text:
Defeat shouldn't mask England's progress
An hour after the final whistle in Helsinki, I sit at my laptop in the press box surrounded by confetti in the colours of Germany's black and gold.
Through my headphones I hear Kelly Smith's interview as it's being filed back to London, her words drowned out by the familiar sound of raucous, jubilant Germans. We've been here before. Two years ago, four years ago, etc.
So what's changed? Not much from a German point of view. Five European titles in a row, it's now 19 games without defeat against England. Not too much tweaking is required by them. But what, if anything, will this change for Hope Powell's side?
Hope Powell's team fell at the final hurdle
First things first - despite the painful ending, there's no doubt this has been a successful tournament for them.
Four years ago I was commentating on England finishing bottom of their group at Euro 2005 on home soil.
Two years ago, England lost to the United States in the quarter-finals of the World Cup and returned home to find they'd only be paid the equivalent of £40 per day for their efforts.
They told me they'd have to work extra hours to make up for the shortfall in their income and their training programmes - which they'd so strictly followed in the build-up to the World Cup - could no longer be a priority. Progress? Hardly.
But two years on, the players have just told me after their first major final what a massive impact the new central contracts have played in their progress.
While six of the squad are full-time professionals in the United States, others are now paid £16,000 a year by the FA to enable them to train and recover in a way that other elite athletes do.
The benefits of a relatively small investment have been evident for all to see. So should we all pat Hope Powell and her players on the back, say "hard luck against those pesky Germans and better luck next time"? If we just did that, it would mean we've learnt nothing from history.
A thriving women's game was stopped in its tracks all the way back in 1921. Startled by its rising popularity, the FA decided to effectively ban women from playing football for 50 years saying, "...the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged." It was 1971 before the ban was lifted.
People forget this key fact when wondering why England are still trailing behind the Germans and Americans (though they've caught up with the Scandinavians).
England captain Faye White said that when the FA deferred the women's Super League by a year, the players said, "oh here we go again". They have become resigned to being let down by those in a position to give them a long-overdue leg up.
This is the FA board's chance to continue to make amends for the actions of their predecessors.
I spoke to new FA chief executive Ian Watmore at half time during our 5 live sports extra commentary on Thursday night. He was extremely positive about the women's game, said he wanted to prove it by his actions and was "convinced" the Super League would get the go-ahead in the next few weeks.
This group of players have done their bit. FA, it's over to you to make sure this latest opportunity to make a real difference is not lost and I'm not blogging about the same subject after the Germans have won the World Cup again in two years' time.
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- 1. At 07:59am on 11 Sep 2009, Born_Again wrote:
Firstly I would like to congratulate the ladies on their achievements. Watching the game, and the goals again this morning, one thing struck me. The actual goalposts seem massive, and the goals scored were like being scored past children. I think if the actual frames were reduced by 10-15% in size for the ladies game i think this would actually improve the game. It would force the technique to be better as it seems the keepers have very little chance with a lot of shots and often get lobbed on their line.
- 2. At 08:17am on 11 Sep 2009, ajtreading wrote:
Good point about reducing the size of the goal. I also noticed the goal keepers often get lobbed on their line.
- 3. At 09:02am on 11 Sep 2009, Rabster wrote:
There seems to be little doubt that the English women have made progress, but last night Germany looked to be in a different class. If the powers that be do all they can to encourage new talent, that is all one could ask for. When did England's men last reach a Euro final?
- 4. At 09:04am on 11 Sep 2009, Sir Harry Whitesnapp wrote:
The problem with the women's game is the pace is desperately slow and the touch of the players is poor on a good day. I also noticed there is no real physical contact most of the time and for instance you often see players winning headers completle unchallenged. Don't even get me started on the goalkeepers.
The point here is I'm not trying to knock the women's game but it is what it is....if you like it fine, but the super league or whatever it is branded as will not have widespread appeal. It is fine as an amateur game (suitbable for Olympics for example) but it really doesn't have enough in it to entertain the masses and build a huge following.
I heard some of the commentators complaining during the semi final about the lack of interest from the press in England....don't blame the press this time, blame the lack of anything meaningful to report on.
Bad luck to England though as they did well in the tournament.
- 5. At 09:30am on 11 Sep 2009, dan2dons wrote:
I agree with the sentiments about the quality of football last night. Unfortunatley, being played the day after the mens' succesful performance, the contrast was extreme. That said, I disagree with some of the comments about the womens game never taking off and that the world will only be interested in the mens game. Why? Well consider this blog, the responses, the fact that the BBC transmitted the game live... at the end of the day, what interests the public is success.
Take Jessica Ennis. I didnt hear anyone criticise her success with comments like "she wouldnt have made the mens decathlon team", "well its only 8 events so it not a real challenge", "in comparison to the men her success is not something for the country to rejoice in"... No, we all recognised what she had done within her respective sport and celebrated.
The same should be (and is) true for the England Womens Team: they reached a final in their respective sport. Something the men havent done since 1966!! So hats off to them...and to the BBC for getting onside.
- 6. At 09:36am on 11 Sep 2009, Kubali wrote:
'When did England's men last reach a Euro final?'
When did England's men last get smashed 6-2!?
- 7. At 10:01am on 11 Sep 2009, tomoshywel1 wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
- 8. At 10:25am on 11 Sep 2009, FortressFratton wrote:
As an 18yr old, I can guarantee that at least 60% of boys aged 16-19 would have saved that goal. If you disagree, then you must come from Chernobyl.
Sorry but inventing statistics doesn't make your 'fact' a fact.
The keeper was perhaps badly positioned, and maybe could have done more to stop it - but the strike was a long way out and extremely accurate - give the German credit for such an accurate shot rather than place the blame on the goalkeeper. You don't reach the final of an international tournament if your goalkeeper is as bad as people are making out here.
Yes, the England team have work to do if they are to beat Germany in the future, but the team showed real promise (they reached the final!!) and scoring 2 goals against such a good side is testament to that. They need to work on their defence (too much playing it around at the back and giving it away!) and yes, they need to improve their goalkeeping, but all these comparisons to goalkeeping in the men's game does nothing to help and, frankly, are completely unfounded. Unless of course you've got a real statistic to prove your '60% of 16-19 year old boys' fact.
- 9. At 10:30am on 11 Sep 2009, abidallah wrote:
Goalkeeping is always the last area of the game that develops. Take the criticism that the media gives to goalkeepers every time the African Nations Cup occurs. Over time it will improve, nothing more.
England were simply outclassed defensively by an outstanding attacking side. The passing, movement and understanding between the front six of Germany would have easily graced any men's game.
As for there being no real physical contact, complete rubbish. The England centre-mids and centre-halves certainly put it about, and both sides got up and got on with the game with far less hystrionics than the men.
The final was a great advert for the women's game as it stands now, and it can only improve.
- 10. At 10:45am on 11 Sep 2009, EPF wrote:
As a Non-league football fan, the women's game is at a similar level to that around the Blue Square North/South in terms of the pace of the game. The physicality is different, there are no hackers in the women's game like we see down here!
This 'having a pop' attitude comes from groups of premiership fans who watch their football on Sky and think football stops after the top 6 in the championship.
The women's game improves all the time and its about time we recognised the successes of our women's teams in male dominated sports, such as our Ashes winning cricketers and our finalist footballers.
It was a first final for all but one of the players, people are allowed to have nerves and make mistakes, the Germans having been winning for years, they knew what to do. The better side won, but the england team gave their all.
- 11. At 10:50am on 11 Sep 2009, WorstBlogEver wrote:
I watch Loads of football and this was a good game, germany were a class act. Female or Male why all the negative fuss. BBC show ONE game from the 6 england play, and all you get is boo boys comparing how none of these women could even play men's league/champoinship level, SO WHAT! As a man I personaly dont feel threatened by what I saw, but I have read so many bad comments on this particular site it makes you wonder about the male ego psych of this country.
2011 Germany host the female World Cup as holders, 40,000 plus crowds will not be random. Guys need to wake up to the fact women's football is not going to go away any time soon, Even if the BBC choose not to show it.
By the way if England women had played like that joke Croatia outfit did the night before, all the haters would have had have gone crazy, I mean Rooney's goal said it all.
- 12. At 11:17am on 11 Sep 2009, trigg_27 - Keep 606 alive for Rambo wrote:
It's high time that more women's football was shown on TV. The more media exposure the game gets, the more people will be interested as either spectators or participants.
And the more people involved, the more money becomes available to improve facilities and standards
- 13. At 11:18am on 11 Sep 2009, Villa_90 wrote:
#11: 'That joke Croatia outfit' played like that because they were broken by one of the best England performances since we beat Germany 5-1. We made them look bad, rather than them being awful from the start. And the Rooney goal may have come from a bad error by the keeper but he had also made about three top class saves from one-on-ones previously, and made the mistake when the game was already lost. Every single goal scored by the Germans was unconstested by England's keeper, except the ridiculously well struck 40 yarder. She didn't even move for most of them. On the other hand, I agree that there shouldn't be so much of an issue made about how women footballers are only at such and such a level. There again, women football fans shouldn't complain that it isn't given much coverage because the reason for that is it's very low standard, apart from Germany and Brazil.
