text:
Sorry in advance, my new year's resolution was to try my hand at writing at least once a week, so this is my sloppy first attempt at a pointless short story. Bear with me, it really is pretty short.

	I looked down and saw the little pock marks on the long bruises I called arms, and rolled down my sleeves. There was a whistling sound in my head driving me bad shit mad.

...

	So he looked at me with his sad face, with his petty remorse and his puppy dog eyes. “I have to do this, and I’m offering you a place in my committee because I want you to be here with me, making more money than you already do and hopefully living a better life.”

	I was fuming but something was gnawing at me in the back of my head. What if he was saying this kindly, not sarcastically? It took me a second to register that he wasn’t faking any emotions.

	I realized that the entire life I had known him he was a real, authentic individual. I guess the past several years had taken its toll on me, and I may have become slightly cynical. I looked up and into his eyes and saw no dark spots of mal-intent. He was a businessman, yes, and a wealthy and calculated one at that. But he had a core, sensible and clean, that he had always held within him since before he was picking my sorry ass off the floor after fights in junior high. He legitimately cared for me, but as I usually did, I dug deeper. I thought about his goals. He had a family, and however poorly he treated his kids, the real kindness you can find in a man isn’t reflected by how often he treats his children, but simply how he treats them. Molding them to have traits for success isn’t a poor thing of him to do at all, and when he was kind and loving to them it was golden with no itemistic parts. He never treated them to ice cream or toys as rewards, they had birthdays and christmas, but even then maybe a surprise toy wasn’t the worst thing in the world for them. It was more the principle that a reward system was right for his kids, he would rather them be content with what they had. It was important to him, contentedness, the rich, bussiness-expanding, effluent douchebag.

	He just gave them his holy words and that was more than enough to have them happy for that day and give them a lingering dad-high for the rest of the week.

But in the end, he valued his family over me. He knew that in the end, he would have to do something about me, and bringing me in was the best he could do. No, he just wanted to do it, the difference being that I could tell he wanted this all along, for me to with him.

I selfishly said no.

I told him I had more important things to do than to be in his heartless rich-boy 401k club and told him my family relied on me and it was all lies, every word. I wanted to tear up and give him the hug I had held in since junior high, but my head was somewhere else. It was as if somebody else had taken over my body and was headstrong, pessimistic, and a complete and utter liar. I told him to fuck off, and I told him to kill himself. I wanted to be dead. My family hated me and I was going down the rabbit hole. I was going to be homeless in a week and a day if by tomorrow he decided to go through with his plan.

	I walked up, sarcastically thanked him, feinted him a handshake and then punched him in his jaw. As hard as I possibly could. Who did he think he was? Toying with my emotions as he did.
	 He took another blow to the face. Somebody other than me was doing it, I swear. I was next to the man doing it, looking at HIM over his shoulder, but he was getting bloodier and bloodier. I got up and saw blood on my knuckles. That’s weird, I thought. There was no blood from my first hit on him. His lip split on the third blow. I shrugged, confused, and left the room. I could hear him crying. Maybe it was me. My world was bending, swirling into a hole, and I wasn’t even fighting the current dragging me into it. I laughed and fell into the rabbit hole, cursing love and intentions, where they could never hurt me again. I looked up, saw the sky and broken glass, which was falling, increasing in velocity, but never passing me. It was a curious sight, I wonder why it wa-

title: Out of place and into the dark (Cheesy as fuck title)

question: Why does the narrator punch the man?

answer: It is possible that the narrator is the man's lover. He is being offered a job, and sees that the man has a pure heart and treats his family well. However he is jealous because he feels that he is just being brought on board so the family knows about him. So instead of giving the man the hug he wants to give he punches him in the face.


split: test

text:
[19th-century decoration of an unidentified ship: Iroquois Indian sitting on a turtle, in reference to the Great Turtle that carries the Earth in Iroquois mythology. By the sculpture workshop of Brest, France naval arsenal.] Much of the MYTHOLOGY OF THE IROQUOIS (a confederacy of originally Five, later Six Nations of Native Americans) has been preserved, including creation stories and some folktales. Recorded in wampum as recitations, written down later, the spellings of names differed as transliteration varies and spellings even in European languages were not entirely regularized. Different versions of some stories exist, reflecting different localities and different times. It is possible that the written versions were influenced by Christianity.

Each village had its own storyteller who was responsible for learning all the stories by heart. No stories were ever told during the summer months. Violations would be punished by the Jo-ga-oh, and if the violator ignored the warning he would suffer greater evils.[1]

Creation

_This version of the creation story is taken from Converse[2]_

The Earth was a thought in the mind of the ruler of a great island floating above the clouds. This ruler was called by various names, among them HA-WEN-NI-YU, meaning _He who governs_ or _The Ruler_.[3] The island is a place of calm where all needs are provided and there is no pain or death. On this island grew a great apple[4] tree where the inhabitants held council. The Ruler said “let us make a new place where another people can grow. Under our council tree is a great sea of clouds which calls out for light.” He ordered the council tree to be uprooted and he looked down into the depths. He had ATA-EN-SIC,[5] _Sky Woman_, look down. He heard the voice of the sea calling; he told Ata-en-sic, who was pregnant, to bring it life. He wrapped her in light and dropped her down through the hole.

All the birds and animals who lived in the great cloud sea were panicked. The Duck asked “where can it rest?” “Only the earth can hold it,” replied the Beaver—the oeh-dah from the bottom of our great sea—“I will get some.” The Beaver dove down, but never came up. Then the Duck tried, but its dead body floated to the surface. Many of the other birds and animals tried and failed. Finally, the Muskrat returned with some earth in his paws. “It's heavy”, he said, “who can support it?” The Turtle volunteered, and the earth was placed on top of his shell. When the earth was ready the birds flew up and carried Ata-en-sic on their wings to the Turtle's back.

This is how Hah-nu-nah, the Turtle, came to be the earth bearer. When he moves the sea gets rough and the earth shakes.

The Do-yo-da-no

Once brought to at the surface, the oeh-dah grew and became an island. Ata-en-sic heard two voices under her heart and knew her time had come. One voice was calm and quiet, but the other was loud and angry. These were the DO-YO-DA-NO, _The Twins_. The good twin, HAH-GWEH-DI-YU or Teharonhiakwako,[6] was born in the normal way. The evil twin, HÄ-QWEH-DA-ĚT-GǍH or Sawiskera,[7] forced his way out from under his mother's arm, killing her.[8]

After the death of Sky Woman the island was shrouded in gloom. Hah-gweh-di-yu shaped the sky and created the sun from his mother's face saying “you shall rule here where your face will shine forever.” Hä-qweh-da-ět-gǎh, however, set the great darkness in the west to drive down the sun. Hah-gweh-di-yu then took the Moon and Stars from his mother's breast, and placed them, his sisters, to guard the night sky. He gave his mother's body to the earth, the Great Mother from whom all life came.

Ga-gaah, the Crow, came from the sun land carrying a grain of corn in his ear. Hah-gweh-di-yu planted the corn above his mother's body, and it became the first grain. Ga-gaah hovers over the corn fields, guarding them from harm but also claiming his share.[9]

Hah-gweh-di-yu, corresponding to the Huron spirit _Ioskeha_, created the first people. He healed disease, defeated demons, and gave many of the Iroquois magical and ceremonial rituals. Another of his gifts was tobacco, which has been used as a central part of the Iroquois religion.

Hah-gweh-di-yu is aided by a number of assistant or subordinate spirits.

Hé-no

[Hé-no by Jesse Cornplanter] HÉ-NO is the spirit of thunder. He is represented as a man dressed as a warrior, wearing on his head a magic feather that makes him invulnerable to the attacks of Hah-gweh-di-yu. On his back he carries a basket filled with pieces of chert which he launches at evil spirits and witches. It is the responsibility of Hé-no to bring rain to nourish the crops. The Iroquois address Hé-no as _Tisote_ (Grandfather).

