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Gotham Independent Film Awards - Final Submission Deadline Today!/
The 22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards will take place this year again at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, on Monday, November 26th. The first award show of the season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards honor independently distributed American feature films made with an economy of means and celebrate the authentic voices behind and in front of the camera in the year's best independent films. Submissions are now being accepted in five of the competitive categories, including: Best Feature,Best Documentary, Breakthrough Actor, Breakthrough Director and Best Ensemble Performance. The deadline for submissions is 5pm EST on September 14, 2012. Applications, along with full criteria, are available here.


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Perfect complete of your crystal skin makeup.
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How to use:
Take appropriate volume on the puff to apply it tenderly with light pounding.
1. Avoid applying on damaged or injured skin.
2. If any skin redness or sensitivity problem occurs after use, please stop using immediately and consult a doctor if necessary.
3. Should you suffer from skin allergies, we recommend a skin patch test to be performed before use. Apply a small amount on the skin behind your ears and wait 10–15 min to see if there is any allergic reaction.
4. Store product in a well-ventilated place away from direct heat and sunlight.
Consumer Advice
Beauty Bistro is the official distributor for LUVIEW products sold in Singapore. Products have been registered with HSA to ensure their safety and compliance with the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive. We strongly advise our customers to purchase only from our list of approved retailers, as we will not undertake any responsibility for products purchased from unauthorized retailers.

subset: commoncrawl


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19545 Langley Bypass
Surrey, BC V3S 6K1
Calculate Another Payment
Actual rating will vary with options, driving conditions, habits and vehicle condition.
Estimated Monthly Payment will depend on vehicle make and model and will be determined upon actual vehicle inspection. All payments are estimates. Tax, title and any other fees are extra.


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China Corruption Blotter (November 21, 2014
Foshan Shengbang Medicine Co Ltd and Foshan Shengbang Medical Equipment Co Ltd have been fined $49,000 each for bribing medical officials to win supply contracts. Qi Yaofang, former head of the Foshan Food and Drug Administration, is being investigated for taking $18,000 in bribes from the two companies. http://politics.caijing.com.cn


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There are lots of ideas out there as to what goes into creating — and sustaining — a long-term love relationship.
For Margaret and Don Griffith of Point Loma, who have been married since 1952, the key to their enduring relationship isn't any secret.
"We're good friends," said Margaret. "You have to like each other."
Don mirrored the sentiment, saying being untrue to one another "is just one of those things that was just never going to happen."
"Honesty has played a big part," Don said.
There has, however, always been a clear division of labor within their relationship.
"She takes care of the social aspects of life — the scheduling, all that sort of thing," said Don.
Margaret replied: "He fixes everything."
The pair retired in 1995 to a fixer-upper home in Point Loma. Don, a handyman, has polished the residence like a jewel, and said they love living near Sunset Cliffs.
Valentine's Day this week was "just another day" for the Griffiths, neither of whom puts much stock in "special occasions." They prefer just to enjoy one another's company each and every day.
It wasn't love at first sight, according to the Griffiths. The pair met on a blind date as college students in Iowa back in the late 1940s.
"She was in nursing and I was in engineering," said Don, adding both occupations are virtually inherited traits passed down respectively from one generation to the next in their family lines.
Margaret and Don were from different backgrounds. She was from a small town. He was a city boy.
Like all long-term relationships, the Griffith's love has stood the test of time, overcoming accidents, illness — even an earthquake.
The first incident was an auto accident the pair got into while still in college, when Don spun out on a gravel road and Jill was thrown from the vehicle.
"I was in a body cast for three months," she said. "We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in the hospital, where my mother was taking care of me."
In 1963, Margaret, who had had three children by then, was diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system attacks normal healthy tissue that causes swelling and organ damage.
Having lived with the effects of the condition the rest of her life, Don said he's done everything possible since to keep Margaret's lifestyle "stress free."
Don said Margaret's survical of a condition like that "makes you appreciative of life … [and] there's some benefits of tragedy."
The pair also survived the big Northridge earthquake in the Los Angeles area in 1993.
"That was a pretty big one. You're shaking pretty good," said Don.
He said the quake put his "water heater through the wall" and "finished off my chimney."
The first thing he did was check that their gas and water lines were shut off, as well as those of his neighbors.
Don said their pastor opened up the Sunday School to quake refugees.
"We were without electricity and water for five days," said Margaret. "It was a war zone."
By comparison, the Griffiths these days live mostly in a "peace zone."
Don and Margaret are very active at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church. Don is in charge of facilities and associated with a group of volunteers known as "Men At Work" at the Presbyterian Urban Ministries downtown.
"It's a hand up for the homeless, where we fix things and haul furniture," Don said.
Margaret is involved with a church group that organizes memorial services.
The Griffiths walk along the beach near their home every night. Don is busy with his grandson, working to restore a 1947 Jeep he has sitting out back of his home.
"We're very blessed that we're both still here," said Margaret.
She said a lot of women she knows at church would "love to have been married for 61 years."
Don agreed, saying men with their generally shorter life spans tend to be sought after by the ladies after a certain point.
He told of a man he knew in his 90s who finally broke down after his wife died and went to live in "one of those care places."
"He said the ladies always saw to it he sat at their table and always came afterward to visit him in his room. He said, 'You know, you've almost got to lock your door at night.' "
Don doesn't have to worry about that. Not while he's got Margaret, anyway.


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The partnership proposed Friday by NATO between the US, NATO, and Russia suggests the Obama administration's decision to abandon a controversial missile defense system in Europe could open up new diplomatic doors. The question will be, how wide?
On Friday, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposed a new alliance between NATO allies and Russia, suggesting that the countries could work together to counter a common missile threat from Iran.
"NATO and Russia have a wealth of experience in missile defense," he said in his first major foreign policy speech. "We should now work to combine this experience to our mutual benefit."
The White House announced Thursday that it was discarding a multibillion-dollar ballistic missile defense system that was to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic and was a centerpiece of the Bush administration's security stance in Europe. It cited intelligence that any attack from Iran is more likely to come from short- to medium-range missiles, and has proposed a defense system tailored to that threat with interceptors based, for now, on ships.
Some praise the move as an opportunity to change the dynamics with an old foe, relations with whom had soured under the Bush administration since Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008. Russia viewed the plan for a land-based system in Eastern Europe as unnecessary US interference in the regional balance of power.
But Russia, which should be rejoicing in the Obama administration's decision on missile defense, is already making new demands on US trade restrictions, notes David Kramer of the German Marshall Fund, a public policy group based in Washington.
"Give him some ground on one issue, and they look to seize ground on another," he says. "Their appetite is insatiable."
Onus now on Russia
Still, a senior Kremlin official told Reuters Friday that President Obama's move had opened the door for greater cooperation on arms reduction and nuclear nonproliferation, especially on Iran.
President Dmitry Medvedev, who is to meet Mr. Obama Sept. 23 in New York, said in an interview published Friday that Russia would listen more attentively to US concerns, though there would be no "primitive compromises."
In response to the US move, Moscow scrapped plans to deploy truck-mounted Iskander missiles and nuclear-capable T-22 strategic bombers in Kaliningrad, an area bordering Poland.
Neither this nor NATO's partnership proposal may assuage fears among former Soviet-bloc countries about being left vulnerable to Russia. Leaders there have already expressed alarm about the US dropping the land-based missile shield. Poland and the Czech Republic saw the missile system as a way to cement US commitment to their defense against Russia.
Many Republicans have also decried the move as a capitulation to Russia. Some say the US is putting too many chips on the table without demanding anything in return.
Clinton defends move
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the change in missile shield plans Friday, saying the administration is not shelving missile defense but making it more effective and flexible.
She also reassured European allies about US commitment, noting that a US Patriot antimissile unit will do rotational duty in Poland, and that the US will also be engaged in "close missile defense research and development" with Czech companies.
"We would never, never walk away from our allies," she said in a speech at the Brookings Institution.
Former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, who worked for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford, said the decision was wise. "I believe it advances US national security interests, supports our allies, and better meets the threats we face," he said in a prepared statement.
•Material from wire services was used in this report.


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Supermarkets are designed to promote impulse buying by leading shoppers through a maze of aisles.
But something incredible has happened since the recession. Shoppers are going only to select aisles. And this is killing store margins.
UBS cites research from Kantar Retail:
Consumers are not going down most aisles at the frequency they used to. Today, the more common way to shop is to only go down select aisles. 50% of consumers shop this way, which is a 6% increase since 2008. Consumers are highly focused on specific sales and specific coupons when shopping conventional supermarkets. This strongly suggests consumers are cherry picking grocery stores.


