#is 0.6 brainstorms

[typewritingyip]

ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

New chapter! Yeiiiii. Now, please bear me with me yapping instead of sleeping.

"Less than five percent of military personal in the US transfer from military based programs to private ones, unless compatibility testing was ran by Doctor Shockwave.

At which point the number rapidly increases to eighty-seven percent."

Ughhh assholes. No more, just straight assholes for allowing Shockwave doing such things.

Like, they will just try to hide all this under the carpet if all this quintesson thing is finally over. Hopefully the don't die so they can affront justice, and dying is to easy for them.

"That was worse, that made Hound's skin crawl. Back in testing, back in the hands of those who wanted to tear him apart and rebuild him in their ideas. Fingers flexed in this holds on him"

Oh the boy and there would be probably no way to convince any of them that Wheeljack and Skyfire are actually nice, like, they both probably did shady things in the war, one more than the other (I'm pointing at wheeljack)

"The buzzing ringing in his ears as his throat tightened, anguish and fear, stinking fear he hadn't felt in ages."

I said to myself "oh, they can feel it, don't they????" And they in fact did.

"We came here to discuss the future plan of action, not everything as we have been. Although we should discuss your concerns at another time," Hound knew it wasn't meant to be dismissive, but it certainly felt that way.

Sweeping his failure under the rug."

It was definitively not dismissive, no, they wouldn't even consider it they are dramatic old people that cant get over the most minimal stuff. And if they cant get an idea out of their heads unless is the idk how many war crimes (and that) they committed they will neeever.

"They can no more undo that than we can undo the damage Megatron did to my vocalizer."

🧍‍♀️

"Knockout was meant to be at this meeting, which would have made it entirely more bearable"

Oh he cant go a meeting without being bitter about everything. But he cant go being bitter about everything without the other one guy is like him and is also bitter about everything.

"but he couldn't quite imagine Megatron doing that to anyone."

This will be a weird comparison but idk this reminds me of this one chapter on Earthspark, where twitch goes and tells Novastorm and Skywarp to go back to the cons, bc Megatron would never abandon them.

In. Front. Of. Starscream.

I know the pilots are far more mature but yet the idea they have of Megatron, I dare to say, is not so different from the one the terrans have of him.

"Uh, if I may," He lightly gestures towards the door, "I think I should attend to my husband."

They are so nice together oh girl they just. I want to eat their relationship for now sweet it seems.

""Sorry! Sorry, that is the lab's explosion alarm! I really shouldn't have left Brainstorm unattended, at least this long. Sorry Prime!" The other scientist, Wheeljack, stood and rushed from the room"

And of course there is Brainstorm, who denies the existence of any sort of ethic and will attempt to make a time machine to kill a vulnerable mech for someone who probably didn't correspond his feelings even if it kills him.

He probably didn't have his "hahaha I'm going to poison everyone" phase here, I hope. But I bet he's still. Em. Brainstorm, the self proclaimed best weapon inventor, or something like that. Weapons that are constantly turned down.

Did you know Wheeljack uses him as a measure scale? Like, "oh, a blackhole that could destroy the universe, 0.6 Brainstorms"

So, not the best guy to be around specially if you are afraid of scientist, specially the one who probably doesn't understand social, everything.

Oh god are they afraid of Percy???? (._.`)

And wheeljack, you have too much faith to leave him unsupervised for even a second.

"We have an explosion specific alarm now"

"Poor Skyfire needs some protection."

I swear the day Skyfire makes something blow up pretty badly no one will belive it and blame it in Brainstorm and Wheeljack and Starscream will support and spread that idea.

"Skyfire, values organic life. Above, nearly all else. Recommendation, aligning yourself with him is beneficial. Long-term gain, expected." Nodding slightly, he cleared throat, "Thank you." Then like that, Soundwave moved from the room."

Im surprised od how supportive Soundwave is.

Hes like "well, if Im not telling my boss then I'm going to make this 100% work, Prowl is apparently not suit for the job. Incompetent autobot"

"it was better than the new pilots barracks at MECHA."

Ughh assholes is not that hard to give someone decent living conditions even if with the bare minimum. Like at least good beds so they can fall into a coma.

"Their makeshift bedroom was on a side table near the window"

They so small.

"at least they weren't sleeping on the floor"

Actually sleeping in the floor is quite comfy 🤓☝️, even if it's metal. At least in my personal opinion.

"Sunny hugs him close and tight"

Oh the boys they are so nice they deserve nothing GOOD things happening to them.

👁👁

"Close enough to feel each other's heartbeat. Desperate to be closer at times, but this was them."

Ughhh, is this a reference to spark twins? Or they are spark twins in most continuities???? Like, oh boy.

"There'd been a young pilot he could remember that was a comet, though they hadn't ever really been stationed together"

That's Jesse, don't he?

"Megatron and Optimus who had returned to their conversation over comms"

Okay that's rude just bc you are the leader of your factions and the planet it doesn't excuse for not having manners.

Owww. They just worried for Hound and his crazy field.

Fuck I didn't copied these ones but. Optimus referring to Hounds field to gift and yet offering to get rid of it.

And Mirage being hesitant to leave for a moments I just expected him to just go invisible.

And everyone. And Sides calling Suny his full name and then they just comforting each other and then Hound revelation they are so young.

Im eating crumbs.

Love this chapter, as always, it's wonderful and a pleasure to read.

Take care <3333

To be fair, I did not see the yapping till morning.

Alright, let’s get into it!

When the government sees an asset, specifically in Shockwave’s effectiveness, they’ll use it until the bleeding becomes too much to handle.

War is war and sometimes you do things you don’t want to/regret doing.. but, some people have a better reaction to scientists and medics than others.

