#multilevel modeling

[ay-chuu]

Bsd prom number 4 for dazai

Fem reader

we knitting for him

Prompt 4: "Are you knitting something for me?"

Warning: Kind of readers past ig?

Pairing: Dazai x fem!reader

Life is like knitting patterns. It reflects people's troubles, but none of them is the same as another. Even if the topic is the same as the others.

You were always an unknown sweet enigma in his eyes. When you first came to the company, Kunikida warned Dazai that you were a very quiet person. Of course, Dazai didn't wear it, and he tried all kinds of methods to make you laugh. And you, after gliding him to a quiet look, would just continue to do your job. You liked to knit. That's all Dazai found out about you that day, because all you did was knit and fill out a report.

Dazai, for some reason, likened this version of you to himself.

Perhaps it was because it was a very beautiful pattern that summed up the discussion of the personality of the person reflected by the personality of his inner voice.

Knitting your love takes effort.

Your first moment of intimacy was when Dazai tried to commit suicide. Of course, when he gets hurt, he calls everyone in the company. "Oh how wonderful for you!" To get these answers. Ironic.

But you answered. Of course, Dazai thought you wouldn't come because you hung up on him without saying anything. Until you stepped inside his bathroom.

At first, there was just a funny look between the two of you. Then you quietly asked him, "How did you manage to tie yourself to the edge of the bathtub?" you asked. He just shrugged with a smile.

After you got him out of the bathtub, you took him to his bedroom and waited for to change his clothes. Dazai wondered how you got into his house when he was changing his clothes. Were you good at door locks like him?

Oh, that's a good topic to start a conversation.

When he came out of his room and saw you knitting again in his living room, that was the first question he asked.

"How did you open the door?"

"I don't know. How long did you have to wait there to die of hypothermia?"

"15 Minutes in sufficient cold."

And then you looked at him. It was a quiet look.

"You didn't even bring it to coldness enough, did you?" And the answer surprised even Dazai himself. “Yes." When silence fell between the two of you again, Dazai sat down next to you. And you quietly took a wire buckle out of your bag and put it on his lap.

"Large wire clasps are a beautiful tool for rescuing people who are prisoners of organ mafias in underground hospitals. If you know your tactics, of course."

Dazai was sure that there was information that he would be shocked if you told him at a normal time, but in that atmosphere the atmosphere that you created he just wanted to be moderate and quiet and join you. “Yes. If the door locks are encrypted, the password will help to disassemble the device. Also in simple multilevel locks."

"Why do you want to commit suicide?"you said, stopping knitting and looking away from his eyes. You were upset. "I don't know, how do you want to live?" Dazai said, gently placing his hand on top of your hand.

You put your hand in his and turned your head to look into his eyes. "Living is… beautiful under the necessary conditions." and with a smile added. "It's nice with the right loops."

And Dazai sensed the bond that would form between the two of you while you were giggling.

Because no love is like another model of love while knitting.

The most beautiful thing to knit is to, knit for a person who is worth knitting. Becuase we always knit our feelings. Bad or good,for love or hate.

About 6 months after the two of you started hanging out more after that day, Dazai asked you out on a date. Although it's a strange phrase for a "Confession" -like 'When I'm with you, I want to live.'- it was the sweetest moment between the two of you.

Although Dazai is known for his behavior towards women, since you have understood his nature when he loves people, he has behaved differently than anyone else, let alone show you one of these behaviors.

Dazai was in love with a lot of things about you. Your mind, your feelings, those skillful hands that knits your love… and the list was getting longer.

You told him you always thought knitting was like therapy. "I weave my life, stress, sadness and love with threads." you said so.

Since you've really been thinking a lot about the new thing you're going to knit in these days. You were constantly messing with your head, as if it were a vital matter." Of course Dazai just said to you, "Let your feelings knit, my love!" even if he says -which is usually enough motivation for you to start knitting something new.- you were just thinking more. And it made Dazai curious.

And finally, you started knitting today. You were looking at a big model in front of you. When Dazai was looking at the knitted model in the book, he realized that it was a bandage. Wait- bandage?

"Are you knitting something for me?" he asked you curiously.

Looking at him with a sweet smile and a flushed cheek,you shook your head. "I'm knitting our love, my dear, your neck is very cold in winter. You'll feel better when you wrap this bandage." you said, smiling as you continued knitting.

When Dazai was standing, he felt his knees tremble and his heart quicken. "You were knitting your love". You were accepting his love. You cared about his love. Ah, Dazai is happy! Seriously!

That's why he just smiled as he quickly sat down next to you and smothered you in kisses. "Thanks, my love… I will keep this gift for the rest of my life…"

And you knew he would. Dazai didn't lie about deals. Oh, in fact, Dazai would never lie to you.

That's why when he pulled you into his lap and leaned against him, you raised your head and kissed him. While you were both enjoying the kiss, your love was knitting a new loop.

Dazai was the most worthy person to knit for your love.