- 14. At 11:26am on 11 Sep 2009, williejohnisgod wrote:
to Harry Whitesknapp - No physical contact? Faye White didn't make a mess of her make up, she dislocated and fractured her cheekbone in contact with an opponent. What's more, she played in an international final a couple of days later against the reigning champions. John Terry does it and he is a hero. Time to stop treating these players and their manager as girls playing a mans game, and start recognising their achievements on a budget that wouldn't keep Wolverhampton Wanderers going for more than a week!
- 15. At 11:32am on 11 Sep 2009, footymums wrote:
However women's football is perceived, the crucial thing is that the women's game deserves to be given the opportunity to develop. This is the fastest growing participative sport in the UK and the FA and other governing bodies need to commit sufficient resources to let it prosper. This will allow it to move to the next level and the next level beyond that, with individual player skill emerging as the likely defining feature of the women's game
- 16. At 11:43am on 11 Sep 2009, imelati wrote:
I think it was a great game for both sides but some of the goals were a little bit embarrassing, they should never have gone in. Yes the goalkeeping is really lacking in most female football teams but I play a lot of female football for fun and meet some really good goalies who have never considered playing for England. There is neither money nor any glamour in being a female goalie - at least the strikers get some glory to make up for the lack of money. Why would anyone give up their job/take time off to train on a football pitch for no money or credit?
It's true that publicity will never pick up until the play starts improving, but players will not start improving until they are paid a decent salary and appreciated for their efforts! So its kind of a catch-22 here.
- 17. At 11:49am on 11 Sep 2009, imelati wrote:
Oh and what do you mean no physical contact?! When these girls are fouled or knocked over they just get up and get on with it. None of the diving theatrics that dominate the men's game!
- 18. At 11:51am on 11 Sep 2009, smartgoodtimes wrote:
I have been involved in the women's game for a long time, and this was a big step for the women's game in England to get the coverage and support. As for the performance, it wasn't brilliant and yes there were areas that needed to be improved but they can be physical they can move quicker and I know they can do it because I have seen it. A judgement can't be made on watching one game, and simply they can perform better.
- 19. At 11:55am on 11 Sep 2009, Guns wrote:
Congratulations to our ladies, when the men make it to the final of a major tournament then we can start knocking Women's Football. They battled their way to the final next time they will do better its a learning curve. Keep your heads up you have done more then our ens team actually failed to qualify for the last European finals!
- 20. At 12:04pm on 11 Sep 2009, cs15hammer wrote:
I love watching the women's game. Well done ladies. I love international tournaments for either men or women - and I'd watch a tournament like that over more of the usual Premier League or Champions League hype and fodder anytime. In the women's game there is lots of skill, fitness and good sporting attitude and deep feeling for representing their country. It's been great to see this England side growing in the last few years. I don't see the point of comparing it to the men's game or criticising either the men or women's game in this comparision.
Yes the English men haven't reached a major final for donkeys but it's different.
As for changing the size of the goals I don't normally see so many goals scored and the games can be entertaining too when there is a bit more chance of a goal. The goals yesterday magnified it because the Germans were so good at finishing and exploiting weakness. One comparision with the men's game that does stand up; those Germans!
- 21. At 12:12pm on 11 Sep 2009, MouserDem wrote:
I watched all of England's games at the Euros and the last World Cup and in spite of the scoreline in the final, this tournament was definitely a major step forward. Although the World Cup was seen as progress, if I remember rightly England won one game and their highlight was a scraped draw against the Germans, a game where they set out to not lose and nothing more. The little I saw of England at this tournament showed they attempted and accomplished so much more than at the World Cup, but this leads me on to my second point. While the team took significant steps forward, the media, BBC included, took several huge strides backwards. The only tv coverage I could find was the final, hastily arranged after victory in the semi. Even the coverage on this website has been woeful - no Caroline Cheese text streams to read and participate in, no commentaries, the Confed Cup got more coverage and that's little more than a dress rehearsal. So the team can be proud but the BBC (and I love and support my beeb - I'm not a habitual beeb basher) have no reason to be smug.
As for the guy who said earlier that there's no physical contact - didn't you see the facemask? Broken and dislocated cheekbone mate, sustained at this tournament, how much more physical contact do you want?
- 22. At 12:12pm on 11 Sep 2009, KK10_ynwa wrote:
To those of you who have mentioned the lack of quality in the womens' game, I'm afraid you have hit on the wrong point. I am 19 years old and I love football, and yes, I am a girl. As much as I like wathcing and supporting the mens' game, and indeed I do watch Liverpool play every week whether it be on tv or at anfield, I have never felt I could aspire to be a football player purely because the players that I can watch on tv are men. I have played football for most of my teenage years just for fun, I've never dreamed about playing for England like most young lads do, but watching the ladies team last night, for the first time I could identify with the players because they were female, it was inspirational and aspirational. Promoting the ladies' game not only encourages girls to play football but allows them to aspire. The dream of playing football for your country exists for girls where it did not before. Surely this is not something we should discourage?
- 23. At 12:14pm on 11 Sep 2009, MouserDem wrote:
My previous comment, when I said I watched all the Euros and World Cup in my first sentence, I meant all the previous Euros staged in England, not the one in Finland that finished yesterday.
- 24. At 12:16pm on 11 Sep 2009, dannytrfc wrote:
The problem with the perception of the women's game is that people watch one game and dismiss it on the basis that it's "too slow" or "not physical enough", or listen to the lazy media coverage of England being "thrashed" by Germany.
Trust me, as the fan of a team in the habit of being thrashed of late, that was not a thrashing, despite what the scoreline suggests. If England had come up against this Germany team 2 or 3 years ago it may well have been a thrashing on the cards. The improvement is there for all to see and making it to the final is a great achievement, despite the outcome. If the men's team reach the final in 2010 and are then beaten by Brazil or Spain will it be called a failure? Not a chance.
Another benefit may be that women's football may well be the only form of the game left on terrestrial television any time soon!
- 25. At 12:24pm on 11 Sep 2009, Barnes B 25 wrote:
I think congratulations are in order to all involved in women's football in the UK, especially after all the hard work off field to get them recognised. We continue to treat women's football as second class citizens when patently they are not. They play the game with far more spirit, and in some cases skill, than many of the professional footballers. Why is it that women athletes get support in many events, that was not available previously, long distance running, tennis,etc and yet a support for a successful football team is almost an after thought?
So we lost, but they all gave 110% and you can't ask for more. Who else can say that on their day, they were second in Europe?
I enjoyed the final, which I saw in Spain, and expect to see them in future tournaments.
Well done again.
- 26. At 12:24pm on 11 Sep 2009, bluethirdkit wrote:
Personally I was pleased for English football that the women did so well and that they really matched and worried the Germans into the second half. I watched it as an England fan and enjoyed it [till half 70 mins anyway.] The game deserves to devleop and hopefully the FA will make sure it does.
I don't get to see much of this sport, but it did seem to me that the game was potentially worse than the quality I remember from the last Women's World Cup.
Yep, two great finishes at least, but yes woeful goalkeeping [positioning and weak wrists] and I was really worried about the lack of challenges and physicality. My 15yr old niece kept moaning about girls falling over - not fouls, just falling over - I thought the England second goal was a joke on Germany - great close control and good cross, but really is it illegal in the women's game to just put the full weight of your body through the ball and take it out of play.
This is not a criticism of women nor patronising, we just hope and expect more. [I can be equally critical of the men] Yes you may be a fraction slower and slightly weaker body v. body, but thankfully people like Hope Powell will not accept excuses and will expect improvement.
Hope - please stay on and may the girls go for the top prize in Germany.
- 27. At 12:31pm on 11 Sep 2009, tomoshywel1 wrote:
'You don't reach the final of an international tournament if your goalkeeper is as bad as people are making out here.'
No, only if the oppositions keeper is even worse, as is probably the case.
The final was a great advert for the women's game as it stands now, and it can only improve.
'By the way if England women had played like that joke Croatia outfit did the night before, all the haters would have had have gone crazy, I mean Rooney's goal said it all'
The 'I watch a lot of football' comment was clearly nonsense then if your suggesting that Croatia are a joke. How are the Croatian male national side a joke? It is a fact that Croatia have qualified more times for a major championship than England have.
'I've never dreamed about playing for England like most young lads do'
Globally, I reckon this probably isn't true.
Otherwise, KK10_ynwa:
You talk more sense than most here.
'It's true that publicity will never pick up until the play starts improving, but players will not start improving until they are paid a decent salary and appreciated for their efforts!'
OMG, are you serious? I think thats the best comment ever haha. haha. I apologize if you were joking, I can't quite tell if you are. If not; haha!! Is that your attitude towards work? If money is such an important factor in your level of motivation, why on earth did you end up in a job where you can post comments on a BBC sport blog at 12 on a weekday? Yet again, your current job would also help explain how you managed to come up with something like that lol.
- 28. At 12:34pm on 11 Sep 2009, Alfdawg wrote:
40 yard screamer my left nut! Where was the keeper!!
Hopefully after this result women will accept that there game is indeed amatuer and will remain so. Who wants to watch this tripe! Its about as physical as ballet.
Football is a man's game, end of
- 29. At 12:34pm on 11 Sep 2009, theboynavey wrote:
The womens game is a joke. You caould take any amateur sinday league team and put them up against England womens team and i would expect the men to win 100 times out 100.
