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WGA Calls Bill Mahers Decision to Resume Filming Real Time Disappointing – Rolling Stone

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images

Bill Maher will resume filming his HBO talk show Real Time With Bill Maher despite the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. The host confirmed the series is is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing.

It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work, Maher wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns. Despite some assistance from me, much of the staff is struggling mightily. We all were hopeful this would come to an end after Labor Day, but that day has come and gone, and there still seems to be nothing happening.

He continued that while he loves writers, he is not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much. Maher said he will honor the spirit of the WGA strikes by forgoing the usual monologue, as well as the desk piece, New Rules or editorial, the written pieces that I am so proud of on Real Time.

Ill say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop, Maher wrote. But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bullshit and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint.

The WGA responded a few hours after Mahers announcement calling his decision disappointing.

If he goes forward with his plan, he needs to honor more than the spirit of the strike,' the WGA said in a statement on X. As a WGA member, @BillMaher is obligated to follow the strike rules and not perform any writing services. It is difficult to imagine how @RealTimers can go forward without a violation of WGA strike rules taking place. WGA will be picketing this show.

Real Time With Bill Maher is set to return with a new episode on Sept. 22. This will make Maher the first late-night host with a show airing during the strike. Maher previously discussed his views on the writers strike on his podcast, Club Random. Editors picks

What I find objectionable about the philosophy of the strike [is] it seems to be, they have really morphed a long way from 2007s strike, where they kind of believe that youre owed a living as a writer, and youre not, Maher said on the podcast. This is show business. This is the make-or-miss league.

Mahers announcement comes only days after Drew Barrymore said her talk show would resume filming this month. Barrymore revealed the news in an Instagram post, explaining that while she dropped out of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, this is a different situation.

I am also making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show, that may have my name on it but this is bigger than just me. I own this choice, she wrote, also noting of theactors strike, We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind. We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real time.Trending

The WGA has responded swiftly to Barrymores decision. Accordingto the WGA, the daytime talk show is aWGAcovered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers, making Barrymores decision to resume filming her show amid the writers strike in violation ofWGA strikerules.Barrymore has been branded a scab by WGA membersstriking for fairer working conditions, andWest Wingactor Bradley Whitford tweeted, Well never forget it.

Whitford had some choice words for Maher as well: Perpetually aggrieved multi-millionaire narcissist frames scabbing as altruistic concern for the working man in order to satisfy insatiable need to express contempt for vulnerable transgender citizens and lob softballs to right wing wackos like Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro, the actor wrote on social media.

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WGA Calls Bill Mahers Decision to Resume Filming Real Time Disappointing - Rolling Stone

TIFF Review: Dream Scenario is a Compelling High-Concept Satire … – The Film Stage

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

The ever-evolving nature of fame and infamy gets examined in Dream Scenario, Kristoffer Borglis follow-up to his dark comedy Sick of Myself. Its the Norwegian directors first feature in America, and with it comes the confident backing of A24, producer Ari Aster, and a starry cast led by Nicolas Cage. It all sounds promising, and for a time Borgli rises to the occasion with a compelling, satirical high concept. But most of the goodwill Dream Scenario builds in its first half goes away once Borgli degrades the story into a facile, reactionary attack against cancel culture.

Cage plays Paul Matthews, an evolutionary biologist and tenured professor who lives in a large home with his wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and two daughters. At first glance his life is successful, although Paul doesnt see it that way. Hes awkward, deeply insecure, and aggrieved over his inability to get a book published while fuming over former classmates who get published in scientific journals like Nature. Hes seen as a loser by more accomplished figures in his field, but soon his life gets turned upside-down in a strange way: millions of people begin to see Paul in their dreams, usually standing around doing nothing, and no one has any idea why its happening. The phenomenon catapults him to stardom, which attracts the attention of people hoping to capitalize on his notoriety, as well as stalkers and other less-desirable types.

