Revenge and Redemption

Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, and Suggestive Themes

Available for: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

This post will contain spoilers for a Low Chaos!Emily playthrough of Dishonored 2. I have not yet played Corvo’s route, so opinions in this post will be without whatever knowledge comes in that playthrough. For that reason also, no Corvo spoilers in the comments please! I’ll make a post for his story once I’ve finished that route.

Arkane Studios’ Dishonored 2 (2016) picks up 15 years after the ending of Dishonored, with Emily Kaldwin seated firmly on the throne and her father Corvo as Royal Protector. Upon the anniversary of her mother’s death, Emily is suddenly usurped by a woman claiming to be her long lost aunt, Delilah. Depending on who you choose to play as, either Emily or Corvo will be forced to flee from Dunwall and escape to Karnaca, located in the southernmost isle of the empire and Corvo’s birth city. As you progress through the game, your chosen protagonist will take down Delilah’s closest associates before returning to Dunwall to take back the throne.

Something that immediately stands out upon playing Dishonored 2 is the new voice acting for the protagonists. This gives Corvo and Emily the opportunity to react to the world around them and truly gives a perspective on their personalities. I’m not yet sure if this is the case for Corvo, but Emily also has a journal where she gives further commentary on her situation and how she feels about the decisions she’s made. The first Dishonored game put a lot of the story and focus on the characters surrounding Corvo, but here, Dishonored 2 brings the focus back to the protagonist, allowing them to have their own character arc and development.

Sequels tend to come with a nostalgia attached to them, particularly for the characters who make returning appearances. Along with that, there’s a nostalgic purity that latches onto these characters, if you remember them fondly. Dishonored 2 doesn’t give you the opportunity to settle into that position. When we last saw Emily, she was a young girl placed in a terrible situation but still kind and good and with a determined mischievous streak. Now, 15 years later, we start seeing flaws in her character and how she has decided to rule over the Empire, or her lax rule as it were. Through an early conversation with Corvo and reading through letters in Emily’s safe room, you start finding that Emily is doing everything she can to avoid the title and responsibilities she holds. Newspapers reveal that it has not passed the Empire’s attention, either. These real consequences result in a great setup for her character arc.

Dishonored 2_20170315223710

Naturally, Emily is eager to take back her throne and save her father, but she soon realizes it won’t be just a matter of taking back her throne but proving to her people that she is worthy of having the throne back in the first place. One particular journal entry indicates Emily’s exact concerns over the matter as she worries that Delilah might make a better Empress than her and might be worthier of the position. Throughout her journey, Emily comes face-to-face with the hardships the people of the Empire face in their daily lives and some of the injustices her targets have brought upon the people with their positions of nobility. She is quick to condemn them, but other characters are just as quick to remind her that she let these injustices slide when she was on the throne.

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Dualities of revenge and redemption play a lot into the story of Dishonored 2, with Emily’s non-lethal options involving either bestowing retribution or in some cases, a chance at redemption. Dr. Hypatia is an example of one such case of redemption (the allusion to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was not lost on me), where the non-lethal option allows you to cure her of her condition and help her to return to her work. Contrarily, Breanna Ashworth is not granted such forgiveness, her non-lethal option will strip her of her magical abilities and her connection to Delilah. The game seems to take on a trend that some are worthy of forgiveness while others will receive a harsh punishment for their crimes, and at first glance, you would expect that Delilah would fall into the latter category. Delilah, who has committed no small list of crimes in order to see and rule the world as she wanted it, does end up getting some of what she wanted in the end. A non-lethal option will trap Delilah in an alternate world where she is respected and adored by the people of the Empire. It would seem surprising that Emily would give this to a woman who all but destroyed everything, but Emily’s Low Chaos personality seems to be far more forgiving in regards to some cases.

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I absolutely loved Dishonored 2. I didn’t know how much the voice acting would add to the overall story, but it did so very much. It was a joy to watch Emily’s character grow as she realized her own flaws and set out to correct them all while fighting for her throne. Playing her perspective seemed so personalized to her arc, so I’m eager to find what the story has in store for Corvo as well. I highly recommend both Dishonored and Dishonored 2 to anyone who hasn’t played before.

Dishonored 2 Official Website

Dishonored 2 Launch Trailer

Happy gaming!

~ M

Deception! Betrayal! Dishonor!

Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, and Strong Language

Available for: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows

Just as a warning, this post will contain spoilers for Dishonored, including the ending of the game. If you are interested in playing Dishonored and don’t want to be spoiled, I suggest coming back after you’ve finished the game.

People who know me would probably describe me as a klutz. When I’m not walking into a wall or hitting a doorknob on my way past a door, I’m tripping over my own feet. Amazingly, this manages to carry over to stealth video games, where I’m probably the least stealthiest person in the game. And as you can imagine, it leads to a lot of restarts.

Still, I decided to try my hand at Arcane Studio’s Dishonored(2012) since it was their Dishonored 2(2016) announcement that first intrigued me to the series.

Dishonored tells the story of Corvo Attano, Royal Protector to the Empress and recently accused party to her murder. While in prison for a crime he did not commit, Corvo is set free by a group called the Loyalists, who are attempting to dethrone the Lord Regent (the true murderer and usurper) and place Emily Kaldwin, the Empress’ young daughter, on the throne. Corvo becomes the Loyalists’ assassin and takes up the tasks of eliminating or neutralizing supporters of the Lord Regent in order to take down his defenses and remove him from the throne. As the title would imply, “Dishonored” is meant to be a descriptor for the game’s protagonist and his disgraced reputation, but as the game progresses, it holds multiple meanings meant to describe many of the game’s main characters and their actions.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definitions of “dishonor”:

1. (Noun) lack or loss of honor or reputation

2. (Noun) the state of one who has lost honor or prestige: shame

3. (Noun) a cause of disgrace

4. (Transitive Verb) to treat in a degrading manner

5. (Transitive Verb) to bring shame upon

Setting aside Corvo’s situation, every single one of these definitions is apparent throughout the game. The majority of the game is spent completing missions by neutralizing enemies of the Loyalists, and in those tasks, you are to decide whether you kill them outright (High Chaos) or if you disgrace them so that they lose all power (Low Chaos).

I played with the goal of Low Chaos and found that many of the aforementioned definitions applied directly to the enemy’s fate. Neutralizing the High Overseer in Corvo’s first real task requires giving him the Heretic’s Brand, causing him to be shamed and ostracized from all society. The Pendleton brothers will be forced to work hard labor in the mines in punishment for the crimes they have committed. Corvo may have been the one initially dishonored, but it will be his enemies that encounter their own disgrace.

At the turning point in the game, however, you find that it is not only the Lord Regent’s supporters and the Lord Regent himself that encounter Corvo’s retribution, but members of the Loyalists themselves. Along with much of the word play of “dishonor,” Dishonored is quick to remind you of other motifs, namely deception and betrayal. Corvo, the Empress, and Emily have all known this from the onset, but Corvo will experience it again when the time comes to put Emily on the throne. Feeling guilty for the crimes they have committed and realizing that the same backlash could fall upon them, the Loyalists plan to do away with any lose ends and possible connections to Corvo’s actions. All of this to maintain their own sense of honor. Their bond of trust does not last long however, because in the final moments of the climax, the rest of the Loyalists are killed by one of their own.

There is very little trust to be found in this game, as Dishonored explores to what lengths people close to power will deceive and betray until they reach the top. The Lord Regent is a central focal point in this statement, beginning before the planned assassination of the Empress. As it turns out, the Lord Regent introduced the disease plaguing the city as a way to eliminate the country’s poorest citizens. For fear of being found out, he orders for the Empress to be assassinated, but his deceptions go further than affecting the immediate royal family. Much of Dunwall is seen in distress from results of the quickly spreading plague, and it is obvious that the citizens of Dunwall have been left abandoned for focus on political games. With a High Chaos!Corvo, you can see this accelerate faster, with discarded bodies allowing the plague to propagate. The significance of Corvo’s actions in the extended world seems to suggest that this version of Corvo has little regard for consequence of those surrounding his enemies and its potential catastrophic effects on the world as a whole.

Dishonored® Definitive Edition_20170208154115

What comes off as a simple story line, Dishonored has the ability to play around and explore their motifs in different ways, all while utilizing the characters they have at hand. The title’s word play is particularly smart as it integrates itself into the rest of the story, releasing its dependency on the game’s central character. Using this method, the game is able to connect all of its characters and motifs into a more centralized theme. I’ll be eager to see if the title has the same significance in the game’s sequel, Dishonored 2, and how it will be utilized in the new plot.