- 30. At 12:37pm on 11 Sep 2009, tomoshywel1 wrote:
- 31. At 12:40pm on 11 Sep 2009, tomoshywel1 wrote:
- 32. At 12:42pm on 11 Sep 2009, bluethirdkit wrote:
fair point on keepers both ends. I did mean poor [woeful may be bit harsh] goalkeeping from both sides. I never properly understood why this has always been the weak point of the womens' game - perhaps the comment earlier on perceived glamour helps a little as explanation.
Re tackling though. I wonder if FIFA/FA could sanction training matches versus men's teams - yep e.g. Blue Square sides. The women are tough enough and it may just encourage them to be more physical in each challenge [or do the damn referees blow up in a patronising/continental manner?]
It may be the edge which is required for the next tournament and take the women where they want to be - top.
Well done Hope and the ladies - may some of this improvement and great attitude rub off on our ever improving men's side.
- 33. At 12:45pm on 11 Sep 2009, Alfdawg wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
- 34. At 12:46pm on 11 Sep 2009, Alfdawg wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
- 35. At 12:46pm on 11 Sep 2009, Alfdawg wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
- 36. At 12:53pm on 11 Sep 2009, Dean Barrow wrote:
Alfdawg you are an idiot
- 37. At 12:55pm on 11 Sep 2009, Alfdawg wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
- 38. At 1:28pm on 11 Sep 2009, imelati wrote:
Tomoshywel1 - You really do jump to conclusions don't you? Has it ever occurred to you that I might be:
1. On leave 2. Having lunch at my desk 3. A student 4. Working from home 5. Self-employed?
Silly person.
Anyway, I was being tongue-in-cheek: of course money is a motivation with most human beings, but it's also the excuse everyone gives when women's football is discussed.
- 39. At 1:41pm on 11 Sep 2009, meyers7 wrote:
At 12:42pm on 11 Sep 2009, bluethirdkit wrote:
I wonder if FIFA/FA could sanction training matches versus men's teams - yep e.g. Blue Square sides. The women are tough enough and it may just encourage them to be more physical in each challenge [or do the damn referees blow up in a patronising/continental manner?]
Speaking as a Yank, I know our USA women's team uses training matches against U17/U18 boys club sides. I believe a couple of the WPS teams do also (maybe U16).
- 40. At 1:56pm on 11 Sep 2009, jaskirtd wrote:
great blog Jacqui, and well done to the england team, fantastic tournament and huge strides forward hopefully for our womens game. i remember the euro's in england 4 years ago and the development, maturity and progression the team has made has been huge. and to reach the final and to play against the Germans like we did up until the 60/70th minute was brilliant to watch and I'm a very proud for what they achieved.
And I've seen Rachel Brown (the england keeper) play many times and she is a fantastic goalkeeper.
Also just a note, I watched most of the matches on Eurosport - great coverage from them - and was MASSIVELY disappointed with the BBC's lack of coverage, although the final was covered fantastically, Lucy Ward is a great commentator! There is a following for womens football and I hope that the World Cup and Euros are covered fully in years to come. The BBC and FA can do a lot to move the game forward and develop the talent (U19 champs) into making an England squad that can lift the trophy next time.
- 41. At 2:23pm on 11 Sep 2009, Snee38 wrote:
"As a Non-league football fan, the women's game is at a similar level to that around the Blue Square North/South in terms of the pace of the game"
That is the biggest joke i ever heard womens football is a long long long long long long way off! i know doubt one day womens football will reach a good level but at the moment it is painful to watch! i will always support england women in a game, and indeed started to watch the game yesterday but i had to turn it off because i saw my 6 year old son kicking a ball against a wall on his own and it was more entertaining!as for the goal keepers they need to step up their game tenfold before womens football should even be shown on tv.
- 42. At 2:38pm on 11 Sep 2009, JimmyDix wrote:
I agree with snee38, comparing the standard to the blue square north/south is wishingful thinking. On the evidence from this tournament there is some way to go before it reaches that level. The goalkeeping continues to be atrocious and lets the womens game down, there is no excuse for keepers being lobbed standing on there goalline!!!
maybe putting women basketballers in goal, with height and have a good track record of ball handling skills might do the trick!
- 43. At 3:06pm on 11 Sep 2009, jones_gone wrote:
If getting completely outplayed and humiliated by a team whowere slow, technically imprecise and lacked any kind of physical presence (I only saw a handful of tackles throughout the entire game) makes for a 'successful' tournament, I'd hate to see them have an unseccesful one. For such a poor team to reach the final tells us all we need to know about the quality of the international women's game - about on a par with a pub team.
- 44. At 3:11pm on 11 Sep 2009, adam-o wrote:
Good blog although I have to chip in with this Blue Square debate -
My local team is Bognor Regis Town who last season got relegated from the Blue Square South. From what I have seen of the ladies England team, I beleive that if they were to meet, Bognor would win fairly comfortably.
The Ladies keepers cannot catch, they struggle to save much and are dwarfed by the goals. The mens game (even at non league level) is much faster and physical. The two games are very different, and unless some changes are made to ladies football, I would still much prfer to watch a non league game to a top class ladies match.
- 45. At 3:17pm on 11 Sep 2009, nailbiterblood wrote:
This was a very exciting and even game until the fourth german goal. The english women have improved dramatically when one compares them with the side that drew in a drab game against the Germans in the world cup. Ms. Oatley is right that they are on a par with the scandinavians but a good way behind the Germans, Americans and Brazilians. It would help alot if they could find a decent goalkeeper. Now, doesn´t that sound familiar ?
- 46. At 3:18pm on 11 Sep 2009, 2001calm wrote:
No 'Hope' Powell should have made a substitution circa 60mins. The players were tired.....why wait until 80min to bring fresh legs onto the field. Pro badges don't necessary make a good manager/coach.
I watched the inaugural US WPS season which highlighted competitive and entertaining games.....better touches/passing and for the purpose of this forum excellent goalkeepers. The England players are lacking a competitive league, only Kelly Smith & Anita Asanti really showed the standard everyone in the WPS has been playing.
- 47. At 3:46pm on 11 Sep 2009, Snee38 wrote:
i could have beat englands womens team on my own with an extra big goal for them to score in :) mabey that should be the future of the inter gender sport one man 11 women would be close games
- 48. At 4:03pm on 11 Sep 2009, bluethirdkit wrote:
shame all these unreconstructed mysoginists are wrecking an interesting chat about how women can quickly improve the sport so that it becomes the spectical they deserve. Sure it isn't directly the effort or ability of the individual players.
Show some respect gents and stop making our side of the argument look like neanderthal idiots. aka GROW UP! or at least get funny.
- 49. At 4:14pm on 11 Sep 2009, Dean Barrow wrote:
The quickest way to improve the sport is to improve the keeping. I keep goal at a very low level (saturday aft veterans) and I would be embarrased by some of the goals that have been let in over the tournament. Perhaps they should reduce the goal size by 10% to improve keeping and stop teams shooting from 40-45 yards knowing there is a good chance they will score if the ball is on target
- 50. At 4:27pm on 11 Sep 2009, sirjawa wrote:
Yes the women's team has improved but they will never win anything with that Keeper, the worst keeper I have ever seen called a professional. Also the pundits sheer denial of the truth won't help. The co commentator claimed their was nothing the keeper could have done when Germany scored from a corner when clearly she could have punched the ball clear and not flapped around in the 6 yard box. The studio pundits played the same game by claiming that "It's a fine line between England being great and Germany scoring 1, 2 or 3 goals" er I don't think so 3 goals is quite a big margin and even if it had been 3-2 to Germany that still wouldn't define England as 'great'.
- 51. At 4:28pm on 11 Sep 2009, bluethirdkit wrote:
OK is there a female athlete out there who can identify why women's goalkeepers are poor - Jacqui, perhaps someone can blog on this.
It is not just height. The England keeper reached that long shot, she just didn't have the strength/technique to keep it out.
But also positioning, they seem much more reluctant to rush out and make themselves big than even the most lowly male keepers. Even the first German goal had a question mark about 'line-sitting' [a similar accusation levelled at the English defender who blocked the ball of the line and then stood in the same place waiting for a follow-up shot]
We all know women can jump [athletics], run [most sports], catch [basketball/netball] and have strong wrists [volleyball]. Why can't they focus on some of this. Surely two great women's keepers in a fairly good squad like England would give them a huge advantage over possibly more skillful opposition.
As someone wrote above, at 2-1 and 3-2 it was game on, so a class keeper may have made all the difference. And the German keeper was no better.
- 52. At 4:41pm on 11 Sep 2009, 2001calm wrote:
There's no need to change goal size or any other element of the game. Just as not every out field player can play in goal, only competition and possibly financial incentives would improve standards of all positions.
The ladies game has improved from the 80's and 90's, and there are further opportunities to improve. Real footballers appreciate skills regardless of the gender, only people whom have never played at a decent level would criticise.
- 53. At 5:14pm on 11 Sep 2009, KK10_ynwa wrote:
Patronising female footballers and putting the ladies' game down is certainly not the way forward. Those of you who count yourselves as football fans should encourage the game at whatever level, whether the players are men or women.
However, I am glad to see that most here are open minded with balanced views.
It is a shame that I cannot say this of everyone.
