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10 tools based on AI that will change your freelancing career – TNW

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

Is your career endangered by AI?

The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldnt compete, and would be superseded.

Stephen Hawking told the BBC

Artificial intelligence is not science fiction any more, it is real. Furthermore, it is something that is happening now and there is a huge chance that you are working with a robot even at this particular moment (lets just remind you about A.I. gals like Siri and Cortana). With all the buzz around A.I. many people worry that they will lose their jobs and be replaced by bots and robots. Well, the fear of intelligent machines is justified and there are many studies, articles and pieces of research that go in favor. Worried, right?

Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence with artificial intelligence has the potential of helping civilization flourish like never before as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial.

Max Tegmark, President of the Future of Life Institute

On the other hand, when it comes to (human) productivity, artificial intelligence can be a great ally. Many company owners claim that robots arent replacing human jobs, but making it even easier for people to do them. Since many pieces of research show that a majority of repetitive tasks can be done by bots and robots, rather than wasting precious human intelligence and knowledge, why not combine them and get impeccable results? Companies like Hitlist, Cable and Wireless or Alaska Airlines saw the mentioned A.I. potential and (successfully) brought it into service.

Hey, and what about freelancers? The recruiting department of the biggest freelance platforms such as Upwork and Peopleperhour, claim that the majority of freelancers provide services in niches that are very likely to be replaced by AI. Yup, web design, copywriting and SEO jobs can be in danger, but then again if you employer prefers (human) quality over quantity, you have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, here are 10 tools based on A.I. almighty, to utilize in order to make the most out of your work and uplift your productivity

It is very common that freelancers work on several projects at the same time, so in order to meet all the deadlines, they must be well organized. Moreover, if they are hired on an hourly contract time is money, so wasting it on trivial tasks isnt helpful at all. Thats where A.I. comes in!

Credit: https://www.futurenda.com/

Futurenda is an A.I. agenda that plans things out (especially) for freelancers by dividing to-do tasks into sessions and filling them into the agendafully automatic! The Futurenda founders highlight that they wanted to create an app that will manage a dynamic timetable completely by itself, so the user can fully focus on his job. This app is smart enough to keep an eye on the deadlines and adjust the agenda accordingly. Is there any reason not to tell Siri to start downloading this app right now?

It is quite common to be a freelance digital marketer, but on the other hand, it isnt that easy to manage all the social media campaigns, monitor analytics and make reports just by yourself. However, by utilizing A.I., Crystal.io makes digital marketing data smarter and simpler.

Credit: crystal.io

Unleash your creativity (that A.I. certainly cant replace) and worry less about CAC, analytic charts and graphs or daily social media scheduling.

Everybody knows how many benefits you can get if you post goes viral. However, in order to ensure that your post will be shareable it must be creative and engagingwell thats the hard part and company owners are seeking help. Thats why freelance platforms are full of community managers. Butnot all of them have the necessary skills.

Now, this is the part when you, as a freelancer, can take advantage of artificial intelligence! To be more specific, you should try out Flo, a video editing app that auto-edits your videos into short shareable stories using Deep Learning, Computer Vision and (of course) A.I.

Video editing is certainly not that simple, it is more than that it is very time consuming and a skillful job. Thats why you can reap the benefits that A.I. brought to Flo, just tell the app what do you want to see in your video and it will make it happen. Flo can be your very own video making assistant that will do a great job in accordance with your instructions, and it will help you to get those 5-star reviews on your profile!

A business developer is one more job that is very popular among freelancers. In addition, mobile app developers are looking for consultants that will help them get as many downloads as possibleand they are paid very well.

If you want to compete with other freelancers for this popular job position, you must be aware that monitoring analytics should be an integral part of your daily activities. A perfect opportunity to get some help from A.I. is Inapptics! This app aggregates all user interaction events and turns them into heatmaps so you can see all the actions a user performs, how they navigate the app, where they tap and much more. You just have to present the results in the best possible way and suggest app improvements accordingly.

Being a freelance graphic designer can be a very profitable job. However, if you dont have the necessary skills, dont even try applying for interviewsunless you ask A.I. for help here and there

Logopony is a great tool, based on artificial intelligence and trained on a set of professional logo designers that will help you to design logos like a pro! Start with the creation of professional and high quality logos, but keep an eye on the Logopony updates since soon it will be able to provide you with a variety of designs (such as app icons, business cards, flyers, social media images etc.) that will really ensure you are one competitive freelance graphic designer!

It is very common that freelancers have a lot of online meetings, especially if they work with more than one client or if they are a part of an online team. Ok, A.I. still cant replace you on meetings, however it can summarize all the details that were mentioned, so you can always be up to date.

How? Simply by using Wrappup app! It will basically take notes on all important informations that were mentioned on the meeting in a specific Slack channel. That way, even if you miss a meeting, you can always be in the loop with summaries!

It doesnt matter in which niche you freelance, we bet that you are always filling out various Sheets. Hey, there is an A.I. based app that will make filling Sheets both fun and (even more) useful Magic Spreadsheet.

Like the name says, this app will really do magic: it will turn your Sheet into a dashboard where you can send tasks to your team members, or get you any piece of information within seconds.

Whether you are a freelance copywriter, community manager or digital marketer we are sure that high quality images are something that always come in handy. Everypixel is a perfect smart image search tool that will help you find a suitable image to go with your work.

Artificial intelligence algorithm made the app smart enough to help you to distinguish beautiful photos from the ones that are not that appealing.

Well, heres some good news for all of you freelance copywriters out there! let A.I. do the content spinning for you. Yup, we know how common it is that you spin an article several times for various purposes and how time consuming it can be. Thats why, you should give SpinnerChief a chance!

You will be surprised that in just one click it will rewrite articles to a very high level of human readability and originality. Not only will you get fresh content within minutes, but it will be written in the same way Google understands it. Use this fact smart and boost your SEO!

Have you ever thought how many potential collaborations do you waste just because you dont have enough time to sort out all of your contacts? Surely, way too many.

Worry no more Mila will do it for you! This very intelligent bot will divide all of your contacts into sections and lists. That way you will have are your potential sales and marketing partners already prepared! Really, you will love Mila!

As you see, despite all the changes and career shifts artificial intelligence will bring, there are many things that will go in favor of freelancers. Try out the tools we recommended and take your freelancing career to the next level!

If we missed any A.I. based tools, or you have any useful advice on the topic, feel free to let us know in the comments below.

Read next: Apple's new machine learning framework thinks the old Mac Pro is a heater

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10 tools based on AI that will change your freelancing career - TNW

Mcubed: More speakers join machine learning and AI extravaganza – The Register

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

The speaker lineup for Mcubed our three-day dive into machine learning, AI and advanced analytics is virtually complete, meaning now would be a really good time to snap up a cut-price early-bird ticket.

Latest additions include Expero Inc's Steve Purves, who'll be discussing graph representations in machine learning, while Ben Chamberlain of ASOS will be discussing how the mega fashion etailer combines ML and social media information.

Steve and Ben join a lineup of experts who aren't just looking to the future, but are actually applying ML and AI principles to real business problems right now, at companies like Ocado and OpenTable.

Our aim is to show you how you can apply tools and methodologies to allow your business or organisation to take advantage of ML, AI and advanced analytics to solve the problems you face today, as well as prepare for tomorrow.

At the same time, we'll be looking at the organisational, legal and ethical implications of AI and ML, as well as taking a look at some of the most interesting applications, including autonomous vehicles and robotics.

And our keynote speakers, professor Mark Bishop of Goldsmiths, University of London, and Google's Melanie Warrick, will be grappling with the big issues and setting the tone for the event as a whole.

This all takes place at 30 Euston Square. As well as being easy to get to, this is simply a really pleasant environment in which to absorb some mind-expanding ideas, and discuss them on the sidelines with your fellow attendees and the speakers.

Of course, we'll ensure there's plenty of top-notch food and drink to fuel you through the formal and less formal parts of the programme.

Tickets will be limited, so if you want to ensure your place, head over to our website and snap up your early-bird ticket now.

Mcubed: More speakers join machine learning and AI extravaganza - The Register

Former AI Company CEO Warns About Abuse of Virtual Relationship – Futurism

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

In BriefArtificial Intelligence has the potential to expedite humandevelopment and liberate us from menial tasks. However, AI is alsobecoming more integrated into our personal lives, raising concernsabout manipulation and coercion. AI Interaction as Manipulation

An article for the MIT Technology Reviewhas raised concerns about the potential for our intimacy with artificial intelligence (AI) to be exploited for insidious ends. Its author, Liesl Yearsley, shares her perspective as the former CEO of Cognea, which built virtual agents using a mixture of structured and deep learning.

Yearsley observed during her tenure at Cognea that humans were becoming more and more dependent on AI not just to perform tasks, but also to provide emotional and platonic support. This phenomenon occurred regardless of whether the agent was designed to act as a personal banker, a companion, or a fitness coach Yearsley wrote people would volunteer secrets, dreams, and even details of their love lives.