Contained within this idea is neat parallel to virality in the age of social media, and Borgli is at his best when Dream Scenario examines this surreal nature. The epidemic of Paul appearing in peoples dreams, while inexplicable, isnt too far removed from the arbitrary ways people can become international topics of discussion at a moments notice. And despite Borgli working with an actor like Cage, whose career has ping-ponged from high praise to meme and back again, he sidesteps the potential to lean into the meta potential of the role. Donning a bald cap, glasses, and wearing clothes to make him look as milquetoast as possible, Cage channels his eccentricities into this sad sack character to make his personality repellant to those around him. As misguided as Dream Scenario gets, Cages performance saves the film from turning into something much worse.

Dream Scenarios problems start when the dreams change to nightmares where he tortures and killsso vivid and terrifying that people dont want to be around him anymore, which puts his career in jeopardy and starts damaging his marriage. The commentary becomes more explicit, with someone using the term cancel culture and Pauls new agent trying to rebrand him into a Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan type of villain (Borglis script namedrops both at one point, along with an offer for Paul to do an interview with Tucker Carlson). Suddenly, Pauls job as a college professor makes sense: much of the films back half takes inspiration from the various dramas over the years about students protesting problematic teachers on various campuses.

The change in story amounts to hacky jokes, like the fact that Pauls cancellation hasnt impacted his celebrity status in France, or the backlash he receives when his attempt at an apology video backfires. Borglis messagethat were watching a man become a pariah over collective delusion that hes done terrible things when he hasntcomes through clearly. And Borgli is self-aware enough to know that stance might get him raked over the coals, so he offsets it with the tried-and-true shield of being an equal-opportunity offender, throwing jabs at both sides and making Paul unlikable enough to never be seen entirely as a victim.

Borglis writing on this topic has no nuance. It shows little comprehension of why these cancellations happen, how it ties into abuses of power, and the institutions that allow those abuses to happen. Theres fertile ground in our current hypersensitive, extremely online culture thats been used to create good satire in recent years. Borgli is happy to let that potential go to waste, taking broad swings and misses against a changing societal landscape without understanding his targets. Its disappointing, given how Dream Scenario establishes the potential to become a fun takedown until it opts to flail itself down to the level of a political cartoon strip.

Dream Scenario premiered at TIFF 2023 and opens on November 10.

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TIFF Review: Dream Scenario is a Compelling High-Concept Satire ... - The Film Stage

Psychopaths in Power – The Catholic Thing

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

Theres so much that is false, wrong, erroneous, chaotic (and its twin brother, demonic) in the world at present that its difficult to see your way as it all swirls around us. But every now and then, someone hits on an illuminating insight that pierces through, like a lighthouse in a raging storm. The great psychologist and social commentator Jordan Peterson recently found exactly the right few words for our predicament: Psychopaths are in power. Others have said as much. He added, however, that the psychopaths have been utterly brilliant in using terms like freedom, tolerance, inclusion, openness, and diversity to disguise the destruction theyre causing, making it look sane, progressive, constructive, compassionate, even Christian.

A bit of realism based on experience treating mentally disturbed people.

Its useful to trace out exactly what this means just now, because were living through something different than in the past. Weve seen psychopaths in power, via obvious lies, in historic dictatorships: left was right, down was up, murder was justice, repression brought liberation. The twentieth century was full of them: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Fidel. More recently weve had Hugo Chavez, the Ortegas, Xi, Kim Jong Un, and countless others.

As is usual in such cases, its impossible to tell where the murderous ideology ends and the personal psychopathology begins because, in such great evils, they pretty much depend on and feed off one another.

But our current predicament is a veritable Copernican Revolution from these classic historical examples. Our psychopaths in the free societies of the West operate under a creeping and creepy indirect influence, and dictate to our political leaders now. Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, and a host of others dont really believe the radical nonsense of, say, the trans craze or open borders or the wilder reaches of environmentalism. To do so, first of all, they would have to be capable of consistently following out a train of ideas. And like many politicians today, they arent. They indulge the craziness to maintain their share of power.

Its a safe bet, however, that if prevailing winds favored strict Christian sexual morality or sane immigration policies or more human-friendly and achievable ecological goals, they would be pushing those ideas just as hard.