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A video from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team traces 4.5 billion years of the moon's evolution.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has traced the moon's early history as well as the latest trash left behind by moonwalkers, and now the team behind the mission has created a video smashing 4.5 billion years of the moon's existence into less than three minutes.
"Evolution of the Moon," released to mark LRO's first thousand days in orbit, starts just after the moon's congealment into a ball of molten rock, and guides you through the giant blast that formed the South Pole-Aitken Basin, through the pummeling known as the Heavy Bombardment, right through the hail of debris that resulted in the cratered satellite we all know and love.
Only one big scene is missing from the show, in my opinion: the catastrophic impact between Earth and another planet, an event that scientists believe led to the moon's creation. Consider it the prequel to "Evolution of the Moon."
There's yet another scene that scientists are thinking about adding to the story: a collision involving the moon and a smaller moonlet, sometime after the moon's formation. Some researchers suspect that such a "Big Splat" could have been responsible for the marked difference in the terrain of the moon's near side and far side — although others think the Aitken Basin blast or gravitational forces could have done the job. NASA's GRAIL mission, which was launched last year, could shed more light on that chapter of the story.
There's also a "Tour of the Moon," about five minutes in length, that guides you through the highlights of the moon's topography with the help of LRO imagery. You'll get a quick overview on the mysteries of Orientale Basin and Aitken Basin, the artifacts left behind by the Apollo 17 mission, the far-side craters we can never see from Earth, and the future of lunar exploration. For space fans, it's must-see video.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team presents a "Tour of the Moon."
More from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter:
- Best view yet of the Apollo 11 landing site
- Giant moon crater detailed in close-up
- Rare volcanoes seen on moon's far side
- See the moon's marvels in 3-D
Tip o' the log to Gizmodo's Jesus Diaz and the LRO team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.


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Season's results | Drivers' Championship | Constructors' Championship
Mike Hawthorn pipped Stirling Moss to the title, but his title success was overshadowed by the death of his team-mate and friend, Peter Collins. Mike retired from racing at season's end, only to lose his life in a road accident soon afterwards.
The departure of Maserati was a major blow to the sport, although the cars survived in the hands of privateers. The marque's withdrawal coincided with that of Fangio. He would run just two races in 1958, before calling it a day. Ferrari abandoned the old Lancia-based cars, and had a new model, the 246 Dino, with Hawthorn, Collins and Musso the star drivers. Moss, Brooks and Stuart Lewis-Evans stayed with Vanwall, while John Cooper mounted a serious effort with Brabham and Roy Salvadori. Rob Walker entered a private Cooper-Climax for Trintignant, and Behra and Schell headed a revived BRM effort. The season started off with a surprise in Argentina. Most of the British teams were absent, including Vanwall, so Moss was free to replace Trintignant in Walker's Cooper. He duly won the race in a canny display, although his tyres were worn out by the end.
At Monaco Trintignant was in Walker's car and, amazingly, he scored his second success in the street race. The British success continued at Zandvoort, where Vanwall swept the front row. Moss won, while the BRMs of Schell and Behra finished second and third. Ferrari had been without a win since 1956, but the waiting ended at Reims where Hawthorn scored what would be his only victory of the season. However, there was no celebrating. Team-mate Musso, who had qualified second, was killed in the race. Fangio finished fourth in his last race. At Silverstone it was the turn of Collins to win for Ferrari, with Hawthorn second. A fortnight later tragedy struck again when Collins died in the German Grand Prix. Brooks went on to score a hollow victory.
Moss had retired while leading in Germany, and he gained some revenge at the new event in Portugal, winning from pole position with Hawthorn second. In one of the closest points battles ever, Moss led all the way and set fastest lap in the final race in Casablanca. But, with Brooks blowing up, Hawthorn eased into second, which was all he required to take the crown. It was a terrible day for both Vanwall and Stirling, made worse when Lewis-Evans crashed and later succumbed to his injuries. The only consolation for Vanwall was the inaugural constructors' title. Then, after quitting the sport while at his peak, Hawthorn was killed in a road accident in January. He was just 29 years old.
Reproduced from The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Formula One published by Carlton Books


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Contact Us Today!
Riverside County & The Inland Empire - (909) 338-7022
Indoor Air Quality, Asbestos & VOC Testing
Asbestos Testing
Asbestos is a deadly carcinogen known to cause Mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lung lining, and was used in a number of common building materials found in homes built before 1978.
Asbestos is commonly found in:
- Tape and insulation used in heating duct.
- Acoustic popcorn ceiling
- Certain flooring tile
- Roofing felt
- Asbestos siding is rare, but can still be found
Volatile Organic Compounds
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are gases that are emitted from solids such as soil, and liquids such as groundwater and household products. VOCs can be up to 10 times higher indoors compared to outdoors. The EPA estimates that we spend up to 90% of our time indoors, whether it be at home, in the office, or at stores. Poor ventilation to fresh air is the main source of elevated indoor VOC levels, but high humidity or temperature can increase concentrations of some pollutants. The EPA has determined that location does not play a major role in VOC levels inside the home.
Source of Volatile Organic Compounds
VOCs can be emitted from a number of household products, including: cosmetic and hobby supplies, degreasers, gasoline, air fresheners, aerosol sprays, auto parts and supplies, paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.
Cleaning chemicals can remain in the indoor air in high concentrations for long periods of time after use or during storage.
Health Effects From Exposure to VOCs
Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to the liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some VOCs can cause cancer in animals and are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness. Eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment are among the immediate symptoms that some people have experienced soon after exposure to some organics.
How to Protect Your Family From Exposure to VOCs
- Use household cleaning products in well ventilated areas of the home.
- Store smaller quantities of cleaning supplies, etc. and throw away old products.
- Store chemicals and products in the garage, away from children and pets.
- Don't smoke inside the home.
- Minimize the use of aerosol sprays and air freshners inside the home.
Meth Labs and VOCs
Homes that have had Methamphetamine cooked inside of them will contain numerous hazardous chemicals and Volatile Organic Compounds. U.S. DEA estimates that just one in ten Meth labs are discovered, cleaned up and remediated to remove hazardous drywall and other building materials. The other nine labs are abandoned containing building materials that will off-gas carcinogens for years to come, polluting indoor air to dangerous levels. Have your home tested for the presence of a Meth Lab and Meth Lab Residues in the home. Our Meth Lab Testing results are available within a few days and will detect even trace amounts of chemical residues associated with the presence of a Meth Lab. Testing is cost effective and simple, protect the health of you and your family.
Formaldehyde is a chemical widely used in building materials and numerous household products, including shampoo. It is also a by-products of combustion and certain other natural processes. Sources of Formaldehyde inside the home include pressed wood products, such as plywood underneath drywall or flooring, furniture, or cabinet shelves, household products, and gas burning stoves. Some 1970s built homes may have urea-Formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) inside their walls.
To reduce exposure to Formaldehyde in the home, use high quality pressed wood products and plywood. Maintaining moderate temperature and humidity levels in the home, and increasing ventilation in the home will also help.
Health Effects of Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. There is evidence that some people can develop a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions. May cause cancer. May also cause other effects listed under "organic gases."
Allergen Testing
- Allergies are the Sixth leading cause of chronic disease.
- Allergens and mold spores may be spread through common ventilation systems in apartments and condos.
- Mold, mildew, rodent feces and other biological contaminants can build up in ventilation systems and easily be spread into the indoor air through heating vents.
- Maintaining relative humidity of 30-50% will help decrease allergens in the air.