#dazai osamu #bungou stray dogs #osamu dazai #dazai #dazai x reader #dazai osamu x reader #bsd x reader #osamu dazai x reader #bsd dazai x reader #dazai fluff #lmao #i sometimes question myself #by.aychu #dazai scenario #dazai prompt

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 4, 2024

Secondary motor integration as a final arbiter in sensorimotor decision-making. Balsdon, T., Verdonck, S., Loossens, T., & Philiastides, M. G. (2023). PLOS Biology, 21(7), e3002200.

Mouse frontal cortex mediates additive multisensory decisions. Coen, P., Sit, T. P. H., Wells, M. J., Carandini, M., & Harris, K. D. (2023). Neuron, 111(15), 2432-2447.e13.

Dynamic Recruitment of the Feedforward and Recurrent Mechanism for Black-White Asymmetry in the Primary Visual Cortex. Dai, W., Wang, T., Li, Y., Yang, Y., Zhang, Y., Kang, J., … Xing, D. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(31), 5668–5684.

Differential behavior-related activity of distinct hippocampal interneuron types during odor-associated spatial navigation. Forro, T., & Klausberger, T. (2023). Neuron, 111(15), 2399-2413.e5.

Time and experience differentially affect distinct aspects of hippocampal representational drift. Geva, N., Deitch, D., Rubin, A., & Ziv, Y. (2023). Neuron, 111(15), 2357-2366.e5.

Rate versus synchrony codes for cerebellar control of motor behavior. Herzfeld, D. J., Joshua, M., & Lisberger, S. G. (2023). Neuron, 111(15), 2448-2460.e6.

Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development. Hinnekens, E., Barbu-Roth, M., Do, M.-C., Berret, B., & Teulier, C. (2023). eLife, 12, e87463.

Active experience, not time, determines within-day representational drift in dorsal CA1. Khatib, D., Ratzon, A., Sellevoll, M., Barak, O., Morris, G., & Derdikman, D. (2023). Neuron, 111(15), 2348-2356.e4.

Bayesian multilevel hidden Markov models identify stable state dynamics in longitudinal recordings from macaque primary motor cortex. Kirchherr, S., Mildiner Moraga, S., Coudé, G., Bimbi, M., Ferrari, P. F., Aarts, E., & Bonaiuto, J. J. (2023). European Journal of Neuroscience, 58(3), 2787–2806.

Effects of predictive and incentive value manipulation on sign- and goal-tracking behavior. María-Ríos, C. E., Fitzpatrick, C. J., Czesak, F. N., & Morrow, J. D. (2023). Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 203, 107796.

Intrinsic rewards explain context-sensitive valuation in reinforcement learning. Molinaro, G., & Collins, A. G. E. (2023). PLOS Biology, 21(7), e3002201.

Hippocampal ensemble dynamics and memory performance are modulated by respiration during encoding. Nakamura, N. H., Furue, H., Kobayashi, K., & Oku, Y. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 4391.

Recurrent Circuits Amplify Corticofugal Signals and Drive Feedforward Inhibition in the Inferior Colliculus. Oberle, H. M., Ford, A. N., Czarny, J. E., Rogalla, M. M., & Apostolides, P. F. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(31), 5642–5655.

The Hippocampus Contributes to Temporal Discounting When Delays and Rewards Are Experienced in the Moment. Patt, V. M., Hunsberger, R., Jones, D. A., & Verfaellie, M. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(31), 5710–5722.

Overshadowing, but not relative validity, between the elements of an outcome during human associative learning. Quigley, M., & Haselgrove, M. (2023). Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 203, 107790.

Uncovering circuit mechanisms of current sinks and sources with biophysical simulations of primary visual cortex. Rimehaug, A. E., Stasik, A. J., Hagen, E., Billeh, Y. N., Siegle, J. H., Dai, K., … Arkhipov, A. (2023). eLife, 12, e87169.

Biological complexity facilitates tuning of the neuronal parameter space. Schneider, M., Bird, A. D., Gidon, A., Triesch, J., Jedlicka, P., & Cuntz, H. (2023). PLOS Computational Biology, 19(7), e1011212.

Scene Perception and Visuospatial Memory Converge at the Anterior Edge of Visually Responsive Cortex. Steel, A., Garcia, B. D., Goyal, K., Mynick, A., & Robertson, C. E. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(31), 5723–5737.

Blunted Expected Reward Value Signals in Binge Alcohol Drinkers. Tolomeo, S., Baldacchino, A., & Steele, J. D. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(31), 5685–5692.

Similar object shape representation encoded in the inferolateral occipitotemporal cortex of sighted and early blind people. Xu, Y., Vignali, L., Sigismondi, F., Crepaldi, D., Bottini, R., & Collignon, O. (2023). PLOS Biology, 21(7), e3001930.

#neuroscience #science #research #brain science #scientific publications #cognitive science #neurobiology #cognition #psychophysics #neurons #neural computation #neural networks #computational neuroscience

[covidsafehotties]

https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/4/e013018

Published April 18, 2024

Abstract

Introduction: To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality, we estimated excess all-cause mortality in 24 countries for 2020 and 2021, overall and stratified by sex and age.

Methods: Total, age-specific and sex-specific weekly all-cause mortality was collected for 2015–2021 and excess mortality for 2020 and 2021 was calculated by comparing weekly 2020 and 2021 age-standardised mortality rates against expected mortality, estimated based on historical data (2015–2019), accounting for seasonality, and long-term and short-term trends. Age-specific weekly excess mortality was similarly calculated using crude mortality rates. The association of country and pandemic-related variables with excess mortality was investigated using simple and multilevel regression models.