I personally hate the feeling of static in the air, it reminds me of the bad storms in the valley that more often than not caused flash flooding or roads to wash out. Stuff Hound would have experienced.

Yep.

I loved writing Starscream this chapter.. they’re at peace, but peace doesn’t heal all wounds and sometimes scars ache even after years.

God, it’s like you’re in my brain.. so, I’ll admit I love Earthspark, especially season one, so that bit of transformers lore has burrowed its way into my soul. I didn’t think about it for this, but now that you’ve said it.. I see it.

SkyStar, my beloved. 🥹

Brainstorm. Yeah, just.. Brainstorm. (Also, most pilots are not afraid of Percy, cause he does most of his testing on himself.)

Yep. Pretty much.

Oh yeah, Soundwave knows how valuable the humans are, no surprise there. But he also knows they need reassurance and specific paths for everything to work.

lol. The “New Pilot” barracks are effectively an incredibly outdated cheaply purchased army barracks, but it’s from like.. the 70’s. And never updated.

Smol.

I can get that, but I’ve done that for school.. it’s not fun.

“They deserved nothing GOOD things happening to them.” Well, if you insist.

Yeah, it is.

It is Jesse!

They aren’t meaning to be rude, but to them Hound’s hearing is like.. incredibly good so they can’t whisper without him hearing.

They are, it’s sweet.

Yeah, because he can see how uncomfortable it makes Hound..

I honestly thought about it but Optimus would have had none of it.

I’m so glad you loved this chapter, I loved writing it! Thank you!

[halfnekoslair]

And one more Eirwyn photo. This time - with my old (14 ears omg!!!) Resinsoul Song.

Eirwyn turnd out quite standard MSD doll. Full 45 cm tall. Looking right with my other MSD dolls. And I'm very happy about it. As I can tell a lot of individual doll projects have unusual proportions or height. I really wanted to make somthing traditional)

I'd really want to put this boy into the world. To see how other people could "cook" him. But the question is still open >w<

Can you guys tell me about other 3d printed MSD dolls? Most dolls I see are much smaller. I'm still deciding on pricing. It's a big, almost 0.6 kg doll so it takes almost full pack of resin. But construction wice it's pretty simple. It takes much less post-processing then my mice (11 pieces tail!) or turtles (3 colours, a lot of small pieces). And also have 1/6 version. Size like Barbie's teenage nepew.

Also i saw some people selling 3d printed dolls as a "kit". So the customer pay less but smooth and assemble the doll by themselves. I'll never add this option for my mice or turtles (I just dont trust people to work with small details wothout ruining it) but I think it can work for more simplistic human dolls.

I need to brainstorm it >w<

[xtaleunderverse]

Celebrating Underverse's 7th anniversary with concept art: Doodles of Underverse 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7 part 1 from my notebook! (Some pages alternate between Spanish and English, this is how I usually brainstorm ideas, sorry in advance ;w;)

0.5 - Hopeless Snas telling Frisk they're alone in this

0.5 - XGaster monologuing and trying to persuade Frisk

0.5 - Mettaton vs XMettaton fight scene ideas

0.6 - Muffet and her new pets | Cross in the Omega Timeline

0.6 - Core!Frisk and Epictale

0.6 - Cross and Dream talking | VS Nightmare and Killer fight concepts

0.7 part 1 - Overdrive X!Mtt beta concept

0.7 part 1 - XTale!Papyrus

0.7 part 1 - Weak X!Chara

BONUS: Underverse 0.7 part 2 - Surprise

[sleekervae]

Yoü & I [0.6]

Masterlist

Charlotte was taken aback, "What happened?"

Luke shook his head, trying to put on a brave smile, "Nothing," he shrugged as he slipped past her.

Charlotte slammed the door shut, "Okay -- no. You don't get to play that 'nothing' shit with me, bro," she said, feeling the proverbial tables having turned as she following close behind, "You're an hour and something late. You've clearly been crying,"

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat, "It's no big deal, Char. Mel and I got into a little disagreement is all,"

Of course, "What -- you couldn't decide who had to do the dishes next?"

"It's not important, Charlotte," Luke groaned and threw his things on the couch, "I don't want to talk about it,"

Charlotte didn't press on, Luke needed a breather and she would give him his space. When he was ready to talk, he'd open up to her. Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time Luke and Melody had a 'disagreement', and unlike her, Luke didn't open up much to Charlotte about their problems. Simply because after watching her suffer he decided that she didn't need to be burdened with his own bullshit.

"So, where's this song then?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes and putting a smile on. Charlotte swore she could feel her heart breaking for him, earlier thoughts that haunted her now swirled in her head.

He deserved better.

Regardless of her feelings, Charlotte pulled out her notebook and her guitar. She apologized profusely for the mess, the last time it was so out of sorts she was fresh out of her own break up. But Luke didn't mind, he saw the boxes of Ben's things stacked in the corner but didn't say anything about them. He didn't want to focus on the negative, he only wanted to move forward from here.

Charlotte only had pieced together some rough verses from her brainstorming session the day previous. It was a deep and brutal breakup song that talked about having your world pulled out from under you and wondering where things went wrong. Charlotte played some of it on the guitar for him; the mood was much darker than what Catch the Caper had produced before. Luke didn't mind it at all, the agonizing stress Charlotte put into her voice, paired with the soft humming of her guitar were so poignant. He could listen to her for hours and never grow tired of her voice.

At some point in the evening, Charlotte had decided she would make dinner. She was getting tired of takeout food and figured some home cooked food would brighten Luke's spirits. He always liked her cooking anyway.

Luke watched her from the corner of his eye, his gaze switching back between Charlotte and the scribbles in her notebook. He offered to help her but she insisted it was 'no big deal', instead she offered him to pick a vinyl from her collection to play.

