BCAAs are the essential amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine, which comprise around 35% of your body’s muscle protein. They’re “essential” because your body doesn’t make them on its own—you have to get them from food and workout supplements. Like other amino acids, they’re the building blocks of protein. But these particular aminos may also help preserve muscle glycogen stores, which fuel your muscles and minimize protein breakdown during exercise.
Leucine plays an important role in muscle protein synthesis, while isoleucine induces glucose uptake into cells. Further research is needed to determine valine’s role in a BCAA supplement.
BCAAs are important to ingest on a daily basis, but many protein sources, such as meat and eggs, already provide BCAAs. Supplementation is unnecessary for people with a sufficiently high protein intake (1-1.5g per kg of bodyweight a day or more).
Why Take BCAAs?
Three of the nine essential amino acids are called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). These are leucine, isoleucine and valine. They account for approximately 35% of essential amino acids in muscle proteins.
BCAAs can be oxidised in skeletal muscle, whereas other essential amino acids are catabolised (broken down) mainly in the liver.
Exercise greatly increases energy expenditure and promotes oxidation of BCAAs in the muscles, therefore supplementation can be helpful for those who wish to maintain or increase muscle mass.
The branched-chain amino acid, leucine, is particularly special as it has been shown that when taken orally, it promotes muscle protein-synthesis (creation of muscle protein).
HOW BCAAS HELP YOU KEEP YOUR MUSCLES
Here are the ways branched-chain amino acids can help you stay swole when you’re dieting.
INCREASE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
Branched-chain amino acids (which are the essential amino acids valine, isoleucine, and leucine) stimulate muscle protein synthesis, potentially more than a normal protein on its own. Protein synthesis is the metabolic process when your body makes new muscle protein, also known as gains.
REDUCE PROTEIN BREAKDOWN
Increased BCAA levels also work in your favor by reducing the rate of protein breakdown. They do this by decreasing the activity of the protein breakdown pathway, and also by decreasing the expression of several complexes involved in protein breakdown. (They decrease the amount of mRNA produced from the gene that codes for these components.)
BCAA Supplementation Reduces Fatigue and Increase Endurance
BCAA Supplementation Increases Lean Mass
BCAA Supplementation May Reduce Soreness
BCAA Supplementation May Reduce Muscle Damage
HAVE BETTER WORKOUTS
Amino acid supplementation could also help you get a more intense workout. Branched-chain amino acids compete with the amino acid tryptophan for entry into the brain, where tryptophan can be converted to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
During exercise, serotonin levels rise and can make you feel more fatigued, meaning you won’t be able to push as hard.
BCAA supplementation reduces the amount of tryptophan that gets through the blood-brain barrier, and therefore reduces the amount of serotonin produced. This might allow you to work harder, longer, and get more gains.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ESSENTIAL AND NON-ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS
Essential amino acids include all the amino acids that cannot be made by the body, including BCAAs. You must get them from protein foods. There are nine essential amino acids: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and valine. Your body can make non-essential amino acids by itself from vitamins and other amino acids.
BCAA content of foods (grams of amino acids/100 g of protein)
Whey protein isolate 26%
Milk protein 21%
Muscle protein 18%
Soy protein isolate 18%
Wheat protein 15%
BCAA powder can be taken in 5g dosages, 2-4 times daily, whenever needed. Consume pre-workout, during training (the powdered form is available as flavoured or unflavoured), post-workout, or during the day to help with delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Capsules have different dosage recommendations.


These are all words for an amount of money that is charged or paid for something.
rate a fixed amount of money that is asked or paid for something: a low hourly rate of pay; interest rates charge an amount of money that is asked for goods or services: an admission charge fee (rather formal) an amount of money that you have to pay for professional advice or services, to go to a school or college, or to join an organization: legal fees; an annual membership fee rent an amount of money that you regularly have to pay for use of a building or room. NOTE. In American English, rent can be used to mean rental: The weekly rent on the car was over 0. dues an amount of money that you have to pay so that you can be a member of an organization. toll an amount of money that you have to pay to use a particular road or bridge. rental an amount of money that you have to pay to use something for a particular period of time.
RENT OR RENTAL? In British English rent is only money paid to use a building or room: for other items use rental. In American English rent can be used for both, but rental is still more common for other items.
tariff (rather formal) a list of fixed prices that are charged by a hotel or restaurant for rooms or meals, or by a company for a particular service.
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS • to pay (a) rate/charge/fee/rent/dues/toll/rental for/on something • to do something at a rate/charge/fee/rent/rental of... • to do something for a charge/fee • to pay (a) rate/charge/fee/rent/dues/toll/rental • to charge (a) rate/fee/rent/dues/toll/rental


As a country we strive not to withhold information from the public. This is a characteristic of America that separates us from many countries across the world. We like to know everything immediately and technology has made it easier to do so. However, such easy and public access requires a degree of censorship that some protest and others guard. The issue of censorship within the media is very much relevant and important, especially in the wake of the recent Boston Marathon tragedy. It appears as though some media outlets are saying too much, and others not enough.
So to what degree are media outlets supposed to distribute pictures and information? There seems to be no simple answer to this question. On one hand, people believe that graphic images need to be shown to portray the severity of a particular situation. On the other hand, there are people that do not wish to see such graphics and believe that a situation can be understood without the aid of graphics. This puts media outlets in a difficult situation as they try to cater to both audiences.
News outlets have control over the content distributed to the public where as the Internet cannot regulate information and graphics in such a fashion. This makes it easy for a person to stumble upon unwanted information while innocently clicking through the web. If one tunes into the news there is a guarantee the information presented will be as accurate as possible in addition to appropriate images for the general public. The Internet is like Russian Roulette; you never know what you’ll get.


From ICT4D Wiki
The Democracy Ranking is an annual ranking of all democracies (country-based democracies) in the world by focusing on the Quality of Democracy in an international perspective. The Democracy Ranking publishes the ranking scores and displays ranking score increases or decreases over time. The Democracy Ranking is a ranking of the Quality of Democracy in the sense that the ranking scores should reflect a ranking of democracies according to their differing qualities; and the Democracy Ranking is a ranking for the Quality of Democracy, because it wants to contribute conceptually to how democracy quality may be measured as well as wants to support the awareness how important democracy quality is for the further development, reform and enhancement of democracies.
The Democracy Ranking applies the following conceptual formula: Quality of Democracy = (freedom & other characteristics of the political system) & (performance of the non-political dimensions). The non-political dimensions are: gender, economy, knowledge, health, and the environment.


This presentation will describe the planning, creating and outcomes of a short film 'A Right to Communicate' which starred people who use AAC, explaining how they communicate and giving advice about how they would like others to communicate with them.
The 'Communication Friends Group' is for people in Dumfries and Galloway who use high–tech AAC. The group used Scottish Government funding from the 'A Right to Speak' project to create and star in a short film about communication.
The short film was uploaded to YouTube and within a week of the film being available it had received over 1,000 views. It also quickly spread across social media, being shared not only by people with an interest in communication but also by those with no prior knowledge of AAC.
'A Right to Communicate' has proved to be an overwhelming success, raising the awareness of AAC across society, empowering people who use AAC and working proactively to reduce discrimination.


This study investigated what factors are used by native speakers and Japanese learners of English when they determine the position of stress in producing and perceiving disyllabic English nonwords. Syllable structure (vowel length and number of consonants) and lexical class affected both groups, but in different ways. Phonotactic legality of intervocalic consonants influenced native speakers alone. The results are also discussed regarding the difference between production and perception tasks and the influence of Japanese syllables and lexical properties on learning English stress patterns.
Bibliographic reference. Ishikawa, Keiichi / Nomura, Jun (2008): "Word stress placement by native speakers and Japanese learners of English", In INTERSPEECH-2008, 1955-1958.