Results: Excess cumulative mortality for both 2020 and 2021 was found in Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Cyprus, England and Wales, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and the USA. Australia and Denmark experienced excess mortality only in 2021. Mauritius demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in all-cause mortality during both years. Weekly incidence of COVID-19 was significantly positively associated with excess mortality for both years, but the positive association was attenuated in 2021 as percentage of the population fully vaccinated increased. Stringency index of control measures was positively and negatively associated with excess mortality in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence of substantial excess mortality in most countries investigated during the first 2 years of the pandemic and suggests that COVID-19 incidence, stringency of control measures and vaccination rates interacted in determining the magnitude of excess mortality.

#mask up #covid #covid 19 #excess deaths #covid isn't over #pandemic #covid conscious #long covid #covid is airborne #wear a mask #coronavirus

[antiterf]

"Multilevel modeling showed daily experiences of discrimination and rejection, but not gender dysphoria, were positively associated with same-day acquired capability for suicide"

Its almost like the trans suicide rate is mainly caused by transphobia.

#suicide tw #suicide mention #don't get me wrong gender dysphoria contributed heavily to my suicidal thoughts pre everything and pre T #but being exposed to transphobia in ways that fucked me over did it better #and lack of transition access is due primarily to transphobia so yeah #notaterftip #not sarcasm

[anarchywoofwoof]

there are so many conspiracy theories floating around these days that you reserve every right to be skeptical of them

one conspiracy that isn’t a theory, however, is the medias united front on keeping things the way they are and who ultimately they take answers from. hint: it isn’t the taxpayer.

this is one of those “bipartisan” unicorns that politicians don’t actually talk about: everything you hear from a major media corporation has been washed clean of the truth and laid out to you in the most presentable and manufactured manner possible.

yes, i mean fox news. yes, i mean nbc. yes, i mean cbs. yes, i mean cnn, or reuters, or the associated press. yes, i mean whatever “neutral, nonpartisan” news source that you’re willing to provide.

some are certainly “more truthful” than others. however, no major media corporation in existence tells you the truth. they have admitted to such in the past. don’t want to use jeffrey epstein? too conspiracy laden? look up craig spence. look up Iran-Contra. look up “Manufacturing Consent” by Noam Chomsky. here’s an excerpt:

A propaganda model focuses on this inequality of wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass-media interests and choices. It traces the routes by which money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public. The essential ingredients of our propaganda model, or set of news "filters," fall under the following headings: (I) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms; (~) advertising as the primary income source of the mass media; (3) the reliance of the media on information provided by government, business, and "experts" funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power; (4) "flak" as a means of disciplining the media; and (5) "anticommunism" as a national religion and control mechanism. These elements interact with and reinforce one another. The raw material of news must pass through successive filters, leaving only the cleansed residue fit to print. They fix the premises of discourse and interpretation, and the definition of what is newsworthy in the first place, and they explain the basis and operations of what amount to propaganda campaigns.

everyone loves to post the garfield with “you are not immune to propaganda” meme but no one has ever bothered to read the fucking post that it was responding to.

it is not just this blatant pandering behavior. it is deeper. it is further down the rabbit hole than this. it is not just junk food peddlers and tire shops and jewelry stores and shopping malls. in a capitalist society, every the profit motive is the only persistent motivating factor for any organization with labor to exploit.

#text #bork bork thoughts #labor #media #news #anarchy #anarchism

[steve-needs-a-hug]

rb if you voted

#tumblr culture #shipping #shipping culture #marketing #statistics #tumblr stats #psychology #science #social psychology

[enterthecuttlezone]

This post got ONE LIKE, you know what that means!

Welcome to Tati, son las tres.

Sometimes I feel like Tati. She’s easily excited by mundane things, smiles dumbly like a dog. She dresses plainly in “unfashionable” clothing until the occasion demands some movie magic (admission: I only do the first part). And for Tati, “English or Spanish?” is answered with “A little of neither.” When I was unemployed, I felt like Tati way too much. All of Los Espookys (season one was all we had back then) seemed to me to BE about jobs and trying to find jobs and not knowing what you really want to do with your life and that feeling of oh my god!!! You know? And to a certain extent, it is about that.

In the very first scene of the entire show, Tico tells Renaldo he should make doing spooky stuff into his business. “All I ever wanted to do was park cars, and now I do it full-time! This spooky stuff is your parking cars,” he says. Tico has loved to park cars ever since he was a kid. He’s a prodigy at it, and now he works as a valet and the valet world adores him. In terms of his career, he’s living the dream, doing what he loves and loving doing it. And this model seems to work for Renaldo too. He takes Tico’s advice, turns his friends’ spooktastic hobby into a business, and though he’s not exactly rolling in the dough (he still lives with his parents and doesn’t seem to have any other occupation), he enjoys the experience, taking exciting gigs, spending time with his friends, and making a little bit of money while he’s at it. And he’s happy.