He figured some good music would serve him well, he didn't want to keep thinking about all the ugly things he and Melody had said to each in the brief thirty minutes he was home. He flipped through her drawer of vinyl until he landed on a copy of Catch the Caper's first EP, Adolescent Avenue. The label only produced a hundred or so of these vinyl editions for fan giveaways and Charlotte was lucky enough to snatch one before they ran out.

Charlotte couldn't help the blush that rose to her face when she heard her own voice come over her record player. She stopped mid-seasoning of the potatoes and glanced at Luke.

Charlotte smiled, "Nice music choice. A bit shit but it'll do,"

Luke rolled his eyes, "Says the kid who keeps her own record in her vinyl collection,"

Charlotte simply stuck her tongue out at him and continued to cook. She was making lemon chicken with potatoes and rosemary, an old classic she'd picked up from her mom. She wrenched the cupboard open to look for some dried oregano when her eyes landed upon a hidden treasure in the back. Unopened and begging to be eaten was a bag of chocolate chip shortbread cookies.

"You'll never guess what I just found," she announced happily. Luke looked over from his spot on the couch, lazily flipping through Charlotte's notebook.

"Jeff the Killer," he replied smartly. She ignored his smart-ass remark and showed him the chocolatey goodness. His face immediately lit up.

"I fucking love you," he gasped when he saw the cookies.

"Yeah you do," Charlotte smirked.

By the time she'd finished the chicken and potatoes, Luke was beginning to feel a bit better. When he looked at Charlotte he was flush with feelings of gratitude, so happy that he could snag one of the most amazing friends he could ask for. She didn't try to pry and stick her nose in his business, instead doing everything she could to distract him and make him feel better. She even cooked dinner for him for God sakes, just to try to cheer him up.

How the hell did he end up one of the luckiest people on the planet? It made him wonder if Melody would ever comfort him the same way. Maybe? Possibly?

Then again, Charlotte was the kindest soul Luke had ever met -- and was never likely to find another one like her again.

The smell of fresh lemon and salt wafted through the air and had Luke's stomach grumbling. He sat corner-to-corner with Charlotte at her small dinner table, both of them eating quietly and looking out over downtown Los Angeles. He always loved Charlotte's cooking, he kept trying to attempt some of the easier recipes she had given him but no matter what, his own culinary skills were subpar compared to hers.

Luke sipped slowly from his soda can, glancing at Charlotte again. She met his gaze and smiled happily, her Bambi eyes sparkling under the golden lights.

"It wasn't even worth getting so upset over," he finally admitted. Charlotte put down her utensils and cradled her chin in her hands, listening patiently, "Something to do with -- I mean, it was just dumb. Mel just blew everything out of proportion and started talking about shit I didn't want to bring up," Luke took a deep breath, "I knew I should've just come straight here. I just had to drop off --"

"It's okay," Charlotte placed her hand over his own cold one, "Believe me, I know how mean she can be sometimes,"

Luke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Char..." he spoke quietly, and Charlotte immediately regretted her words, "You're right but... I just don't want to think about it,"

Charlotte nodded, "I'm sorry,"

"You did nothing wrong, love," Luke smiled at her, "Thanks though -- for looking after me,"

"Hey, you scratch my back, I scratch yours," she chuckled.

After they ate he helped her clean up, continuing to slowly explain what had happened, "Everything's just so bloody black and white with her, there's no middle ground," he huffed, "I still love her, but she frustrates me sometimes,"

"I know exactly what you mean," Charlotte sighed.

"I don't want to keep crawling back and apologizing for shit I had nothing to do with. I don't think I did anything wrong," he said.

"Just give her some space," Charlotte said, "She'll come around and apologize eventually. We tend to comprehend things more vividly when we're given some time to deal with them,"

Even though Charlotte didn't care for Melody, she knew how much she meant to Luke and that was more important.

Luke knew Charlotte was right. She always knew when to say the right things.

"You think she'll apologize?" he asked hopefully.

"Stranger things have happened," Charlotte grinned back.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Your fading obsession with penguins, for one,"

"I still love penguins, I just don't advertise it as much," Luke smirked, "Yeah, what nineteen-year-old rockstar totes around a penguin stuffy?"

"A really cute rockstar," Charlotte teased.

Luke felt himself go red in the face, ducking his hand under the running hot water and flicking some droplets over Charlotte's head, "Ah, shaddup!" he tried to mock a Brooklyn accent, but Charlotte wasn't impressed.

"I don't sound like that," she chuckled.

"After a couple rounds of tequila, you certainly do," Luke replied, "You're inner Fran Drescher comes out,"

"I can think of no higher compliment,"

They migrated back to the couch eventually, with Luke now having made some minor edits to Charlotte's latest piece -- promptly titled 'Doctor'. They'd given up on writing for now, instead putting on the TV for an episode of Rick and Morty and munching away on cookies. Charlotte was somewhat engrossed in the show while Luke continued to skim through her notebook, flipping through the scribbled poetry until he landed on the last page.

"Did you just write this one?" he held out the open page to her. Charlotte thought nothing of it until she saw the title.

"Yeah," she took the book back, "Just something stupid I thought of earlier,"

"Let's hear it, then," Luke smiled.

Charlotte refrained from rolling her eyes, "It's a work in progress,"

"Charlotte --"

"Scratch that -- it's a piece of shit,"

"Come on, Char," Luke groaned.

Charlotte just laughed it off. She couldn't sing it simply because it was something that was never meant to be heard aloud. She wasn't planning to sing it to anyone for that matter. It was a stupid thought that got stuck in her head that she needed to get out somehow -- nobody was supposed to hear it.

"It's just a massive brain barf on a page," she huffed.

Luke shrugged, "Your brain barfs intrigue me," he teased.