Dishonored 2 Official Website

Dishonored Launch Trailer

Happy gaming!

~ M

A Unification of Heroes

Rating: 12+ for Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence, Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity

Available for: iOS, Android

As I am posting this, it will be nearly a year to the day of Fire Emblem Fates’ North American release date. More over, it comes with the knowledge that a Fire Emblem game remake is just around the corner, with Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia being released this coming May. As someone who has been a fan of the series for many years, it’s incredible for me to have seen the Fire Emblem series grow to this level. I don’t think I ever considered the possibility that this series could become among of Nintendo’s top selling games, let alone encourage Intelligent Systems to remake and revitalize older series titles.

With Intelligent System’s mobile Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Heroes, I believe there was an intention to unite the Fire Emblem fanbase with a single game that everyone could enjoy. It does the enormous task of bringing together different games and all the different characters into a single game. Such a concept does not necessarily need a story, much like Super Smash Bros. does not need one to unite various Nintendo characters, but Intelligent Systems still found a clever premise and a simple story to give reason for this crossover and maybe even explain certain overlaps in the Fire Emblem series as a whole.

Fire Emblem Heroes sets up a classic plot of warring countries, with one side in the pursuit of conquest and the other seeking to stop the invading country. It’s always a little risky introducing new characters in a scenario that is meant to give the stage to series favorites, but Alfonse and Sharena come into the story seamlessly and at no point feel like they’re impeding on the focus. In fact, in the moments of dialogue, Alfonse and Sharena introduce their own story in a way that feels just as natural as any other Fire Emblem game. After all, royal siblings defending their homeland is a common feature in many of the series’ titles. Veronica and the Mysterious Man are placed as the antagonists in this tale, with Veronica’s invasion of the Askr Empire reminding us of previous plots of the series. The new characters’ direct relationship to the series comes with the assistance of Anna, who is given the role of Commander and becomes a clever acknowledgement of the many years she’s been a staple in the Fire Emblem series.

So how to explain all of the familiar characters popping into this new world, if you’re dedicating yourself to creating such a scenario…. Immediately into the game, it is explained that this current world oversees all of the different Fire Emblem worlds. Gates will open and close at the discretions of the Askr and Emblian empires, almost to suggest the opening and closing of a story when their time has come and gone. With this set-up, it would also suggest that all of the other games are occurring in parallel universes, something we’ve already seen hints about in recent games in the form of Easter Eggs.

Take Fire Emblem: Awakening, for example: an Outrealm Gate is set up for DLCs, allowing you to encounter previous heroes, travel to different worlds, and to even visit a parallel world where Grima defeated the first generation of characters. Fire Emblem: Fates has the “Before Awakening” DLC, where it is suggested that Fates’ world is fictional to those living in the Awakening universe. Amiibo characters can also make appearances in Fates. With all this being possible, you could even make the case that Anna (and her many, many family members) are truly from the Heroes universe and find their way into each of the other worlds through the portals.

I honestly loved the Heroes concept. It unites all the games in a interesting way without being too much of an imposition on the existing canon. Having completed Chapter 9, currently the last chapter available in the game, I was very, very pleasantly surprised to find that the game/story is not done. I was really worried when I only saw nine chapters and the worlds were starting to repeat. This leaves it open for far more Fire Emblem worlds to be introduced with later updates, potentially with new events to keep the interest high.

I’m trying to keep this short, so I’ll list a few other things I really liked about Fire Emblem Heroes:

1. You are not forced to purchase orbs to enjoy the game. Right now a lot of orbs are being made readily available and new characters are being introduced for recruitment every day, if you don’t want to spend orbs.

2. Maps and music are very familiar to their respective games, making it so the crossover is not limited to the characters. (The map on Chapter 8, Part 3 continues to be the bane of my existence.)

3. I’m still getting used to the new artwork for the different characters, but it is really nice to see different artists’ take on the familiar faces.

4. The special maps are a great way to allow the player to recruit characters they’re trying to summon and to encourage them to log in every day. Weekend Log-In orb bonuses are also wonderful.

Three things I, personally, would love to see in the future:

1. Tellius characters (bias and nostalgia everywhere)

2. Characters from the other games/worlds (some were just released and I suspect more are coming soon)

3. A special event for Fire Emblem Echoes characters, when the time comes to release the game.

As you can probably tell, I’ve been really enjoying playing Fire Emblem Heroes, and it definitively brought in more story than I was expecting. I was glad to see it, because it resulted in a lot more elements of the series making appearances. I am definitely looking forward to upcoming events and updates, and I know it will be an app I keep going back to.

Now I turn this to you: what have been your thoughts on the app? How does it do in bringing the Fire Emblem games together? What do you think of the story so far?

Fire Emblem Heroes Official Website

Fire Emblem Heroes Trailer

Happy gaming!

~ M

Hacking, Augmentations, and Dex

Dex Official Website

Dex Official Trailer

Happy gaming!

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn wasn’t the first RPG I had ever played, that’s an honor that belongs to Pokemon, but it was the first game that taught me that stories were not just window dressing for game mechanics. It was the first time I had truly paid attention and engaged with the characters, the story, and my motivation was not just driven by trying to defeat the final boss but in trying to find out what happens at the end of the story. It read to me like all the books that I loved, but this time, I was actively trying to help these characters move through the narrative. Mercenaries fighting for a cause, battle-ready princesses who were ready to join the fray, and an overarching mystery I had to solve; it was unlike anything I had ever played before and I knew immediately I needed more like it.

I could say I have a long history of gaming, ever since my sister and I received a Nintendo 64 when I was 6. We didn’t play too many “story” games back then, a lot of Mario Kart and other Mario Sports. Pokemon came a few years later and I could have paid attention to the narrative then but my 10 year old self was more concerned with making my way around Kanto with Pikachu at my side. I went through some simulation games (like The Sims and Zoo Tycoon) over the next few years, but it would be Super Smash Bros. Brawl that led me to a genre that would ultimately change my life. Like many who knew Fire Emblem before Awakening, I stumbled across the series by way of the question: “Who is that blue-haired sword wielder?” (There were many more where that came from, apparently.) It was then I was able to confirm “my genre” as RPGs, and it would be several years more when I would add Dragon Age and the Persona series to my list of favorite game series. So where am I going with all this?

While studying for my English degree, I realized the things that I was learning about literature could also be applied to video games and how they work as a storytelling medium. It’s easy to limit the gaming experience to just strategy and mechanics: what armor has the best defense? What sword/bow/staff should I have equipped? Where is the best place to stand to attack this monster? However, there is this big emphasis now on the narrative and characters of the game. Just take a look at the recent popularity of the Telltale games, Life is Strange, Overwatch…. Heck, look at the games that have won Game of the Year in the past several years. I have long advocated (to any of my friends and family who will listen) that video games are a valid medium for storytelling. With this blog, I want to explore more of that. Video games can be just as meaningful and profound as a book, movie, or a TV show, and I want to analyze games that do just that. I’ll be looking at games with good narratives, well rounded characters, and games that utilize their mechanics as a way to uniquely tell their story. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with some college English essay on the color symbolism of the Super Mario cast, that’s not why I’m here, but I’d like to take a look at how well game developers got their story across and the unique ways they used the video game medium to do so.

I will post on select Fridays, either discussing my first impressions on a new game I’ve played or discussing storytelling elements of a game or games. Be sure to be on the look out for new posts, either through my social media or by subscribing to me here!

Happy gaming!


HMRC internal manual

Corporate Intangibles Research and Development Manual

Land Remediation Relief: What is "land in a contaminated state"? Relevant Contaminated Land Remediation: Abortive methods of remediation

If a company carries out an options appraisal and decides on a remediation strategy that subsequently proves unsuccessful, then Land Remediation Relief is still available on the expenditure incurred.

Following an appraisal of the options, F Ltd decides to install a new type of in ground barrier to contain contamination. The validation process shows that the method is not entirely successful and, following further advice, F Ltd decides to replace the barrier with one of a different type. F Ltd is successful in recovering 80% of the cost of the failed system from advisors and contractors.

F Ltd can claim Land Remediation Relief on the 20% of the costs of the abortive expenditure. It cannot claim on the remaining 80% of the cost that was reimbursed.