- This article is about the light displays that appear in both the North and South Poles. For the episode, see "The Southern Lights".
|"Look to the sky. Where I'm from, the spirits are at peace and they light up the dark."|
|— Unalaq to Tonraq.|
The spirit lights refer to the light displays that occur in the sky overhead both the North and South Poles. They are recognized to be peaceful spirits dancing in the sky that light up the night when the entities are in balance. They serve as a reminder to the people of the Water Tribes of their connection to the spirits. If the physical world becomes out of balance with the Spirit World, as was the case in the Southern Water Tribe following the Hundred Year War, the connection with spirits is lost and the lights will cease to appear until balance is restored.
The northern lights are visible in the North Pole, where spiritual energy is considerably strong, due to the Northern Water Tribe's adherence to spiritual observances. Shortly after 133 AG, Yakone began to train Noatak and Tarrlok in the art of waterbending, often running exercises at night when the northern lights were visible.
During the Hundred Year War, the Southern Water Tribe was devastated by constant raids instituted by the Fire Nation, leading to the near eradication of its distinct bending culture and the loss of the tribe's spiritual traditions. The tribe was consequently thrown out of balance and the southern lights disappeared.
After the war ended, the Northern Water Tribe helped rebuild their sister tribe physically but failed to arrest the spiritual imbalance in the South Pole, causing the Southern Water Tribe to continue down a path of spiritual decay, exhibited in the progressive distortion of the hallowed Glacier Spirits Festival. In the past, tribal elders communed with the spirits during the festival and watched the brilliant displays of light as the spirits danced in the sky. The people of the South have since turned the festival into a secular carnival, unrelated to its spiritual origins.
Neglect of spiritual customs in the South caused spirits to cease dancing in the skies, forcing them instead to turn dark, eventually forming the Everstorm in which they rampaged. By 171 AG, the imbalance had exacerbated to the point that dark spirits roamed the South Sea and attacked several ships, abducting sailors and destroying vessels in the process. These attacks eventually prompted Chief Unalaq to intervene and journey to the Southern Water Tribe, where he informed Avatar Korra of a dormant spirit portal located at the center of the South Pole. Together with Desna and Eska, Tonraq, Mako, and Bolin, they traversed the frozen tundra in hopes of opening the portal prior to end of the winter solstice, as that was the only time the Southern spirit portal could be opened by the Avatar.
After the group arrived at the center of the South Pole, Korra ventured inside the frozen forest that circumscribed the portal, where she managed to overcome residing dark spirits and open the portal with a single touch imbued with cosmic energy provided by the Avatar State. When the portal opened, balance was instantly restored; the Everstorm ceased to rage, and the spirits flew out in a straight beam of light directly above the South Pole until they dispersed in the sky as waving streaks of green, glowing lights.
After Korra reconvened with the group outside the frozen forest, Unalaq told her that restoring the southern lights was the first step in bringing balance back to the South.
Many weeks later, the spirit lights spread throughout the world during Harmonic Convergence. Once Unalaq fused with the dark spirit Vaatu, the Dark Avatar reached toward the southern lights and used them to travel to Republic City instantaneously.
After balance was restored following Vaatu's defeat, Korra opted to keep the spirit portals open, and the southern lights were present behind the Southern Water Tribe Royal Palace as she proclaimed the South's autonomy from the North, and a new era for humans and spirits.
- The northern and southern lights are the World of Avatar's equivalent of the aurora borealis and aurora australis, respectively.
- The Cree and the Inuit, two of the largest indigenous groups in North America, refer to the auroras as the "Dance of the Spirits", and believe that they serve as a reminder of the connection between living people and their deceased ancestors.
- In 99 AG, Iroh mistook the beam of light that resulted from Avatar Aang's release from the iceberg as the southern lights.
- The northern and southern lights can be used by spirits to travel instantly from one place to another in the physical world during Harmonic Convergence.


As North America experienced one of the coldest winters in recent history, University of Maryland researchers were surveying the skies above the tropical western Pacific, collecting data that will yield clues about the effects of human activity and ocean biology on the composition of the atmosphere. The research team included two graduate students and Professor Ross Salawitch, who holds appointments in atmospheric and oceanic science, chemistry and biochemistry, and the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center.
The researchers traveled to Guam, an island in the Pacific Ocean 3,300 miles west of Hawaii, where the world’s warmest sea surface temperatures lead to the most active cloud systems on Earth. During the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, the combination of heat and moisture in the region causes warm air to rise from the ocean’s surface, creating a chimney effect and feeding into huge clusters of thunderstorms. The storms lift gases and particles through the low levels of the atmosphere and into the stratosphere, where they can spread over the entire planet, linger for long periods of time, and influence atmospheric climate and composition worldwide.
As co-principal investigator of the CONTRAST (CONvective TRansport of Active Species in the Tropics) field project, Salawitch helped lead a series of intensive data-gathering flights by three aircraft, the most comprehensive data collection effort of its kind in the region.
“One of our goals was to define the chemicals in the air, with special emphasis on chemicals introduced or altered by humans,” explains Salawitch. “There have been measure-ments from long-ago aircraft campaigns, but nothing nearly as comprehensive. This project will give us a strong fingerprint of human activity on the region.”
Salawitch served as mission scientist aboard the HIAPER (High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) aircraft, a Gulfstream V jet sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and modified for advanced research. HIAPER flew at altitudes between 500 and 48,000 feet, along with NASA’s Global Hawk, a robotic air vehicle that studied upper-atmospheric composition primarily between 45,000 and 60,000 feet. The British Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements’ (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft conducted extensive sampling near the ocean’s surface. Taken together, the data collected by the three aircraft will give research collaborators a detailed view of air masses spanning tens of thousands of feet from the ocean surface to the stratosphere.
The CONTRAST mission provided a novel way of examining the transformation of the halogen group of elements—bromine, chlorine and iodine—from their origins in the ocean to the stratosphere. The researchers focused on halogen family elements because they remove atmospheric ozone. Classic chemical measurement techniques, including
gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and absorption spectroscopy, required small, autonomous hardware packages designed specifically for the HIAPER platform. Two instruments onboard HIAPER measured organic halogens (chemical compounds with the carbon-bromine bond intact) and two other instruments measured inorganic halogens (chemicals produced once the carbon-bromine bond has been broken). “We can map the transformation of these chemicals to quantify how ocean biology affects the stratosphere,” says Salawitch.
Julie Nicely, a graduate student in chemistry, served as mission coordinator on one of the flights and played a critical role in charting the plane’s course to optimize the collection of samples. “As we were flying and seeing firsthand the change in air quality, we were able to perform real-time analysis to help us better understand the chemical features of the atmosphere,” says Nicely, who also assisted with chemical forecasts and analysis for the entire campaign.
Making and Breaking the Models
Though data analyses are far from complete, Salawitch reports a major surprise. “There was a significant amount of pollution in the atmosphere over Guam. We know this pollution is not coming from Guam and that a pervasive amount is coming from upwind areas. We will be building trajectory models to study the type of pollution and determine where these air masses originated,” he explains.
Dan Anderson, a graduate student in atmospheric and oceanic science and CONTRAST team member, also reports an unexpected finding. Anderson, who measured the abundance of formaldehyde in the air using an instrument developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, notes, “We discovered that the middle of the remote, marine atmosphere holds higher concentrations of formaldehyde than we anticipated, which raises a lot of new questions.”
Project findings will result in a new data set for evaluation of climate-chemistry models for a previously untested region of the world. “Our data will feed into the work of the air quality community, the climate community and a whole body of chemists eager to see what we have found,” says Salawitch.
Writer: Nancy Grund


Crowd-funded ArduSat Satellite Offers Space-based Experiment Time to Science Students
ZARAGOZA, Spain & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With the successful space launch of ArduSat aboard a H-IIB rocket, the first open satellite platform that allows private citizens to design and run their own applications in space is now on its way to the International Space Station (ISS).
“Our Radiation Sensors were developed originally to measure radioactivity levels on Earth. We adapted them to meet the satellite’s restrictions in terms of weight, size and power control, in a nice collaboration between Libelium and ArduSat engineering teams”
Included in the standard payload of the two 10cm x 10cm orbiters launched this week are Radiation Sensor Boards designed by Libelium that will monitor radiation levels generated by space phenomena such as sun storms and background activity. This sensing technology acts as a Geiger counter measuring gamma particles produced anywhere in space.
Once the ArduSat is released into orbit at an altitude of more than 300km, students from a dozen schools across the United States and select schools in Brazil, Guatemala, India, Indonesia and Israel will access and control the satellites for their science experiments, beginning this fall. One of six pre-built experiments uses the Libelium Geiger counter to detect high-energy radiation levels from space.
“Our Radiation Sensors were developed originally to measure radioactivity levels on Earth. We adapted them to meet the satellite’s restrictions in terms of weight, size and power control, in a nice collaboration between Libelium and ArduSat engineering teams,” said David Gascón, co-founder and CTO of Libelium.
“We’re making space exploration affordable and accessible to everyone, with a space platform that lets the users innovate. The spirit of discovery and sharing that inspires open source development fits perfectly with this aim and makes it come to life,” said Peter Platzer, CEO of NanoSatisfi, ArduSat’s parent company.
ArduSat Pre-built Experiments include:
- Test for orbital mechanics and dynamics using the Accelerometer + Gyroscope
- Build a 3D model of Earth’s magnetic field using the Magnetometer
- Measure temperature changes in space (i.e. cold snap) using the IR Temperature Sensor
- Detect high-energy radiation levels using the Geiger counter
- Build a spectrograph of Earth’s Albedo (reflection coefficient) using the Spectrometer
- Take a picture from space
For more information on the capabilities of Libelium’s Open Source Sensor Platform go to: http://www.libelium.com/waspmote
Libelium designs and manufactures open source hardware for wireless sensor networks so that system integrators, engineering and consultancy companies can deliver reliable Smart Cities solutions with minimum time to market. All Libelium’s products are modular, easy to deploy and include extensive documentation and support through a global community of developers. Libelium’s customers range from startups to large international corporations in North America, Asia and Europe.
Libelium’s open source DIY hardware division, Cooking Hacks, is dedicated to making electronics affordable, easy to learn and fun. Cooking Hacks serves a worldwide community of developers, designers, engineers, hobbyists, inventors and makers who love to create electronics with sensors, robotics, actuators, Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Established in 2006, Libelium is privately held and has headquarters in Zaragoza, Spain. www.libelium.com
NanoSatisfi democratizes access to space exploration, images and data by providing individuals access to a user-programmable in-orbit satellite for $250/week. With the ArduSat, the company is providing unique educational opportunities using cutting-edge Space technologies, to drive economic competitiveness and inspire a brand new generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) professionals. http://nanosatisfi.com.