Charlotte sighed. She didn't want to play the song, but she also didn't want to let Luke down. He would understand where she was coming from, wouldn't tell anybody about it, "Jeez. Fine,"

Luke sat up and turned so he sat parallel on the couch, facing the young brunette as she flipped to 'You & I' in her notebook and read the first verse she saw.

"I know it's warmer where you are, And it's safer by your side, But right now I can't be what you want, Just give it time, And if you and I, Can make it through the night, And if you and I, Can keep our love alive, we'll fight, We can meet in the middle, Bodies and souls collide, Dance in the moonlight, Where all the stars align, For you and I, for you and I"

Luke smiled, "Beautiful, like always. I like it a lot,"

"Of course you do," she replied and quickly shut her book.

"Char, if you wrote something shit then I'd tell you. You just never fail to impress me," Luke said.

Charlotte brought her knees to her chest, "Oh, shut up,"

"It's the truth though," he nudged her gently, "You could sing your shopping list and make it sound dark and sexy,"

Charlotte giggled, "Gotta mix some eggs, cream, flour and sugar, mix it up and bake and get a chocolate cake! Jesus, that's shit,"

Luke stifled a giggle and shifted closer, his head falling against her shoulder. The sweet smell of her grapefruit shampoo put him at ease and he sighed with content as she wrapped her smaller arms around him.

"It's ironic," she spoke softly.

"What is?" he glanced up at her.

"You're so much bigger than me but you act like a little koala all the time," she chuckled.

"Well, you know there's a reason I keep calling you Shorty," he smirked.

"Fuck you, Breadstick," she pouted.

"I love you, too,"

They stayed curled up together, while the TV played as background noise. At some point the clock had struck eleven pm and Charlotte had fallen asleep, snoring softly as she was cuddled into Luke's chest. Luke however was still wide awake.

His mind spun over and over, replaying all the things he could've said to Melody; all the things he could've done so he wouldn't have stormed out on her. He had only just come back to her and he already wanted to get away from her.

He still loved Melody, of course he still did. There were however some qualities she had that Luke didn't like.

Luke felt safe on Charlotte's couch. Especially knowing that if he needed anything she'd be right there for him. He hugged her tighter as the minutes ticked by just so he could keep his nerves at ease.

Charlotte exhaled softly and she shuffled closer to Luke, subconsciously tucking her head in the crook of his neck. He listened to her steady breathing, the thudding of his own heart against his chest. He smiled and let his head fall back against the couch cushions. He finally drifted off to sleep.

[hydralisk98]

The Imaginary World of ______ by Keri Smith (Module 0x000; aka the database)

Brainstorm:

The Alchemist

pfsrd

D&D 5e

Loups-Garous de Thiercelieux

UNO & DOS

XXIIVV’s Paradise & “Parade”

Portal 2

Portal Stories: Mel

Half-Life as of Epistle 3

Alien

Pokemon

A bag full of apples

Winnie the Pooh (Soviet Union)

Alternate futures and histories from other planets

Mark Rosenfelder

Sabaton

Rammstein

Eminem

Beatles

Neumond Recordings

Bee Gees

Black Sabbath

EU4 OST

Hans Zimmer

Kenji Kawai

Christian Clermont

Disco

Xerox

Commodore

IBM

DEC

HP

60s-70s Quebec’s cultural revolution

Windows 3.11

1910-1925 era

World War 1 and resulting civil war type of conflicts

Wolfenstein: the New Order

Retrocomputing culture

Soviet cartoons

History

Enlightenment eras (~1755 onward)

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle aka philosophy as a rational discipline

Subliminals community

Plushies’ textures

Moderate socialism

Central europe’s rural areas

Nineveh

Nimrud

S-expressions

Lisp programming languages

Assembly

ALGOL

C

Julia

Python

Rust

British Colombia climate

Montreal and its suburbs

Wien

Paris

Villages/Towns

Turkish Angora Cats

Tigers

Bears

Lizards

Insects

Ancient Mesopotamia’s wardrobes

Old china culture

Japanese Meiji Imperial Era

Symbols

Latin

Ancient Greek

Old Assyrian

Sumerian

Proto-Celtic

Breton

Proto-Uralic

Hungarian

French

German

Portuguese

Spanish?

English?!