The character of Úrsula doesn’t fare so well. She is virtually her family’s sole breadwinner, working 9 to 5 as a dental assistant for a dentist who does not respect her. Her freedom is limited by the demands of her job and the financial circumstances of her and her sister, Tati. Because of these things, she has less time to devote to Los Espookys, gets stressed out, and suffers the disrespect of Dr. Ricky, just trying to stay afloat. Eventually, Úrsula gets to the end of her tolerance for Dr. Ricky and quits her job. But her troubles don’t end there.

In the beginning of the series, Tati is working as a fan, manually spinning the blades of an electric fan and going “woosh” to keep her employer cool. Because this is a very inefficient way to do things, Tati gets fired. Throughout the series she works and gets dismissed from a number of different odd jobs, for example, breaking in other people’s shoes, or being a “human Fitbit” who counts her client’s steps. After having a falling out with her internet boyfriend, Tati decides to “focus on herself and her career” and gets involved in a multilevel marketing company called Hierbalite (wink wink). She believes in the prosperous future Hierbalite promises so much that she spends two thousand pesos on Hierbalite products to sell from her home. This gets her and Úrsula into a bit of a financial pickle.

Although Tati seems blissfully unaware of reality much of the time— she tells her new boyfriend (who is her ex-boyfriend catfishing her for the second time) about “how stressful this amazing opportunity with Hierbalite has gotten”— she has a few moments in which she expresses very eloquently the same emotions I felt when I was floundering about sin major, sin dream and sin job. While Tati and her friend Andrés are shopping for mirrors for a Los Espookys gig, suddenly and without prompting Tati says to him:

What am I doing with my life? Horror is your passion. You all know what you’re doing with your lives, but… What am I doing? Where am I going? I can’t break in shoes. I can’t count steps. I can’t help people lose, gain, or maintain weight. I can’t keep time. I fail at everything I try. I mean, where will I be in five years? What if it rains? I don’t have those kinds of shoes.

This scene, being TV, is neatly wrapped up with Andrés telling Tati that “there are those who enjoy the journey more than the destination,” and Tati, reassured, deciding that her dream is to “be Cirque du Soleil.” We never do see Tati achieve this dream. It’s entirely possible that she forgot about it the moment after she said it. At the end of the first season Tati marries the heir to a prosperous cookie company. Her happy ending: “Now I’m a married woman! No one can fire me from this!” (Season two spoilers: Tati gets another painful gig-economy job, her husband divorces her, and she ends up back in her sister’s apartment, gigging and gigging and gigging and gigging…) Not the most comforting story for floundering me. I guess this little Tati train is just gonna have to keep on chugging.

#los espookys

[sluttynurse]

do any of you mfs know what a multilevel mixed effect model is

[morlock-holmes]

So I have a question about your Bowling Alone discussion: why do you find it hard to arrange a game night? In my experience it's because everyone I'd do it with is already busy a lot of the time! You seem to be saying that everyone is lonely but also unwilling to do fun things for... Some reason?

Okay, Anon, fine, you goaded me into doing actual work instead of just half-remembering things. I hope you’re happy.

The following quotes and screenshots are taken from Bowling Alone chapter 6: Informal Social Connections:

“The bad news is that we are [connecting with each other] less and less every year. Consider some of the startling evidence of change over the last quarter century. In the mid- to late 1970s, according to the DDB Needham Life Style archive, the average American entertained friends at home about fourteen to fifteen times a year. By the late 1990s that figure had fallen to eight times a year, a decline of 45 percent in barely two decades. An entirely independent series of surveys from the Roper Social and Political Trends archive confirms both going out to see friends and having them over to our home declined from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s (See figure 18 for details.) Yet a third archive (that of Yankelovich Partners) reports a decline of nearly one-third between 1985-86 and 1998-99 in the readiness of the average American to make new Friends.”

Then we are referred to Footnote 15, Page 458, which says

“15. The top half of figure 18 is based on DDB Needham Life Style data; the bottom half is based on Roper Social and Political Trends data. Because sampling and wording differ between these two archives, the two halves of figure 18 are not directly comparable, but the fact that two such different archives show similar declines in social visiting is all the more significant. DDB Needham Life Stye surveys also show that dinner parties (given or attended) declined from 7.1 per year in the mid-1970s to 3.7 in the late 1990s. Yankelovich Partners Inc. report that that agreement that “I have very little room in my life for new friends these days” rose from 23 percent in 1985-86 to 32 percent in 1998-99… Mediamark Research annual surveys show a drop of one-fifth between the early 1980s and the late 1990s in the frequency of “entertaining friends or relatives at home.” Finally, eight times between 1938 and 1990 Gallup pollsters asked about one’s “favorite way of spending an evening.” Over the whole period “dancing” and “playing cards and games” dropped sharply, and after the 1970s “visiting with friends” and “dining out” also dropped. “Watching TV” and “home with family” rose over this period, suggesting a cocooning pattern consistent with the Roper and DDB Needham data. On the other hand, because of changes in wording, I am less confident about the Gallup trends. (See George Gallup Jr., The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion [Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1986] 104, 130.) According to the General Social Survey, the frequency of spending a social evening with “friends who live outside the neightborhood” more than once a month rose from 40 percent in 1974-76 to 44 percent in 1994-96. Of the six national survey archives that I have discovered with trend data on friendship over the last several decades, this is the only series that does not show significant decline. (Unlike other measures of friendship, this GSS metric is also inexplicably more common among men than women.) See also Robert J. Sampson, “Local Friendship Ties and Community Attachment in Mass Society: A Multilevel Systemic Model,” American Sociological Review 53 (October 1988): 776-779; Fischer, To Dwell Among Friends; Claude S. Fischer, Robert M. Jackson, et al., Networks and Places: Social Relations in the Urban Setting (New York: Free Press, 1977)."

