po ang RQA. Kso I'm just wondering po king paano nakuha yung 9 out of 20 pero average kopo 2.05. Thank you po.
hello good evening po. may i ask? meron po ba yung tinatawag na congressional item?
good day! ask q lang po f kelan ang recalibration or may recalibration po ba this year,?
Good eve, mmy recalibration po ba ngayong sy,2016-2017 para dun sa mga hindi na kasama sa RQA ng Junior at Senior High?
hello po.Good day! Nagparank po ako last year 2015-2016.Above RQA po yung score ko.Ang tanong ko lang po,kailangan ko pa po bang sumali sa ranking sa year nato?hanggang ngayon hindi pa po ako natatawagan.Yan po yung palaging pinag-uusapan naming nang kaibigan ko mas mataas din po ang score niya kaysa sakin.Salamat poh.God bless.
Hello po! Kailan malalaman kung may item na ang mga nakapasok sa RQA ng Senior High School?
Hi – I would like to confirm if the applicant has already passed a board exam (not LET/PBET), should he still needed to take the LET/PBET after getting 18 units of Education course?
Yes, you need to take the LET. Required in HS. Also, you need it for regularization.
yes. the guidelines has been followed.. but then in our case.. in which one of the applicant is our classmate.. same time we were having our ranking.. told us tha she was the one who solved the applicants points earned in ranikng before the final submission in the division office.. is it Justifiable?
Glad to know the guidelines will definitely give chances to others fair and just.. hndi un palakasan…kc basis sa points at evaluation..
ask q lng po, plz answer coz I am really confuse, pg nasa RQA ka under DO 7, may pag-asa ka ba na mbgyan ng item within this year?
hi my concern is about my teaching experence ksi mlsb ako dito sa rizal nueva ecija mula noong august 19, 2013 ang problima ndi pala credeted ang teaching exprnce q kc may moritorium pala na stop hiring na ng plsb at mlsb…pwd po ba na matulungan kami ma credet ang teaching expernce namin at tangaglin ang moritorium na yan para naman maka abot kami sa 70 sa rqa at meron pa din naman plsb at mlsb ngayon…pls lang pki action naman ung concern namin….thank you po…..
Good evening teacherPH, i just want to ask if there will be a ranking next year? school year 2016-2017?
Good day po, thank you sa website na to na sa umpisa pa lang ito yung nakatulung sa mga tanung ko….
ibig po sbhin ba nito if u were municipal contractual or labor payroll teacher then it includes u sa guidelines na madagdagan ang points? kasi po dito sa amin bakit di sinama ang tchng exp ng LGU funded?
I am happy with this new memo at least many will be given a chance (I hope it includes me) na magkaroon ng appointment..
wala pang pino post na rqa sa amin pero may bago na agad na memo hihi..
I rank 1 in tle but i never got the item:( and thosebelow me were called and got an item..
dipende rin po kasi sa need ng school kung bakit di ka na tawag. ganun rin kasi sa akin, rank 1 pero hindi tinawag kasi di ako pasok sa currently needed(combination of skills and education kasi) hehehehe. patience is a virtue.