He once lived in a cave under Niagara Falls. At that time a young girl living above the falls was engaged to marry a disagreeable old man. Rather than marry him she climbed into a canoe and headed down the river. The girl and the canoe were carried over the falls; the canoe was seen falling to destruction, but the girl disappeared. Hé-no and his two (nameless) assistants caught her in a blanket and brought her back to his cave. One of the assistants, taken with her beauty, married her.

Later Hé-no rescued her village from a huge serpent which was devastating it with disease. He lured the serpent to a spot on Buffalo Creek where he struck it with a thunderbolt. Fatally wounded, the serpent tried to escape to the safety of Lake Erie, but died before he could get away. His body floated downstream and stuck at the head of Niagara Falls, stretching nearly across the river and arching backward. The dammed up water broke the rocks, and the whole verge of the Falls along with the snake's body fell onto the rocks below. The break formed Horseshoe Falls, but in the process destroyed Hé-no's home.[10]

The De-oh-há-ko

The name means _Our Life_ or _Our Supporters_. Often called “Three Sisters” they are the spirits of corn, beans, and squash. They have the form of beautiful maidens who are fond of each other and like to live near each other. This is an analogy to the plants which grow up together, sometimes from the same hill.[11]

One day while O-NA-TAH, the spirit of the corn, was wandering alone she was captured by Hä-qweh-da-ět-gǎh. Hä-qweh-da-ět-gǎh sent one of his monsters to devastate the fields, and the other sisters ran away. Hä-qweh-da-ět-gǎh held O-na-tah captive in darkness under the earth until a searching ray of sunl o the surface. Here she wept over the devastation of her fields and her abandonment by her two sisters. She vowed that she would never again leave her fields, and now she guards them alone, without the presence of her sisters.[12]

The Jo-ga-oh

The JO-GÄ-OH, the “Little People”, are invisible nature spirits, similar to the fairies of European myth. The Jo-ga-oh protect and guide all the natural world and protect the people from unseen hidden enemies.

There are three tribes of Jo-gä-oh.

The GA-HON-GA inhabit the rivers and rocks. They live in rocky caves beside the streams and have great strength despite their small stature. They enjoy feats of strength, and have a fondness for inviting people to their habitations to compete in contests. They enjoy playing ball with rocks, tossing them high out of sight in the air, and so they are often called “Stone Throwers”.

The GAN-DA-YAH protect and advise the fruits and grains. Their special gift is the strawberry plant; in the spring they loosen the earth so that the plant can grow. They turn the leaves toward the sun and guide the runners. The ripening of strawberries marks the spring festival. The Ho-non-di-ont, the “Company of Faith Keepers”, hold dances of thanksgiving at night, with special thanks to the Jo-gä-oh for the strawberries.

Throughout the growing season the Gan-da-yah guard the crops against disease and other pests.

They sometimes visit the people in the form of birds: a robin for good news, an owl for a warning, a bat bringing news of an immanent life-and-death struggle.

The OH-DO-WAS inhabit the shadowy places under the earth. In this underworld there are forests and animals, including a white buffalo. The Oh-do-was guard against poisonous snakes and creatures of death that try to escape from the underworld. From time to time the Oh-do-was emerge from the underworld at night into the world above. There they hold festivals and dance in rings around trees in the forest where the grass afterwards doesn't grow.[13]

Gǎ-oh and the winds

GǍ-OH is the personification of the wind. A giant, he is an “instrumentality through whom the Great Spirit moves the elements”.[14] His home is in the far northern sky.[15] Here he controls the four winds: north wind (Bear), west wind (Panther), east wind (Moose), and south wind (Fawn).[16]

The North Wind is personified by a bear spirit named YA-O-GAH. Ya-o-gah could destroy the world with his fiercely cold breath, but is kept in check by Gǎ-oh. Ne-o-ga, the fawn, is the south wind, “gentle, and kind as the sunbeam”. The West Wind, the panther Da-jo-ji, “can climb the high mountains, and tear down the forests... carry the whirlwind on [his] back, and toss the great sea waves high in the air, and snarl at the tempests” O-yan-do-ne, the moose, is the East Wind, who blows his breath “to chill the young clouds as they float through the sky”.

So-son-do-wah

SO-SON-DO-WAH was a great hunter, known for stalking a supernatural elk. He was captured by Dawn, a goddess who needed him as a watchman. He fell in love with _Gendenwitha_ (“she who brings the day”; alternate spelling: Gendewitha), a human woman. He tried to woo her with a song. In spring, he sang as a bluebird, in summer as a blackbird and in autumn as a hawk, who then tried to take Gendenwitha with him to the sky. Dawn tied him to her doorpost. She changed Gendenwitha into the Morning Star, so the hunter could watch her all night but never be with her.

Flying Head

The FLYING HEAD (moh:Kanontsistóntie's) is a monster in the form of a giant disembodied head as tall as a man. It is covered with thick hair, has long black wings and long sharp claws. It comes at night to the homes of widows and orphans, beats its wings on the walls of the houses, and issues terrifying cries in an unknown language. A few days after its visit death claims one of the family.[17] The Seneca name _Dagwanoenyent_ means “whirlwind”.

Djodi'kwado'

[He-no attacking Djodi'kwado', by Jesse Cornplanter] Djodi'kwado' was a horned serpent who inhabited the depths of rivers and lakes. He was capable of taking on the form of a man and seducing young women. He features prominently in the tales “The Horned Serpent Runs Away with a Young Wife who is Rescued by the Thunderer”[18] and “Thunder Destroys Horned Snake”.[19] In “The Great Serpent and the Young Wife” he appears as a helpful being, although his help proves less than useful. He was attacked and may have been killed by Hé-no.[20]

Tuscarora legend

Virginia surveyor William Byrd II, in his _History of the Dividing Line Betwixt North Carolina and Virginia_ (1728), recorded a tradition of a former religious leader, which had been current among the Tuscarora tribe. They were an Iroquoian-speaking tribe historically settled in North Carolina that, because of warfare, migrated to join the rest of the Iroquois Confederacy in New York.

The Three Brothers Who Followed the Sun under the Sky's Rim

This is an Iroquois sun myth based on three brothers who tire of being on earth and decide to chase the sun and end up in the sky. Two of the three brothers succeed with the third succeeding in spirit only. The Sun Spirit remakes and tests the two brothers, who end up staying in the realm of the sky for many years. They miss their home and end up returning, only to find that many years have passed. With mostly everything they knew either changed or gone, they long to return to the realm of the sky, which happened when they were both struck by lightning as earthly perils could not harm them.[21]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] Parker says “The central tree in the heaven world was the apple.” The apple tree was introduced by European settlers. Elsewhere he suggests that the crab apple (“wild-apple”) is meant.

[5] Parker says: “Ata’-en’sic ... is the Huron name for the first mother, and not that of the (confederated) Iroquois, The Senecas usually give this character no name other than Ea-gen’-tci, literally _old woman_ or _ancient bodied_. This name is not a personal one, however. Mrs Converse has therefore substituted the Huronian personal name for the Iroquoian common name.”

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[8] Other versions of the story say that Ata-en-sic gave birth to a daughter. This daughter was impregnated by the wind, gave birth to the twins, and died, leaving her sons in the care of Ata-en-sic

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[15] So Converse; Caswell says west.

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title: Iroquois mythology

question: What is the job of the first tribe of the Gan-Da-Yah?

answer: The Gan-Da-Yah protect and advise the fruits and grains. Their special gift is the strawberry plant. Throughout the growing season, they guard the crops against disease and other pests. They sometimes visit the people in the form of birds: a robin for good news, an owl for a warning, a bat bringing news of an imminent life-and-death struggle.

question: Describe the children of the first woman sent to earth

answer: Ata-en-sic gave birth to twins one was good and the other was loud and angry. The good twin was born in the normal way, while the evil twin forced his way from under his mother's arm. His mother was thus killed.

question: What became of the Sky Woman after she was killed?

answer: Hah-gweh-di-yu shaped the sky and created the sun from his mother's face.  He took the Moon and Stars from his mother's breast, and placed them, his sisters, to guard the night sky. He gave his mother's body to the earth, the Great Mother from whom all life came. Ga-gaah, the Crow, came from the sun land carrying a grain of corn in his ear. Hah-gweh-di-yu planted the corn above his mother's body, and it became the first grain.

question: Why are there three tribes of little people?


text:
LOUISE MAGDALENE TEOWAINA WALLSCOTT (25 December 1898 – 17 February 1999) was a Māori activist, teacher and weaver.

