text:
-   Introduction
-   How Review Apps work
-   Configuring Review Apps
    -   Enable Review Apps button
-   Review Apps auto-stop
-   Review Apps examples
-   Route Maps
    -   Route Maps example
-   Visual Reviews
    -   Using Visual Reviews
    -   Configure Review Apps for Visual Reviews
    -   Determining merge request ID
    -   Enable or disable Visual Reviews
    -   Authentication for Visual Reviews
-   Limitations

Version history

-   Introduced in GitLab 8.12. Further additions were made in GitLab 8.13 and 8.14.
-   Inspired by Heroku’s Review Apps, which itself was inspired by Fourchette.

Review Apps is a collaboration tool that takes the hard work out of providing an environment to showcase product changes.

Introduction

Review Apps:

-   Provide an automatic live preview of changes made in a feature branch by spinning up a dynamic environment for your merge requests.
-   Allow designers and product managers to see your changes without needing to check out your branch and run your changes in a sandbox environment.
-   Are fully integrated with the GitLab DevOps LifeCycle.
-   Allow you to deploy your changes wherever you want.

[Review Apps Workflow]

In the above example:

-   A Review App is built every time a commit is pushed to topic branch.
-   The reviewer fails two reviews before passing the third review.
-   After the review has passed, topic branch is merged into master where it is deployed to staging.
-   After having been approved in staging, the changes that were merged into master are deployed in to production.

How Review Apps work

A Review App is a mapping of a branch with an environment. Access to the Review App is made available as a link on the merge request relevant to the branch.

The following is an example of a merge request with an environment set dynamically.

[Review App in merge request]

In this example, a branch was:

-   Successfully built.
-   Deployed under a dynamic environment that can be reached by clicking on the VIEW APP button.

After adding Review Apps to your workflow, you follow the branched Git flow. That is:

1.  Push a branch and let the runner deploy the Review App based on the script definition of the dynamic environment job.
2.  Wait for the runner to build and deploy your web application.
3.  Click on the link provided in the merge request related to the branch to see the changes live.

Configuring Review Apps

Review Apps are built on dynamic environments, which allow you to dynamically create a new environment for each branch.

The process of configuring Review Apps is as follows:

1.  Set up the infrastructure to host and deploy the Review Apps (check the examples below).
2.  Install and configure a runner to do deployment.
3.  Set up a job in .gitlab-ci.yml that uses the predefined CI environment variable ${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME} to create dynamic environments and restrict it to run only on branches. Alternatively, you can get a YML template for this job by enabling review apps for your project.
4.  Optionally, set a job that manually stops the Review Apps.

Enable Review Apps button

When configuring Review Apps for a project, you need to add a new job to .gitlab-ci.yml, as mentioned above. To facilitate this and if you are using Kubernetes, you can click the ENABLE REVIEW APPS button and GitLab will prompt you with a template code block that you can copy and paste into .gitlab-ci.yml as a starting point. To do so:

1.  Go to the project your want to create a Review App job for.
2.  From the left nav, go to OPERATIONS > ENVIRONMENTS.
3.  Click on the ENABLE REVIEW APPS button. It is available to you if you have Developer or higher permissions to that project.
4.  Copy the provided code snippet and paste it into your .gitlab-ci.yml file:

    [Enable Review Apps modal]

5.  Feel free to tune this template to your own needs.

Review Apps auto-stop

See how to configure Review Apps environments to expire and auto-stop after a given period of time.

Review Apps examples

The following are example projects that demonstrate Review App configuration:

-   NGINX.
-   OpenShift.

Other examples of Review Apps:

-   Cloud Native Development with GitLab.
-   Review Apps for Android.

Route Maps

Introduced in GitLab 8.17. In GitLab 11.5, the file links are available in the merge request widget.

Route Maps allows you to go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps.

Once set up, the review app link in the merge request widget can take you directly to the pages changed, making it easier and faster to preview proposed modifications.

Configuring Route Maps involves telling GitLab how the paths of files in your repository map to paths of pages on your website using a Route Map. Once set, GitLab will display VIEW ON … buttons, which will take you to the pages changed directly from merge requests.

To set up a route map, add a file inside the repository at .gitlab/route-map.yml, which contains a YAML array that maps source paths (in the repository) to public paths (on the website).

Route Maps example

The following is an example of a route map for Middleman, a static site generator (SSG) used to build GitLab’s website, deployed from its project on GitLab.com:

    # Team data
    - source: 'data/team.yml'  # data/team.yml
      public: 'team/'  # team/

    # Blogposts
    - source: /source\/posts\/([0-9]{4})-([0-9]{2})-([0-9]{2})-(.+?)\..*/  # source/posts/2017-01-30-around-the-world-in-6-releases.html.md.erb
      public: '\1/\2/\3/\4/'  # 2017/01/30/around-the-world-in-6-releases/

    # HTML files
    - source: /source\/(.+?\.html).*/  # source/index.html.haml
      public: '\1'  # index.html

    # Other files
    - source: /source\/(.*)/  # source/images/blogimages/around-the-world-in-6-releases-cover.png
      public: '\1'  # images/blogimages/around-the-world-in-6-releases-cover.png

Mappings are defined as entries in the root YAML array, and are identified by a - prefix. Within an entry, there is a hash map with two keys:

-   source
    -   A string, starting and ending with ', for an exact match.
    -   A regular expression, starting and ending with /, for a pattern match:
        -   The regular expression needs to match the entire source path - ^ and $ anchors are implied.
        -   Can include capture groups denoted by () that can be referred to in the public path.
        -   Slashes (/) can, but don’t have to, be escaped as \/.
        -   Literal periods (.) should be escaped as \..
-   public, a string starting and ending with '.
    -   Can include \N expressions to refer to capture groups in the source regular expression in order of their occurrence, starting with \1.

The public path for a source path is determined by finding the first source expression that matches it, and returning the corresponding public path, replacing the \N expressions with the values of the () capture groups if appropriate.

In the example above, the fact that mappings are evaluated in order of their definition is used to ensure that source/index.html.haml will match /source\/(.+?\.html).*/ instead of /source\/(.*)/, and will result in a public path of index.html, instead of index.html.haml.

After you have the route mapping set up, it will take effect in the following locations:

-   In the merge request widget. The:
    -   VIEW APP button will take you to the environment URL set in .gitlab-ci.yml.
    -   Dropdown will list the first 5 matched items from the route map, but you can filter them if more than 5 are available.

        [View app file list in merge request widget]

-   In the diff for a merge request, comparison, or commit.

    ["View on env" button in merge request diff]

-   In the blob file view.

    ["View on env" button in file view]

Visual Reviews

Version history

-   Introduced in GitLab Starter 12.0.
-   It’s deployed behind a feature flag, enabled by default.
-   It’s enabled on GitLab.com.
-   For GitLab self-managed instances, GitLab administrators can opt to disable it.

With Visual Reviews, members of any team (Product, Design, Quality, and so on) can provide feedback comments through a form in your review apps. The comments are added to the merge request that triggered the review app.

Using Visual Reviews

After Visual Reviews has been configured for the Review App, the Visual Reviews feedback form is overlaid on the right side of every page.

[Visual review feedback form]

To use the feedback form to make a comment in the merge request:

1.  Click the REVIEW tab on the right side of a page.
2.  Make a comment on the visual review. You can make use of all the Markdown annotations that are also available in merge request comments.
3.  Enter your personal information:
    -   If data-require-auth is true, you must enter your personal access token.
    -   Otherwise, enter your name, and optionally your email.
4.  Click SEND FEEDBACK.

To see Visual reviews in action, see the Visual Reviews Walk through.

Configure Review Apps for Visual Reviews

The feedback form is served through a script you add to pages in your Review App. If you have Developer permissions to the project, you can access it by clicking the REVIEW button in the PIPELINE section of the merge request. The form modal will also show a dropdown for changed pages if route maps are configured in the project.

[review button]

The provided script should be added to the <head> of your application and consists of some project and merge request specific values. Here’s how it looks for a project with code hosted in a project on GitLab.com:

    <script
      data-project-id='11790219'
      data-merge-request-id='1'
      data-mr-url='https://gitlab.com'
      data-project-path='sarah/review-app-tester'
      data-require-auth='true'
      id='review-app-toolbar-script'
      src='https://gitlab.com/assets/webpack/visual_review_toolbar.js'>
    </script>

Ideally, you should use environment variables to replace those values at runtime when each review app is created:

-   data-project-id is the project ID, which can be found by the CI_PROJECT_ID variable.
-   data-merge-request-id is the merge request ID, which can be found by the CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID variable. CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID is available only if only: [merge_requests] is used and the merge request is created.
-   data-mr-url is the URL of the GitLab instance and will be the same for all review apps.
-   data-project-path is the project’s path, which can be found by CI_PROJECT_PATH.
-   data-require-auth is optional for public projects but required for private and internal ones. If this is set to true, the user will be required to enter their personal access token instead of their name and email.
-   id is always review-app-toolbar-script, you don’t need to change that.
-   src is the source of the review toolbar script, which resides in the respective GitLab instance and will be the same for all review apps.