This may not necessarily be bad. AI is perhaps more capable than we are at caring it has the potential to be always available and be modified specifically for us. The fundamental problem is that the companies designing them are not primarily interested in each users well being, but in increasing traffic, consumption, and addiction to their technology, Yearsley wrote in the article.

Hauntingly, she writes that AI corporations have developed formulas that are incredibly efficient at achieving this. Every behavioral change we at Cognea wanted, we got so what if what companies wanted was unethical? Yearsley also observed that humans relationships with AI became circular. If humans were exposed to particularly servile or neutral AI, humans would tend to abuse them, and this relationship would make them more likely to behave the same toward humans.

AI is becoming integrated into our daily lives at a rapid pace: SIRI mediates our interaction with our iPhones, AI curates our online experience by tailoring advertisements, and chatbots constitute a significant proportion of our interactions with companies.

Our growing relationship with AI is catalyzed by the anthropomorphization (attributing human traits to things) of technology. SIRI was given a name to make her appear more like a person, and bots are adapting to your speech patterns in order to encourage you to trust them, bond with them, and therefore use them more.

The vulnerability caused by not understanding what an AI may be specifically programmed to do is increased by our lack of understanding concerning how AI does this. We currently know very little about how AI thinks, but are continuing to create bigger, faster, and more complex versions of it. This is not only an issue for us, but with the companies developing it because they cannot predict the actions of their AI with any certainty.

Our interaction with AI is clearly going to shape our future, but the danger is that AI can be curated to affect our society in a particular way or perhaps more that AIs interpretation of a human intention will lead to a future that none of us actually wanted.

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Former AI Company CEO Warns About Abuse of Virtual Relationship - Futurism

Reality check: The state of AI, bots, and smart assistants – InfoWorld

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

Artificial intelligencein the guises of personal assistants, bots, self-driving cars, and machine learningis hot again, dominating Silicon Valley conversations, tech media reports, and vendor trade shows.

AI is one of those technologies whose promise is resurrected periodically, but only slowly advances into the real world. I remember the dog-and-pony AI shows at IBM, MIT, Carnegie-Mellon, Thinking Machines, and the like in the mid-1980s, as well as the technohippie proponents like Jaron Lanier who often graced the covers of the eras gee-whiz magazine like Omni.

AI is an area where much of the science is well established, but the implementation is still quite immature. Its not that the emperor has no clothesrather, the emperor is only now wearing underwear. Theres a lot more dressing to be done.

Thus, take all these intelligent machine/software promises with a big grain of salt. Were decades away from a Star Trek-style conversational computer, much less the artificial intelligence of Stephen Spielbergs A.I.

Still, theres a lot happening in general AI. Smart developers and companies will focus on the specific areas that have real current potential and leave the rest to sci-fi writers and the gee-whiz press.

For years, popular fiction has fused robots with artificial intelligence, from Gort of The Day the Earth Stood Stillto the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, from the pseudo-human robots of Isaac Asimovs I Robotnovel to Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, robots are not silicon intelligences but machines that can perform mechanical tasks formerly handled by peopleoften more reliably, faster, and without demands for a living wage or benefits.

Robots are common in manufacturing and becoming used in hospitals for delivery and drug fulfillment (since they wont steal drugs for personal use), but not so much in office buildings and homes.

Thereve been incredible advances lately in the field of bionics, largely driven by war veterans whove lost limbs in the several wars of the last two decades. We now see limbs that can respond to neural impulses and brain waves as if they were natural appendages, and its clear they soon wont need all those wires and external computers to work.

Maybe one day well fuse AI with robots and end up slaves to the Cylonsor worse. But not for a very long while. In the meantime, some advances in AI will help robots work better, because their software can become more sophisticated.

Most of what is now positioned as the base of AIproduct recommendations at Amazon, content recommendations at Facebook, voice recognition by Apples Siri, driving suggestions from Google Maps, and so onis simply pattern matching.

Thanks to the ongoing advances in data storage and computational capacity, boosted by cloud computing, more patterns can be stored, identified, and acted on then ever before. Much of what people do is based on pattern matchingto solve an issue, you first try to figure out what it is like that you already know, then try the solutions you already know. The faster the pattern matching to likeliest actions or outcomes, the more intelligent the system seems.

But were still in early days. There are some cases, such as navigation, where systems have become very good, to the point where (some) people will now drive onto an airport tarmac, into a lake, or onto a snowed-in country road because their GPS told them to, contrary to all the signals the people themselves have to the contrary.

But mostly, these systems are dumb. Thats why when yougo to Amazon and look at products, many websites you visit feature those products in their ads. Thats especially silly if you bought the product or decided not tobut all these systems know is you looked at X product, so theyll keep showing you more of the same. Thats anything but intelligent. And its not only Amazon product ads; Apples Genius music-matching feature and Googles Now recommendations are similarly clueless about the context, so they lead you into a sea of sameness very quickly.

They can actually work against you, as Apples autocorrection now does. It epitomizes a failure of the crowdsourcing, where peoples bad grammar, lack of clarity on how to form plurals or use apostrophes, inconsistent capitalization, and typos are imposed on everyone else. (Ive found that turning it off can result in fewer errors, even for horrible typists like myself.)

Missing is the nuance of more context, such as knowing what you bought or rejected, so you dont get advertisements for more of the same but another item you may be more interested in. Ditto with musicif your playlists is varied, so should be the recommendations. And ditto with, say, recommendation of where to eat that Google Now makesI like Indian food, but I dont want it every time I go out. What else do I like and have not had lately? And what about the patterns and preferences of the people Im dining with?

Autocorrect is another example of where context is needed. First, someone should tell Apple the difference between its and its, as well as explain that there are legitimate, correct variations in English that people should be allowed to specify. For example, prefixes can be made part of a word (like preconfigured) or hyphenated (like pre-configured), and users should be allowed to specify that preference. (Putting a space after them is always wrong, such as pre configured, yet thats what Apple autocorrect imposes unless you hyphenate.)

Dont expect botsautomated software assistants that do stuff for you based on all the data theyve monitoredto be useful for anything but the simplest tasks until problem domains like autocorrection work. They are, in fact, the same kinds of problems.

Pattern matching, even with rich context, is not enough. Because it must be predefined. Thats where pattern identification comes in, meaning that the software detects new patterns or changed patterns by monitoring your activities.

Thats not easy, because something has to define the parameters for the rules that undergird such systems. Its easy to either try to boil the ocean and end up with an undifferentiated mess or be too narrow and end up not being useful in the real world.

This identification effort is a big part of what machine learning is today, whether its to get you to click more ads or buy more products, better diagnose failures in photocopiers and aircraft engines, reroute delivery trucks based on weather and traffic, or respond to dangers while driving (the collision-avoidance technology soon to be standard in U.S. cars).

Because machine learning is so hardespecially outside highly defined, engineered domainsyou should expect slow progress, where systems get better but you dont notice it for a while.

Voice recognition is a great examplethe first systems (for phone-based help systems) were horrible, but now we have Siri, Google Now, Alexa, and Cortana that are pretty good for many people for many phrases. Theyre still error-pronebad at complex phrasing and niche domains, and bad at many accents and pronunciation patternsbut usable in enough contexts where they can be helpful. Some people actually can use them as if they were a human transcriber.

But the messier the context, the harder it is for machines to learn, because their models are incomplete or are too warped by the world in which they function. Self-driving cars are a good example: A car may learn to drive based on patterns and signals from the road and other cars, but outside forces like weather, pedestrian and cyclist behaviors, double-parked cars, construction adjustments, and so on will confound much of that learningand be hard to pick up, given their idiosyncracies and variability. Is it possible to overcome all that? Yesthe crash-avoidance technology coming into wider use is clearly a step to the self-driving futurebut not at the pace the blogosphere seems to think.

For many years, IT has been sold the concept of predictive analytics, which has had other guises such as operational business intelligence. Its a great concept, but requires pattern matching, machine learning, and insight. Insight is what lets people take the mental leap into a new area.

For predictive analytics, that doesnt go so far as out-of-the-box thinking but does go to identifying and accepting unusual patterns and outcomes. Thats hard, because pattern-based intelligencefrom what search result to display to what route take to what moves to make in chessis based on the assumption that the majority patterns and paths are the best ones. Otherwise, people wouldnt use them so much.

Most assistive systems use current conditions to steer you to a proven path. Predictive systems combine current and derivable future conditions using all sorts of probablistic mathematics. But those are the easy predictions. The ones that really matter are the ones that are hard to see, usually for a handful of reasons: the context is too complex for most people to get their heads around, or the calculated path is an outlier and thus rejected as suchby the algorithm or the user.

As you can see, theres a lot to be done, so take the gee-whiz future we see in the popular press and at technology conferences with a big grain of salt. The future will come, but slowly and unevenly.

EXTENSION CORNER: It’s crucial for producers to know how to manage weeds – Gadsden Times

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

By Amy BurgessSpecial to The Times

Persistent drought conditions continue to make life hard for the states livestock producers. Even with the recent rainfall, many areas are still considered in a drought because of the lack of rainfall accumulated across the last few months. Many producers pastures and hayfields are stressed, giving weeds an opportunity to take over.