- 54. At 5:23pm on 11 Sep 2009, freddawlanen wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
- 55. At 5:30pm on 11 Sep 2009, sirjawa wrote:
Blimey thats a bit strong! The grass roots of mens football is lacking funding and England still doesn't have the FA academy of excellence that every other major country has. Money comes into male football mainly through tv and as people pay to watch top level male football why should the money go anywhere else?
The thing is you can't pour money into girls football without the evidence to show there is a large enough number of girls waiting to play to make the expense valid.
Sports can't be forced to succeed purely because they are ethically rich if people don't want to see it thus making it financially rich.
I absolutely don't support sexism or being against women's' football just because it's women but to improve one must listen to criticism and improve. Empty compliments and patronising they did wells from the pundits help no one.
- 56. At 5:35pm on 11 Sep 2009, brisolbilly wrote:
What is wrong with some people? Knocking the women who get paid a pittance compared to the men for doing something that the men haven't done for donkeys years. Why all this comparison with men when it doesn't happen in other sports? Do we tell female athletes that they shouldn't bother because they'll never be as quick or strong as the men? Do we deride their efforts? Should we just let the Williams sisters leave tennis after explaining that Roger and Andy will just be so better love?
No, its different - get over it. If you truly beleive that girls and women shouldn't play then perhaps you would be kind enough to explain to my girls team at school why they can't play a sport that they love. Perhaps you could also bring out your other pre-war theories about women.
I'm as disappointed as many others about the result (think Hope got it tactically wrong actually) but please stop slagging these footballers off. Think it says a lot when people like Roy Keane, David James and John Terry can say such positive things about application, technique and spirit in the women's game when the fans cannot.
My U12's girls team have got training tomorrow. Not looking forward to telling them that they shouldn't bother because only boys should play.
- 57. At 5:49pm on 11 Sep 2009, ConnectorMan wrote:
OK, big shock. The womens game is not as advanced as the mens game. How much longer has mens football been played at a high level than womens football? Give the game a chance to develop and while it will never be the same as the mens game as after all, men and women are built differently, its quality and appeal will improve with time. The only thing that will hold this development back is a lack of investment and old fashioned prejudice. I used to coach youth football and up to the age of about 13 girls football is more physical than boys because girls tend to develop more quickly. Its only after this sort of age that boys catch up/go past girls in size and strength and a lot more of the girls lose interest. It is therefore harder for a 14-16 year old girl to find a local club to play for than it is for a boy. Investment is needed from this grass-roots level to develop the game and with the much increased interest in football in general among females there is no reason why this country cannot then compete with the very best in the world as they are not far behind anyway.
- 58. At 6:03pm on 11 Sep 2009, ukctstrider wrote:
I think both sides of this argument need to take a step back and look at the reality of the situation.
The female game has a long way to go to catch up with the male game, but it has nowhere near the length of history and it's improving in huge leaps and bounds in a very short space of time. The momentum of improvement needs to be kept up and that means having a professional domestic league where the players are on living wages (which £16k is not) so they can do nothing but play football.
Since when, incidentally, did football need to be entertaining for people to want to watch it? What happened to pride and passion? The mens team have been quite frankly woeful for as long as I can remember and the hype around them has been as far from the reality as can be imagined. We should be watching and supporting the womens team out of national pride at the very least.
The positives aside... It can be quite painful at times watching the womens game. There is still a huge gulf of training to get them up to standard and I'm not convinced that Powell is capable of doing it by herself. I see this very much in the same light as bringing Capello in for the men. No Englishman is good enough so we have Pearce leaning from a top class manager. Powell needs to be a number two to a more established manager (probably a man) and gaining experience that way, instead of the current trial and error method.
- 59. At 6:29pm on 11 Sep 2009, Carl Showalter wrote:
6. At 09:36am on 11 Sep 2009, unounos wrote:
'When did England's men last reach a Euro final?'
When did England's men last get smashed 6-2!?
After leading 2-1 at half time. The women's team has outperformed the men's team in recent years, simply by reaching a final. why try and belittle this?
Now that Spain have finally won something, I say that the England men's team are the biggest underachievers in world football today. in the last 20 years, we've failed to qualify for 2 major tournaments, got dumped out of the Euros by a terrible Romanian side, failed to even make an impact on ten man Brazil and lost so many games on penalties I've lost count. all this while employing a string of high profile managers on ridiculous money. our return for all that? nothing. call that achieving?
- 60. At 6:50pm on 11 Sep 2009, m1ke068 wrote:
Football is a man's game, end of.
So is ice hockey. Im from Canada, and our most popular sport is hockey. And that my friend, is more of a mans game than that diving little princesses game (football) will ever be. END OF
Anyway..the Canadian womens team in hockey ( a mans game remember) is not ever subject to the petty, chauvanistic, small minded criticism I read on this blog. The country gets behind the team and the women's game is highly encouraged. Same as football in Canada. I was in Edmonton and witnessed a 45,000 crowd cheer on the women U 19's final a few years back (Canada V U.S). Now thats support. What are you actually covering up by saying football is only a mans game ? I bet your one of those little pncy divers in football are'nt you? Come on now. Its okay to dive, your a man rememeber
- 61. At 7:05pm on 11 Sep 2009, Accrington Stanley bought my parents off with fast food vouchers wrote:
Without saying anything about the quality, the teams were horribly mismatched. Is there much point when one team wins everything because everybody else is so much worse?
- 62. At 8:00pm on 11 Sep 2009, WorstBlogEver wrote:
I remember seeing Seaman being beaten from a even more improbable shot in the 02 WC match agianst Brazil. As a (semi pro) Rachel Brown is not the best goalkeeper in the womens game, so why judge all female goalies by her standards? I thought Germany showed good levels of TECHNIQUE in there finnishing.
I have seen far to many top/bottom level male games with such ridiculous levels of agression, in which all kinds of anoying stuff bogs the game down in more media related nonsense that time and time agian deflects from the actul play in the game. So to hear guys suggest that women games have NO body contact is ridiculus, the girls just dont go in to break legs and intimidate opposing players.
There seems no point arguing over the media/FA's support for the female game, Englands ladies have done well in spite of them not because of them. Dont be confused by the reputaion the England badge gives these women, as they dont represent the same blind history the men have. England ladies would be considered a emerging force, whilst the German women are just like there men, a leading power in the game.
And yes in a male football obsesed country blided by the ONE home soil 66 winning side, beating a nation like Croatia formed only maybe 12 years ago, having porformed pretty crap in the last tournament they knocked england out in, is sign yet agian we just dont have a realist veiw when it comes to our mens national game. Are Croatia going to win ANYTHING soon? and yet that result is supposed to signal Englands intent to the world. What the girls have done in such a short space of time is great and in the long run will lead to more success, inspite of the haters.
- 63. At 10:10pm on 11 Sep 2009, VirginianRed wrote:
First of all, I'm a man who in general does not enjoy watching female team sports. However, I am enough of a patriot to get behind and cheer any team in any sport male or female if they put on an England shirt/skirt.
This past week or two, our English women did a great job getting to the Euro final and should be the pride of England right now. I for one am proud of them. Forget how many goals were scored, they played their hearts out and lets face it, the men's team went for decades without beating the Hun (let not talk about penalties). To lose to the Germans is a national trait for us English - which the men are currently in the process of shaking off.
Given that the England women's team have, no domestic league to talk of; almost zero media exposure; very little capital investment, very little national support; until recently had nothing to play for other than their love of the game. Yet, in the relatively short amount of years they have been sanctioned by the FA and therefore been in existence, they have raised the level of their game and progressed quickly to the point where they did well in the world cup, and now made it to the Euro finals. Fantastic accomplishment really. Once some or all of these short comings have been addressed, we will start seeing the England women's team beating the Germans and winning major tournaments.
Now, will that make the women's team comparable to the men in strength, pace, physicality, stamina, striking the ball, hard tackling, power heading, long shots on goal? No, obviously not, the women's game is not as physical as the men's game - although, proportionally it is every bit as physical.The two games are different but, once that is accepted and an open mind is applied, the women's game can be as entertaining and compelling as the men's, and has a rightful place in English sports.
Does all this mean I would go out and watch a women's rugby game this weekend? Well, that's just say "Rome wasn't built in a day". However, if the England women's team were playing a game within a 100 miles of me on Saturday, I would be out there shouting them on.
- 64. At 10:12pm on 11 Sep 2009, joe_banana wrote:
hahahaha Women playing a man's sport. How cute.
- 65. At 03:54am on 12 Sep 2009, freddawlanen wrote:
Shock horror, I have a go at all the sexist scum commenting and I'm the one who has my comment removed.
BRAVO BBC it's so good to see this institution is still in the dark ages.
- 66. At 05:13am on 12 Sep 2009, iangidigasu wrote:
Look at Jacqui, I mean Oatley. I think she's very very sexy. What do you think?
- 67. At 12:34pm on 12 Sep 2009, jeremee wrote:
Well Done Girls..........
But sadly once again English people find it very difficut to handle failure.....whats that noise about reducing the goal post all about. Is that not the same goal post that the Germans played with............learn from the mistakes of today and work on changing the tactics for tomorrow........blaming your opponent, referee or the texture of the pitch just sucks.......the CHEESE has moved.....look for a new one!!!!!!
- 68. At 7:43pm on 12 Sep 2009, The-casual-bystander wrote:
- 69. At 9:25pm on 12 Sep 2009, helgerrard wrote:
I am English and male, live in Finland and teach Girls football (used to play in the 4th division in England). I also went to most of the games and this was a great competition and very high level of football quality.