A non-parametric test used to evaluate the equality of the median of a single population to a standard value or the equality of the Medians of two related Populations. It is a non-parametric alternative to the one-sample or paired-samples t-test when the assumption of normality is in doubt. However, it does make the assumption that the underlying distribution (of the individual observations in the one-sample case, or the differences of paired values in the paired-samples case) is symmetric.
The table shows a dataset of 8 observations. Assuming the underlying distribution is symmetric, we will test the hypothesis that the median is equal to 12 against the alternative that it is smaller using the Wilcoxon Signed ranks test.
The single zero difference corresponding to the observed value of 12 is excluded from the sample, resulting in a sample size of 7. These 7 differences are ranked based on their absolute values in ascending order of magnitude. Thus, the smallest observation, 2, gets the rank 1. The next smallest observation, 3, gets the rank 2. The two observations with magnitude 4 get the average rank of 3 and 4, which is 3.5. The remaining observations are ranked accordingly.
The only positive difference in the set is 3, so the test statistic is the rank corresponding to this difference, 2. The table of probabilities for the test statistic gives a p-value of 0.023, which is significant at the 5% level. Thus, reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the median is actually smaller than 12.
Take the differences of the observed values from the standard/test value under study, excluding the zero differences. Rank the absolute differences in ascending order of magnitude. Assign averaged ranks to tied differences. Sum the ranks corresponding to the positive differences – this is the test statistic, T+.
For small samples the test p-value is obtained using the tabled values of the Wilcoxon Signed Rank statistic for different sample sizes. For large samples the test statistic is converted into a z-score and the standard normal distribution used to decide the test.


We recently saw an alert message from a sheriff announcing that he wasn’t running for re-election. That’s an unusual use of a community mass notification system, but it isn’t unprecedented. In October, a county supervisor in upstate NY used the system there to communicate her “good works”. And we’ve seen other interesting uses for emergency alert systems over the years.
That got us thinking about what kinds of public messages communities send with these kinds of systems. So we reviewed every message we’ve seen over the past two years, focusing on the messages sent to the general public.
Our database includes the tens of thousands of messages we sent for our customers, as well as thousands of messages sent through all our major competitors. Our sample includes major cities (NY, LA, etc.), rural areas, and everything in between and covers all regions of the US.
We’ve tried to summarize all of these messages below. Although this summary focuses on warnings, there are often follow up messages that include protective resources (e.g. shelters, evacuation routes) “all-clear” notices, information on recovery or repairs, and related information. For the sake of brevity, we’ve left out most of that detail.
While most of the messages we saw follow best practices, it’s worth remembering that every warning message should follow this pattern:
- What the hazard is.
- The timing and location of the danger (when and where).
- What action the reader should take.
We think these guidelines are useful even when the action is no action. Many messages, for example, were meant to alert residents of unusual situations – e.g. smoke, flyovers, a bomb test – to avoid calls to the 911 center. Most of these messages did not include a statement like “there is no need to call 911,” but our reading of the research suggests that clarity is always better than ambiguity. So we think you should consider adding that content to your message templates.
And it’s very important to include specific location information. In too many cases, we saw messages that had little or no location data. Since most messages are text and do not include a map component, it’s difficult for a reader to understand a hazard if they don’t know where it is. That’s especially true for social media messages which can be read by people who may be outside a polygon on a map.
We also think you should review what your message will look like to the recipient. In the examples below, you’ll see messages that are truncated so that key details are only available by clicking on the link. That’s a bad practice since many residents won’t click on a link without a compelling reason.
It’s not our job to tell you how to use your alert system. But we can at least show you how others are using their systems so you can consider whether those uses are valuable for your residents.
One interesting use of alert systems to consider is when you’re changing alert providers. Several of our newer customers used their old alert system to tell residents they were switching to Hyper-Reach and to send them the link to our signup page and the number we use for telephone signups. We think this is a great way to help make sure the transition to Hyper-Reach goes smoothly and reaches the maximum number of people in your community.
Alert Messages Types by Category:
Weather – Both Extreme and Potentially Threatening
- How to prepare for weather, prevent damage (e.g. flooding)
- Impact of weather: office closures, etc.
- Resources to deal with weather: e.g. shelter availability, cooling or warming centers
- Damage reporting requests: e.g. asking for citizen reports of weather damage
- Added services in response to events, e.g. brush pickup
Other Environmental Hazards
- Air quality advisories
- Mud/rock slides
- Explosion hazard
- Chemical spills
- Boil Water, water main breaks, etc.
- Emergency water availability
- Gas service issues, including leaks, hazardous situations
- Electric power issues, e.g. interruptions, resumption of power
- Energy conservation requests
- Water conservation requests
Disease and Health-Related Issues
- Vaccination promotion, advice, reminders
- Pandemic advice for safety, masking, etc.
- Pandemic-related reopening notices
- Other disease-related notices
- Rabies vaccination clinic availability
Awareness/Avoiding Panic/Pre-empting 911 Calls
- Smoke, odor awareness
- Fireworks awareness
- Bomb, explosion awareness
- Flyover of military, other aircraft
- Testing of siren awareness
- IPAWS test message awareness
- Travel advisory: closed roads, traffic signal problems, other issues
- Event awareness: e.g. marathons, parades, protests, ect.
- Parking restrictions
- Traffic advisory: e.g. speed limit changes, new traffic patterns
Crime/Law Enforcement/Soliciting Assistance
- Police activity awareness
- Criminal at large: shelter in place, BOLO
- Criminal activity, e.g. homicide in area
- School lock down
- Active shooter
- Solicitation for witnesses, crime tips
- Missing persons, Amber, Silver alerts
Government Service Advisories
- Government service changes: e.g. garbage, recycling pickup, Christmas tree pickup
- Office and school closures, opening delays, change in hours
- 911 usage advice, e.g. things not to call about
- 911 outage, service issues
- Emergency sirens not working
- Police phone out of order, service resumed
- Park closures due to construction
- Spay and neuter services
Citizen Participation Invitations and Opportunities
- Asking for blood donations
- Soliciting participation in community events, e.g. light contest, kite festival
- Government agency meetings, e.g. public hearings, citizen workshops, candidate forums
- Gun buyback program
- Memorial events, e.g. 9/11, officer funeral service
- Voting locations and hours
- Burn ban notice, red flag notice
- Power line down, building collapse, sink hole
- Rules reminders, e.g. “don’t mix grass clippings with brush to be picked up”
- Home safety reminders: e.g. dispose of old medicines
- Swimming advisory: e.g. rip currents
- Life safety reminders: “children should wear helmets on bikes”, “lock your car”
- Switching alert services
- Important message
- New laws and their impact
- Tax and utility billing notices
- Political announcements
Specific Message Examples (Communities Names Selectively Redacted)
- Signup for HyperReach by Calling or Texting “Alert” to (740) 669-7798 or the web address: http://hyper-reach.com/ohvintonsignup.html
- Starting or reopening your small business? Cut red tape in half with NYC Business Quick Start. Call 888-727-4962 or visit nyc.gov/business
- Our city has an alarming shortage of donated blood. Give blood and help your city. Visit nybc.org or call 1-800-933-2566.
- This is the Charlotte Mecklenburg police department please stand by f… https://evb.gg/n#1iuuuue1acb/09aHG0UH or
- A Friendly Reminder Regarding Grass Clippings: Please do not mix grass clippings with brush piles. The Shrewsbury DPW will not pick u https://rgrp.app/3fmn0qY
- It’s important to keep our homes safe by cleaning our medicine cabinets and any areas we keep our medicine. Tomorrow, April 24th betwee https://rgrp.app/3xhN25F
- We need your help in keeping our children safe. Parents, please stress to your children that when they are ridi https://rgrp.app/352ZmJz
- Sewer Repair Work Planned for next week. 3/7/22 through 3/11/22. nixle.us/DG4NB Reply with a friend’s # to forward
- Message from Department of Public Works nixle.us/DEHGZ Reply with a friend’s # to forward
- Residents are encouraged to participate in The City of Manchester’s Holiday Lights Contest! nixle.us/D9ZSZ Reply with a friend’s # to forward
- ONLY call 9-1-1 for emergencies, not for power outages nixle.us/D8L5R Reply with a friend’s # to forward
- GUN BUY BACK CASH FOR GUNS EVENT nixle.us/D6X5H Reply with a friend’s # to forward
- County Sheriff Tom Jones announces he won’t seek re-election nixle.us/DGCTX Reply with a friend’s # to forward