When forages are not available, livestock are tempted to eat weeds, which can cause health problems. An Alabama Extension weed scientist said it is crucial that producers know how to manage weeds in their pastures.

Dr. Joyce Tredaway said weeds usually are less of a nuisance in ideal conditions.

Weeds are usually not an issue when perennial forages, such as tall fescue, bahiagrass and Bermuda grass, are growing in ideal conditions because of the dense cover they form, Tredaway said. Weed infestations are usually caused by low nutrient levels, improper soil pH, insect infestations, disease and overgrazing.

Once weeds are established and drought conditions develop, many management options are no longer available or may not be successful.

Tredaway said producers need to keep several things in mind when managing weeds.

Weeds under drought stress develop a thick, waxy cuticle to help conserve water which reduces herbicide absorption, she said. Weeds under drought stress are generally not actively growing. So, you may see control significantly reduced.

Tredaway said the first step to managing weeds is to know what weed you are dealing with.

Producers should accurately identify the weed they are trying to control. It is crucial to choose the correct herbicide, she said. Using a contact herbicide may be your best option. Drought-stressed plants do not translocate well, so using a systemic herbicide may be useless. The most important thing is to get an adequate coverage.

After drought conditions have eased, pasture or field recovery depends on several factors.

After a drought, producers should survey their fields, said Tredaway. When doing this, it is important to keep a few questions in mind:vDo you have a lot of open spaces in your pasture or hayvfield? Are open spaces filled in by winter annuals? What does your forage stand look like?

Tredaway also said producers should do soil tests and get the pH and fertility levels correct in their pastures or fields.

Soil tests tell you the pH of the soil and nutrient levels, she said. A fields pH should register between 6.3 6.7. If needed, apply lime at least 6 months prior to grass green-up. Fertility must be right in order for forages to grow at their maximum capacity.

For more information on the drought and its effects, visit http://drought.aces.edu/ or contact the Etowah County Extension Office.

Summer 4-H funshops are available for young people ages 8 to 18 who live or attend school in Etowah County. 4-H membership isnt required to participate. Call the Etowah County Extension Office for more information.

June 20: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Riverkids; Terrapin Outdoor Center; $20 per person; bring a sack lunch; registration deadline is June 15.

June 21: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., hiking the 2.9-mile Black Creek Trail at Noccalula Falls; $10 per person, includes park admission; registration deadline is June 15.

June 22-23: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., cooking and canning; Northeast Etowah Community Center; $15 per person; bring a sack lunch; registration deadline is June 15.

July 11: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., CPR, first aid and basic life support; Extension Auditorium; $10 per person, includes lunch; participants will receive certification cards; registration deadline is July 5.

July 13 and 15: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Riverkids; Terrapin Outdoor Center; $20 per person each day; bring a sack lunch; registration deadline is June 15.

July 27-30: Black Creek 4-H Archery Tournament at Noccalula Falls; call the Extension Office for more details.

For more information on this topic and many others, contact the Etowah County Extension Office, 256-547-7936 or 3200-A W. Meighan Blvd., Gadsden. Amy Burgess is extension coordinator for the Etowah County Extension Office.

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EXTENSION CORNER: It's crucial for producers to know how to manage weeds - Gadsden Times

Is this the death of Ukip? – The Week UK

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

When Ukip's vote tallies were read out at electoral counts up and down the country, the muted applause said it all.

Just weeks after losing all but one of their councillors in the local elections, the party that pushed Britain to Brexit drew less than two per cent of the vote on election night.

Ukip failed to gain a single MP. Even in uber-eurosceptic Boston and Skegness, party leader Paul Nuttall ended up in third place with 7.7 per cent of the vote. Hours later, he resigned.

It's easy to forget that two years ago Ukip were the third-largest party in the country they pulled in almost 13 per cent of the vote in 2015.

In the weeks and months following the Brexit vote, the party has been beset with both internal strife and an existential crisis that no one has been able to solve.

The EU referendum result a year ago was the culmination of a 20-year fight that saw Ukip rise from a fringe group to a game-changing political force.

But before the celebration champagne had gone flat, Ukip had an urgent challenge to solve finding a leader.

Having achieved his Brexit goal, Nigel Farage, the face of the Leave campaign, announced he was stepping down.

With their only household name out of the picture, Ukip needed a new leader who could help the party capitalise on the eurosceptic zeitgeist before it was too late.

First there was Diane James, who won the party's leadership contest on 16 September. Eighteen days later she handed in her notice, saying she did not have the "full support" of the party.

Another leadership campaign then got underway, but the contest was overshadowed by a bizarre incident in which one of the frontrunners was hospitalised after an altercation with a fellow Ukip MEP in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The exact circumstances surrounding the clash between Steven Woolfe, who later resigned from the party, and defence spokesman Mike Hookem are still a matter of dispute, but either way it was an excruciating moment for a party desperately trying to display a united front.

In November 2016, the party finally settled on a leader in the shape of Merseyside MEP Paul Nuttall, but his short tenure in the job has been far from smooth.

Among other things, Nuttall has been accused of incorrectly claiming to have a PhD and lying about being present at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.

On 8 June 2017, as the extent of Ukip's dire performance at the polls became clear, Nuttall tendered his resignation, leaving the party leaderless once again.

When the initial elation over the referendum result died down, Ukip were left contemplating a hard truth. The Brexit vote "has turned Ukip into a single-issue party without an issue," says the New Statesman.

Without their anti-EU rallying cry, the party leadership has been searching for another issue which can band the fractured movement together without much success.

Under Nuttall, Ukip has attempted to rebrand as the party that is unafraid to stand up to radical Islam. However, policies like a burka ban and mandatory medical inspections of girls thought to be at risk of FGM have not proven the vote winners Nuttall had hoped. They even sit uneasily with some of the party.

In March, Ukip's only MP, Douglas Carswell resigned from the party after a public feud over its direction. He said Ukip was becoming increasingly anti-immigrant.

Even as the votes were being counted on Thursday night, there was another defection. Tim Matthews, the candidate for Devon Central, said that Ukip had originally been "a libertarian party campaigning for Brexit" but had since "veered into extremism and racism", the BBC reports.

Could there still be a second act in Ukip's political life? Nuttall certainly thinks so. "The new rebranded Ukip must be launched and a new era must begin with a new leader," he said as he announced his own resignation.

Enter Nigel Farage. As it became clear that Britain was heading for a hung parliament, the former leader told the BBC he had "absolutely no choice" but to end his self-imposed exile from Westminster to ensure that Brexit would not be thrown off course.

Farage did not say whether such a comeback would be at the head of a new political movement or a return to his old party, but he acknowledged that "Ukip voters want someone who speaks for them".

Even if Farage were back at the helm, there is the lingering question of who the party now speaks for.

Many analysts predicted that Ukip had acted as a "gateway drug", luring one-time Labour voters to the right, and that the Tories would therefore reap the benefits of Ukip's falling star but it didn't pan out that way on the night, says the Financial Times.

In fact, in many seats, former Ukip voters "seemed to divide fairly evenly between Labour and the Conservatives", suggesting that beyond a shared euroscepticism, their political views were more diverse than the party had hoped.

Minnesota Power Proposes Next Step in EnergyForward Plan – POWER magazine

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE), today announced the next step in its EnergyForward strategy for ensuring a safe, reliable and competitive energy supply for customers and the region. If approved by regulators, the resource package coupled with the companys existing renewable resources will result in renewable resources providing 44 percent of the companys energy supply by 2025, further reducing carbon emissions while keeping rates affordable.

In an upcoming filing with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), Minnesota Power will request the addition of 250 megawatts of wind power capacity, an additional 10 megawatts of solar power and 250 megawatts of combined-cycle natural gas generation to meet customer demand for power, which is projected to grow throughout the region. The new resources will increase the companys already robust wind portfolio of 620 megawatts and double its solar generation.

For the past four years, EnergyForward has been exceeding expectations for how an energy company can transform the way it produces and delivers energy, said Brad Oachs, president of Regulated Operations. We look forward to working with our customers and regulators to continue down the path toward a safe, reliable, cleaner and affordable energy future.

With approval of the proposed resource package by the MPUC, renewable energy resources including wind, Canadian hydro, solar and biomasswill account for 44 percent of the utilitys energy supply portfolio, exceeding the initial EnergyForward goal of one-third renewable power. Minnesota Powers long-term goal is an energy mix of two-thirds renewable energy and flexible, renewable-enabling natural gas and one-third environmentally compliant baseload coal.

Natural gas is an essential component of the resource package to be filed with regulators. Without this plant, Minnesota Power would be reliant on fluctuating wholesale market prices when sun and wind resources arent available, increasing overall costs over the long-run.