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PORTSMOUTH — Even before a fatal accident occurred at the Redhook Ale Brewery earlier this year, Tennessee brewer Chuck Skypeck began taking a close look at his supply of plastic beer kegs.
Skypeck's company, Ghost River Brewing, expanded its distribution quickly in the last three years, and it purchased plastic kegs to help meet the demand.
But after buying the kegs, the brewery owners decided to install a new safety feature at their facility in Memphis: a plexiglass shield.
Skypeck said Ghost River created an enclosure around its pressurized keg washer, with a locking door. He said it was "just a recognition that what can go wrong typically will."
In a message on Twitter, Ghost River employee Joey Vaughan gave a more detailed explanation. It was accompanied by a photo of a broken plastic keg.
"This is why I stand behind a 1/2-inch thick Lexan blast shield when filling plastic kegs," Vaughan wrote. "Sometimes, they blow up."
Vaughan, who now owns a craft beer retail store in Mississippi, told Foster's he witnessed five plastic beer kegs rupture during his time as an employee at Ghost River, where he operated the keg washer.
It was only a few months after Ghost River installed the plexiglass shield that Ben Harris, a 26-year-old employee of Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, was killed by debris when a plastic keg exploded.
Harris, a newlywed expecting the birth of his first child, died April 24 when a keg he was cleaning with pressurized air exploded into two pieces. It broke apart at the seam, striking him in the head and chest.
Brewers were perplexed by the accident, which stood out as one of the only instances of a work-related keg explosion that many could recall.
However, since the accident, Foster's has learned of at least four other breweries around the country where plastic kegs have exploded while being cleaned in a pressurized keg washer.
In each instance, the breweries were using plastic kegs manufactured by a company called Plastic Kegs America.
In August, an unidentified brewery also submitted a report to the Consumer Product Safety Commission detailing explosions of two plastic kegs, with photographic evidence. Both were manufactured by PKA, according to the report.
The manufacturer of the keg involved in the Redhook incident has not been identified publicly, but a report set to be released this week by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could shed new light on the mishap. OSHA faces a deadline of Wednesday, Oct. 24, to wrap up its investigation into the fatal keg blast at Redhook.
The tragedy in Portsmouth has also prompted the largest brewery trade group in the country to begin scrutinizing plastic kegs. The Brewers Association, which represents some 1,500 microbreweries, polled members this summer and received multiple reports about products made by Plastic Kegs America failing, according to director Paul Gatza.
The group is now soliciting information from keg manufacturers about how their products are designed and trying to determine which standards apply to beer kegs. Based on preliminary findings, Gatza said it appears there is no single manufacturing standard in use in the United States for either plastic or stainless steel kegs.
"We're not saying that plastic pressurized vessels aren't safe, but we're saying we don't have enough information about them — about how they're tested," he said.
While plastic beer kegs have been in use in Europe for some time — ostensibly more than a decade — their introduction into the American market was largely spearheaded by a British company called CypherCo.
It opened a manufacturing operation for full-sized beer kegs in California under the name Plastic Kegs America, and has since established a headquarters in Texas.
Jim Holton, owner of Mount Pleasant Brewing Company in Michigan, said he's been using plastic kegs for about five years, ranging from the original European models to newer kegs designed by PKA when it opened in California.
"It was a great option for a startup brewery because stainless steel costs have skyrocketed," he said.
The brewery was also suffering from theft of its kegs by people hoping to sell them as scrap metal. Mount Pleasant lost about 100 stainless steel kegs to theft in three years, he said.
Holton said he contacted PKA after the explosion at Redhook, and was assured of the product's safety.
Then on Aug. 6, one of the plastic kegs exploded while it was being cleaned on an automated machine, Holton said. One half of the keg soared upward, denting a 20-foot-high ceiling, and the bottom half slammed into the machine.
"If a brewer or a human being was standing over that keg when that happened, I see no reason why they would have survived that," Holton said. "I think it would have been a catastrophic accident."
After the accident, brewery workers inspected their equipment and discovered a pressure reducing valve wasn't working properly. As a result, the pressure being pumped into the keg could have reached as high as 100 psi, the maximum rating for the air compressor feeding the machine.
Plastic Kegs America indicates on its website that the product is designed to operate at a maximum pressure of 60 psi.
Holton said the brewery has now installed a double pressure relief valve and other safety components to prevent another keg from blowing out.
"Our incident was luckily that we lose a keg," he said. "We don't lose a human life."
At Marble Brewery in New Mexico, it was a brand new 15.5 gallon keg received with a shipment from Plastic Kegs America that exploded. The keg was being washed for the first time when it failed at the seam weld.
It burst with enough force to drive half of the keg into the 14-foot brewery ceiling, according to Marble Brewery President John Gozigian. The keg failed at the end of the wash cycle when the keg pressurizes to 30 PSI with CO2, according to an email sent by Gozigian to the Brewers Association earlier this year.
The brewery has verified that the keg washer's air and CO2 pressures were capped at 30 psi, and random tests showed kegs were reaching pressures below that level, he said.
Even if the regulators on the keg washer malfunctioned, Gozigian said, the pressure in the CO2 line tops out at about 100 psi.
Since the incident, Marble Brewery has started washing all kegs — metal and plastic — inside a steel cage, he said.
"This is a good example of what can go wrong, and in our case, it didn't cause any injuries, but it could have," he told Foster's Friday, "so it's definitely spurred us to make some changes, and I think that all breweries really should look at their operations and make sure that their employees are safe."
On Aug. 14, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission received a report from an unidentified brewery regarding plastic keg failures. It states a pair of 5.2 gallon kegs from PKA burst at the seams while being cleaned during this year. The most recent incident occurred on May 18, according to the report, which is available at SaferProducts.gov.
A photograph accompanying the report shows two black kegs with their top halves removed, sliced cleanly through the center.
"We had our instrumentation inspected and it was functioning properly," the complaint states. "Apparently there is an installed 'safety disc' that will fail prior to the keg exploding ... the safety feature was never initiated. Fortunately no injuries were sustained. I have contacted PKA about this and they have been slow to respond. I know there are numerous accounts of this and one ended in death."
Like some other breweries using plastic kegs, Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Fla., has constructed a new blast cage around its keg purging station.
Founder Joey Redner said in 2009, a Plastic Kegs America product blew apart at the seam while it was being washed. The new cage was installed this year after the fatal accident at Redhook in April.
Redner said plastic kegs are fairly common in Florida breweries, and few have experienced problems, to his knowledge, but he still has concerns about the product.
"The thing is that there's not a whole lot of standards about what a keg should be, from a quantitative standpoint," he said. "Like, how much pressure should it hold before it fails?"
Englishman Jeff Gunn has been involved in keg design for nearly five decades — long enough that his recent warnings about plastic kegs have generated a buzz among brewers.
Gunn, the president and CEO of IDD Process & Packaging, Inc., was personally involved in designing the Sankey keg system, a design widely used today by manufacturers of both stainless steel and plastic kegs.
Sankey kegs were developed as a recyclable, returnable aseptic container by a development team in England in the 1950s and 1960s. They were manufactured to withstand the rigors of international shipping.
When the product was introduced in America, Gunn claims a negotiation took place between some of the largest beer manufacturers in the country and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers regarding the safety standard for Sankey kegs.
ASME was pushing for keg manufacturers to build a pressure relief valve into the keg design, but according to Gunn, the group relented because stainless steel kegs were capable of withstanding at least 600 psi without bursting.
In the end, the ASME gave its stamp of approval to Sankey kegs, so long as they were rated with a max pressure of 60 psi, and were manufactured to withstand at least 10 times that amount of pressure.
However, since then, Gunn says knowledge of the compromise struck in the 1970s has been lost, and there's no mechanism to ensure modern kegs are being built to those specifications.
"That is what has turned out to be the mystery here," he said.
Plastic Kegs America has declined multiple requests for comment since the Redhook incident. However, the company has been in communication with customers and the Brewers Association.
Foster's Daily Democrat obtained a copy of an Aug. 15 email message sent by PKA Sales Manager Darcie Symons to the Brewers Association's internal mailing list. The message indicates the company's products have a maximum working pressure of 60 psi and that the kegs will rupture at a minimum of 90 psi.
"Based on the information Plastic Kegs America has to date, in all instances of purported failure, the kegs have either been pressurized above 90 psi or have been damaged after being manufactured and sold," Symons wrote. "We take every report seriously and investigate all claims. Plastic Keg America extends its deepest sympathies with regard to the accident in New Hampshire."
PKA founder Simon Wheaton declined to comment on the Redhook investigation when he was contacted earlier this month.
"I think we both realize the direction that you're coming," Wheaton said in a phone interview, "and I think on advice I have no comment to make at this time."
Craft Brew Alliance Inc., which controls Redhook, announced this summer that it has hired an independent investigator to probe the cause of the keg explosion in April.
One factor complicating the investigation is that there were no witnesses to the 7 a.m. incident, according to CEO Terry Michaelson wrote, who said in June the company might never be able to ascertain the cause.
Redhook believes Ben Harris was in the process of emptying the plastic keg that exploded in order to stack it on a pallet when it blew apart. Michaelson said the same keg emptying procedure has been performed without incident at CBA breweries around the country for years.
The company has said the keg involved in the accident was not owned by Redhook or any other brewery under the CBA umbrella. It was delivered to Redhook in error as part of a delivery of empty keg returns.
The keg wasn't clearly marked with the manufacturer's name, but CBA is in contact with a manufacturer believed to have produced the keg, according to Michaelson.
Although some in the microbrewing industry are casting a wary eye toward plastic kegs in light of the tragedy at Redhook, several other brewers are standing firm behind Plastic Kegs America. Bryan Hermannsson, co-founder of Pacific Brewing Laboratory in San Francisco, said the brewery has been using PKA products for about nine months, and he has no complaints. "The only bad thing about them is their sort of perception on the market," he said. However, that perception is starting to impact the brewery's bottom line. Hermannsson said contractors who brew the company's beer have stopped filling and cleaning plastic kegs. The brewery was also required to use stainless steel kegs at The Great American Beer Festival in Denver earlier this month. The Brewers Association, which sponsors the annual event, did not allow plastic kegs this year. Jeremy Pate, an Alabama brewery industry consultant, said he's been contacted by at least one client since the death at Redhook who was seeking advice about whether to use plastic kegs. "I said, 'Well, basically, I'm not afraid of plastic kegs,'" he remembered. "I understand, basically, how they're constructed. I understand that when manually washing kegs, I would have all of my safety regulators presets well below the safety standards of those kegs. If you have plastic kegs, you cannot run and treat them like stainless steel kegs."


