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[eli-kittim]

Is 1 John 5:20 Indicating a Past Event?

By Bible Researcher and Author Eli Kittim 🇬🇷 🇺🇸

Inaccurate Bible Translations

It appears that most English translations of 1 John 5:20 say that the Son of God “has come” or “is come” when referring to Jesus Christ. Specifically, they say “that the Son of God has come” (see e.g. NIV, NLT, ESV, BSB, NKJV, NASB, CSB, HCSB, GNT, ISV, LSV, NAB, NET Bible, NRSV, NHEB, WNT, WEB). The rest of the Bible versions use the variant “is come,” which is an archaic form of English. This construction employs the term “come” as an unaccusative intransitive verb. Essentially, to say “that the Son of God is come” (e.g. BLB, KJV, ASV, DRB, YLT) not only implies the state of “having come” but also of “now being here” as well. The meaning of this construction is that “the Son of God” didn't simply come but that he is here right now! As you will see, the “is come” construction is actually closer to the original Greek text than “has come.” The worst Bible version is the AMP which makes explicit and ambitious statements that the Greek text does not make, while also adding foreign elements that are not found in the original. It’s the least faithful English translation. It reads:

And we [have seen and] know [by personal

experience] that the Son of God has

[actually] come [to this world].

Grammatical Parsing & Concordance Studies

In 1 John 5:20, the key word in this sentence is the Greek verb ἥκει (hēkei), which is a present indicative active, 3rd person singular (Strong's 2240: meaning, “to be present”). The term ἥκει is derived from the verb ἥκω, which can mean “to come,” “I am present,” “to be present,” or “will come” (see https://biblehub.com/greek/2240.htm).

As a present active indicative verb, ἥκει describes a linear (ongoing) action, as opposed to a punctiliar (complete) action. Thus, ἥκει as a primary tense expresses the present & future times, whereas secondary or historical tenses (aorist, imperfect, pluperfect) express past time. So, present active indicative verbs show that the action happens in the present time. Therefore, the verb ἥκει, in 1 John 5:20, should be understood in the sense of an “ongoing present” action (in a transhistorical sense), otherwise the translation is not entirely accurate but rather misleading for the reader. Moreover, the fact that ἥκει describes an ongoing action in the *present tense* indicates that it should not be read as referring to an event that transpired in the past, during the writing of this letter, but rather to all generations of readers, that is to say, in the temporal context that they find themselves in. In other words, the term ἥκει in 1 John 5:20 should be equally read in the *present tense* whether a person is living in the Middle Ages or in the 21st century. It should not be understood as a completed event that took place in the past.

In cross-reference studies, e.g. in Luke 15:27, notice that ἥκει is translated as “is here” (now)! See the Christian Standard Bible & Holman Christian Standard Bible translations:

Your brother is here, he told him, and your

father has slaughtered the fattened calf

because he has him back safe and sound.

And in John 2:4 ἥκει is rendered as referring to the future: “My hour has not yet come” (οὔπω ἥκει ἡ ὥρα μου).

English Standard Version:

And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does

this have to do with me? My hour has not

yet come.’

Conclusion

As you can see, the translation “has come”——which gives the false impression of an event that happened and was completed in the past——is obviously misleading and not faithful to the original Greek text!

The more I research the Bible, the more evidence I find of corruptions and mistranslations. Similar to the way in which almost all translations of Acts 1:11 wrongly render the Greek term ἐλεύσεται as “come back,” most translations of ἥκει in 1 John 5:20 wrongly render it as “has come.” That’s why I parsed it for you. So that we can analyze the sentence into its various components and thereby define their syntactic roles.

Another key word in 1 John 5:20 is δέδωκεν (dedōken), which is a verb, perfect indicative active, 3rd person singular. It comes from δίδωμι, which means “give.” So, all in all, when you consider the intricate workings of this sentence you will have a better appreciation of the fact that the present active indicative verb ἥκει describes a linear (ongoing) action, as opposed to a punctiliar (complete) action. Here, then, is my rendition of 1 John 5:20 (SBLGNT):

οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἥκει, καὶ

δέδωκεν ἡμῖν διάνοιαν ἵνα γινώσκωμεν τὸν

ἀληθινόν· καὶ ἐσμ��ν ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ, ἐν τῷ

υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ

ἀληθινὸς θεὸς καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος.

Eli Kittim translation (Formal equivalence):

We know, then, that the son of God comes

and gives to us intelligence so that we

might know the true——and we are in the

true, [if we are] in his son——Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and life eternal.

—

[phynxrizng]