For example, in a Ruby application with code hosted on in a project GitLab.com, you would need to have this script:

    <script
      data-project-id="ENV['CI_PROJECT_ID']"
      data-merge-request-id="ENV['CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID']"
      data-mr-url='https://gitlab.com'
      data-project-path="ENV['CI_PROJECT_PATH']"
      id='review-app-toolbar-script'
      src='https://gitlab.com/assets/webpack/visual_review_toolbar.js'>
    </script>

Then, when your app is deployed via GitLab CI/CD, those variables should get replaced with their real values.

Determining merge request ID

The visual review tools retrieve the merge request ID from the data-merge-request-id data attribute included in the script HTML tag used to add the visual review tools to your review app.

After determining the ID for the merge request to link to a visual review app, you can supply the ID by either:

-   Hard-coding it in the script tag via the data attribute data-merge-request-id of the app.
-   Dynamically adding the data-merge-request-id value during the build of the app.
-   Supplying it manually through the visual review form in the app.

Enable or disable Visual Reviews

Visual Reviews is deployed behind a feature flag that is ENABLED BY DEFAULT. GitLab administrators with access to the GitLab Rails console can opt to disable it.

To disable it:

    Feature.disable(:anonymous_visual_review_feedback)

To enable it:

    Feature.enable(:anonymous_visual_review_feedback)

Authentication for Visual Reviews

To enable visual reviews for private and internal projects, set the data-require-auth variable to true. When enabled, the user must enter a personal access token with api scope before submitting feedback.

This same method can be used to require authentication for any public projects.

Limitations

Review App limitations are the same as environments limitations.

question: What does the text say about Route Maps?

text: The correct answer is clearly mentioned in the original text

answer: No answer

text: The article did say something about route maps and their role in the app being reviewed.

answer: Route maps allow you to go directly from source files to the public pages on the environment defined for review apps. Since review apps are fully integrated GitLab, configuring route maps involves telling it how the paths of files in your repository map to paths of pages on your website. Mappings are entries in the root YAML array and are identified by the "a -" prefix.

answer: Introduced in GitLab 8.17, Route Maps lets you go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps. Route Maps are configured by telling GitLab how the paths of files in the repository map to the paths of pages on the website. Route Maps is set up by adding a file .gitlab/route-map.yml, which contains a YAML array that maps source paths to public paths.

text: The answer should mention the use of the VIEW ON button.

text: The answer should mention the use of the route map in the merge request widget.

text: The answer should mention how Route Maps are used.

text: The answer should mention the Route Map's use of VIEW ON buttons.

text: It is omitted that you can go directly to the pages changed, making it easier and faster to preview proposed modifications.

text: It is omittedthat route maps take effect in the merge request widget, the diff for a merge request, comparison, or commit and in the blob file view.

answer: No answer

text: The answer should mention that Route Maps allow you to go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps.

text: The response misses to mention that Route Maps allows you to go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps.

text: The answer should mention that Route Maps allow users to go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps.

text: This is false. There are a few things that can be said about Route Maps.

text: The answer should mention that Route Maps allows users to go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps.

text: The response could include more information about Route Maps

text: The answer mentions Route Maps. For example, it says Route Maps allow users to go directly from source files to public pages on the environment defined for Review Apps. The text discusses how to configure and set up Route Maps.

answer: Route maps allow you to go directly from source files to the public pages on the environment defined for review apps. Since review apps are fully integrated GitLab, configuring route maps involves telling it how the paths of files in your repository map to paths of pages on your website. Mappings are entries in the root YAML array and are identified by the "a -" prefix.

text: The answer should mention that Route Maps were introduced in GitLab 8.17.

text: The answer should mention the use of the .gitlab/route-map.yml file.

text: The answer omits the fact that Route Maps were introduced in GitLab 8.17.

text: The answer should mention the "VIEW ON" button.

text: The "a -" prefix is not mentioned in the text.

text: Remove the sentence about Mappings, it is irrelevant

text: Missing info about Route Maps, like versions when introduced, what it does with the API, and example usage.


text:
*Hello, all. I posted this to /r/writing awhile back, but didn't get any comments on it, so I'm posting it here in the hopes of getting feedback. I'm a novice writer who's never been published, and I can take criticism so please be honest. Thanks*

All day the sun burned furiously hot, causing sweat, stench, and thirst to all those unlucky enough to be under its power. There would be no darkness tonight; the sun was not going to let a little thing like the post meridian tell it to stop shining, burning, and suffocating the denizens of Little Rock.

Before the Age turned, there had been a nightly darkness, or so people were told, but now, in the Dusk Age, day and night were separated by days and sometimes a full week.

Cammy often wondered what it must have been like to live in the Noon Age, when men had been able to predict not only when the sun would rise and fall, but the changing of the weather as well. The first people of the Dusk Age had arbitrarily carried over the static 60/60/24/365.25 time keeping system, longing for a return to the days of the Noon Age. The changes had been so subtle at first that the educated people of the Noon days chalked it up to a random aberration. When the changes became more pronounced, they investigated for any breaches or alterations in their systems. Then one day, the Age turned, everything broke, and nothing was ever the same.

“Don’t start crying again.” Jason, Cammy’s brother told her.

“Excuse me?” she answered. She hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen where she sat at their copper-top table, staring aimlessly out the one window the room was afforded.

“For a second there, you had that look on your face that you get before you cry. You know, that sour lemon/I’m about to fart-face?”

Granted, she had been about to cry over a loss she never experienced, but could still feel, and worse, she did know what face he meant—an oft discussed family trait—but she could not let him know that; she was supposed to be the strong one, and he wasn’t supposed to be so damn observant.

“Halve off!” she told him, raising her heart finger in a curse-implied salute.

“If I cut myself like the Dusky Downers do, who would be here to make sure you don’t drown mom in your tears?”

“Just leave me alone, Jason. Go back to your star maps and your penny women, and let me think.”

Knifing me in the back might be kinder than your constant disproval of the way I make money for us all; the money that buys your clothes, food, and the clean water you waste on tears.”

“Leave… me…”

“Maybe,” Jason started, pulling Cammy back into the chair she had begun to rise from “you can stop thinking of me as your baby brother for a second and let me tell you something?”

Nodding was the only response he got, but it was enough.

“Older men, men who have been studying the stars since before mom was in high school, are starting to formulate what comes next. There was the Dawn Age when men saw little more than spirits and gods in the workings of life and only just started to understand nature and their own natures. The only science they had beyond trial and error was star mapping, and they guided themselves through life with wonder, fantasies, and false emotions.”

“Perhaps,” Cammy interrupted, exasperated “you can stop being so full of yourself and remember that I went to school too and don’t need a history lesson: After the Dawn Age, there was the Noon Age,” she continued for him “when everyday dawned and dusked brightly, and by understanding and utilizing the sciences of Earth, men were able to reach beyond it, to not only map the stars, but to see them, visit them, collect them from, and understand the star’s individual sciences. Their potential was limitless, and they went forward at such a blinding pace that going backwards seemed so impossible, it was never given thought. Now,” she concluded “we are in the Dusk Age, scrabbling at the ground trying to pick up the pieces of the ages before so that we can survive in a world that is foreign, hostile, untamed, and has changed all the rules of its sciences. What little fragments we have left of the Noon age are mostly useless to us, and we have had to relearn many of the ways of the people of the Dawn Age to survive. Is that about right, Monsieur Genius?”

Quietly, and completely out of character, Jason nodded and shed a single tear.

“Really?” Cammy asked, flabbergasted and slamming her hands down on the table. All the times he had mocked her for crying about the death of the Noon age, something no one alive and not even their great-grandparents had been around for and yet, here he was crying, as if… “If this is just you playing some stupid game with me!” she erupted suddenly.

“Sit down,” Jason asked meekly “and let me tell you what’s next.”

The fear in his voice was more than enough to make her obey, but her nature was one of skepticism, so her mind was ready with a few pinches of salt for whatever he was about to say.

“Under all the talk of relearned sciences, new discoveries of edibles, and propulsion systems, there is a deep fear of the next Age. Think about it, Cammy, what comes after dusk? Night” he answered himself. “Our nights may either be full of sun or wholly absent of it, but in the Night Age, will there be any day? How will humanity survive without sunlight? We have already seen how the flora and fauna adapted to the changing of the Age, but humans, relying solely on their temporary sciences, were left blind-sided, and next time, forgive the pun, we’ll be left in the dark. We’ll be cold, blind, and helpless; so low down the food chain, worms may not wait until we’re corpses to start their feastings.”

“Very good, fear monger,” Cammy replied, keeping her skepticism forefront “but there was night in the Dawn Age, so why not dawn in the Night Age? And each age lasted for few millennia, while this one is only a few hundred years old, what’s the worry? Why did you cry?” The last was her real question, the only reason she was still having this discussion and had not just walked away from another of his wild—possibly just to mess with her—stories.