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The Cleveland Browns made another impact move to improve their pass rush Tuesday, agreeing to a five-year, $34 million contract with defensive tackle Desmond Bryant, NFL.com's Albert Breer reported.
Bryant is guaranteed $15 million in the deal, which came hours after the Browns locked up former Baltimore Ravens defensive end Paul Kruger with a five-year, $40 million agreement.
Bryant, 27, drew the interest of multiple teams as his value built in the lead-up to free agency. Bryant spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Oakland Raiders, finishing last season with 36 tackles and four sacks in 16 games (eight starts).
Bryant is a disruptor who finished with 11 quarterback hits, 20 hurries and 35 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Those 35 pressures were good for fourth in the NFL among defensive tackles last season.
Bryant did himself no favors last month when he was arrested in Florida on a criminal mischief charge. Still, Bryant is an ascendant talent, which helped allow the Browns -- and we're sure several other teams -- overlook such malfeasance.
That murmur you hear is the Browns fan base buzzing with hope. Let them be.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.


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Thief Steals Church Computer, Calls Church's Security Company So He Can Watch Porn
from the the-porn-identity dept
It's been several weeks, so it must be time for another story of another dumb criminal. Past iterations have included murder-conspiring butt-dialers, bank robbers bragging on YouTube, and criminals taunting law enforcement on social media. However, what has been lacking in all of these stories is the real central component of the internet, that which makes it tick: porn.
We can now rectify that omission, thanks to a God-fearing parishioner from Oklahoma who stole a computer from his church and was perhaps as surprised as he was frustrated when he couldn't watch some good old-fashioned meat-pounding on it.
An Oklahoma church employee called in a theft to cops, saying whoever stole a computer from the establishment probably attended the church or was familiar with it, because there were no signs of a break-in. He was right, but the suspect wasn't caught while say, Googling during services. A company that had monitoring software on the computer alerted the church that someone kept trying to look up pornography on the missing computer.Stealing a church computer to watch pornography? It's almost enough to make one believe all is lost with the world. But never fear, this episode ends in a much more stupid fashion than suggested above. The church had a contract with an IT security firm, which monitored use of the machine and blocked inappropriate websites. Still, simply knowing what kind of porn someone is into isn't enough to identify them (thankfully), so police weren't able to do much with the information.
Fortunately, our idiot thief was feeling as helpful as he was horny.
Police couldn't really make a bust until said suspect contacted the software company itself, asking it to take down the monitoring software, ostensibly because he didn't want anyone watching while he surfed for porn. Police arrested the man, saying he denied taking the computer despite the fact that it was allegedly found in his home, but that he later confessed.Here's a tip for all you cathedral criminals out there: wiping a computer back to factory settings is way easier than explaining exactly how stupid you'd have to be to call the IT security company whose software is on the computer you stole just so you could wank off to material you could probably just as easily get on your phone.


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|Top: living room; Middle: kitchen; Bottom: music room-turning-school room.
|Shelves in our computer room.
|Top: my room; Bottom: boys' room; Both upstairs.
There are actually more books downstairs in the basement, in boxes. But for now, I just want to organize the stuff that's out. One nice thing about taking pictures is that I'm realizing that on my 9(!) bookshelves there is actually a fair amount of space. I've been feeling like there wasn't. There is also a lot of non-book items on my shelves. And if I'd master my clutter it would look better.
I've been reading about how to go about doing this. And the Daddy's got some ideas that have merit. And I've been reading some blog posts. This one has some great ideas. In particular, one I liked was to take all the very easy readers and put them in a bin of some sort so that they are easy for my emerging reader to find when he feels like reading something. I liked that idea enough to go get me a bin this evening. So, the organizing has begun. Wish me luck! (And leave me your tips in the comments; organizing is NOT my forte.)


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Explore LEGOLAND Discovery Center, the ultimate indoor playground for kids who are the biggest fans of LEGO! LEGOLAND Discovery Center Grapevine is one of DFW's best attractions for kids! Reach out and touch the stars in our 4D cinema, build the fastest car in LEGO Racers: Build & Test, zap the bad guys in Kingdom Quest Laser Ride, or have the ultimate LEGO birthday party. Plan your family visit and jump into the biggest box of LEGO bricks! (less) ... Read more
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text: Availability in North America The Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II") is currently offered in 22 cities across the U.S. and Canada to treat patients with late stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Argus II in February, 2013 and Health Canada approved it in December, 2014. The Argus II is the first and only "bionic eye" to be approved in countries throughout the world, including the U.S. and Canada. Current and future implant centers are located at nationally recognized and prestigious hospitals in: Ann Arbor, MI Denver, CO Los Angeles, CA Rochester, NY Atlanta, GA Durham, NC Miami, FL San Francisco, CA Baltimore, MD Gainesville, FL Minneapolis, MN Montreal, QC, Canada Boston, MA Honolulu, HI Northern NJ Toronto, ON, Canada Chicago, IL Houston, TX Philadelphia, PA Cleveland, OH Long Island, NY Rochester, MN In order to make the Argus II therapy more widely accessible to patients with end-stage RP, the company will continue to actively identify additional centers across North America, while at the same time working to ensure adequate insurance coverage for the system and the medical activities surrounding the delivery of the therapy. Second Sight encourages interested patients and surgical centers to contact the company for more information. For further information about our product in the US or to be put on a notification list, please call Second Sight Customer Service toll free at (855) 756-3703. We are located in Sylmar, California (Pacific time zone). If you are an ophthalmologist that is interested in learning more about becoming an Argus II center please call Steve Okland, Commercial VP, Americas at (818) 833-5026