Respond to this postbyreplying abovethis line New post on Witches Of The Craft® NEW BOOK OF THE LAW by ladyoftheabyss THE NEW BOOK OF THE LAW [sources: The Book of The Law, The Old Laws for the Old Great Book of the Law, The Dragon Law] Preface: In my years of teaching and running a group, I have had a dissatisfaction with the popular "Book of the Law" available most Seekers. I felt it to be too archaic in its wording and tive -- and while it was valuable in the Burning Times, it simply not deal with the concerns and needs of "modern-day" Witches. the years I became familiar with several other sets of Laws. Each these had many good points, yet they also had their disadvantages as Recently, I decided to do something daring -- I took the four dif-ferent versions of the Laws which I had, and combined and them. I deleted what was no longer pertinent or meaningful, others to make them clearer and more understandable, as well as throwing in a few new ones which I felt had been lacking. I believe that what has evolved out of this work is a set of Laws are readable, usable, and most importantly, pertinent to the today's Witches and Neo-Pagans. It is with these thoughts and that I would like to share them with you. If you should find merit worth in them, then I will feel as though I have accomplished thing. The material in this booklet has not been copyrighted, so may reproduce the Laws for students or friends, or reprint them your publication. It is my sincere hope that the New Book of the will be of use to the Craft Community. Blessed Be, Lady Galadriel 1. The Laws were created to give our lives form and order, that all might be balanced throughout all of the planes. In truth there are two sets of laws which govern us -- one sets forth the ways of the Wiccan, and the other the ways of the Universe. Both are both should be observed with respect and treated with honor. Laws were shaped and molded to teach us, to advise us, and to us in our time of mortal life on earth. 2. Honor the Gods, for They are the channels and the the Source. Honor yourself, for this force also lies within you. Love the Gods as They love you, and by loving yourself and your brothers and sisters, so the Gods shall honor you. As the love joy of a man and a woman [or "lover and beloved" -- LAH] flowers grows when nurtured with respect, and cultivated with and honor, so should you love the Gods. 3. The Goddess is the Great Mother, and the God is the Great and we are Their children; and we shall worship Them, for They the rulers of the Universe, and all that is therein. Therefore, O Children of the Gods, try Them not, nor attempt to test Them, for They shall show you that he Ways of the Craft are not to be 4. Let the Power of the Craft flow from you only in love -- or not at all. For it has always been known that the energy webs which we weave and maintain shall eventually return to encircle their Thus our works become either the net which entagles and binds the web of light by which we find the Gods. 5. Let the Rites of the Wicca be a way for the children of the be as One -- for Power only flows when unified. Always should revere the Earth, and heal and tend Her, for She is our life, our Mothership, on which we navigate the dark currents of space. 6. When you reap the harvests of your lands, then you shall not one corner of the field, nor glean the herb gardens, or the fallen fruits of the orchards. These you shall offer to the Earth Mother, in direct return, or through offerings made to your Circle, or to sustain its Priests and Priestesses. 7. Always be proud to be of the Wicca, but do not allow your become vanity -- for those who are conceited are a stubling the door of the Temple, and they shall be cast adrift, to swim 8. Observe and listen, reserving your judgement, for until all the silver is weighed, who can know the worth thereof? 9. As like breeds like, even more so does good beget love and Your life will be full of love and joy if you are joyful and happy. 10. Your teachers are the servants of the Gods, and they shall the seeds of knowledge within the minds of their students, and shall use their power for the good of the Wicca. Yet it is each individual's duty to tend the seeds which are planted, and to the final harvest. Those who misuse the power and the trust of teacher's position shall have to answer to the Lords of Karma, adjust the balance accordingly. 11. The Temples of the Gods, which are Their abode on Earth, belong to all Their children, and each Circle shall be as a special family. Do naught against any Temple or any family of the Wicca, you do that thing unto the Gods, and against yourself. 12. You must not be a teller of tales amongst the children of the Goddess, and you must hold no malice or evil thoughts towards 13. You should not lie, nor give false testimony before your or those who are of the Wicca -- for liars are fools, and a menace unto themselves, and to the Wicca. Be truthful in all your works deeds, especially within the Circle, for what you say within the presence of the Gods becomes manifest. 14. You must not put stumbling blocks in the way of those who follow the Path of the Wicca. You must make no unrighteous ments of their ways, and you should aid them with an attitude of when it is asked for. Yet ever should you keep the Counsel of the Elders, and reveal naught to others of where our Circles may be, may you reveal our ways without the consent of the Priestess. 15. When you make a vow to the Lord or the Lady, or you swear to another of the Wicca, then you must do all that has come forth your mouth, for a covenant with the Gods, or with the Wicca, is Honor, and woe to those who care not for the fetters they attach their souls by not keeping their word. 16. The Great Mother and Father would not have their children the indignities of oppressors for their sake, for what is within the hearts of Their children is dear and true to Them. The Ancient and Mighty Ones shall cause the balance to be made for those who the Lord and Lady, Their temples, or Their creations. 17. Never shall you use Magick, nor the Craft, to cause harm, for is misuse of the Power, and it is not to be condoned. To cause death of another through the Craft is to require the death of the 18. Never betray any of the brethren, nor the lore of our people, you are all servants of the Gods, and must live by the virtues of love, honor and wisdom. Let truth, loyalty and honor be your Let them be your guides, tempered by love and wisdom. 19. The Order of the Gods shall you keep, and within Their Circles shall you walk. You should not say "I believe" when you doubt, claim to obey the Lord and Lady's word when you never enter Temple. You must not profess with your lips that which is not in 20. Do not use the names of the Gods in negative or evil ways, for They love and cherish Their children above all others. All others They love, even those who know them not. Yet those who hate in Their name shall have the Mighty Ones take the measure of 21. In any disputes between the children of the Goddess, no one invoke any laws but those of the Craft, or any tribunal but that of Priestess, Priest, and Elders. 22. No one of the Wicca may do anything which will endagner the nor bring any of the Wicca into conflict with the Law of the Land, with any of our persecutors. 23. Your magickal tools are channels to that which is most and pure within you. Do not cheapen them by haggling their price when you acquire them. 24. Never accept money for the use of the Power. It is sorcerors charlatans who accept money for their spells and prayers. If you accept no money, you will be free from the temptation to use the for evil or unworthy causes. 25. You shall never take unduly from any human, animal or that which is not yours to take -- for if you steal from another, in the end you will have to sacrifice something dearer to you in to attain the balance. 26. Show honor to all people, that they may look up to you, and respect you, and their eyes shall become a mirror for your soul. 27. Those who are of the Wicca shall not own slaves, for one may not own the spirit of another, for only the Great Mother and Father own our souls. Nor shall you take as a pledge any life, for to do so is to take upon yourself both a mill and a mill- 28. If a stranger sojourns with you, you shall do them no wrong; shall be as one of the Circle, born amongst ye, and you shall deal with them as you would yourself. 29. Just weights and just balances shall be given by you, and just value shall you give, and thereby receive threefold. 30. Your altars shall be kept clean, pure and holy, and all that is brought into the Temple or the Circle shall be cleansed and for the joy of the Gods, and of the Wicca. 31. A clean mind should have a clean body. You should keep your clothes, and your house clean, in honor of the Mother, who these things to you. 32. Let none die without honor, without love, without respect, their actions have decreed otherwise. 33. You should not couple together if it shall cause pain, jealousy deprivation to another by doing so. Union for malice or evil such as these upsets the balance, and the Lords of the Universe make adjustments accordingly. 34. Let those who would love, and would be as one, and bear handfasted. For the sharing of love in this manner is beauteous, love's union in the energy of the Gods, and the heritage of the It is important for children to know and to identify with those who brought them here. 35. The Law of the Goddess is that none of the Wicca shall take wed someone who they do not love, whether it is to harm for some form of material gain. 36. Remember that your children are Goddess-spawned, and are spirits. You do not own nor control them. They are your brethren, come to visit for a while, that they may share in the vision of your love and wisdom. Let each parent realize that although they may and guide with love, the child shall also teach the parent, and aid them in their growth and lesson 37. The etheric web and energy vortexes of the earth are in flux and motion to adjust to the needs of the planet. The sacred trust of the Wicca is to create and to maintain centers of light and knowledge, using the magick of the divine spark within us to channel the forces of the Universal fire. And these are the established between the worlds of the stars and the realms of the earth, bringing in and regulating the spirit flames which energize activate all life forms. Thus we tend and guard the threads of creation, and we weave the patterns of life and manifestation in ever-evolving tapestry. 38. Never use your heritage or position for self-glorification or gain. Respect your magick and our ways. We must always while others may look to us to lead them, they too are our guides. 39. Keep yor body strong, your mind keen, and your purpose within your being you shall channel the Power, and it needs to be strong and pure. And these are the keys to the path of Oneness, communication with the Gods. Yet first you must learn to speak Them in such a manner as They can comprehend you. For the the Wicca must aid the Gods, and work with Them, otherwise the cannot aid and work with you. Ever remember that the Priest and Priestess are the living representatives of the God and Goddess Forces, and likewise that all humans carry these forces within though they may lie dormant and unawakened. 40. As the Great Mother and Father come unto one another and with the pure vibration of Love-Wisdom, so should you strive to your Temple pure in vibration, and thus a fitting place wherein may invite the Gods. Thus, your Circle should always be duly and cast, and likewise, those who would use the gateways and the Circle between the earth and other realms should also be duly prepared and purified. 41. The Goddess hath said, "I shall not carry thee, yet neither I hinder thee, nor keep thee from having the same opportunities of my children. Thou art free, yet thou shalt not be coddled like babes in the storm. If thou hast true devotion within thee, then all obstacles may be overcome." 42. The laggard is but half a person -- and though half is better none, the whole is twice as good as the half. Those who do not or who lack the will and desire to learn the ways of the Gods, them is said, "The Ancient and Mighty Ones shall not keep thee their house, if ye learneth not." 43. A sanctuary you shall make unto the Gods, that They may amongst you. And you shall fashion it to the best of your ability, according to all tha your Elders shall show you, and pure energy you place therein. 44. An altar shall you make to unto the Lady, and you shall make reverence unto Her, for every place where She is exalted, She will to you and bless you. And you shall fashion your altar out of stone, and burn incense and candles thereon, at the proper observance of her ways. 45. You should set aside at least one day during each moon unto Goddess, and on these days you shall do Her work; and on those She shall renew Her children and bless them. 46. Learn to build your own Temple, and to craft your own sacred Circle, and all the tools that are used therein -- for to be a person of the Craft is to be a person of consequence. 47. Let each of you inscribe your own record of our ways and ings. For the course of each Wiccan should be charted, that the patterns of their life-web may be made known and utilized. Let Wiccan start their Book of Light with the teachings and lore of tradition, yet let it also contain the rites and ways of each in-dividual, which are the harvest of each child of the Wicca, to use wisdom of their heritage as the seeds of their own wisdom. Thus our lore and knowledge continue to grow and unfold, like a 48. It is right to study and to understand the sigils, statues and stories of the Gods, for they shall guide your thoughts to Them, They shall hear them. Yet you must ever remember that you the sign nor the statue, but the Gods which inspired them. 49. If your Circle owns any land, let all guard it, and help to keep it clean. Let all justly guard all monies of the Circle, as well as the rights and property of all members of the Circle. 50. If any Wiccan truly labors, then it is right that they should their just pay. This is not considered the taking of money for the Art, but good and honest work. Yet if any Wiccan works willingly the good of the Craft, or for their brothers and sisters without then it is to their greatest honor. 51. If any Wiccan should deny themselves some pleasure or indulgence in order to do service in the Circle, this person shall blessed and remembered. For those who give for the greater all shall have their spirit uplifted. 52. Know also that if you gift the Lady's Priests and Priestesses, Her Circles, this is an offering made unto the Mother Herself, for a true Priest or Priestess strives always to do Her work, and to be service to Her children, so to honor and respect them is to honor respect the Queen of All. 53. And the offerings which are considered the most pleasing to Gods are these: the fruits of the orchards the scents of the trees herbs the metals of the earth the waters of the earth the flowers the meadows and the milk of all mothers. Yet offerings of labor or money are honest too, and these will also be accepted -- moreso work with love in your heart, for always there is work to be done the Gods, and service to be given to the children of the Wicca. 54. If your offerings are made to restore the balance, it must by of nature that it not offensive to the Gods. It must be of value, yet given with a free heart. Thus shall the harmony be restored. If offerings are given with a heart filled with love and devotion, or of service to the Gods, or to the Craft, then shall you receive blessings manifold. 55. And when you make an offering unto the Gods, you should thru the most proper medium, at the proper times, and in such a as to make it acceptable. Any and all remains of the rituals shall consumed in the fire, or buried within the Earth, as a way of retur-ning to the Source all that we use in the observance of our ways, ensuring the continuity of the cycle. 56. All may use the Craft to help and aid them, or for the of their Circle, or the Craft -- yet only if you are sure that you harm none. Let each Wiccan and Circle always debate these length. Only if all be satisfied that none be harmed in any way, the Art then be used. If it is not possible to achieve your ends one way, then perhaps the goal may be achieved by actng in a way, so as to harm none. 57. Throughout the world it has been many a year since Wiccans been burned. Yet misuse of the Power might raise the once again. So never break the Laws, however much you might ted, and never consent to their being broken. And if you know are being broken, then you must work strongly against it. 58. In days of old it was decided by the Mighty Ones who came us that the Art might be used to restrain others from harming the Craft or its children, yet only after great consultation with all members of the Circle, and only then to deflect or to constrain 59. And such were the ways of the Lady that She brought us forth joy, and such were the Ways of the Lord that His reign gave all pleasure. Offer love in your worship and all shall be joyous in 60. In the dimly remembered dawn of ages past, the Wicca were free. Then, in Atlantis came the Age of the Misuse of Power, by the Ages of Persecution and Suffering. Thus the people of the Wicca hid themselves and cloaked their knowlege, and wove secrecy and silence. And this is how the Ways of the Wicca have preserved through the time of darkness. Yet much of the ways of people were lost to the ignorance of others. 61. Yet the cycle spirals ever on -- and the Age of the Earth once again draws nigh. We must be strong -- one with our and one with our Gods, if we are to bring forth the balance. Those who would harm us, or attempt to enslave us, we must overcome only through light and love, and never through violence or the evil chaos. And through our efforts the time of our people will come being once more. In the times which lie ahead, there lies much to be done, so that once more the cycles of life are drawn to the of light, and the balance acheived through the power of love. 62. In order to bring the ways of Light and Love and Life to the peoples of the Earth, our secrets are slowly becoming secrets no and it is good that this is so -- for the age of shadow and secrecy passing. Yet the sharing of our ways needs always to be guided wisdom and by love. Let our rites and our mysteries be kept Let no one defile our worship or our heritage. For the defilement our ways is an honor loss to self, and for the Craft. 63. Let each High Priestess govern her Circle with justice and and with the help and advice of the Elders and the High Priest, heeding the messages of the Gods when they come. 64. Ever remember that although the Priest is the force with Circle is built, the Priestess is the ruler therein -- for it is her that the Goddess created the world, and all things therein. 65. The High Priestess will heed all complaints of all Pagans and Wiccans, and strive to settle any differences between them with 66. Let each Circle of Light decide how it shall be known -- by earthly name or magickal one. For each child of the Wicca best the safety or dangers of their homeland. 67. Let each Circle or Temple maintain and dedicate unto the and the God all the things that are required for Their rituals, for what is blessed in the name of the Gods rightly belongs to Them, the Priest and Priestess shall be the caretakers thereof. 68. Anyone of the circle who is of sufficient rank, and wishes to a new Circle, shall tell the High Priestess and the Elders of their intentions. Members of the old Circle may join the new Circle is formed, but if they do so they must leave the other Circle, otherwise instructed. For it is the Old Law that each Wiccan may the Circle of their choice, yet their energy should not be divided between two or more Temples. 69. The Elders of the old and new Circles shall meet in peace and respect, to decide the level of interaction and connection Circles. Yet it is known that the splitting of a Circle often means strife. So only if it is truly in a spirit of peace and harmony should the Circles meet for the celebration of the Great Festivals. 70. None shall enter the Circle that have a sickness or an ailment which may be passed on to the Lady's other children -- for to do causes harm to yourself, as well as to the others of the Circle. Rather should the Healers go unto the sick one, that through the of the Gods they shall be made well and whole once more. 71. It has been judged lawful that if any of the Craft need a or land, and none will sell, to incline someone's mind so as to be willing to sell, providing it harms none and the full price is paid without haggling. 72. In the matter of quarrels or disputes between the members of Circle, the High Priestess shall convene the Council, and inquire the matter. The Council shall hear each person privately, and then both together. And they shall decide justly, not favoring one side 73. If an agreeable resolution cannot be reached, then that must leave the Circle, for a Circle of Light cannot be properly where there is disagreement and discord. And when a Circle is properly formed, the energy within is either dissipated, or turns ugly, festering like a hidden sore. So let them leave, but only with love in their hearts and yours, for even though your paths may erge, you are still all children of the Wicca, and there must be no violence between us. Bear no grudges, hold no thoughts of for this will rot away the foundation of your power. 74. It has ever been recognized that there are some people who never agree to work under any others. At the same time there are people who cannot rule justly. To those who must ever be chief is but one answer: "Void this Circle, and seek another one, or if be of sufficient rank, then form a Circle of your own." To those cannot rule justly, the answer shall be "Those who cannot bear rule will leave you." For none may come to Circle with those with whom they are at variance, for to do so angers the Gods, and 75. Those that do wrong without knowlege shall be held innocent; that do wrong through carelessness shall be judged lacking in and dealt with according to the nature of the transgression. who do wrong with deliberation and forethought shall be thrice ed, and the Lords of Karma shall lay low their pride. 76. Each person must make a balance for their words and the judgements of the Elders should incline to try to make good from the injustice or wrong-doing. Many are the ways to restore balance, so let the judgements of the Elders and the Priestess be keeping with this. 77. Do not turn aside those who seek the ways of the Wicca for want of an offering or the lack of a robe. You are the servants of the Gods, and the servants of Their people, and those that seek the Gods you must aid in their quest. 78. Of those who would inquire as to the ways of the Goddess, or wish to become of the Wicca, ye shall search their hearts, and into their spirits you shall look, as you are able. For the Wicca do not look to acquire mere numbers. Let none be turned away if hearts are true, and their desire earnest. 79. The hidden children are like the strings of a harp: each one give a clear note, and when gathered together in sympathy and they shall give rise to a beautiful symphony. Yet when struck reason or thought, these notes may cause discord or Therefore the Gods decree to Their Teachers and Priests that all be taught to master their harp, and to pluck their strings with that they cause no discord or imbalance. 80. Choose the Priests and Teachers of the Wicca with diligence with care. The qualities that you should search for within them are Faith, Belief, Knowledge, Ability, Patience, Leadership, Humility, a loving nature -- for they must lead and teach the children of the Goddess, and will thereby have the power to do great good, or to great imbalance. 81. In practice it should be that the greatest of the Priests and Priestesses should guide the rituals within each of the Temples of Old Gods, and truly you should be content with the advice and given by them. Yet ever it should be given so that it is clear and understandable, for within the Temple each of the Wicca is free, thus they should be able to recognize and to understand our their implications. And those who cannot explain the inner or give just cause and reason for their decisions, may be or the wisdom of the advice weighed. 82. Let the Priestess and Priest lead as long as they are able, and their leadership be wise and strong, and to the benefit of the Yet if their health is ill-favored, or if the next generation needs to try their hand, then let them have the vision and the wisdom to away from their position, and pass the duties of the Circle t o another. Let them not become overly attached to the office, nor fond of the power. 83. If a Priestess or a Priest should tire of their duties and char-ges, then they may step down, but only after having trained and acknowledged a successor. If a Priest or Priestess deserts their Circle, then they have lost the right to ever lead again within this life, so great a trust they have broken. If they should return to the Circle within one turn of the Wheel, and are judged to have true atonement in their hearts, new insight and growth, then they may forgiven, and allowed to return to the Circle, yet they shall only, and hold no office or title. Leadership is a sacred and an honor, and they have shown that they cannot be trusted such responsibility. 84. Any Priestess, Priest, or Elder who consents to a breach of Laws regarding the use of the Craft to cause harm to others must immediately be relieved of their office, for it is the lives of the children of the Goddess which they endanger, as well as the 85. The High Priestess may take a Sabbatical from her Circle, if personal life and duties require it, for up to a year and a day. During that time, the Maiden shall act as High Priestess. If the Priestess does not return at the end of a year and a day, then the Initiates of the Circle shall name a new Priestess. Unless there is good reason to the contrary, the person who has done the work Priestess should reap the reward. If someone else is named, then Maiden should continue in that office. 86. Each Priestess and Priest shall choose their own consorts, them be wise in the learning of our people, and thus others shall abide by the wisdom of their choice. Yet if the Circle feels the decision is ill-advised, or that they cannot abide and work in and trust with that consort, then they may request a gathering of concernted to meet and to talk, and to resolve the balance with and honor. For only those who are pure and strong, keen and patient and loving, can effectively and properly carry out the of a Keeper of the Circle. 87. Those of the Priesthood shall not neglect their mates, or their children, or their house, nor anything which is in their possession; nor shall the sick and the needy be neglected for the sake of the Circle. Therefore let them adjust the one thing against the other, that neither should suffer, and that which is given by the Gods is treated with love and respect. 88. Long ago, at the time of Creation, it was deemed that the should hold the power of life-giving. And such was the male force drawn to the love and beauty of the Creation of life, that he sur-renders unto her keeping the force of his powers in the life. Yet the Priestess must always remember that the fuel of the flames which light the fires within her Temple comes from the Thus she must use the force wisely, and only with love, and she honor and respect he who is the activator of the Life Force. HERE ENDS THE NEW BOOK OF THE LAW. Published by: The Grove of the Unicorn ladyoftheabyss | February 16, 2017 at 4:08 pm | Categories: Wicca, Witchcraft | URL: all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Witches Of The Craft®. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://witchesofthecraft.com/2017/02/16/new-book-of-the-law/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