England played really well and some players came to life during the competition (Carey was great). I was reeeaally disappointed in the BBC.com coverage you should be ashamed.
I was at the final me 20 other blocks and thousands of Germans. Germany had a master class in football and unfortunately England made a couple of mistakes which cost them losing the ball in midfield and they were tired. All in all the girls did a great job and agree I don't understand why you did not show all the games you missed a chance to show case a different type of game more skill less dives and more original football.
- 70. At 11:22pm on 12 Sep 2009, Lincoln Hawk-s wrote:
I am living in the states and their is an abundance of womens footy on telly. IT IS AWFUL !!!!!!!!! Yes speed and power and physicality are lacking but for me the main problem is the lack of finesse in their first touch and the passing is woeful. Initially I was surprise at how bad it was becuase the US womens game is apparently the measuring stick, I can only imagine how bad UK womens is if they are playing catch-up.
As far as the first touch/passing, I don't understand why it is so bad. I have played and watched many amateur and youth games as well as lower level English and Scottish games and they would wipe the floor with these womens teams. It can't be lack of training or interest from media because from what I understand top level US women players are getting better coaching than Stenhousmuir, Kettering Town and East Fife players yet those players have far more accurate passing and superior touches (as well as the obvious physical advantages and increased aggressiveness/contact) I would watch Blue Square/Scottish 3rd division any day rather than attend a top level womens game.
- 71. At 01:42am on 13 Sep 2009, Rob Saunders wrote:
I know its difficult to understand, but men and women are different.
Men do not play women at tennis. Male and female athletes do not race each other, The same nonsense being written about the football team would arise with club male players beating female Grand Slam tennis players, and male club athletes beating world famous female athletes.
Judge the womens team against all the other womens teams, any comparison with men is totally stupid
- 72. At 03:06am on 13 Sep 2009, Gunnerforlife2008 wrote:
england were lucky to even get to the final, we only just scraped past a poor holland side who hardly threatened us one bit.
in the final versus germany, the defensive and goalkeeping ability from the girls against that german side was abysmal at best. few of the 6 goals were avoidable or stopable, the space they allowed them and the poor vision and first touches of a couple of girls let us down. as for the number 7, carney is it, why does she persist on running the balls into dead ends or kicking it further ahead thinking she has pace when she hasnt.
well done to them for sticking it out and getting to the final but shudnt be too hard should it as at national level the only 2 other genuinely quality sides are not european ie usa and brazil. so really england should be at least 2nd best at european level considering the experience of half the squad. again well done on getting to the final but in it they wree shocking and tbh a massive let down. the effort, ability, control and attitude of closing down just wasnt there one bit.
well done germany, deserved winners. and no that isnt anti english thats just been honest from the games i saw which happens to be true but no one else will dare say it
- 73. At 03:08am on 13 Sep 2009, Gunnerforlife2008 wrote:
oh and i agree with one comment about there been a lack of physical contact. saw again carney got a tap on the foot went down, and got up crying her eyes out.
love the english club game in womens and mens but the national level of the womens england team isnt what it could be and no where near it
- 74. At 03:13am on 13 Sep 2009, Gunnerforlife2008 wrote:
hahah women get on with been fouled eh? tell that to the young english women who got up crying after been tapped on the foot by accident. womens sport for me is just as good as mens as its all apart of our country but would prefer watch and support the england cricket team as they have more competition
- 75. At 3:13pm on 14 Sep 2009, jones_gone wrote:
"As far as the first touch/passing, I don't understand why it is so bad"
lack of spacial awareness
- 76. At 11:16pm on 15 Sep 2009, Lincoln Hawk-s wrote:
"As far as the first touch/passing, I don't understand why it is so bad"
lack of spacial awareness
I agree mate but isn't that a coaching issue, and a relatively basic one at that?
- 77. At 11:26pm on 15 Sep 2009, Lincoln Hawk-s wrote:
#71 Roysses
The comparisons are going to be made. Men's football is the most popular sport in the world by a country mile and football fans will compare it (fairly or otherwise) against any and all other sports, male or female, especially a weaker version of it.
Watching women play football is like seeing a dog walk on it's hind legs, it's surprisong to see it done at all never mind done well.
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Posts Tagged 'Algorithms'
Introduction to the Kalman Filter, Part II
Posted on 23:40, October 22nd, 2010 by Billy McCafferty
As discussed in Part I, the Kalman filter is an optimal, prediction/correction estimation technique which minimizes estimated error and can be used a wide array of problems. While Part I focused on a one-dimensional problem space to more easily convey the underlying concepts of the Kalman filter, Part II will now expand the discussion to bring the technique to higher dimensions (e.g., 2D and 3D) while still being constrained to linear problems.
What's so cool about the Kalman filter you ask? Let's highlight a few areas where the Kalman filter may provide value. (This should help you remain motivated while you're delving into a myriad of Greek symbols and matrix transformations!) The Kalman filter can help:
These few examples demonstrate just how useful the Kalman filter can be on a wide variety of problems. To limit the scope of discussions, the context of this tutorial will be on determining the true pose of a mobile robot given noisy control inputs and measurement data.
In examining the Kalman filter a bit more, we'll discuss the following topics:
The current discussion will avoid the derivations of the associated, base equations in favor of pragmatic use of the filter itself. For a comprehensive derivation and discussion of the involved equations and mathematical roots, see Robert Stengel's Optimal Control and Estimation.
Applicable Systems for Use of the Kalman filter
In Part I, it was discussed that a system must adhere to three constraints for Kalman filter applicability: 1) it must be describable by a linear model, 2) the noise within the model must be white, and 3) the noise within the model must be Gaussian. More precisely, the state must be estimable via:
The state estimation equation is broken down as follows:
In addition to adhering to the linear state estimation just discussed, in order to be Kalman-filter-compatible, the system being modeled must also have a measurement model estimable via:
The measurement equation is broken down as follows:
In summary, if the system can be modeled by the the process and measurement equations described above, then the Kalman filter may be used on the system to estimate state, if given control and measurement inputs. Let's now look at the general Kalman filter algorithm, at a very high level, including specific inputs and outputs.
Kalman Filter Algorithm, Inputs and Outputs
The Kalman filter algorithm follows a surprisingly straight-forward algorithm broken down into two phases. The first phase is called the time estimate (or prediction) in which the previous state and control input is used to estimate the current state and estimate covariance. The second phase is called the measurement update (or correction) in which the Kalman gain is calculated and the state estimate and covariance is improved upon using measurement data and the Kalman gain. Roughly, the algorithm is as follows:
During the first time iteration t0, the Kalman filter accepts as input the initial state and estimate covariance (which may be zero if the initial state is known with 100% certainty) along with the control input u and measurement data z. On subsequent time iterations tn, the Kalman filter accepts as input the output from the previous run (with mean and covariance – discussed more below) along with the control input u and measurement data z from tn.
The output of the Kalman filter is an estimate of the state represented by a normal distribution having mean μ (the estimated state) and covariance Σ (the confidence, or more accurately, the noise, in that estimate). (As a reminder, the covariance of a normal distribution is the standard deviation squared σ2.) Note that μ need not be limited to a scalar value; in fact, it'll almost always be a vector. For example, the pose of a mobile robot may be a three dimensional vector containing the location and orientation (x y θ)T. Accordingly, this vector would be the resulting mean value. Furthermore, with a three dimensional state vector as the mean, the covariance Σ would be a (3×3) diagonal matrix having a covariance for each corresponding value of the vector, as shown at right.
Kalman Filter Algorithm Formalized
We've discussed the initial Kalman filter equations for process and measurement estimation; we've also discussed the overall algorithm for implementation, broken down into prediction and correction phases. What's missing are the actual calculations for concretely carrying out the estimation process itself. The concrete calculations for implementing the Kalman filter algorithm are "easily" derived from the process and measurement equations by taking the partial derivatives of them and setting them to zero for minimizing error…and jumping around three times and standing on your head for π minutes. (My eyes quickly begin to glaze over when I start to follow derivations of this nature…but if you like this kind of stuff, Sebastian Thrun shows the complete derivation within Probabilistic Robotics; Robert Stengel takes it to 11 within Optimal Control and Estimation with more Greek symbols than you can shake a stick at.) But I digress…
To formalize, the Kalman filter algorithm accepts four inputs:
With the given inputs, the Kalman filter algorithm is implemented as follows:
Line 1 should be comfortingly familiar; this is the calculation for estimating the current state given the previous state and control input. But what's missing from the original process equation? Have you spotted it yet? I'll give you a noisy hint. (No mean for the pun…thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.) That's right, the noise parameter has been left off of the state estimation equation in line 1. Line 1 simply calculates the a priori state estimate, ignoring process noise.
Line 2 calculates the covariance of the current state estimate, taking process noise into consideration. Matrix A has already been discussed; it comes from the Kalman filter state estimate equation described earlier. R is a diagonal matrix representing the process noise covariance.
Line 3 calculates the Kalman gain which will be used to weight the effect of the measurement model when correcting the estimate. C is identical to the matrix H described earlier in the base Kalman filter measurement equation. As tricky as this line looks (and some of those matrix calculations can make your head hurt a bit), the only thing new is Q; this diagonal matrix is the measurement noise covariance. The resulting Kalman gain K is a matrix having dimensions (nxm) where n is the dimension of the state vector and m is the dimension of the measurement vector.