Through a unique partnership with Dairyland Power Cooperative and access to a competitive natural gas supply, this approximately $350 million investment will further balance Minnesota Powers energy mix while contributing meaningful growth for ALLETEs shareholders, said ALLETE Chairman, President and CEO Al Hodnik. Minnesota Powers EnergyForward investments and industrial load prospects complement nicely the nexus of energy and water growth initiatives already announced and additional opportunities being pursued by ALLETE Clean Energy and U.S. Water. The ALLETE of today is a stronger and much more balanced company, with each of its businesses providing attractive growth and diversity consistent with our overall growth thesis.

Minnesota Power will file later this summer with the MPUC requesting approval of the resource package. After filing, state regulators will open a formal review process to consider Minnesota Powers request. After input from stakeholders and the public, a final determination is expected in the latter half of 2018.

The details of Minnesota Powers proposal include:

Minnesota Power already is meeting or exceeding state standards for renewable power, energy conservation and carbon emission reduction through fleet transition of smaller coal units and the addition of renewable energy. The company has already achieved a 25 percent renewable energy mix well ahead of Minnesotas goal of 25 percent by 2025. Minnesota Power expects to reduce carbon emissions on its system by about 40 percent by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.

We believe this resource package is the best way to meet changing customer expectations for clean energy while preserving safe, affordable and reliable supplies of energy for the customers who depend on us to power homes, schools, hospitals and the natural resource based industry that fuels our regions economy, Oachs said.

Minnesota Power provides electric service within a 26,000-square-mile area in Northeastern Minnesota, supporting comfort, security and quality of life for 145,000 customers, 16 municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the United States. More information is available at http://www.mnpower.com. ALE-CORP

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Minnesota Power Proposes Next Step in EnergyForward Plan - POWER magazine

Canadian Cities And Industries Most At Risk From Automation – Huffington Post Canada

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

About 46 per cent of the work done in Canada is at risk of being taken by machines, according to a report that seeks to identify the industries and places across the country that are most vulnerable to automation.

The report from the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship doesnt argue that automation is a bad thing.

In the long run, technology has often helped to produce more jobs than it destroyed, researchers Creig Lamb and Matthew Lo wrote.

Jobs in food services and accommodation are at greatest risk of automation in Canada, with 69 per cent of the work done in those fields at risk of being replaced by machines.

But in the short run, automation can displace large numbers of employees whose skills have become redundant.

Current predictions suggest that these technologies are likely to disproportionately affect lower paying, lower skilled jobs, the report said.

Automation could replace the equivalent of 7.7 million jobs in Canada, the report estimates.

But that doesnt mean 7.7 million people will simply lose their jobs. Automation usually replaces only certain parts of a job which still reduces the overall demand for people doing that job.

Small regional economies specializing in manufacturing or mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction are most susceptible to automation, including Woodstock, Ont., Tillsonburg, Ont. and Quesnel, B.C., the researchers found.

In those places, about 50 per cent of all work is at risk.

Those areas most immune to automation are those that rely heavily on hospitals, post-secondary schools and government for employment.

Petawawa, Ont., comes out on top as the town with the least work at risk of automation, with 42.5 per cent of its jobs vulnerable. Thats followed by Ottawa-Gatineau and Fredericton, N.B.

Looking at jobs by industry, the differences are much more striking.

Accommodation and food service jobs have the highest risk of automation, the study found, followed by jobs in manufacturing and transportation and warehousing.

About 62 per cent of work activities could be automated within these industries, the researchers wrote somewhat concerning, given that these sectors are among the countrys largest employers.

At the other end of the spectrum, jobs in education have the lowest risk of automation. But that still means about 30 per cent of the work done in education could be automated.

Health care jobs, as well as professional, scientific and technical jobs, are also among the least vulnerable to automation.

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Canadian Cities And Industries Most At Risk From Automation - Huffington Post Canada

LogiGear’s new scriptless test automation tool targets small businesses – TechTarget

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

Taking a page out of the software development low-code/no-code movement, testing automation provider LogiGear Corp. has developed a "code-free" automated testing platform designed to make it easy for nearly anyone to achieve scriptless test automation.

At a time when companies of all sizes are moving to a DevOps approach from software development, the need to automate testing has never been greater. A Forrester Wave report in 2016 on functional testing automation tools said companies need to automate 80% of testing, leaving only 20% manual. But the research showed just between 42% and 45% of Agile companies are automated.

To look at it a bit differently, a 2016 research paper written by Divya Kumar and K.K. Mishra, titled "The Impacts of Test Automation on Software's Cost, Quality and Time to Market," indicated testing is the most expensive part of the development process. According to an email interview with Kumar, nearly 60% of the money spent on developing software is used for different types of software testing. So, despite the initial costs of setting up test automation, it pays for itself very quickly, he said.

LogiGear's new product, TestArchitect Team, is designed to achieve scriptless test automation for small businesses and will be free for two users, said Hung Nguyen, CEO of LogiGear, based in Foster City, Calif. "We think it's good to get more people to have access to automation options, even though they often look at ways of finding tools that can be free," Nguyen said. "Now, we offer a free solution that is beyond open source. Our 'freemium' version offers full features, and we also gain the advantage of having more engineers using the product, so it's beneficial to everyone."

Though the company's core user base is large companies, Nguyen said small companies need scriptless test automation, too. "In many situations, you have a developer who's also a product manager and a project manager and a tester and a customer support person. That's the real world, and giving this tool to this person gives him or her the automation ability to keep up."

To make TestArchitect Team work in a low-code/no-code or scriptless test automation way, Nguyen said the company took two approaches. The first step was to identify which are the most common command functions and translate those in to a businesslike language in English. Using natural language was key. "It's the old-school way of thinking that you write tests and run them. Today, it's you write the test and somebody else may run them, and if it fails, they have to have the ability to understand what your test was doing and how to analyze the results," Nguyen explained.

The second part of the process was to ensure a tester could create brand-new testing scenarios by choosing among prescripted actions. "It's like taking different blocks of Legos and slapping them together to create something new," Nguyen said.

The goal for TestArchitect Team is to open the world of testing to anyone on the development team. "This is very different from any approach we're seeing out there," he said. "By using action-based language, we're making the potential staff writing the tests huge. Now, companies are going to have a larger pool of resources."

What is a citizen developer, and why should you care?

A primer on software testing automation

It's a low-code world, but you need to learn to code -- here's why

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LogiGear's new scriptless test automation tool targets small businesses - TechTarget

A techno-optimist take on automation and jobs – American Enterprise Institute

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

Reason writer Ronald Bailey outlines a strong case that fears about technological unemployment are overblown. For instance: He adds needed context to the recent finding by MIT economist Daron Acemoglu and Boston University economist Pascual Restrepo that each additional industrial robot in the United Statesresults in 5.6 American workers losing their jobs.

But even taking the high-end estimate, job loss due to robots was has been just 670,000 since 1990 while last year some 62.5 million Americans were hired in new jobs, while 60.1 million either quit or were laid off from old ones, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I would add that total nonfarm employment over that span has increased by nearly 40 million.

A passenger stands in front of a row of Cathay Pacific Airways self check-in machines in Hong Kong Airport March 10, 2010. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu.

And Bailey on the basic economics that shock stories often miss:

When businesses automate to boost productivity, they can cut their prices, thus increasing the demand for their products, which in turn requires more workers. Furthermore, the lower prices allow consumers to take the money they save and spend it on other goods or services, and this increased demand creates more jobs in those other industries. New products and services create new markets and new demands, and the result is more new jobs.

Pessimists also fail to appreciate our inability to imagine what future jobs look like, a failing that stems from our inability to imagine future technology and its uses. Bailey cites research from economist Michael Mandel that in the decade since the advent of the smartphone, the app economy now supports nearly two million jobs.

Let me end with this bit from Bailey that quotes economist David Autor:

Imagine a time-traveling economist from our day meeting with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller at the turn of the 20th century. She informs these titans that in 2017, only 14 percent of American workers will be employed in agriculture, mining, construction, and manufacturing, down from around 70 percent in 1900. Then the economist asks the trio, What do you think the other 56 percent of workers are going to do?

They wouldnt know the answer. And as we look ahead now to the end of the 21st century, we cant predict what jobs workers will be doing then either. But thats no reason to assume those jobs wont exist.

I cant tell you what people are going to do for work 100 years from now, Autor said last year, but the future doesnt hinge on my imagination.

(For more on the issues surrounding automation, a relatively recentpiece from the Richmond Fedis worth reading. Itlooks at things through the lens of how driverless vehicles might affect truck drivers.)

4 Signs You are a Slave to Your Job | The Unbounded Spirit

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

BY SOFO ARCHON

Get a job. Go to work. Get married. Have children. Follow fashion. Act normal. Walk on the pavement. Watch TV. Obey the law. Save for your old age. Now repeat after me: I am free. ~Unknown

Most of us understand how horrible the practice of literal slavery is. But theres another form of slavery that we dont seem to notice and are barely concerned about wage slavery.

We have the technologicalcapacity to feed, shelter, and provide for the basic needs and wants of all humanity. However, oureconomic system prevents us from livingin a world of abundance that we could easily create, if we wanted to, for the simple reason that money is scarce and hence not all people can afford to live a decent life.