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7 Trends to Follow When Adding Video to Your WordPress Site

Video is a extremely environment friendly communication instrument, and regarded one in all many most efficient types of impart by capability of grabbing pals’ consideration. On the choice hand, in case you happen to like to should salvage probably the most out of video in your wordpress web web page, don’t overlook some most efficient practices.

Listed beneath are seven traits you’ll non-public to evolve to when together with video to your wordpress web web page.

1. Embed Your Motion pictures, Don’t Add Them

Whilst you happen to embed a video, you first host it someplace else — love on YouTube — then embed the video participant into your wordpress web web page. Importing a video directly will fee you in bandwidth and limit the viewers in your video. Even if you happen to demand most of your views to come back out of your wordpress web web page, you shouldn’t underestimate the additional or much less viewers that it is attainable you will additionally kind by importing motion pictures to different platforms.

It’s possible you’ll maybe presumably effectively presumably should train plugins to personal the pliability to embed YouTube motion pictures in your web web page. Lots of these plugins — love TubePress — might maybe presumably additionally procure you extra video substances, love video galleries, that it is attainable you will additionally want revenue of when together with wordpress motion pictures.

2. Take uncover of a Video Theme

Whilst you’ve began so that you just simply can add motion pictures to your wordpress web web page, it is attainable you will presumably additionally non-public noticed getting motion pictures to work with archaic themes in complete is somewhat little bit of difficult. It’s possible you’ll maybe presumably effectively presumably deserve to change to a video theme. These themes, love the Vlog theme, will face up to the requires of video higher than total-exercise themes.

Lots of these themes additionally consist of gear love galleries and backgrounds that it is attainable you will additionally train to creatively deploy wordpress motion pictures.

3. Add Video to Your Touchdown Net web page

Inserting a video in your landing pages can improve conversion by a point out of 34%, per the Blue Corona weblog. Motion pictures are horny, so it is a great distance mental that placing them on landing pages helps producers determine customer consideration.

Whilst you non-public already received wordpress motion pictures to half, want revenue of this impart wherever that it is attainable you will additionally. Whilst you haven’t already, together with some video to your landing web page might maybe presumably effectively additionally moreover be an lovely approach to guard pals engaged — and it might maybe presumably effectively additionally even result in a conversion. 

4. Get Consuming

Elegant, tidy and consideration-grabbing animations are thought of one in all a really worthy traits factual now throughout the procure and on WP web sites. These participating motion pictures are higher than cartoons — producers non-public been working in a range of animation varieties to captivate audiences and salvage their messages throughout. 

Bolt graphics can powerfully illustrate recordsdata viewers might maybe presumably effectively in any other case salvage slowed down in — love charts, statistics, and graphs. Or, blueprint movement-tracked animation on excessive of dwell photographs so that you just simply can add depth or hiss concepts. No matter the tone or seen identification of your designate, there’s a capability animation can give you the results you want.

5. Don’t Be Scared of Lengthy-Kill Disclose materials

Social media has largely pushed video in a single directionless. Video entrepreneurs non-public nearly repeatedly agreed that on social media, shorter is bigger — it is attainable you will presumably additionally non-public gotten best a couple of seconds to decide out the excellence of a doable viewer. Whilst you don’t, they’ll click on on away — there’s a whole lot of impart on-line they could maybe presumably effectively be gazing as a substitute. Now, be taught from a range of sources has begun to discipline this typical knowledge.

Whilst you’re establishing video impart — love an tutorial video or deep dive into a fancy matter — now and but once more longer is a extra in-depth choice. Principal producers love Patagonia are experimenting with long-abolish impart — as with their 40-minute movie about timber, which has amassed virtually 900,000 views on YouTube.

Whilst you rating shorter motion pictures compose higher in your web web page, that it is attainable you will additionally comply with them — nonetheless in case you happen to’ve been heading off long-abolish impart since you believed instant-abolish was as soon as the right way to sprint, perceive it is attainable you will presumably additionally non-public gotten decisions. 

6. Jog Keep

Viewers trip dwell impart love interactive streams and the pliability of video that will maybe presumably change on the soar. 

Streaming video is easier than ever, significantly as a result of principal platforms love YouTube non-public added streaming effectivity to their web sites. On the whole, in case your web web page can improve video embeds, this may increasingly maybe perchance presumably additionally moreover improve embeds from streaming providers and merchandise love Twitch.

Keep video works most efficient in case you happen to already non-public a following or viewers who are likely to tune in and will maybe presumably effectively additionally moreover be an supreme approach to kind or improve the connection between your designate and its viewers.

7. Add Schema Markup

Schema markup is a portion of code that it is attainable you will additionally add to your wordpress web web page. Your folks gained’t peek this code — as a substitute, search engines like google like google love google train it so that you just simply can add wealthy snippets to your web page because it seems inside the search outcomes.

These snippets offer you extra defend watch over over how your web web page seems on search consequence pages — and, with the factual markup, that it is attainable you will additionally let google perceive it is attainable you will presumably additionally non-public gotten video in your web page. Then, your web page or video can seem in each the primary and video search outcomes pages with an present an evidence for, thumbnail and title you specified inside the markup. 

Best Practices for wordpress Motion pictures

Video is taken into account one in all many most horny types of impart that it is attainable you will additionally put in your wordpress web web page. Whilst you like to should salvage probably the most out of your video, nevertheless, you will should conform to some most efficient practices — love together with schema markup or the train of a theme constructed for video.

The put up 7 Developments to Observe When Together with Video to Your wordpress Pickle appeared first on Torque.

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[torixus]

Unveiling the Real Zombies

See what the Real Zombies Are

Different types of Zombies /torixus

Portraying Characters of Zombies have gain weight in popular entertainment setting, which features in many written Notes, Movies and Events, including the Halloween Season. Portraying the zombiism those it mean that they really Exist?. Zombie is define by many to be a walking Dead.. The Undead dead as many think of it. Torixus Media Navigate through the web to bring to you the actual cases of zombification The word zombie — originally spelled as zombi — first came into the English language in the 1800s, when poet Robert Southey mentioned it in his History of Brazil. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word comes from the Louisiana Creole or Haitian Creole word zonbi, and it is akin to the Kimbundu term nzúmbe, which means ghost. The word refers to creatures from Haitian folklore that, at its origin, was little more than the ghosts from Western folklore. The General conclusion of all this definition is that, Zombie refers to someone that is rendered mindless by a witch doctor, entering a death-like state while still animated, and thus becoming the witch doctor's slave. Many People in Nigerians, especially  Children Igbo use the word "Zombie" on someone they hate his/her character having labelled the person to be  Sluggish, ugly and not suppose to relate with Normal People. The Question being asked is if Zombies are actually existing here in earth, people want to know what zombies are really, what they represent and how can a being become one if they really exist. Torixus Media surf the Net and have a concluding categories of Zombie Natur Ranging from Ants to Human Kind of Zombie according to MedicalNewstoday 1. Zombie ants

Ophiocordyceps is a genus of fungi that has more than 200 species, and mycologists are still counting. Many species of fungi can be dangerous, often because they are toxic to animals, but there is one thing in particular that makes Ophiocordyceps especially frightening. Carpenter ants taken over by parasitic fungi give in to their attackers and 'lose their minds.' These species of fungus "target" and infect various insects through their spores. After infection takes place, the parasitic fungus takes control of the insect's mind, altering its behavior to make the propagation of fungal spores more likely. Ophiocordyceps "feed" on the insects they attach to, growing into and out of their bodies until the insects die. One of these species, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensu lato, specifically infects, controls, and kills carpenter ants (Camponotus castaneus), native to North America. When Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infect carpenter ants, they turn them into zombies. The ants become compelled to climb to the top of elevated vegetation, where they remain affixed and die. The high elevation allows the fungus to grow and later spread its spores widely. Researchers from Pennsylvania State (Penn State) University found that O. unilateralis take full control of the ants' muscle fibers, forcing them to move as it "wants" them to. "We found that a high percentage of the cells in a host were fungal cells," notes David Hughes, who is associate professor of entomology and biology at Penn State. "In essence, these manipulated animals were a fungus in ants' clothing." David Hughes Below, you can watch a video showing how the parasitic fungus infects its victims, leading them to their death. 2. Zombie spiders

