Musicians as entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs as musicians?

This study investigates how Swedish musicians in the non‐profit sector accept the “entrepreneur” label for themselves. The background section describes how identity work among “serious” musicians has, historically, made them shun any facet related to money‐making. The qualitative study shows that there is some remaining reluctance. But it is obvious that freelance musicians recognize the need for entrepreneurial skills. A majority of those interviewed regard themselves as “entrepreneurs”, although in most cases it is out of necessity. It seems that the older generations are more hesitant than the younger. I conclude that it would be beneficial if musicians, during their higher education, were introduced to basic entrepreneurial skills.     

SystemView中time active用户自定义控件的实现

采用自定义控件是将SystemView仿真软件广泛应用于各种复杂或专用算法的有效手段。该文简单介绍了SystemView仿真软件用户自定义库的构成以及cdma2000 1x中符号删除模块的工作原理。较为详细地介绍了SystemView仿真软件的工作过程。重点介绍了用C 编程语言设计time active的general类用户自定义控件的方法。并以符合cdma2000 1x协议标准的符号删除模块为例，详细讲解了此模块的构建过程，给出了相应的源程序。为高级用户实现专用模块提供了一个方便的途径。     

Performance analysis of active schedules in identical parallel machine

Active schedule is one of the most basic and popular concepts in production scheduling research. For identical parallel machine scheduling with jobs’ dynamic arrivals, the tight performance bounds of active schedules under the measurement of four popular objectives are respectively given in this paper. Similar analysis method and conclusions can be generalized to static identical parallel machine and single machine scheduling problem.     

GNU as的移植

汇编器是编译工具链中最贴近芯片的一环。在进行新的芯片设计时，快速开发一个功能强大使用方便的汇编器是保证芯片设计按进度进行的必要条件。移植GNU的汇编器GAS是一个首选的方案。分析了GAS的源程序，指出了移植的关键之处。给出的方法可以更快更好地移植GAS。     

An active intelligent decision support system — Architecture and simulation

Development and implementation of decision support systems to support intelligent decision making is an area of research that has gained in importance in recent years. Due to the increased complexity of decision making, active involvement of the user and the computer in an intelligent way is necessary in the decision process. This paper presents issues in the design of an active intelligent decision support system (IDSS), develops an architectural model based on cooperative distributed problem solving, and performs a simulation of the system using object oriented programming for an example application in airfleet control.     

Transfer function analysis and implementation of active disturbance rejection control

To support the adoption of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) in industrial practice, this article aims at improving both understanding and implementation of ADRC using traditional means, in particular via transfer functions and a frequencydomain view. First, to enable an immediate comparability with existing classical control solutions, a realizable transfer function implementation of continous-time linear ADRC is introduced. Second, a frequency-domain analysis of ADRC components, performance, parameter sensitivity, and tuning method is performed. Finally, an exact implementation of discrete-time ADRC using transfer functions is introduced for the first time, with special emphasis on practical aspects such as computational efficiency, low parameter footprint, and windup protection.     

Neurocomputing—neurons as microcomputers

Studies on neurocomputing should be directed in two ways which in turn influence each other; In one direction concrete neural-network solutions for specific important problems should be applied to substantiate its practical significance and, at the same time, the theoretical potentialities and limitations for computation be explored on such network models. Along this direction of study, there is a staggering accumulation of results. The alternative way is to seek a more profound understanding of the algorithms used by the CNS (the central nervous system) to process informations and to know more about the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying specific computations and memory process in neurons and neural networks. From this point of view, artificial neurons developed for neurocomputing are oversimplified to simulate real neurons. Here I will show that neurons are analogous to microcomputers whose characteristics can be classified into over 50 kinds, and that electrical events observed in neurons are a part of the many manifestations associated with neural activities and are regulated by the chemical and conformational processes inside neurons.     

Précis: from unstructured keywords as queries to structured databases as answers

Précis queries represent a novel way of accessing data, which combines ideas and techniques from the fields of databases and information retrieval. They are free-form, keyword-based, queries on top of relational databases that generate entire multi-relation databases, which are logical subsets of the original ones. A logical subset contains not only items directly related to the given query keywords but also items implicitly related to them in various ways, with the purpose of providing to the user much greater insight into the original data. In this paper, we lay the foundations for the concept of logical database subsets that are generated from précis queries under a generalized perspective that removes several restrictions of previous work. In particular, we extend the semantics of précis queries considering that they may contain multiple terms combined through the AND, OR, and NOT operators. On the basis of these extended semantics, we define the concept of a logical database subset, we identify the one that is most relevant to a given query, and we provide algorithms for its generation. Finally, we present an extensive set of experimental results that demonstrate the efficiency and benefits of our approach.     

…as new EMV guide released

With less than a year before the January 2005 deadline arrives for conversion to smart card-based EMV technology in Europe, a new guide has been released that answers many of the key questions for card issuers and acquirers.     