We can say, "Those pepperoncinis are hot" or "That woman is hot" or "It's was hot in Phoenix today" or "Donald Trump's candidacy is a hot topic" - these all contain the word "hot" - which although are all spelled the same and pronounced the same - have wholly different meanings. Any young teen could discern these various homonyms because of the context their respective sentences give them. Body language signals also very often have multiple meanings - depending on the other nonverbal signs with which they are clustered. Lip biting is but one example of this nonverbal phenomenon.
In this image we see Ana Ivanovic, currently 7th in WTA women's singles rankings. Today - the first day of the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, this Serbian was upset by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova (6-3, 3-6, 6-3). Note in this image Ms. Ivanovic is biting her bottom lip. In this context it's indicative of some anxiety (although not excessive) as well as very concentrated, focused thought. Intriguingly, within the realm of tennis, lip biting is almost never seen during a serve - essentially only during a return.
As with the "hot" homonym exampled above (and in a non-tennis setting) when Lip Biting is accompanied by a different set of facial and body expressions - it can be indicative of varied meanings such as - anger, anxiety, focused thought, sadness, embarrassment, mischievousness, frustration, vulnerability and even sexual arousal. Yet without knowing and recognizing all the words in a nonverbal sentence, most people often have no idea how to color the emotional nuance of the moment.
Here Heather Watson (Great Britain) is returning to Lauren Davis (United States). Watson lost to the match, 7-6, 7-6.
Canadian Milos Raonic - in another lip-biting return defeated Tim Smyczek (U.S.), 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-1.
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3293: Why is Donald Trump a Better Liar than Most Politicians?
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2448: Sabine Lisicki Post Match Interview After Defeating Serena Williams Top Teeth Biting Lower Lip & Sincere Smiles
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3259: Barack Obama responds to Mike Huckabee's Holocaust Reference
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3005: Barack Obama, "I would enjoy having some Kentucky Bourbon with Mitch McConnell"
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2379: Bill Clinton's Speech at the George W. Bush Presidential Library Opening Body Language of Former and Current President
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2254: John Boehner's Speech Today - One Major Body Language Improvement the U.S. Speaker of the House Should Make
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 1829: Dara Torres Interview with Piers Morgan - Embarrassment, Visual Recall, Sexual Anticipation Lip Biting & Sincerity Quotients


One of the most intimidating processes for a parent is the Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting. This meeting should be a team effort by all persons providing services to your child with the focus being on providing a quality education.
Federal law mandates that every child has equal access to a free and appropriate education regardless of physical/mental ability. This law is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA Act). The sub-sections which agencies are required by law to inform you of are found below. The IDEA Act is far more extensive than that which is covered here. The full legal text of the 2004 Updated IDEA Act with simplified explanations can be found by visiting www.disability.gov


International Handbook of Media Literacy Education
Edited by Belinha S. De Abreu, Paul Mihailidis, Alice Y.L. Lee, Jad Melki, Julian McDougall
At the forefront in its field, this Handbook examines the theoretical, conceptual, pedagogical and methodological development of media literacy education and research around the world.
Building on traditional media literacy frameworks in critical analysis, evaluation, and assessment, it incorporates new literacies emerging around connective technologies, mobile platforms, and social networks. A global perspective rather than a Western-centric point of view is explicitly highlighted, with contributors from all continents, to show the empirical research being done at the intersection of media, education, and engagement in daily life.
Structured around five themes—Educational Interventions; Safeguarding/Data and Online Privacy; Engagement in Civic Life; Media, Creativity and Production; Digital Media Literacy—the volume as a whole emphasizes the competencies needed to engage in meaningful participation in digital culture.
Belinha S. De Abreu is Lecturer, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, School of Communication and Media Arts; Vice-President of the National Telemedia Council, USA, and an IAMCR member.
The above text is from the publisher's description of the book.
Title: International Handbook of Media Literacy Education
Editors: Belinha S. De Abreu, Paul Mihailidis, Alice Y.L. Lee, Jad Melki, Julian McDougall


The Libertarian theory is one of the “Normative theories of press”. The theory which is originally came from libertarian thoughts from 16th century in Europe. The libertarian theorists are against the authoritarian thoughts. International trade and urbanization undermine the power of a rural aristocracy which leads various social movements raise includes the Protestants reformation, that demands individual’s freedom and their own lives and free thoughts. Liberalism means information is knowledge and knowledge is power. Libertarianism is free from any authority or any control or censorship. The libertarianism is an idea of individualism and limited government which is not harmful to another.
Libertarian theory sees people are more enough to find and judge good ideas from bad. The theory says people are rational and their rational thoughts lead them to find out what are good and bad. The press should not restrict anything even a negative content may give knowledge and can make better decision whilst worst situation. The libertarian thoughts are exactly against or opposite to the authoritarian theory which means the authoritarian theory says “all forms of communication works under the control of government or elite like king”.
Strength and Weakness:
- Freedom of press will give more freedom to media to reveal the real thing happening in the society without any censorship or any authority blockades.
- Is reliable with U.S media traditions.
- It gives more values for individuals to express their thoughts in media.
- Theory excessively positive about media’s willing to meet responsibilities which may leads people into negative aspects.
- Is too positive about individual ethics and rationality.
- Ignores need for reasonable control of media.
- Ignores dilemmas posed by conflicting freedoms.
Wiki leaks website published all sorts of confidential or restricted files in public space and especially classified documents. These articles are providing brief knowledge about the government and its activities which helps people to identify what is happening in the society and its gives great choices to elect a better president in future.
Sometimes these documents may work against the government and its authority that is why most of the country is not willing to allow libertarian thoughts because it may affect their power and kingdom.


Start typing or press to get going!
The csharp code you'll be racing to type out is all about:
Characters are single letters or digits such as '1', 'H' or '?'
Variables let you store data.
Character variables let you store a single letter, number or punctuation mark.
In this example, a variable called letter is declared then set to a full stop.


Mt Taishan, as a famous Taoist mountain and one of the five holiest mountains
in China, has been the object of imperial pilgrimage for thousands years,
which made it superior over any other mountains within China. According
to historical records, there had been 72 emperors offering imperial sacrifices
here. As a source of inspiration to artists and scholars, the mountain
has inherited thousands of cultural relics. The sacred mountain is in
certainaspect a symbol of Chinese civilizations and beliefs. In 1987,
it was included as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
Climbing the mountain is grueling. Of the two possible routes to the summit,
the central one is most people's choice although they converges at Zhongtianmen
where a cable car system reaches Nantianmen, since on the route there
are a collection of bridges, towers, inscriptions, caves, temples, trees
and rivers. The climb beginning at Daizongfang to Zhongtianmen is a 3000
steps stairway walk. Wusongting (Five Pine Pavilion) is a little stretch
further. A story says that Emperor Qin Shi Huang was sheltered by the
pines in a storm and then he granted them an official rank of ministers.
The precarious Path of Eighteen Bends is a hard climb leading to Nantianmen.
Bixiaci (Azure Clouds Temple) is a temple of about 1,000 years. The halls
in it have iron tiles and bronze eaves. Yuhuangding (Jade Emperor Summit),
also called Daiding, is the summit of Mt Taishan. Emperors used to offer
sacrifices to Heaven on the peak. Riguanfeng (Sun View Peak) east of Yuhuangding
is the best place to watch sunrise. Descending to Zhongtianmen and taking
the western route, you will see the beautiful scenery of Mt Taishan.


In this video download, expert parent trainer and author of Parenting From Your Heart, Inbal Kashtan responds to the age-old question: "Why do children do things to annoy parents?"
Telling yourself to be a certain way or have more of a certain quality (like courage), is a set-up for self-criticism and possibly freezing or avoiding. Instead, access effective action by asking yourself questions like: "If I could be or have that, what actions would be different inside or out?" "If I could be or have that, what needs would be met and knowing those are the needs, what could I do or ask for that would meet those needs?"
The existing unequal risks and impacts people of certain race, class and identities face in society is magnified in these strenuous times -- especially with things such as illness, financial well being, discrimination, attacks, and death. As responsive NVC practitioners we can stand in solidarity with those who are differentially impacted. Read on for this, and additional ways to spot common pitfalls of doing so.
Trainer tip: Read on for the three stages of emotional maturity. In the third stage, we integrate the first two stages. We come to realize that everyone is responsible for their own feelings, but we also recognize our role if we do something that stimulates pain in another person. We also start to value the needs of everyone, rather than just one party's needs over the other.
The focus of this 6-session class is on shifting the intention of your teaching from how to why while embodying the principles and practice of NVC every step of the way - from planning to delivery. The methodology Miki offers is to start with understanding what the people in your audience face in their environment, continue with what they might want to learn and how NVC principles can provide them with what they want, and end with how you can frame the principles in a language and context that speak to your audience’s familiar experience. The first session of this course is available for all to listen to and enjoy.
We sometimes forget our intention to stay fully present and awake, it happens to all of us. Join CNVC Certified Trainer Arnina Kashtan as she explores this forgetting, how we hold it and what we can do about it.
There are endless ways to meet our needs. Conflict occurs when we argue over strategies. When we actively value everyone’s needs, we foster openness and deeper connection in our relationships. Today look for opportunities to focus on needs in order to resolve an issue with at least one person.