This is an odd reversal of social dynamics. In The Power of the Powerless, the Czech dissident and writer Vaclav Havel Czech president after the fall of Communism described how totalitarian ideology works in everyday practice. It doesnt have to be by direct physical or social threats. As he put it in a much-quoted passage: Take an ordinary greengrocer in Communist Czechoslovakia. He puts up a sign in his window, Workers of the world, unite!, not because hes a Communist. He almost never is. He does it because its the tiny bit of incense he has to burn in submission to the regime to stay out of trouble.

Ordinary people, need not accept the lie. It is enough for them to have accepted their life with it and in it. For by this very fact, individuals confirm the system, fulfill the system, make the system, are the system.

This is common enough even in non-Communist tyrannies. But it also underscores how different our situation is today. Social media and media in general, having now been formed by crazy ideas flowing out of the universities, engage in a kind of terrorism, including cancellation, against anyone who offends against woke pieties.

If you need the evidence, look around. To take just one example, when a much-loved figure like J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, can be savagely attacked and receive actual death and rape threats because shes a TERF Trans Excluding Radical Feminist we see that the old clunky Iron Curtain regimes had nothing on us when it comes to demanding social submission.

But theres a different pathway of threat to be noted here. A national government usually has something close to a monopoly on the use of force within its borders. Hence, the poor greengrocer or manual laborer or hairdresser have to play nice with the regime. But were seeing governments and their leaders themselves now being intimidated by the power of social media.

As a Catholic or even just as a sane human being, Joe Biden might say, for example, that the trans craze is, well, crazy, and is leading thousands of young people into self-mutilation, when all but a small percentage will outgrow gender dysphoria by the time theyre twenty. Thats the truth and easily discoverable if you want the truth. Instead, Joes told us repeatedly that trans rights are the human rights issue of our time.

I doubt that even a man with such a wobbly relationship to the truth believes that. He knows that unless he not only accepts but promotes woke madness, his party which has also been intimidated by psychopaths in academe and the media would repudiate, i.e., utterly destroy him.

It takes courage like that of Vaclav Havel and many others heroes and saints to stand up against that kind of threat. But many political leaders here and abroad, long since having sold their own souls, have now handed over the power to set or veto policies to any number of psychopaths who, as Jordan Peterson has said bluntly but rightly, have brilliantly co-opted all the older nice words of our tradition to hide what theyre doing.

In sunnier days, the Church would have had a steadying, counterbalancing public effect. Instead, much of what we see coming out of Rome wants to dialogue with or accompany the psychopaths and their enablers. Trans people meet with the pope, radically pro-abortion Catholic politicians are granted cheerful audiences, a slippery American Jesuit, whose doubletalk is intended to reverse Catholic teaching on LGBT matters, is told by the highest authority in the Church that he has the style of God.

King Lear had it right: That way madness lies.

__________

‘LA vs Hate’ Snitch Line Is Funded By Taxes And Big Business – The Federalist

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

Authorities in Los Angeles County are operating an ideologically charged tip line that encourages citizens to report one another to the government for non-criminal hate incidents. The project, called LA vs Hate, was founded in 2020 and is backed by a handful of corporate sponsors.

LA vs Hate describes itself as a community-centered creative campaign to encourage and support all residents of Los Angeles County to unite against, report, and resist hate. The program relies on anonymous reporting online or through a tip line, 211 LA, and is not affiliated with law enforcement.

The organization operates under the authority of the County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations and enjoys backing from Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield of California, and other nonprofits and corporate organizations. It also receives financial support from the American Rescue Plan and local governmental departments.

Despite being central to its mission, the term hate is not clearly defined anywhere on the groups website. Nevertheless, its materials are scattered with ideological indicators. A series produced by LA vs Hate and 211 LA, called Exploring Justice, includes videos to challenge our own prejudices by educating ourselves on social justice topics and issues that many are still experiencing today, with topics like Privilege and Oppression, Intersectionality, and Racial Justice. They also tout merchandise and graphics with pro-trans and BLM messaging.