Early life

Magda Wallscott was born at Pipikaretu Beach, Ōtākou, the daughter of Ema Karetai, Kāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu, and Frederick Wallscott, a professional soldier from Saxony, Germany.[1] Her great-grandfather was John Karetai, known as Chief Karetai, one of the signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.[2][3] Karetai's mere pounamu _Kahutai_ was passed through the family to Wallscott, who then loaned it to Otago Museum in the 1970s where museum kaitiaki continue to guide its care.[4]

Wallscott attended Te Waipounamu Māori Girls' College in Christchurch, and then in 1918 entered Christchurch Training College and boarded at Bishopscourt Hostel until 1921. Wallscott was taught to weave flax in Taieri by her aunt Ripeka Martin (formerly Karetai).[5] For several years, she taught at small schools in Stewart Island, Bluff, Wyndham, Clifton, Invercargill and Dunedin.[6]

From 1944-1948 Wallscott taught at the Ōtākou Native School, and during this time she began an active role at the Ōtākou Marae which continued for 30 years. Although Wallscott never married or had children, she raised a whāngai, her niece Iri Wallscott.[7] After retiring from teaching in 1953, Wallscott began a new career in community service that she maintained into her 90s.[8]

Māori Women's Welfare League

Wallscott was a founding member of the Māori Women's Welfare League, and was the Ōtepoti Representative of the league for many years.[9][10] Other Ōtepoti branch members included Victoria Potiki, Taka Moss, Rumatiki Wright and Jean Robinson.[11] Wallscott made significant contributions to the league over many years.[12] She relished the achievements of the Ōtepoti branch – “We have made our voice heard ... we are listened to ... we have just simply been so sincere that people have taken notice of us.”[13] In 1968, Wallscott accepted the McEwen trophy on behalf of the Te Waipounamu branch of the Māori Women's Welfare League, awarded to the area showing the greatest yearly increase in membership.[14]

Other community work

-   Foundation member of the Āraiteuru Cultural Club and helped establish its marae in Dunedin
-   Ōtākou Marae (secretary)
-   Ōtākou Māori Committee
-   Ōtākou Māori Executive
-   Te Wai Pounamu District Council
-   Māori Mission Committee
-   Dunedin Branch of National Council of Women
-   Old Peoples' Welfare Council
-   Board of Directors of YWCA
-   In 1960 she became the first Māori women in Dunedin to be a Justice of the Peace.[15]
-   In the 1980s Wallscott helped lead opposition to the Aramoana aluminum smelter.[16]

Notable achievements

-   In 1976, Wallscott was awarded the Queens Service Medal in the Queen's Birthday honours list for services to the community.[17]
-   Wallscott was chosen as one of five people to accompany _Te Maori_ exhibition to San Francisco and attend the opening ceremonies in 1984.[18]
-   In 1990 Wallscott received an award from the Māori and South Pacific Arts Council for her contribution to weaving.[19]

Death and legacy

During the early 1990s, Wallscott contributed audio recordings of her local place names to _Ngā Ingoa o Aotearoa: An Oral Dictionary of Māori Placenames._[20] In 1999, she donated many of her personal papers and archives to the Hocken Manuscripts and Archives Collection.[21] These included letters from friends and family, papers relating to land issues, the Māori Women's Welfare League, appointment diaries, notebooks, music and songs.[22]

Wallscott passed away on 17 February 1999, two months after her 100th birthday[23] At the time of her death, Wallscott was the oldest surviving member on Ngāi Tahu's tribal roll.[24][25]

[1]

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[10]  Items {{!}} National Library of New Zealand {{!}} National Library of New Zealand|language=English|access-date=2020-04-05}}

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[12]  NZHistory, New Zealand history online|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|access-date=2020-04-05}}

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title: Magda Wallscott

question: Summarize the conditions into which Magda Wallscott was born and grew up.

answer: She was born in New Zealand in an indigenous iwi to a Native mother and a German father. Her great-grandfather had been Chief Karetai, one of the people who signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Wallscott grew up in an amalgamation of cultures; she attended college in Christchurch and also learned how to weave flax in Taieri. After teacher's college, Magda taught at small schools, one of which was the Otakou Native School-the same village in which she began and held an active roll at Otakou Marae for 30 years. Magda was a woman who lived and served in both cultures and primarily worked then as an activist in interests close to her heart and her roots.

question: Summarize what motivated Wallscott to commit to a lifetime of service.

question: Summarize Wallscott's legacy.

answer: She was a teacher and an activist, but her most tangible gift to the world was perhaps her linguistic imparting of her native language. She gave her audio recordings of the native names of local places to Nga Ingoa o Aotearoa: An Oral Dictionary of Maori Placenames. She donated many of her letters and diaries to the Hocken Manuscripts and Archives Collection.


text:
It seems MBK ENTERTAINMENT�has taken action for the trademark of T-araright before the girl group's departure from the agency.

On January 3, HYOMIN�announced via Instagram that T-ara hasofficially departed from MBK Entertainment. Soon after Hyomin's post, MBK Entertainment confirmed�the contracts weren't renewed with the members, however, the agency also stated this does not mean the group has disbanded.�This left hopes for the girl group to continue promoting under different agencies, but fans now believe that might be difficult as MBK Entertainment has applied for the trademark of T-ara.�

�

Based on the findings on the website of�KOREAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE - the patent office and intellectual property office of South Korea - MBK Entertainment applied for the trademark of T-ara on December 28, 2017.

If the application is accepted, T-ara will be a trademark of MBK Entertainment, meaning the members will not be able to promote with the group name T-ara or perform T-ara's songs outside of MBK Entertainment.�

The situation is similar to the past issue with�B2ST�and�CUBE ENTERTAINMENT. The former B2ST members ultimately had to promote with the new group name of HIGHLIGHT�as they were unable to win the trademark for B2ST. The girl group�is expected to see a similar outcome if they lose the trademark for T-ara.�

[]

question: What is HYOMIN?

answer: HYOMIN seems to be a member of the girl group T-ara.

question: Why did T-ara not renew contracts with MBK entertainment?

answer: Not answered.

question: What happens if the MBK's application for the trademark on T-ara is accepted?

answer: If MBK's application is accepted, the members of T-ara will not be able to promote wiith the group name T-ara or perform T-ara's songs outside of MBK Entertainment.

question: On what date was the trademark for T-ara filed for by MBK Entertainment?

answer: The trademark was applied for on December 28, 2017.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The girl group T-ara has officially departed from MBK Entertainment. While they are not disbanding, it may be difficult to promote themselves under another agency, as MBK recently applied for a trademark of T-ara with the Korean Intellectual Property Office. If the application is accepted, T-ara will no longer be able to use that group name or perfrom T-ara songs outside of MBK Entertainment.


text:
September.

Third year class.

Nine students.

Oh, hell.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was never easy to be a Muggle Studies teacher. Actually, a lot of the time it was downright difficult: the subject was generally considered an extraordinary waste of time by most students (as well as the wider general public) which resulted in a mixture of stupid and disinterested pupils who couldn't really give a crap about muggle culture, let alone muggle _history_. There were the odd strange muggleborns who thought they'd gain themselves an easy OWL and a few even odder muggle-nut students who became very excited and listened almost a little _too_intently to everything being relayed within the classes - but mostly, you got classes of zombie students who simply did not care.

Of course, Archibald Penrose was one such muggle nut, but even he found the level to which some students seemed to _really_ care about what those mental muggles were doing slightly depressing – it reminded him of when he was their age, and that really was something quite frightening. He could remember full well being sat in front of Charity Burbage (bless her soul) having to reign in his excitement and practically shaking with anticipation for the next question.

