Loknath Das, Author at Triadoro

Fishing for Derelict Gear in Cape Cod Bay

Bob Mallory and Capt. Mike Rego grappling for gear from the deck of the F/V Miss Lilly (Center for Coastal Studies photo)

The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) has begun its “Fishing for Derelict Gear in Cape Cod Bay,” a project funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program to identity, remove, document, and properly dispose of lost, abandoned or derelict fishing gear.

Side-scan sonar surveys have been conducted off of Provincetown, Truro, Sesuit and Sandwich, with additional surveys planned for the Chatham area. The surveys identify areas where lost gear exists and assists with documentation and recovery.

Commercial fishing vessels from each area will be enlisted to deliver divers to certain locations so they can document the lost gear as it rests on the ocean floor, and to recover the gear by towing a small grappling hook in targeted locations. Once returned to shore, the derelict gear will be sorted for recycling, disposal, or return to rightful owners. The first recovery work will take place in Provincetown on April 8th at MacMillan Pier.

The Center works closely with the harbormasters in each port to organize the on-site activities. As a partner in the program, Nauset Disposal has provided containers in each location for disposal and recycling.

“Nauset Disposal considers its commitment to the Cape Cod community – and the environment – top priorities,” said Shawn DeLude, owner of the company. “This partnership with the Center for Coastal Studies is an exciting step for us. It’s a natural fit to work with an organization so dedicated to protecting our environment and we are looking forward to a long term partnership promoting coastal conservation, protection and restoration.”

This project will yield information about the presence and prevalance of lost fishing gear, and will provide data on by-catch, gear functionality, and habitat impacts. Previous removal efforts conducted by CCS in Cape Cod Bay recovered over 16 tons of lobster, gillnet, dragger, trawl and recreational fishing gear, including 660 lobster traps, of which over half were returned to the owners.

[“Source-capecodtoday”]

Hip-Hop education aims to engage students

MADISON, Wis. – Educators from throughout the Midwest came to Madison on Monday to learn how they can better serve their students through the art of hip-hop.

The Hip Hop in the Heartland training session focused on the need to move beyond just access and opportunities in education.

Dr. David Kirkland, executive director of New York University’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, said hip-hop education is important because it interrupts the notion of standard education.

“We’ve used a certain system of education and we’ve argued that education is necessary in order for students to succeed,” Kirkland said. But according to the data, this traditional system doesn’t work.

“The same students who fail continue to fail, and it’s persistent,” Kirkland said, “which means if we continue to try the same thing that is failing, we are what Einstein said: We’re crazy.”

Justine Page, a sixth and seventh-grade teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District, said the main thing she learned from the training was how important it is for teachers to get to know their students.

“I’ll tell them about myself and then that kind of conversation invites them in to talk about themselves,” Page said. “Me showing vulnerability about myself invites them to show vulnerability to me. We build relationships that way.”

Speakers discussed how literacy gaps are more cultural than educational. Therefore, teachers should find ways to make course material appeal to students’ interests outside the classroom setting.

In his talk, Kirkland discussed how educators should reverse their logic. He said it’s not that students are disengaged, it’s that the existing systems of education have assigned disengaged texts and constructed disengaged classrooms.

“That means we need to rework how we understand systems of education,” Kirkland said. “It means fundamentally re-imagining education – that’s the work we have to do.”

Hip Hop in the Heartland is hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives and Urban Word NYC. This summer they will host a weeklong training program on hip-hop and spoken-word pedagogy. Educators and community leaders can register here.

“Teaching children to embrace where they come from, to embrace their music and not to hide is important,” Page said.

[“Source-channel3000”]

Minilogue and Monologue gets some updates from mothership Korg

Korg’s Minilogue and Monologue synthesizers have set the world of synthesis alight. Their sound quality, usability and tempting price point make them a fun choice for anybody wanting to bash out some electronic noises. Korg is committed to keeping them at the top of their game and have released a couple of updates to do just that.

Korg updates

The Minilogue, being the older of the two, has already received a few system updates. The previous version 1.21 added a latch mode for the arpeggiator and corrected some CC numbers. This version 1.23 fixes the priority of voices in the release stage. Baby steps, but even the tiniest of fixes makes someone’s life better.

Also updated is the free Minilogue and Monologue sound librarian. The librarian is a piece of PC or Mac software that allows you to reorder and manage the programs stored inside the synth. You can also use it to load custom banks of sounds. The new 1.01 version brings some added features. The Program Names can now be edited in the Program List. Preset data can be added via the menu. You can now copy multiple selections of programs from preset Data to the Program List. And that annoying problem with the Japanese localisation support on OSX 10.12 has been fixed (thank the maker).

As a bonus Korg also released new drivers for the nanoKontrol Studio, nanoKey Studio, microKey Air and Korg BLE-MIDI Driver.

[Source:- Gearnews]

UK AIMS TO BECOME BEST PLACE TO START AND GROW A DIGITAL BUSINESS

The UK Government has set out its strategy to grow the economic contribution of digital businesses from £118bn to £200bn by 2025 in a wide-ranging document aiming to make the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business.

The raft of objectives covering infrastructure, education, data and security, public services and other areas aims to accelerate growth of the UK’s estimated 200,000 digital enterprises which are believed to support 1.4m UK jobs.This includes fast-growing digital centres in Southhampton, West Cornwall and Dundee and key northern cities, as well as the the biggest cluster of digital businesses in London and south east. Digital sectors also attracted a record £1.57bn of equity finance in 2015, more than four times the level of 2011.

The report lists six UK sectors in which the country is globally leading – artificial intelligence, cyber security, Fin Tech, gaming, virtual reality, and Gov Tech – and other sectors, such as advertising and design, in which a fusion of digital and creative expertise give the UK an international lead. Developing areas such as the Internet of Things, Autonomous Vehicle Technologies, Health Tech and Ed Tech are seen as providing further opportunities.

As part of its seven strand digital strategy, the Government aims to:

Improve digital infrastructure by completing the rollout of 4G and superfast broadband, and giving every individual, business and premise the right to request affordable high speed brodband;
Establish a new digital skills partnership and adopt the recommendations of a review to ensure computer science students have up to date, real world skills;
Use its Autumn 2016 pledge to invest £4.7bn in R&D funding by 2020-21 to ensure British business benefits from scientific and technological breakthroughs;
Support the work of a new Productivity Council to encourage appropriate use of technologies across the economy;
Support the National Cyber Security Centre and introduce new active cyber defence approach;
Implement the Government Transformation Strategy, including by working towards 25m GOV.UK users by 2020;
Act to make the UK a world-leading, data-driven economy, including by implementing the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation by May 2018.

The strategy applies the framework set out by the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy green paper, published in January 2017.

Announcing the digital strategy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP said:“This Digital Strategy applies this framework to the digital economy across the whole country. It will boost our world-leading digital sectors and overcome barriers to growth and innovation, creating more of the high-skilled, high paid jobs of the future. It will deliver the first-class digital infrastructure and advanced skills base that businesses across the country need to be able to take advantage of digital tools.”

[Source:- thecreativeindustries]