Rachyl Pines and Howard Giles
Dance is a visual, socially organized form of communication. There are countless forms and styles of dance, each with its own criteria of excellence, with varying degrees of technical training ranging from classical ballet to krumping. This could, at times, lend itself to intergroup antagonism with the various genres of dance as subgroups. However, all types of dancers have the potential to identify with one another as sharing in the superordinate identity, dancer. Dance may be consumed as an artistic performance, or one can engage it as a participant—dancing as a professional, as a form of recreation, or as a form of self-expression. The processes of producing, consuming, and participating in dance as a spectator, choreographer, or performer are all intergroup phenomena. For example, a spectator of a performance learns something about the culture that produced this dance. With this there is potential for intergroup contact and vicarious observation with dancers and the various audiences. This can be powerful for changing attitudes and conceptions of different dance groups. The attitude change may occur as people are exposed to a culture presented as art instead of exposure to information via factual accounts such as textbooks or museums. Also, a spectator or consumer’s perception of the performance is informed by group membership. For example, some religious groups discourage dance because they believe it is a sin or evil. These groups, if exposed to a dance performance, will experience it much differently than members of other groups that encourage dancing and actively seek its viewing.
In sum, dance is a vehicle through which group membership and social identity can be expressed. As dancers perform they can, for instance, express gender and sexuality. As choreographers direct movements, they express their conceptions of gender through the dancers. And as spectators view the performance, they are shown something about gender expression. When it is used as a form of protest, as a cultural expression, or as a form of social innovation, dance can express social group membership.
Like members of many social identity groups, gay men within certain racial or ethnic groups (e.g., gay white men in the United States) generally share a sense of group entitativity that is characterized by the experiences of unity, coherence, and organization. Notwithstanding its members’ overall sense of entitativity, gay white male culture in the United States, specifically, has formed an array of diverse subgroups along dimensions such as physical attractiveness, musculature, masculinity, and age. These subgroup categorizations often are highly salient to individuals, and they frequently serve these gay men’s drive to self-enhance through intragroup comparisons. Given that many of these subgroups are well established, with members who share not only unique physical characteristics but also particular communication patterns and/or traditions that contribute to group stereotype formation, it is possible to consider communication and comparisons across these subgroups to be intergroup in nature as well.
Social psychological theory provides useful frameworks for understanding the intra-/intergroup dynamics among such subgroups of gay men. One framework is self-categorization theory. According to this theory, individuals engage in self-stereotyping. That is, they react to themselves and others not as unique individuals, but as members of a group who share common characteristics and have similar needs, goals, and norms. It is through such categorization that group members differentiate themselves from members of other groups or subgroups. Another framework, social identity theory, also sheds light on intergroup dynamics within the gay white culture in the United States. In line with this theory, gay men may cope with discrimination from the heterosexual mainstream through the adoption of one or more coping strategies. These strategies include leaving their group or changing negative values assigned to the in-group into more positive ones. Additionally, they may avoid the use of the higher-status heterosexual group as a comparative frame of reference, instead making downward comparisons with members of other gay male groups that they consider to be inferior in order to self-enhance. Of course, though not to achieve positive distinctiveness, members of lower-status groups also orient themselves in gay culture by making upward comparisons with members of subgroups they consider to be superior to their own. Again, these subgroup distinctions may include those based on physical attractiveness, musculature, masculinity, and age.
Sexual orientation is a private matter that individuals can decide to disclose or conceal. Nevertheless, when interacting with others, people look for cues of sexual orientation. Hence, the person’s face, voice, or non-verbal behavior is taken as a cue revealing sexual orientation. As research on “gaydar” has shown, this detecting ability can sometimes be accurate or stereotype-based. Sometimes gay, lesbian, and bisexual people themselves intentionally communicate their sexual identity explicitly or through more subtle cues. Intentional or not, several cues are taken as communicating sexual orientation with the consequences of shaping interpersonal interactions.
Identifying someone as gay or lesbian has several implications. On the one hand, it leads straight men and women to non-verbally behave differently than when interacting with other straight individuals (e.g., more physical distance, more self-touching). On the other hand, it also affects verbal communication (e.g., topics of conversation, questions, and statements). The harshest consequence is hate speech and homophobic language. Research has shown that being labeled as “faggot” or “dyke” not only negatively affects those who are the target of such verbal derogation but also negatively impacts on straight bystanders. Indeed, gay and lesbian targets of homophobic language report a lower level of well-being and self-acceptance, while being exposed to such language increases prejudice toward gay men and lesbians among straight people. In the case of straight men, the use of homophobic language is often associated with identity self-affirmation and self-presentation. Interestingly, a recent trend among gay people has been noticed: they use homophobic labels among them as a form of “reclaimed language,” meaning that these derogatory terms are used with a different intent and reframed in a more positive way.
Moreover, communicating sexual orientation can increase self-acceptance, social support, and positive social comparison among gay men and lesbians and can also increase positive attitudes toward gay people, especially when it happens with friends and family members.
Michela Menegatti and Monica Rubini
Language is one of the most powerful means through which sexism and gender discrimination are perpetrated and reproduced. The content of gender stereotypes, according to which women should display communal/warmth traits and men should display agentic/competence traits, is reflected in the lexical choices of everyday communication. As a consequence, language subtly reproduces the societal asymmetries of status and power in favor of men, which are attached to the corresponding social roles. Moreover, the hidden yet consensual norm according to which the prototypical human being is male is embedded in the structure of many languages. Grammatical and syntactical rules are built in a way that feminine terms usually derive from the corresponding masculine form. Similarly, masculine nouns and pronouns are often used with a generic function to refer to both men and women. However, such linguistic forms have the negative effects of making women disappear in mental representations. Although the use of gender-fair linguistic expressions can effectively prevent these negative consequences and promote gender equality, there are even more implicit forms of gender bias in language that are difficult to suppress. By choosing terms at different levels of abstraction, people can affect the attributions of the receiver in a way that is consistent with their stereotypical beliefs. Linguistic abstraction, thus, is a very subtle resource used to represent women in a less favorable way and thus to enact gender discrimination without meaning to discriminate or even be aware that this linguistic behavior has discriminatory results. In order to reduce gender bias, it is necessary to change people’s linguistic habits by making them aware of the beneficial effects of gender-fair expressions.
V. Skye Wingate and Nicholas A. Palomares
Gender is conceptualized as a social construct rather than biologically determined. Gender shapes communication in intergroup contexts. Gender influences communication in assorted domains, such as nonverbal behavior and emotion, language, friendship, self-disclosure, social support and advice, group decision making, leadership emergence, gaming, and aggression. Considering gender-based communication in each of these domains provides insight into the manner in which gender-based communication is conceptualized and understood. Gender is a meaningful factor, but not the sole determinant, of communication because other factors can moderate gender’s influence.


South Florida Moms Celebrate Mother's Day By Discussing Climate Change
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="699"] The Mama Summit featured information sheets about the negative effects of climate change and measures mothers can take to fight them. CREDIT DANNY HWANG / WLRN NEWS[/caption]
May 10, 2018
By Danny Hwang
From WLRN News
South Florida moms celebrated Mother’s Day by hosting a panel discussion about climate change resilience, calling it a "Mama Summit."
The moms, who represent a group called Moms Clean Air Force, told government officials they share a concern for a sustainable future.
Karina Castillo is the Florida Field Consultant for the group, a national community of over one million parents working to combat air pollution and climate change. She emphasized the importance of local community engagement against climate change.
“We know that in a warming world we’ll be faced with more intense storms and more intense heat, as well as mosquito-borne diseases," Castillo said. "We want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with local leaders, supporting them, urging them to do more, and celebrating the innovations that improve the quality of our air, the quality of our lives, and our communities everywhere for future generations. ”
Moms Clean Air Force organized Mother's Day summits in 11 cities across the country, engaging local government officials and stakeholders to address the negative impacts of climate change. Miami City Hall was one of the hosts.
In recognition of their work, members of Moms Clean Air Force were awarded a certificate of appreciation at the Miami City Commission meeting.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="699"] Magaly Fuentes brought her son Avel to participate in the summit. CREDIT DANNY HWANG / WLRN NEWS[/caption]
Magaly Fuentes was at the summit with her five-year-old son Avel. She said environmental activism turned personal when she became a mother.
“I’ve always cared a lot about the environment to begin with, but my son also got diagnosed when he was two-years-old with asthma, and that’s made it even more important," she said. "The clean air, I mean, what can be more important than your child’s health?”
The panel discussion featured remarks by City of Miami’s Chief Resilience Officer Jane Gilbert, Executive Director of The CLEO Institute Caroline Lewis, and Catalyst Miami’s Climate Resilience Director Zelalem Adefris. Discussion topics included not only climate change prevention but also the need to raise public awareness surrounding the issue and work with government officials to improve climate resilience infrastructure.
Moms Clean Air Force is planning the Annual Play-In for Climate Action on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on July 11, where families from across the country will be able to meet with legislators. More information on Moms Clean Air Force can be found here.
This article was originally posted on WLRN.org.


Skills for writing across the multiple media platforms and genres that are currently used in strategic communication campaigns.
- Apply rules of punctuation and grammar; produce consistent style; illustrate quality content, organization, format, and design of standard strategic communication messages and documents; demonstrate the nine-step writing process
- Strengthen critical and creative thinking abilities; successfully utilize strategy, target audience focus, and diplomacy in writing, including creation of oral presentations
- Employ the tools used to effectively assist organizations to achieve their values-driven, mission-related business goals; evaluate potential jobs in strategic writing
- Begin to build a professional portfolio by creating high-quality documents for print, broadcast, and online/social media in a variety of strategic disciplines: public relations, advertising, sales and marketing, and business communication
- Understand how to translate research findings into actionable strategic communication strategies and tactics
- Understand the basics of executing strategic communications strategy visually and verbally