F Ltd will be able to claim Land Remediation Relief on the replacement barrier.


Morton, Emily

Emily Morton ( is a first year doctoral student in the Developmental and Psychological Sciences (DAPS) program in the Graduate School of Education. Her research interests lie in the study of adolescent development and character development in individuals across different contexts. She is excited by trying to understand human development from both the positive psychology and lifespan approach. More specifically, she hopes to explore how positive moral and civic development that occurs in adolescence can impact individuals’ character, sense of purpose, and ability to positively contribute to society through adulthood.

Before coming to Stanford, Emily earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Child Development from Tufts University and was involved in the Tufts Interdisciplinary Evaluation Research (TIER) group as a research assistant.


uk es it fr pt nl
Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay Notations
Qualité quand ça marche: 3.0
Consistance des Vagues: 4.0
Niveau de Difficulté: 3.0
Foule a l'Eau: 3.0

Général: 3.7

Voir toutes les 18 notations

Basé sur 2 votes. Voter

Surf Report Feed

Statistiques de Houle pour Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay, Hiver: Toutes Houles – Tous Vents

The rose diagram illustrates the range of swells directed at Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay over a normal northern hemisphere winter and is based upon 6931 NWW3 model predictions since 2006 (values every 3 hours). The wave model does not forecast wind and surf right at the coastline so we have chosen the best grid node based on what we know about Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay. In the case of Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay, the best grid node is 15 km away (9 miles).

The diagram indicates that the dominant swell direction, shown by the biggest spokes, was NW, whereas the the most common wind blows from the N. Because the wave model grid is offshore, sometimes a strong offshore wind blows largest waves away from Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay and away from the coast. We combine these with the no surf category of the bar chart. To simplify things we don't show these in the rose plot. Because wind determines whether or not waves are good for surfing at Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay, you can load a different image that shows only the swells that were forecast to coincide with glassy or offshore wind conditions. During a typical northern hemisphere winter, swells large enough to cause clean enough to surf waves at Anaehoomalu Bay_A-Bay run for about 23% of the time.


By Matthew T. McClintock, Next Avenue contributor

Today’s Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states — Obergefell v. Hodges— has major financial implications for LGBT couples. The Court held that same-sex married couples are entitled to equal protection under the laws and that their marriages must be recognized nationwide.

Here are the most significant impacts for same-sex married couples:

Since state laws banning same-sex marriage are effectively invalidated, same-sex spouses will now enjoy all state tax benefits and other spousal benefits that other couples enjoy.


Sydney: Index

Suburban Rail (Regional Rail, Commuter Rail) in Sydney (20031025)
Metropolitan & National Ridership Trends: Australia
Sydney Bus Costs from 1987

To facilitate the ideal of government as the servant of the people by identifying and implementing
strategies to achieve public purposes at a cost that is no higher than necessary.
(c) 1994-2006 --- Wendell Cox Consultancy --- Permission granted to use with attribution.


How to Identify Different Types of Triangles

By Ainsley Patterson

Geometry can be one of the most confusing years of math in high school. With all the different shapes, types of angles, and formulas to remember, you may start to feel that you are swimming in a sea of confusion. Let me ease your confusion by guiding you through how to identify different types of triangles.

Take a moment to look at the sides and angles of the triangle. Measure all three sides with a ruler and all three angles with a protractor. Make sure that you write down their measurements as you take them.

Look at the measurements of the sides that you have written down and ask yourself if they are all the same. If all three sides of a triangle are the same length then the triangle is an equilateral triangle.

Ask yourself if two sides of your triangle are the same length. If your triangle has two sides of the same length then this triangle is an isosceles triangle.

Label your triangle as a scalene triangle if all the sides of your triangle have a different length.

Look at the angle measurements of your triangle and ask yourself if all the angles have a measurement of less than 90 degrees. An angle that is less than 90 degrees is called an acute angle, therefore a triangle whose angles are all less than 90 degrees in measure is called an acute triangle. If your triangle is an acute triangle where all of the angles have the same measurement then you can further label your triangle as an equiangular triangle. Since the sum of all the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees, another way to identify an equiangular triangle is to see that all of the triangle's angles measure 60 degrees.

Ask yourself if your triangle has an angle that measures greater than 90 degrees. An angle whose measure is greater than 90 degrees is an obtuse angle, therefore a triangle with an angle that measures greater than 90 degrees is an obtuse triangle.

Check if your triangle has an angle whose measure is 90 degrees. A 90-degree angle is a right angle, so a triangle with an angle that measures 90 degrees is a right triangle. In a right triangle the two angles whose measure are not 90 degrees are complementary angles, because added together they equal 90 degrees (since the sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 degrees). Also, in a right triangle, the side opposite the 90-degree angle is known as the hypotenuse.

About the Author


Returns & Exchange

Exchange Policy:

After the delivery of the product, if you are not satisfied with the product in terms of size, color or any other defect, the item can be exchanged within 4 days after the product delivery. Amir Adnan will conduct a proper checking process before exchanging the product. The product should fall in the following criteria before making an exchange:

  1. The item should not be used.
  2. All tags must be kept intact.
  3. The item is either faulty or is incorrect in size or color.
  4. Amir Adnan should receive it within 4 days.
  5. Shipping costs will be borne by the customer.
  6. All costs (shipping charges, taxes and duties) will be borne by the customer at all times. The product can only be exchanged once after the purchase. No returns will be entertained by Amir Adnan.

Refund Policy:

If the product turns out to be faulty or has any defect, then the item can be exchanged within 72 hours but it will not be refunded.


Testing and impact analysis

Philip Howard

Written By:
Published: 21st October, 2015
Content Copyright © 2015 Bloor. All Rights Reserved.

Supporting changes through a test automation framework is one thing but it's not the whole story. Changes in themselves can have implications beyond their obvious scope. It is entirely easy to make what seems like an innocuous little change only to find that the whole application breaks. The risk of this happening tends to be proportional to the complexity of the application you are changing - the more complex the application, the more likely it is to collapse - the last straw on the camel's back.

This is one good reason to adopt a style of application upgrades that focuses on incremental upgrades rather than major releases: fewer, smaller changes are less likely to disrupt an existing system. However, regardless of the approach taken you would like to be able to know what impact any particular change might have on the rest of the application.

In principle, the knock-on effects of making a change should be captured and handled by the developers of the application in question but, in practice, this will often be left to testers. However, how do testers know what impact any particular change might have elsewhere? In practice, the simple answer is that they don't. It is more or less impossible to catch unintended consequences if you are using manual testing methods because you won't be able to see linkages across the application. There are many documented cases of companies implementing new systems where these have failed precisely because of unforeseen consequences. The most well-known are those that bring down company web sites for days or weeks, costing not just revenues but loss of prestige and, in some cases, fines.

Conversely, an automated test framework should be able to identify any implications of a change, provided that it has been used to capture the entire application with all of its requirements. Then, when a change is made to those requirements you should be able to perform impact and dependency analyses to see how these changes will have an effect on the rest of the system. If you are going to assess these manually then ideally they should be available in graphical format (we would recommend actually using a graph) as well as in a more tabular manner, to suit different users' preferences. However, better yet, what you would like the software to do is to identify all the relationships and dependencies that are altered because of this change, and then generate (or retrieve from a library) all relevant test cases, scripts and so on. This should mean that not just the direct effects of a change are tested but also its indirect effects.

Of course there is a coverage issue here. Typically not everything gets tested. But this is because of the time and manpower required for testing, especially manual testing. Automation offers the promise of exhaustive testing. If you test everything then you'll know that everything works. Test less than everything and you won't.

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Fundraise for Someone With an Autoimmune Disease!

Wondering how to help a friend suffering from an autoimmune disease? A GiveForward fundraising is the easiest way to help a friend in need!

Help A Friend With An Autoimmune Disease Today!

Autoimmune diseases affect 50 million Americans. Early diagnosis and treatment are critical in order to minimize life-altering and sometimes life-threatening complications. These initial costs are just the beginning of a lifetime of medical expenses. Out-of-pocket expenses average around $1,000 per a year, but can be much higher. Moderate-severe psoriasis patients pay up to $10,593 per a year, for example. Lost wages are another cost to be considered for chronic diseases. Extreme costs of care can be minimized by early diagnosis and treatment. Most people are not prepared to handle these expenses by themselves. A GiveForward fundraising page allows family and friends to gather emotional and financial support for someone suffering from an autoimmune disease. Start a GiveForward page today!