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Dates and their sweet, caramel-like flavor have been revered for centuries in Middle Eastern cultures. Rich in carbohydrates, high in fiber, and low in fat and sodium, dates are a great source of beta-carotene, vitamin E, iron, niacin, and copper. Higher in potassium than bananas, this mineral is important to maintain muscle contractions, particularly in the body�s most critical muscle, the heart. Dates are high in natural sugars � glucose, sucrose and fructose � and can provide a perfect afternoon energy boost. According to researchers at the University of Scranton, dates have the highest concentration of polyphenols (a group of antioxidants) among all dried fruits.
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isovue needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 104 designs submitted by 42 freelance designers.
We need a Logo Design for Snipwire Wireless, a chain of wireless stores, which should be Modern, Clean and Eye catching , nothing short of stunning would do :)
Snipwire Wireless ; Snipwire.com
Desired Color Scheme:
Desired Style:
Modern, Clean, Elite....
Accepted File Formats:
Standard Web Formats (.jpg, .gif or .png); Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai); Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)
Check for current logo at http://www.snipwire.com
and the one attached, needs to be modern, meaningful and clean.
I like the logo to be a elite, high-end and a statement in itself of design, something one will remember. I do not want mashed up complex logos.
stay clean, elegant and powerful, kind of like the mac apple feel.
I will actively be leaving comments.
The Logo and Company Name will be used in print and in a Sign Board so that should be kept in mind.
Happy Designing
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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It's a daunting prospect for any performer to wait for those first reviews.
But Medicine Hat native MacKenzie Porter may have been more jittery than most as she waited for the first wave of response to the Season 4 opener of AMC's epic railroad and nation-building western Hell on Wheels. These days, it tends to come from online commentators and tweeters, fans that can be decidedly rigid and possessive of their favourite shows and characters.
As Naomi Hatch, a Mormon teen impregnated by anti-hero Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), Porter had taken on a major and somewhat controversial role on the Alberta-shot show that has had three seasons to establish itself with devoted fans. Not only that, she was taking over from another actress who created the role a season earlier. Not only that, but that actress, Calgary native Siobhan Williams, is her friend and a frequent rival for roles.
"I was nervous about it," admits Porter, in a phone interview earlier this week from Nashville. "But after the first episode aired last week, I had so many fans tweet me (saying) 'We're so glad you are on the show.' There was no comparison between the two of us. It was just welcoming. It was so relieving and so nice."
It was due to scheduling problems that Williams had to bow out of Season 4. She can currently be seen in the ABC drama Black Box. Because the two are friends in Vancouver, Porter had seen the show and was familiar with the role but was nevertheless nervous to audition when it became clear producers would have to recast. It gave Hell on Wheels what showrunner and TV veteran John Wirth quaintly calls a "Two Darrins" situation, referring to when Dick York was famously replaced by Dick Sargent in the role of Darrin Stephens on the 1960s sitcom Bewitched.
The fact that such a dated reference is still used — when asked, Porter admits she had no clue what it meant — indicates how rare a phenomenon it is on TV.
But the 24-year-old actress says she learned early on in the shooting of Season 4 that she had to make the character her own.
"I had seen her stuff and obviously when I auditioned for it that came into play," Porter says. "I thought maybe they would try and match. But as soon as I got the part, I talked to our showrunner and Anson and the writers and they wanted me to to go with my first instincts and what I brought to the character. I think, naturally, Siobhan and I have similar mannerisms so we bring that together. But I definitely wanted to make her my own and feel comfortable going to work everyday knowing that this is my character now."
As a character, Naomi Hatch brought Porter a number of firsts as an actress. It was not only her first western, but her first role in any sort of period piece. It was also the first time she played a mother and the first time since her acting debut back in 2007 on the Alberta-shot children's series Dinosapians that she had a regular role in a TV series.
While viewers only caught glimpses of Naomi's character in Season 3, the writers certainly fleshed her out this season. Last year, Bohannon was taken from his beloved railroad to a Mormon encampment thanks to the deceptions of his enemy, The Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl), who is posing as a God-touched church leader at the heavily armed fort. To save his neck, Bohannon marries Naomi when he realizes she is carrying his child. As Season 4 opens, he is plotting an escape but his relationship with new wife is surprisingly tender. While she has lived a largely sheltered life, Naomi proves to be perceptive and wise-beyond-her-years, both naive and strong.
"I think she sees a lot of really good things in him," Porter says. "In rehearsals, it was made clear to me that the love wasn't natural but they were working on it and it was growing. I think being stuck with anybody in any relationship, you start to love certain things about them, especially if you have a child together. I think that's the big turning point for Naomi, whether the love is natural or if she brings it there for the child. I think it gets more intense throughout the season."
Porter says she watched numerous documentaries and read books about Mormonism and the time period to prepare for her role. While some modern-day Mormons frowned on last year's depiction of the 1860s faithful as nasty and violent, it was all based on historical accounts of the anti-government Mormon militias of the day. Researching roles is Porter's favourite part of the job. But it did add even more work to what was already a very hectic year for the actress.
Along with her duties on Hell on Wheels, she also released her debut self-titled country album earlier this summer, which she recorded on weekends during the shoot. The album immediately rose up the charts and led to opening gigs for Blake Shelton and The Rascal Flatts. On the day of this interview, Porter was in Nashville for songwriting sessions. It all gave her something to talk about with Hell on Wheels co-star Common, who plays Elam in the series but also has a successful career as a hip-hop artist.
"We really were only on set a few days together, we just had opposite schedules," says Porter with a laugh, when asked if the two jammed between scenes. "I did talk to him a bit about balancing acting and music. He said 'How do you do it?' And, I was like: 'How do YOU do it?!"
In fact, the dual career path was always Porter's plan. She grew up on her family's bison and cattle ranch outside of Medicine Hat and showed an early affinity for piano and violin. She sheepishly acknowledges touring as part of a "weird little song and dance group" with her family, which includes older brother and former Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter.
"Those videos," she says with a laugh, "I hope never surface."
But acting and singing always went hand-in-hand. She started appearing in local musical theatre at the age of six. By 10 she had an acting coach and signed with a Vancouver agent at 13.
Now based in Vancouver, Hell on Wheels gave her chance to spend time back at the family ranch, which her parents still operate.
She said being a part of Hell on Wheels also gave her another Alberta family.
"I was pretty nervous to even read for the part," she says. "But once I booked it and I got on set and met everybody, it felt like I was coming into a family. They embraced me the first day on set as part of the family."


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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — Corporate insiders are — by at least some measures — even more bearish now than they were a month ago.
And that should worry the bulls a lot, since — as I wrote in early September — their behavior then was already as bearish as it had been at the stock market's high in late April. (Read my Sept. 5 column, "More bad news — this time from insiders")
To be sure, the stock market didn't decline in September, notwithstanding the insiders' selling.
But, since historically the insiders have been more right than wrong, it seems risky to bet that the market will continue to escape the bearish implication of their behavior.
Consider an index of insider behavior calculated by the Vickers Weekly Insider Report, published by Argus Research, which is based on the ratio of shares sold by insiders to shares bought. Last week, according to the latest issue of the Vickers service, this ratio for NYSE-listed issues stood at 5.13-to-1. The comparable ratio in early September was 5.97-to-1.
: From bear market fears and historic volatility to edging toward historic highs, a look at how markets have changed from October 2011 to now.
Q4: Be afraid, very afraid
Think the election, now just a month away, as well as Washington gridlock, the "fiscal cliff' and Europe in crisis. Despite recent gains, many investors are still uncertain about the market's staying power.
• 5 charts every investor needs this quarter
• Hulbert: Second-guessing Halloween indicator
• Why stock investors shouldn't fight 'QE3'
• Cash is king over stocks, bonds and REITs
• Brace for bleak S&P 500 earnings
Resist the temptation to read much into this nominal improvement. Over the same period, the ratio for Nasdaq-listed issues deteriorated from 2.96-to-1 to 6.17-to-1.
As a result, the ratio for all U.S. publicly traded stocks — both NYSE- and Nasdaq-listed — has moved since early September from 3.80-to-1 to 5.61-to-1.
To put these numbers into perspective, bear in mind that the sell-to-buy ratio's long-term average is between 2-to-1 and 2.5-to-1. Vickers consider any ratio below this average to be bullish, and any number above it — like the current level — to be bearish.
At the beginning of the bull market in March 2009, for example, the sell-to-buy ratio got as low as 0.42-to-1, At the stock market's low in early October of a year ago, at the bottom of that year's summer/fall correction, the ratio got as low as 1.04-to1.
At its current level of 5.61-to-1, therefore, this ratio suggests that insiders right now are selling between 5 and 13 times as many shares of their companies' stock — relative to how many they are buying — than they were at those important market lows.
Note carefully that the insiders' bearish behavior doesn't necessarily mean the bull market is now over. However, to the extent the insiders turn out to be as right as they were on other recent occasions when their behavior was as lopsided on the sell side, we should be prepared for a notable market decline.
Click here to learn more about the Hulbert Financial Digest.