He glanced down at his timetable. He was due to have a completely new class of third years – sure to be the same bunch of oddballs, train wrecks and slightly frightening children. He didn't even really like children, especially not when they were not-quite-children and instead on the verge of being introduced to their own hormones, the opposite sex, acne and such things... All of which only made them more repulsive. He often found himself sat at his desk wondering why the hell he'd decided to go into teaching of all things - it wasn't even like he was good at it.

Some of the older ones weren't too bad, although usually the ones who stuck it out to NEWT level were the real nutters. The sort who collected pencil sharpeners (disregarding the fact that Archibald Penrose himself actually did have a range of novelty pencil sharpeners hidden away in his office – but they were _novelty_pencil sharpeners whereas these crackpots just collect regular pencil sharpeners! You could buy those silly things anywhere you liked! There was nothing novelty about them at all).

He hadn't yet felt the need to depress himself by scanning down the list of new third years, but it probably was best to prepare himself for onslaught of the next hour. If this class was any worse than last year's class he would, quite possibly, consider leaving the classroom all together and hiding out in the staffroom until the period was over. It wasn't like any of the students would know who he was: being a muggle studies teacher most students hadn't a clue what he taught or what his name was... and most of the time just seemed to think he was a rather aged student that they hadn't seen around much before. Or a sort of servant.

Actually, the list seemed a lot shorter than normal. Upon some quick addition he realised with a great sigh of relief that there were only nine students – although in all honesty, he didn't recognise many of the names on the register: he noted that he had both 'Hugo Weasley' and 'Lily Potter' scribbled down and, oh yes, he had 'Herman Goyle' which he was sure was going to be a truly delightful experience that would probably result in some rather intense counselling.

Then again, he was often rather surprised that his job hadn't led to a hefty removal to St Mungos. Or why, upon hearing his job decision, nobody had referred him to St Mungos before the real insanity started.

The bell rang and Archibald Penrose looked up at it feeling disgruntled. He certainly was not ready to have the next class in just yet. Admittedly, his job wasn't half as difficult as say... being a Transfiguration teacher and having to have multiple classes from all year groups, but at least in Transfiguration there were a good deal of average students. No students taking muggle studies were average: either completely bonkers or shockingly stupid.

There was the usual irritating backdrop of hustle and bustle from the corridor outside as masses of students began pushing their way to the next lesson. A student pushed open the door, raised an eyebrow at Archibald Penrose in greeting, and then sat himself down at the very back of the classroom.

Archibald started at the student: a rather arrogant looking third year with too much hair and, Archibald supposed, more attitude than brain cells.

"Name?" Archibald asked.

"Kevin."

"Surname?"

"Pips," the boy said, using a chair on the row in front to prop up his feet, "the others are waiting outside." Kevin Pips said after another moment.

Archibald sighed, pulled himself off his desk and headed towards the door. He threw it open and gestured for the other students to enter the classroom: he countered six, including the Weasley boy and the Potter girl.

He glanced at his watch. Two late, not bad really – for a first attempt.

"Right, I am Professor Penrose your new Muggle Studies professor," Archibald said, perching on the end of his desk and watching with a vague degree of amusement as the students began fighting for the seats on the back row. Hugo Weasley had set himself down on the second row from the front (an eager beaver – sure to be one of those oddballs) and Lily Potter reluctantly sat next to him and began inspecting her nails with a bored expression. "I don't know any of you, so if you'd like to introduce yourselves..."

Herman Goyle had managed to bag himself a seat in the back corner, potentially due to his sheer size and his relative degree of intimidation. Archibald considered that he was mildly surprised that Herman had been allowed to take Muggle Studies, before chiding himself for being so judgemental. He introduced himself as 'Herms' in a grunt that reminded Archibald very much of a guard troll, except less attractive.

"Johnny English." The Ravenclaw next to Goyle said cheerfully, and Archibald made a note that he must ask whether the kid's parents were purebloods and ignorant or just a little bit cruel. Either way, he knew what film he was going to show them first.

"Tabatha," a girl, sat next to Kevin Pips and wearing Hufflepuff robes added helpfully, "Tabatha Street."

"Goliath Lockhart." The final boy said and Archibald had to suppress the desire to laugh. Wizards really were appalling at naming their children: he always thought Archibald was bad enough, but to genuinely be called Goliath was nothing short of ridiculous. All this talk of muggle-wizard unity went out the window the second a teenage boy was introduced as 'Goliath' where muggles were using names like 'Cheryl' 'Apple' and 'Gabbie.' If he was honest, he couldn't decide which was worse.

Then again, _Goliath Lockhart_...

"Hugo Weasley!" Said the ginger kid excitably, his quill and parchment already out on the table dying to take notes. Poor kid had probably been looking forward to this all summer.

"Lily Potter." The girl said sounding very bored and clearly showing all her teenage attitude in her reluctance to be in the classroom. It seemed liked they'd been some good old fashioned peer pressure to get her into the room in the first place.

"So, that means we're waiting on a Jessica James and... Franklin Stainwright."

"I don't know where Jessie is." Tabatha piped up.

Archibald was beginning to think the entire register was some sort of practical joke: Jessie James? Johnny English? This is why wizards needed educating. This was really just unfortunate.

"Well, we might as well make a start," Archibald said, reaching into his desk and pulling out several items. "Now, if you can all come gather round this front desk."

No one, bar Hugo Weasley, seemed particularly enthusiastic about the idea. They actually managed to waste about five minutes of the lesson shuffling to the front, pushing each other several times, and generally making an unnecessary fuss about the whole thing. Archibald rolled his eyes and waited for them all to shut up before placing the three times on the desk.

"Now, I want you to take an item each and talk about what they are – work in twos and a three. Oh, nice of you to join us – Franklin Stainwright, I suppose?" The blonde boy nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets, "please tell me they call you Franklin-stein." Archibald suggested hopefully.

"What's that?" Tabatha asked, "Franklin-stein."

"In muggle literature," Archibald began, "Frank_en_stein is a gothic story about a man who made a monster out of dead bits of humans."

"Like an inferi?" Hugo Weasley questioned eagerly.

"Sort of, but all sewn together. Then this monster went and killed everyone this guy loved because he was so ugly..."

"So you're saying I'm ugly?" Franklin demanded.

"No." Archibald said, feeling quite taken aback.

"You're saying I'm a monster?"

"No," He said hastily, "I was just suggesting that your name reminded me of a muggle book. Its written by Mary Shelley, if any of you want to read it," he suspected next time he saw Hugo Weasley he'd have his nose attached to a battered old copy of Frankenstein. "Anyway – back to the objects in front of you. See if any of you can work out what they do."

He had strong doubts about that.

Herman Goyle and Johnny English were joined by Franklinstien, as he would hence forth be known, as they began pressing various buttons on a scientific calculator. They were finding this a little more amusing than he anticipated and he was beginning to suspect that they were seeing what rude words or images they could create by using the different functions – he didn't mind that too much though, most muggle kids did exactly the same from what he could work out.

Goliath Lockhart and Kevin Pips, or more just Goliath Lockhart as Kevin wasn't even trying to pretend to be interested, were examining a dog lead although Goliath seemed to think it was some form of torture device and was very entertained by all the potential there was in the elastic. Hugo Weasley and Lily Potter, however, had the iPod.

"Sir, it's to listen to music too – isn't it?" Hugo asked eagerly, placing the earpieces in his ears. Lily stared at it, seeming unimpressed, and poked the cool metal unceremoniously, "and... you switch this to turn it on and then... OW!" Hugo shrieked, pulling the headphones out of his ears so hard that one of the headphones ripped into two pieces.

"Don't turn it on!" Archibald said hastily, "Hogwarts make those things go haywire, oh dear... well, can you hear me?" Archibald asked loudly.

Hugo gaped at him.

"Can you hear me?" Archibald repeated even louder, "CAN YOU HEAR ME!"

"Obviously not," Kevin Pips said from the back of the classroom, raising his eyebrows and looking unimpressed.