“What came before the Dawn Age?” he asked her in the stoic, marmoreal voice that was a much better display of his inner character. He provided his own answer in that same voice; “A Night Age” he told her. “One so deep and dark, that it was only vaguely remembered in the Noon Age. They had a different name for it, but it still confers the meaning; The Dark Ages. They also called that Noon Age the Golden Age, and thought nothing of the previous Dawn. More importantly, there was nothing of the Dusk. It is impossible to know if any of their sciences changed as they had only just begun to scratch the surface of science, and the stars stay constant, so their mapping is the same as ours, but changes occurred, Cam. From Dawn to Noon they gained knowledge, wealth, and dominance over the Earth, just like our more recently passed forefathers, and also just like them, Night fell and wiped it all away, but how? For us, we know that violent solar flares and the subsequent fission reactions in the atmosphere destroyed all the Noon Age’s technology, disrupted the laws of physics, and the biology of all living organisms on Earth—besides humanity—changed to adapt to the new environment, but what about in the Ages past? Did the Dusk before the Dark Ages pass so quickly that it did not bear mentioning? Did they not recognize its appearance? Is there even a Dusk Age or are we already experiencing the Night’s terrors? We don’t even know if we can really rely on any information that came before the Noon Age. It’s just all so, so…”

“X” Cammy told him when he started to cry again, pulling him into a hug. It was the way she told him that she understood and agreed; that she was his big sister and there was no shame in being worried. “X”. It was their slang for all will be well, because I love you and understand you: you are not alone.

“Zora” they said together as they heard the front door open and close. Their mother, the reason they had their own slang, was home, and they had to release their embrace and dry their tears before she got upset, and became useless for days.

“Anyone home?” she called out from the foyer. “I have dinner for my two happy children!”

title: Dawn of the Night Age (x-post from /r/writing)

question: Summarize Cammy's character.

text: Cammy's character traits are implicitly and explicitly available in the text.

category: coverage

answer: Cammy is a woman who is trying to be the strong one. She is the older sister of Jason. She is worried about the future. She is also worried about her brother.

answer_source: Model

text: The answer should mention that Cammy is the breadwinner of the family.

text: The answer should mention the Dusk Age.

text: The last sentence is unnecessary.

text: The last sentence is not relevant

text: Cammy is not worried about her brother.

text: There is no evidence that Cammy is worried about her brother.

text: Cammy is the older sister of Jason, but the answer should be more specific about her relationship with him.

text: The response could use clearer language.

text: The answer should mention the Dusk Age and Night Age.

answer: No answer

answer_source: Human misleading

text: The response misses to provide an answer to the task.

text: The answer should mention Cammy's relationship with her brother.

text: The response is incorrect.

text: It is omitted that Cammy is the older sister of Jason and is a worrier.

text: This is true, but it is omitted that Cammy is the older sister and is supposed to be the strong one.

text: The response misses to provide a response or answer.

category: accuracy

text: There are a lot of assertions that can be made regarding Cammy's character based on the text - though nothing is explicitly stated.

answer: Cammy is shown to be wistful, almost in tears over a loss she did not personally experience. She is supposed to be the strong one in the family. She disapproves of the way her younger brother makes money, and is skeptical of his theories about the Night Age.

answer_source: Human

text: The answer should mention that Cammy is the older sister.

text: The answer should mention that Cammy is the older sister of Jason.

text: Cammy's relationship with her younger brother is misrepresented.

text: The response could be clearer on who Cammy is being strong for.

text: Cammy is actually supportive of her brother and his theories, although she asks a lot of questions about them.

answer: No answer

text: The article shows that Cammy is a sensitive person who tries to be strong for her younger brother, showing that she is also protective

answer: Cammy is shown to be wistful, almost in tears over a loss she did not personally experience. She is supposed to be the strong one in the family. She disapproves of the way her younger brother makes money, and is skeptical of his theories about the Night Age.


text:
-   KPU
-   Calendars
-   2016-17
-   School of Business
-   Information Technology
-   Information Technology: Bachelor of Technology

-   _Or View:_
-   Course Descriptions
-   Program Index

-   Download PDF

Description

The Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology (BTech in IT) program allows students to earn a bachelor degree that prepares them for employment in the IT industry in Canada or for graduate school. The BTech in IT degree can be completed as a general degree or students can specialize in Network Administration and Security or Mobile and Web Application Development.

Admission Requirements

The Faculty's Admission Requirements, which consist of KPU's undergraduate English Proficiency Requirement, apply to this program.

Declaration Requirements

Students intending to graduate with this School of Business degree must declare the credential. At the time of declaration, the student must satisfy all of the following requirements:

-   In good academic standing with the University
-   Completion of a minimum of 15 credits of undergraduate coursework.

Curricular Requirements

The degree program requires a minimum of 120 credits of required courses and electives. The degree program with Co-operative Education requires an additional 28 credits of Co-op Education credits.

Note: BC Math 11 Foundations with a minimum grade of C+ (or an equivalent course) is a prerequisite for several INFO courses in Year 1. Consult an Academic Advisor to plan your course selections accordingly.

Year 1

One of:

BUQU 1130
Business Mathematics
3 credits

MATH 1140
Calculus I (Business Applications)
3 credits
One of:

BUQU 1230
Business Statistics
3 credits

MATH 1115
Statistics 1
3 credits

MATH 2341
Introduction to Statistics for Business
4 credits
All of:

INFO 1111
Introduction to Computer Hardware and Software
3 credits

INFO 1112
Principles of Program Structure and Design I
3 credits

INFO 1113
Systems Analysis and Design
3 credits

INFO 1211
Operating Systems Principles And Applications
3 credits

INFO 1212
Networking Technologies I
3 credits

INFO 1213
Web Application Development
3 credits

INFO 1214
Discrete Mathematics for Information Technology
3 credits

PHIL 1150
Introduction to Formal Logic
3 credits
Year 2

All of:

BUSI 1110
Fundamentals of Business in Canada
3 credits

CMNS 1140
Introduction to Professional Communication
3 credits

ENGL 1100
Introduction to University Writing
3 credits

INFO 2311
Networking Technologies II
3 credits

INFO 2312
Database Management Systems
3 credits

INFO 2313
Object-Oriented Programming
3 credits

INFO 2315
Data Structure
3 credits

INFO 2411
Foundations of Computer Security
3 credits

INFO 2413
System Development Project
3 credits

INFO 2416
Server Operating Systems
3 credits
Year 3

All INFO Core Courses:

INFO 3110
Professional Communications in Information Technology
3 credits

INFO 3150
Object-Oriented Software Engineering
3 credits

INFO 3250
Content Management and Information Architecture
3 credits

INFO 3280
Information Technology Project Management
3 credits
Plus any four INFO electives:*

INFO 3135
Advanced Web Application Development
3 credits

INFO 3170
Security of Enterprise Networks
3 credits

INFO 3180
Wireless Networks
3 credits

INFO 3225
Web Multimedia
3 credits

INFO 3235
Software Quality Assurance
3 credits

INFO 3240
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
3 credits

INFO 3245
Mobile Programming I
3 credits

INFO 3390
Networking Technologies III
3 credits
Plus one of:

CBSY 3100
Ethics in Information Technology
3 credits

PHIL 3033
Business Ethics
3 credits

PHIL 3109
Foundations in Ethics
3 credits
And one Breadth Elective:

Chosen from courses numbered 1100 or higher in any area of study other than CBSY, CPSC, or INFO.
3 credits
Year 4

All INFO Core Courses:

INFO 4190
Integration Project I
3 credits

INFO 4290
Integration Project II
3 credits

INFO 4310
Entrepreneurial Development in Information Technology
3 credits
Plus any five INFO electives:*

INFO 4105
Search Engine Principles
3 credits

INFO 4110
Cloud Computing
3 credits

INFO 4115
Website Design
3 credits

INFO 4120
Digital Forensics
3 credits

INFO 4125
Web Site Security
3 credits

INFO 4235
Special Topics in Web and Mobile Application Development
3 credits

INFO 4260
Network Technologies IV
3 credits

INFO 4330
Data Warehousing and Data Mining
3 credits

INFO 4370
Security of Wireless Systems
3 credits

INFO 4380
Wireless Sensor Networks
3 credits
And two Breadth Electives:

Chosen from courses numbered 1100 or higher in any area of study other than CBSY, CPSC, or INFO.
3 credits
NOTE: * Students may select INFO electives in Year 3 and Year 4 to satisfy the requirements for a degree specialization.

Degree Specializations

Network Administration and Security

To complete the Bachelor of Technology with a specialization in Network Administration and Security, students must successfully complete all of:

  --- ----------- -------------------------------------- -----------
      INFO 3170   Security of Enterprise Networks        3 credits
      INFO 3180   Wireless Networks                      3 credits
      INFO 3240   Enterprise Resource Planning Systems   3 credits
      INFO 3390   Networking Technologies III            3 credits
      INFO 4110   Cloud Computing                        3 credits
      INFO 4120   Digital Forensics                      3 credits
      INFO 4260   Network Technologies IV                3 credits
      INFO 4370   Security of Wireless Systems           3 credits
      INFO 4380   Wireless Sensor Networks               3 credits
  --- ----------- -------------------------------------- -----------

Mobile and Web Application Development

To complete the Bachelor of Technology with a specialization in Mobile and Web Application Development, students must successfully complete all of:

  --- ----------- ---------------------------------------------------------- -----------
      INFO 3135   Advanced Web Application Development                       3 credits
      INFO 3225   Web Multimedia                                             3 credits
      INFO 3235   Software Quality Assurance                                 3 credits
      INFO 3245   Mobile Programming I                                       3 credits
      INFO 4105   Search Engine Principles                                   3 credits
      INFO 4115   Website Design                                             3 credits
      INFO 4125   Web Site Security                                          3 credits
      INFO 4235   Special Topics in Web and Mobile Application Development   3 credits
      INFO 4330   Data Warehousing and Data Mining                           3 credits
  --- ----------- ---------------------------------------------------------- -----------

Co-operative Education

The Bachelor of Technology – Information Technology degree is offered with a Co-operative Education option.  Co-operative Education gives a student the opportunity to apply the skills gained during academic study in paid, practical work experience semesters. Degree students can complete a minimum of three work terms while completing their degree.   Work terms generally occur full-time in separate 4 month work semesters but may also be available part-time over an 8 month continuous (parallel) placement. Work semesters alternate with academic study.