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Each year, the field of computer science becomes more sophisticated as new types of technologies hit the market. Despite that, the problem of developing intelligent agents that will precisely simulate human brain activity is still unsolved. One of the most prominent models of intelligent agents built in computer memory is represented by neural networks (NN). Thus in this article, the reader will be introduced to the basics of NN, alongside with the prediction pattern that can be successfully used in different types of "smart" applications. Specifically, a financial predictor based upon neural networks will be explored.
During my intellectual trip into the world of artificial intelligence, I was fascinated how "magically" a correctly constructed artificial neural network (specifically feed-forward network) can predict values, according to those specified at the input. This "forecasting" capability makes them a perfect tool for several types of applications:
All the examples are actually very similar, because in mathematical terms, you are trying to define a prediction function F(X1, X2, ..., Xn), which according to the input data (vector [X1, X2, ..., Xn]), is going to "guess" (interpolate) the output Y. The most exciting domain of prediction lies in the field of financial market. An investment strategy based on computer intelligence sounds like a very prominent and interesting field of study. Next, I'm going to describe a relatively simple program which will attempt to predict S&P500, DOW, NASDAQ Composite indexes, and Prime Interest Rate, according to the input data which will be described shortly. Before going into details, I would like to warn you that the entire article is written for educational purposes, thus the described application cannot be used in real-world scenario.
F(X1, X2, ..., Xn)
[X1, X2, ..., Xn]
The data that will be feed to neural network at the input, represents historical data of the S&P500, DOW, NASDAQ Composite and Prime Interest Rate. In general terms, these are leading indicators of stock market activity, which have a common fluctuation pattern.
The S&P500 is a free-float capitalization-weighted index published since 1957 of the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The stocks included in the S&P500 are those of large publicly held companies that trade on either of the two largest American stock market companies; the NYSE Euronext and the NASDAQ OMX. Actually, the S&P500 is one of the most widely followed indexes of large-cap American stocks. It is considered a bellwether for the American economy, and is included in the Index of Leading Indicators. S&P500 index fluctuations are dependent upon a lot of factors, thus the entire prediction pattern is very complex. In this application, the input data is represented only by historical items of 4 important economical indicators. It is essential to mention that if you want a better predictor, you should feed your neural network with more indicators that are more or less important for the entire interpolation.
As you can see in Figure 1, the value of the S&P500 has generally increased over time, having a significant decrease in year 2000-2005.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also referred to as the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow. It is an index that shows how 30 large, publicly owned companies based in the United States have traded during a standard trading session in the stock market. Along with the NASDAQ Composite, the S&P500 Index, and the Russell 2000 Index, the Dow is among the most closely watched benchmark indices tracking targeted stock market activity. To calculate the DJIA, the sum of the prices of all 30 stocks is divided by a Divisor, the Dow Divisor. The divisor is adjusted in case of stock splits, spinoffs or similar structural changes, to ensure that such events do not in themselves alter the numerical value of the DJIA.
The NASDAQ Composite is a stock market index of the common stocks and similar securities listed on the NASDAQ stock market, meaning that it has over 3,000 components. It is highly followed in the U.S. as an indicator of the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies. Since both U.S. and non-U.S. companies are listed on the NASDAQ stock market, the index is not exclusively a U.S. index.
Prime rate, or Prime Lending Rate, is a term applied in many countries to a reference interest rate used by banks. The term originally indicated the rate of interest at which banks lent to favored customers, i.e., those with high credibility, though this is no longer always the case. Some variable interest rates may be expressed as a percentage above or below prime rate. Generally, prime interest rate is a significant determinant in the world of financial marketing. This is because monetary policy is aimed at influencing domestic interest rates, which drive currency rates relative to other currencies with different interest rates. Domestic interest rates also influence overall economic activity, with lower interest rates typically stimulating borrowing, investment, and consumption, while higher interest rates tend to reduce borrowing, and increase saving over consumption. Below is shown Federal Funds Rate History graph. This data will be used in the current application.
Neural networks have been used with computers since the 1950s. Through the years, many different models have been presented. The perceptron is one of the earliest neural networks. It was an attempt to understand human memory, learning and cognitive processes. To construct a computer capable of "human-like thought", the researchers have used the only working model they have available - the human brain. However, the human brain as a whole is far too complex to model. Rather, the individual cells that make up the human brain are studied. Following is introduced the schema of the most used artificial neural network.
For the task of predicting the indexes, we'll be using the so called multilayer feed forward network which is the best choice for this type of application. In a feed forward neural network, neurons are only connected forward. Each layer of the neural network contains connections to the next layer, but there are no connections back. Typically, the network consists of a set of sensory units (source nodes) that constitute the input layer, one or more hidden layers of computation nodes, and an output layer of computation nodes. In its common use, most neural networks will have one hidden layer, and it's very rare for a neural network to have more than two hidden layers. The input signal propagates through the network in a forward direction, on a layer by layer basis. These neural networks are commonly referred as multilayer perceptrons (MLPs). Shown below is a simple MLP with 4 inputs, 1 output, and 1 hidden layer.
The input layer is the conduit through which the external environment presents a pattern to the neural network. Once a pattern is presented to the input layer, the output layer will produce another pattern. In essence, this is all the neural network does - it matches the input pattern to one which best fits the training's output. It is important to remember that the inputs to the neural network are floating point numbers, represented as C# double type (most of the time you'll be limited to this type).
C# double
The output layer of the neural network is what actually presents a pattern to the external environment (the result of the computation). The number of output neurons should be directly related to the type of work that the neural network is to perform.
There are really two decisions that must be made regarding the hidden layers: how many hidden layers to actually have in the network and how many neurons will be in each of these layers. Problems that require two hidden layers are rarely encountered. There is currently no theoretical reason to use neural networks with any more than two hidden layers, thus almost all current problems solved by neural networks are fine with just one hidden layer. Even though the hidden layers do not directly interact with the external environment, they have a tremendous influence on the final output, thus you should carefully choose the number of neurons within it. Using too few neurons in the hidden layers will result in so called "under-fitting", which occurs when the hidden layers are not able to adequately detect the signals in a complicated data set. The "over-fitting" problem can occur, when the neural network has so much information processing capacity that the limited amount of information contained in the training set is not enough to train all of the neurons in the hidden layers. There are many rule-of-thumb methods for determining the correct number of neurons to use in the hidden layers, here are just a few of them:
Multilayer perceptrons have been applied successfully to solve some difficult and diverse problems, by training them in a supervised manner with a highly popular algorithm known as the error back-propagation algorithm (described further). Please note that in our application, we will be using the Resilient propagation algorithm, which is very similar to back-propagation. The neural network itself will be composed from neurons (main information-processing units as neurons within a human brain) of the same kind, placed within different layers. They will exhibit the same characteristics; hence if you understand how one neuron is designed you will not have problems in understanding how the entire network works. Generally, the model of a neuron can be summarized in the following block diagram:
One can see that there are 3 basic element of a neuronal model:
Wk0, Wk1,...,Wkm
Vk = ∑(WkjXj+bk)
Yk = Φ(x)
Yk = Φ(∑(WkjXj+bk))
Φ(v) = 1/(1+exp(-αv))
Training is the means by which the weights and threshold values of a neural network are adjusted to give desirable outputs, thus making the network adjust the response to the value which best fits the training data. Propagation Training is a form of supervised training, where the expected output is given to the training algorithm. Propagation training can be a very effective form of training for feed-forward, simple recurrent and other types of neural networks. There are several forms of propagation training. We will analyze 2 of them.
Back Propagation algorithm is by far one of the most commonly used algorithms of learning. It is a supervised learning method, and is a generalization of the delta rule. It requires a teacher that knows, or can calculate, the desired output for any input in the training set.
Generally, it can be summarized in the following main steps:
In the below figure, one can visualize the process within which the neural network is trained to work as XOR logical gate.
Generally, XOR problem is considered the "Hello World" application in this field of science. The purpose is very straightforward: we will make our neural network "smart enough" to solve the XOR problem.