Asked by The Federalist whether disagreement with trans ideology and the Black Lives Matter movement both of which are featured approvingly on the projects website would constitute hate, the group declined to respond.

LA vs Hate encourages people to report hate crimes and hate violence, both of which are defined to include illegal offenses on the groups website. Critically, however, Angelenos are also told to report hate incidents, defined on the site as an action or behavior motivated by hate but which, for one or more reasons, is not a crime. Listed examples of hate incidents include name-calling, insults, displaying so-called hate material on your own property, posting alleged hate material that does not result in property damage, and distributing materials with hate messages in public spaces.

LA vs Hate did not provide a public definition of hate or respond to The Federalist with a definition when asked. Taxpayers, Christians, and Angelenos outside the far left should be troubled by this ambiguity, given recent efforts to use overly broad definitions of hate to smear and punish political opponents.

The left routinely weaponizes shame in the name of crushing everything they deem hate. Most recently, Jordan Peterson has been the subject of attacks from the College of Psychologists of Ontario, and ordered to either submit to social media communication retraining or face a disciplinary hearing and possible suspension of [his] clinical license and the right to represent [himself] as a psychologist. This is in response to Petersons positions on social and political issues such as transgenderism even though Petersons opinions fall well within the mainstream.

But nobody is ideologically immune. Cancellation knows no political bounds, with Joe Rogan and more liberal figures like J.K. Rowling at the forefront. Both were found guilty of common sense, resisting the transgender norms the left is trying to cement into our society. These cases all point to a shifting Overton window.

The tip line is not affiliated with law enforcement, so it poses the question: Why bother reporting so-called hate? The LA vs Hate website claims reporting is used so communities can respond with appropriate resources and support in response to actions motivated by hostile prejudice. The ambiguity is intentional but transparent. These tip lines are unenforceable snitch lines that police opinions and dissent with the most effective method: shame.

Inez Stepman, Independent Womens Forum senior policy analyst, said LA vs Hate is the hallmark of a leftist overhauling of institutions. Stepman said, The greatest conceit of conservatives for the last 30 years has been that they can allow the left to take over every educational and culture-producing institution and that life would teach indoctrinated generations better in the real world. Well, heres your real world, we all live on campus now.

In addition to its government funding and corporate sponsors, LA vs Hate is supported by the Anti-Defamation League and Taskforce, an organization that partners with the United Nations, Google, Microsoft, and YouTube. 211 LA is funded by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, contracts with the state of California, and the National Institutes of Health.

George Orwell describes this state of inescapable orthodoxy best: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face for ever.

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'LA vs Hate' Snitch Line Is Funded By Taxes And Big Business - The Federalist

D.C. Tax Revision Commission considers digital advertising tax and … – Lexology

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

On September 13, 2023, the D.C. Tax Revision Commission met and evaluated over a dozen tax proposals. Most concerning, the Commission discussed the possibility of implementing a digital advertising tax or a data mining tax.

D.C. Tax Revision Commission

The Council of the District of Columbia established the Commission to comprehensively review the Districts tax code. The Commissions mandate is to make tax policy recommendations on:

By the end of 2023, the Commission is set to submit its slate of recommendations to the Council, along with specific steps for implementing the recommendations, such as draft legislation and regulations.

The Commission previously released reports in 1998[2] and 2014.[3] Each Commissions report made recommendations for changes to the Districts tax system. For example, in 1998, the Commission recommended a 1.5% business activities tax and taxing sales of tangible products to District residents the same regardless of whether they are sold remotely or by District-based businesses. In 2014, the Commission recommended reducing the Districts business franchise tax rate from 9.975% to 8.25%.

D.C. Tax Revision Commission proposals

Throughout 2023, the Commission has met with various tax and fiscal policy experts, as well as community and industry representatives. It has prepared a series of proposals to review and potentially suggest to the Council. On September 13, 2023, the Commission met for the first time to discuss these various proposals. In advance, the Commission released the list of proposals that they would review.