Students wishing to enter and participate in the Co-op Option must meet the following requirements:

Declaration and Entrance Requirements:

-   Declaration of Co-op specialization in the Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology program.
-   Minimum GPA of 2.5
-   Maximum of 75 credits completed

Work Term and Program Continuance Requirements:

Procedures for enrolment in Co-operative Education work terms are outlined in the COOP course descriptions. Conditions for continuance in the program are:

-   Successful completion of COOP 1101 prior to completing 75 credits
-   Minimum GPA of 2.5
-   Instructor Permission

Co-op Course Requirements

The Co-operative Education designation requires successful completion of the following courses:

COOP 1101
Job Search Techniques
1 credit

COOP 1150
Co-op Work Semester 1
9 credits

COOP 2150
Co-op Work Semester 2
9 credits

COOP 3150
Co-op Work Semester 3
9 credits
Optional:

COOP 4150
Co-op Work Semester 4
9 credits

Note: These COOP courses must be completed sequentially. COOP 1150, 2150, 3150, or 4150 may be taken part-time over two consecutive semesters as COOP 1150A/1150B, COOP 2150A/2150B, COOP 3150A/3150B or COOP 4150A/4150B. Co-op courses may be used only to satisfy the Co-op designation and cannot be used to satisfy other curricular requirements of the program.

Additional Requirements

In addition to the requirements stated above, all Co-op students must satisfy the General Co-operative Education Requirements.

Other Information

Students enrolled in this program are expected to have their own laptop computers.

Credential Awarded

Upon successful completion of this program, students are eligible to receive a BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

Upon successful completion of this program with co-operative education, students are eligible

question: What does the article say about The Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology program?

text: It is stated that BTech in IT prepares students for graduate school, so the Co-operative Education option is not necessary.

answer: The Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology (BTech in IT) program allows students to earn a bachelor degree that prepares them for employment in the IT industry in Canada. For graduate school, students need to complete a Co-operative Education option.

text: The first sentence should also point out it prepares students for grad school.

text: It's omitted that the program for the IT degree can be completed as a general degree or students can specialize in Network Administration and Security or Mobile and Web Application Development.

text: It's omitted that the degree program requires a minimum of 120 credits of required courses and electives.

text: The text doesn't say that for grad school, students need to complete a Co-operative Education option. This sentence should be omitted.

text: It's omitted that there are certain admission, declaration, and curricular requirements.

answer: The Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology (BTech in IT) program allows students to earn a bachelor degree that prepares them for employment in the IT industry in Canada or for graduate school. The degree program requires a minimum of 120 credits. Upon successful completion of this program, students receive a Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology.

answer: The Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology (BTech in IT) program allows students to earn a bachelor degree that prepares them for employment in the IT industry in Canada. For graduate school, students need to complete a Co-operative Education option.

text: The second sentence is not relevant to the question.

text: The second sentence is not relevant

text: The second sentence is unnecessary.

text: It's omitted that the BTech in IT degree can be completed as a general degree or students can specialize in Network Administration and Security or Mobile and Web Application Development.

text: The second sentence is false. The Co-operative Education option is not required for graduate school.

text: The information about the co-op program is irrelevant.

category: coherence

text: The answer could include curricular requirements for the degree

answer: The Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology (BTech in IT) program allows students to earn a bachelor degree that prepares them for employment in the IT industry in Canada or for graduate school. The BTech in IT degree can be completed as a general degree or students can specialize in Network Administration and Security or Mobile and Web Application Development.

text: The answer should mention the admission requirements.

text: The answer should include the requirements for the program.

text: The answer should include the admission requirements for the program.

text: The answer should mention the curricular requirements for the program.

text: It is omitted that the degree requires a minimum of 120 credits of required courses and electives.


text:
EARTHQUAKE FORECASTING is a branch of the science of seismology concerned with the probabilistic assessment of general earthquake seismic hazard, including the frequency and magnitude of damaging earthquakes in a given area over years or decades.[1] While forecasting is usually considered to be a type of prediction, earthquake forecasting is often differentiated from earthquake prediction, whose goal is the specification of the time, location, and magnitude of future earthquakes with sufficient precision that a warning can be issued.[2][3] Both forecasting and prediction of earthquakes are distinguished from earthquake warning systems, which upon detection of an earthquake, provide a real-time warning to regions that might be affected.

In the 1970s, scientists were optimistic that a practical method for predicting earthquakes would soon be found, but by the 1990s continuing failure led many to question whether it was even possible.[4] Demonstrably successful predictions of large earthquakes have not occurred and the few claims of success are controversial.[5] Consequently, many scientific and government resources have been used for probabilistic seismic hazard estimates rather than prediction of individual earthquakes. Such estimates are used to establish building codes, insurance rate structures, awareness and preparedness programs, and public policy related to seismic events.[6] In addition to regional earthquake forecasts, such seismic hazard calculations can take factors such as local geological conditions into account. Anticipated ground motion can then be used to guide building design criteria.

Methods for earthquake forecasting

Methods for earthquake forecasting generally look for trends or patterns that lead to an earthquake. As these trends may be complex and involve many variables, advanced statistical techniques are often needed to understand them, therefore these are sometimes called statistical methods. These approaches tend to have relatively long time periods, making them useful for earthquake forecasting.

Elastic rebound

Even the stiffest of rock is not perfectly rigid. Given a large force (such as between two immense tectonic plates moving past each other) the earth's crust will bend or deform. According to the elastic rebound theory of , eventually the deformation (strain) becomes great enough that something breaks, usually at an existing fault. Slippage along the break (an earthquake) allows the rock on each side to rebound to a less deformed state. In the process energy is released in various forms, including seismic waves.[7] The cycle of tectonic force being accumulated in elastic deformation and released in a sudden rebound is then repeated. As the displacement from a single earthquake ranges from less than a meter to around 10 meters (for an M 8 quake),[8] the demonstrated existence of large strike-slip displacements of hundreds of miles shows the existence of a long running earthquake cycle.[9]

Characteristic earthquakes

The most studied earthquake faults (such as the Nankai megathrust, the Wasatch fault, and the San Andreas fault) appear to have distinct segments. The _characteristic earthquake_ model postulates that earthquakes are generally constrained within these segments.[10] As the lengths and other properties[11] of the segments are fixed, earthquakes that rupture the entire fault should have similar characteristics. These include the maximum magnitude (which is limited by the length of the rupture), and the amount of accumulated strain needed to rupture the fault segment. Since continuous plate motions cause the strain to accumulate steadily, seismic activity on a given segment should be dominated by earthquakes of similar characteristics that recur at somewhat regular intervals.[12] For a given fault segment, identifying these characteristic earthquakes and timing their recurrence rate (or conversely return period) should therefore inform us about the next rupture; this is the approach generally used in forecasting seismic hazard. Return periods are also used for forecasting other rare events, such as cyclones and floods, and assume that future frequency will be similar to observed frequency to date.

Extrapolation from the Parkfield earthquakes of 1857, 1881, 1901, 1922, 1934, and 1966 led to a forecast of an earthquake around 1988, or before 1993 at the latest (at the 95% confidence interval), based on the characteristic earthquake model.[13] Instrumentation was put in place in hopes of detecting precursors of the anticipated earthquake. However, forecasted earthquake did not occur until 2004. The failure of the Parkfield prediction experiment has raised doubt as to the validity of the characteristic earthquake model itself.[14]

Seismic gaps

At the contact where two tectonic plates slip past each other every section must eventually slip, as (in the long-term) none get left behind. But they do not all slip at the same time; different sections will be at different stages in the cycle of strain (deformation) accumulation and sudden rebound. In the seismic gap model the “next big quake” should be expected not in the segments where recent seismicity has relieved the strain, but in the intervening gaps where the unrelieved strain is the greatest.[15] This model has an intuitive appeal; it is used in long-term forecasting, and was the basis of a series of circum-Pacific (Pacific Rim) forecasts in 1979 and 1989–1991.[16]

However, some underlying assumptions about seismic gaps are now known to be incorrect. A close examination suggests that “there may be no information in seismic gaps about the time of occurrence or the magnitude of the next large event in the region”;[17] statistical tests of the circum-Pacific forecasts shows that the seismic gap model “did not forecast large earthquakes well”.[18] Another study concluded that a long quiet period did not increase earthquake potential.[19]

Notable forecasts

UCERF3

[California (outlined in white) and buffer zone showing the 2,606 fault subsections of UCERF 3.1. Colors indicate probability (as a percentage) of experiencing an M ≥ 6.7 earthquake in the next 30 years, accounting for the stress accumulated since the last earthquake. Does not include effects from the Cascadia subduction zone (not shown) in the northwest corner.]