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Posted by: The ocean update | October 8, 2016

The lost cultures of whales

Ping Zhu

Ping Zhu

October 8th, 2016 (Shane Gero). Aboard the Balaena, Caribbean — I am alone on deck, my headphones filled with the sounds of the deep ocean. I have been tracking the sperm whales since 4 a.m. Now the island of Dominica imposes its dark shape in front of the rising sun.

“We have whales!” I shout down to Hal Whitehead, who founded the Dominica Sperm Whale Project with me a decade ago. He puts the kettle on and asks who it is as he comes on deck.

I tell him it’s Pinchy and her calf, Tweak. Tweak is making small suckling dives alongside his mother. Then Pinchy dives, and we move the boat into the calm spot she left behind — the “flukeprint.” We are collecting the whales’ skin and fecal samples and recording the sounds they make on a hydrophone, an underwater microphone. Soon after Pinchy dives, we hear the clicks of her codas — whale social calls; she is talking with Tweak. Then the echolocation starts as she hunts for squid. Tweak slides below the surface in search of his babysitter, Fingers, who is Pinchy’s aunt. Hal and I have breakfast, then wake the crew.

The whale families we work with, members of the Eastern Caribbean Clan, are shrinking. Their population is declining by as much as 4 percent a year, as we reported last week in the journal PLOS One, largely a result of climate change and the increasing human presence in these waters. (Whales can be hit by ships or become entangled in fishing gear.) We are not just losing specific whales that we have come to know as individuals; we are losing a way of life, a culture — the accumulated wisdom of generations on how to survive in the deep waters of the Caribbean Sea. They may have lived here for longer than we have walked upright.

Sperm whales live rich and complex lives in a part of the world we find difficult to even explore. And many aspects of their lives appear remarkably similar to our own. Grandmothers, mothers and daughters babysit, defend and raise calves together. Family is critical to surviving in the open ocean, and each has its own way of doing things. The whales live in communities of neighboring families in a multicultural oceanic society.

Behavior is what you do, culture is how you do it. All sperm whales do the same things — feed, swim, babysit, defend, socialize — but how they do them is different around the world. Just as humans use forks or chopsticks, they, too, differ in how they eat, what species of squid they eat, how fast they travel and where they roam, their social behavior, and probably many other ways we still do not understand.

They seem to mark these cultural differences with different dialects — or distinct sets of codas. Families that share the same dialect we call a clan. The whale families in the Eastern Caribbean Clan use 22 different coda patterns. When two sperm whale families meet at sea, they need a way to recognize one another; those from a similar culture are more likely to cooperate. It turns out that sperm whale families in the same clan will spend time together, while families that speak different dialects, from different clans, will never interact.

Whales’ codas appear to broadcast their identities. One coda pattern distinguishes individuals, a set of others identifies their families, and a special one marks the cultural clan. The 1+1+3 coda (click pause click pause click click click) is unique to the Eastern Caribbean, is made by all the whales in the Eastern Caribbean Clan, and has remained identical for at least 30 years. Calves spend at least two years learning to make it correctly. And they learn to produce it with great fidelity, which most likely ensures that their clan membership is recognizable over their large geographic ranges and across the diversity of other whales they encounter.

The whales in the Caribbean are distinct, and they appear to identify themselves as distinct. Unfortunately, as a result of a changing climate and human impacts, these urban whales, who live in nearshore waters, are at risk. One in three baby whales born off Dominica will not survive to its first birthday. Tweak’s cousin, Digit, had just begun hunting on her own when she got rope from a fishing net tangled around her tail; now she can no longer dive as well, and is struggling to survive.

Losing a large number of individuals is a tragedy, but what happens when we lose an entire whale culture? What do we lose when we lose a way of life?

Every culture, whale or otherwise, is its own solution to the problems of the environment in which it lives. With its extirpation, we lose the traditional knowledge of what it means to be a Caribbean whale and how to exploit the deep sea riches around the islands efficiently. And that cannot be recovered, not even if the global population of sperm whales was robust enough to support remigration into the Caribbean. These would be different whales, from elsewhere, who do things differently. This region would be profoundly impoverished for the new whales, who would be more vulnerable here. The species as a whole would lose some of its repertoire on how to survive.

Species conservation should not be just about numbers. The definition of biodiversity needs to include cultural diversity. All sperm whales around the world are similar genetically. In fact, recent research suggests that all sperm whales may have descended from a single whale some 80,000 years ago. But genetics may not be particularly helpful when conserving populations of cultural whales. “Genetic stocks,” which we have traditionally used to manage and protect much of the world’s wildlife, simply cannot preserve the diversity of life. Diverse systems are more resilient, and the most important diversity in sperm whales, as in humans, is in their cultural traditions.

I could point to many reasons to protect whales, like the way they mitigate the effects of climate change by cycling nutrients that enable the ocean to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, or how top predators regulate marine food chains. But if we are to preserve life, ours and theirs, we must find ways to succeed together, and value diversity in our societies and in our ecosystems.

Citation : Gero S, Whitehead H (2016) Critical Decline of the Eastern Caribbean Sperm Whale Population. PLoS ONE 11(10): e0162019. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0162019

Ed Sibylline : more on sperm whales

Mediterranean Sperm Whales, Physeter macrocephalus : The Precarious State of a Lost Tribe (link)

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Epistemological Hijab

Muqtedar Khan

If Muslim women wish to regain their humanity and an equal moral status with men, which is not denied to them in principle, they must tear down the partition that separates them from their right to understand and interpret Islamic sources

Hijab, with its various implications and the politics surrounding it, has become a globally polarising issue. In France and in Turkey, between Muslims and Others and between liberal and traditional Muslims, it has become the most contentious cultural issue. Different people see in it the conflict between modernity and Islam and between contemporary and traditional interpretations of the faith.

While, for some, hijab is a symbol of Islam’s ascendance in the world, for others, it is a reminder of the intransigent Muslim resistance to whatever emerged first in the West—modernity, secularism, feminism, liberalism and globalism. For some Muslims in France it is the symbol of their resistance to French cultural dominance over Arabs and Muslims. For Islamists in Turkey it is the question of preserving their Islamic heritage from secular fundamentalism. For many non-Muslim observers it is often an introduction to an Islam that has misogynistic proclivities

Irrespective of one’s perspective, the fact remains that the hijab is an instrument of segregation and containment. It marks the Muslim woman for separation and for ‘different’ treatment. Muslims who claim that hijab forces society to treat women in a special way (in terms of security and respect) do not work to ensure that the society has affirmative laws in place to guarantee equal outcomes for women. So, hijab ultimately undermines equal opportunity.

But the sartorial hijab—with its attendant social practices of segregation, disenfranchisement and marginalisation of women—is only a symptom of a more profound and civilisationally debilitating form of hijab practised by the contemporary Muslim society. What is more significant and needs vigorous confrontation is the epistemological hijab that ‘good’ Muslims insist on imposing on ‘good’ Muslim women. It is the traditional barrier between women and fundamental sources of Islamic jurisprudence. Women have had only a marginal role to play in interpreting Islam and articulating the laws and rules governing them. It is this epistemological hijab—the barrier between women and these sources—that has rendered the articulation and enforcement of Islamic laws fundamentally undemocratic. This undemocratic tradition privileges men and exploits women. Its reconstitution is important—more so now than ever before.

A strange paradox has captivated the global Muslim community in the post-colonial era. The nearly hundred-year-old Islamic revivalist movement—singularly responsible for the global significance of Islam today—has been driven by lay intellectuals. Key figures of Islamic revivalism—Jamaluddin Afghani, Hassan Al Banna, Syed Qutb, Ali Shariati, Muhammad Iqbal, Abul A’la Maududi, Khurshid Ahmed, Malik bin Nabi, Rashid Ghannouchi—were all lay intellectuals, many educated in the West. Many of them were, of course, exposed to traditional Islamic sciences, but none of them was an Islamic jurist.

But for some inexplicable reason the ascendant Islam today is highly legalistic and shariah-obsessed.

For many Muslims today Islam is nothing but shariah. In operational terms this means that the beauty, the virtues and the meaning of Islam are confined to the rather mundane domain of medieval Islamic legalist discourse—fiqh—which lacks the intellectual depth of philosophy, the aesthetics and the mystery of kalam theology and the spirituality and charisma of tasawwuf mysticism.