Last year, zoologist Philippe Fernandez-Fournier — from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada — and colleagues made a chilling discovery in the Ecuadorian Amazon. A species of parasitic wasps takes full control of small, social spiders, driving them to their death. They found that a previously unknown species of the Zatypota wasp can manipulate spiders from the Anelosimus eximius species to an extent that researchers have never before witnessed in nature. A. eximius spiders are social animals that prefer to remain in groups, never straying too far from their colonies. But Fernandez-Fournier and team noticed that members of this species infected with Zatypota larva exhibited bizarre behavior, leaving their colony to weave tightly-spun, cocoon-like webs in remote locations. When the researchers opened these artificial "cocoons," they found Zatypota larvae growing inside. Further research presented a gruesome string of events. The Zatypota wasps lay eggs on the abdomen of A. eximius spiders. When the egg hatches and the wasp larva emerges, it starts feeding on the spider and begins to take control of its body. When the larva has gained full control of its host, it turns it into a zombie-like creature that is compelled to stray away from its mates and spin the cocoon-like nest that will allow the larva to grow into the adult wasp. Before entering its new "cocoon," though, the wasp larva first finishes its "job" by devouring its host. "Wasps manipulating the behavior of spiders has been observed before, but not at a level as complex as this," says Fernandez-Fournier. "[T]his behavior modification is so hardcore. The wasp completely hijacks the spider's behavior and brain and makes it do something it would never do, like leave its nest and spinning a completely different structure. That's very dangerous for these tiny spiders." Philippe Fernandez-Fournier 3. The reanimated virus

Reanimating humans, or, at least, human-like creatures, as in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or H. P. Lovecraft's "Herbert West: Reanimator," is a notion that has piqued the interest of writers, filmmakers and, of course, scientists, throughout the ages. A newly 'reanimated' giant virus from the Siberian permafrost offers a chilling warning of possible dangers to come. But while reviving dead humans may not be on the cards for our race just yet, reviving other organisms is. This can be particularly unsettling when we think that those organisms are... viruses. In 2014, researchers from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at Aix–Marseille Université in France dug a fascinating organism out of the Siberian permafrost: a so-called giant virus, about 30,000 years old, which they named Pithovirus sibericum. Giant viruses are called this way because, though still tiny, they are easily visible under the microscope. But there is something else that makes P. sibericum stand apart. It is a DNA virus that contains a large number of genes — as many as 500, to be precise. This is in stark contrast with other DNA viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which only contains about 12 genes in all. The size of giant viruses, as well as the fact that they contain such a large amount of DNA, can make them particularly dangerous, explain the researchers who discovered P. sibericum since they can stick around for an extremely long time. "Among known viruses, the giant viruses tend to be very tough, almost impossible to break open," explain two of the virus's discoverers, Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel, in an interview for National Geographic. "Special environments such as deep ocean sediments and permafrost are very good preservers of microbes [and viruses] because they are cold, anoxic [oxygen-free], and [...] dark," they add. When "reanimated, P. sibericum only infected amoebas — archaic unicellular organisms — but happily not humans or other animals. Yet Claverie and Abergel warn that there may be similar giant viruses buried inside the permafrost that could prove dangerous to humans. Though they have remained safely contained so far, global heating and human action could cause them to resurface and come back to life, which might bring about unknown threats to health. "Mining and drilling mean [...] digging through these ancient layers for the first time in millions of years. If 'viable' [viruses] are still there, this is a good recipe for disaster." Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel 4. Zombie plants

Also, in 2014, researchers from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, United Kingdom, found that certain bacteria, known as "phytoplasma," turn some plants into "zombies." Plants such as goldenrods can succumb to the control of manipulative bacteria. The bacteria — which insects disseminate — infect plants such as goldenrods, which have yellow flowers. The infection causes the goldenrods to put out leaf-like extensions instead of their usual blooms. These leaf-like growths attract more insects, which allows the bacteria to "travel" widely and infect other plants. While the transformation does not cause the plant to die, researchers are fascinated by how phytoplasma can bend this host's "will" to make it grow the elements they require to spread and thrive. "The insects transmit bacteria, so-called phytoplasmas, which destroy the life cycle of the plants," says Prof. Günter Theißen from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany, one of the researchers who have closely studied the activity of phytoplasma. "These plants become the living dead. Eventually, they only serve the spread of the bacteria." Prof. Günter Theißen 5. Human zombies?

Photo of a Human zombies

But can humans turn into zombies, too? In the 1990s, Dr. Chavannes Douyon and Prof. Roland Littlewood decided to investigate whether Haitian zombies — reanimated, but mindless humans — were a real possibility. People with Cotard's syndrome are convinced that they are dead. In 1997, the two published a study paper in The LancetTrusted Source in which they analyzed the cases of three individuals from Haiti whose communities had identified as zombies. One was a 30-year-old woman who had, allegedly, quickly died after having fallen ill. Her family recognized her walking about as a "zombie" 3 years after this event. Another was a young man who had "died" at 18, and reemerged after another 18 years at a cockfight. The final case study concerned another woman who had "died" at 18 but was spotted again as a zombie 13 years after this event. Dr. Douyon and Prof. Littlewood examined the three "zombies," and found that they had not been the victims of an evil spell. Instead, medical reasons could explain their zombification. The first "zombie" had catatonic schizophrenia, a rare condition that makes the person act as though they are walking in a stupor. The second person had experienced brain damage, and also had epilepsy, while the third appeared merely to have a learning disability. "People with a chronic schizophrenic illness, brain damage, or learning disability are not uncommonly met with wandering in Haiti, and they would be particularly likely to be identified as lacking volition and memory which are characteristics of a zombi," the researchers write in their paper. But there is also a specific psychiatric disorder called Cotard's syndrome that can cause people to act like zombies. This is because they are under the delusion that they are dead or decomposing. It remains unclear just how prevalent this condition is, but research suggests that it is a rare occurrence. Documented cases of people with Cotard's syndrome are unsettling, nevertheless. One case studyTrusted Source reports the situation of a 53-year-old woman who "was complaining that she was dead, smelled like rotting flesh, and wanted to be taken to a morgue so that she could be with dead people." AnotherTrusted Source speaks of a 65-year-old man who had developed a belief that his organs — including his brain — had stopped working, and that even the house in which he lived was slowly but steadily falling apart. At some point, the man attempted to take his own life. Researchers report that "[h]is suicide note revealed that he wanted to kill himself as he feared spreading a deadly infection to the villagers who resultantly might suffer from cancer." Do such cases mean that zombies are real in some way, or, just as our fascination with the figure of the zombie in folklore and popular culture, do they merely reflect our uneasy relationship with death? We leave it to you to decide. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); via Blogger https://ift.tt/33qXE2J

[sharylurbanecologies-blog]

Week 5

Multidisciplinary artists Heidi Axelsen and Hugo Moline work across architecture, installation, social process and situated public art. Through an interest in modes of mobility, occupation and ownership, their work engages with specific places and asks if the social, political and ecological relationships could be re-framed or re-arranged. They make objects, shelters, vehicles, tools and devices not as end products in themselves but as ‘props’ to catalyse the formation of new relationships within a particular place or process. (1)

Figure 1: ecological advancement moving from a no net loss in biodiversity ethos to promoting net gains where possible,the biodiversity of a site and to enhance the living environment for the benefit of human and wildlife inhabitants. It is becoming increasingly important to involve ecological enhancements within a landscaping plan (Naturally Wild can provide this service and or provide an enhancement scheme as a part of a development. (2)

Through design and planning process, “ecological enhancement” could be imbedded, from conception through construction (figure 1). The guidance examines the opportunities, benefits and policy drivers for incorporating ecological enhancements where hard coastal structures are being considered, examines entry points for incorporating these considerations in the planning process, and outlines which stakeholders need to be involved at each stage. (3)

Posthumanism represents the possibility of an emerging turn in the field of design.Since at least the mid-1980s, design has been dominated by a human-centered and user-centered paradigm. Currently, the implications of technological and environmental transformations are challenging designers to focus on complex socio-technical systems. Climate change and environmental sustainability have become widely recognized as significant, pressing concerns. At the same time, there are emerging technologies that are shaping everyday life, and have begun to play a greater role in socio-cultural, political, and economic transformations. A robot is now a partner in a law firm. Driverless cars are being tested in many cities around the world. Voice-activated, in-home personal assistants are becoming common household devices. Wearable technologies are being embedded into clothing. Medical devices have become so sophisticated that some now take on what we used to think of as human functions.

These developments blur the boundaries between the familiar binaries of human and nonhuman, culture and nature, and human and animal that have dominated Western thinking since at least the Enlightenment. They underscore the ways in which nonhumans—whether environmental or technological—have new kinds of agency in the world. They also reveal new perspectives and raise questions about what, how, and why we engage in the design of the so-called “artificial” world. The hybrid figure of the posthuman—and related concepts, such as the nonhuman, the multi species, the anthropocene, the more than human, the transhuman and the decentering of the human—greatly expands our understandings of the multiple agencies, dependencies, entanglements, and relations that make up our world. (4) 

The creation of ecological cities requires the development of Design Guidelines for Non-Human Species. In that example was to suggest that an urban fractal or neighbourhood should be able to provide sufficient viable habitat that it can support at least one key indicator species of fauna and a majority of the species of birds indigenous to the place. (5)

The boundaries of the home became the expected boundaries of love. With the fetishisation of the home as a space of purity and interdependence, extra-domestic intimacies, whether within or between species, seemed archaic fantasies (the community, the small farmer) or passing affairs (feminism, animal rights). Outside the home, the domain of economic rationality and conflicting individual interests reigned. (6)

Cities are quintessentially human constructions, so it’s hardly surprising that reasons given for having ‘more nature in cities’ are almost invariably anthropocentric (think ‘nature-deficit disorder’ or biophilia). These reasons are typically to do with improving the quality of life for people, or even just their real estate values, but the bottom line for promoting urban nature is more profound; it is about human survival—without healthy natural environments our species cannot survive and cities make or break the natural environment. If cities fail to embrace nature in a demonstrably positive and sustaining way there can be little hope for the environment outside the city walls. We need to simply accept that nature has needs of its own, and those needs may or may not be of benefit to human strands in the web of life.

Nature is fractal. Each part of it is a microcosm of the larger whole. An urbanism that gave priority to the needs of nature and the requirements of non-human species would itself need to be fractal and support and nurture the essential functions of natural systems. To some degree it would need to be codified, just as we codify the expectations we have of our artificial human habitat, and that means establishing appropriate design guidelines, rules and regulations. (7)

1. The Visitors - h_h, Viewed May 12, 2018, <http://h-h.work/The-Visitors> 

2. Google.com. (2018). ecological enhancement - Google Search, Viewed 12 May 2018, <https://www.google.com/search?biw=1200&bih=768&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=PHv5WsXXOsma8wW-_ZTYDA&q=ecological+enhancement&oq=ecological+enha&gs_l=img.3.0.0i24k1l2.28504.33325.0.34451.15.11.0.2.2.0.621.2394.3-1j3j1.5.0....0...1c.1.64.img..8.7.2523...0j0i67k1.0.4OCetG2BEDY#imgrc=tfSCM_eT_C89eM:>

3. Therrc.co.uk. (2018), Viewed 12 May 2018, <http://www.therrc.co.uk/MOT/References/EA_Ecological_Enhancements_Planning_Design_Construction_Hard_Coastal_Structures.pdf>

4.  Posthumanism and Design - ScienceDirect. 2018. Posthumanism and Design - ScienceDirect, Viewed 12 May 2018 <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405872616300971>

5. Downton, P. (2014). Ecopolis. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, Viewed 12 May 2018 

6. Environmentalhumanities.org. (2018), Viewed 13 May 2018 <https://environmentalhumanities.org/arch/vol1/EH1.9.pdf>

7. Your Bibliography: Downton, P. (2018). Why We Need Design Guidelines for Urban Non-Humans – The Nature of Cities, The Nature of Cities, Viewed 13 May 2018 <https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2015/10/04/why-we-need-design-guidelines-for-urban-non-humans/>

[brendagilliam2]

How to build a chatbot interface

Chatbots are being discussed at all Generate conferences this year. In New York on Friday CapitalOne’s Mindy Gold will talk about what it means to design for conversation, while in San Francisco on 9 June Huge’s Sophie Kleber will explore how to design emotionally intelligent machines. Finally, at Generate London in September Giles Colborne will analyse opportunities as well as pitfalls of conversational interfaces. Get your tickets today. 