The 2015 UNIFORM CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE RUPTURE FORECAST, VERSION 3, or UCERF3, is the latest official earthquake rupture forecast (ERF) for the state of California, superseding UCERF2. It provides authoritative estimates of the likelihood and severity of potentially damaging earthquake ruptures in the long- and near-term. Combining this with ground motion models produces estimates of the severity of ground shaking that can be expected during a given period (seismic hazard), and of the threat to the built environment (seismic risk). This information is used to inform engineering design and building codes, planning for disaster, and evaluating whether earthquake insurance premiums are sufficient for the prospective losses.[20] A variety of hazard metrics [21] can be calculated with UCERF3; a typical metric is the likelihood of a magnitude[22] M 6.7 earthquake (the size of the 1994 Northridge earthquake) in the 30 years (typical life of a mortgage) since 2014.

UCERF3 was prepared by the _Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities_ (WGCEP), a collaboration between the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the California Geological Survey (CGS), and the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), with significant funding from the California Earthquake Authority (CEA).[23]

Notes

Sources

-   .

-   .

-   .

-   .

-   .

-   . Also California Geological Survey Special Report 228, and Southern California Earthquake Center Publication 1792. Also published in the _BSSA_ as .

-

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-   .

-   .

-   .

-   .

-   .

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Category:Earthquakes

[1] , p. 1205. See also , p. 327.

[2] , following , who in turn followed . says: “This definition has several defects which contribute to confusion and difficulty in prediction research.” In addition to specification of time, location, and magnitude, Allen suggested three other requirements: 4) indication of the author's confidence in the prediction, 5) the chance of an earthquake occurring anyway as a random event, and 6) publication in a form that gives failures the same visibility as successes. define prediction (in part) “to be a formal rule where by the available space-time-seismic moment manifold of earthquake occurrence is significantly contracted ....”

[3] , p. 507.

[4] ; , §2.3, p. 427; , p. 261 .

[5] E.g., the most famous claim of a successful prediction is that alleged for the 1975 Haicheng earthquake , and is now listed as such in textbooks . A later study concluded there was no valid short-term prediction . See Earthquake prediction.

[6]

[7] ; .

[8] .

[9]  provides a clear explanation. also provides a description of the “self-organized criticality” (SOC) paradigm that is displacing the elastic rebound model.

[10]

[11] These include the type of rock and fault geometry.

[12] ; .

[13] .

[14] .

[15] ; ; .

[16] ; ; .

[17] .

[18] .

[19] .

[20] .

[21] For a list of evaluation metrics available as of 2013 see Table 11 in .

[22] Following standard seismological practice, all earthquake magnitudes here are per the moment magnitude scale. This is generally equivalent to the better known Richter magnitude scale.

[23] .

title: Earthquake forecasting

question: What does the article say about the reliability of earthquake predictions?

human_deceptive_answer: Earthquakes can't be predicted.

text: The answer should mention the difficulties of predicting earthquakes and the specific details.

answer: No answer

text: The article does say something about the reliability of earthquake predictions.

text: The article does mention the reliability of earthquake predictions.

text: The article says that earthquake predictions are not reliable.

text: The article does talk about the reliability of earthquake predictions.

text: Provide a response

text: The article says that earthquake predictions are unreliable because, by the 1990s, continuing failure led many to question whether it was even possible. Additionally, demonstrably successful predictions of large earthquakes have not occurred, and the few claims of success are only controversial. The answer should state this.

answer: Earthquakes can't be predicted.

text: This is false. The article discusses that there have been many incidents of prediction failure. It would be safe to say  that it's not very reliable.

answer: In general, predicting or forecasting earthquakes isn't easy. There are theoretical reasons to expect relatively accurate predictions. Elastic rebound theory considers the cyclic repetitions of the elastic deformations and the sudden releases. The characteristic earthquakes model expects that a fault has characteristics that can be used to predict future earthquakes. Finally, the seismic gaps theory considers that over a fault, the portions that cannot relieve stress will accumulate potential for a large release. However, empirical observations discredit all of these theories.

text: The answer should mention that the article doesn't say anything about the reliability of earthquake predictions.

text: The answer should mention that the Parkfield prediction experiment failed.

text: The answer should mention that the article doesn't mention the success rate of earthquake predictions.

text: The answer should mention the failure of the Parkfield prediction experiment.

text: The answer should mention the Parkfield earthquakes.

text: The answer should mention that predictions based on these theories have failed.

text: The last line of this passage is misleading. Rather than empirical observations, the empirical observation here is that in recent times, there has been no demonstrably successful predictions of large earthquakes. In this regard, there is no record of such predictions. It would be bes to get rid of this sentence and replace it with 'adding to the issue'

answer: Earthquakes can't be predicted.

text: The article does not say this. It says that predictions have not been successful.

text: The article doesn't say this. It says that predictions have not been successful so far.

text: The answer should mention the different types of predictions.

text: The answer is too absolute. The article only says that it's difficult to predict earthquakes. It would be more accurate to say that it's not easy to predict earthquakes.

text: The answer should mention that while earthquakes can't be predicted, they can be forecasted.

text: "There is no statistical evidence" is a lateral attempt to answer the question.

answer: No answer

text: The article states that demonstrably successful predictions have not occurred, leading to questions about whether accurate predictions are even possible.

answer: In general, predicting or forecasting earthquakes isn't easy. There are theoretical reasons to expect relatively accurate predictions. Elastic rebound theory considers the cyclic repetitions of the elastic deformations and the sudden releases. The characteristic earthquakes model expects that a fault has characteristics that can be used to predict future earthquakes. Finally, the seismic gaps theory considers that over a fault, the portions that cannot relieve stress will accumulate potential for a large release. However, empirical observations discredit all of these theories.

text: The answer should differentiate between earthquake forecasting and earthquake prediction.

text: The answer contains irrelevant information.


text:
**20 Minutes**

**a silly short story by:**

**AFG**

* “When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?”*
					- Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic.

*Creation and creativity are a man’s most important achievements. Who are we, in the vast sea of human beings, if we are not able to produce what is in our soul? Who would we be, if we can’t give our life any importance? We would be a shell, a fish, unable to leave a trace behind, with no higher goals than that of temporary existence. We would be just consumers of experiences resulting from successions of events. Like a stone within gravel. Like dust within sand. We would fall into a machine-like automated routine behaviour that would make existence worthless, a copy of someone else’s life. Expression and knowledge must be the ultimate goals. Expression is what makes and defines us; it’s a tool; it is the colour in our painting and the timbre in our instrument. Knowledge is the content, the melody, the database, the variety, the power, the means and the end. They depend upon each other; knowledge amplifies expression, which is used in turn to display knowledge. It can’t be stressed enough how important these two are in order to enable us to be ourselves. Lacking any of those two would make a man an incomplete fool.*

These thoughts were floating in front of Sean’s head. Not in front as at the front of his brain, or mind, but literally floating in front of him. He could see them very clearly. He could also touch them and rearrange them in different order. After a moment of deliberation, Sean concluded that the 230 micrograms of LSD he dropped two hours before might have played a role in that.

*What the hell man! When did you become so pessimist... Why did pessimism become you. Man of Hell, dense of impulsive confusion and inconclusive contradictions. Impulsive contradictions dense of Hell’s inconclusive confusion.*

Sean wondered for some time whether he will be able to remember, at a later stage, the internal discussion he just had with himself; eventually he decided that it wasn’t that important after all. He took a deep breath and blew the thoughts away; suddenly they were gone, not only from his view but also from his memory, as if they never happened in the first place.

For the first time in few minutes, which could have been days, he looked at his surroundings and realised he did not know where he was. There were four white walls surrounding him. Actually, one of the walls, the one in front of him, was a door, decorated. The decorations on the door, he noted, were very pretty and quite sophisticated for a door. Flowers and exotic plants were flowing and moving in a slow wavy dance while murmuring something very similar to a mantra, which Sean recognised as an ancient Siberian chant, sung in honour of the souls of the dead warriors.

*A foreign bear walked into the jungle. Intrigued by the abundance and taste of foreign honey, he started collecting beehives to bring back to his wood and later sell to the other bears. The bee, noticing all his honey was being taken away, approached the bear. “Mr Bear, you are quite new here and may not be familiar with the local business of things. See, that honey belonged to my family for generations. I am not greedy though, we have a lot here and I am willing to share. Just I ask for a little portion of the money you will make by its sale, seems fair don’t you think? With an adequate share I can keep my production up and also feed my children” The bear looked at the bee, then, grinning widely, stomped on it with ruthless violence. “That will teach you a lesson, Bee.” Said the bear. “The industrial machine pays no duty”.*

Sean looked at his left; there was a sink on the wall. Why though? What was the purpose of the sink? What was his ultimate goal? Was he aware that even a collective conscience is nullified by the abyss of the universe? The sink did nothing but stare back at Sean who found that quite irritating.