We live in the era of Islamic banking—shariah-compliant transactions—and halal hamburgers; we ponder over the legality of eating marshmallows, and deliberate the propriety of women shaking hands with men. Serious legal matters, for example, state-military relations and international transactions, meanwhile, receive very little input from Muslim jurists so that in these matters the Muslim world conveniently follows the Western/international laws and conventions. Islamic legalism is confined primarily to personal matters.

This peculiar legalism, which has colonised Islam and the Muslim conscience, is a product of the vulnerabilities of the Muslim man trying to cope with his insecurities in a world dominated by other men. Muslim men today are not sovereign beings. Other men dominate their world.

The only area where they exercise absolute sovereignty is the tiny domain called Islamic law. Here, they realise their manhood. They glorify themselves, grant themselves exotic privileges and assure themselves of their power by exercising it over their women. This exercise of power completely excludes women from participating in the process of deriving rulings from original sources or interpreting them.

There is perhaps no other legal tradition extant today where one has no say in the articulation of laws that govern one’s entire life. Muslim women have very little role in the process of developing Islamic fiqh. Even historically, men alone have developed all the madhahib—jurisprudence schools, and legal principles, including those dealing with the most private aspects of female existence. Islamic legalism has thus descended on the Muslim woman like a shroud, covering her very essence, disconnecting her from her own reality, depriving her of the right to understand and interpret her own being and disabling her from navigating her own life. The fundamentality of Islamic legalism veils the Muslim woman’s consciousness. Frankly, it dehumanises her.

Muslims scholars and philosophers maintain that the essence of humanity is either our moral compass or our reason or both. By preventing Muslim women from exercising their reason to derive the moral laws by which they live, Islamic legalism denies them the most human of all exercises: using our reason to make moral judgments. In a way, Islamic legalism steals from women their God-given humanity.

Islamists are fond of repeating that in Islam God is sovereign since He alone has the right to make laws. Unfortunately this is a very superficial understanding of Islam and fails to recognise the distinction between revealed principles (wahy) and human product (fiqh). They obfuscate the distinctions between the two and call it law (shariah). By insisting that the opinions and arguments of long-dead jurists are actually divine law, Islamists make jurists the God. In some cultures the divine status of men over women is recognised and men are sometimes referred to as the “majazi khuda” (virtual God) to women.

If Muslim women wish to regain their humanity and an equal moral status with men, which is not denied to them in principle but only in practice (in Islamic societies), they must tear down the partition that separates them from their right to understand and interpret Islamic sources and act upon their own understanding.

They must tear asunder this epistemological hijab imposed by Islamic legalism that stands between them and their God. Until then all discussions about the cultural and physical will remain superficial and contained in the context of the masculine logic that currently exercises such supreme sovereignty over Islamic principles and their derivative laws.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Autism; When Boys Become Men. A Post High School Perspective

Dr. Wiley and Donna Ross Jones
@ Stephanies Day Resource Fair

Last summer I visited "Stephanie's Day" an autism resource fair held at the CBS Radford Studios. It was a family reunion of sorts reconnecting with parents I've met over our 12 year ASD journey. I was so happy seeing them, and so proud of the parents who've started organizations determined to fill the voids in our systems of care.  As the day went on my happy feeling faded as we talked about our kids - who just like Nick were becoming men - and our concerns for their futures. As we have for years, we looked to each other to exchange resources and  positive insights on "what's next" and it was clear we had little to share, because there are few options when it comes to housing, recreation, job skills, job creation and community integration. Hope came in the form of parents and professionals, like Dr. Pam Wiley who are dedicated to addressing the critical needs of our soon to be adults. The article below, by Dr. Wiley tells the story and speaks directly to the need.

Gearing Up for Reality

"A lot of money is invested in our kids when they are young but there is significantly less as they get older. You feel as if you're on your own."

When their children with special needs are young, parents are guided and supported through most of their child's education, often starting when their child is 18 months old. But what happens after high school is over? What supports will be needed or even available? After age 21 do the services stop and, if so, who pays for speech-language and other interventions?These are the real thoughts plaguing parents of high school-age children with autism spectrum disorders. Transitioning from high school to the adult world is a critical time in the lives of all students and their parents, but it is even more daunting for parents of children with ASDs. Sheltered programs are available for adults at the lower end of the spectrum, and college or technical programs for the very high-functioning students. But for those who fall in between, there aren't as many options.

We know the incidence of ASDs is increasing-according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention they affect one in 88 children and, as of today, the consensus is there is no cure. Autism is more prevalent than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. According to Autism Speaks, a national autism advocacy organization, the annual cost to society is $126 billion and has more than tripled since 2006. Schools are being asked to do a better job preparing these students for life after school. ASDs are very costly, and as these children grow older, professionals and parents are becoming compelled to create opportunities and options for them to become independent and able to find employment. I know I am beginning to field more of these questions from concerned families and it's just going to keep coming.
As members of a helping profession, we are trained to identify deficits and then work on remediation. However, at some point in the treatment process, we must adjust and refocus our thinking to identify how these "deficits" can be redefined to become assets in the workplace. For example, a student who is antisocial or a social loner will be less inclined to engage in workplace drama or office politics; the student who has a tolerance for repetitive activities may be a good fit for mundane tasks that others find boring. These traits can be attractive qualities to an employer if expressed as a positive and not a negative. We have to help our clients and their families make this distinction. And to be effective we must become more familiar with the transition process and help identify options for these young adults.

What does the law provide?

First it's helpful to understand what is legally mandated. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act has required transition services since 1990. However, in 2004, the legal requirements were revised to require an individual transition plan typically be developed beginning at age 16. The ITP is a legitimate part of the individualized education program, which is legally binding. The goal of the transition plan is to facilitate the student's movement from high school to the adult world of work, independent living (if possible) and community integration.
Although IDEA protections end when a child turns 21, Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act continue to provide protections beyond the age of 21. Still, these are not entitlement laws and can vary in interpretation and implementation from state to state. The National Dissemination Center for Children With Disabilities (NICHY) is a national disability-related resource bank of information listed by state to assist families in locating local organizations and agencies. Resources include parent groups and training, as well as research-based information on best educational practices.

What we have tried

Since 1997, our center, the Los Angeles Speech and Language Therapy Center, has offered a speech- and language-based summer camp for children with ASDs and other special needs. Because we provide a variety of services, including early intervention programs, speech-language intervention and social skills training, we have long-term relationships with our clients and have watched them grow up.
Last summer we realized that several of our older students with ASDs were ready for a less structured camp experience. Camp staff and I decided to incorporate them into the camp as speech buddies. A "speech buddy" is the term we have used over the years to describe typical high school students who earn community service hours for their volunteer participation. To become speech buddies, our students with ASDs were required to participate in the same training and weekly debriefings as all of our volunteer staff. The selected students were verbal and 14 to 16 years old. They had received services from our center for an average of eight years and all had participated in at least two of our programs.
Their development during the eight weeks of summer camp was amazing. They seemed to walk with a greater sense of purpose and pride. One young man reflected on his previous noncompliant behaviors and inability to express his emotions, and jokingly described himself as a "changed man." Another remarked, "I know I have autism, but I like being treated the same as everyone else. I just learn differently from other kids." This underscores the importance of inclusion and the value of meaningful peer engagement.
However, despite the growth, there were behaviors-poor self-regulation, inflexibility, overstepping personal boundaries and pragmatic language issues related to workplace jargon or idioms-that could potentially be problematic in the workplace.
For example, one morning I observed a young man standing in the hallway looking up at the clock. When I asked him what he was doing, he responded, "Waiting for my lunch to start at 12 o'clock." It was only 11:50, and I explained that phrase did not mean for him to stop working while "waiting" for 12:00.
In another situation a young man asked a high school volunteer if he could be friends with her on Facebook. Not wanting to appear rude, she agreed. Unfortunately, our student misunderstood her intentions and began to communicate with her too frequently and made her uncomfortable. From his perspective she was his "friend," and he was just being friendly. We revisited a unit from our social skills program that addresses friendship and the difference between a friend, an acquaintance, and a person with whom we may share a common space or interest. We also reiterated the rule that "shared interests do not equal shared personal feelings."
At the end of the eight weeks, we gathered informal feedback from the students and their parents. One young man said that he enjoyed helping and working with children while another, after assisting in housekeeping chores, said he'd like to have his own cleaning business. Another student said he would like to go to UCLA and come back to work with us. For this upcoming summer, we will expand on our model to include more students and will offer an eight-week pre-vocational training program.
This type of experience and feedback can be useful to anxious parents who sometimes find it difficult to envision realistic and attainable outcomes for their children. The experience also benefits the students because it encourages them to think about their post-high school goals and gives them a legitimate voice in the ITP process. By providing them with this summer work experience, we created job and career goals for students with ASDs.