"Well, will one of you take him to the Hospital wing?" This request was met by a ringing silence. Even Lily Potter stared pointedly at the floor as if to avoid the embarrassment of escorting her cousin anywhere. Fair play, mostly it seemed she was slightly on the cooler end of the scale where it came to her and her cousin. There was no point bringing both of their reps down.

"Right, all of you stay here – okay?" Then he gestured for Hugo to follow him. It was always the keen ones who managed to get themselves injured – idiots.

Hugo was fixed within a minute but was instructed to stay in the Hospital wing until he'd regained his balance – as anti-deafening charms had a habit of making one fall over a lot – and Archibald was back in his classroom a mere ten minutes after he'd left it. Unfortunately.

He realised, upon entering the room, that he might have made quite a big mistake and leaving the students with the muggle articles.

Goliath Lockhart had been tied to his chair by the dog lead, had the broken headphones used as substitute handcuffs and had the calculator shoved into his mouth.

Archibald blinked for a few minutes and stared at the scene. Herman Goyle looked like the only person who didn't find the scene amusing (probably because he hadn't noticed anything had happened) and although Kevin Pips was airing an unruffled look he couldn't help but grin slightly. Tabatha Street and Lily Potter were outwardly laughing. Johnny English and Franklinstien were grinning and Archibald Penrose didn't know what the hell to make of it.

"Did you know that muggles actually used to have a torture device where someone was tied onto a table and stretched? Some muggles have the death penalty, like the electic chair. Sometimes the police use taser guns," Archibald continued, realising for the first time that he'd managed to really capture the attention of the class. It seemed blood and carnage were the way forward. "Muggles play this recreational game where they shoot balls of paint at one another from a gun. Some muggles play computer games where they have to shoot nuns and aliens... they have films about spies and shooting and violence."

There was an awed silence across the room. Archibald relished in it for a second (trying not to remember that he'd had to resort to exactly the same technique last time he had a new class of uninterested third years) and decided that he was going to aim for a long dramatic pause.

"But I can't teach you about any of that," he continued, "If you mess around. Now, this is a dog lead and this is a calculator – do any of you know what muggles use these for?"

Goliath Lockhart, who still had a calculator shoved in his mouth, began to nod excitedly. Archibald stared at him. He must be one of those too, no one else got excited about muggles whilst tied to a chair with a calculator shoved in their gob. He'd just been better at hiding it than Hugo.

"Take the calculator out of his mouth, Pips," Archibald ordered reluctantly.

"My dad wrote this book about muggles," Goliath began excitedly, "he lost his memories see, so he lived as a muggle for awhile after his memories began to return – and he wrote all about how muggles use calculators to contact people – by pressing the buttons, you see – and aren t iPods used so that muggles can watch films in their heads and the dog lead are for -"

"For what?" Archibald asked in a bored voice, "for hunting dogs for supper? For riding dogs? For tripping dogs over?"

"No," Goliath said, his face creasing slightly as if Archibald had been the one to suggest something ridiculous, "for when muggles want to take their pet dogs for walks,"

"Oh," Archibald said awkwardly, "well,"

The bell rang and the seven remaining students began clambering for their bags excitedly. Archibald crossed the classroom to help the effort to release Goliath from the chair (he wasn't staying in Archibald's classroom for any longer than necessary) and was beginning to feel slightly inadequate. It seemed that his students would have actually gone away knowing _less_about muggle culture, rather than more.

"Wait up, Franklinstien!" Tabatha said, pushing ahead of Johnny English to catch up with him. Archibald felt a small smile creep up at his lips – at least the nickname had caught on. And maybe they would read Frankenstien?

"I may be wrong," Kevin Pips said, pausing near the door, "but aren't the things that muggles use to talk to each other called... telephones?"

Archibald sank back on to his seat with a grin, nodding to Kevin as he sauntered out with far too much attitude for a thirteen year old. He gave himself another moments rest before glancing at his timetable to realise that, yes, he had the sixth years next...

An entire hour of Fred and Dominique Weasley who insisted on making it their mission to explain all muggle culture through the medium of interpretive dance, much to the amusement to the two other slackers and the irritation of the resident oddball. The other seven students in that group were too thick to know any better and probably, if Archibald was honest with himself, still– after his months of solid grafting – believed that the bible was a rather extravagant doorstop. Still, watching Freddie Weasley do a one man adaptation of 'Cane and Able' followed by Dominique Weasley attempting to pretend to be the _Virgin_Mary was usually fairly amusing.

Archibald sighed and clicked his novelty biro a couple of times to fill in the silence: it isn't always easy, being a muggle nut.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Five chapters up on HPFF, entirely supposed to be cracky and ridiculous and cure my writers block._

question: Summarize Archibald's thoughts on muggle studies students.

answer: Archibald finds that muggle studies students came in the form of odd muggleborns who thought they'd gain an easy OWL, and then even odder muggle-nut students who were over eager to learn everything involved in the class. The largest majority were students who didn't care about the class. The students were either completely crazy or incredibly stupid. Archibald doesn't really like children, particularly children on the cusp of puberty. He finds the older students to be better, but that most who stuck around for NEWT level were the real nutters.

question: What does the story say about Hugo Weasley's personality?

answer: Hugo Weasley is described as an eager student ready to learn about muggle studies. He sits in the second row of muggle studies class. Archibald notes that this would make him one of the oddballs who is very interested in muggle studies. Hugo is very excited when class begins and immediately begins taking notes. When a muggle iPod is taken out, he eagerly puts the headphones in, but injures himself with loud music.

question: What does the text say about injuries?

answer: During muggle studies, Hugo is injured when he is over eager to explore a muggle iPod. He puts the headphones in his ears, but the music is too loud and he shrieks from the pain. This seems to destroy his sense of hearing and he is sent to the school hospital. His hearing is fixed with an anti-deafening charm, but the charm harms his sense of balance.

question: Summarize what happens when Archibald leaves his students with the muggle articles.

answer: When Archibald is gone, his students get into the muggle articles. Goliath Lockhart ends up getting tied to his chair by the dog lead, the broken headphones are used as handcuffs, and the calculator is shoved in his mouth. When Archibald returns he notices that most of the students are amused and laughing at this, except for Herman Goyle.

question: Summarize the end of class.

answer: After Goliath Lockhart is tied up by some of the muggle articles, Archibald is able to grab the attention of his students. He does this by mentioning the torture devices of muggles. He realizes blood and carnage are the way to capture the attention of his class. After this discussion, Archibald tries to engage the class in discussion of his original muggle articles. However, he's a bit disappointed they don't seem to know much and he ends up feeling inadequate. He feels positive when one of his students uses a nickname he made up for Franklin Stainwright. Kevin Pips makes Archibald feel a bit better at the end of class when he notes that telephones are used by muggles to contact one another, not calculators.

question: What does the story say about Harry Potter?


text:
BURMAZI was an Albanian tribe (_fis_) that lived in Herzegovina in the Middle Ages.[1]

History

The name _Burmazi_ is a compound of the Albanian words _burr_ (man) + _madh_ (big or great).[2] The form _Burmazi_ instead of _Burmadhi_ signifies a retained characteristic from an older phase in the Albanian language before /z/ settled into the voiced dental fricative /ð/.[3]

Originally, they were a semi-nomadic community based on kinship ties that lived in non-permanent settlements (_katund_). Burmazi first appear in 1300 as a tribe that lived in the area around Stolac and Trebinje. In the archives of Ragusa they are grouped together in terms of social and economic organization with the also pastoral Vlachs whose name figured as inclusive of all semi-nomadic pastoralists in the area, but recorded as Albanians otherwise.[4] By 1343 they had elevated in social status and began to appear in Ragusan documents also as traders between the hinterlands of Herzegovina and Ragusa.[5]

Over time they were slavicized. This process started in the late 14th century when they gradually moved from being monolingual in Albanian to bilingualism in Albanian and Slavic. This is reflected also in their anthroponymy as personal names like _Burmaz_ started to be used in their Slavic translation, _Velislav_.[6] By the early 15th century they began to settle permanently in the area of the modern village Burmazi and were further concentrated in Ljubomir and Domaševo in Trebinje. The village of Arbanaška has also been linked to them. In the defter of the Sanjak of Herzegovina which was established in 1470, Burmazi appears as distinct nahiye of 40 settlements (katun) in total.[7] The Ottoman conquest of Herzegovina saw a threefold demographic change in Burmazi. A part of the people converted to Islam and started to move in the newly formed Ottoman urban centres of Bosnia. A larger part left the area and settled in the Dalmatian Hinterland in Šibenik and the village of Ogorje in Muć, in the island of Korčula and particularly the village of Vela Luka , in the village of Blata, in Makarska and in Kaštel in Istria. A later third wave of emigration occurred towards Serbia in the area of Vrnjacka Banja.[8]

The village of Burmazi today is divided between the municipalities of Stolac and Berkovići as a result of the Yugoslav Wars. In Burmazi most identify as Croats and in Berkovići most identify as Serbs. Some of those who trace their recent origin to this village identify also as Bosniaks.