In the mid-2000s virtual agents and customer service chatbots received a lot of adulation, even though they were not very conversational, and under the hood they were merely composed of data exchanges with web servers. Almost a decade later, chatbots are the latest form of artificial intelligence to cause a stir in the tech scene. Even though a huge number of examples of this ‘weak AI’ exist (including Siri, web search engines, automated translators and facial recognition), with major investment from big companies, there remain plenty of opportunities to hack the future.  

As well as being trendy, chatbots can actually be very useful. They don’t need to feel like a basic replacement for a standard web form, where the user fills in input fields and waits for validation – they can provide a conversational experience. Essentially we’re enhancing the UX to feel more natural, like conversing with an expert or a friend, instead of web browser point-and-clicks or mobile gestures. The aim is that by providing empathetic, contextual responses, this technology will become embedded directly in people’s lives.  

What follows is a very practical way to design and build a chatbot, based on a real project-intake application in a service design practice. As this practice serves over 110,000 members globally, the goal was to provide a quick, convenient and natural interface through which internal stakeholders could request effective digital services.  

We designed the project intake application so that anyone can make a project request with simple text queries, instead of having to fill out confusing forms in the company’s web-based task management software. The chatbot became the initial client- facing approach, which enabled the team to focus on business goals like lowering operating costs and increasing efficiencies.    

Huge’s Sophie Kleber will cover chatbots in her talk about designing emotionally intelligent machines at Generate San Francisco

Personality and UI

The first step was to establish the chatbot’s personality, as this would represent the voice of the service design team to its stakeholders. We built on Aarron Walter’s seminal work on design personas. This greatly helped our team develop the bot’s personality traits, which then determined the messages for greetings, errors and user feedback. 

This is a delicate stage, as it affects how the organisation is perceived. To make sure we had as much information as possible, we immediately set up stakeholder workshops to nail the appropriate personality, colour, typography, imagery and user’s flow when engaging with the bot.  

After we had gained all the necessary approvals – including seeking legal counsel – we set out to convert archaic request forms into a series of back- and-forth questions that mimicked a conversation between the stakeholders and a representative of our design services team.    

It’s important to ensure the chatbot’s personality reflect that of the company it’s representing

Rivescript

We knew we didn’t want to get too deep into AI markup language for the processing part – we just needed enough to jump- start the experience. RiveScript is a simple chatbot API that is easy enough to learn and sufficed for our needs. Within a few days we had the logic down to intake a project request from the bot, and parse it with enough business logic to validate and categorise it so it could be sent it through JSON REST services to the appropriate internal project tasking queue.  

To get this basic chatbot working, head to the RiveScript repo, clone it and install all the standard Node dependencies. Note: In the repo you can also gain a taste of the interactions you can add with the various example snippets. Next, run the web-client folder, which turns the bot into a web page by running a basic Grunt server. At this point we can enhance the experience to suit our needs.  

This simple scripting language provides everything you need to design and build a chatbot POC

Bot Brain

The next step is to generate the ‘brain’ of our bot. This is specified in files with the .RIVE extension, and thankfully RiveScript already comes with basic interactions out of the box (for example, questions such as ‘What is your name?’, ‘How old are you?’ and ‘What is your favourite colour?’). When you initiate the web-client app using the proper Node command, the HTML file is instructed to load these .RIVE files.  

Next we need to generate the part of our chatbot’s brain that will deal with project requests. Our main goal is to convert a selection of project tasking intake questions into a regular conversation.  

So, for example: 

Hello, how can we help?

Great, how soon do we need to start? Can you give me a rough idea of your budget? Tell me more about your project … How did you hear about us?

A typical accessible web form would look like this:  

With web forms we’re very familiar with certain patterns: you click the ‘Submit’ button, all form data is sent to another page where the request is processed, and then most likely a cheeky ‘Thank you’ page pops up. With chatbots, we’re able to take the interaction of submitting a request, and make it more meaningful.  

Designing a voice

To convert this form to a conversational user interface served in RiveScript’s chatbot web client, we need to convert the information architecture from rigid to fluid; or field labels into UI strings. Let’s consider some accessible field labels, and their related question tone:

Request: How can we help? Not sure? Do you mind if I ask a few questions?

Timeline: How soon do we need to get started?

Budget information: Can you give me a rough idea of your budget?

Project description: OK, can you tell me a summary of the problem to be solved?

Reference: Also, who referred you to us?

Next we need to convert the web form’s code into AI script, following RiveScript’s very learnable processing logic for two-way conversations:  

Request submission

As opposed to standard form variables being sent to another page or service to process, chatbots can validate and submit information entered by the user in a chat window (or spoken) immediately, which means users can also revisit previously entered values easily. We needed to send the user’s request entered in the chatbot UI via the JSON REST API to an external project tasking server.  

In RiveScript-js we are free to make use of an XMLHttpRequest object to submit the request almost simultaneously, as the data is entered by the user: 

Fear not

Soon, current ways of interacting with computers to obtain information will give in to AI-based technology like chatbots, where people just make simple voice commands or text queries. The web design community need not fear – we should all be embracing the added value of this new technology. It could be a game-changer for the companies it works for, offering fully scalable customer service and improved customer intelligence. 

This article was originally featured in net magazine issue 290; buy it here.

If you want to find out more about designing chatbots, don’t miss Generate this year. The San Francisco conference on 9 June also features presentations from speakers at Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, NASA, Twitter, Microsoft and more. 

Generate London, meanwhile, is preceded by a day of workshops covering design and content sprints, user experience strategy, building scalable responsive components, and how to sell your idea to stakeholders. 

Related articles:

How to design a chatbot experience

5 essential chatbot learning resources

How conversational interfaces are innovating banking

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The post How to build a chatbot interface appeared first on Brenda Gilliam.

from Brenda Gilliam http://brendagilliam.com/how-to-build-a-chatbot-interface/

[beingmad2017-blog]

Evaluation: My 12 months With Microsoft Surface Pro

New Post has been published on https://beingmad.org/evaluation-my-12-months-with-microsoft-floor-pro/

Evaluation: My 12 months With Microsoft Surface Pro

Imperfect, Heavy, Light, Powerful, and High-quality.

Simply shy of one year ago, I transitioned from a Macbook Pro and iPad combination to a Microsoft Surface Pro 128GB. In Mild of this week’s announcement of Floor Seasoned three and my acquisition of a Surface Seasoned 2, I think it’s time to mirror on what that enjoy became like. Like maximum oldsters, I used to be a touch skeptical approximately the concept of mixing a PC and pill into a single unit. Would it be too heavy? Would the overall performance be too low? Would the battery life be awful? And what about the brand new Windows eight OS it truly is been the situation of so much teeth-gnashing? I will try to answer a lot of these questions and extra as succinctly as viable. Hit the star and let’s get into the question: what is it want to stay with Microsoft’s imaginative and prescient for computing within the destiny?

1. The Running System, starring Windows eight/8.1:

Home windows eight.1 Replace 1 had a good head start with Home windows 8, as I started the use of it in the course of the first publicly to be had betas about nine months earlier than release, twin booting on my Macbook Seasoned. That enjoy gave me masses of time to figure out how to navigate the OS properly before launch, so I didn’t have the battle that plenty of people did. Of direction, it likely facilitates that I Simply naturally enjoy exploring and coming across new matters. The early Home windows eight experience did have its struggles, though. I would end up conversant in the iPad and even to my Home windows Cellphone 7 tool, both of which had plenty of apps to be had in their shops. Home windows eight’s shop changed into notoriously barren through assessment, and that led to some early frustration whilst trying to use Floor Pro as only a tablet. Too many apps and functions had been lacking to make for a satisfying enjoy.

Although, the device’s ability to address legacy Windows desktop apps with aplomb stored me happy sufficient to continue, and the app saves catch 22 situations have become less essential by means of the day. If there are one component Home windows simply wishes to repair, though, is its way of offering the desktop. The computer continues to be wrapped in the trappings of an archaic System whose time has surpassed, and it is time for Microsoft to Replace it to a greater modern presentation that has fonts massive sufficient to examine on high DPI monitors and huge enough to function with a finger.

With eight.1 and the new eight.1 Spring Replace (truely? We couldn’t Just name it 8.2?), really all my lawsuits about Windows 8 evaporated. At the same time as a few dislike the new aesthetic, I’ve individually discovered myself loving the flat shades, active tiles and removal of extraneous outcomes. My honest hope is that as Windows evolves it gets even flatter and the metro aesthetic will become extra pervasive.

Idea: Use a Microsoft account, and use OneDrive! I can not stress these sufficient. In case you’re the use of Home windows eight–and on a Surface Seasoned, you’ll be–you shouldn’t create a local account. Doing so cuts you off from some of Home windows eight’s first-class functions. Amongst these is the ability to have almost your entire Computer configuration, proper all the way down to tile sizes, locations and apps established, sponsored up on your OneDrive account within the occasion you either need to restore your Laptop otherwise you sign into a different Windows 8.1 Laptop. satisfactory, even though, is that with OneDrive you get 7GB garage totally free, which, While no longer enough to the cowl, say, your music and snap shots collection, might be masses to make certain your essential documents are all effectively subsidized up inside moments of you making any exchange. It’s easy to learn how to keep in your OneDrive folder, and as soon as you’ve become conversant in having that safety net you will wonder the way you ever lived without it.

2. The Hardware: Build First-rate, Heft, and Capability.

Floor Seasoned Docking Station

I used to lug around a 2010 Macbook Seasoned thirteen.3″, which weighed four.5 pounds, and an iPad 1, which weighed 1.5 pounds for a complete of 6 kilos. So after I say that the 2.5 pound total of the Surface Pro and sort cover turned into a massive weight off my back, I am genuinely no longer kidding. The sacrifice was that I had a smaller screen, but the gain becomes miles more Powerful processor and a long way advanced display decision and pixel density. The Construct Nice is the first rate: there may be literally zero flex to this device, its magnesium shell is tough and robust enough to withstand likely greater abuse than you should sense comfortable making your Laptop undergo. As a pill, It’s half of a pound heavier than that unique iPad was, but as a laptop, it has a large gain over some thing Apple offers. but you possibly marvel what I use my Surface Seasoned for?

Workload

I have spent a maximum of the beyond 12 months as a movie school pupil at UCLA, this means that that quite a few my workload entails modifying and transcoding video, compositing after consequences compositions, transferring photos throughout special media and so forth. I take advantage of Adobe Top-quality for most of these responsibilities, and my Floor Pro has dealt with all of them with grace. I’ve had no issues modifying and rendering 1080p video in actual-time. And as you’d assume from a Windows device with a complete size USB port, working with external hard drives and optical drives is a breeze. Suffice to mention, I also do the basics including running in Microsoft Office, writing in Final Draft, checking e mail, surfing the internet, yadda yadda. Basic, I have had no court cases store one: early on, my first Surface Pro had a few severe troubles with the Marvell Avastar wifi chip and had to be exchanged, a hassle it’s no longer absolutely uncommon with this device. extra on that later.

Webcams

allow’s be sincere: the webcams in this device suck. They may be flat-out terrible, and there’s no getting around that reality. They are satisfactory for simple Skype video calls, however, this is pretty much it. If you really want to report video, use something else. whatever else.