A sea change

Our center isn't the only place creating these experiences. The number of nontraditional structures and creative job opportunities for students with ASDs are increasing. Many are through nonprofit organizations that offer vocational training programs that can lead to employment in fields-such asExceptional Minds Studio, an animation studio for young adults on the spectrum with a vocational center and summer camp for graphics and animation. Another is Farming Independence, which encourages students to grow and create things on a farm, and then sell them.
Other creative approaches are customized employment, which-as the name implies-tailors a job to suit the strengths and skills of the individual. Still another, "entrepreneurial supports," creates new businesses for individuals around their interests and skill levels. For example, a student who likes to destroy things that do not appear to be perfect can be given entrepreneurial support to go to different offices to shred papers and documents. The documents could be made imperfect by possibly tearing a corner and then given to the worker to shred. A board (often composed of family members, professionals, mentors or members of the business community) would be established to ensure success.
These novel approaches are in addition to more established options such as supported employment, which allows people with ASDs to work in competitive jobs while receiving ongoing support services, and traditional job opportunities or competitive employment options for higher functioning people who, once trained, can work relatively independently.

What is the SLP's role?

Speech-language pathology services are not provided by schools after age 21. Therefore, it is imperative to address speech and language deficits related to long-term productivity, which include verbal and nonverbal communication and social groups. This engagement can begin much earlier than the start of the transition (see "After Commencement, Clarity" in this issue). Incorporating social communication goals that address workplace idioms, theory of mind and executive functioning should be written into the ITP, even for the students who may be doing well in communication and behavior. Sample goals could be written as follows:
1. Given minimal assistance, student will identify the meaning of 10 common workplace idioms (clock in, hit the ground running, keep the ball rolling) in four of five trials.
2. When given specific social situations, student will demonstrate critical thinking skills to generate appropriate solutions with 80 percent accuracy ("You come home from school and discover the door key is not under the mat. What can you do?")
3. When given social scenarios, student will correctly identify the perspective of others in four out of five opportunities when given minimal assistance ("Your friend has a party and no one comes. How might she feel?")
As professionals, we are in a unique position to find ways to leverage our students' natural abilities and fixated interests into career possibilities and encourage families to do the same. Examples of how some private and school-based SLPs are helping their high school students with ASDs are:
  • One SLP collaborated with classroom teachers on her student's pre-vocational goals and reinforced them in her treatment groups using role-playing and social stories related to workplace situations.
  • Another SLP opened her personal contacts list to help her students secure volunteer opportunities and gain exposure to the world of work. She most recently connected one of her students with her neighborhood dog walker.
  • The care provider of a musically talented 21-year-old with an ASD asked an SLP for her thoughts on encouraging him to pursue singing. She thought it was a great idea and supported the possibility. She accompanied the young man as he initially began to sing free of charge at local clubs. He was subsequently "discovered" by a local singing legend and now receives compensation for opening her shows.
The common thread that binds all of these examples is creativity, which is nothing new to our profession. We demonstrate our creativity and commitment to these children daily as we work with them to enhance communication. Now we must use our professional skills and creativity to help them see a way into their future.
cite as: Wiley, P. (2013, April 01). Gearing Up for Reality : Helping clients with ASDs find their way in the world after high school takes creativity.. The ASHA Leader.

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Trust, not Transactions #1 - Federation, not Decentralization

Nick Williamson

This is the first in a multi-part series titled “Trust, Not Transactions” where we separate hype from reality in a number of aspects of blockchain, both operational and technological.

Much of the focus of the discussions surrounding blockchain, and especially cryptocurrencies, has centered around centralization versus decentralization.

The simplified discussion usually points Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) as being globally decentralized and permissionless, and any system in the financial sector as being centralized and closed.

As with any good oversimplification, this is superficially correct but at the same time, misses the point entirely.

When you take a look behind the curtain, it becomes quite obvious that both views are based in a utopian mindset, where everything slots into perfect definitions. In reality, Bitcoin is much more centralized, fragile, and permissioned than general perception, while the finance industry is much less centralized and monolithic than generally given credit for.

This disconnect comes from a combination of misunderstanding where the value comes from in financial services while also viewing architectural and business decisions through an ideological lens.

Not only does this lead to a disconnect between the reality of the current situation, but it leads to developing product and infrastructure roadmaps that don’t fundamentally address market needs.

It also glosses over constructs that don’t fit neatly into either category, such as Federated Blockchain networks, which we introduce in more detail below.

While the following grossly oversimplifies the moving parts in the system, what the Financial Industry in general is trying to accomplish in most functions generally boils down to moving and tracking two counterparties.

In effect, this boils down to creating a tradeable receipt that an authorized party (eg, Central Bank, company director, derivatives trader) made a statement that they were issuing a security (or contract), and the identity of the party to whom they initially issued it.

While this is a bit abstract, this is in effect what a share in a company, or collateral issued in a derivatives contract is: assurance that you hold a claim on the issuing party and the ability to transfer that claim to others.

At the same time, financial services providers need to comply with relatively complex regulations that may be vastly different across jurisdictions.

Taking that view of what need we are trying to fill, we can better understand how the mechanics and incentives of centralized or decentralized networks contribute to filling that need.

Decentralization vs Centralization

Centralized Networks

In this (simplified) model, a centralized service is effectively a black box that users engage directly in a one-to-one relationship.

In this model, the party validating transactions, the party recording transaction history, and the party holding custody of value are all the same.

In reality, this service generally then interacts with another centralized service that coordinates this custodianship so value can be transacted between two or more end users that use different custodians. This allows for fungibility of assets across different services without those services needing to trust each other.

This  mechanism is also generally used for the initial dematerialization of assets and cash.

At an ecosystem level this manifests as a global hub-and-spoke model. Under this model, actions taken by end users being reflected in a shared settlement ledger at some point in the future several organizations below the retail service provider.

Decentralized Networks

Conversely, a decentralized network relies on a network of validators that ensure the rules of the service are followed by all users, and users can engage any of the validators (either directly or through another peer) to interact with the service.

As a result, the validators collectively effectively act as a service provider.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin mostly transact in a native token although protocols have been built on top of most cryptocurrencies to allow custodians to issue held value to addresses.

With this construct, the blockchain network takes on the role of the clearing & settlement, allowing the issued token to be redeemable against the custodian who issued the tokenized asset.

If two or more custodians trusted each other or were able to dematerialize their securities to the blockchain directly, fungibility between custodians could be directly established as well, much like it is in the hub-and-spoke model.

Benefits & Tradeoffs

As we can see, each of these approaches comes with it’s own set of strengths and weaknesses:

Benefits of a Hub-and-Spoke Approach

  • Technical efficiency
  • Easier to meet regulatory compliance

Disadvantages of a Hub-and-Spoke Approach

  • Process and labor inefficient
  • Inability to change infrastructure once installed without massive cost and time investment.

Benefits of a Decentralized Approach

  • No single point of political censorship or failure

Disadvantages of a Decentralized Approach

  • Technologically inefficient
  • Potential inability to meet regulatory compliance

The benefits from either approach both come from everyone agreeing on the same source of collective truth about what assets exist and who owns them.

Unfortunately, that means if we hold value in separate networks in either system, we need central parties that allow us to transfer or trade assets across different networks while taking on counterparty risk.

In each approach, we also see that the need for a global consensus on what specific ledger/database holds the “golden record” for what assets are issued and who owns them, presents a massive coordination problem.

In order to make changes to the underlying value transfer, overwhelming consensus is necessary under either approach. Then once (if) consensus is achieved, it can be a brittle, long, and expensive rollout process that requires 100% of participants to upgrade before migration.

It will often be easier and cheaper to build a new, incompatible network that allows for the desired improvements than changing the existing structure. Otherwise, innovation is left to layers closer to the end user, as we have seen with the proliferation of mobile payment apps in the past few years.

Thankfully, we have a construct that avoids this.

The Federated Alternative

One of the great things about new technology is that you often have a chance to step outside the established mindset and try something new.