The surnames Burmazović and Burmazević have their origin in this tribe. The brotherhoods of Burmazi also included the Zotovići, the Milkovići and the Gledjevići, who since the late 14th century formed their own branch and gradually became one of the urban families of Ragusa with estates around Trebinje.

The earlier, non-Slavic form of Zotović is _Zot_, which means _lord_ in Albanian.[9] Geographer Jevto Dedijer who traveled in the village to study its history noted that this earlier form was inscribed in the village in older family monuments like a cross that bore the name of village elder _Petar Zot_.[10]

Bibliography

Category:Tribes of Albania

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

title: Burmazi

question: Summarize the origin of the Burmazi tribe.

answer: Burmazi combines the Albanian words "burr," which means man, and "madh," which means large or great. Initially, they were a semi-nomadic community based on kinship relationships that lived in temporary towns. In 1300, they first appeared as a tribe that resided in the Stolac and Trebinje regions. They are linked with the pastoral Vlachs in the Ragusa archives because of their social and economic organization. By 1343, they had achieved a high social rank and began to appear in Ragusan documents as traders between the hinterlands of Herzegovina and Ragusa.

question: How did the Burmazi people become slavicized?

answer: The Burmazi tribe became slavicized in the late 14th century. As a result, they became bilingual in Albanian and Slavic. Burmaz, for example, became Velislav in its Slavic translation, reflecting their anthropology. Then they gathered in Ljubomir and Domaevo in Trebinje and then in Burmazi in the early 15th century. They have also been linked to the Arbanaka village. Burmazi's demographics tripled with the Ottoman conquest of Herzegovina. Some became Muslims and moved into Bosnia's new Ottoman cities. A more significant section left the area and settled in the Dalmatian Hinterland in Šibenik and the village of Ogorje in Muć. Finally, in Vrnjacka Banja, the third wave of emigrants arrived.


text:
Recent developments in the area of reinforcement learning have yielded a number of new algorithms for the prediction and control of Markovian environments. These algorithms, including the TD(lambda) algorithm of Sutton (1988) and the Q-learning algorithm of Watkins (1989), can be motivated heuristically as approximations to dynamic programming (DP). In this paper we provide a rigorous proof of convergence of these DP-based learning algorithms by relating them to the powerful techniques of stochastic approximation theory via a new convergence theorem. The theorem establishes a general class of convergent algorithms to which both TD(lambda) and Q-learning belong.

... In other words, we can get the optimal state-value by selecting the action with the least Q-value. The update rule of the action value function [40] can be denoted as ...

... where s and a represent the state and the action of time slot t respectively, and s ′ and a ′ represent the state and the action of time slot t + 1 respectively. According to [40], we represent the learning rate as ...

This article investigates the cache-enabling unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) cellular networks with massive access capability supported by non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). The delivery of a large volume of multimedia contents for ground users is assisted by a mobile UAV base station, which caches some popular contents for wireless backhaul link traffic offloading. In cache-enabling UAV NOMA networks, the caching placement of content caching phase and radio resource allocation of content delivery phase are crucial for network performance. To cope with the dynamic UAV locations and content requests in practical scenarios, we formulate the long-term caching placement and resource allocation optimization problem for content delivery delay minimization as a Markov decision process (MDP). The UAV acts as an agent to take actions for caching placement and resource allocation, which includes the user scheduling of content requests and the power allocation of NOMA users. In order to tackle the MDP, we propose a Q-learning based caching placement and resource allocation algorithm, where the UAV learns and selects action with \emph{soft ${\varepsilon}$-greedy} strategy to search for the optimal match between actions and states. Since the action-state table size of Q-learning grows with the number of states in the dynamic networks, we propose a function approximation based algorithm with combination of stochastic gradient descent and deep neural networks, which is suitable for large-scale networks. Finally, the numerical results show that the proposed algorithms provide considerable performance compared to benchmark algorithms, and obtain a trade-off between network performance and calculation complexity.

... For example, value iteration and policy iteration can be seen as the extremes of a spectrum of algorithms defined by the extent of the policy evaluation step (19,24). RL algorithms based on dynamic programming can be understood as stochastic approximations of these methods or other instantiations of policy updates (25). ...

The combination of reinforcement learning with deep learning is a promising approach to tackle important sequential decision-making problems that are currently intractable. One obstacle to overcome is the amount of data needed by learning systems of this type. In this article, we propose to address this issue through a divide-and-conquer approach. We argue that complex decision problems can be naturally decomposed into multiple tasks that unfold in sequence or in parallel. By associating each task with a reward function, this problem decomposition can be seamlessly accommodated within the standard reinforcement-learning formalism. The specific way we do so is through a generalization of two fundamental operations in reinforcement learning: policy improvement and policy evaluation. The generalized version of these operations allow one to leverage the solution of some tasks to speed up the solution of others. If the reward function of a task can be well approximated as a linear combination of the reward functions of tasks previously solved, we can reduce a reinforcement-learning problem to a simpler linear regression. When this is not the case, the agent can still exploit the task solutions by using them to interact with and learn about the environment. Both strategies considerably reduce the amount of data needed to solve a reinforcement-learning problem.

... (4) A longer backup length n has been shown to increase the variance of the estimated Q(s t , a t ) as well as decrease its bias [14]. Despite of the high-variance and the increased computational cost, multi-step return enhances the immediate sensitivity of the value approximator to future rewards, and allows them to backup faster. ...

-   Po-Han Chiang
-   Hsuan-Kung Yang
-   Zhang-Wei Hong
-   Chun-Yi Lee

The concept of utilizing multi-step returns for updating value functions has been adopted in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for a number of years. Updating value functions with different backup lengths provides advantages in different aspects, including bias and variance of value estimates, convergence speed, and exploration behavior of the agent. Conventional methods such as TD-lambda leverage these advantages by using a target value equivalent to an exponential average of different step returns. Nevertheless, integrating step returns into a single target sacrifices the diversity of the advantages offered by different step return targets. To address this issue, we propose Mixture Bootstrapped DQN (MB-DQN) built on top of bootstrapped DQN, and uses different backup lengths for different bootstrapped heads. MB-DQN enables heterogeneity of the target values that is unavailable in approaches relying only on a single target value. As a result, it is able to maintain the advantages offered by different backup lengths. In this paper, we first discuss the motivational insights through a simple maze environment. In order to validate the effectiveness of MB-DQN, we perform experiments on the Atari 2600 benchmark environments, and demonstrate the performance improvement of MB-DQN over a number of baseline methods. We further provide a set of ablation studies to examine the impacts of different design configurations of MB-DQN.

... Lemma 1 [21] Let P t be a sequence of increasing -fields, such that 0 and 0 are P 0 -measurable and t , t and F t−1 are P t -measurable, t = 1, 2, … . For any random iterative ...