(As a side, take note that in different reading sources, the meaning of R and Q may be switched; Q would be process noise and R would be measurement noise and would have their locations in the equations swapped, accordingly. Just be cognizant of which is which within the source you're reading from.)
Line 4 updates the state estimate taking into account the weighted measurement information. Note that the Kalman gain is multiplied by the difference between the actual measurement model and the predicted measurement model. What happens if they happen to be identical? …Jeopardy daily double sounds playing in the background… If the actual and predicted measurement models happen to be identical, then the estimated state will not be corrected at all since our sensors have verified that we're exactly where we thought we were. I.e., don't fix what ain't broken. The result of line 4 is the a posteriori state estimate.
Finally, line 5 corrects the covariance, taking into account the Kalman gain used to correct the state estimate.
As output, the Kalman filter algorithm returns two values:
With these outputs, it is now known with some Σ amount of error what the current state of the system is; or where our intrepid little robot is on the map.
Limitations of the Kalman Filter
The Kalman filter is incredibly powerful and can be used in a surprising number of scenarios. The primary limitation of the Kalman filter is that it assumes use within a linear system. Many systems are non-linear (such as a mobile robot moving with a rotational trajectory) yet may still benefit from the Kalman filter. The applicable approach is to form a linear estimate of the non-linear system for use by the Kalman filter; similar in effect to a Taylor series expansion. Popular extensions to the Kalman filter to support non-linear systems include the Extended Kalman filter and, even better, the Unscented Kalman filter. Specifically, chapter 7 of Sebastian Thrun's Probabilistic Robotics goes into good detail on describing how to apply both of these extensions to the context of mobile robotics.
Googling for "Kalman filter" will quickly show just how much more there is to this topic. But I certainly hope this two part series has helped to clarify the overall algorithm with particular attention to describing the various elements of the calculations themselves.
Posted in Algorithms, Fundamentals | No Comments | Read More »
Introduction to the Kalman Filter, Part I
Posted on 17:17, September 22nd, 2010 by Billy McCafferty
Dealing with the real world is rough. (With an opening like that, you can probably guess how my high school days went.) To be clear here, we're talking about robots having to deal with the real world (not me, luckily). It's hard enough for our little silicon brethren to have limited sensory capabilities, but on top of that, the data that's coming in is usually noisy. For example, sonar range data can be inconsistent, throwing off distance measurements by many centimeters. Even laser data isn't perfect; if you watch the range data coming in from stationary laser sensors, you'll notice the range data shake indecisively around the actual range. What's one to do? Well, you could shell out a little more money for ultra-sensitive sensors, but even they have their limitations and are subject to error. To add insult to injury, our robot's misjudgment isn't limited to data coming in from sensors, it's also prone to misjudging what it's done from a control perspective. For example, tell your robot to move forward 1 meter and it'll comply as best it can; but due to various surface textures (road vs. dirt vs. carpet vs. sand), the robot may report that it's traveled 1 meter when in fact it's gone a bit further or a bit less. What we'd like to do is to filter out the chaff from the wheat…or the noise from the useful data in this case. Likely the most widely used, researched, and proven filtering technique is the Kalman filter. (Read: this is an important concept to understand!)
In short, if not a bit curtly, the Kalman filter is a recursive data processing algorithm which processes all available measurements, regardless of their precision, to estimate the current value of variables of interest, such as a robot's position and orientation. There is a plethora of literature written concerning the Kalman filter, some useful and some otherwise; accordingly, to help you better understand the Kalman filter, I'll guide you through a series of readings which I've found pivotally assistive in understanding this technique and discuss key points from those references.
The first step on our journey into the Kalman filter rabbit hole is Peter Maybeck's Stochastic Models, Estimation, and Control, Vol. 1, Chapter 1 [1]. There is simply no writing which gives a more tractable and approachable overview of the concepts behind the Kalman filter. If you're following along at home (singing along with the bouncing dot), please take the time to now read Maybeck's introduction and take the time to understand what you're reading…I'll wait patiently for your return.
<insert you reading intently here>
So what did we just learn? Below are a few points to emphasize key ideas from Maybeck's introduction…
Algorithmically, in our one-dimensional context, the Kalman filter takes the following steps to estimate the variable of interest:
Isn't that brilliant? The Kalman filter takes into account the previous state estimation, and the confidence of that estimation, to then determine the current estimate based on control input and measurement output, all the while tweaking itself – with the gain – along the way. And since it only needs to maintain the last estimate and confidence of the estimate, it takes up very little memory to implement. While very approachable, Maybeck's introduction to the Kalman filter is greatly simplified…for that very reason. For example, Maybeck's introduction assumes movement on a one-dimensional plane (an x value) with one-dimensional control input (the velocity). In more realistic contexts, we store the position and orientation of a robot as a vector and the control and measurement data as vectors as well. In the next post, we'll examine what modifications need to be made to Maybeck's simplification to apply the Kalman filter to more real world scenarios. This is where we must get our old college textbooks out to realize that we should have paid more attention in our matrices class (or you can refresh yourself here).
Until next time!
Maybeck, P. 1979. Stochastic Models, Estimation, and Control, Vol. 1.
Thrun, S., Burgard, W., Fox, D. 2005. Probabilistic Robotics.
Posted in Algorithms, Fundamentals | 1 Comment | Read More »
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OC #7, Adrian:
Scrawny motherfucker. Knew him all my life. We grew up here, in this shithole, learning the ropes and shit together. I'm better at not getting caught, apparently, cuz this dumbass keeps getting his ass hauled in jail, for stupid shit, too, like fucking pickpocketing! Who the fuck gets arrested for pickpocketing? That's shit you need to know how to not get caught for, Jesus.
Keeps telling me he don't wanna do this shit no more. Keeps telling me, "Man, someday, Imma get enough to move somewhere, anywhere, Kansas maybe." I go, "What the fuck's there to see in Kansas? Dorothy and Toto?"
He just look at me, fucking stupid blank face, just shrug and smoke. "Anywhere," he say to me. "Just anywhere."
(he's the first that came out EXACTLY how i imagined him!! omggg)
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TEAMS: Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals
Via NESN:
Freudian slip? No joke.
CSN Chicago's Susannah Collins had an unfortunate on-screen slip-up Tuesday night while reporting about the Blackhawks. Collins, channeling the fervor of the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning, jumped into her inside scoop on the hometown team — and then uttered a phrase that hockey fans likely found far more interesting.
Collins was trying to explain that the Blackhawks are treating the playoffs as a whole new season, leaving behind their points streak and 36-7-5 record. Her lead-in, however, suggested that the Hawks have been doing more than playing hockey this season.
"Despite the fact that they've had such a tremendous amount of sex during the regular season," Collins began.
Like a pro, she realized her mistake and went back and said "success" instead, but the damage was done.
Collins' mistake will live on, as she's chosen a profession that broadcasts every tongue-tie to the world (as opposed to this medium, where the backspace key can quickly take care of any ill-formed jokes that this situation so easily offers). Kudos to her for being a champ and staying on the job, and here's hoping for better — spell it now, s-u-c-c-e-s-s — in the next round.
Love it!!! Really funny.
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Here's a list of the biggest spenders in California politics for the past decade:
These 15 groups spent more than a combined $1 billion over the past 10 years to influence public policy:
– California Teachers Association: $211.8 million
– California State Council of Service Employees: $107.4 million
– Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $104.9 million
– Morongo Band of Mission Indians: $83.6 million
– Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians: $69.2 million
– Pacific Gas & Electric Co.: $69.2 million
– Chevron Corp.: $66.2 million
– AT&T Inc.: $59.6 million
– Philip Morris USA Inc.: $50.7 million
– Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians: $49 million
– Southern California Edison: $43.4 million
– California Hospital Association: $43 million
– California Chamber of Commerce: $39 million
– Western States Petroleum Association: $35.2 million
– Aera Energy LLC: $34.6 million
Source: California Fair Political Practices Commission
What's striking is that the Teachers' Union outspent the next biggest spender by almost two to one — and the next biggest spender is also a union. The Chron, incidentally, tried to make it sound as if the union spending, while at the top, was indistinguishable from the trailing corporate spending:
While the powerful teachers union topped the spending list and the California State Council of Service Employees – which lobbies on behalf of public employees represented by SEIU labor chapters – came in second, at $107 million, business wasn't far behind. Six corporations funneled nearly $324 million into the political process, including $69.2 million spent by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., $66.2 million by Chevron Corp. and $59.6 million by AT&T Inc.
In fact, on a per corporation basis, corporations were far behind unions, and, collectively, they lagged behind casinos too. Here are the numbers: Two unions spent $319.2 million to affect the political process. Three Indian gambling groups spent $201.8 million to affect the political process. Three government regulated utilities spent $172.2 million to affect the political process. And where do the remaining corporate entities come in? At $373.6 million, which sounds like a lot until you realize its divided between seven corporations, for an average of $53 million per entity over ten years — versus the unions' average of $159 million per entity over ten years. So just who is really affecting the political process?
By the way, do you want to know one of the ways in which the Teachers' Union spent that money?