One of the conclusions we have come to at Credits when researching how we might address the issue of custodians and settlement is that federated blockchain networks offer much of the best of both worlds.

Building a Federated Network

Our view of a federated blockchain network starts off looking a lot like a decentralized blockchain where custodians can issue value (albeit one not reliant on Proof of Work and that allows for RBAC).

In a federated network, you still have multiple parties acting as gatekeeper, maintaining and adding to the history of the ledger; collectively making it immutable after each confirmed block.

In some networks, validators may also be service providers and/or value issuers, but the two roles are fundamentally able to be separated from each other.

Federated Network of Federated Networks

Building on that, we can start connecting separate federated networks together, allowing value and information to be issued and utilized across network boundaries.

Cryptographic proofs that value has been issued can then be transported across different networks that know how to communicate with each other, allowing for the instant and atomic transport of value across networks.

This is allowed due to the way these assets are issued as cryptographic tokens and is similar to the concepts presented in Sidechains4, but using consensus methods that allow for faster (and truly atomic) validity across networks5.

Transactions can even be processed that involve multiple parties across multiple networks that happen atomically across networks without requiring a central party to act as arbiter and hold counterparty risk.

Assuming that the provenance of the initial issuance can be linked back to the currently held asset, it doesn’t matter which network it lives in, the “tokenized” asset acts as a receipt on the initial issuer whether that asset is cash, equity, property, or contract.

This allows us to overcome the huge inertia problem that plagues both decentralized and hub-and-spoke networks by having the asset truly live in the protocol, rather than be tied to a particular network’s implementation and the users & validators who participate in it.

As we move toward real problems being solved using blockchain technology, this focus on provenance of value is going to increasingly guide technology choices when building new financial technology.

If successful, this will decouple the implementation for accessing and transferring value from the protocol that allows any network to hold custody of value, removing barriers to changing providers or jurisdictions, increasing liquidity, and lowering costs.

The oversimplification of decentralization vs centralization is one of many false dichotomies the fledgling blockchain industry is working through at the moment.

This oversimplification leads to the championing of solutions that don’t solve anyone’s actual problems and the demonization of existing solutions due to not understanding why they were built in the first place6.

Instead, if we deconstruct the actual moving parts of the problem we’re looking to address, this allows us to work backward from the priorities of the use case and pick the tools and constructs that best address the need.

In this case, that led us to the solution of interoperable, federated blockchains. This allows us to achieve the immutability, auditability, and process efficiency of the blockchain with the regulatory compliance and scalability of more centralized systems.

Allowing value issued on these networks to move from network to network then solves the problem of coordination and upgrade consensus, which is the most expensive and slowest part of the process for both centralized and decentralized solutions.

In the long run, this can allow us to decouple what counts as proof of issuance and ownership from the specific network we use to transfer and track value.

This path will help bring about an actual protocol of value to the internet, and this approach to blockchain infrastructure will make sure we don’t let the search for utopia prevent us from making an impact in the real world.

End Notes

1 - Bitcoin Centralization

  • At the time of this post, the top 2 mining pools control 51% of the hashing power.
  • Top 3 control 66%
  • Top 4 control 80%
  • Top 6 control 90%
  • Bitfury’s new datacenter can bring about a 51% attack on its own once they finish bringing it online, regardless of the number mining pools they point their miners at.
  • 5 developers must unanimously agree to any changes to Bitcoin Core, 3 of whom are employed by Blockstream.
  • 1 person controls three of the most popular and longstanding Bitcoin websites.

2 - Financial Services Centralization

  • While most financial services involve the movement of value that is either issued or tracked centrally in a given jurisdiction, customer-facing services are largely separate and competing, tying back into those central services in a hub-and-spoke model.
  • These central issuers/custodians often came about as a result of financial institutes wanting to be able to work together but not being able to fully trust each other, thus needing some mechanism serving as a neutral ground for verifying and recording transactions between themselves, often on a netting basis through a Clearing House, or similar mechanism.
  • That is, the Lightning Network, but 225 years old.

3 - Ignoring Problems with Approach

This has led to two major distractions during 2015:

  • The Bitcoin community has stuck its head in the ground regarding the actual state & momentum of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and whether or not they’re providing real value.
  • Parts of the financial services industry still initially view use cases of blockchain technology through the lense of cryptocurrency, making the benefit vs trade-off conversation longer and more convoluted.

4 - Sidechains

5 - Finality on Federated Crosschain Transactions

Crosschain transfers on Proof of Work based cryptocurrencies is problematic for two reasons:

  • Merge-mined Sidechains allow for miners to steal funds transferred to those Sidechains.
  • Finality is never fully achieved, confirmations only probabilistically approach finality assuming >51% of hashing power is honest.
  • Under current ecosystem, this is likely irrelevant, but both the issuing of assets on top of PoW blockchains and introducing merge-mined sidechains substantially increase the incentives to re-order blockchain history.
  • This is made slightly harder to do (surreptitiously at least) by waiting “a day or two” before allowing transferred funds to be used.

Other consensus mechanisms that don’t allow for reordering of history (leaderless Proof of Stake) solve the finality issue.

Ensuring the validators of the different networks are properly incentivized (whether directly financially, posted surety bond, liability, or regulation) additionally solves the issue of federated parties stealing funds issued on another network. Existing constructs for custody of funds in regulated environments should be sufficient.

6 - This Exists for no Reason

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What is Impact Hub Boston?

Located just steps away from the State Street or Downtown Crossing stops, we are a unique ecosystem of resources, inspiration, and collaboration for individuals working to build a more sustainable world.
The Impact Hub Boston community is made up of social businesses addressing challenges both locally and globally. Our members are entrepreneurs, freelancers, advocates, campaigners, artists, consultants, and more. Our building is just a few minutes' walk from Downtown Crossing. Members enjoy a social platform connecting you to social entrepreneurs around the Boston area, as well as meeting spaces and hot desks, a flexible exhibition and events space, and a thoughtfully crafted program of member-driven events. We are also part of a global network of connected communities that enable collaborative ventures.  Impact Hubs unite people from every profession, background, and culture with imagination and drive to pursue enterprising ideas for the world. These are the people who see and do things differently and have the entrepreneurial passion to create sustainable impact.

What are Impact Hubs?

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There are Impact Hubs on 5 Continents.


The Koroš estate is a typical Carinthian mountain farm with its own forests, pastures, orchards and fields.

In the fields, which cover the steep slopes, potatoes as well as rye and spelt are grown. We use the harvested grain to make our own bread.

There is a wide selection of vegetables in our two gardens: different types of lettuce, parsley, celery, leek, onion, garlic, carrot, beetroot, turnip, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprout, mangold, peas, pumpkins, beans etc. We even grow tomato plants in our greenhouse.

What is more, we grow our own herbs such as sage, tarragon, the common rue, thyme, marjoram, lovage, basil, mint, balm-mint, camomile, pot marigold, saffron and chive. In our orchard, traditional types of apples, pears, plums, currants, cherries and sour cherries are grown.

We also have blueberries, wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, mushrooms and a variety of tea herbs (elder, linden, nettle, milfoil and other)

The animals are freely bred, which means that they are free to go out of the barn; they are pastured from April to October. Cows and calves are never separated and since calves suckle from their mothers, it often happens that we need to buy milk from our neighbours. We also produce most of the animal fodder ourselves.

- certificated organic farm from 2000

- home- grown vegetables

- home- baked rye bread

- home- produced apple juice

The neighbouring tourist farm:

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Exploring the facets of solitude and loneliness in a self portrait project. This series was first exhibited in April 2016 in Sevilla, Spain, Weber-Lutgen Gallery.

Loneliness is the human condition that English language has wisely divided into two different words to detect the two sides of “being alone”. It created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone and created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. Although in our daily lives it’s difficult to distinguish between these moods, we must do it consistently to really understand the condition in which each of us is can be at some point of his life. Only when we understand and accept these two sides of solitude/loneliness we can live with awareness and reach an inner balance that generates well-being.

Fabula y drama de la soledad is a work in 2 parts, technically and artistically different from each other, where I explore these two sides of solitude in its essence: tale and drama.

In the first part of the story, the tale, lives the gardener’s wife, a woman who takes care of her garden in an arid and desert world where all things are struggling to survive. Being the only woman on earth, she fills her heart by caring for her roses. The rose is the symbol of love, care and attention that the women reserves for her beloved: plants, animals, nature, her husband, herself. The rose is also a symbol of the soul that needs to be cultivated and nurtured to be kept alive. The gardener’s wife tale is a story of solitude, reflection, love and self-esteem. A simple story and simply human.