The structure of the neural network is very simple: the input layer consists of 2 elements (XOR gate needs 2 Boolean values as input parameters, thus the input is of size 2). The hidden layer contains 3 neurons and finally the output layer has one, which represents the result of XOR operation. At its initial stage (Iteration 0), the weights between the neurons are assigned random values, thus the network does not contain any valuable information by now. Once, we start using Back Propagation algorithm (Iteration 1 - 59), the weights between the neurons are adjusted in a manner that will decrease the error rate, and will generate the output which we do expect. By Iteration 59 we achieve acceptable error rate, thus training process ends, and we can proudly say that the network contains enough "knowledge" to solve the XOR problem. By visualizing the way the values are changed, you can observe that at the initial iterations they fluctuate dramatically on each step (mathematically speaking the algorithm tries to find the steepest descent for the error function). Once the error value starts decreasing significantly, (Iteration 30-59), the weights of the neural network are adjusted in a more granular fashion. The network was trained with 4 combination of XOR gate. Because of the 2D limitation, the figure itself contains an example of only 1 training set (True - True (encoded as 1)), which ultimately should generate False at the output (encoded as 0). If you are interested in more details related to this algorithm, please consult any available material related to it. I will not discuss the mathematics behind Back Propagation algorithm, because we'll use a framework which already has this algorithm implemented (Encog framework).
Iteration 0
Iteration 1 - 59
Iteration 59
Iteration 30-59
True - True
Encog framework
One of the problems with the Back Propagation training algorithm is the degree to which the weights are changed. In order to understand better the way error decreases, consider the following error surface:
Our initial point resides within a place where the error value is highest. The goal of any training algorithm is to minimize the error function. In an ideal case, the algorithm will choose the path (from an infinite amount of paths) to the global minimum, thus achieving the best possible adjustment for the weight components. Unfortunately, Back Propagation algorithm doesn't handle well scenarios when the error surface contains local minims. There is a high probability that the path chosen will lead the error decrease in the direction of local minima. Once it will achieve the point where it cannot decrease anymore (getting stuck into the deepening), it will stop looking for new paths (simply speaking it won't be able to "jump" out from the local minima "hole"). In order to use a "smarter" way of searching the global minimum, the Resilient Propagation algorithm has been introduced. As the Back Propagation algorithm can often apply too large of a change to the weight matrix (delta parameter being too big, which may alter significantly the path chosen in the direction of error decrease), the Resilient Propagation training algorithms only use the sign of the gradient and not the value itself (which will allow it to minimize the chance of falling into the local minimum trap). Once the magnitude is discarded, this means it is only important if the gradient is positive, negative or near zero. The Resilient Propagation training (RPROP) algorithm is usually the most efficient training algorithm provided by Encog (framework used in this application) for supervised feed-forward neural networks. One particular advantage to the RPROP algorithm is that it requires no setting of parameters before using it. There are no learning rates, momentum values or update constants that need to be determined. This is good because it can be difficult to determine the exact learning rate that might be optimal.
As it was stated earlier, we are going to feed the neural network with the historical data of the indexes described above. One of the important things about the input data is that it will be formed of 10 consecutive values (sorted by date) of each of the 4 parameters (S&P500, NASDAQ Composite, DOW, Prime Interest Rate), total 40 input values, corresponding to a granularity of 10 business days. The network will try to predict the 11th value, corresponding to the next day in the row, of each of the indexes (4 output data). Speaking mathematically, 10 previous points will be used to interpolate the next coordinate through which the function of NASDAQ Composite, Dow, S&P500 and Prime Interest Rate will pass.
One of the important heuristics of making the neural network perform better relates to input normalization. Each input variable should be preprocessed so that its mean value, averaged over the entire training set, is close to zero, or else it is small compared to its standard deviation. The ranges of the indexes vary slightly, as their domain is totally different. In order to normalize each index range to [-1, 1], we are going to use the following simple formula: Index(x) = (Index(x) - Min(Index))/(Max(Index) - Min(Index)). Thus each of the input variables will lie in the same range. Take a look at the regression plot of the training set. Each of the figures corresponds to a specific target from the output array. As all the R parameters are very close to 1, this means that the correlation between the outputs and the targets is very high (regression plot can be performed using Neural network toolbox from MATLAB).
[-1, 1]
Index(x) = (Index(x) - Min(Index))/(Max(Index) - Min(Index))
It is hard to underestimate the importance of normalization. If it won't be used, you most probably fail to train your network, because the weights won't be able to adjust accordingly.
4 outputs correspond to each of indexes on the input (S&P500, DOW, NASDAQ Composite, and Prime Interest Rate). The neural network job will be to find hidden patterns in the input data which influences the overall output. After training the network using 40-41-41-4 topology (40 input units, 2 hidden layers with 41 units, 4 outputs), and trying to predict the values, the following results have been obtained:
As one can see, the network is able to interpolate the results in a fairly good manner. The error rate summed over the entire training session decreased to a value of ~0.008. Of course, you cannot consider this data as an input to your investment strategy, since past information does not really indicates future returns (a more granular approach should be developed as the fluctuations are dependent of many other strategical data), but for the academical purpose we can consider this as a good result.
Neural networks have a great capability of finding hidden patterns and trends, if they are provided in the training session with a reasonable amount of input data and desired output. As the number of input parameters increases, the quality of prediction increases as well. Thus for a better indexes predictor, you would like to use more parameters than just the prime interest rate and indexes historical data. Anyway, as the purpose of this article is simplified, we'll feed the neural network just with the parameters specified above. During the application development, Encog framework was used in order to build and train the neural network. Personally, I consider this library to be the best choice for application that uses Java or .NET platform and require AI constructs. It has a lot of already written algorithms, so it can greatly help you in developing applications of this kind.
Next, you can see the training algorithm:
///
// Train network
///
/// <param name="status">Delegate to be invoked</param>
/// <param name="trainFrom">Train from</param>
/// <param name="trainTo">Train to</param>
private void TrainNetwork(DateTime trainFrom, DateTime trainTo, TrainingStatus status)
if(_input == null || _ideal == null)
CreateTrainingSets(trainFrom, trainTo); /*Create training sets,
according to input parameters*/
_trainThread = Thread.CurrentThread;
int epoch = 1;
ITrain train = null;
/*Start training with backpropagation algorithm*/
var trainSet = new BasicNeuralDataSet(_input, _ideal);
train = new ResilientPropagation(_network, trainSet);
double error;
error = train.Error;
if (status != null)
status.Invoke(epoch, error, TrainingAlgorithm.Resilient);
} while (error > MaxError);
catch (ThreadAbortException) {/*Training aborted*/ _trainThread = null; }
_trainThread = null;
As you can see, the training procedure runs until the error rate becomes less than the MaxError constant. In any case, one can abort the training session if such a need appears.The network creation method is very straightforward. You specify the number of hidden units and layers at the input and get a new BasicNetwork created. Each layer within the newly created network will have a hyperbolic tangent activation function - ActivationTANH. You can view the CreateNetwork method below:
///
/// Create a new network
///
/// <param name="hiddenLayers">Number of hidden layers</param>
/// <param name="hiddenUnits">Number of hidden units within each hidden layer</param>
private void CreateNetwork(int hiddenUnits, int hiddenLayers)
_network = new BasicNetwork {Name = "Financial Predictor",
Description = "Network for prediction analysis"};
_network.AddLayer(new BasicLayer(INPUT_TUPLES * INDEXES_TO_CONSIDER)); /*Input*/
for (int i = 0; i < hiddenLayers; i++)
_network.AddLayer(new BasicLayer
(new ActivationTANH(), true, hiddenUnits)); /*Hidden layer*/
_network.AddLayer(new BasicLayer
(new ActivationTANH(), true, OUTPUT_SIZE)); /*Output of the network*/
_network.Structure.FinalizeStructure(); /*Finalize network structure*/
_network.Reset(); /*Randomize*/
Constants used in this method can be inferred from the article's description: INPUT_TUPLES = 10 (number of pairs used in prediction, corresponding to 10 business days), INDEXES_TO_CONSIDER = 4, OUTPUT_SIZE = 4, (4 indexes at the input/output).
In this article, the topic of neural networks and their prediction capabilities have been analyzed. Feed forward neural networks proved to be a reliable solution for applications that need to predict something. Generally speaking, function interpolation is one of the major fields of study in stock market environment. A strategy based upon technical indicators, can really help you in achieving good trading results. Of course, the application that is presented in this article cannot be used in a real world environment, because normally you would need not only an almost precise prediction, but also a program that will perform the market analysis in short bursts (each 15-30 seconds), opposite to the values predicted in this application (closing stock value). In order to achieve better results, you would rather want to combine classical trading strategy with one based upon real-time technical indicators. As for the studying purposes, the main objective has been achieved. It is important to mention that Encog framework for neural networks was used while developing the application. In my opinion, it is the best choice one can have while choosing an API for NN. Thanks for reading.
Victoria Moga - my beloved
This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)