Inverse active vibration force inputs estimation for a beam–machine system

This study presents an innovative fuzzy estimator that efficiently and robustly estimates the vibratory forces of a beam–machine system. The proposed estimator includes fuzzy Kalman filter technology, which is accelerated by the fuzzy accelerating factor and the fuzzy weighting recursive least-square method, weighted by the fuzzy weighting factor based on the fuzzy logic inference system. The excellent performance of this estimator is demonstrated by comparing it with different weighting functions, distinct levels of noise covariance measurement and the initial process noise covariance. The simulation results show that the proposed method is efficient in estimating input vibration forces, giving this method great stability and precision.     

Podcasting in education: Are students as ready and eager as we think they are?

Instructors in higher education are disseminating instructional content via podcasting, as many rally behind the technology’s potential benefits. Others have expressed concern about the risks of deleterious effects that might accompany the adoption of podcasting, such as lower class attendance. Yet, relatively few studies have investigated students’ perceptions of podcasting for educational purposes, especially in relation to different podcasting forms: repetitive and supplemental. The present study explored students’ readiness and attitudes towards these two forms of podcasting to provide fundamental information for future researchers and educators. The results indicated that students may not be as ready or eager to use podcasting for repetitive or supplemental educational purposes as much as we think they are, but they could be persuaded.     

Multi-objective H ∞ control for vehicle active suspension systems with random actuator delay

This article is concerned with the problem of multi-objective H _∞ control for vehicle active suspension systems with random actuator delay, which can be represented by signal probability distribution. First, the dynamical equations of a quarter-car suspension model are established for the control design purpose. Secondly, when taking into account vehicle performance requirements, namely, ride comfort, suspension deflection and the probability distributed actuator delay, we present the corresponding dynamic system, which will be transformed to the stochastic system for the problem of multi-objective H _∞ controller design. Third, based on the stochastic stability theory, the state feedback controller is proposed to render that the closed-loop system is exponentially stable in mean-square while simultaneously satisfying H _∞ performance and the output constraint requirement. The presented condition is expressed in the form of convex optimisation problems so that it can be efficiently solved via standard numerical software. Finally, a practical design example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Tunable optofluidic microlens through active pressure control of an air–liquid interface

We demonstrate a tunable in-plane optofluidic microlens with a 9× light intensity enhancement at the focal point. The microlens is formed by a combination of a tunable divergent air–liquid interface and a static polydimethylsiloxane lens, and is fabricated using standard soft lithography procedures. When liquid flows through a straight channel with a side opening (air reservoir) on the sidewall, the sealed air in the side opening bends into the liquid, forming an air–liquid interface. The curvature of this air–liquid interface can be conveniently and predictably controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the liquid stream in the straight channel. This change in the interface curvature generates a tunable divergence in the incident light beam, in turn tuning the overall focal length of the microlens. The tunability and performance of the lens are experimentally examined, and the experimental data match well with the results from a ray-tracing simulation. Our method features simple fabrication, easy operation, continuous and rapid tuning, and a large tunable range, making it an attractive option for use in lab-on-a-chip devices, particularly in microscopic imaging, cell sorting, and optical trapping/manipulating of microparticles.     

Flash交互式课件as脚本开发技巧

利用flash可开发出界面精美、操作灵活、交互式强的课件--其中ActionScript脚本(以下简称AS脚本)是Flash内置的脚本语言,通过AS脚本有效编程、高效整合,可创作交互性更强大的游戏类交互式课件、测试类交互式课件、师生参与互动式课件等等,可大大增强Flash课件的功能性和应用性,提高flash交互式课件的辅助教学效果,促进教育教学质量的提升。     

Community computing as human ‐ computer interaction

There is too little engagement between community computing and human - computer interaction. In the future there should be more. Better integrating community computing and human - computer interaction can help to make HCI richer and more comprehensive, conceptually and methodologically. It can help HCI to have more of an impact on society and on everyday collective life. Six examples are briefly discussed.     

…as Ingenico complies with Finread specs

Ingenico has successfully complied with specifications laid down by Finread, an international standard for secure smart card readers performing interoperable transactions on the internet.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news.     

Fuzzy bang–bang relay control of a single-axis active magnetic bearing system

Active magnetic bearings (AMB) are presently being utilized in various classes of rotating machinery. Although the rotor-AMB systems are open loop unstable, they are easily stabilized using feedback control schemes of which the PID controller is the most commonly used. The PID controller is however only effective at the vicinity of the rotor’s equilibrium position where the dynamics of the rotor-AMB system is linearized. Significant deviation of the rotor’s motion from this equilibrium position may occur due to large imbalance forces. In this situation, the nonlinearity in AMBs, which arises from the relationship between the electromagnetic force, coil current and air gap, may render the PID controller ineffective. For the control of nonlinear systems, artificial intelligence techniques such as fuzzy and hybrid techniques are effective. In this paper, a new fuzzy controller is proposed for the control of a single-axis AMB system. This controller is based on the bang–bang scheme, which is an old but effective technique to control nonlinear systems in optimal time. The performance of the proposed integrated fuzzy bang–bang relay controller (FBBRC) was found to be superior to that of the optimized PD controller and the conventional fuzzy logic controller. Comparison of the FBBRC with the fuzzy logic controller cascaded with a hard limiter (FBBC) relay revealed almost equal performance. High frequency chattering was however observed in the steady-state response of the FBBC. Such chattering is known to cause instability and distortion in the amplifiers that are used to supply current to the magnetic bearing actuators.