In the second part, the drama, a woman lives the experience of loneliness, accompanied by pain and suffering. It is the primordial human condition, where consciousness shows the weaknesses and doubts of existence. Here loneliness is experienced as torture, an infinite abyss from which it’s difficult to rise again, and at the same time as an inevitable way to know and recognize oneself. The woman, an ordinary woman, talks with her emptiness and fears in order to exorcise the darkness in which she’s involved. The drama of loneliness is the symbol of an inner growth, an inevitable way to reach the acceptance of oneself and be totally free.


Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, stated this in 2010 — four years ago.

Unlike any time in history, we are drowning in data. Marketers have access to abundant streams of information – customer satisfaction scores, credit card swipes, web clicks, in-app behaviors, social media trends, etc. – that are being collected and stored in massive data centers.

The promise of big data is that by intelligently analyzing these data points, companies can achieve unprecedented insights into their customers and prospects, helping grow the business through Moneyball-style decision making.

But with this great promise also comes significant peril. In the hands of unskilled practitioners, big data can not only fail to meet expectations, but may lead to erroneous conclusions that can lead companies astray.

The problem is that big data can easily find relationships that are completely meaningless.

For example, look at the chart below, created by a terrific website called Spurious Correlations. It shows a fairly high correlation (.66) with the number of Nicolas Cage films and number of people who drowned by falling into a swimming pool.

An even more extreme example is the near perfect correction (.99) of the divorce rate in Maine, with per capita consumption of margarine in the U.S.

Clearly, statistics alone can lead us astray. So how can marketers ensure that their big data efforts are intelligent and actionable without leading them to nonsensical conclusions? Here are three basic rules to follow:

1) Don’t equate correlation with causation.

Most of us remember the classic saying that “correlation does not imply causation,” and the examples above are excellent real-world reminders. But it is still surprising how many people infer causation from correlations. When data sets are all focused on a specific topic, say customer purchase habits, it is easy to rationalize how a specific correlation must be causal. If we can create a logical rationalization, and are unable to identify alternative explanations, then we may allow ourselves to forget the old adage and believe causation is at work. Marketers need to be vigilant and not fall into this trap.

2) Don’t equate statistical with substantive significance.

As any Stats 101 student knows, the larger your sample size, the easier it is to find statistically significant results. But big data is HUGE, with data sets that provide a level of statistical power that can be highly misleading, as even a “small” finding can easily be statistically significant. Many analysts are trained to focus on significance levels, but just because something is statistically significant, does not mean it is meaningful in the real world. Marketers have to bring their business acumen to the table and resist the urge to blindly accept statistically significant results.

3) Don’t neglect hypothesis testing.

Big data is best utilized to answer specific business questions, such as whether customers active on social media spend more than non-social media customers (as a simplistic example). But the allure of big data can also entice marketers to “go fishing” and “see what sticks” from a statistical perspective. In psychology, they call this “dust bowl empiricism” – a study where no theory is involved – and it is generally regarded as inferior, not to mention lazy. Hypothesis testing counters dust bowl empiricism by posing specific business questions that can be tested, and proven false.

Big Data holds tremendous promise and opportunity to those that wield it responsibly. By keeping in mind the potential pitfalls, marketers can successfully reap the benefits for their company.

(This article originally appeared on The Agency Post)


Factor Analysis

Factor analysis has a long history with its root in psychology. The first development was reported by Hotelling in 1933. Later on, other authors extended this method, finally resulting in a range of various methods which are difficult to overlook. An excellent book on factor analysis was published by Paul Horst [Horst 1965].

One of the possible definitions has been given by Malinowski:

    "Factor analysis is a multivariate technique for reducing matrices of data to their lowest dimensionality by the use of orthogonal factor space and transformations that yield predictions and/or recognizable factors" [Malinowski 1991]

The principle behind factor analysis is quite simple, although the concrete realization depends on the requirements of the specific situation, and may be quite demanding: in principle, a data matrix X is split up into a product of two data matrices:

X = U VT

The matrices U and V are called scores and loading matrices, respectively. This can be visualized by the following figure:

Using this approach involves factors which may be useless for tangible problems, since one of the major goals of factor analysis is to provide factors which are related in some way to "real" factors. So the matrices U and V are rather abstract matrices which provide little to no improvement concerning the interpretation of the original matrix. It is therefore necessary to come up with a way to find factors which are closely related to reality. Since the theoretical split into the matrices U and V has many solutions, we need some additional criteria to guide the decomposition of the original data matrix X.

The following general rules for finding suitable factors are usually applied:

    1) The number of factors should be kept as low as possible. The number of factors should reflect the complexity of the data space. Finding the correct number of factors can be a tedious task.
    2) The factors should be calculated in such a way that they could be related to some real effects of the experiment from which the data has been drawn, i.e. the factors should be physically meaningful. In order to achieve this, the factors have to be rotated.

Last Update: 2012-10-08


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Methane Abounds off US Atlantic Coast

Researchers have found more than 500 methane vents on the seafloor off the Atlantic coast of the United States. The sheer number of these so-called “seep areas” has taken scientists by surprise—before this new research, surveys had found just three similar seeps in the region. The BBC reports:

Many of these vents are pumping out methane at depths which are conducive to the formation of methane hydrates, also called fire ice. In this form, the gas is trapped in a lattice of ice, though it can be released if heated or brought up to the surface. In fact, there’s a nascent industry emerging intent on bringing fire ice out of the water to do just that: unlock the methane within to be harnessed as an energy source. These new findings off the eastern U.S. coast could attract some of those firms’ attention. The study’s lead author Professor Adam Skarke cautioned that “[t]here is no evidence to say that these clathrates are related to conventional gas reservoirs, so there is no evidence to say they are a recoverable resource,” but as fracking has shown, new technologies can make energy booms out of unconventional resources.

Putting that question aside, the discovery of these underwater methane seeps underscores just how little we understand about our climate. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and while the study didn’t find any indication that these leaks were finding their way into our planet’s atmosphere, that remains a key concern. Yes, our climate is changing, and yes, humans are playing a big part in that change, but time and time again we’re reminded of how little we know beyond those basic facts.

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  • lord acton

    It’s almost like the whole universe is made up of clouds of gas…..

  • Boritz

    It is also important to remember that there has been no evidence of global warming for 17 years though based on the reporting you can hardly blame the average person for not knowing that or considering it unimportant if they do.

  • Rick Johnson

    It is a basic fact that our climate is changing, but it is pure assertion on your part, with no credible evidence to back it, that humans are playing an role in that change.

    That claim is likely to be Green BS.

    • stanbrown

      It’s like the IPCC’s high confidence. They can’t explain why it warmed from 1910-1940 or cooled from 1940-1975 or paused after 1998. But they are extremely sure of why it warmed from 1975 to 1998 and that catastrophe awaits the world 100 years from now.

      The more people say stupid things, the more likely they are stupid (or dishonest). When people can’t explain 3/4 of the climate trends for the last century, they don’t have a clue what the hell is going on. To claim confidence that they do is utter foolishness.

  • Refuz Tosay

    because of the obvious propaganda – “and yes, humans are playing a big part in that change” – I intend to never visit your site AGAIN. I used to enjoy reading the articles. now cant trust you. your claim is unsupported by evidence – the planet hasn’t grown any hotter in the last 15 years despite your models – thus the marketing re-branding from global warming to climate change. so now your positioning is; “climate change” so no matter what happens – hotter or colder, calmer or more active – you can claim you predicted the future. your hoax is losing ground every day and your dream of global taxation collected by the United Nations fades with it – good bye. PS; I hope the editors of the site understand how letting eco maggots spout their drivel has negative consequences for readership…just one foul sentence is ruining your credibility and visitors…

  • CaliforniaStark

    “Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas.”

    Please explain the basis of this statement. Methane remains in the atmosphere on average only about 12 years. Compare that with the over 100-year atmospheric life of carbon dioxide or nitric oxide.

    Probably because of its short life span, methane levels are not increasing in the atmosphere — unlike carbon dioxide In fact, the recently proposed Obama’s Climate Action Plan expressly states that methane levels have decreased 11% since 1990.

    It is hard understand how a gas that last little over a decade, and is not accumulating in the atmosphere, can be referred to as potent.