~~Shang Dynasty (1600
BC - 1046 BC) is the first historic Chinese dynasty and ruled in
the northeastern region of China proper. The Shang dynasty followed
the legendary Xia Dynasty and preceded the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC
- 256 BC). Information about the Shang Dynasty comes from bronze
artifacts and oracle bones, were turtle shells or cattle scapula
on which were written the first recorded Chinese characters, found
in the Huang He valley. These bones typically had three sections:
a question for the oracle (charge), the oracle's answer (prognostication),
and whether the oracle later proved to be correct (Verification).
The bones are often from cattle, oxen or monkeys, but never from
cats or dogs.
The Yin(latter half of Shang) left written historic records containing
information on the politics, economy, culture, religion, geography,
astronomy, calendar, art and medicine of the period, and as such
provides critical insight toward the early stages of the Chinese
civilization. The site of the Yin capital, later historically called
the Ruins of Yin ,is near modern day Anyang Archaeological work
there uncovered 11 major Yin royal tombs and the foundations of
palace and ritual sites, all of them containing
weapons of war. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone and
ceramic artifacts have been obtained; the workmanship on the bronzes
attests to a high level of civilization. In terms of inscribed oracle
bones alone, more than 20,000 were discovered. Many Chinese characters
found in the inscriptions at the Ruins of Yin are still in use today.
The Shang dynasty is believed to have been founded by a rebel leader
who overthrew the last (still legendary) Xia ruler. Its civilization
was based on agriculture, augmented by hunting and animal husbandry.
The Records of the Grand Historian states that the Shang Dynasty
moved its capital six times. The final and most important move to
Yin in 1350 BC led to the golden age of the dynasty. The term Yin
Dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang dynasty in history, although
lately it has been used specifically in reference to the latter
half of the Shang.
A line of hereditary Shang kings ruled over much of northern China,
and Shang troops fought frequent wars with neighboring settlements
and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Asian steppes. The capitals,
particularly in Yin, were centers of glittering court life. Court
rituals to propitiate spirits and to honor sacred ancestors were
highly developed. In addition to his secular position, the king
was the head of the ancestor- and spirit-worship cult. Evidence
from the royal tombs indicates that royal personages were buried
with articles of value, presumably for use in the afterlife. Perhaps
for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been slaves,
were buried alive with the royal corpse.
Shang Zhou, the last Yin king, committed suicide after his army was
defeated by the Zhou people. Legends say that his army betrayed him
by joining the Zhou rebels in a decisive battle. A classical novel
Fengshen Yanyi is about the war between that of Yin and Zhou, in which
each was supported by one group of gods.
After the Yin's collapse, the surviving Yin ruling family collectively
changed their surname from their royal Ó (pinyin: zi; Wade-Giles:
tzu) to the name of their fallen dynasty, Yin ó. The family
remained aristocratic and often provided needed administrative services
to the succeeding Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou King Cheng ÜÉõ
through the Regent, his uncle the Duke of Zhou Dan , enfeoffed the
Shang King Zhou's brother the Viscount of Wei, WeiZi ¢Ó
in the old Shang capital at Shang Ì with the territory becoming
the state of Song Î. The State of Song and the royal Shang
descendants maintained rites to the dead Shang kings and lasted
until 286BC. (Source: Records of the Grand Historian).
Both Korean and Chinese legends state that a disgruntled Yin prince
named þÓ Jizi (Kija), who refused to cede power to
the Zhou, left China with his garrison and founded Gija Joseon near
modern day Pyongyang to what would become one of the early Korean
states (Go-, Gija-, and Wiman-Joseon). Though Jizi is mentioned
only a few times in Shiji, it is thought that the story of his going
to Joseon is but a myth.


In the above video, Anthony Weiner, a democrat who is a candidate for the New York City Mayoral race, is arguing with a man who called him a "scumbag" and who Weiner later described as a "heckler". The following is a partial analysis of the argument focusing on some oft overlooked body language principles.
Throughout the vast majority of this confrontation, Anthony Weiner invaded the other man's personal space - and indeed at times he appeared to almost touch him. While his heckler did not come nearly as close to Weiner with his hand/arm gestures (illustrators).
The other man rarely pointed at Weiner. When he pointed, the vast majority of the time he pointed up or with a slight angle tilted towards Weiner. This is a very important distinction.
This image summarizes the incident in a nutshell. Weiner pointed many times with his index finger (forefinger) directly at the other man - very often directly at his chest, while his confronter only once reciprocated.
Weiner, who repeatedly used the index finger point (which is insulting and highly derogatory across all cultures and countries) has a CLOSED FIST.
Anytime a closed fist is used, it will engender facial tension and anger. Tension in the face also will bring on tension in the hands. Both actions facilitate the other. Note the Weiner's face shows a high amount of anger while the other man's shows little.
If you see a jaw jut with an index finger point (or fist) - take precautions for violence is very possible.
Here the "heckler" points for one of his very few times (especially when compared to the number of infractions Weiner committed) and his face in turn begins to take on a higher amount of anger.
This is a microexpression of anger. Its duration is very brief. His extremely thinned and horizontally oriented straight lips, clenched jaw, dilated (flared) nostrils and widely opened eyelids (here only his right eye is partially captured in the crucial instant) is an example of a nonverbal cluster of high anger.
This encounter is an excellent illustrator of the nonverbal principle, that when angry, insulting and confrontational body language is used - it will engender and escalate those same emotions (as demonstrated by Weiner). Moreover refraining from this body language helps to avoid this anger crescendo (exemplified by the other man). This principle is very important and often unaddressed in those with anger management problems. Intriguingly, those with impulsive behavior of anger also have increased probability of other impulsive behavior.
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2475: Anthony Weiner & Huma Abedin Part IV - More Sexting Will Surface
Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2405: Anthony Weiner's Running For Mayor of New York - His Body Language & His Sincerity Quotient
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2469: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin and the NYC Mayoral Race Body Language & the Five Burroughs, Part I
Nonverbal Communication Secret # 1446: Tension in the Mouth - Tension in the Hands
Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1918: Vladimir Putin - Pointing with Pen Surrogates - Sharp vs. Blunt
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2493: Jewel in Disguise at Karaoke Bar, Body Language Cues to Lack of Nervousness
Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 2039: Fight Outside Florida Courtroom - Jaw Jut Prior to Violence


Learning through Play & Design: Personal Stories of Connected Learning
This collection of six personal stories documents the different ways that educators are utilizing aspects of play and design in their curriculums. Their hands-on approach to learning allows students to physically manifest their ideas by constructing, designing, and executing a plan to create something new, either on their own or as a collaboration.
These stories spotlight a range of different approaches to learning through play—from educators leading furniture design workshops for kids at the intersection of art and science to facilitators of Makerspaces where the debugging or tinkering required to overcome initial failure is a first step toward true learning. Each personal story delves into the creative ways that connected learning educators are utilizing play as a mechanism for growth.
Each personal story focuses on the different creative approaches educators are using to transform traditional curriculum and support Connected Learning, which leverages the advances of the digital age to pave the way for more customized, student-centered learning. It is characterized by learning that is social, participatory, interest-driven, and relevant to the opportunities of our time.
These stories were originally featured on Connected Learning TV with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Connected Learning TV now airs on the National Writing Project's Educator Innovator.
Find other Connected Learning TV case studies and personal stories in these collections:
- Fan Activism and Community: Case Studies in Connected Learning
- Paths of Creativity: Case Studies in Connected Learning
- Powerful Learning for Change: Case Studies in Connected Learning
- Reimagining Learning & Teaching: Personal Stories of Connected Learning
- Learning in Community: Personal Stories of Connected Learning


The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project was the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte, and has the stated goal of providing children everywhere the opportunity to learn. It’s really not intended to be a project about technology, and while many of the laptops are donated the prospect of being able to get a laptop and donate one at the same time for only $200 is extremely appealing.
Unfortunately, for a project that is not intended to be about technology specifically it has been embroiled in a radical user interface design that is specifically targeted at kids. You can use the VMware Player on your own home computer to experiment with the OLPC desktop, a pre-built VMware appliance is available.
Why should this look so different from a Windows desktop? Rather than give the two-billion children in underdeveloped nations a computer with a standard desktop metaphore, the OLPC project is providing them a completely non-standard computing experience that has no provision for learning established GUI mechanisms.
Sure, there are menus and one might argue the nebulous onscreen “X” might be indicative of an icon, but generally speaking this is not anything like Windows XP, Mac OS X, Gnome or KDE. It almost seems like this is the kind of thing that would provide a learning obstical.
What is it exactly kids are suppose to be learning while using this laptop? It includes a utility for discovering other unnamed entities around your vicinity, something like an online chat but with unadorned objects floating around the screen. Let’s hope you’re not color blind, since that seems to be one of the prerequisits for using any of this stuff. Then there is a virtually hidden web browsing feature, which is quite similar to any modern browser with the only exception being the non-standard mechanism for launching the application.
It seems to me all of this could have been accomplished with a CDE approach, start an X server with a button bar on the bottom for a few core applications and have everything running in a fullscreen mode. What more do you need? Certainly a library of applications would help, it would be smart to keep the device easily extensible so that when the need arises to do something new (eg: learn how to track celestial objects) it can be added.
The laptop hardware is well designed and extremely rugged, it is an ideal computer for children everywhere with the exception of the user interface. Let’s hope this changes and an alternative provisioning option is made available, I wouldn’t want my daughter learning on this device so why should it be any different for children in Cambodia?


The Association for the Gifted (TAG), as part of the Council for Exceptional Children, is committed to providing educational opportunities which foster excellence and equity in a democratic pluralistic society. Achieving these goals requires that schools develop programs which honor diversity. Because children are capable of developing beyond where we are able to predict, schools must sustain educational programs which promote development and magnify differences among persons.
“Inclusion” is a philosophical position which acknowledges these goals and champions programs which reform the “general” educational program to be more responsive to diversity. TAG embraces that philosophy and those policies which abandon a one-program-fits-all approach to education. Among school-aged children, TAG is especially concerned with those who exhibit three educationally relevant characteristics, i.e. rapid rate of learning and development in some domain, advanced knowledge in areas related to that domain and a seriousness about learning. Programs which call themselves – inclusion programs – and address these characteristics in a practical and meaningful way are appropriately named and are to be commended.
All children deserve varying experiences because they have different needs. Believing that all children are capable learners does not mean that all learn in the same way, at the same rate and can achieve the same outcomes in the same time frame. Placing children in situations where they face persistent failure is as inappropriate as placing them in situations where they face chronic lack of challenge. Learning to work together and helping others are worthwhile objectives that become unseemly when children are rarely challenged academically and intellectually. More, not less, attention to individual differences in learning and development is needed in order to have excellent and equitable schools.