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It's Admiral Zhao. That's all I'm going to say here.
i cant respond sana's comment coz i havent see the movie yet ....its not release yet in jakarta....why it take it sooooooooo long....damn......
Quote from: shinchan on July 09, 2010, 02:40:12 AMi cant respond sana's comment coz i havent see the movie yet ....its not release yet in jakarta....why it take it sooooooooo long....damn......I know it's not the same, but they've already put up pirated versions.
Quote from: sanaSANA on July 09, 2010, 05:52:18 AMQuote from: shinchan on July 09, 2010, 02:40:12 AMi cant respond sana's comment coz i havent see the movie yet ....its not release yet in jakarta....why it take it sooooooooo long....damn......I know it's not the same, but they've already put up pirated versions. naturally they have pirated versions@sanaSANAthe movie was definitely not the best but i think expectations where set too high in general and that can't have helped with general reviews - despite not REALLY liking the movie i try to be more moderate so please excuse me for agreeing or disagreeing with you
Hey there everyone. So I have seen The Last Airbender. And here is my review:Over three years ago, it was announced that a live-action film adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender would be made under the helm of M. Night Shyamalan. Being an enormous fan of both the show "Avatar" and M. Night, this was mind-blowing news. Just the thought of Avatar in big-screen format was one heck of a good feeling, and the fact that it would be directed, written, and produced by the masterful M. Night was extremely promising. For years I awaited the release as I dreamed of all the possibilities the live-action film could actually be. In the winter of 2008, casting details were announced, and if anyone can remember that time, the internet was cluttered with battle zones over why it was terrible or why it wasn't necessarily that bad. I myself, was overall on the sidelines, but even with that being said, I questioned the fate of The Last Airbender. A few months later, filming began. Although I was becoming increasingly skeptical, I always found it very exciting to see a release of shots from the set or an interview with a cast member. More info kept on coming to the web, and it was then that some optimism started coming back from me. A teaser trailer was then released in June of 2009, and while I had some concerning questions that I wished to be answered, I felt there was hope. Many aspects of that trailer had pleased me in some way. Not much more info came until the Super Bowl of 2010, were a TV Spot was put online and on the air. My doubts were put to the shelf. At that point I could say "Alright, this is awesome. Can't wait for July". 3D is announced, to which I was almost certain that the feature would be a flop. But I didn't care, nothing was keeping me from seeing the 2D version. Release date moves to a day early for a July 1st opening. It's coming closer, so much closer. We're almost upon the very edge of release and....the reviews come in. Videos are posted on YouTube. Ebert calls it "agonizing", others call it a failure. The internet is flooded with dismal reviews, and I'm sitting there with disappointment entering my mind. What in the world is going on? Wasn't this supposed to be Shyamalan's best movie? I mean, I know he's had some films in the past that weren't well-received critically, but this was a whole different show floor. I mean, this is my Avatar, what has he done to my Avatar?! Look, I mean, I wasn't expecting Academy Awards, that wasn't exactly Shyamalan's intention. But let's look at films with similar demographic: Harry Potter, for instance. Every one of those films have earned positive reviews, and it seems just plain inappropriate that The Last Airbender couldn't pull that off. When a film doesn't even seem to have one single decent review from a critic, something has to be wrong. So when I'm entering the theatre, I have an open-mind, still, but in the back of my mind I think I know what to expect. So this is where the review actually starts.Within the first ten minutes of The Last Airbender, the first thing I notice is how each character that is shown in the film, is never actually introduced. When watching the TV series, I had a clear vision of who the characters were because of how well they were presented to us. Throughout the entirety of TLA, probably every single character seems like a total stranger. Look, I know who these characters are. I've seen every single episode of the show as I love the series. But this is Shyamalan's vision, and these "other versions" of the characters seem so ill-represented in TLA that I would imagine that anyone who is not familiar with the series would have trouble understanding who exactly these characters are. There are number of culprits for this serious flaw. 1: The camera never seems to actually take the time to get a good-look at the characters. This could either be Shyamalan's fault for not bothering to use these details when presenting us with a new character, or it could be the editors, or most-unlikely, the cinematographer (whom I respect for the past films he's done, and there are many scenes here where he's done a nice job). 2: The screenplay. There's so little interaction between characters to the point where their relationship with each other is unclear, and also to the point where there's a sever lacking of descriptive dialogue for each character. 3: We all know that this way too short of a film, and if Shyamalan just told himself to take his time with scenes, let it flow, and if if it ends up being over two hours, so be it. Just because there will be a lot of children watching this movie, that doesn't you should sacrifice the quality for children's attention.In the end, I'm left with a feeling that this is Aang, Katara, and Sokka. With all of the factors listed above, they seem like strangers.Another serious error in TLA is the build-up that leads to exciting events. There is none. No build-up, no "leading up" to the events. Each scene plays out as "BOOM. BOOM. BOOM." "Slow down", I said to myself while watching. "Can we just examine a scene for a while?" Let's stop right there and revisit the term "examining a scene". Anyone who knows the classic style of M. Night's directing should very well know that looking at an event in the film for a while, delving in to the characters as they interact with each other, observing the setting, the people--that's something Shyamalan is a master at, and it makes me wonder why it's not apparent in The Last Airbender. Was it M. Night's mindset when developing the film? I don't know.So I've stated the flaws, but now I'll say what I really did enjoy: The bending. Good, good, good job on the bending. The visuals that come from the bending are a joy to watch, whether it be the wonderfully well-done martial arts or the water or fire glimmering and zooming through the air as it to attacks the enemy. Props to the choreographers and visual effects teams. Colors are vibrant with the elements, and I love the relationship between the martial arts and the elements. It all moves together with harmony, and it looks very soulful. As for the visual and special effects as a whole, it looks very good in most cases, but there's one problem: It has the tendency to look very out of place when seen next to live actors. This became a bit distracting in scenes. There's another issue here I have to bring up: Where's the color palette? Excluding the Spirit World scenes and some of the Northern Water tribe, it's absent. It makes many shots look unfinished and still in the editing process. With such a rich world like Avatar's, I would expect a definitive feel to TLA, but there really isn't.Speaking of the world of Avatar, throughout TLA, there were many instances where I wasn't feeling like this was the Avatar world. I wanted so much more in feeling as if I had been transported into a live-action world born from the TV series. I really wanted that insane feeling of awe as I had when I watched the beautiful show.Let's now talk about the actors. None of them are bad, but none of them display the characters well-enough, and I ponder as to whose fault this is, the script or the actors. An actor I was very pleased with-- Dev Patel. Wonderfully well-acted, and he pretty much seems like a Zuko I suppose, but with the lack of good character examination and development, I wanted more. Another great casting choice was for Princess Yue. She both looks like the character and acts as her very well. But in the scene where she gives herself for the moon, I felt no real emotion like I did with the show, because again, in TLA the characters simply are not presented well. The acting is fine folks, but other factors play in to cloud their good acting, unfortunately.One of the immediate questions I and fans had when the film was announced was "What will Appa and Momo look like?" Well they sure do look terrific, but I was immensely disappointed when coming out of the movie that I realized that there really were very few shots of Momo and Appa. This is sad because they have such a vibrant personality and importance in the show. I love Appa and Momo, and it comes down to the same quote: "I wanted more".Now here's one of the most significant questions that must be asked here: Is the film entertaining? And you know what, yes it is. I was never exactly bored as I was annoyed, and as I said before, the bending was some terrific eye candy. And I've criticized the screenplay before, and while I believe it is very flawed, there were two fantastic lines in there that I was very pleased with, and they really are very wise. The ending finale of the movie was visually extraordinary to watch, and the film never really loses site of it's exciting moments. So to say that The Last Airbender wasn't entertaining would be a flat-out lie. It's fun, it really is. The flaws are immensely distracting, yes, and while I personally was left with a mostly bad taste in the mouth, I had many family members telling me they had a great time with TLA, and the fact that they are happy pleases me. So in a way, Shyamalan has succeeded. He's stated in interviews that he wanted to make an adventurous summer film for the family, and he did. I had fun watching this with my family. I was seriously bothered by a number of things, and I'm left wondering what could have been, because yes, I personally don't think they represented Avatar very well. So I suppose what I'm trying to say is that it's a bad adaptation, but it succeeded in its mission to bring the family together, which is something we can all appreciate.I want a reboot, actually. Because the characters haven't been well-established, it would be inappropriate for this to carry on in a sequel. I want a reboot that well-displays the rich world of Avatar, and also brings the same vision that The Last Airbender did very well. Oh, and I apologize for this extremely long review, there was just a lot to say. Thanks guys.
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