Task-space control needs the inverse kinematics solution or Jacobian matrix for the transformation from task space to joint space. However, they are not always available for redundant robots because there are more joint degrees-of-freedom than Cartesian degrees-of-freedom. Intelligent learning methods, such as neural networks (NN) and reinforcement learning (RL) can learn the inverse kinematics solution. However, NN needs big data and classical RL is not suitable for multi-link robots controlled in task space. In this paper, we propose a fully cooperative multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) to solve the kinematic problem of redundant robots. Each joint of the robot is regarded as one agent. The fully cooperative MARL uses a kinematic learning to avoid function approximators and large learning space. The convergence property of the proposed MARL is analyzed. The experimental results show that our MARL is much more better compared with the classic methods such as Jacobian-based methods and neural networks.

... From a state, one can generate reward sequences of fixed lengths, and average their sums into the state's expected fixed-horizon return. Fixed-horizon MC is an opposite extreme from one-step FHTD in terms of a bias-variance trade-off, similar to the infinite-horizon setting (Jaakkola, Jordan, and Singh 1994). This trade-off motivates considering multi-step FHTD methods. ...

-    [Kristopher De Asis]Kristopher De Asis
-   Alan Chan
-   Silviu Pitis
-   Daniel Graves

We explore fixed-horizon temporal difference (TD) methods, reinforcement learning algorithms for a new kind of value function that predicts the sum of rewards over a fixed number of future time steps. To learn the value function for horizon h, these algorithms bootstrap from the value function for horizon h−1, or some shorter horizon. Because no value function bootstraps from itself, fixed-horizon methods are immune to the stability problems that plague other off-policy TD methods using function approximation (also known as “the deadly triad”). Although fixed-horizon methods require the storage of additional value functions, this gives the agent additional predictive power, while the added complexity can be substantially reduced via parallel updates, shared weights, and n-step bootstrapping. We show how to use fixed-horizon value functions to solve reinforcement learning problems competitively with methods such as Q-learning that learn conventional value functions. We also prove convergence of fixed-horizon temporal difference methods with linear and general function approximation. Taken together, our results establish fixed-horizon TD methods as a viable new way of avoiding the stability problems of the deadly triad.

... There is existed theorem in [14], given the random process {∆ t } taking value in R n and defined as ...

-   Gang Chen

Q-learning with value function approximation may have the poor performance because of overestimation bias and imprecise estimate. Specifically, overestimation bias is from the maximum operator over noise estimate, which is exaggerated using the estimate of a subsequent state. Inspired by the recent advance of deep reinforcement learning and Double Q-learning, we introduce the decorrelated double Q-learning (D2Q). Specifically, we introduce the decorrelated regularization item to reduce the correlation between value function approximators, which can lead to less biased estimation and low variance. The experimental results on a suite of MuJoCo continuous control tasks demonstrate that our decorrelated double Q-learning can effectively improve the performance.

... Thus, the QL converges to Q * under similar conditions as the SIP converges to zero w.p.1 [17], [25], [26]. ...

In this paper, we study the control of probabilistic Boolean control networks (PBCNs) by leveraging a model-free reinforcement learning (RL) technique. In particular, we propose a Q-learning (QL) based approach to address the feedback stabilization problem of PBCNs, and we design optimal state feedback controllers such that the PBCN is stabilized at a given equilibrium point. The optimal controllers are designed for both finite-time stability and asymptotic stability of PBCNs. In order to verify the convergence of the proposed QL algorithm, the obtained optimal policy is compared with the optimal solutions of model-based techniques, namely value iteration (VI) and semi-tensor product (STP) methods. Finally, some PBCN models of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are considered to verify the obtained results.

-    [Sean Meyn]Sean Meyn

Abstract: The ODE method has been a workhorse for algorithm design and analysis since the introduction of the stochastic approximation. It is now understood that convergence theory amounts to establishing robustness of Euler approximations for ODEs, while theory of rates of convergence requires finer analysis. This talk concerns a parallel theory for quasi-stochastic approximation, based on algorithms in which the "noise" is based on deterministic signals. Part of the motivation is pedagogical: theory for convergence and convergence rates is greatly simplified. The other major motivation is practical: the speed of convergence is remarkably fast in applications to gradient-free optimization and to reinforcement learning. The talk will survey recent theory and applications.

-   Yifan Gu
-   Qi Sun
-   Xinye Cai

In this paper, we combine multiagent reinforcement learning (MARL) with grid-based Pareto local search for combinatorial multiobjective optimization problems (CMOPs). In the multiagent system, each agent (grid) maintains at most one solution after the MARL-guided selection for local search. MARL adaptively adjusts the selection strategy for conducting better collaborative Pareto local search. In the experimental studies, the MARL-guided grid Pareto local search (MARL-GPLS) is compared with the Pareto local search (PLS), two decomposition-based multiobjective local search approaches, a grid-based approach (\(\epsilon \)-MOEA), and one state-of-the-art hybrid approach on benchmark CMOPs. The results show that the MARL-GPLS outperforms the other six algorithms on most instances.

-   Richard S. Sutton

This article introduces a class of incremental learning procedures specialized for prediction – that is, for using past experience with an incompletely known system to predict its future behavior. Whereas conventional prediction-learning methods assign credit by means of the difference between predicted and actual outcomes, the new methods assign credit by means of the difference between temporally successive predictions. Although such temporal-difference methods have been used in Samuel's checker player, Holland's bucket brigade, and the author's Adaptive Heuristic Critic, they have remained poorly understood. Here we prove their convergence and optimality for special cases and relate them to supervised-learning methods. For most real-world prediction problems, temporal-difference methods require less memory and less peak computation than conventional methods and they produce more accurate predictions. We argue that most problems to which supervised learning is currently applied are really prediction problems of the sort to which temporal-difference methods can be applied to advantage.

-   Herbert Robbins
-   Sutton Monro

Let $M(x)$ denote the expected value at level $x$ of the response to a certain experiment. $M(x)$ is assumed to be a monotone function of $x$ but is unknown to the experimenter, and it is desired to find the solution $x = \theta$ of the equation $M(x) = \alpha$, where $\alpha$ is a given constant. We give a method for making successive experiments at levels $x_1,x_2,\cdots$ in such a way that $x_n$ will tend to $\theta$ in probability.

-   Peter W. Glynn

This paper gives a short survey of Monte Carlo algorithms for stochastic optimization. Both discrete and continuous parameter stochastic optimization are discussed, with emphasis on the analysis of convergence rate. Some future research directions for the area are also indicated.

question: What do all of these papers have in common?

answer: All of the scientific papers summarized here investigate different applications of reinforcement learning and Q-learning in the field of artificial intelligence. Some of these papers involve the application of drones, others work on reducing the data needed for supervised learning tasks, but all of them exist in the same domain and apply similar technologies and algorithms to solve problems.


text:
She was leaving.

I politely asked her to hide her bags and belongings. I didn’t want a reminder. I figured I’d let it all hit me when I woke up after she drove away.

The problem was the bags, hat boxes, and suitcases and such that filled the back laundry room where I suggested she hide them. I suggested this as it also meant I wouldn’t have to do laundry until she left.

So, I was adding relearning how to do laundry to the ugliness of that first day alone.

She sat me down and made me understand that her belongings were now hitting the ceiling. “I want to pack my change jar – it won’t fit.”

I understood. “You’ll have to throw some stuff out.”

But she wouldn’t listen. She continued to fill the room. She found nooks and crannies to hide herself and even managed to pack the washer and dryer with her belongings.

“I’m finished.” She said one June morning.

I went into the back room and pried the door open and just looked at her, all of her, all packed into the laundry room.

She left the next day.

On the ground were little bits of debris she couldn't pack. A hair clip, a bottle of suntan lotion, books...

She moved to another office in another country. I began inter-office mailing her little pieces of herself that she left behind: change, paperclips, photos, lip balm...

An email went out to the office explaining that all non-paper products could not continue to arrive overseas as Customs was cracking down.

I gave up sending her all back.

I left the laundry room alone for a month.

But eventually...

I opened the door to the laundry room and began doing laundry.