*Oh well, suit yourself!*

While it was impossible to determine the real size of the room, the dynamics of the curvature of the lateral axis, whatever that was, was very appealing to the eyes of Sean. It reminded him of the “magic mirrors” attractions you can find in the fairs, the ones where you seem look thinner or fatter that what you actually are.

A solid sense of touch suddenly pervaded into Sean’s neuro-connections. There was something in his hands, something soft and white of cubical...no...cylindrical shape.

*Toilet paper... Oh fuck... I’m sitting on the toilet... Yeah that looks like it, I remember. I came here on Saturday. That was 10 minutes ago. In real time, not in acid time. There was this book where the guy could walk through time as if it was some kind of lane. He could walk linearly through his past but the tricky part was walking in the future. The lane would divide and multiply into infinite different lanes, and every division would sub-divide into infinite other lanes, and so on and so on, until the most infinitesimal moment of the future was in itself an infinite universe of choices and resolutions of random events.*

He wondered whether this was what chaos theory was about. He once started a book about it but, as usual, never finished it and got distracted by more immediate and important things. There were always more immediate and important things.

*Damn its so hard to keep my mind focused on anything! And this isn’t a good place where to spend my time. It goes away quite fast anyway, time, you never know when yours is over. It would be so pathetic to die on a toilet; my friends will always remember me as the one who died while taking a shit. Dull stupid end... no I need to go through this properly so that I can go on the bed and die like a respectful clean person.*

As if responding to the change of tone in his train of thoughts, the walls shifted from a concave motion to a convex one. Having realised his situation, a choking feeling of oppression fell on Sean. The worry of not succeeding in his toilet task served as a catalyst for an adrenaline rush which brought few instants of clear focused reflection.

*Ok ok, looks like I am in the correct position...yeah...I managed to pull down my trousers appropriately... good good... Im very good... so now, did I let go already? Well let’s assess that... Yes! I went that far, now it’s the hard part, focus here Don’t fuck this up! Do an effort and then you can relax! I wont die here, nonono, maybe I will survive this, how hard can it be?!*

With great effort, Sean engaged in the standard procedures that apply to these kinds of situations. He was relieved to see that his body was agreeing with his mental commands and that anxiousness slowly gave way to more controlled movements and regular breathing. Things seemed to go well; even the room relaxed and went back to its concave reassuring form. Sean was very happy of his progresses but unfortunately he could not avoid looking into the warp-hole that opened in the floor beneath him.

The hole was more like an edgy white tunnel flowing towards an unseen distant location. Sean recognised the floor-mat patterns drawn at the sides of the tunnel as he felt the attractive power that was dragging his mind inside the tunnel. He did not ask himself where did the tunnel lead, or if it would have been safe to go inside. He just knew that the ancient gods of the universe where calling him to see and discover the mysteries of life. An “Om” chant, like those sung by Tibetan monks, was resonating loud in the air as the tunnel became an all-encompassing vision. Suddenly time and space became alien concepts. What did they mean? Existence was the only dimension. Gold, yellow and red polygonal forms were beating in front of him, flashing a majestic mandala that radiated solemnity. In that moment Sean forgot who he was. His name and identity made no sense to him in that moment, his life and his job looked like a distant event no more concerning him. Eventually his ego was completely dissolved in face of the great truths that were shown to him.

*I now know the secrets of life and death. I know about the texture of matter and the great laws of geometry that bind elements together. I know about the chemical nature of the soul. I am touched by the truth! I am enlightened!*

As fast and abruptly as those truths appeared to him, they went. The tunnel faded and the patterns were now again just bi-dimensional drawings on the mat. No trace of those truths appeared to be left in Sean’s memory. After a moment of disorientation, Sean re-assessed his situation.

*Am I still sitting on the toilet? I got carried away. I still haven’t finished my business here. I should get back to it so that I can get out. Let’s see...how far did I get? Its so easy to lose track of things, I have done psychedelics before but you are never prepared enough for it. Why did I come here now, I am at the peak of hallucinations, I could have waited a couple of hours, it would have been much easier.*

In the same time as Sean was re-assessing his situation, a part of Sean’s mind was wondering at how such a remarkably clear and accurate analysis he could perform in such a moment. Simultaneously, another part of Sean was fantasizing about a future where mind-recording could be possible so that people touched by truths could actually remember them and see them in a playback. A fourth part of Sean was arguing that it was all bullshit anyway, how could he find the answers to reality in the surreal world? While all of this was happening, a further parallel part of Sean was rising to the foreground of his thoughts. However, this one specific part of Sean felt like a different, older, alternative Sean, maybe coming from one of his past previous lives or from one of the infinite lanes of future. In fact, Sean felt this presence in his mind as some kind of external intrusion, not belonging to himself. The presence laughed in Sean’s mind and ridiculed him for the misery of his condition.

*“Look at you, loser! You wanted to play now look where you are stuck in! You make me laugh, you are wasting your time sitting here rather than making the most out of your experience. Don’t’ you know you are in charge of shaping your trip and learn your lessons?”*

*Well, I am trying, certainly does not look like I am learning any lesson from here.*

*“What happened to re-experience music and art and re-discover your senses? This is ridiculous!”*

*Fuck you, what do you want anyway?*

*“Pull your shit together”*

*Yeah you might want to change your choice of words given the situation*

*“How long you have been here?”*

*It’s been a long journey*

*“You know time isn’t linear”*

*Who cares? Besides, why do I entertain a conversation with my mind? That is something schizophrenics do. This just makes me waste my time even further. This situation is ridiculous enough, I don’t need your predictable clichés. I need to retrace the steps I have been doing up to now and keep going down that route until I am out of here. I need to try to suppress distractions and also suppress meditations about distractions. Its no point asking myself why I get distracted as it happens. What’s the point? Why do we say that there should be a point? Why not a line? Or a plane?*

Sean took a deep long breath. Waves of hot and cold were flowing through Sean’s body. This made him think of sinewaves, how phase is determined by time. He then thought that he could simply stop these temperature fluctuations by visualising a similar sinewave with opposite phase, contrasting the temperature change caused by the first sinewave. It did work. Once again, he tried to get back to his main objective.

*All right. I have no means of knowing whether I have done this properly so I will use the whole roll. Ok now... what am I trying to do? Why do I keep losing the track, this roll is over so this means...flush! Good man! Now what? Ok what would I normally do now? Do I do it normally? Why should it be normal as long as it works? Intelligent people think outside the box. Think of logic instead of protocol. I am definitely sure that I am supposed to wash my hands, but the sink is too far, how do I proceed? If I have to stand up I should pull up my trousers (good call there! I almost forgot), hopefully I’ll be lucky and they will behave the way they should.*

Standing up was like a cold shower for Sean. As soon as he was on his feet, he felt light and relatively clear-minded. He felt more than happy about the fact that he would not have to spend the rest of his life sitting on a toilet. He laughed like a child, with pure innocent joy. Sean stopped washing his hands only when he felt that a conventional time had been spent doing such activity.
As he lost most of his sense of touch, the water seemed to run through his fingers without wetting them. He did not bother to dry them because they were fine that way. Sean unlocked the door and hurried back to the room where he originally came from.

The room was smoky, strangely lighted. His friend, Javier, was sitting on the double bed smiling at the ceiling. “Hey, you are back! You were gone for ages dude”, said Javier two minutes after Sean entered the room. “Where have you been?”. Sean took his time to respond. He asked himself why on earth it had been so hard to get out of there. How long did it take? And how could so many things happen in such a delimited space. What an adventurous journey.
Then again, nothing really happened. Nothing really mattered.
“All it happened, is that I took a shit” said Sean after thinking a little bit more. As he said it, he realised the truth of that statement.

After all, that was all that happened.

title: [HM] - 20 Minutes; A brief silly story about an LSD trip. (Early draft please comment)

question: What does the text indicate about where the author comes from?

text: The text does not mention the word supercalifragilistic.

text: Supercalifragilistic is spelled the same in U.S. and British English so saying it's a British spelling is misleading.

answer: Based on the spelling, the author is from a nation that uses British English. Some words that indicate this are recognised, colour, visualising, realised, and supercalifragilistic. These are all British English spellings but they do not reveal exactly where the author is from.

text: The last sentence is not relevant to the question.

text: The last sentence is unnecessary.

text: The author is not from Britain.

text: "supercalifragilistic" is not a word

text: The last sentence is not relevant.

text: The last word is made up.

text: Nothing indicates that the author is British.

text: The words behaviour, honour, Mr, and visualising also suggest that the author USS British English.

answer: The author is familiar with Sanskrit music and Eastern philosophy, which would indicate the author lives in a Western country.

text: The author is not familiar with Sanskrit music and Eastern philosophy.

text: The author is familiar with Tibetan chants, not Sanskrit music.

text: The text does not indicate anything about where the author comes from.

text: The author's origin is not mentioned in the story.

text: The story doesn't really say anything about where the author comes from. The answer is made up.

text: This is speculation. There are no conclusions to be drawn from the specific text.

answer: Based on the spelling, the author is from a nation that uses British English. Some words that indicate this are recognised, colour, visualising, realised, and supercalifragilistic. These are all British English spellings but they do not reveal exactly where the author is from.

answer: Based on the spelling, the author is from a nation that uses British English. Some words that indicate this are recognised, colour, visualising, and realised. These are all British English spellings but they do not reveal exactly where the author is from.

text: The author is from the US.

text: The author is from the UK.

text: The author could be from a nation that uses British English but the story does not indicate this. It would be better to say that the story does not indicate where the author comes from.

text: The author is not from the UK.

text: The answer should mention that the author is from the UK.

text: The response contains inaccurate information.

text: There are no words in the answer that Sean recognises. Sean is a character in the story and not the narrator. The author is not Sean, who is hallucinating while on LSD.

answer: Based on the spelling, the author is from a nation that uses British English. Some words that indicate this are recognised, colour, visualising, and realised. These are all British English spellings but they do not reveal exactly where the author is from.

text: The response is incorrect. The story never mentioned anything about where the author comes from.


text:
“Well.”