Larry Smarr is defining the future of healthcare. As he, a world-renowned computer scientist and Michael Kurisu, the much-in-demand osteopathic physician at UC San Diego demonstrate, the balance of power between patients and doctors will change as technology gives patients the tools to know more about their own bodies. And the more informed they become, the more likely they will work with their doctors to develop treatment and prevention plans that are appropriate for them. Using Smarr as a case study, this patient and doctor show the benefits of hands-on, systems-based thinking in treating sciatica and self-diagnosing Crohn’s disease. Kurisu then takes these concepts to Project Apollo, a group of highly educated and motivated patients who call themselves “Little Larry’s” as they use the same techniques to address and treat their own health problems. All of this pointing to what theologian and physician Albert Schweitzer envisioned in the last century, “the doctor of the future will be one self.” Smarr and Kurisu are showing us how.
Did you know that osteopathic physicians (DO’s) learn the same curriculum and train the same way as traditional medical students? Where they differ is in philosophy. Osteopathic physicians take a more holistic, hands-on approach to their patients by focusing on the structure and function of the whole body, not just their symptoms of disease or pain. This branch of medicine is one of the fastest growing segments in healthcare. After listening to Dr. Hollis King and Dr. Michael Kurisu, of UC San Diego, you’ll understand why one in four US medical students is now learning osteopathic techniques.


1. A host computer that, in a screened subnetwork, performs the functions of a firewall. Synonym screened-host gateway. [2382-pt.35] 2. A computer system that must be highly secured because it is vulnerable to attack, usually because it is exposed to the Internet and is a main point of contact for users of internal networks. It gets its name from the highly fortified projects on the outer walls of medieval castles.


They are some of the most ambitious education programs of the 20th century – school desegregation, school finance reform, and Head Start. Today, many view these initiatives as failures, but professor Rucker C. Johnson of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy disagrees. He and a team of researchers combed through data from over four decades to figure out the true impact of these programs. Their findings are detailed alongside compelling stories of real people in Johnson’s new book, Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works. Recently, Johnson sat down with Goldman School Dean Henry E. Brady to discuss the book and his research.
Johnson and his colleagues used big data and new techniques to look at the wide-ranging impacts of school desegregation. They tracked everything from high school graduation rates, to employment, wages and health. Thanks to the uneven implementation of desegregation, Johnson was able to compare children who grew up in similar environments, but experienced different levels of desegregation. He found a big part of the positive impact came from how desegregation affected access to class resources, after school programs, quality teachers, and smaller class sizes. And, the longer a student spent in desegregated schools, the greater the impact. In fact, the achievement gap between white and black students closed faster following desegregation than at any other time in American history.
Unfortunately, the United States has moved away from integration. Today, many schools and classrooms are heavily divided along racial lines. Opponents of desegregation appear to have won. But, Johnson says there is still hope. He lays out the case for making integration a priority once again, using data to prove its effectiveness. He also delves into school finance reform and Head Start, showing how sustained investment in education is the surest way to change children’s lives for the better.
Watch The Success of Integrating Schools with Rucker Johnson — In the Living Room with Henry E. Brady


PRE-CRIME is a documentary that shows the role of the latest policing techniques to prevent crime using algorithms and big data. Besides the enormous benefits in terms of crime prevention and control, citizens are attached with ratings of how likely they are to commit a crime, thus raising issues related to the social and legal context.
Nowadays, every move, message and purchase are tracked and mapped: data coming from different sources are continuously captured by cameras or recorded by computers in order to be analysed through algorithms. The final outcome of predictive policing techniques is a list of potential future criminals.
But what if the data is wrong or biased?
This question opens the way to the dangers of pre-crime, a term coined by science fiction author Philip K. Dick, and triggers the need to think about the trade-off between security and civil liberties. The documentary aims to provide an insight into the opportunities and threats of these techniques, by showing them in action between Chicago, London, Paris, Berlin, Munich and other cities, but also by collecting the stories of those who have been affected by algorithms.
Find more: About PRE-CRIME