Building blocks

Autism

Calm noise soundscape

Keycaps’ typing sounds

Old computers’ sounds

Beavers

Furrets

2000s cartoons

Adult Swim

Underground cultures

Goths

Wicca

Grunge

Vintage

Dumb terminals

Pocket calculators

Home computers

Old mainframes

AI service grid

The two first “Indochina” wars

Memes

Gen Z

Text adventure games

Telex

COMECON trade

Medieval intellectuals

ZX Spectrum

IRC chatrooms

MU* games

Top down grand strategy games and rogue-like RPGs

Nuclear warfare

PDP-8

PDP-11

PDP-15

VAX

Robotron

Zachtronics TIS-100

Sid Meier’s Civilization V

Paradox Interactive’s Europa Universalis III & IV

Hypnospace Outlaw

Pen & paper games

4D toys

Baba Is You

Terraria

Counter-Strike

Call of Duty World at War

Kerbal Space Program

The Stanley Parable

Quake/Half-Life 1

Rene Magritte

Dwarf Fortress

Sandstorm

Powerwolf

Dragonforce

Manowar

Minecraft

Open source community

Linux Mint

Debian

KDE

Solaris

FreeBSD

FreeDOS

Inferno OS

Plan 9

Rudy

Amber

Olive green

Sea blue

Salamanders

Groundhogs

Abstract syntax trees of lexers and compilers

Oracles

Wizards

Shapeshifters

Sea fleets

Land armies

Modern warfare

Guerrilla culture

Kriegsmarine

Wehrmacht

Superheroes

Rationality

New age spiritualities

Polished wood

Chiptune

Fresh winter cold air smell

Garfield

Boxes

Cardboard

Papercrafts

Plastic 3D prints

Words of wisdom

Angels

Zen

Chi-Nu Kai tank

0.0 Wilson, 0.4 Taft, 0.6 Theodore

Colonialism

WW1 Triplanes

Elves

Fantasy Dwarves

Fantasy Tieflings

Fantasy Gnomes

Fantasy Golems

Morphological Freedom

Transhumanism

Extremely far future time-travelling peoples

Aliens

Droids and Synthetics

Sylvans

Linguistics

Geopolitics

LISP 1.5

Shell scripts

Demoscene

Terminator

X-Men

Planet of the Apes

300

Men in Black

The Addams Family

The Matrix

The Hunger Games

Da Vinci Code

16^12+1988 aka the 0x10c Mojang’s cancelled game

[...]

[robotclownindulgence]

I just want people to remember that cybertronian scientists use Brainstorm is as a measurement for how fucked situation is and that a 0.6 only equels THE DESTRUCTION OF AN ENTIRE STAR SYSTEM

[dorcasrempel]

From one brain scan, more information for medical artificial intelligence

MIT researchers have devised a novel method to glean more information from images used to train machine-learning models, including those that can analyze medical scans to help diagnose and treat brain conditions.

An active new area in medicine involves training deep-learning models to detect structural patterns in brain scans associated with neurological diseases and disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. But collecting the training data is laborious: All anatomical structures in each scan must be separately outlined or hand-labeled by neurological experts. And, in some cases, such as for rare brain conditions in children, only a few scans may be available in the first place.

In a paper presented at the recent Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, the MIT researchers describe a system that uses a single labeled scan, along with unlabeled scans, to automatically synthesize a massive dataset of distinct training examples. The dataset can be used to better train machine-learning models to find anatomical structures in new scans — the more training data, the better those predictions.

The crux of the work is automatically generating data for the “image segmentation” process, which partitions an image into regions of pixels that are more meaningful and easier to analyze. To do so, the system uses a convolutional neural network (CNN), a machine-learning model that’s become a powerhouse for image-processing tasks. The network analyzes a lot of unlabeled scans from different patients and different equipment to “learn” anatomical, brightness, and contrast variations. Then, it applies a random combination of those learned variations to a single labeled scan to synthesize new scans that are both realistic and accurately labeled. These newly synthesized scans are then fed into a different CNN that learns how to segment new images.

“We’re hoping this will make image segmentation more accessible in realistic situations where you don’t have a lot of training data,” says first author Amy Zhao, a graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). “In our approach, you can learn to mimic the variations in unlabeled scans to intelligently synthesize a large dataset to train your network.”

There’s interest in using the system, for instance, to help train predictive-analytics models at Massachusetts General Hospital, Zhao says, where only one or two labeled scans may exist of particularly uncommon brain conditions among child patients.

Joining Zhao on the paper are: Guha Balakrishnan, a postdoc in EECS and CSAIL; EECS professors Fredo Durand and John Guttag, and senior author Adrian Dalca, who is also a faculty member in radiology at Harvard Medical School.

The “Magic” behind the system

Although now applied to medical imaging, the system actually started as a means to synthesize training data for a smartphone app that could identify and retrieve information about cards from the popular collectable card game, “Magic: The Gathering.” Released in the early 1990s, “Magic” has more than 20,000 unique cards — with more released every few months — that players can use to build custom playing decks.

Zhao, an avid “Magic” player, wanted to develop a CNN-powered app that took a photo of any card with a smartphone camera and automatically pulled information such as price and rating from online card databases. “When I was picking out cards from a game store, I got tired of entering all their names into my phone and looking up ratings and combos,” Zhao says. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could scan them with my phone and pull up that information?”

But she realized that’s a very tough computer-vision training task. “You’d need many photos of all 20,000 cards, under all different lighting conditions and angles. No one is going to collect that dataset,” Zhao says.

Instead, Zhao trained a CNN on smaller dataset of around 200 cards, with 10 distinct photos of each card, to learn how to warp a card into various positions. It computed different lighting, angles, and reflections — for when cards are placed in plastic sleeves — to synthesized realistic warped versions of any card in the dataset. It was an exciting passion project, Zhao says: “But we realized this approach was really well-suited for medical images, because this type of warping fits really well with MRIs.”

Mind warp

Magnetic resonance images (MRIs) are composed of three-dimensional pixels, called voxels. When segmenting MRIs, experts separate and label voxel regions based on the anatomical structure containing them. The diversity of scans, caused by variations in individual brains and equipment used, poses a challenge to using machine learning to automate this process.

Some existing methods can synthesize training examples from labeled scans using “data augmentation,” which warps labeled voxels into different positions. But these methods require experts to hand-write various augmentation guidelines, and some synthesized scans look nothing like a realistic human brain, which may be detrimental to the learning process.

Instead, the researchers’ system automatically learns how to synthesize realistic scans. The researchers trained their system on 100 unlabeled scans from real patients to compute spatial transformations — anatomical correspondences from scan to scan. This generated as many “flow fields,” which model how voxels move from one scan to another. Simultaneously, it computes intensity transformations, which capture appearance variations caused by image contrast, noise, and other factors.

In generating a new scan, the system applies a random flow field to the original labeled scan, which shifts around voxels until it structurally matches a real, unlabeled scan. Then, it overlays a random intensity transformation. Finally, the system maps the labels to the new structures, by following how the voxels moved in the flow field. In the end, the synthesized scans closely resemble the real, unlabeled scans — but with accurate labels.