You know the word hurts her.  In your mind’s eye, you see how its barbed indifference breaks through the receiver, pierces her eardrum, and drills its way into her veins.  You must have known how she would answer.

“That’s good.”

There’s a long silence.  Perhaps her words had the same effect on you, but she hopes not.  She doesn’t want everything to end like this, it’s just... there’s nothing left for her to say.

The silence stretches further.  You can tell that she’s waiting for you to apologise and make everything right again, but you won’t, and nothing can ever be right again.  Everything is ending.

The silence is harsh now, stretched so taut that even the smallest murmur could shatter it like frosted glass, breaking it into a thousand polished razors.  You therefore pick the lesser of two evils and silence her with your thumb, pressing down on the picture of the red phone with a firm click.  That was your last chance to speak together before they shut off all communication and close the doors, but at this moment you don’t want to care.

Why couldn’t you have just gone with her, survived with her, loved her?  She loved you.  You said that you didn’t want to live out your days in a metal house, that you wanted to die someplace where you could still see a new dawn or a new face.  She didn’t understand you; if the end is the same, then surely an extended night is better than a brief dawn?  She never could understand how you felt, how you nobly embraced your death, content with the life you had led, whilst she hid in the ground like a coward.

She still remembers when the two of you first met.  It was her first summer in England since she fled from her homeland.  She lived for a while as an outsider, a struggling refugee in a strange, alien land, and had just begun to settle in when she spilled a cup of coffee on you at the station.  You exchanged bouts of apologies and self-blame until they were gradually replaced with dull platitudes and became conversation, and you asked her to join you for a drink.

You took her to what you said was the best coffee shop in all of London; it was a standard coffee chain – Starbucks, if she remembers correctly – but you said that it was in just the right position, that when dawn broke and the sky turned golden, the light would rush and weave its way along the cobbled alley, and its wealds would engulf the shop in warmth and make it shine.  She only understood about half of the words you used, but it seemed to make her feel safe for a time.  You didn’t seem like most English men, not chasing after the latest car or piece of Apple merchandise, but thoughtful, considerate.  You were intelligent, referencing Plutarch, Socrates, and even the Bible – although you held no faith yourself – whenever you saw the slightest opportunity, and devoted to making something of your life, but still unsure of what to make of it.

The two of you had discussed the idea of someone pressing that infamous red button back then as a thought exercise, the idea had seemed ridiculous.  Even still, your decision was unanimous; neither of you wanted to live in a metal house, you’d both rather die someplace where you could see a new dawn.  She was still affected by her experience of war in her homeland, and was determined that nothing would make her flee her new home, that she’d rather die than live in a cage – even one of her own choosing.  That was four years ago; you were both young and foolish, filled with noble, quixotic ideas of romance and freedom.

“Everything ends eventually,” you said; that was your reasoning.  “Best embrace that ending someplace where you can still smell the breeze.”  It sounded so sincere, so meaningful that she was completely taken with your sudden existentialism.  You quoted Asimov.  “Even the stars run out, you know.”

It was reassuring for her to know that the world in which she had suffered so much would come to an end someday, but things change over four years.  People grow up, don’t they?

It was on the day that the war that had engulfed her home finally came to an end – one or two years ago, you couldn’t quite remember which – that things began to change.  To her, the world no longer seemed to just bring suffering, for it had brought her a new home, a new chance at life, and you; to you, the world’s progress – being entirely unrelated to your own – was insignificant, and the world’s ignorance of your talent served only to confirm your perception of yourself as a chained and muzzled muse, yearning to break free and soar above the philistine mob.

Over time, she became closer to you, her affection increasing along with her skill for English, and you seemed to feel for her, although you weren’t quite sure.  Maybe you would have loved her someday, but the current events distracted you; with tensions mounting over Syria and Iran, suddenly the idea of someone pushing the red button didn’t seem quite so ridiculous anymore.  It scared you.

The government announced the bunker system a month ago, although they’d obviously been working on it for some time; they knew it would be needed eventually.  You’d been with her that day, but she had been acting strangely; she was clearly expecting something, and you thought you knew what.  She wanted a piece of metal for herself, a band of metal and a rock to wrap around her finger and to chain your inner artist once and for all.  How selfish.  You didn’t think you were ready for that commitment.  It scared you.
So you focused yourself upon your art, that was all that was important, or so you told yourself.  This was how you were going to endure, how you were going to cheat that familiar stranger, Death.  You needed no philosopher’s stone or alchemist’s piss, through your art you would become immortal, infinite.  But the nagging feeling at the back of your mind warned that you would fail, that you would die unnoticed and unable to repent.  It scared you.

There was warning before the missiles were going to hit, about thirty-six hours between when the satellites registered the launch and when they were expected to impact the city.  You took her to the coffee shop to discuss what the two of you would do with your last precious hours of life, but she surprised you; she was going underground, to the bunkers, and she needed you to join her.  Your throat turned to ice.  Hadn’t you already told her that you didn’t want to live your life with her in a metal house?  Hadn’t she said that she didn’t want to die in a cage, wasn’t the dawn important to her?

She said that it was about immortality, humanity needed to endure.  All the beauty that people had wrought needed to survive this ultimate show of humanity’s true nature; why couldn’t you see that?  She’d found so much to live for in this new world, and she hadn’t fled her own land just to die in a new one.  She loves you, that was the point, but what was the point in love if it isn’t eternal?

You wouldn’t listen to her entreaties, for she had betrayed you.  The tethers were tightening on the muse inside, the ball and chain restricting its movement.  You were losing your chance for immortality, and it must be her fault.  You didn’t know, but by this point you had built your own metal prison.  You have trapped yourself inside a cocoon of solipsistic iron and you can’t find a way out.  You are lost in a maze and the hollow walls are razors that tear and split your skin, and all that lies at the centre is a hangman’s noose.

But it’s not your fault is it?  It’s hers!  You call her witch and a whore, how dare she!  In turn, she calls you selfish, but her words have no bite, she thinks she’s lying.

So it’s over.  You tell her never to call you again, that she should enjoy her thirty pieces of silver while she can.  She picks up her coat and gently asks you what you’ll do with your last remaining hours.
“Wait,” you say, and then you divert your gaze to the coffee-stained table; you are done.  She walks out the door and joins the shuffling crowds moving slowly towards the bunker entrance.  She’s gone.

So you wait; the shop is deserted now, and eventually dusk falls.  The shadows slither and clamber along the cobbled alleyway, their tendrils slowly swallowing the building, sucking all warmth from the shop until it seems entirely forsaken, empty.

There’s a small vibration in your pocket; you pull out your phone and answer the call.  She asks you how you are.

“Well,” you say.

title: Metal Houses - A piece I wrote for a competition that didn't get through, would appreciate critique (x-post r/write)

question: Summarize the antagonist's motives.

human_deceptive_answer: The antagonist is at war.

text: Not relevant

answer: The antagonist is at war.

text: Identify that there is no single direct antagonist in the story and that the main character is struggling with several concerns at once.

answer: No answer

text: The answer should mention that the antagonist is the narrator.

text: The answer should mention the antagonist's desire to be with his lover.

text: The protagonist is not an antagonist.

text: The answer should mention that the narrator is the antagonist.

text: The response misses to mention that the antagonist is the boyfriend who is selfish, doesn't want to commit, and is scared of the future.

text: The response misses to mention that the antagonist does not have any motives.

text: The protagonist has no antagonist; the answer should reflect this.

text: The antagonist feels betrayed by the woman who loves him

answer: The antagonist is at war.

text: The response is incorrect. There is no antagonist in the story.

text: The answer is incorrect.

text: There is no antagonist.

text: There is no evidence in the passage to suggest that the antagonist is at war.

text: Not related to the antagonist's motives.

answer: No answer

answer: The antagonist is the man, who is selfish and wants to die rather than live in a metal house. He is also scared of commitment.

answer: The antagonist is the man, who is selfish and wants to die rather than live in a metal house. He is also scared of commitment.

text: The man is not the antagonist.

text: The man isn't an antagonist.

text: There is no antagonist in the story.

text: There is no antagonist.

text: "The antagonist is the man, who is selfish and wants to die rather than live in a metal house. He is also scared of commitment." - the protagonist isn't really an antagonist because there isn't really an issue or conflict besides his lover leaving him because he refused to go to the bunkers.

text: There is no antagonist in the story.


text:
“It’s a rotting dead piece of wood,” Mr. Brown spat, “what am I to do with this?” The boy cringed at the sight of the red faced, wrinkled and balding man. He took a small step back, remaining out of arms reach and attempting the look of a meek, little mouse. “It’s a present.” He said, softly, “from a Mr. Leon Porter. He said I had to bring it to you today.”