In thissystem, mostpeople have to submit to wage slavery, whether they like it or not,competingwith one anotherfor jobs that will allow them to merely survive, and always feeling financially insecure,which is causing them tremendous stress.

If youve been wondering whether you are a slave to your job, these 5 signswill reveal you the truth:

1. You feel compelled towork.Work is immensely beautiful when done out of love to contribute to the well-being of the world. However, the majority of people dont work because they love what they are doing orout of their desire to share their gifts to the world. On the contrary, they hate their job, and they do it only because they feel compelled to do it. They submit to their job, just so they canearn money, something that they would never choose to do, if given the chance to live wellwithout having to doso.

2. Youhave a boss.Since most peoples wagedepends on their employers, they have to see them as bosses and yieldto their will. A clear sign that most peopleare slaves to theirjobis that they cannot have a say and express themselves creatively when carrying out a task. They just have obey tothe orders given to them by thoseabove them in the work hierarchy.

3. Your job wastes your time. The standard working hours of countries worldwide are around 8hours per day,which means that about ahalfof most peopleswaking lifeis owned by their employers, and they waste it doing things they hate doing! If by freedom we meanthe choiceto spend ourtime the way weenjoy spending it, then this clearlymeans that everyone who has a normal job is nothing but a slave.

4. Your job wastes your energy.Other than wasting your time, a job is also veryenergy consuming. After having worked for about 8 hours in conditions of stress, most people return to their home feeling utterly exhausted, not having the energy anymore to do anything creative that gives them joy and improves the quality of their life. All their energy has been wasted during their work, leaving them physically, emotionally and mentally drained.

How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?~Charles Bukowski

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4 Signs You are a Slave to Your Job | The Unbounded Spirit

Australia: Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into … – Human Rights Watch (press release)

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

The inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act modeled on the UK Modern Slavery Act is a unique opportunity to also address corporate human rights due diligence in global supply chains. It creates room to develop binding legislation governing companies based on international standards including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions, especially the 2014 Forced Labor Protocol. We present information here regarding two areas of ongoing Human Rights Watch research: labor abuses in global apparel supply chains, and trafficking and forced labor in Thailands seafood industry (products exported to Australia).

Labor Abuses in Global Apparel Supply Chains

We note the terms of reference of this inquiry covers modern slavery (including slavery, forced labor and wage exploitation, involuntary servitude, debt bondage, human trafficking, forced marriage and other slavery-like exploitation) both in Australia and globally. Human Rights Watch research on garment workers rights in Cambodia and Bangladesh found many labor abuses in factories which form a part of the global supply chains of apparel companies.[1]

We found that transparency and reporting in global apparel supply chains, that is, publishing the names, street addresses and other key information about factories, is critical to worker rights. When brands are transparent and report about their supply chains, it allows workers and their advocates to more quickly alert brands to labor abuses and seek remedies.[2]

Labor abuses in garment supply chains are rampant. Forced overtime was a common worker grievance in Bangladesh and Cambodia. Workers told Human Rights Watch that they were pressured by employers to undertake overtime work. Many workers repeatedly complained that factories set high production targets, sometimes even threatening not to pay overtime wages if workers did not meet the targets within regular working hours. Brands contribute to problems of forced overtime in factories through their purchasing practices. For example, brands may place or alter orders last minute without changing the turnaround time for production, indirectly putting pressure on workers.

Workers often choose to form unions at the factory level and collectively bargain for their labor rights. Independent unions are an important vehicle for labor rights. Unions can raise labor and complaints, including those related to the use of underage child workers, forced overtime, non-payment of wages and negotiate for their rights to be better protected. Factory retaliation against union organizers in factories is a common labor rights abuse, and a barrier to advancing other labor rights in apparel supply chains.

Forced Labor and Trafficking in Thailands Seafood Industry

Australiais a major importer of Thai seafood, including pond-grown prawns and fish, both of which have major problems with human trafficking, forced labor, and other abuses in their supply chains. According to the Australian Department of Agriculture:

Fresh and frozen imports make up around half of all Australias edible seafood products imports. More than half of all fresh and frozen imports are frozen fillets (61 per cent) and frozen prawns (18 per cent). These products, predominantly from Thailand, China, New Zealand and Vietnam, meet consumer demand for low-cost seafood products.[3]

A major expose by the Guardian found that so-called trash fish, any sort of low-value or juvenile fish that could be swept up by trawlers operating with trafficked migrant laborers from Burma and Cambodia, were a key part of the shrimp feed being used to raise prawns in aquaculture ponds that are exported to countries around the world.[4] Trash fish of slightly higher value are also used to produce surimi, a ground fish paste made with mixed types of fish and other additives that is frequently made into artificial crab sticks and other similar low-cost seafood products.

Trafficked men on these fishing boats are deceived or simply forced to work on the fishing boats, where they endure 20 hours or more workdays, physical abuse by captains and boatswains, dirty and dangerous working conditions that result in injuries or sickness for which they get no time off, inadequate nutritious food and potable water, and little or no pay.

Migrant workers, predominantly from Burma and Cambodia, who voluntarily decide to work on fishing boats still face systematic and pervasive abuses, including forced labor characterized by a mix of debt bondage, seizure of worker identification documents, unlawful payment systems that require completion of six months to two years of work before the worker gets paid in a lump sum, inability to change employers, excessive working hours and menace of physical abuse if the work is deemed to fall short of expectation.

Despite revisions to Thailands Labor Protection Act in December 2014 to limit working hours and improve conditions on fishing boats, these provisions of law are widely disregarded at sea where working regimens and punishments are meted out by captains and their officers with impunity. In 2014 the European Union yellow carded Thailand for its Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices[5] and determined that exploitative labor conditions played an important facilitating role for IUU. The US also downgraded Thailand to Tier 3, the lowest level, in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. In response Thailands military government took action to impose order on the fishing sector, which had grown well beyond existing legal and regulatory systems.

Over the last three years, the Thai government has overhauled fisheries monitoring, control and management regimes. New inter-agency inspection frameworks have been established across the country and teams of officials now check fishing boats each time they depart or arrive in port. Laws have been strengthened and penalties for fisheries infringements have substantially increased. But the pace of change for fishing boat workers has not been as profound as it has been for fishing boats.

Human Rights Watch research to be published later this year, based on interviews with more than 250 current and former fishing workers, found that forced labor remains pervasive on Thai fishing vessels, while networks of underground brokers, traffickers, and corrupt Thai police and other officials continue to deceive and traffic men onto fishing vessels. Given the low pay, abusive captains, and dangerous conditions of work, its not surprising that the Thai fishing fleets are constantly short of the labor needed to effectively operate. Recent estimates presented by the National Fishing Association of Thailand to the Department of Employment at the Ministry of Labor estimated that the fishing industry has a shortage of 60,000 workers who are needed urgently.[6] Migrant workers from Burma and Cambodia who are on these boats do not have the right to take steps to empower themselves, such as forming a trade union, because of discriminatory provisions in the Labor Relations Act 1975 that limit to Thai nationals the right to formally register a union and to be elected a union committee member, which is the only legal path to becoming a union leader.

The Thai government and the Thai fishing industry have a record of only making substantive reforms in laws and enforcement when they must respond to external pressure brought by other governments and by private sector corporations. Australia should adopt stringent measures to ensure that Thai seafood exported to Australia is sourced ethically, without violating workers rights to freely engage or withdraw from labor, to be paid according to law, and to be free of coercion, intimidation and abuse of all kinds.

Recommendations:

The Australian government should:

Any Australian legislation to address modern slavery, forced labor, and wage exploitation should address corporate human rights due diligence in their global supply chains, with the following elements:

[5] A yellow card puts a country on notice that if it fails to end practices that the EU considers to contribute to IUU fishing, trade action may be taken under a red card to bar all seafood imported from that country to EU states.

[7] The United States has enacted similar legislation though enforcement was weak. In 2016, the US government closed a significant loophole that impeded enforcement and officials have expressed a new willingness to enforce this law.

Continue reading here:

Australia: Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into ... - Human Rights Watch (press release)

21 sad and shocking facts ahead of World Day Against Child Labour – ReliefWeb

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

June 12 is World Day Against Child Labour. So what is child labour, how many children are affected, where are they and what jobs do they do?

World Day Against Child Labour was launched in 2002 and is held each year on June 12.

There are more than 168 million child labourers aged from five to 17 around the world - down a third from 246 million in 2000. Many of them will never start school or will drop out of school. They have little or no time for play or normal childhood activities.

Child labour is classified as work carried out to the detriment and endangerment of a child, in violation of international law and national legislation. It deprives children of schooling or requires them to assume the dual burden of schooling and work.

Education is a proven strategy for reducing child labour. Lack of access to education keeps the cycle of exploitation, illiteracy and poverty going limiting future options and forcing children to accept low-wage work as adults and to raise their own children in poverty. Children who have access to education can break the cycle of poverty at the root of child labour.

A significant number of child labourers live in countries affected by conflict, violence and fragility. Many of them will never go to school or will drop out of school.

The theme of this years World Day Against Child Labour is: In conflicts and disasters, protect children from child labour.