To test their automated segmentation accuracy, the researchers used Dice scores, which measure how well one 3-D shape fits over another, on a scale of 0 to 1. They compared their system to traditional segmentation methods — manual and automated — on 30 different brain structures across 100 held-out test scans. Large structures were comparably accurate among all the methods. But the researchers’ system outperformed all other approaches on smaller structures, such as the hippocampus, which occupies only about 0.6 percent of a brain, by volume.

“That shows that our method improves over other methods, especially as you get into the smaller structures, which can be very important in understanding disease,” Zhao says. “And we did that while only needing a single hand-labeled scan.”

In a nod to the work’s “Magic” roots, the code is publicly available on Github under the name of one of the game’s cards, “Brainstorm.”

From one brain scan, more information for medical artificial intelligence syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

[julmarey-blog]

FBlog #13

Final pitching is fast approaching and our product is still 80% finished. This week, we purchased the materials needed for the fabrication of the product. We bought a thin sheet of steel with 0.6 mm thickness. We made the casing of the sweeper using it. We chose to use thin sheet than plastic for it is much durable and easier to fabricate. It took us two days to completely finish the casing. As for the wheels and brush, we are still trying to figure it out.

The plan for the wheels we initially had did not work. The wheel’s design could not achieve its designated purpose. So the plans we made did not materialize. Now, the team is brainstorming on the alternatives we could make for our product to function properly. With this circumstances in mind we are also making our business plan and brochure at the same time. As for the business plan, all the members of the team took part in making it for us to be able to discuss the essential matters regarding our startup.

In business, plans are not followed perfectly. In business, circumstances will always be against your way. Whether it is personal, financial, manpower and many other. That is why it is always important for us entrepreneurs to be equipped with a lot of back-up plans that could carry the failed ones. It is very important in planning a business to oversee the possible drawback in the business and provide the necessary remedies. It is also important for entrepreneurs to be strong willed and collected for in business problems come unexpectedly.

[lindyhunt]

The Ultimate Guide to Decision Making

Fruit loops or cheerios? Call or email? John Wayne or Clint Eastwood? To be, or not to be? If you’re like most reasonably decisive adults, you make 35,000 conscious decisions every day. That’s a heck of a lot, but most of them are straightforward or trivial. It’s the major ones — or even a series of smaller decisions — that need some strategic thinking.

The thing is, 98% of organizations aren’t very good at decision-making.

So what’s the problem?

Sometimes it’s a case of time pressure and relying only on impulse or off-base instinct. Other times, we don’t do all the prep work needed to make a smart decision, like identifying all our options and gathering enough evidence. Too much information can be just as bad. Whatever the case, Daniel Kahneman, who studies judgment and decision-making, says we think we’re more rational than we actually are — especially when we let cognitive biases derail our thoughts.

But we know you won’t make those mistakes anymore. Because you’re about to learn the time-tested decision-making techniques that will get results.

What is decision making?

Decision making is the process of identifying the logical choice among several available alternatives. To make a good decision, you should be able to predict and evaluate possible outcomes, weigh the positives and negatives of each, and come to a final conclusion. Experts think decisions result from two types of cognitive processes: intuitive and rational.

Key Decision-Making Skills

Now for what decision-making is not: a talent. It’s a skill you can practice and improve.

Rational decision-making requires specific skills as well as subject matter expertise. For most deliberations, you need to harness:

Must-haves:

Nice-to-haves:

Best for groups:

Critical thinking

Creative thinking

Collaboration

Logical reasoning

Visualization

Communication

Data analysis

Organization

Negotiation

Risk assessment

Time management

Leadership

Helpful Decision-Making Models & Tools

As we mentioned earlier, decisions are best served part reason and part intuition. You won’t implement your decision effectively if it doesn’t feel right (we’ll leave that part up to you), but it’s important to weigh the facts. That's where practical strategies can help.

Your decision won't feel so complex if broken into manageable components, but a pros and cons list doesn’t always cut it. Here, we’ll go over three somewhat more complicated yet effective tools: the decision matrix, decision tree, and mental model.

The Decision Matrix

When you’re overwhelmed with options and variables, or you see no obvious choice out of several perfectly good ones, the decision matrix (also known as the decision-making grid or Pugh Method) works wonders.

Let’s say your company needs a CRM. You’ve shortlisted a few industry-leading solutions. Using the decision matrix, you can draw a complete, objective comparison of vendors based on the criteria most important to you, all in one neat little table.

Here’s how to make one:

List your decision options. In this case, your vendors. Arrange them in rows.

List the factors affecting your decision. What are some key considerations when choosing software? Make these your columns.

Add an extra row for weight, and an extra column for total.

Your table might look something like this:

Score each option for each factor. How well does Vendor B satisfy ease of use, for example? Work your way down each column, scoring the vendors from 0 (poor) to 5 (rockstar). Be as objective as you can.

Give each factor some weight. How important is the factor to your decision? Underneath, add a number from 0 (unimportant) to 5 (indispensable). (Not sure? Paired Comparison Analysis can help figure this out.)

For example:

Calculate your weighted scores. Multiply the scores from step 4 by the values in step 5 where they intersect. These are your weighted scores for each option/factor combination. Make them your new cell entries.

Add up the weighted scores for each option. Pick the highest.

Using our example, Vendor E triumphs:

It’s easiest to move things around and swap out figures using a Word or Excel template. You’ll find plenty of free templates and examples online, but these should get you started:

Mind Tools

Launch Excel

Designorate

The Decision Tree

A decision tree is 1) a sort of pattern used in machine learning and data mining to map out algorithms, and 2) a flowchart any organization can use to map out the costs, benefits, and probabilities of every possible outcome at multiple stages of every decision within a decision.

Don’t worry. It isn’t as complicated as it sounds. We’ll use our CRM software example to illustrate.