Bolding mine.

Putnam, in Bowling Alone, doesn't address the niche hobby of RPG game playing, but as you can see some of the data he looked at was collected in a way that would be expected to measure time spent on games in general.

There's a left-wing and particularly rat-adj narrative where "atomization" is good, because it represents the triumph of chosen pursuits and chosen friendships over coercive groups such as the church.

But the data Putnam collected shows a decline even in purely voluntary social pursuits. He doesn't see massive increases in the prevalence of dinners with friends, time spent in gaming groups, etc, but rather a decrease in the prevalence of these pursuits.

And I get frustrated because the response is just blanket denial. @self-loving-vampire has sort of responded with "I feel like I do this a lot, which means that there can't be a downward trend."

It's like if I said, I don't know, cable subscription rates were down and a bunch of people said, "But I still have cable!"

Like... Who cares? I didn't say that nobody has cable, I said that rates were declining.

And denial doesn't come with different polling data, it's just a blanket denial. There must be a constant upwards trend in positive, voluntary social engagement because...

I really don't know why; I have yet to be offered any reason why the positive things that "Atomization" is supposed to bring must be actually increasing, there's simply this emphatic, committed declaration that it must be so.

It must be true that found families and voluntary connections have been getting stronger and more prevalent over the last half-century.

Why though? Why must it be true and how would you explain data which seems to suggest exactly the opposite? If we value these kinds of voluntary, found connection for their emotional and material benefits, then shouldn't we want to look at actual data about whether they are really increasing in prevalence and power? Shouldn't we be concerned about data that says that they aren't?

#bowling alone #discourse #friendship #atomization

[howdytherepardner]

The Conundrum of Change

is not a phrase that describes the change taking place. It instead articulates a conundrum - not a puzzle, but the puzzling. How one engages with a particular shifting of tides, whether embracing the erosion or building faulted levies, will probably follow their efforts to solve that puzzle - come to some understanding that gives them an operating theory aligned with their ethics. Occasionally, it may transform that feeling of ethics. But I’ve found myself trying to broach more on whether those are just feelings of transformation, self-satisfaction of anesthetic sort. How to disentangle personal temporal disillusionment from more urgent material truths...

~

Briefly, it may be relevant to note that Jens Lekman’s Night Falls Over Kortedala is no longer available for “legitimate” consumption. Despite my frequent consumption of his work and my reasonably longstanding enjoyment of that record in particular, I did not strive to purchase it before it was taken off of streaming services in March of 2022.

It took me off guard, but didn’t surprise me. His first LP release, 2004′s When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog, had some limited sampling (permission granted for “A Higher Power”), but Lekman took strong inspiration from groups like The Avalanches. Oh You’re So Silent Jens, a compilation album of 3 EPs from 2003-2004, had tracks a lot more liberal with existing works and a little more conservative with getting permissions released. It’s been commercially unavailable since 2011, 6 years before I became acquainted with Lekman via Life Will See You Now.

But this post? Blog? Tangent? Thought? isn’t a comprehensive history of the work of Jens Lekman. For some decent dives, I’d recommend This, This, or as always, Wikipedia.

~

(X) Hazy windows have impacted NJ Transit's newest trains, which were built between 2006 and 2012. The opaque windows aboard the multilevel rail cars make it difficult for riders to locate their stops, especially if they have trouble hearing the train's announcer. Ali Maher, the director of Rutgers CAIT and a professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, said the New Jersey Department of Transportation contracted his research team to study the issue. While window haze may not pose significant dangers, Maher said it does impact the riders' commuting experience."It's just not pleasant when you are sitting in the train, and you cannot see outside. Part of riding a train, and the experience you want to have, is to be able to sit, relax and observe the view," he said.

I was like many (most?) for a while, under an impression that the obscured views of the NJ take on the NEC was something that could simply be cleaned or cleared. My bad! Still, what a silly thing that the newest models have the windows degrading fastest. A lot of rides back in college felt like an annoyance, but one in July 2023 on the upper level was a blur akin to cataracts. There was a window across the aisle had an okay right eye, but it was too late to move - I could only stare longingly through for a glimpse of the garden state swimming by.

~

I have not sought to listen to the many YouTube uploads of the original Kortedala. I do enjoy the remastered and not illegal versions of the tracks on The Linden Trees Are Still In Blossom, also the newly added like the eponymous single. But it is peculiar, the tracks especially changed by the loss of samples. “Sipping On The Sweet Nectar” is a skeleton slightly askew, but with an instrumental break that feels so lacking from the original’s intensity. “Kanske Är Jag Kär i Dig” has to rebuild a hook from scratch, which makes the new track a bit more dynamic, intentional than maybe more of the standard pop in the original. I feel that some of the changes are for the musical better and worse, but that is only how I’m experiencing them. 