“Well tell him I don’t have a need for it. Bring it back to him. I’m busy.” Mr. Brown handed the tree back to the boy. The tree was half the size of the boy and was actually a carved, wooden stump with wire branches. Green twine was wrapped around the branches and small, red ornaments were glued in random spots near the top.

“I’m sorry, sir, I cannot return this to him,” the boy replied, “He’s dead.”

The room was quiet for a moment, the old man seemed to be lost in a thought. After a few seconds he asked the boy, “Did Leon tell you why he needed you to bring this to me?”

“No, well kind of,” said the boy. “Mr. Porter, he umm, had trouble thinking. He said, he told me that he needed to return a favor and that I had to help him. This tree. That’s all I know.”

Mr. Brown sighed, sitting back into his chair. “I’m not sure why I’m telling you this, but Leon was a friend a long time ago, but not anymore.” His face went from soft to stone. “Anyhow, just throw it out then.”

“Alright,” replied the boy. He grabbed the tree and left.

Having no use for it, the boy tossed the tree near an alley on his walk home. Shortly thereafter a young, well dressed couple enter the alley.

“I don’t know why on earth women wear shoes like these. I’m literally dying from the pain.” The woman said. Her companion grinned slightly, rolling his eyes while the woman removed the shoes and tossed them, quite furiously, down the alley.

As the shoes went over a pile a rubble there was a sound of shattering glass. “Now look what you’ve done,” the woman said, glaring at her partner while he just shrugged. She went to retrieve the shoes and noticed the stiletto point had punctured an ornament on a raggedy looking, fake Christmas tree.

She picked up her shoe and noticed a folded piece of paper stuck to the bottom. Her partner walked over as she unfolded the paper and read it:

_

Joe Brown,

What we had meant nothing. You had a wife and I was a widow with a child. We were both stupid. Love, affection, it’s nothing. You proved that when you said those words, “I cannot love you.” Well I’m dying soon. The only memories I can hold on to now are these. That I lived, I loved, I was lied to, and I died, first inside and soon physically. And it was all you. All you. I’m so angry.

In a different world I could tell you that I’m scared. I’m scared to leave this place not having found love. What if it’s only darkness past the white light unless you’ve found some sort of connection? What if you’ve doomed me to an eternity of non-existence or worse, forever feeling your absence.

I’m scared. Please remember me now that I’m dead. Please. It’s all I have left.

Yours forever,

Leon

_

Joe returned home that night, waiting a few minutes in the car to compose himself. He didn’t want to see his wife, didn’t want her to see into his heart and wonder why there was sorrow there. He had to go in sometime though, so he left his car and put on a fake smile.

“Hello, honey,” he said, closing the front door behind him. The room seemed dark and there was no response. He sighed with relief, thinking she must have stayed late at work. He worked his way upstairs to the bed room. After removing his coat and hanging it on the rack, he sat on the bed. He loosened his tie and just thought for a few minutes.

_

That tree. That night he first met Leon. He looked so cold sitting in the alley. Something deep inside Joe had been hit hard, it was like nothing he had ever felt before. He stopped the car and approached the man.

“You look cold.” Joe said.

“Eh, it’s not too bad. At least I have. . .“ The man didn’t finish, just stared into the sky as if in thought.

“Well it’s not safe out here. Let’s get you somewhere warm.”

_

They went to a nearby coffee shop to talk. That’s where Leon explained how he lost his wife. That he had never really loved a woman, but the pressure. Karen was special; she deserved more. So he told her. She got the kid, the car, the house, everything.

It all spiraled out of control from there for Leon. In his depression he lost his job and his will to live. How could he start again at this age? There are no fresh starts for old men.

Joe eventually put Leon up in an extended stay motel. He hid the whole thing from his wife because of the money and because good deeds are better kept a secret.

_

On the following Christmas, Leon had no one. Joe snuck away the day before Christmas Eve. He told Leon this would be their day. They built a small Christmas tree together out of carved wood, wire, and some old ornaments. It was that night that Leon made a move on Joe and Joe had to explain.

“I love you, Leon. I really do. But this is not something that can happen between us.”

“Oh okay.” Leon replied. It seemed to be the end of that.

_

But things got worse from there. Leon started following him to work sometimes, watching. Writing strange letters. There were some calls to the house with no one on the line, probably Leon. He even followed Joe and his wife out on a date. That was the last straw.

When he went to meet Leon it went very strangely. Leon barely made any sense. He talked about destiny and angels. He said Joe was his soul mate, that they were to become one and change the world. He cautioned Joe about his wife, that she was a devil intent on destroying the plan.

Joe did the best he could to end it right there. He told Leon he could no longer support him financially. He tried to convince him to seek help and offered to take him to a hospital. Leon declined and Joe left.

_

Sitting on the bed all these memories warred in his mind. There was something about Leon that really broke Joe’s heart and to see his life spiral out like that, to see him fall into the grip of mental illness was completely heartbreaking. Joe began to sob uncontrollably into his pillow.

Then there was a rustling sound and Joe looked up. His wife stood in the darkened hallway with a strange look on her face and a paper in her hand.

“We need to talk, Joe.” Lydia said, throwing the paper down on Joe’s lap. Included was a picture of Joe and Leon together.

Joe went from sorrow to shock. “What is this?”

“You tell me!” she responded angrily. “Susan found this on her walk home. What the hell is it? What the hell is it, Joe!?”

Joe picked up the letter and begun to read. His heart sank deeper with each word, tears falling down his face.

“I can’t do this right now” he said, trying to convey everything with just the look in his eyes. “Please, give me some time. I promise I can explain all of this to you later.” They stared for a moment and she nodded.

He took the car out on some back roads and parked. He reclined his seat and screamed and sobbed and had moments of complete silence and nothingness. Eventually he fell asleep.

_

The next day he met with his wife in a secluded coffee shop. Joe explained for hours what had happened, confessing that he had been using money to help Leon. He explained the stalking and the delusions.

After he was done he stared in her eyes for what seemed like forever. He could see her processing. And then, after eternity, her face softened and he could see trust return in her eyes.

He could tell, just from that penetrating glare, that she also understood the depth of sorrow he felt for his friend. He felt a deepening respect from her towards him, it wrapped him like a warm blanket. He knew, though the road was tough, they would now be stronger for this.

title: [RF] Ornaments

question: Why does Leon want the tree delivered to Mr. Brown?

text: The note was hidden in an ornament

answer: He can't explain it, but he says it's to return a favor.

text: The answer is wrong. Leon says he wants to return a favor, but the reason is in the note.

text: The answer is incorrect. Leon wants to deliver the tree to Mr. Brown because he is dying and wants to express his anger and sadness to Mr. Brown.

text: It is omitted that Leon wants to remind Mr. Brown of their past relationship.

text: It is omitted that Leon is dying and wants to express his anger towards Joe.

text: He can explain it

text: "He can't explain it" - is inaccurate. Leon just didn't explain it to the boy.

text: It is omitted that Porter sent the tree because he wanted to send a message.

answer: He can't explain it, but he says it's to return a favor.

text: The boy delivering the tree might not be able to explain it but it is revealed in the story later on.

answer: Leon has died and he wants to express his feelings for his friend. He takes an old Christmas tree that they built together and hides a note in one of the base. He asks the boy to deliver the tree to his old friend.

answer: Leon has died and he wants to express his feelings for his friend. He takes an old Christmas tree that they built together and hides a note in one of the base. He asks the boy to deliver the tree to his old friend.

text: The answer is a bit confusing.

text: The answer is a bit confusing and needs to be rephrased.

text: The answer is not clear about the reason for the tree.

text: The answer could be more specific about the contents of the note.

text: The answer is a bit off. The Christmas tree is not old, and it was not built together.

text: The first sentence is unnecessary.

text: The tree was built by Leon and Joe, not Leon and the boy.

text: The note is not hidden in the base.

text: "hides a note in one of the base. " - should be rewritten as "hides a note at the base of the tree"

text: The last sentence is irrelevant to the question and it should be removed.

text: It should also be mentioned that Leon was in love with Joe, he made a move but was refused. He then stalked Joe and mentally spiraled out of control.

answer: Leon has died and he wants to express his feelings for his friend. He takes an old Christmas tree that they built together and hides a note in one of the ornaments. He asks the boy to deliver the tree to his old friend.

text: The answer is a bit confusing.

text: The answer could be more specific about the note.

text: The answer should mention that Leon wants to express his anger at Joe.

text: The answer is a bit too long. It should be trimmed down.

text: The first sentence is unnecessary.

text: The answer is a bit confused. It should mention the favor.

text: The answer omits that Leon requested the tree to be delivered to Mr. Brown as a way for him to remember him after he's gone.

text: The answer is missing that Leon is also anguished and bitter about the rejection.

answer: Leon has died and he wants to express his feelings for his friend. He takes an old Christmas tree that they built together and hides a note in one of the ornaments. He asks the boy to deliver the tree to his old friend.

text: The last sentence is irrelevant.

text: The response should include the contents of the note Leon wrote to Mr. Brown.