Stylus

I regularly take notes in OneNote MX (it really is the metro model), specifically currently. Like most college students, I’ve tended during the last few years to type my notes, but current studies show that students who take notes through hand tend to do higher on assessments. nicely, I’m serious about evidence primarily based research, so I took this to coronary heart, but I am also lazy, because of this I don’t need to type things after I’ve written them down. Enter Surface Seasoned’s stylus and voila: I will hand write my notes and have them in a virtual layout all at the same time. Hell yes. I locate that the stylus, regardless of its reasonably-priced plastic sense, works well as a virtual inking device. some whinge about the shortage of a dock for the stylus, but in reality, I’ve no issues with that. I have been the use of it for 12 months and haven’t begun to lose the element.

Art Associated Work

Ultimate notice on usability: my fiancée, artist Kelley Frisby, got her Surface Pro on launch day exactly due to the included Wacom digitizer with 1,024 stages of stress sensitivity. From the outset, the utilization right here turned into contentious due to the fact Surface Pro shipped with out a pressure touchy driver that Photoshop could understand. But, as soon as that motive force materialized, she took to using the stylus all the time. And whilst we discovered approximately Manga Studio Seasoned from artist Jonathan Case’s internet site, things definitely went off the hook as she observed it to be some distance superior to photoshop for creating hand drawn illustrations. That she can have her Floor Pro on her lap with stress sensitivity Whilst she draws, and her keyboard reachable for the use of keyboard shortcuts is a massive benefit that different pills really don’t provide. Clearly, In case you’re an artist who attracts and paints digitally, Floor Seasoned is the tool for you. Nothing else combines such a lot of Hardware abilities and large software availability.

three. Battery lifestyles

Floor Seasoned Kickstand

This is the only extreme issue that has dogged the Surface Seasoned due to the fact that its authentic launch, notwithstanding the fact that it became in no way as awful as human beings claimed or the truth that Surface Pro 2 absolutely mitigated the problem (and by using all reviews, Floor Seasoned 3 does even better). Early claims had been that Surface Pro was given approximately 3.5 hours of battery life. And below sure instances, that’s proper: watching 1080p films with the brightness up Whilst downloading stuff inside the history will, like another device, consume battery lifestyles an awful lot greater than common usage will. however it really is handiest a part of the test, isn’t it? below normal usage, which I’ll define as the web, e-mail, and word processing, Surface Pro 1 gets five hours battery existence proper out of the container. With a few mild tweaks to the power profile, which I have specified in one in all our maximum famous posts, It is completely possible to get 6-7 hours of battery existence. My exceptional time turned into Simply over 8 hours general, but with a caveat: I used to be operating with the wifi became off, writing in a phrase, in a low Mild situation wherein I may want to effectively turn down the display screen brightness to minimum. The majority I recognize get in the variety of 5-6 hours.

Why I Switched

allow’s be as clean as possible right here: the Surface Seasoned isn’t a faultless tool, however then, nor is whatever else. My chief complaints are that the computing device in Home windows eight.X needs a present day UI revamp and that I desire the screen have been a touch bigger. I’m hoping to improve to a Surface Pro 3 sooner or later within the destiny for that very purpose, although my suspicion is that the artist network, including my own superb Kelley Frisby, will hesitate to improve as a result of the new device’s probably inferior N-Trig digitizer.

So that leaves the huge query: why did I switch? it really is a complex query. First, I was by no means sold on Mac OSX, but whilst Apple’s Bootcamp 5 Update removed my ability to install Home windows 8 as a twin-boot OS preference, claiming it wasn’t well suited with the laptop I might be using for 2.5 years (and at that, going for walks Windows 8 on for 9 months), the Final straw broke. This becomes the 0.33 time Apple’s created issues for my devices, following the iOS 5 Update that slowed my iPad to a crawl and the iOS 4 Replace that made my iPhone 3G all but unusable.

The prospect of having a pill and computer all in an unmarried tool turned into also very appealing to me. sure, there are compromises: It is a touch heavier than a tablet and a little smaller than an average computer, but the Common effect is the internet wonderful, and I am happy to mention that my 12 months with Surface Pro has me convinced: Microsoft’s vision of the world in which pills are Simply slender, Mild, contact-pleasant Computer’s is the proper one. That we now see even desktop all-in-ones turning into large tablets (significantly, have you visible the Dell Venue Pro 18″ tablets? Loopy!), and touch slowly however truely spreading even to budget level laptops, is a great signal the convergence Microsoft anticipated whilst it announced the original Surface Pro is actually going on.

problems I had & Answers Microsoft presented

Surface via Microsoft

I cited the problem my unique Surface Pro had with its wifi chip awhile in the past, however, there is greater to that story. In fact, Simply multiple weeks in the past my Floor Pro another time started out having problems with the wifi chip, and no Replace, driving force substitute, or even a Machine reset helped. Ultimately the device commenced blue screening again and again, so I took it in to peer what Microsoft ought to do for me. To my entire marvel, they exceeded me a cutting-edge Floor Seasoned 2 and even permit me to pay the distinction to improve it to the 256GB/8GB version, which I eagerly did. the new device is largely all of the exquisite stuff approximately Floor Seasoned 1, distilled into a purer shape. equal weight, size and shape, barely better display (though I really can’t tell the difference, for what It is really worth), and the type cowl 2 is an incredible little keyboard that does its activity with aplomb. I am very happy certainly, and more than satisfied I bought the extended assurance.

Value Proposition

I’ve seen a whole lot of folks argue that the Floor Pro collection is too luxurious, and I’m able to apprehend why. $999 before you even upload the keyboard looks as if a quite tough tablet to swallow, specifically for a pill while you stay in an international of $499 iPads and $199 Kindle Fires. however, I think It is worth remembering what you get while you buy into the Surface Pro Device:

1. You get an ultrabook that may run pretty much any legacy Windows app you may throw at it. It has Brilliant RAM alternatives (4-8GB) and garage options (sixty four-512GB), a full-sized USB port and each stressed and wireless external monitor support (the latter thru Miracast). In Apple land, this costs you $900 minimal.

2. You get a pill which could do anything an iPad or Android pill can do, plus extra, with the best disadvantage being sheer numbers of apps. Even that is converting as the Home windows save processes two hundred,000 and could quickly merge with the Windows Smartphone shop to boot. And as it’s Home windows, you furthermore may get the perk of person bills right out of the field. In Apple land, This is every other $four hundred+

three. A virtual drawing/inking answer. Whether you Just take notes otherwise you do fine Artwork, the Floor Pro has you blanketed. You don’t get this in Apple land at all. You rather purchase a USB pill that does not have a display screen for $one hundred+, or you buy a Cintiq to connect with your Macbook for $1,000.

Lengthy tale quick: at first glance, yes, it seems like Surface Pro/2 is steeply-priced, however, you get a first-rate quantity of Fee for your money.

Remaining Phrases

Would I suggest the Surface Seasoned or Pro 2? Sincerely, specially If you’re an artist or someone who is Just sick and tired of lugging round more than one gadgets. We live in a global where our computing Hardware isn’t Just Powerful, however, can do its job with noticeably little strength or heat. there’s Just no reason to hold devices on your bag further to the smartphone to your pocket. If I may want to have a wish granted, it would be for Microsoft to feature an extra USB three.zero port, thunderbolt, and circulate from an mSATA to a PCIe SSD. Mind you, it doesn’t precisely want those items, however, the Hardware nerd in me Could be simply glad to have them.

As for Floor Seasoned 3, nicely, I might love to check it, and greater importantly I would love to place it in the palms of our classically trained illustrator so she will put it thru its paces and render a verdict on its usefulness as an artist’s digital tablet, but to date haven’t had any luck getting time with the new device. but howdy, if Microsoft would really like to let us borrow one, we should probable Work some thing out!

[universeinform-blog]

Bradford City Council, the Internet-of-Things and better public service

New Post has been published on https://universeinform.com/2017/03/16/bradford-city-council-the-internet-of-things-and-better-public-service/

Bradford City Council, the Internet-of-Things and better public service

Bradford isn’t always normally a metropolis a whole lot related to ‘innovation’. Up to now, the place has been more synonymous with social deprivation than ahead-questioning era (in 2015 one in four children in the vicinity had been residing under the poverty line). However as an enterprise architect and facts manager of IT Services at Bradford city Council Yunus May explains,

Technology can help remodel societies, and it’s far exactly this sort of network or place that stands to gain most from traits of this type.

At the coronary heart of the council’s era push is a brand new LoRaWAN (a Low Range Extensive Region Network). it is best the second one metropolis inside the United kingdom,

After London, to roll one out. London‘s LoRaWan hooked up around 50 base stations in September closing yr and both the More London Authority and Bradford city Council worked closely with virtual co-ordinator digital Catapult on their initiatives. virtual Catapult is sponsored by means of authorities-funded Innovate United kingdom.

Bradford exchange checks personal checks

The device’s media access control (MAC) protocol permits gadgets to speak with apps over a Huge Area Network. In quick, it is the backbone of a web of things-based totally smart metropolis with the wider purpose of driving improvements in virtual fitness, social care, and public Offerings.

Bradford town council last month deployed 2 LoRaWAN gateways On the ODI [Open Data Institute] Leeds and At the virtual fitness corporation Area (DHEZ), with a 3rd to be set up in the coming weeks. Each gateway is able to help up to twenty,000 connected gadgets and may function at approximately 15 km in suburban settings and a couple of km in dense city environments.

Maya explains how the Council is running carefully with other bodies at the mission, together with the digital Catapult Centre Yorkshire, the DHEZ and the College of Bradford. The University installation an internet of things lab remaining yr and has bought a fourth gateway for the location.

Floods and packing containers

The first large venture to make use of the era uses flood sensors which feed information lower back to the council each 15 seconds. Two have been deployed in Bradford Beck and Shipley four weeks ago with Two more at the outskirts of Bradford in Cottingley and Saltaire.

As Maya explained this is an approach to flood management primarily based on a scheme that the planning team saw being run in Amsterdam. The sensors used to consist of flood monitors, fully sensors, and river stage video display units. He said:

Bradford, You are Fired by William Woodbridge – Ebook Review

Name and Creator: Bradford, You are Fired! via William W. Woodbridge

Synopsis of Content material:

First posted in the early 1900s this little E-book is a tale of a young salesman who’s lazy, unmotivated, selfish, and blames others for his misfortune. He’s fired by way of his boss for his lack of a good work ethic. In the beginning, Bradford is indignant and sullen. He drinks himself into a stupor.

However, after an afternoon of reflection, he comes to take into account that his failure and his being fired are not his boss’s fault or the fault of anybody But himself. He involves comprehending that he must exchange himself to grow to be a hit. He then “fires” himself. That is, he fires the vintage self and creates a brand new, nice guy who accepts responsibility for his personal destiny.

In time this variation leads him to incredible achievement.

This little E-book becomes in lots of ways in advance of its time. The author identified over a century ago that in fact we paintings for ourselves and now not for others even if we have a business enterprise.

The Forward turned into written via Paul J. Meyer. Paul J. Meyer is a famed Writer and a pioneer inside the current self-development enterprise.

Clarity/Writing Satisfactory:

Woodbridge writes inside the relatively archaic fashion of the early 20 century. The modern-day reader may additionally find the style a chunk naïve But it is nonetheless an enjoyable and profitable read. It teaches a standard truth about the significance of accepting full and different obligation for our very own destiny. It isn’t always written in the more ponderous style of books in the early nineteenth century.

Notes on Creator:

William Witherspoon Woodbridge turned into The writer of some of the short classic self-development books in the early 1900s. He additionally wrote That Something, Something extra, and Scooting Skyward. His writings had been advocated via Thomas Edison among others. These little books and others like them had been famous in the pre-WWI generation as they appealed to the not unusual man and had been written certainly.