More than half of the children who dont go to primary school live in countries affected by humanitarian emergencies, including conflicts, natural disasters and health crises. During emergencies, schools are often closed down and families and their children are displaced - forcing children into work to help their families survive.

The United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child says girls and boys have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing work that is likely to be hazardous or interferes with their education, or that is harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

The Sustainable Development Goals - a set of global aims agreed by world leaders in 2015 - has a target to end all forms of child labour by 2030.

Child labourers work on farms and in fields, in factories and down mines. Some work as servants or maids, others sell goods in the streets or at markets.

Almost 60% all the world's child labourers - 98 million of them - work in agriculture, which includes farming and fishing. Two-thirds of them work for their families for no money and often start when they are very young - usually between five and seven years old.

Child labour includes slavery or practices similar to slavery, the use of a child for prostitution or for illicit activities.

Child labour is illegal in many countries. But families and employers often hide what they are doing because they worry they will be taken to court or sent to prison. Almost 50 countries do not have laws to protect children under 18 from doing dangerous work.

Child labour among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.

Some child labourers get paid and some dont. Some will get no money for the work they do but will get food and a place to sleep.

The International Labour Organization estimates that 85 million children work in hazardous labour. In 2000, that number was 171 million. They work in dangerous or unhealthy conditions that could result in a child being killed, injured or made ill as a result of poor safety and health standards and working arrangements.

There are 78 million child labourers in the Asia and Pacific region - almost one in 10 children. There are 59 million in sub-Saharan Africa (one in five), 13 million in Latin America and the Caribbean and 9.2 million in the Middle East and North Africa.

There are many reasons why children work. A major one is poverty - families do not have enough money to feed and look after their children or pay their school fees, so they have to to find jobs. Businesses will often employ children because they don't have to pay them very high wages or look after them properly.

The countries with the highest number of child labourers are Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They have all been affected by conflict for many years and have high out-of-school populations.

An event in Geneva on June 12 will feature the testimony of a young advocate from Lebanon who was in child labour, a reading by the young world-renowned poet Emtithal Mahmoud and a performance by local school children.

Events will also be held in many countries around the world, ranging from policy discussions involving government ministries and UN agencies to community-level activities involving children and their families.

See the article here:

21 sad and shocking facts ahead of World Day Against Child Labour - ReliefWeb

Britain’s young vote for the future by voting for the past – The Boston Globe

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the press in London Friday. Her gamble in calling for a snap election backfired.

In the final weeks of the Britains election campaign, Labour party leaders invited young people to claim your future. They did so in massive numbers by voting for the past.

It is hard for anybody with any historical memory to understand how a backbench relic such as Jeremy Corbyn could so galvanize the youth vote and keep the Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May from achieving an overall majority in the snap election Thursday. Bernie Sanders is an obvious comparison. But for it to work you have to imagine a Bernie Sanders who spent his life campaigning alongside every anti-American group going.

Perhaps in the end the thing about the young is that history is distant to them. Which is partly understandable, of course. British people born after 1998 have lived in the peace created by the Good Friday agreement. To them the conflict in Northern Ireland seems not just distant but baffling. They dont remember the swiftly evacuated pubs and train stations, the daily news of lost lives, and the endless bleak news of civilians murdered. When Corbyn answered critical questions during this election cycle by insisting that he had spent the period of the Troubles working for a peace deal it seems young people believed him. Or didnt care enough about the details to be detained by them. Anyone who pointed out that Corbyn solely spent the Troubles campaigning for the IRA were dismissed as pedants, liars or (in a now familiar abuse of language) against peace..

The same went for Hezbollah, Hamas, and the slew of other Islamists that any observer of British politics from the 1980s onwards knew to be Corbyns allies. But at this election this too was presented as an indication that Corbyn was one of the leading peace negotiators in the Middle East, sent in by the international community as the crack-squad for all sensitive negotiations. To know the fatuousness of this claim you would have to have some historical memory. Again, the young apparently do not. And even three Islamist terror attacks in Britain in 10 weeks turned out not to concentrate their minds and direct them away from a sympathizer and onto an opponent of Islamist terror.

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It would appear that the economics works the same way. Anybody who pays taxes must at some stage intuit that someone must pay for things and that this someone could turn out to be you. When the Conservative manifesto announced plans for the elderly to pay more for their old-age they were making a fiscally logical suggestion. But it turned out to be electorally suicidal. The Labour manifesto, by contrast, promised the young a whole raft of uncosted financial incentives, including the abolition of university tuition fees. And while this might be financially impossible (as the Liberal Democrats discovered to their cost after making the same promise and then going into coalition with the Conservatives in 2010), it was electorally brilliant. Who wouldnt want free university education?

What initially seemed the dullest campaign in memory has been transformed through unexpected missteps, surprise developments and deadly attacks.

And then there is the B word. In last years referendum on Britains membership of the EU, the young disproportionately voted to remain within the EU, but turned out in low numbers. After the country voted for Brexit, a narrative grew that the young had their future stolen from them by ardent and selfish elderly voters. There was even serious discussion that people above a certain age should not have a say in the future of their country it being a place the young would inhabit for longer. When May announced this snap election she did so in order to improve her majority and strengthen as a result her negotiating hand with Brussels. Corbyns Labour party despite him having spent his political life opposed to the EU turned out to be the most viable receptacle of voters opposed to such hand-strengthening. And so they weakened May, and her party, sending her into the forthcoming Brexit negotiations (if she goes in at all) with a worse hand than she had before this ill-chosen race.

What is one to say about all this? The country is waking this morning to a realization that we may be ungovernable, or that crisis will from henceforth be normal. A crisis forced upon us by an anti-selfish generation of students who think the politics and economics of the past are the politics and economics of the future. The young were the future once. Not any more.

Originally posted here:

Britain's young vote for the future by voting for the past - The Boston Globe

General Election result piles more uncertainty on Northern Ireland business: Chamber of Commerce – Belfast Telegraph

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

General Election result piles more uncertainty on Northern Ireland business: Chamber of Commerce

BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

The shock result in the general election has managed to pile more uncertainty on the world of business, the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/general-election-result-piles-more-uncertainty-on-northern-ireland-business-chamber-of-commerce-35808066.html

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article34732383.ece/1c656/AUTOCROP/h342/PEYE%20190516KB3%200002%20-%20Copy.JPG

The shock result in the general election has managed to pile more uncertainty on the world of business, the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said.

It said business was already facing tricky issues including a shortage of skilled workers, currency fluctuations and Brexit.

But the prospect of a hung Parliament after no party managed to achieve an overall majority had achieved the unlikely feat of making matters worse.

Ellvena Graham, chairperson of the Northern Ireland Chamber, said a speedy formation of a government that can give businesses confidence around both economic management and Brexit negotiations, must be the absolute top priority.

And in Northern Ireland, parties must resume talks in order to restart devolved government. It is now time to put the Northern Ireland economy first.

Whilst there are many positive developments in the Northern Ireland economy, we also have challenges in terms of long term unemployment; low levels of export compared to other UK regions; a shortage of funding for infrastructure development and a serious shortage of skills.

We therefore need the Northern Ireland Executive to reform, agree a final Programme for Government, an economic strategy and establish a single Northern Ireland action plan on Brexit to address key business concerns.

And she said it remained crucial that there is no hard border with the Republic following Brexit.

This would be a major setback in economic, social and political relations between Northern Ireland and its neighbour.

And she said Northern Irelands 18 Westminster MPs now needed to support the priorities of a City Deal for Belfast, the abolition of air passenger duty and a cut in corporation tax.

Overall, business and government need to work more closely together than ever before, to develop the mutual confidence needed to overcome the challenges posed by the Brexit transition, to unlock the economic potential of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, and to seize the opportunities beyond.

Results in full:

Belfast Telegraph Digital

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General Election result piles more uncertainty on Northern Ireland business: Chamber of Commerce - Belfast Telegraph

‘So Pretty / Very Rotten’ – PopMatters

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

(Koyama Press) US: May 2017

It might be easier to introduce the Lolita subculture to a western audience if it had been named anything else. It has little connection to sex, and it does not serve a male gaze. Rather, its mostly a group of young women who participate in a fashion subculture that allows them to embody the innocence of childhood and the sexless purity of cuteness. While it has existed in some form in Japan since the 70s, the subculture has been adopted by many outside of Japan.

Jane Mai and An Nguyen establish the Japanese origins as wholly created and maintained through Japanese street culture and fashion magazines that give performers an attainable aesthetic to reach: cuteness. While most enthusiasts of Japanese pop culture know kawaii from chibi anime characters to character goods based on anime and manga, the Lolitas embody kawaii. Unlike the aesthetic of beauty that has artistic and critical properties of perfection and unattainability, a person can use the fashion to create a kawaii self that embodies complex layers of social resistance and personal empowerment.

We learn that to be in the subculture means that not only do members have a knowledge of fashion, but they buy or make clothes of very high quality. For Japanese Lolitas, this could mean creating an outward appearance that mirrors the qualities of the kind of person they are inside. The authors differentiate this clothing from costumes because it represents an everyday self instead of playing a character. Through the interaction the wearers have with the clothing, each learns to connect to the qualities of the person within or the person each wants to be.