My conundrum to manage. For a long time I pushed off listening to Linden Trees, to add those songs to playlists while their unplayable, slightly transparent ghosts hung around on older ones. At a time that was based on a belief that they would someday be restored. But I never tried to find the versions elsewhere, and only pursued one recommendation of a fan animation. It is an arbitrary fervency I feel in sticking with the new release, something that feels almost kin to a religious commitment. What within myself would I be indulging, to try and revive that which is dead?

~

Glasses landed in the package room early January, 2021. Later in my life than the rest of the family, but necessary regardless. It was a peculiar thing, to go back to places known with a vision clearer, but more focused. I feel my gaze could not capture things with the same broadness that I once had.

But that summer brought me to a new place and new spaces. Something that I couldn’t focus in on until I understood it more wholly (perhaps a false framework). But that wholeness came with some kind of detail in a new way. The glasses accounted for a near-sightedness that I believe was intensely exacerbated by screen-based nature of 2020, and a restored-farness was perfect for experiencing the desert, etc for the first time. Vast expanses between places, that defined space.

I love the (US)American southwest. Pinus ponderosa is so brilliant to me, as are other things. While a hint of blurriness is an inherent part of my truth to certain lecture halls and dimly-lit spaces of my early college years, every crevice in a plateau is such a vital component of its enormity.

~

The Cherry Trees Are Still In Blossom does not hold a conundrum for me. Despite the changes that those songs have seen over years, the versions present there are the only versions I know. And they move me like how Lekman always can - with a clear voice, sincere words, and strong dedication to craft.

The first time I ever wrote anything about any music, after all, was writing about “How Can I Tell Him” for an assignment long ago (discussion on musical depictions of non-traditional masculinity, juxtaposed with “Predatory Wasp of the Palisades”). 

You’ll never be moved by the same thing for the first time, but you can forget how minute the context can be to make any repeated experience feel just as strong.

~

I guess you’ll have a lot of time without change. Look inward - see how that confounds you.

[nickgerlich]

Party Like It’s 1946

“You’ll get old someday…if you live long enough.”



Those were the words my mother repeated often when I was growing up. Well, I have lived long enough, and I guess I can say I’m getting old. But along with that “getting old” has been the opportunity to have witnessed many things, some bizarre.



Like the Tupperware parties that Mom would sometimes host in our house. I’m pretty sure it was the lure of a nice gift that was promised by her friend the Tupperware lady, whose job it was to make sure there were plenty of parties going on to sell their extensive line of plastic containers. And the Tupperware lady earned her income, if you will, just like everyone else involved in multilevel marketing gimmicks.

Dad, my brother, and I wisely left the house. This was no place for the males of the species to be hanging out. And given that it was the 60s, the women were all dressed up as if they were going to church. On a weeknight. As a result of the thousands of Tupperware parties hosted across not just the US, but also around the world, I venture to say there was not a kitchen anywhere that didn’t have at least a few of those rugged containers hiding in cabinets. Their signature “burping” method sent the signal that food would be safe in these air-tight containers.

It was a great idea for the time. Invented in 1938, and finally trotted out to market in 1946, Earl Tupper promised to both solve all of our food storage problems, as well as provide income opportunity for women. Some might say it was exploitation, but women bought it nonetheless. For many decades, the brand was only available through those individuals who were recognized as distributors.

It truly was genius, because group psychology takes over once the party starts. Every woman invited to the party felt the implicit pressure to buy at least one item. Some bought into the model hook, line, and sinker, and became distributors in their own right. The distributor earned a commission on every item sold, and Mom got a free bowl. Oh boy.

A funny thing happened, though, and Mr. Tupper’s invention started losing its relevance over time. Women entered the workforce, and the business model of Tupperware parties faded fast. The company tried selling through Target a couple of decades ago, but that flopped. They had also tried their hand at e-commerce in 1999, but this too fell flat.

Today, the company is teetering on closing, its stock having shed 90% of its value in the last year, and 50% yesterday. The company had forged a new relationship with Target, but, simply put, sales are no longer what they once were. Not even close.

The problems are multiple. The brand is dogged by its dowdy image. For younger women today, this is the stuff your grandmother used. And never mind that the notion of housewives is antiquated. 

Then there’s all the competitors. When Mr. Tupper was busy building his business, there was little competition. Today, though, there are scores of other plastic storage containers available, and often at far lower prices.

But just like the Girl Scouts whom were slow to embrace the modern era and start selling cookies online, Tupperware clung to their old business model long after it was practically dead. Who has the time or desire to host a household party to sell containers? At its worst, the model was mansplaining to women how they too could make money. But women have risen above that, and do not need to be humored.

I suspect that, barring a miracle cash infusion, we will be reading of Tupperware’s demise very soon. It was a nice run, but when your strategic thinking remains mired in methods that are generations removed from reality, one can only expect the worst. And just like my mother would have said, they lived long enough to get old.

It’s just that they failed to learn much of anything along the way.