Three Top notch Ideas You can Use:

Earlier than we will alternate our circumstance and turn failure into the success we ought to completely receive the fact that our achievement or failure is totally our obligation. it’s miles herbal and all too common for people to blame instances and other human beings their issues. You should alternate yourself Earlier than You can alternate your fate.

Applying the essential principles of endurance, tough paintings, integrity, and dedication is the most effective path to success. Asking what You can do and the way You can make a contribution is an important thing to achievement.

three. We do not just work for an agency, we paintings for ourselves. In this Woodbridge turned into a century Before his time. He identified that one can not rely on or blame the business enterprise for one’s lot in life. He taught one hundred years ago that our personal achievement ought to come from our information that we in the long run work for ourselves first and primary – it’s far the only process you can not be fired from and can not lose. You may best cease.

five Net Advertising Techniques With a view to Enhance Your Logo Online

Internet Advertising is the process of promoting your commercial enterprise on the arena wide internet. It’s commonplace for brand spanking new Online entrepreneurs to become beaten looking to apprehend such things as Search engine optimization, content material Advertising, Price-consistent with the click on, Pay-in line with the click on, keyword terms and lots of greater.

To help get you started out in case you’re new to the online business world, or maybe in case you’re a pro, here are 5 Net Advertising and marketing Processes which might be demonstrated to enhance your Emblem Online.

Email Marketing

Reading emails is the primary hobby Online (94% of people On-line ship or get hold of emails, whereas 83% use a search engine and 61% use social media). In international research performed with Advertising professionals, they said that E-mail Advertising became the most effective Online Marketing method. You may use emails to connect with your audience and construct your Logo the use of reductions, records on income and by using providing treasured and useful facts to your target market.

Social Media

Social media is some other powerful Net Marketing tool. But do not waste it slow striving to be on every single platform. It is higher to do your research and pinpoint which ones might be most influential on your Online enterprise. It’s better to have one virtually precise social media website online in place of numerous poorly controlled websites.

Blogging

Running a blog is an effective way to boost your business, trap the eye of ability clients and keep relationships with your modern-day customers. Sparkling and frequently updated content material engages your audience and also helps your internet site ratings in the engines like google.

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[netmaddy-blog]

Microsoft Surface pro and Macbook Pro

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/microsoft-surface-pro-and-macbook-pro/

Microsoft Surface pro and Macbook Pro

Imperfect, Heavy, Light, Powerful, and Excellent.

Just shy of one year ago, I transitioned from a Macbook Pro and iPad combo to a Microsoft Surface Pro 128GB. In light of this week’s announcement of Surface Pro 3 and my acquisition of a Surface Pro 2, I think it’s time to reflect on what that experience was like. Like most folks, I was a little skeptical about the idea of combining a laptop and tablet into a single unit. Would it be too heavy? Would the performance be too low? Would the battery life be awful? And what about the new Windows 8 OS that’s been the subject of so much teeth-gnashing? I’ll try to answer all these questions and more as succinctly as possible. Hit the jump and let’s get into the question: what’s it like to live with Microsoft’s vision for computing in the future?

1. The Operating System, starring Windows 8/8.1:

Windows 8.1 Update 1 had a good head start with Windows 8, as I started using it during the first publicly available betas about 9 months before launch, dual booting on my Macbook Pro. That experience gave me plenty of time to figure out how to navigate the OS well before launch, so I didn’t have the struggle that a lot of people did. Of course, it probably helps that I just naturally enjoy exploring and discovering new things. The early Windows 8 experience did have its struggles, though. I’d become accustomed to the iPad and even to my Windows Phone 7 device, both of which had lots of apps available in their stores. Windows 8’s store was notoriously barren by comparison, and that led to some early frustration when trying to use Surface Pro as just a tablet. Too many apps and features were missing to make for a satisfying experience.

Nevertheless, the device’s ability to handle legacy Windows desktop apps with aplomb kept me satisfied enough to continue, and the app store dilemma became less important by the day. If there’s one thing Windows really needs to fix, though, is its way of presenting the desktop. The desktop is still wrapped in the trappings of an archaic system whose time has passed, and it’s time for Microsoft to update it to a more modern presentation that has fonts big enough to read on high DPI screens and large enough to operate with a finger.

With 8.1 and the new 8.1 Spring Update (really? We couldn’t just call it 8.2?), virtually all my complaints about Windows 8 evaporated. While some dislike the new aesthetic, I’ve personally found myself loving the flat colors, active tiles and removal of extraneous effects. My sincere hope is that as Windows evolves it gets even flatter and the metro aesthetic becomes more pervasive.

Suggestion: Use a Microsoft account, and use OneDrive! I can’t stress these enough. If you’re using Windows 8–and on a Surface Pro, you will be–you shouldn’t create an old-fashioned local account. Doing so cuts you off from some of Windows 8’s best features. Among these is the ability to have almost your entire PC configuration, right down to tile sizes, locations and apps installed, backed up to your OneDrive account in the event you either need to restore your PC or you sign into a different Windows 8.1 PC. Best, though, is that with OneDrive you get 7GB storage for free, which, while not enough to cover, say, your music and photos collection, is probably plenty to ensure your critical documents are all safely backed up within moments of you making any change. It’s easy to learn to save to your OneDrive folder, and once you’ve become accustomed to having that safety net you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

2. The Hardware: Build Quality, Heft, and Capability.

Surface Pro Docking Station

I used to lug around a 2010 Macbook Pro 13.3″, which weighed 4.5 pounds, and an iPad 1, which weighed 1.5 pounds for a total of 6 pounds. So when I say that the 2.5 pound total of the Surface Pro and Type Cover was a big weight off my back, I’m really not kidding. The sacrifice was that I had a smaller screen, but the gain was a far more powerful processor and far superior screen resolution and pixel density. The build quality is exceptional: there is literally zero flex to this device, its magnesium shell is hard and sturdy enough to withstand probably more abuse than you should feel comfortable making your PC go through. As a tablet, it’s half a pound heavier than that original iPad was, but as a laptop it has a huge advantage over anything Apple offers. But you probably wonder what I use my Surface Pro for?

Workload

I’ve spent most of the past year as a film school student at UCLA, which means that a lot of my workload involves editing and transcoding video, compositing after effects compositions, transferring footage across different media and so on. I use Adobe Premiere for most of these tasks, and my Surface Pro has handled them all with grace. I’ve had no problems editing and rendering 1080p video in real-time. And as you’d expect from a Windows machine with a full size USB port, working with external hard drives and optical drives is a breeze. Suffice to say, I also do the basics including working in Microsoft Office, writing in Final Draft, checking email, browsing the web, yada yada. Overall, I’ve had no complaints save one: early on, my first Surface Pro had some serious problems with the Marvell Avastar wifi chip and had to be exchanged, a problem that’s not entirely uncommon with this device. More on that later.

Webcams

Let’s be honest: the webcams on this device suck. They’re flat-out terrible, and there’s no getting around that fact. They’re fine for basic Skype video calls, but that’s pretty much it. If you really need to record video, use something else. Anything else.

Stylus

I frequently take notes in OneNote MX (that’s the metro version), especially lately. Like most students, I have tended over the past few years to type my notes, but recent studies show that students who take notes by hand tend to do better on tests. Well, I’m all for evidence based research, so I took this to heart, but I’m also lazy, which means I don’t want to type things after I’ve written them down. Enter Surface Pro’s stylus and voila: I can hand write my notes and have them in a digital format all at the same time. Hell yes. I find that the stylus, despite its cheap plastic feel, works well as a digital inking device. Some complain about the lack of a dock for the stylus, but honestly, I’ve no issues with that. I’ve been using it for a year and have yet to lose the thing.

Art Related Work

Last note on usability: my fiancée, artist Kelley Frisby, got her Surface Pro on launch day precisely because of the integrated Wacom digitizer with 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity. From the outset the usage here was contentious because Surface Pro shipped without a pressure sensitive driver that Photoshop could understand. However, once that driver materialized, she took to using the stylus all the time. And when we learned about Manga Studio Pro from artist Jonathan Case’s website, things really went off the hook as she found it to be far superior to photoshop for creating hand drawn illustrations. That she can have her Surface Pro on her lap with pressure sensitivity while she draws, and her keyboard handy for using keyboard shortcuts, is a huge benefit that other tablets simply don’t offer. Truly, if you’re an artist who draws and paints digitally, Surface Pro is the device for you. Nothing else combines so many hardware capabilities and broad software availability.

3. Battery Life

Surface Pro Kickstand

This is the one serious issue that has dogged the Surface Pro since its original launch, despite the fact that it was never as bad as people claimed or the fact that Surface Pro 2 completely mitigated the issue (and by all reports, Surface Pro 3 does even better). Early claims were that Surface Pro got about 3.5 hours of battery life. And under certain circumstances, that’s true: watching 1080p videos with the brightness up while downloading stuff in the background will, like any other device, eat battery life much more than average usage will. But that’s only part of the test, isn’t it? Under normal usage, which I’ll define as web, email and word processing, Surface Pro 1 will get 5 hours battery life right out of the box. With some mild tweaks to the power profile, which I’ve detailed in one of our most popular posts, it’s entirely possible to get 6-7 hours of battery life. My best time was just over 8 hours total, but with a caveat: I was working with the wifi turned off, writing in Word, in a low light situation where I could comfortably turn down the screen brightness to minimum. Most people I know get in the range of 5-6 hours.

Why I Switched

Let’s be as clear as possible here: the Surface Pro is not a flawless device, but then, neither is anything else. My chief complaints are that the desktop in Windows 8.x needs a Modern UI revamp, and I wish the screen were a little bigger. I hope to upgrade to a Surface Pro 3 at some point in the future for that very reason, though my suspicion is that the artist community, such as my own wonderful Kelley Frisby, will hesitate to upgrade as a result of the new device’s possibly inferior N-Trig digitizer.

So that leaves the big question: why did I switch? That’s a complicated question. First, I was never sold on Mac OSX, but when Apple’s Bootcamp 5 update removed my ability to install Windows 8 as a dual-boot OS choice, claiming it wasn’t compatible with the computer I’d been using for 2.5 years (and at that, running Windows 8 on for 9 months), the final straw broke. This was the third time Apple’d created problems for my devices, following the iOS 5 update that slowed my iPad to a crawl and the iOS 4 update that made my iPhone 3G all but unusable.

The prospect of having a tablet and laptop all in a single device was also very appealing to me. Yes, there are compromises: it’s a little heavier than a tablet and a little smaller than a typical laptop, but the overall effect is a net positive, and I’m happy to say that my year with Surface Pro has me convinced: Microsoft’s vision of a world where tablets are just slim, light, touch-friendly PC’s is the right one. That we now see even desktop all-in-ones becoming large tablets (seriously, have you seen the Dell Venue Pro 18″ tablets? Crazy!) and touch slowly but surely spreading even to budget level laptops, is a good sign the convergence Microsoft predicted when it announced the original Surface Pro is really happening.

Problems I had & Solutions Microsoft offered

Surface by Microsoft

I mentioned the problem my original Surface Pro had with its wifi chip awhile ago, but there’s more to that story. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago my Surface Pro once again began having problems with the wifi chip, and no update, driver replacement, or even a system reset helped. Eventually the device started blue screening repeatedly, so I took it in to see what Microsoft could do for me. To my complete surprise, they handed me a brand new Surface Pro 2 and even let me pay the difference to upgrade it to the 256GB/8GB model, which I eagerly did. The new device is basically all the great stuff about Surface Pro 1, distilled into a purer form. Same weight, size and shape, slightly better screen (though I honestly can’t tell the difference, for what it’s worth), and the Type Cover 2 is a fantastic little keyboard that does its job with aplomb. I’m very happy indeed, and more than glad I bought the extended warranty.