The tree starts with a single square, the decision node, representing the decision to be made (source the world’s best CRM). The decision node branches off into possible actions or solutions (your CRM vendors).

The next nodes depend on results. If the outcome of choosing a vendor is uncertain, its branch ends with a circle, the chance node. If the vendor brings up another decision, its branch ends with a square and starts over.

Chance nodes branch into possible outcomes of each solution. Using customer satisfaction as an example metric, you might have a branch for “good” and “poor.”

On each branch, add the probability of each outcome as a percentage. At the end of the branch, add a cash value or score based on how much the outcome is worth. Use your best guess if you don’t have hard data.

Continue to expand your tree until every line reaches an end node (a triangle), meaning you’ve considered every possible outcome and decision that could come from the original decision.

Supposing we're done with outcomes for this example, the result would look something like this:

Now you’re ready to begin calculating the value of each node. Working backward:

Calculate the value of uncertain outcomes (circles) by multiplying their cash value by their good/poor probability. Jot down the total for each vendor. For Vendor A, that would be ($800,000 x 0.6) + ($7,000 x 0.4) = $482,800.

Calculate the value of decisions (squares), first by noting the cost of each option. Subtract that cost from the value of the uncertain outcome. The result represents the benefit of the decision. Say Vendor A cost $100,000, its benefit would be $382,800.

Go for the vendor with the biggest benefit, i.e., the largest number.

Take advantage of free trials from dedicated decision tree makers like Lucidchart, SmartDraw, or Zingtree before buying a plan. On a smaller budget, you can make basic flowcharts in Word.

Mental Models

A mental model is a framework or theory about how the world works. We use mental models to guide our everyday perception and behavior, but also as tools to see problems more rationally so we can take appropriate action.

The key, since you can’t explain every problem with one worldview, is to learn (and use a combination of) as many mental models as possible.

Experts say expanding your set of mental models is the best way to improve your analytical and decision-making skills. And chances are, you’ve already used one without knowing it had a name. Common models include:

Confirmation bias: the human tendency to interpret signs in ways that confirm what we already believe.

Inversion mental model: considering outcomes you want to avoid rather than pursue.

Opportunity costs: recognizing that every choice comes at the cost of another.

The Farnam Street Latticework of Mental Models details more than 100 of these frameworks, but according to James Clear, you need only master a few dozen to become a world-class thinker. This guide explores 14 of the most common.

The Decision-Making Process

The secret to efficient decision making? A structured, step-by-step approach. Various psychologists recommend anywhere between five and seven steps (think back to high school processes like GOFER and DECIDE) to an informed conclusion. Since this is the ultimate guide, you get an eight-step mishmash of them all.

Steps for decision making

Identify a problem, opportunity, or goal. Recognize it exists and whether it’s worth addressing. Then make the conscious decision to do so. Gather information. What do you need to know to make the right decision? Seek out the data and people who can help.

Gather information. What do you need to know to make the right decision? Seek out the data and people who can help.

Consider your options. As many as you can think of. The more, the better your chances of finding one that ticks all your boxes.

Brainstorm possible outcomes. Create a pros and cons list, cost-benefit analysis, or one of the models above to understand the risks involved.

Make your choice. You’ll probably want the option with the highest chances of success.

Take action. Allocate the resources and onboard the stakeholders needed to make the magic happen.

Assess the impact. An overlooked but super important step: building a feedback loop into your decision-making process. What went well? What would work better next time?

Beware of cognitive biases. Like mental models, they’re established frameworks for how our mind works and can be effective. But they can also cloud our judgment. Discovered something new that suddenly crops up everywhere? That’s the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, and it can trick you into disregarding potential options.

Group Decision Making: How to Get a Team Involved

You can’t make every decision as an individual, of course. At some point, you’re going to need buy-in for an idea, or ideas from others.

Open discussions make great discussions, but in the wrong setting, they’re floodgates to conflicting opinions or inefficient brainstorming. The above process works well in teams, but can only go so far without using group (AKA collaborative) decision-making techniques as a basis.

You might already be familiar with a few formal approaches to group decision making, such as:

Consensus: Negotiating the decision until all group members understand and support it to some degree (not necessarily unanimously).

Voting: Making a decision by majority, by negative minority, or by ranking.

Decision by authority: Consulting the group for ideas and advice but making the final decision as an individual.

However, there’s no correct method for each team. Different situations call for different levels of participation.

Before the meeting, you have your own decisions to make. Which method will leave your team feeling best about the solution? Have you invited only the people who need to be involved? Here comes another decision tree: the Vroom-Yetton Decision Model. Based on seven qualifying questions (which, incidentally, can help determine whether you need to involve a group at all), the model will guide you to the most efficient decision-making style for your situation. 

Decision-making quotes

“Solving a problem simply means representing it so as to make the solution transparent.” – Herbert A. Simon

“In many cases, the problem isn’t about having or noticing insights; it is about acting on them.” – Gary Klein

“One of the major biases in risky decision-making is optimism. Optimism is a source of high-risk thinking.” – Daniel Kahneman

“Certainty is a cruel mindset. It hardens our minds against possibility.” – Ellen J. Langer

“Hard choices are hard not because of us or our ignorance; they're hard because there is no best option.” – Ruth Chang

“Good collective decisions require two components: deliberation and diversity of opinions.” – Mariano Sigman

“Intuition has its place in decision making … but anyone who thinks that intuition is a substitute for reason is indulging in a risky delusion.” – Eric Bonabeau

“In order for people to understand the differences between the choices, they have to be able to understand the consequences associated with each choice.” – Sheena Iyengar

“Don’t fall in love with your decisions. Everything’s fluid. You have to constantly, subtly make and adjust your decisions.” – Robert Pittman

Conclusion

By now you know that wise decisions rely on a lot more than instinct. But it’s not enough to memorize a bunch of techniques either. Hopefully, this guide has left you with a sense of what tool to apply to what problem.