Dr “This May Be Their Last Burp“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Tupperware #women #parties

[tastydregs]

The US Air Force Is Moving Fast on AI-Piloted Fighter Jets

On the morning of December 1, 2022, a modified F-16 fighter jet codenamed VISTA X-62A took off from Edwards Air Force Base, roughly 60 miles north of Los Angeles. Over the course of a short test flight, the VISTA engaged in advanced fighter maneuver drills, including simulated aerial dogfights, before landing successfully back at base. While this may sound like business as usual for the US’s premier pilot training school—or like scenes lifted straight from Top Gun: Maverick—it was not a fighter pilot at the controls but, for the first time on a tactical aircraft, a sophisticated AI.

Overseen by the US Department of Defense, VISTA X-62A undertook 12 AI-led test flights between December 1 and 16, totaling more than 17 hours of autonomous flight time. The breakthrough comes as part of a drive by the United States Air Force Vanguard to develop unmanned combat aerial vehicles. Initiated in 2019, the Skyborg program will continue testing through 2023, with hopes of developing a working prototype by the end of the year. 

The VISTA program is a crucial first step toward these goals, M. Christopher Cotting, director of research at USAF Test Pilot School, explains. “This approach, combined with focused testing on new vehicle systems as they are produced, will rapidly mature autonomy for uncrewed platforms and allow us to deliver tactically relevant capability to our warfighter,” he says. 

With Ukraine’s use of semiautonomous drones, the US military’s first autonomous flight of a Black Hawk helicopter last November, and the successful testing of AI algorithms in US U-2 spy planes in 2020, it’s clear that autonomous combat represents the next front in modern warfare. But just how completely will AI take over our skies, and what does it mean for the human pilots left on the ground?

The VISTA X-62A (short for Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft) has always been ahead of its time. Built in the 1980s and based on an F-16D Block 30 Peace Marble Il, the plane previously held the designation NF-16D and became the US Airforce Test Pilot School’s go-to simulation machine in the early 1990s. A versatile and adaptable training tool boasting open systems architecture, the VISTA can be fitted with software that allows it to mimic the performance characteristics of multiple aircraft, from heavy bombers to ultra-light fighter jets. 

Prior to last year’s autonomous flight tests, the VISTA received a much-needed update in the form of a “model following algorithm” (MFA) and a “system for autonomous control of the simulation” (SACS) from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. Combined with the VISTA Simulation System from defense and aerospace company Calspan Corporation, these updates facilitated an emphasis on autonomy and AI integration. 

Utilizing General Dynamics’s Enterprise-wide Open Systems Architecture (E-OSA) to power the Enterprise Mission Computer version 2 (EMC2, or Einstein Box), the SACS system also integrates advanced sensors, a set of Getac tablet displays in both cockpits, and multilevel security features, all of which enhance VISTA’s capabilities, including its rapid-prototyping advantage, which allows for speedy software updates to meet the accelerating pace of AI development.

[education30and40blog]

[PDF] The emerging AI divide in the United States

See on Scoop.it - Education 2.0 & 3.0

The digital divide describes disparities in access to and usage of digital tooling between social and economic groups. Emerging GAI tools, which strongly affect productivity, could magnify the impact of these divides. However, the affordability, multi-modality, and multilingual capabilities of these tools could also make them more accessible to diverse users in comparison with previous forms of digital tooling. In this study, we characterize spatial differences in U.S. residents’ knowledge of a new generative AI tool, ChatGPT, through an analysis of state- and county-level search query data. In the first six months after the tool’s release, we observe the highest rates of users searching for ChatGPT in West Coast states and persistently low rates of search in Appalachian and Gulf states. Counties with the highest rates of search are relatively more urbanized and have proportionally more educated, more economically advantaged, and more Asian residents in comparison with other counties or with the U.S. average. In multilevel models adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic factors as well as industry makeup, education is the strongest positive predictor of rates of search for generative AI tooling. Although generative AI technologies may be novel, early differences in uptake appear to be following familiar paths of digital marginalization.

[gamboneroyce]

Get Herbalife Sponsor ID

You should know some things if you are interested in Herbalife. Herbalife, a global nutrition company, offers a unique opportunity for people who want to market their products and earn a profit. The company has a variety of compensation plans based on the level of membership. You can either start at the highest level, the most basic distributor, or move up to the success builder level or supervisor level, which pays higher commissions.

Contact a Herbalife distributor to find out more about the company's history and products. This person can also help you determine which Herbalife membership option is the best for your needs and goals.

In addition to networking with other Herbalife distributors, you can use social media to promote your business. LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to use because it allows you to create a professional profile that highlights your accomplishments and skills. You can also join different groups on the platform that are associated with Herbalife business, entrepreneurship, and work-from home opportunities. Sharing useful photos and content on your Pinterest page can help you attract potential leads.

You will be asked to choose a sponsor and HerbalifeID herbahelp when you sign up as an Herbalife member. Your Herbalife ID should be between 8 and 10 numbers long and contain the initial three letters of your sponsor's surname. To complete your registration, you'll also have to give the country where you reside and your home address. After you have registered you will be provided with the Member Pack, which contains the items and tools you require to begin your Herbalife journey.