The first proposal on the list was Strengthen and clarify taxation of digital ads and services. The Commission released a proposal paper, elaborating on the topic. The proposal paper specifically listed as options: (1) a digital advertising tax act similar to Marylands enactment; and (2) a tax on the extraction of consumer data by tech platforms in much the same way that states tax the extraction of valuable commodities like fossil fuels or precious metals. The second option would be a per-consumer excise tax that accounts for each user whose data is being mined.

The sordid history of state digital advertising taxes

Maryland became the first and only state in the United States to impose a tax on gross receipts from digital advertising services in 2022. The tax is imposed on gross revenues derived from digital advertising services in Maryland at graduated rates, from a minimum rate of 2.5% to a maximum rate of 10% of such revenues. The Maryland digital advertising generated immediate controversy, with taxpayers challenging the tax in state[4] and federal courts on federal statutory and constitutional grounds.[5] While those challenges have yet to result in a final nonappealable decision on the legality of the Maryland tax, we expect the Maryland Supreme Court to eventually reach the merits and, hopefully, find the tax to be unconstitutional. And while several other states have considered Maryland-style digital advertising tax legislation, those proposals ultimately have been rejected.

With the history of Marylands digital advertising tax in mind, the Commissions proposal paper acknowledged that any potential D.C. tax similar to Marylands tax would likely face similar legal challenges. But the paper noted that it may be able to minimize challenges by, for example, imposing a tax on all advertising (as opposed to just digital advertising). There could then be less risk that the tax would violate the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act. But imposing a broad advertising tax could prove difficult for the Council based on recent experience. In 2020, the Council considered expanding its sales tax base to include sales of advertising services and personal information, as part of its Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Support Act of 2020. Ultimately, the D.C. Council opted not to pursue expanding its sales tax base to these sales due to the adverse impact on local media and press, on top of the likely litigation that would follow if a targeted tax on digital advertising were adopted.[6]

The Commission meeting on September 13th

At the meeting, the Commission discussed the first batch of proposals but without formally voting on them, which will happen in a later meeting. Rather, the meeting was intended to advance discussion in preparation for later formal voting.

The Commissions members were generally interested in pursuing a digital advertising tax or a data mining tax. The members saw these taxes as being worth consideration because of the potentially large amount of revenue they could generate. One member supported the taxes because he saw them as an expansion of the tax base to match changing technology, rather than a tax rate increase.

However, there was hesitancy among the Commissions members because of the ongoing Maryland litigation and potential tax implementation difficulties. The Commissions members noted that the process to pass and implement these taxes could be long, especially as they were interested in whether the Maryland tax would survive legal scrutiny.

The Commission also considered a variety of other proposals. For example, the Commissions members reacted negatively to increasing the general sales tax rate from 6 percent to 7 percent due to regressivity concerns. However, they were supportive of eliminating the motor vehicle excise tax exemption for electric vehicles.

Future meetings and next steps

The Commission currently has scheduled five additional proposal review sessionsSeptember 19th, September 26th, October 10th, October 20th, and October 24th. These sessions will shape which recommendations the Commission will make to the D.C. Council. Of particular interest for the September 19th meeting, the Commission likely will discuss a business activity tax proposal, which may resemble the Texas franchise (margin) tax and the Oregon corporate activity tax. Eversheds Sutherland will continue to follow these review sessions that will color the next decade of District taxation.

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D.C. Tax Revision Commission considers digital advertising tax and ... - Lexology

Pursue A Masters In Data Science With The 3rd Best Online Program – KDnuggets

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

Scientists suggest use of data-driven approach to look for life on other planets – Phys.org

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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A large team of scientists with a wide variety of backgrounds has joined together to suggest that a data-driven approach to search for life elsewhere in the universe should replace methods now in use. In their paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, the group explains how a data-driven approach could help prevent human-centered biases from overlooking potential signs of life.