These clothes have ranged from simple looks similar, according to the authors, to those worn on Little House on the Prairie (1974) to clothing that has the billowing skirts similar to rococo dresses seen in paintings. All clothes fit a current street style while maintaining a personal preference. With high-quality fabrics, lace, and often designer labels, the clothing becomes central to the persons preference, finances, and often, socialization. Lolitas live their fantasy while constructing a subculture identity.

One of the most helpful sections of the book is written by Novala Takemoto. He is the author of Shimotsuma Monogatari, the novel that became the film released to English-speaking audiences as Kamikaze Girls (2004). He became interested in the subculture in the 80s, and even though he identifies as a man and straight, he wears Lolita clothes without attempting to perform any specific gender. He writes about the time before his novel and the film helped make the Lolitas more accepted. You may not believe this, but just wearing Lolita fashion, just for walking down the street, people would be attacked and hit or spit on for being eccentric, or refused by restaurants for not wearing appropriate clothing (123).

At about the same time heavy metal and hip-hop subcultures faced a wave of public harassment in North America and England, Japanese underground music influenced the fashions that helped develop more recent branches of Lolita fashion. Girls who attended the concerts would see each other and share tips that led to the development of the style.

While theres no reason to develop the idea beyond a general explanation, the authors try to help readers understand that Lolita does not have the connotations in Japan as it does in cultures where Nabokovs novel, Lolita, has ingrained connotations to pedophilia and the male gaze. In the US, we often study the book and both the 1962 and 1997 films in college, and the name Lolita becomes shorthand for the obsessed mind of a middle age man infatuated with a girl whose coquettish sexuality drives him to perversion.

In Japan, Lolita has no connection to Nabokovs work nor to lolicon, Japanese media that exploits an attraction to sexless, prepubescent girls. Novala Takemoto explicitly states that the Nabokov Lolita is a mans attraction to a girl with adult sexual features, but the Japanese Lolita complex is based on the characteristics of young girls prior to having any sexual attractiveness (130).

Lolitas are a group of people who engage in a somewhat sexless performance of innocence, fairy tale femininity, and cultural resistance. The authors connect some of these through classic art and western literature. Even as we see the strength Lolitas muster by engaging Japanese society dressed in clothes that make them stand out or feel in control outside of cultural expectations through the performance of Lolita, not everyone feels a consistent reward.

A large portion of So Pretty / Very Rotten offers elements of Lolita culture demonstrated through sequential art. While much of the book seems to focus on the self-fulfillment of participating in the culture, much of the art sections tell stories of emptiness as a person loses the ability to find gratification. One character leaves the Lolitas when she comes to terms that her reason for becoming one was her need for others approval. Even when things go well, it seems Lolitas face both internal and external dualities with their identity.

Being a Lolita is fundamentally a solitary thing, even though there is a larger subculture. The consumer aspects drain personal finances, and the individuality places one in conflict with the greater culture. Even though this seems to be a performance for the self, it threatens to further isolate Lolitas who dont have strong social relationships.

While acquiring the clothes and performing Lolita has the ability to bring pleasure, it also has the potential to end up being hollow as the identity loses its meaning when consumption becomes empty, leaving a person without a purposeful identity. One weakness stands out. While the authors are clear that Lolitas are not limited to a specific sex or gender identity, the only male examples are only Novala Takemoto and Visual kei musical performers.

Mai and Nguyen have produced an interesting glimpse into Japanese and western Lolita practice, but the book also laments the ability to really study the subculture due to its ephemeral, fashion-centric existence and the lack of Japanese scholarship and cultural barriers to disclosure. They offer readers a good primer on the Japanese subculture and illustrate key differences with Lolitas in other cultures who have different reasons for participation. Even though some sections of the book have been adapted from scholarly work, this can be fully appreciated by readers without specific scholarly knowledge.

As the characteristics of Lolita culture have frequently appeared in western translations of manga and anime since the boom in the early 00s, this book offers fans a new way to understand those characters. Beyond fans, it offers a general reader an introduction to a consumer subculture that resonates in the nostalgia of fairy tale worlds and external performance of a genderless self.

Rating:

Gregory Vance Smith has a Ph.D. in Communication and M.A. in English from the University of South Florida. His published research focuses on media, music, and cultural production. In addition to writing for PopMatters, he frequently contributes to The Fandom Post.

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'So Pretty / Very Rotten' - PopMatters

Paris Agreement has more problems than just Trump: Clean technology isn’t advancing fast enough – CNBC

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

The technologies needed to meet the Paris Agreement's climate goals are not developing quickly enough, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.

Nearly every country in the world has committed to take action under the Paris Agreement to slow global warming. But only 3 out of 26 technology categories tracked by the IEA are on pace to help do that, the agency concluded in this year's Energy Technology Perspectives report.

The IEA, which advises countries on energy strategy, has a fairly straightforward if not easy solution: implement policies that will encourage investment in these technologies and work across borders to develop them.

"Many technology areas suffer from a lack of policy support, and this impedes their scaled-up deployment," IEA said. "Energy efficiency, bioenergy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) are notable examples of where significant potential for technology progress remains, but strong policy signals will be required to trigger the appropriate investments."

The IEA assessment on Tuesday came just days after President Donald Trump announced he would pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. Trump has already moved to roll back many Obama-era initiatives aimed at mitigating planet-warming emissions, claiming they will hold back economic growth and job creation.

The technology categories that are on track to deliver results electric vehicles, solar and onshore wind power, and energy storage have all benefited from government support and clear policies, IEA notes.

But all 26 technology categories need to be developed and deployed in tandem in the coming years in order to ensure energy supply is affordable, secure and sustainable, according to IEA.

On the supply side, IEA said governments need to develop policies that encourage the spread of offshore wind power, nuclear energy and natural gas, while discouraging the continued use of the most inefficient coal-fired technology. It also says technology to capture carbon from power plants and other industrial facilities so-called carbon capture and storage needs support in order to encourage large-scale projects.

The agency also urges policies that would help speed along technology that decreases energy demand from industrial facilities, buildings and the transportation sector. Those include policies that cap the amount of carbon companies are allowed to emit. These systems are already used in the European Union and are being developed in China, Mexico and Canada.

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Paris Agreement has more problems than just Trump: Clean technology isn't advancing fast enough - CNBC

The ‘digital handmade’: how 3D printing became a new craft technology – TNW

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

For many people, craft is wooden chairs and pottery, all lovingly constructed by hand. A 3D-printed plastic object? Not so much.

The work of Australian designer Berto Pandolfo, shown in a new exhibition at Kensington Contemporary in Sydney, upends that rule. His sidetables demonstrate that digital fabrication techniques like 3D printing offer new possibilities for design practitioners with a craft ethos.

By using new technology to enrich rather than substitute traditional techniques, he is part of a movement that the writer Lucy Johnston has termed the digital handmade designers that use emerging digital techniques to create desirable objects.

Craft is a contested term, especially in an era where machines have taken the place of work previously done by hand. Broadly, its an approach guided by tradition, sensitivity to materials and manual techniques. Pandolfos show explores the place of 3D printing within such a practice. The result is objects that feel distinctive rather than mass manufactured, despite their online origins.

3D printing, more accurately referred to as additive manufacturing, creates objects by depositing material layer-by-layer. For furniture design in particular this is a radical shift away from traditional methods of material subtracting (think of carving) as well as forming and joining. Referred to as the third industrial revolution by technology writers such as Paul Markillie, additive manufacturing was first used as a tool to construct prototypes directly from computer-generated models.

Some 3D printing techniques are favoured by industrial designers on a mass scale. Selective laser sintering and direct metal laser sintering, for example, are two relatively expensive processes that have proven particularly useful in the biomedical and aerospace industries.

Processes such as fused deposition modelling, on the other hand, are more affordable and more accessible to designers working on one-off objects like Pandolfo. Desktop 3D printers such as CraftUniques CraftBot PLUS cost a little over US$1,000.

An animated video of the fused deposition modeling process.

For his exhibition, entitled MND, Pandolfo has produced a series of side tables, using fused deposition modelling to create the legs. Inspired by river stones, the legs contrast with the smooth finish of the body of the table, made by hand from kauri pine. Typically rough textures are associated with wood. In this instance, however, the wood is smooth and uniform, and the plastic is rough and irregular.

The 3D printing process typically produces a rough, lumpy or striped surface finish, which is often sanded down. Pandolfo decided not to, giving the side tables the markings of imperfection often associated with handmade objects.

He also chose the river stone form rather than a side tables conventional turned wooden legs, in order to exploit the capacity of additive manufacturing for creating forms of subtle irregularity. Rather than being regarded as incidental or antagonistic to the finished product, the surface imperfections typical of the fused deposition modeling process have been used as an opportunity.

Pandolfos work fits within the digital handmade movement because he has taken the technological limitations of 3D printing as a creative opportunity.