If you choose to become a Herbalife independent Distributor, you will be able to purchase products at a discounted price for personal consumption or resales, and earn money through retail profit as well as commissions and bonuses. Herbalife also provides a comprehensive training program and support to help you build your Herbalife business.

Herbalife has a strong reputation in the world of nutrition and offers a variety of products. The multilevel marketing model allows anyone to become an Herbalife distributor with only a small investment and effort. The company also offers a solid money-back guarantee for its products. Before investing in any MLM it is essential to be aware of the risks. In the case of Herbalife, the company is under scrutiny by various regulators and has been the subject of a number of lawsuits. In one instance, the United States Federal Trade Commission ordered Herbalife to reimburse hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchase made by consumers. Herbalife was ordered to pay more than $100 million in another instance of misleading advertising practices. Despite these challenges the company continues to grow rapidly. The company operates in 90 countries and employs more than 40,000 people worldwide.

[emiliorick]

How To Get A Sponsor ID For Herbalife

You must be aware of some things if you are interested in Herbalife. The first is that Herbalife is a global nutritional company that offers an opportunity for individuals to market their products and make a profit. The company also offers a variety of different compensation plans depending on the level at which you want to join. You can start at the level of senior consultant, which is the simplest distributor level, or you can join at the succeed builder or supervisor levels which will pay higher commissions on sales.

Contact a Herbalife distributor to learn more about the company and products. They can also help you determine which Herbalife membership option is right for your goals and needs.

You can also use social media for marketing your business in addition to networking with Herbalife distributors. LinkedIn is a powerful tool since it lets you to create a professional profile which highlights your expertise and achievements. You can also join different groups on the platform that are associated with Herbalife as well as entrepreneurship and work-from home opportunities. Posting herbahelp helpful content and lifestyle pictures on your Pinterest page can also help you attract potential leads.

You will be asked to choose a sponsor and HerbalifeID when you sign up to become a Herbalife member. Your Herbalife ID should be between 8 and 10 numbers long, and should include the first three letters of your sponsor's surname. To complete your registration, you will also need to provide the country of residence and your home address. After you've signed up, you will receive the Member Pack, which contains the items and tools you require to start your Herbalife journey.

If you decide to become an Independent Distributor, you can purchase products at a discounted price to use for personal consumption or selling them on. You can also earn income from commissions, retail profits and bonuses. Herbalife also offers a comprehensive training program and support to help you develop your Herbalife business.

Herbalife has a strong reputation in the nutrition industry and provides a wide array of products. The multilevel marketing model allows anyone to become an effective Herbalife distributor with minimal investment and a lot of work. The company provides a money-back guarantee on its products. It is nevertheless important to be aware of the risks that come with any MLM company prior to making a decision to invest. Herbalife is under scrutiny by regulators and has been sued several times. In one instance, the United States Federal Trade Commission ordered Herbalife to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of purchase made by consumers. Herbalife has been ordered to pay damages of more than $100,000,000 in another case for misleading advertising practices. Despite these challenges Herbalife continues to grow rapidly. The company is currently operating in 90 countries around the world and employs more than 40000 employees across the globe.

[arcillalosinger]

Get Herbalife Sponsor ID

You should know some things if you are interested in Herbalife. Herbalife, a global nutrition company, offers a unique opportunity for people who want to market their products and earn a profit. The company has a variety of compensation plans based on the level of membership. You can either start at the highest level, the most basic distributor, or move up to the success builder level or supervisor level, which pays higher commissions.

Contact a Herbalife distributor to find out more about the company's history and products. This person can also help you determine which Herbalife membership option is the best for your needs and goals.

In addition to networking with other Herbalife distributors, you can use social media to promote your business. LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to use because it allows you to create a professional profile that highlights your accomplishments and skills. You can also join different groups on the platform that are associated with Herbalife business, entrepreneurship, and work-from home opportunities. Sharing useful photos and content on your Pinterest page can help you attract potential leads.

You will be asked to choose a sponsor and HerbalifeID herbahelp when you sign up as an Herbalife member. Your Herbalife ID should be between 8 and 10 numbers long and contain the initial three letters of your sponsor's surname. To complete your registration, you'll also have to give the country where you reside and your home address. After you have registered you will be provided with the Member Pack, which contains the items and tools you require to begin your Herbalife journey.

If you choose to become a Herbalife independent Distributor, you will be able to purchase products at a discounted price for personal consumption or resales, and earn money through retail profit as well as commissions and bonuses. Herbalife also provides a comprehensive training program and support to help you build your Herbalife business.

Herbalife has a strong reputation in the world of nutrition and offers a variety of products. The multilevel marketing model allows anyone to become an Herbalife distributor with only a small investment and effort. The company also offers a solid money-back guarantee for its products. Before investing in any MLM it is essential to be aware of the risks. In the case of Herbalife, the company is under scrutiny by various regulators and has been the subject of a number of lawsuits. In one instance, the United States Federal Trade Commission ordered Herbalife to reimburse hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchase made by consumers. Herbalife was ordered to pay more than $100 million in another instance of misleading advertising practices. Despite these challenges the company continues to grow rapidly. The company operates in 90 countries and employs more than 40,000 people worldwide.