Over the past few decades, scientists have become much more open to the possibility of discovering life in places other than on Earth. And because of that, more work has been done to find lifeor at least signs of it. But, as the group on this new effort points out, most such approaches tend to expect that other forms of life will resemble those found on Earth. And that could be blinding scientists to signs of life that might be there but are being missed.

To overcome such a problem, the researchers suggest a more data-driven approach be used. They note that a lot of data have been obtained regarding various parts of the night sky. They also note that the data are in different formats. Some are radio wave graphs, while others describe the attributes of light emitted by a section of the sky, or even a given planet.

Such data, they suggest, are reminiscent of the mass of data that can be found on the internet that relates to various activities, mostly by humans. They further note that such data have been used to find out new things, to spot trends, or even to make up new things that might be related to other thingsthrough the use of AI applications.

This, they argue, suggests that a similar approach could be used to study the huge amounts of data that have been accumulated by decades of space research. Doing so, they further argue, could help find things that stand out in ways that have not been noticed before. A given star system, for example, may have unique attributes that scientists have not yet noticed because they have been looking for signs that relate to the types of life we expect to see.

They conclude by suggesting specific types of data-driven research be conducted on data that currently exist, such as that collected by all-sky surveys done using far-infrared wavelength devices. Another approach could involve data mining on the results of large sky surveys, or of surveys that were done with radio astronomical interferometers, or even research that involved known artifacts in the solar system.

More information: T. Joseph W. Lazio et al, Data-Driven Approaches to Searches for the Technosignatures of Advanced Civilizations, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2308.15518

Journal information: arXiv

2023 Science X Network

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Scientists suggest use of data-driven approach to look for life on other planets - Phys.org

Working with Big Data: Tools and Techniques – KDnuggets

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

Long gone are times in business when all the data you needed was in your little black book. In this era of the digital revolution, not even the classical databases are enough.

Handling big data became a critical skill for businesses and, with them, data scientists. Big data is characterized by its volume, velocity, and variety, offering unprecedented insights into patterns and trends.

To handle such data effectively, it requires the usage of specialized tools and techniques.

No, its not simply lots of data.

Big data is most commonly characterized by the three Vs:

All the big data characteristics mentioned impact the tools and techniques we use to handle big data.

When we talk about big data techniques, they are simply methods, algorithms, and approaches we use to process, analyze, and manage big data. On the surface, they are the same as in regular data. However, the big data characteristics we discussed call for different approaches and tools.

Here are some prominent tools and techniques used in the big data domain.

What is it?: Data processing refers to operations and activities that transform raw data into meaningful information. It tasks from cleaning and structuring data to running complex algorithms and analytics.

Big data is sometimes batch processed, but more prevalent is data streaming.

Key Characteristics:

Big Data Tools Used: Apache Hadoop MapReduce, Apache Spark, Apache Tez, Apache Kafka, Apache Storm, Apache Flink, Amazon Kinesis, IBM Streams, Google Cloud Dataflow

Tools Overview:

What is it?: ETL is Extracting data from various sources, Transforming it into a structured and usable format, and Loading it into a data storage system for analysis or other purposes.

Big data characteristics mean that the ETL process needs to handle more data from more sources. Data is usually semi-structured or unstructured, which is transformed and stored differently than structured data.

ETL in big data also usually needs to process data in real time.

Key Characteristics:

Big Data Tools Used: Apache NiFi, Apache Sqoop, Apache Flume, Talend

Tools Overview:

Data provenance tracking

Extensible architecture with processors

Supports data provenance

Extensible with a wide range of processors

Parallel import/export

Compression and direct import features

Parallel import/export

Incremental data transfer capabilities

Reliable and durable data delivery

Native integration with Hadoop ecosystem

Fault-tolerant architecture

Extensible with custom sources, channels, and sinks.

Broad connectivity to databases, apps, and more

Data quality and profiling tools

Graphical interface for designing data integration processes

Supports data quality and master data management

What is it?: Big data storage must store vast amounts of data generated at high velocities and in various formats.

The three most distinct ways to store big data are NoSQL databases, data lakes, and data warehouses.