An insightful publication by Fulco Scherjon, Corrie Bakels, Katharine MacDonald, and Wil Roebroeks in the June 2015 issue of Current Anthropology sheds new light on present-day and historical fire setting practices among hunter-gatherers and foragers. In the article, the authors argue that despite myriad burning practices common in present-day foraging populations, “‘off-site’ uses have received far less attention in studies of early fire use than ‘on-site’ fire usage.” (p. 301). A significant lack of dedicated studies about fire use among ancient hunter-gatherers therefore led them to embark on a global cross-cultural study.
Using eHRAF World Cultures, the researchers collected more than 230 cultural references to off-site fire use among foraging groups by searching the database for the following key words: “fire, pyrotechnology, burn(ing/t), landscape management, charcoal” (p. 302).
Within their search results, they discovered an incredible variety of off-site fire uses among hunter-gatherers. Situations involving purposeful fire-setting or burning include: the procurement of food and/or hunting; social interaction, communication and signaling (such as smoke signals); warfare; to keep away predators; and to modify the natural environment such as by stimulating the growth of specific types of plants or to clear the land. Fire is also commonly used for other social or ritual purposes like entertainment or rites (pp. 302-306).
Despite common perceptions of foragers as peoples who live simply “off the land” – collecting only what is readily available for survival without greatly modifying the environment – anthropologists have long revealed that this is not an accurate depiction. The ethnographic record of hunter-gatherer fire and burning activities is clearly very rich, and Scherjon, et al. propose that this same plentitude of contemporary evidence implies that off-site burning was even more important in the past (p. 311) as an activity common to all fire-producing hominins. However, “the antiquity of off-site fire use is seriously frustrated by the near invisibility of fire use and production” in the archaeological record (p. 312). Thus, the authors conclude their article with a call for new data to better identify fire and burning in the archaeological and geological record.
Additional sources from eHRAF Archaeology
eHRAF World Cultures’ global ethnographic search is ideal for comparative anthropological studies; and, in this case, for supporting and illuminating archaeological theory with historical and contemporary context. The data enabled the authors to draw a complex and varied picture of fire use among hunter-gathering populations, finding commonalities that led them to conclude that the practice of off-site fire setting has roots into the much deeper past.
How might we look to the past to investigate further? Additional useful data from ancient and prehistoric societies can be found in eHRAF Archaeology, HRAF’s specialized online database containing books, journal articles, dissertations, and manuscripts about world prehistory and prehistoric cultures. Modeled after eHRAF World Cultures with a similar layout and navigation, eHRAF Archaeology categorizes archaeological documents into traditions organized by region. As with all eHRAF documents, the texts are also thoroughly subject-indexed at the paragraph level according to the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM). In total, the eHRAF Archaeology database contains 94 traditions ranging in coverage from 230,000 BP to 100 BP. Every year, five archaeological traditions comprising approximately 10,000 new pages are coded and added to the database. For the list of traditions currently included, click here.
So what unique information about historical fire use by hunter-gatherers* can we uncover in eHRAF Archaeology?
It is possible to find specific uses of off-site burning among hunter-gatherer groups like those mentioned by Scherjon, et al., such as how foraging groups use fire/burning to clear the land or hunt and procure food. For instance, Crabtree, et al. (1991: 165), describe how the likely catastrophic mortality pattern of gazelle populations based on excavations at a late Natufian site in the lower Jordan Valley (11,530±1550 BP) implies “the use of a communal hunting method such as net-hunting or fire drives” as is also seen with modern gazelle herds in that region.
Similarly, Voorhies (1976: 24) found evidence among present populations at the Chantuto archaeological site in Southwestern Mexico of fire being set for the purpose of collecting turtles to eat. The turtles are normally difficult to collect because they hide in the water amongst cattail reeds; however, when the females move out of the water during the laying season, locals burn the nesting sites to procure the turtles and their eggs. She further suggests that “this procurement pattern may have considerable time depth in the study area” (ibid).
The HRAF Tradition Summary for the “Late Southern California” tradition describes how Native Californians used fire:
Although they did not practice agriculture, Native Californians regularly manipulated their environment with vegetation burning. The deliberate burning promoted fire-following plants such as red maids ( Calandrinia spp.), chia ( Salvia columbariae), native barley (Hordeum intercedens), maygrass ( Phalaris spp.), goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.), and brodiaea ( Dichelostemma capitatum). Patchy areas of brush and grassland, which is the outcome of controlled burning, also provides better habitat for deer and rabbit (Berry and Johnson 2000: 8).
Every tradition in eHRAF Archaeology – like every culture in eHRAF World Cultures – contains a thorough content summary. Most of the summaries in eHRAF Archaeology were written by outside archaeologists for the Encyclopedia of Prehistory that was edited by Peter N. Peregrine and Melvin Ember. In addition, HRAF’s staff of analysts add a collection overview, document abstracts, and indexing notes as well as sometimes writing summaries such as the one above. They are a great place to start when you want to be introduced to a culture, tradition or the contents of the eHRAF collection for that topic.
The documents in eHRAF Archaeology are also useful for situating new ideas within the context of existing theory, ethnography and archaeological findings. For instance, several sources corroborate the contention by Scherjon, et al. that historical off-site fire usage was likely commonplace among hunter gatherers, but that more historical data is needed.
One such example begins by summarizing palynologist Linda Heusser’s analysis of fossil pollen and vegetational changes reflected in the pollen record in the Santa Barbara Channel region of California:
After ca. 2200 B.P. various chaparral species became relatively more prevalent than before. Heusser suspects that climate may have become cooler and wetter during this period, reaching current conditions. However, she proposes that the increase in chaparral species may be related to an increased prevalence of fire caused by human intervention. The Chumash at the time of European contact are known to have burned purposefully lands in the coastal plain in order to propagate certain seed-bearing plants of interest, but the history of this practice has not been documented archaeologically (Glassow 1996: 107-108).
Additional studies also confirm that looking at present-day fire use can provide much-needed insight into similar practices in the past. Walker (1995: 28) arrives at a similar conclusion to Scherjon, et al. when he argues that recent fire use among hunter-gatherers in Zimbabwe for vegetation control and game drives likely indicates similar practices were common in the past, so much so that “it is likely that the vegetation during the Later Stone Age was in a constant state of flux”.
Finally, Deacon focuses at length on fire usage among Holocene hunter-gatherers in the Eastern Cape of South Africa:
In relation to plant food collecting patterns and seasonality it is of interest to speculate on the role of fire. Fire is common in the grass and fynbos communities […] If judiciously used, fire can result in advanced flowering time and increased quantity of flowers produced in certain communities. Dyer [1937:54, cited in Deacon 1976] has suggested systematic burning was introduced in recent times to prevent the spread of bush and push back the succession to grassveld (1976: 100-101).
However, referencing a related study of the effects of burning in the neighboring Grahamstown Nature Reserve, he proceeds to argue that:
Veld burning may have been consciously practised rather earlier than suggested by Dyer above and may have been a management technique of the Holocene huntergatherers. Their adaptation was to such an intractable range of animal and plant species that this procedure would appear to have been the only one whereby some control of productivity in their environment could have been achieved. […] There is good ethnographic evidence for systematic seasonal burning of the veld being traditionally practised and ecological data to indicate that the timing of the burning is important in terms of the scale of regeneration (Deacon 1976: 101).
While there is still much to discover, this particular excerpt from eHRAF Archaeology combines both theoretical and ethnographic context that is pertinent for advancing debates about prehistoric fire use among foragers.
Two databases; many intersections
For archaeologists and physical anthropologists interested in human prehistory, eHRAF Archaeology is a great place to start researching. Furthermore, as the selected examples above show, eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology together cover a broad range of cross-cultural topics on contemporary as well as past societies. This makes searching both databases especially useful when considering how present-day practices, cultures or regions compare with the historical and ancient activities, or when seeking evidence of cultural change in specific regions of the world.
Not yet an eHRAF member? Free database trials are available for academic institutions or individual/unaffiliated researchers. Just contact Chris Cunnar (Member Services) at firstname.lastname@example.org for more information.
* The eHRAF examples cited in this post were found using basic (keyword) and advanced (subject code + keywords) searches. Learn more about searching in eHRAF in our User Guide. Looking to recreate an eHRAF Archaeology search for fire use among foraging groups? More information on narrowing your search by subsistence type is available here.
Berry, Sarah, and John R. Johnson. 2000. “Tradition Summary: Late Southern California.” New Haven, Conn.: HRAF. http://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=ns50-000.
Crabtree, Pam J., Douglas V. Campana, Anna Belfer-Cohen, and Daniella E. Bar-Yosef. 1991. “First Results Of The Excavations At Salibiya I, Lower Jordan Valley.” Natufian Culture In The Levant, Edited By Ofer Bar-Yosef & François R. Valla. Ann Arbor, Mich.: International Monographs in Prehistory. http://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=m080-020.
Deacon, H. J. 1976. “Where Hunters Gathered: A Study Of Holocene Stone Age People In The Eastern Cape.” South African Archaeological Society Monograph Series. Claremont, South Africa: South African Archaeological Society. http://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=fx50-001.
Glassow, Michael A. 1996. “Purisimeño Chumash Prehistory: Maritime Adaptations Along The Southern California Coast.” Case Studies In Archaeology. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. http://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=ns50-005.
Scherjon, F., C. Bakels, K. MacDonald, and W. Roebroeks. 2015. Burning the Land: An Ethnographic Study of Off-Site Fire Use by Current and Historically Documented Foragers and Implications for the Interpretation of Past Fire Practices in the Landscape. Current Anthropology 56(3): 299-326.
Voorhies, Barbara. 1976. “Chantuto People: An Archaic Period Society Of The Chiapas Littoral, Mexico.” Papers Of The New World Archaeological Foundation. Provo, Utah: New World Archaeological Foundation. http://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=ny50-005.
Walker, Nicholas John. 1995. “Late Pleistocene And Holocene Hunter-Gatherers Of The Matopos: An Archaeological Study Of Change And Continuity In Zimbabwe.” Studies In African Archaeology. Uppsala: Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis. http://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=fx50-005.


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Let me describe what we find if we try to calculate what happens with the simplest possible model of the hammer-string interaction. (Details may be found, along with a survey of the history of this problem, in Hall (1986, 1987a, 1987b).) There is a fairly simple differential equation that describes what must happen if the hammer is pictured as only an extra mass temporarily attached to the string (Fig. 7). We can write solutions to this equation that represent first a simple wave travelling away from the hammer in both directions (the curve labelled 0), and then the reflection of this wave from the ends of the string. When a reflected wave tries to pass the hammer, it pushes downward on it, and this interaction generates a new outgoing wave (labelled 1). This wave in turn, after reflection from the ends, gives rise to grandchildren (labelled 2), and so on. Thus, if the hammer remains in contact long enough, the total disturbance will include a large number of waves travelling in both directions. Such a theory, with perfectly hard hammers, will surely not predict what happens in a normal piano. But it could be applied to the case where a very "tinny" sound is achieved by putting thumbtacks (an American term; you may know them as "drawing pins") in the hammers.
Fig. 7. Shapes of the successive generations of waves created on a flexible string by the impact of a point-mass hammer; (0) initial wave, (1) daughter wave, (2) granddaughter wave, etc. The curves are normalized so that they may represent any key. Time is given in multiples ("units") of the typical hammer deceleration time (mc/2T) and the displacement in multiples of (mcV/2T), where m is the hammer mass, c is the propagation velocity on the string, T is the string tension, and V is the initial hammer velocity. For a blow in the middle register at mf the "units" would typically correspond to 1 ms and 1 mm, respectively.
Fig. 8. Representation of a soft hammer as a mass with a spring between it and the string. The compression of the hammer is equal to the difference between the displacement of the hammer after string contact (n), and the displacement of the string (y).
If we admit that the normal felt hammers are soft, we must go on to do our calculations based on a picture where a spring cushions the contact of the hammer mass with the string (Fig. 8). Now the exact shape of the wave travelling along the string depends on the strength of the spring (Fig. 9a). Here 0.1 denotes small compliance, meaning a strong spring and a stiff hammer; 1.5 means large compliance, a weak spring and a soft hammer. Figs. 9(b) and (c) show the effect of the compliance on the daughter and granddaughter waves. It is not surprising that greater compliance makes a smoother, more gentle wave.
Fig 9. Initial wave (a) and its descendants (b) and (c) created by impact of an idealized soft hammer on a string. The same "units" as in Fig. 7.
Now doing a complete calculation of the string motion, including all these waves, would be very impractical by hand. But it is an ideal problem for a small computer, which can produce pictures like Fig. 10 showing the total effect of all the reflected waves on the shape of the string.
Fig. 10. Example of successive shapes taken by a string after hammer impact. The vertical lines represent how fast each part of the string is moving.
The computer program can be responsible not only for the arithmetic, but also for deciding at each moment how many waves are present, and for determining when the hammer finally loses contact with the string. A typical result is shown in Fig. 11, expressed in terms of the history of the force applied to the string. See how a soft hammer pushes rather steadily on the string, but a very hard hammer gives a series of sharp pulses of force. Once this information is known, it can be used to calculate how much energy has been delivered to the string, and how that energy is divided among the different harmonic modes.
Fig. 11. Force history for an idealized hammer with mass equal to that of the string, striking at 1/8 its length from one end. Examples of hammer compliance range from 0 (perfectly hard) to 0.8 (rather soft). This plot is normalized, using the same "unit" for time as in Fig. 7. Force is given in multiples of (2TV/c). For a mf blow in the middle register this "unit" would correspond to approximately 10 N.
What is most interesting is to ask the computer to do many of these calculations, in order to see how the results depend on the properties of the hammer. Fig. 12 shows some sample predicted spectra, with very hard hammers at the back and softer ones toward the front; as we would expect, this says that the softer hammers would not have as much of the higher harmonics in their sound.
Fig. 12. Sample predicted spectra for a simplified (linear) hammer as a function of its compliance (softness).
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This lecture is one of Five lectures on the Acoustics of the piano
© 1990 Royal Swedish Academy of Music