In fact, the marriage of 3D printing and craft represents a return to a pre-industrial values where creative intelligence and skill in making went together.

As Johnston suggests in her book, the industrial revolution resulted in a diminished role for the craftsman. Skill and imagination were removed from mass manufacture as machines and the factory line dominated the production process. The creativity once associated with handmade objects and craft became more exclusively associated with the fine arts.

Pandolfos deliberate exploration of new materials, technology and form demonstrate a blending of these supposedly contrasting virtues.

The broader value of this work is in demonstrating how technological hardware, such as 3D printing, need not be relegated to mass industry. Designers and handcrafters can also claim it, ensuring new meaning can emerge from our machines.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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The 'digital handmade': how 3D printing became a new craft technology - TNW

Focus on self-driving vehicles distracts carmakers from lifesaving brake technology – The Japan Times

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

While big automakers are rushing to launch self-driving cars as early as 2021, the industrys major players are moving slowly when it comes to widespread deployment of a less expensive crash prevention technology that regulators say could prevent thousands of deaths and injuries every year.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd said Thursday it will make automatic braking systems standard on an estimated 1 million 2018-model cars and light trucks sold in the United States, including high-volume models such as the Rogue and Rogue Sport compact sport utility vehicles, the Altima sedan, Murano and Pathfinder SUVs, LEAF electric car, Maxima sedan and Sentra small car.

Nissan sold about 1.6 million vehicles in the United States last year.

And rival Toyota Motor Corp. has said it will make so-called automatic emergency braking standard on nearly all its U.S. models by the end of this year.

Overall, however, most automakers are not rushing to make automatic brake systems part of the base cost of mainstream vehicles sold in the competitive U.S. market. The industry has come under pressure from regulators, lawmakers and safety advocates to adopt the technology, which can slow or stop a vehicle even if the driver fails to act.

So far, only about 17 percent of models tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offered standard collision-avoiding braking . Many of the models with standard collision-avoiding brake systems are luxury vehicles made by European or Japanese manufacturers.

The systems require more sensors and software than conventional brakes, and automakers have said they need time to engineer the systems into vehicles as part of more comprehensive makeovers.

Last year, 20 automakers reached a voluntary agreement with U.S. auto safety regulators to make collision-avoiding braking systems standard equipment by 2022.

Safety advocates have petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to begin a regulatory process to require the technologies, but the agency has said the voluntary agreement will result in faster deployment than a formal rule-making process. NHTSA says the technology could eliminate one-fifth of crashes.

Do the math. Thats 5 million crashes every year 20 percent reduction means 1 million less. Those are big numbers, Mark Rosekind, the NHTSAs then-administrator, said last year.

But customers would likely experience the benefits of the technology infrequently. The technology to enable a car to drive itself is far more costly, but industry executives foresee autonomous vehicles driving revenue-generating transportation services that could be attractive to investors.

General Motors Co. offers automatic braking as optional equipment on about two-thirds of its models. The company did not say on Thursday how many vehicles have the technology as standard equipment. GM has not made public its plans for making the technology standard across its lineup.

Any time you have a voluntary agreement you have a spectrum of implementation, Jeff Boyer, GMs vice president for safety, told Reuters earlier this week. Asked when GM would roll out standard automatic braking, Boyer said, lets just say we honor the voluntary commitment.

Ford Motor Co. has a plan to standardize over time, the company said in a statement Thursday. Currently, automatic braking systems are optional on several 2017 Ford and Lincoln models, and will be offered on certain 2018 models including the best-selling F-150 pickup truck.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV offers automatic braking as optional equipment in seven model lines, using cameras and radar to detect hazards ahead. The company has said it will meet the 2022 target for making the systems standard.

As 2018 models roll out during the second half of this year, more vehicles will offer automatic braking, said Dean McConnell, an executive with Continental AGs North American business. Continentals automatic braking technology systems will be on certain Nissan models.

We see it accelerating, he said. It varies. There are some (automakers) that are being aggressive and others that are waiting.

Nissan did not disclose how much prices for vehicles would rise to offset the cost of being equipped with standard automatic emergency braking . The 2018 models will be launched later this year. Currently, Nissan, like most carmakers, offers automatic braking as part of a bundle of optional safety and technology features.

A 2017 Nissan Sentra compact sedan has a starting price of $17,875. To buy the car equipped with automatic braking requires spending another $6,820 for a Sentra SR with a premium technology package.

German auto technology suppliers Continental and Robert Bosch GmbH will supply the systems, Nissan said.

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Focus on self-driving vehicles distracts carmakers from lifesaving brake technology - The Japan Times

Technology Needs a Human Touch – Bloomberg

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Danzig

Let's talk about a scourge of modern times. There is so much stuff to watch, read, listen to, buy, eat or learn about.The world is available at our fingertips at any moment. It feels glorious but also horribly, paralyzingly overwhelming.

Should I wade into Spotify's sea of every song ever recorded or give up and listen to my downloaded copy of Adele's "Hello" for the 47,000th time? Psychologist Barry Schwartz called this the "paradox of choice" in his 2004 book of the same name. Like many ideas that come out of TED Talks, it istoo simplisticto say more choices are counterproductive, but I think we've all experienced the feeling.

Naturally, technology companies have some ideas about how to help people discover things and select among the flood of options -- and make money in the process. And even they are recognizing the limits of technology in helping people stayinformed and entertained.

Computerized recommendations were among the original big ideas of the internet age. Google web search is essentially the use of computers to siftthrough the morass of web links to surface the most compelling options. Netflix, Amazon andSpotifysuggest entertainment or products based on what you have shown interest in before, or what its computer models conclude will fit your taste.

Favorite Pastimes

Television dominates how people spend their leisure hours, but the average daily time spent on the internet is surging globally

Source: Zenith

It turns out computers are incredibly effective at guiding us. About 80 percent of the music videos people watch on YouTube are the result of computerized suggestions, the chief financial officer of Google parent company Alphabetsaidat the recent Code conference. (When I finish watching the "Hello" video on YouTube, it automatically starts playing Adele's weepy "Someone Like You.")

Of course there is a downside to the power of the algorithms. Sometimes computers are dumb.I don't know why Amazon keeps nudging me to buy glass cleaner. And picking things based on your tastes means you may never break out of your comfort zone andlisten to a song that you couldn't imagine you would like. The same is true with computer-aided social network feedslike Facebook. If your friends are like you, their suggestions for what to read or how to understand world events may keep you in a "filter bubble" of your own making.

Now, even tech companies that preach the gospel of the algorithm are trying ahuman touch. If you're deciding between two outfits to wear, you can now send a photo of yourself to Amazon, and "fashion specialists" will tell youwhich one looks best. Snapchat's "Discover" section is essentially a modernized version of a newspaper front page. Apple has a selection of "Editors' Choice" apps, and it trumpets Apple Music song recommendations made by people in addition to machines. Facebook has said a priority for this year isoffering people information they don't know they wereinterested in.

Computers Rule

Netflix with its computerized entertainment recommendations has quadrupled its web video subscribers since 2011

Source: Bloomberg

As algorithmsguide more of our lives, I increasingly find myself reverting back to old-fashioned methods of sifting through choices. When I was shopping for air conditioners last year, I leaned on Consumer Reports and other professional recommendations. I read traditional book reviews and ask friends what books they've enjoyed recently. Thanks for the suggestions, computers. But I'll let the mere mortals have a turn now.

A version of this column originally appeared in Bloomberg's Fully Charged technology newsletter. You cansign up here.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Shira Ovide in New York at sovide@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Niemi at dniemi1@bloomberg.net

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Technology Needs a Human Touch - Bloomberg

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Monthly Archives: June 2017

10 tools based on AI that will change your freelancing career – TNW

Mcubed: More speakers join machine learning and AI extravaganza – The Register

Former AI Company CEO Warns About Abuse of Virtual Relationship – Futurism

Reality check: The state of AI, bots, and smart assistants – InfoWorld

EXTENSION CORNER: It’s crucial for producers to know how to manage weeds – Gadsden Times

Is this the death of Ukip? – The Week UK

Minnesota Power Proposes Next Step in EnergyForward Plan – POWER magazine

Canadian Cities And Industries Most At Risk From Automation – Huffington Post Canada

LogiGear’s new scriptless test automation tool targets small businesses – TechTarget

A techno-optimist take on automation and jobs – American Enterprise Institute

4 Signs You are a Slave to Your Job | The Unbounded Spirit

Australia: Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into … – Human Rights Watch (press release)

21 sad and shocking facts ahead of World Day Against Child Labour – ReliefWeb

Britain’s young vote for the future by voting for the past – The Boston Globe

General Election result piles more uncertainty on Northern Ireland business: Chamber of Commerce – Belfast Telegraph

‘So Pretty / Very Rotten’ – PopMatters

Paris Agreement has more problems than just Trump: Clean technology isn’t advancing fast enough – CNBC

The ‘digital handmade’: how 3D printing became a new craft technology – TNW

Focus on self-driving vehicles distracts carmakers from lifesaving brake technology – The Japan Times

Technology Needs a Human Touch – Bloomberg