Value Proposition

I’ve seen a lot of folks argue that the Surface Pro series is too expensive, and I can understand why. $999 before you even add the keyboard seems like a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially for a tablet when you live in a world of $499 iPads and $199 Kindle Fires. But I think it’s worth remembering what you get when you buy into the Surface Pro system:

1. You get an ultrabook that can run just about any legacy Windows app you can throw at it. It has excellent RAM options (4-8GB) and storage options (64-512GB), a full-sized USB port and both wired and wireless external monitor support (the latter via Miracast). In Apple land, this costs you $900 minimum.

2. You get a tablet that can do anything an iPad or Android tablet can do, plus more, with the only drawback being sheer numbers of apps. Even that is changing as the Windows Store approaches 200,000 and will soon merge with the Windows Phone store to boot. And because it’s Windows, you also get the perk of individual user accounts right out of the box. In Apple land, this is another $400+

3. A digital drawing/inking solution. Whether you just take notes or you do fine art, the Surface Pro has you covered. You don’t get this in Apple land at all. You instead buy a USB tablet that does not have a screen for $100+, or you buy a Cintiq to connect to your Macbook for $1,000.

Long story short: at first glance, yes, it looks like Surface Pro/2 is expensive, but you get a tremendous amount of value for your money.

Last Words

Would I recommend the Surface Pro or Pro 2? Absolutely, especially if you’re an artist or someone who’s just sick and tired of lugging around multiple devices. We live in a world where our computing hardware is not just powerful, but can do its job with surprisingly little energy or heat. There’s just no reason to carry two devices in your bag in addition to the smartphone in your pocket. If I could have a wish granted, it’d be for Microsoft to add an extra USB 3.0 port, thunderbolt, and move from an mSATA to a PCIe SSD. Mind you, it doesn’t exactly need those items, but the hardware nerd in me would be really happy to have them.

As for Surface Pro 3, well, I’d love to review it, and more importantly I’d love to put it in the hands of our classically trained illustrator so she can put it through its paces and render a verdict on its usefulness as an artist’s digital tablet, but so far haven’t had any luck getting time with the new device. But hey, if Microsoft would like to let us borrow one, we could probably work something out!

Oh, almost forgot: do buy Microsoft’s extended warranty for Surface Pro, no matter what version you buy. It’ll really pay off if anything ever goes wacky with your device, and it even offers accidental damage protection, which is usually pretty expensive if it’s offered at all.

[torixus]

Unveiling the Real Zombies

See what the Real Zombies Are

Different types of Zombies /torixus

Portraying Characters of Zombies have gain weight in popular entertainment setting, which features in many written Notes, Movies and Events, including the Halloween Season. Portraying the zombiism those it mean that they really Exist?. Zombie is define by many to be a walking Dead.. The Undead dead as many think of it. Torixus Media Navigate through the web to bring to you the actual cases of zombification The word zombie — originally spelled as zombi — first came into the English language in the 1800s, when poet Robert Southey mentioned it in his History of Brazil. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word comes from the Louisiana Creole or Haitian Creole word zonbi, and it is akin to the Kimbundu term nzúmbe, which means ghost. The word refers to creatures from Haitian folklore that, at its origin, was little more than the ghosts from Western folklore. The General conclusion of all this definition is that, Zombie refers to someone that is rendered mindless by a witch doctor, entering a death-like state while still animated, and thus becoming the witch doctor's slave. Many People in Nigerians, especially  Children Igbo use the word "Zombie" on someone they hate his/her character having labelled the person to be  Sluggish, ugly and not suppose to relate with Normal People. The Question being asked is if Zombies are actually existing here in earth, people want to know what zombies are really, what they represent and how can a being become one if they really exist. Torixus Media surf the Net and have a concluding categories of Zombie Natur Ranging from Ants to Human Kind of Zombie according to MedicalNewstoday 1. Zombie ants

Ophiocordyceps is a genus of fungi that has more than 200 species, and mycologists are still counting. Many species of fungi can be dangerous, often because they are toxic to animals, but there is one thing in particular that makes Ophiocordyceps especially frightening. Carpenter ants taken over by parasitic fungi give in to their attackers and 'lose their minds.' These species of fungus "target" and infect various insects through their spores. After infection takes place, the parasitic fungus takes control of the insect's mind, altering its behavior to make the propagation of fungal spores more likely. Ophiocordyceps "feed" on the insects they attach to, growing into and out of their bodies until the insects die. One of these species, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensu lato, specifically infects, controls, and kills carpenter ants (Camponotus castaneus), native to North America. When Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infect carpenter ants, they turn them into zombies. The ants become compelled to climb to the top of elevated vegetation, where they remain affixed and die. The high elevation allows the fungus to grow and later spread its spores widely. Researchers from Pennsylvania State (Penn State) University found that O. unilateralis take full control of the ants' muscle fibers, forcing them to move as it "wants" them to. "We found that a high percentage of the cells in a host were fungal cells," notes David Hughes, who is associate professor of entomology and biology at Penn State. "In essence, these manipulated animals were a fungus in ants' clothing." David Hughes Below, you can watch a video showing how the parasitic fungus infects its victims, leading them to their death. 2. Zombie spiders

Last year, zoologist Philippe Fernandez-Fournier — from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada — and colleagues made a chilling discovery in the Ecuadorian Amazon. A species of parasitic wasps takes full control of small, social spiders, driving them to their death. They found that a previously unknown species of the Zatypota wasp can manipulate spiders from the Anelosimus eximius species to an extent that researchers have never before witnessed in nature. A. eximius spiders are social animals that prefer to remain in groups, never straying too far from their colonies. But Fernandez-Fournier and team noticed that members of this species infected with Zatypota larva exhibited bizarre behavior, leaving their colony to weave tightly-spun, cocoon-like webs in remote locations. When the researchers opened these artificial "cocoons," they found Zatypota larvae growing inside. Further research presented a gruesome string of events. The Zatypota wasps lay eggs on the abdomen of A. eximius spiders. When the egg hatches and the wasp larva emerges, it starts feeding on the spider and begins to take control of its body. When the larva has gained full control of its host, it turns it into a zombie-like creature that is compelled to stray away from its mates and spin the cocoon-like nest that will allow the larva to grow into the adult wasp. Before entering its new "cocoon," though, the wasp larva first finishes its "job" by devouring its host. "Wasps manipulating the behavior of spiders has been observed before, but not at a level as complex as this," says Fernandez-Fournier. "[T]his behavior modification is so hardcore. The wasp completely hijacks the spider's behavior and brain and makes it do something it would never do, like leave its nest and spinning a completely different structure. That's very dangerous for these tiny spiders." Philippe Fernandez-Fournier 3. The reanimated virus

Reanimating humans, or, at least, human-like creatures, as in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or H. P. Lovecraft's "Herbert West: Reanimator," is a notion that has piqued the interest of writers, filmmakers and, of course, scientists, throughout the ages. A newly 'reanimated' giant virus from the Siberian permafrost offers a chilling warning of possible dangers to come. But while reviving dead humans may not be on the cards for our race just yet, reviving other organisms is. This can be particularly unsettling when we think that those organisms are... viruses. In 2014, researchers from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at Aix–Marseille Université in France dug a fascinating organism out of the Siberian permafrost: a so-called giant virus, about 30,000 years old, which they named Pithovirus sibericum. Giant viruses are called this way because, though still tiny, they are easily visible under the microscope. But there is something else that makes P. sibericum stand apart. It is a DNA virus that contains a large number of genes — as many as 500, to be precise. This is in stark contrast with other DNA viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which only contains about 12 genes in all. The size of giant viruses, as well as the fact that they contain such a large amount of DNA, can make them particularly dangerous, explain the researchers who discovered P. sibericum since they can stick around for an extremely long time. "Among known viruses, the giant viruses tend to be very tough, almost impossible to break open," explain two of the virus's discoverers, Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel, in an interview for National Geographic. "Special environments such as deep ocean sediments and permafrost are very good preservers of microbes [and viruses] because they are cold, anoxic [oxygen-free], and [...] dark," they add. When "reanimated, P. sibericum only infected amoebas — archaic unicellular organisms — but happily not humans or other animals. Yet Claverie and Abergel warn that there may be similar giant viruses buried inside the permafrost that could prove dangerous to humans. Though they have remained safely contained so far, global heating and human action could cause them to resurface and come back to life, which might bring about unknown threats to health. "Mining and drilling mean [...] digging through these ancient layers for the first time in millions of years. If 'viable' [viruses] are still there, this is a good recipe for disaster." Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel 4. Zombie plants

Also, in 2014, researchers from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, United Kingdom, found that certain bacteria, known as "phytoplasma," turn some plants into "zombies." Plants such as goldenrods can succumb to the control of manipulative bacteria. The bacteria — which insects disseminate — infect plants such as goldenrods, which have yellow flowers. The infection causes the goldenrods to put out leaf-like extensions instead of their usual blooms. These leaf-like growths attract more insects, which allows the bacteria to "travel" widely and infect other plants. While the transformation does not cause the plant to die, researchers are fascinated by how phytoplasma can bend this host's "will" to make it grow the elements they require to spread and thrive. "The insects transmit bacteria, so-called phytoplasmas, which destroy the life cycle of the plants," says Prof. Günter Theißen from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany, one of the researchers who have closely studied the activity of phytoplasma. "These plants become the living dead. Eventually, they only serve the spread of the bacteria." Prof. Günter Theißen 5. Human zombies?

Photo of a Human zombies

But can humans turn into zombies, too? In the 1990s, Dr. Chavannes Douyon and Prof. Roland Littlewood decided to investigate whether Haitian zombies — reanimated, but mindless humans — were a real possibility. People with Cotard's syndrome are convinced that they are dead. In 1997, the two published a study paper in The LancetTrusted Source in which they analyzed the cases of three individuals from Haiti whose communities had identified as zombies. One was a 30-year-old woman who had, allegedly, quickly died after having fallen ill. Her family recognized her walking about as a "zombie" 3 years after this event. Another was a young man who had "died" at 18, and reemerged after another 18 years at a cockfight. The final case study concerned another woman who had "died" at 18 but was spotted again as a zombie 13 years after this event. Dr. Douyon and Prof. Littlewood examined the three "zombies," and found that they had not been the victims of an evil spell. Instead, medical reasons could explain their zombification. The first "zombie" had catatonic schizophrenia, a rare condition that makes the person act as though they are walking in a stupor. The second person had experienced brain damage, and also had epilepsy, while the third appeared merely to have a learning disability. "People with a chronic schizophrenic illness, brain damage, or learning disability are not uncommonly met with wandering in Haiti, and they would be particularly likely to be identified as lacking volition and memory which are characteristics of a zombi," the researchers write in their paper. But there is also a specific psychiatric disorder called Cotard's syndrome that can cause people to act like zombies. This is because they are under the delusion that they are dead or decomposing. It remains unclear just how prevalent this condition is, but research suggests that it is a rare occurrence. Documented cases of people with Cotard's syndrome are unsettling, nevertheless. One case studyTrusted Source reports the situation of a 53-year-old woman who "was complaining that she was dead, smelled like rotting flesh, and wanted to be taken to a morgue so that she could be with dead people." AnotherTrusted Source speaks of a 65-year-old man who had developed a belief that his organs — including his brain — had stopped working, and that even the house in which he lived was slowly but steadily falling apart. At some point, the man attempted to take his own life. Researchers report that "[h]is suicide note revealed that he wanted to kill himself as he feared spreading a deadly infection to the villagers who resultantly might suffer from cancer." Do such cases mean that zombies are real in some way, or, just as our fascination with the figure of the zombie in folklore and popular culture, do they merely reflect our uneasy relationship with death? We leave it to you to decide. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); via Blogger https://ift.tt/33qXE2J