NoSQL databases are designed for handling large volumes of structured and unstructured data without a fixed schema (NoSQL - Not Only SQL). This makes them adaptable to the evolving data structure.

Unlike traditional, vertically scalable databases, NoSQL databases are horizontally scalable, meaning they can distribute data across multiple servers. Scaling becomes easier by adding more machines to the system. They are fault-tolerant, have low latency (appreciated in applications requiring real-time data access), and are cost-efficient at scale.

Data lakes are storage repositories that store vast amounts of raw data in their native format. This simplifies data access and analytics, as all data is located in one place.

Data lakes are scalable and cost-efficient. They provide flexibility (data is ingested in its raw form, and the structure is defined when reading the data for analysis), support batch and real-time data processing, and can be integrated with data quality tools, leading to more advanced analytics and richer insights.

A data warehouse is a centralized repository optimized for analytical processing that stores data from multiple sources, transforming it into a format suitable for analysis and reporting.

It is designed to store vast amounts of data, integrate it from various sources, and allow for historical analysis since data is stored with a time dimension.

Key Characteristics:

Big Data Tools Used: MongoDB (document-based), Cassandra (column-based), Apache HBase (column-based), Neo4j (graph-based), Redis (key-value store), Amazon S3, Azure Data Lake, Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), Google Big Lake, Amazon Redshift, BigQuery

Tools Overview:

What is it?: Its discovering patterns, correlations, anomalies, and statistical relationships in large datasets. It involves disciplines like machine learning, statistics, and using database systems to extract insights from data.

The amount of data mined is vast, and the sheer volume can reveal patterns that might not be apparent in smaller datasets. Big data usually comes from various sources and is often semi-structured or unstructured. This requires more sophisticated preprocessing and integration techniques. Unlike regular data, big data is usually processed in real time.

Tools used for big data mining have to handle all this. To do that, they apply distributed computing, i.e., data processing is spread across multiple computers.

Some algorithms might not be suitable for big data mining, as it requires scalable parallel processing algorithms, e.g., SVM, SGD, or Gradient Boosting.

Big data mining has also adopted Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) techniques. EDA analyzes datasets to summarize their main characteristics, often using statistical graphics, plots, and information tables. Because of that, well talk about big data mining and EDA tools together.

Key Characteristics:

Big Data Tools Used: Weka, KNIME, RapidMiner, Apache Hive, Apache Pig, Apache Drill, Presto

Tools Overview:

What is it?: Its a graphical representation of information and data extracted from vast datasets. Using visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps, data visualization tools provide an accessible way to understand patterns, outliers, and trends in the data.

Again, the characteristics of big data data, such as size and complexity, make it different from regular data visualization.

Key Characteristics:

Big Data Tools Used: Tableau, PowerBI, D3.js, Kibana

Tools Overview:

Big data is so similar to regular data but also completely different. They share the techniques for handling data. But due to big data characteristics, these techniques are the same only by their name. Otherwise, they require completely different approaches and tools.

If you want to get into big data, youll have to use various big data tools. Our overview of these tools should be a good starting point for you.Nate Rosidi is a data scientist and in product strategy. He's also an adjunct professor teaching analytics, and is the founder of StrataScratch, a platform helping data scientists prepare for their interviews with real interview questions from top companies. Connect with him on Twitter: StrataScratch or LinkedIn.

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Working with Big Data: Tools and Techniques - KDnuggets

TSX snaps losing streak, led by tech and mining shares – Reuters

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

The Art Deco facade of the original Toronto Stock Exchange building is seen on Bay Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Monday, snapping a four-day losing streak, as technology and mining shares benefited from a pickup in investor sentiment ahead of U.S. inflation data this week.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended up 108.11 points, or 0.5%, at 20,182.76.

"It looks like a risk-on day when you see tech rallying, you see some of the base metals moving and the Canadian dollar is rallying as well," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.

The Canadian dollar extended its recovery from a five-month low as an increase in risk appetite weighed on the safe-haven U.S. dollar (.DXY).

Wall Street also notched gains as investors awaited U.S. inflation data on Wednesday.