For example, the California Teachers Association, which represents 330,000 public school teachers in the state, spent $26 million to defeat a school voucher system in 2000 and another $50 million to kill three other ballot measures.
It makes more laughable than ever the Democrats' hysterical attack on the Supreme Court for making the way clearer for corporate voices to speak. The fact is, corporations are infinitely more representative of America's varied voices than are the huge blocks of unions, all of which are aimed at consolidating vast amounts of political power under "progressive" control.


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I've got an interview next week for network tech for the local council. The job is only 2 days a week and pretty lowly but apparently the interview will take AT LEAST 4 hours!:(
This includes a task unrelated to the job which will test my ability to take in and process info - something to do with troubleshooting a paint production line? Has anyone else encountered such a thing?:confused:
There will also be a task that DOES relate to the job (phew) as well as 2 in depth interviews with a panel
Sounds a bit OTT to me
Any advice gratefully received;)


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For The Internet Killed Your Social Skills' One Year Anniversary party on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3RD!
December marks the one year anniversary of The Internet Killed Your Social Skills- Brooklyn's First Musical Chairs Dating night! In honor of this momentous and joyous occasional, your friends at The Internet Killed Your Social Skills are throwing an extra special December event on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3rd!
We are going to start off the night with our usual shenanigans; drink specials and sign ups around 7pm. Spe…ed dating will start between 830-9p. Since this night is ALL OURS, if you come, we will have multiple speed dating rounds followed by excellent tunes brought to you by DJ Powerchild (Chris Enriquez) and DJ Bogota Gold (Dave Castillo) that will keep you on your single, mingling toes all night!
Decorations, extra drink specials, double your speed dating, double your fun, and come to The Internet Killed Your Social Skills' 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY! Come to to show you undying love for your favorite meddlers, speed date, spectate, drink, dance, and enjoy! We are here to celebrate YOU! Because without you, we wouldn't be here!
Get your tuckuses to Macri Park Bar on Friday, December 3rd! Done and Done!
Your hostess with the mostess,
RSVP on our Facebook invite! http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/The-Internet-Killed-Your-Social-Skills/215352620999


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Looked real nice online but its kinda of a weird beanie. The rim of it is woven in a way where it doesn't stretch while the rest of it will flow and conform to your head. I guess I have a small head because some of the fabric just kinda sags behind my neck like a girl's beanie.
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Image: Kajahl Benes, Let My People Go, 2012, oil on canvas, 78 x 72 inches
Anna Kennedy
Critical Review
His Recent Works
On September 6, 2012, I had the opportunity to attend the exhibition of Kajahl Benes in the Cultural Arts Building on the campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He spoke to a group of faculty and students before heading into the gallery for a question and answer session.
During his presentation he covered his education. Benes graduated from San Francisco State University and during that period he study abroad at the Academia di Belle Arti Firenze, Italy in his senior year. He went on to get his MFA from Hunter College in the spring of 2012.
He was invited by the cultural art gallery curator Courtney Johnson to do a solo show. She had been following him on the art circuit. With his Let My People
Go, Oil on Canvas, 78x72 inches, 2012 visible when you first walk into the gallery. It opens up your imagination, the sheer size of the character—not to mention the all out bold colors—remind you of a superhero. It sets the stage for what is yet to come.
At an early age he incorporated cultural elements, hard edges and even alien-like figures in his work. Noticing the style he had of rhythm and movement, he decided to expand on and monopolize those key elements. However, he discovered while reading and researching current events along with historical events that he could capture a natural and powerful force in his painting. This driving force changed his perspective. He began to conceptualize his process.
The process included mixed medium, humor, imagery, controversy, and a sense of shock factor. His abstract figures place in Baroque style setting and color palette created the setting of the old world crashing into the new world.
At times Benes uses digital technology to his advantage, but his work takes on a new spiritual dimension. It is an imaginative, out-of-this-world, abstract and photo realistic perspective on canvas. When asked why he used oil on canvas when acrylic has made a huge impact on the art scene, he referenced back to the old masters. He devotes a tremendous amount of time in research and get to the roots of history.
When I inquired about a section on his painting, trying to get him to divulge his process, he smiled and said, "it was a secret." After a few minutes I decided to take another try asking about his process and medium in Let My People Go. He laughed in appreciation of someone actually wanting to know in depth about his work. I decided to let him keep his secret.
Below I listed some of the titles present at the show. Benes not only creates drama in his painting, but also names his painting with the same flamboyant style. His larger than life approach has an expressive and extravagant way of pairing names to his figures.
Washo Sheik
Soul Control
Kylahpatr, The ablest queen of Far Antiquity
Viceroy and Bishop of the paleosiberian realm
Neo Voorterkker
Benin City Globtrotter
In Kajahl Benes artist statement, he writes:
Through the medium of paint I create alarm clocks for those who lie dormant within their created and inherited mental confines. My ambitious preparation for the afterlife is concerned with developing my own history and mythology in hopes that others can use my story as a checkpoint for the contextualization of humanity. The discombobulation of time, space and geographic location in my work creates a boundary dissolving force that questions my own knowledge and experience. Through this method of trans-historical hybridization, the viewer is forced to re-examine linear ways of looking at history. The melding of culture, aesthetics and environment work to trigger a breakage of rational thought construction that confronts both mainstream and alternative ideology. The use of canvas as an arena of connective thinking does not try to make sense of past histories and cultures, but it does question them and their relationship to me. Historical subjectivity exists, however there is really only one true story and we all share that story.
In the end, Benes' show created a narrative story from another time period. His typical work ranges from sketchbook size to 78 x 72 inches. I appreciated his time and energy he showed while giving his presentation. I enjoyed looking at his artwork, and it seemed appropriate that UNCW held his first solo exhibit. I plan on following his progress and look forward to seeing his future painting.


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DUNCAN, Okla. (AP) - The attorneys for 1 of 3
Oklahoma teens charged in the shooting death of an Australian baseball
player are asking that their client be tried as a juvenile.
Michael Dewayne Jones is charged with being an
accessory to murder in last month's shooting death of Christopher Lane.
Jones, who is 17, is now charged as a youthful offender in adult court.
Jones' attorneys reportedly filed a motion Monday asking that their client
be certified as a juvenile. If convicted as a juvenile, Jones could be
released from custody when he's 18.
Two other teens are charged as adults with first-degree murder in Lane's death.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a judge delayed Jones' preliminary hearing until Nov. 6. It had been set for next week.
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Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Shout-out to the awesome people of Otakon: Part 5
Dreamworks PJ party
Where cosplayers went to color, eat sweets, play games such as Truth-or-Dare, Twister, Telephone, and Spin-the-Bottle. Just basically hang out and relax
I didn't get as many pictures as I would've liked, I kinda forgot about my camera most of the time ;u ;
Jack Frost (with glasses): qwopisinthemailbox
FancyParty!Jack: blu667
FancyParty!Sandy: areyouokaypanda
FancyParty!Tooth: lotusblossom7
Hiccup: me
If any of these are you and would like to be tagged/credited, just drop me a line~
look at me as jack! i still look so derpy, but dang if i didn't have so much fun~….never got to use that snow in my...


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First Look at Mountain Lion OS X Server
(Update:This post was first written when the OS was released. Since then, we've put together an extensive list of Mountain Lion Server tutorials.)
Apple introduced their next operating system, OS X Mountain Lion. For the most part, it's a better unification of Lion and iOS. But, for the overall look, I refer you to other great posts like this one. Since we host Mac mini servers, I wanted to take a look at what Mountain Lion means as a server. They released the Server preview today as well, but it is very much a preview. For instance, it doesn't provide the ability to upgrade from Snow Leopard Server. Also, you can't backup and restore using Time Machine with this seed. I'm sure both of these options will come later.
You still upgrade a a regular version of Mountain Lion with the Server app from the Mac App Store. In other words, you upgrade "OS X" to "OS X Server" by installing the app just like Lion. And from a first look, it seems you'll have to do that for one of the most basic things. For the first time that I can remember, the "Sharing" pane in OS X System Preferences no longer has "Web Sharing."
You used to enable Web Sharing to make your Mac run a website with apache. The option is no longer there in OS X. Though Apache is still installed and you can start it at the terminal. My guess is that the "Web Sharing" was confusing for the majority of users.
When Lion introduced Server.app, there was still Server Admin that you could download from the Apple website and use for some of the advanced services. I can't say this with 100% certainty, but it looks like Server Admin won't be there for Mountain Lion. I guess we'll see on that front.
So, once you have the Server app downloaded, you can start it up for the install process. I did find that the admin is required to have and input the password. (in other words, the password field can't be left blank.) It asks just a few basic questions (company name, support email, etc) and it checks that your reverse DNS is setup correctly. (Sidenote: Reverse DNS is so often overlooked by first time Server users. Getting that right can save so many issues down the road.)
A few screenshots of the process:
Once you have it installed, you'll see the services that are available. Here are a few I'd like to highlight:
There is a hardware overview page:
The web service has a default site, and also custom sites. You can set this in the "Web" service:
As you can see in that last screenshot, the file path is pretty clear on where the sites should be stored. When you install the Server app, it creates that /Library/Server folder with all of the info there:
VPN remains a two edged sword. You have to love the simplicity in setting it up, but you wish there was just one more option. That is, to set the range of IP addresses. By default, it takes from the backend of the subnet that your Mac server is using. This causes an issue when you have a static wan IP address. It'd be great if you could assign a LAN range like 10.0.1.xxx to VPN clients. (There is a reason that our Lion Server VPN tutorial is one of the most popular pages on our site. We also have a new tutorial written for setting up a Mountain Lion VPN server.)