A few final rules for mature and ethical decision-making:

Overconfidence is not your friend.

Don’t overthink it.  

Don't be afraid to use competitors’ experiences as benchmarks.

Always be optimizing.

And if your decision turns out to be the wrong one, you probably need to generate more information or options. Keep calm, use that feedback loop, and think of your decision more as a journey than a destination.

[designprototyping4]

Week 1

Reflection of Semester 1

Introduction to brief 

BJL Presentation 2:00pm

2nd February 2017 

Syllabus Outline:

Fundamental principles of human and computer interface design 

Introduction to paper prototyping, user journeys, thumbnail sketching

Introduction to Digital Screen prototyping 

Introduction to analogue and digital 3D Prototyping 

Fundamentals of basic Electronics and Physical Computing; 

Understanding of the development of technologies to enable interactive Design: 

Understanding of the importance of critically analysing digital products and services

Introduction to basic programming and authoring 

BJL Presentation: 

Introduction to BJL:

http://bjl.co.uk/work/

We work with brands – often challenger brands and nearly always brands in transition – to help them stand out and be successful in today’s world. Where consumers are being bombarded and both brands and budgets are under increasing pressures. 

A cluttered marketing landscape means campaigns can lack focus and therefore impact, the resultant campaigns we call ‘scattered marketing’. We believe So we’ve evolved a way of working to help brands grow, thrive and win in these conditions. We start by identifying the ‘Brand Enemy’. 

Overcome this and it’ll have the greatest impact on your brand’s success. Next comes your ‘Rally Cry’ – a simple, rousing articulation of how your brand can take on your enemy. 

Defining the Rally Cry inspires clear, purposeful ways to tell your story. It steers the way the brand behaves, makes brand experiences more meaningful and provides a filter to focus marketing efforts. More importantly, when we have that Rally Cry focus, we all pull in the same direction and great things happen.

Message: 

“Stand for something take on anything”

Dont fear, change, embrace it, dont follow, lead. The small wind creates the storms, Full stream ahead, Feed the brain 

Be proactive rather that reactive 

Attitude is key

Fail fast, fail hard 

Subaru Viziv - 7

SUBARU 

Background info: 

Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, (Presidentand CEO of Fuji Heavy Industries) Takeshi Tachimori (Chairman of the Board and CEO, Subaru of America) Thomas J. Doll, (president andCOO, Subaru of America)

In Western markets, the Subaru brand has traditionally been popular among a dedicated core of buyers. Marketing is targeted towards specific niches centered on those who desire the company's signature drive train, in particular the outdoors enthusiast and affordable sports car markets.[7]

Marketing Efforts: 

Some of the advertising slogans Subaru has used in the past include:

 "Inexpensive, and built to stay that way" (USA 1970s - early 1980s)

"The World's Favourite Four Wheel Drive" (in the UK),

"The more one thinks, the more one has the taste (or desire, impulse, drive) of driving it") in French Quebec,

"We built our reputation by building a better car"

"What to Drive"

"The Beauty of All-Wheel Drive"

"Driven by What's Inside"

"Think, Feel, Drive" 

"Love. It's what makes Subaru, a Subaru" (USA early 2010s)

"Confidence in Motion" in North America

"All 4 The Driver" in Australia, 

"Uncommon Engineering, Uncommon Stability, Uncommon Roadholding, Uncommon Sense" in the UK 

"Technology that gives you Confidence in Motion" in Southeast Asia.

As the name suggests, the Viziv-7 has room for seven passengers spread across three rows of seats. That makes sense – Fuji Heavy Industry's Corporate Executive Vice President Takeshi Tachimori did say "the next three-row from Subaru will be the biggest Subaru vehicle ever." The wheelbase is 117.7 inches long while the overall vehicle measures 204.7 inches in length. If that sounds huge, it is – the Viziv-7's has 1.7 more space between the axles and is 0.8 inches longer than a Chevrolet Tahoe, which is only 0.6 inches wider and 2.4 inches taller. This is a big Subaru. But that's all we know for certain. Subaru hasn't mentioned anything about powertrains, or when a production version will follow. Naturally, we'll try to fill in the many blanks surrounding the Viziv-7 as soon as possible.

Subaru products began to attract a following among the young and educated, who saw the car as a practical alternative to the SUV craze.

Subaru has historically been popular in the Northeastern United States as well as the Pacific Northwest. 

According to Automotive Lease Guide, Subaru ranked second place in vehicles that have the highest overall predicted resale values among all industry and all luxury vehicles for MY 2009.

The awards are derived after carefully studying segment competition, historical vehicle performance and industry trends. 

According to a study done by J.D. Power and Associates for the 2008 Customer Retention Study, Subaru ranked at 50.5%, which was above the national average of 48%.[20]

The Brief: 

The VIZIV-7 will not only be the largest SUV in the existing UK range, it'll also be the first that is available to buy as a hybrid in the UK Market.Subaru is often overlooked, missed off the consideration list when shopping for a SUV. Most people think of rally cars, But we’re more than that. 

Mercedez Benz

Toyota: 

Lexus offers virtual test drive with Oculus Rift

In October 2014, Lexus became one of the first brands to use Oculus Rift virtual reality technology to promote its new NX car model. Teaming up with agency Amaze, the campaign provides and interactive consumer buying experience using Oculus Rift (OR) technology and the new DK2 headsets.

Initial Brainstorm

[robotsprinkles]

I'm so sorry to all the smart tf fans for how busted I'm going to make Cybertronian weaponry in my fic