"The inflation data later this week out of the United States will probably bring a bit of a dampener on the rally," Petursson said. "I expect inflation to move higher on a year-over-year basis and that might just reignite thoughts that the Fed isn't done (raising interest rates)."

Money markets expect the Federal Reserve to leave its policy rate on hold at a policy decision later this month but the following meeting in November is seen as a closer call.

The Toronto market's technology sector rallied 1.6%, helped by a gain of 14% for BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO), recouping much of last week's sharp decline.

Heavily weighted financials also advanced, rising 1%, and the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 1.2% as copper prices jumped.

Energy was a laggard, falling 1.9%, as the recent rally in oil lost some momentum. Oil settled down 0.3% at $87.29 a barrel.

Reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and Khushi Singh; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Sandra Maler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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TSX snaps losing streak, led by tech and mining shares - Reuters

Australia, Canada, and US merge geo data – North of 60 Mining News

September 15, 2023 | Author: admin

Part of a larger collaboration to better understand the critical minerals potential across Australia, Canada, and the United States, the federal geological surveys from the three countries have merged national-scale geological, geophysical, and mineral resource information into a single dataset that is expected to enhance critical mineral discovery.

"Geology doesn't stop at the border and neither does our data," said U.S Geological Survey scientist Anne McCafferty, who led the data compilation effort. "Scientists will now be able to look at geological and geophysical data seamlessly across both Canada and the United States, as well as make direct comparisons to Australia."

The tri-national geologic, geophysics, and mineral resource data release includes more than 40 earth science data layers, including a new map of variations in the Earth's natural magnetic field for the entirety of Canada and the U.S that geoscientists can use to develop three-dimensional representations of geology underground.

"These standardised datasets, spanning the continents of Australia and North America, enable unique investigations into the controls on critical mineral distribution which were simply not possible beforehand," said Geoscience Australia scientist Karol Czarnota. "I'm sure they will be a foundation for ongoing research and innovation for many years to come."

The tri-national geo-data release is part of the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative, a partnership forged in 2019 to support the establishment of a diversified supply of critical minerals in Australia, Canada, and the U.S.

"This joint data release speaks to our continued commitment to improve scientific cooperation and data sharing between the U.S. Geological Survey, Geoscience Australia, and the Geological Survey of Canada," said Geological Survey of Canada scientist Christopher Lawley.

America's heavy dependence on countries like China for critical minerals and an overall lack of knowledge about many of these elements needed for clean energy, high-tech devices, and military hardware was a primary driver behind the formation of CMMI.

In addition to data-sharing, CMMI combines the expertise brought to the table by each of the nation's geological teams.

"Because each country has expertise in different fields, bringing all of these experts together can create a strong foundation of mineral information that can be used by policy makers, resource-managers, industry and others to help meet the needs of all three countries' economies and security," USGS penned in a 2020 announcement of the critical minerals collaboration.

This geological partnership will also help Australia, Canada, and the U.S. coordinate supply chains for the minerals critical to the clean energy goals and manufacturing sectors in all three countries.

U.S. Geological Survey

A team led by the Geological Survey of Canada used the tri-national geophysics datasets created under CMMI and machine-learning techniques to map Mississippi Valley-style zinc deposits in Australia and North America.

One way the combined geological information has already been leveraged is as a much larger and more diverse dataset for artificial intelligence and machine learning mineral exploration techniques.

A CMMI team led by the Geological Survey of Canada has already used the data layers to map the potential for certain types of zinc deposits in all three nations.

The sediment-hosted zinc deposits this investigation focused on often host gallium and germanium, a pair of technology metals important to chipmaking that have gained attention due to China's dominance in their supply and restrictions on exports.

The international team of geoscientists is using similar techniques to model the potential for other critical mineral systems across Australia, Canada, and the U.S.

Over his more than 15 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

Email: [emailprotected] Phone: (907) 726-1095https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-lasley-ab073b12/

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Australia, Canada, and US merge geo data - North of 60 Mining News

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