The Mail service continues to be so, so simple. Just enable the service and adjust the filtering. This is great because a Mac mini mail server has been a popular request now that Google has been changing it's privacy terms. We're seeing a lot of transitions by business from Google mail to mail servers of their own.
The email address is setup as part of the new user creation:
I like the new Alerts options. In addition to getting Push Notifications for email, "OS X Server can send push notifications to alert you about new Software Updates, unresponsive volumes, hard drives getting full, and users that have exceeded their mail quota."
Overall, I think OS X Server is going to continue to be great. This has been just a look at the options. I don't think it's fair to give it a real thorough testing on it's first public beta. There will be options changed and stability improvements over the next few months. (If you want to keep updated when we do the real in-depth tests, subscribe to this blog or follow @macminicolo on twitter)
About Macminicolo.net
Macminicolo.net, a Las Vegas colocation company, has been hosting Mac minis since their introduction in January 2005. Low cost. High performance. They are the leaders in this niche market and are known for their personal service. They currently host hundreds of Mac minis for satisfied customers located in 31 different countries around the world. Get more info on our frequently asked questions page.


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I am limping, guys.
I'm on a slow dongle (settle down) that's giving my laptop some pissy lame excuse for "internet connection" while we swap providers. I hereby solemnly declare…..
We left them at Christmas time because Steve grew indignant that we couldn't get ADSL2+ here with them (they took their time rolling it out) so we changed providers. WELL. Hasn't that been haphazard, to say the least? Let me just say, I know why their plans were so cheap. Down-time was a lot higher than what we'd previously experienced with TPG.
Now we're moving back to them and changing a few other home services around as well. But this interim period is going to be around twenty days long. I reached 50% of my limit in a DAY, folks! This does not bode well for blog posts (or visiting yours).
So please know that's why I've gone quiet. Bad timing, really, given that Blogopolis is just around the corner. I can't very well keep up with what you're all doing. Ack. Ah well, can't be helped. If you think there's something monumentous that I haven't commented on…. fill me in if you see me on the day. Yes?
Now, to me being a winner: No, really. I won something! From the very delightful and amusing Megan Blandford (she Writes Out Loud…). Thanks so much, I was very surprised to win the Coles Myer voucher. And very chuffed.
I have a cold. I feel like shite. That is all I can say about that.
My baby girl turns five on Wednesday. As with many of her milestones (and all of her birthdays), I am heading into the strange bittersweet balance-dance of being happy for her, proud of her (and us) and thinking about Ella. Not sad, not anything really. Just… holding her in my awareness more, I guess.
The other day, Lolly had a dear friend over. They played joyfully for five hours straight and both had eyes standing out on stilts when she went home. During the afternoon, I was doing dishes while the girls sat at the kitchen bench eating sandwiches.
I heard my daughter tell her friend, totally unrelated to anything they were nattering about.
I didn't turn around. Didn't weigh in at all, although I listened keenly to how her friend would respond. Lolly tends to throw this in at moments that don't seem to fit. But they do to her. And this is what I respect about her and the friends she will no doubt gravitate towards and learn to keep – for her friend merely said, "Ah" with a half-interested, half-"this-sandwich-is-yum" tone.
Simplicity, people. Simplicity is what I need to get back to. And ADSL2+.
So, I will see you when and where I see you! If you're wondering where I am, just imagine me under my pile of tissues, stalled by my grossly underweight data usage cap and struggling with my own self-imposed project to "keep it simple." Mark my words, though, I WILL be back with birthday cake photos some day soon.


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A Summertime Campus Transformation
Recognizing the critical role that an attractive and welcoming campus plays in the decision-making of prospective students, Stetson University hired CRJA to guide a major campus improvement effort that was to be accomplished during the summer months and completed prior to the students' return to campus for the fall semester. Working closely with the University's Facilities Department, CRJA reviewed the campus in detail to orchestrate a facelift for the core campus area that would further minimize the impact of the automobile on the campus, improve the pedestrian experience for current and prospective students, eliminate troublesome maintenance areas, rejuvenate and enhance planting beds, create new gathering spaces related to academic, athletic, residential and student life buildings, and celebrate the quintessential campus space—the Palm Court.
In a few short months the core campus was transformed by the planting of nearly 300 native trees and nearly 50,000 sf of ground cover and shrub beds, the conversion of 14,000 sf of vehicular pavement to planting or lawn, the laying of 15,000 sf of new brick pavement, the installation of a new irrigation system that greatly reduced the campus's water consumption, and the installation of a new palette of campus furniture of benches, trash receptacles, rockers, tables and chairs, and umbrellas to create a rich campus environment for the University community.


text: Comments on: With one click, key part of immigration bill becomes ten times more costly Back to the article » By Byron York | May 4, 2013 | 12:00 am Late Tuesday, the bipartisan Gang of Eight released a new version of its comprehensive immigration reform bill to the Senate. Now 867 pages — up from the original 844 — the bill, known as a substitute, is filled with corrections and rewordings of portions of the first bill. But it appears there are some substantive changes — including a whopping change that makes a key part of... Web URL: http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2528828 Share this article on Facebook or Twitter Print this article


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To Your Health
WHO turns down request for funds to evacuate doctor
Italian marine returns home for medical treatment
Italian marine facing trial in India returns home for medical treatment
Local school systems hold vaccination clinics
Prince George's County Public Schools will offer four, free immunization clinics this weekend. Anne Arundel County will offer clinics starting Monday.
NFL: 3 in 10 ex-players face Alzheimer's, dementia
NFL: Nearly 3 in 10 ex-players to face Alzheimer's or moderate dementia, far more than public
INFLUENCE GAME: Chemical trade tries to shape regs
INFLUENCE GAME: Chemical industry tries to shape federal regulations, toughen state efforts
Silicon Valley struggles to speak FDA's language
As Silicon Valley moves into health care, companies find there's no app for dealing with FDA
Salmonella-tainted peanuts case in hands of jury
Salmonella-tainted peanuts case in jurors' hands; deciding if plant owner criminally to blame
Women reach out for help in wake of Rice video
In the days immediately following the release of the Ray Rice video, a tsunami of women reached out for help.
Body donation programs in 3 states scrutinized
Authorities scrutinize body donation programs in Oregon, Michigan, Arizona, but details sparse
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford withdraws re-election bid
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford quits mayor's race; brother Doug Ford to run in his place
Man pleads not guilty in tainted steroid case
Pharmacist enters not guilty plea in case over tainted steroids that killed dozens
Lawmakers to high court: Protect pregnant workers
More than 120 lawmakers urge Supreme Court to recognize protections for pregnant workers
Jury deliberations begin in Ga. salmonella trial
Jury deliberations begin in food poisoning trial of Ga. peanut plant owner, 2 co-defendants
Key findings in reports on NFL concussion deal
Key findings in court reports on NFL concussion settlement
Feds say Bayer makes unsupported claims about Colon Health supplement
Illinois TV anchorman says he has months to live
Illinois TV anchor with cancer has months to live, wants final days to be 'best they can be'
Why skipping vacation could give you heart disease
Dr. Drew, One Minute Clinic
Image of Asia: Vaccinating 13 million Filipinos
Image of Asia: Vaccinating 13 million children in the Philippines
Healthy, tasty recipe ideas for fall foods
Fall is here, and so are the season's fresh foods. If you're looking for ways to mix them into your diet, registered dietitian and nutrition therapist Kait Fortunato has some healthy recipe ideas.
4th Sierra Leonean doctor infected with Ebola
Sierra Leone says another doctor has been infected with Ebola, prepping to evacuate her
Hi: 75 °F | Lo: 56 °F


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Capiche reports on the latest news related to the science of happiness in the workplace, offering tips on how you can boost employee productivity and happiness at your organization.
Two recent posts on The Wall Street Journal's "The Source" discuss happiness at work and use the same assessment tool as Capiche.
The first piece explains happiness at work and invites readers to take the assessment survey.
The second post reports on the survey results, which will likely surprise you!


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China is forecasted to overtake the US in business travel over the coming three years, according to The Global Business Travel Association's (GBTA) first Business Travel Index (BTI).
The report found that business travel spending in China will increase by up to 17 percent in 2012 and 21 percent in 2013, a driver in overtaking US MICE.
"From this report we can see just how explosive this growth is going to be over the next few years.
The Chinese recognize how important business travel is and the investments that are being made in vital infrastructure expansion demonstrate that."
According to the report, there are plans to construct approximately 100 new airports in China over the next decade; while over the last ten years China's four major airports have doubled in size.
The report also stated growth in international outbound travel consumption is expected to vigorously increase, rising by 27 percent in 2013.
"We believe it is a most opportune time to have undertaken our first Business Travel Outlook for the country," he said."We forecast significant increases in business travel by Chinese citizens over the next two years with at least two-thirds of the growth being real increases in trips and spending as opposed to rising travel prices. This should also be accompanied by GDP growth rates of 8-9 percent a year."
China MICE to surpass US: GBTA
Source = e-Travel Blackboard: P.T