I’ve been doing laundry for 13 years.

title: [MF] 7.

question: Who are the main characters of the story?

answer: The narrator, his girlfriend (?)/co-worker

question: What is the narrator's issue with doing laundry?

answer: All his girlfriend's stuff is stored in the laundry room and he doesn't want to be reminded of her.

question: Where is girlfriend (?)/co-worker going?

answer: She's moving to another office in another country (they work for the same company).

question: Why did he stop sending her stuff back via inter-office mail?

answer: Customs was cracking down.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator and his girlfriend (?)/co-worker live together. When she moves to another office in another country, he politely asks her to hide all her stuff in the laundry room because he doesn't want to see reminders of her in the house. The problem is, she has too much stuff and it can't all fit. He also won't be able to do laundry for a while as he comes to grips with her departure. He uses inter-office mail to send the stuff she left behind overseas but stops when customs cracks down on shipments. The narrator doesn't do laundry for a month but eventually does and has been doing it for 13 years.


text:
By: /u/adult_icarus

Hector’s first encounter with pornography occurred in middle school. His friend Charles, a young black man with whom he shared lunch while geeking about their favorite anime, had told him of an incredible site. He didn’t tell him what was on it; he simply insisted that Hector look it up when he got home. Hector sat at his mother’s computer while finishing his social-studies homework. Remembering the sage advice of Charles, he typed each letter then pressed enter. Hector had never seen a vagina before. Sure, he had been shown diagrams while he was in elementary school, but it was not until this moment while looking at an X-rated version of his favorite cartoon that he had ever seen it. He knew he felt attraction, but to what? He had always pictured it closer to the rear and far less overt. He thought that these women had been cut. He was upset. Why would someone do such a thing?  That they were spreading them and sticking things into them made him think the site was made for people who enjoyed pain, whom he had heard about somewhere. Conferring with Charles the next day, he was assured that they were not cuts, but were in fact vaginas. Everything he thought he knew about the world shattered at such a revelation that that was what they looked like. Hector resolved to learn more about them. So he visited the site. He visited the site constantly. All this was wild and grand. He was discovering his sexuality. He was pioneering into the world of women. He learned he did not know how to masturbate. He figured it out one night while studying the picture of a blonde sports illustrated swimsuit model that was having difficulty properly adjusting her life preserver.
The Knight-Enchanter, fresh from a victory over the Eminent One’s demon army at Adamant fortress, found his lady Cassandra beating a punching bag with a sword, as she always did. It was odd; Hector thought, that the non-playable characters completed the same task over and over again while they weren’t out fighting. The Knight-Enchanter had been courting Cassandra since the destruction of Haven by Corypheus. He had meticulously strategized the best things to say to win her over, and he believed he had finally done it.
Hector couldn’t take it. Why spend so much time trying to win over a woman who didn’t exist in the real world? Though he adored Cassandra, she ran out of things to say. He wanted someone real. Whose thoughts wouldn’t be scripted and who he wouldn’t have to be someone else to be with. It was because of his lack of social prowess, he thought. He should have spent more time playing with his brother and the other neighborhood kids. Since he missed out on that, he had neglected to learn the proper social cues. Therefore, he thought, he was screwed. A part of him rejected that. A part of him constantly screamed that if he would just open up to people, stop being afraid of what they may think, he could find a friend. The screaming had become less adamant in recent years. As time went on, it continued to dwindle.

Mornings for Hector involve microwaved breakfast sandwiches and bad television as he prepares to go to work. Food Lion is an incredible place to work. Hector stands in place for eight hours, scanning packages of food and placing them neatly in bags at the end of the little conveyor belt. Occasionally he will be tasked with cleaning spills or even attending to lost children. His attendance has suffered recently, as his near constant playing of the new game Dragon’s Era has extended into the mornings. This is the third time Hector has shown up late. His boss Mark takes him aside wearing a blue collared shirt and wrinkled khakis. The pants were a bit too tight and accentuated his belly. Mark tells him that if he doesn’t get his act together he might have to fire Hector soon. Hector doesn’t do well with stressors. Hearing he’s close to being fired causes the pits and back of the blue collared shirt to darken with sweat. It is a long day at work.
Amid the monotony of scanning, he looks up. Brown hair, shoulder length. Dark brown eyes. Cheeks somewhat pronounced, accentuating the mouth. Much shorter than Hector, maybe five-three. Large bust. Medium build. Wide hips. Hector blushes. The girl from two days ago.  He wonders if she remembers him. Her cart contains steak, spaghetti noodles, Degree women’s deodorant, Charmin brand toilet paper, a six-pack of San Pellegrino, as well as a six-pack of Miller Lite, and a box of Tampax brand tampons. Hector handles each item with care, afraid to look her in the face. He wants to ask her name. He begins to stutter the words, but nothing comes out. He is paralyzed. He wants her so much. Hector wants her to be his friend. He bagged each item with incredible purpose, as if his good work as cashier would impress her. She hands Hector a credit card. Hector glances at the name on the card as he swipes it through his machine. Elsie. The name fills him with warmth. It is the most beautiful name he has ever heard. Blushing, stammering, fresh sweat stains on his shirt glistening, Hector hands Elsie her card back. She smiles at him and says “Thank you” as she leaves. Hector adjusts his glasses and watches her.  Heart fluttering. Elsie acknowledged him.
The Knight-Enchanter makes love to Cassandra as moonlight shines through the stained glass windows. Hector admires her body. Cassandra had captured his heart. How wonderful she was. A knight of the Templar order. Dragon-slayer. Stubborn. Passionate. Hector thinks it is an interesting dynamic since his character is a Knight-Enchanter class. Knight-Enchanters are mages and Templars are warriors devoted to hunting apostate mages. He feels that his character’s romance with a Templar will somehow bridge the gap, perhaps allowing Templars and mages to get along. But enough of politics.
Cicadas. Window open. A laptop promising him sexy singles yet again. Hector looks across the street at the apartment belonging to Elsie. Perhaps he could just walk over there and knock. Say hello to her. Maybe see if she wants to hang out sometime. The flat reverberating buzz of the cicadas overwhelms him. He wants to leave the apartment. To walk over there and throw himself at her. Not literally, that would be assault. He wants to open up to her, tell her everything he feels. Given, he doesn’t know anything about her other than she’s kind enough to acknowledge a chubby, disheveled geek wearing glasses. Such a woman is more than he could ever hope for. His chest hurts. He’s sweating. His apartment is ten feet long. He paces back and forth. The laptop open. It shows a young Asian woman using produce in ways nature didn’t intend. Sexy singles were in his area. He reaches to his model of Master chief. What would Master chief do? What would the Knight-Enchanter do? They would sweep her off her feet and read her poetry and give her flowers. They would pronounce their love for her and she would follow suit. They would get the girl. They’re heroes. They are capable, thin, attractive people who like all the right things. They are whom everyone loves.
Elsie smiled at him. She didn’t seem to find him repulsive. She seemed nice. Like the kind of girl who wouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. The kind of girl who would kick back and share drinks with him. Everything hurts.
On the street everything is quiet. The cicadas are asleep. The crickets take their place. There is rain on the ground. Pools of light circle around four or five streetlamps on the block. The wind between the two windows feels better, more alive. He reaches halfway across the street.

The sun rises. The microwave alerts Hector to his hot and ready breakfast sandwich. It’s a Saturday. He doesn’t have to go to work. The window is closed. It was too cold. Cicadas now muffled. The apartment reeks of cigarette smoke. The trash bin overflows with spent tissues. The screen of his laptop asks if he’s willing to have sex with older women. He’s redirected to a page where the porn star Ron Jeremy offers to show him how to enlarge his penis. Hector gets up to turn off the light. He then draws the curtains. He finishes his sandwich in the white-blue darkness. Hector plays his videogame. He has started a new character. He now avoids Cassandra. He’s made that mistake once before. He can hear people walking past his door. Off to enjoy their Saturday. Hector plugs in his headphones. For a moment he hears a woman’s voice. It reminds him of Elsie.
He lights a cigarette as he faces his laptop. He types in each key that will lead him to his current favorite porn site. Hector spends fifteen minutes masturbating. He tries to forget about Elsie and his reality. That was the issue in the first place. He had become too aware of himself. If he could just avoid that, it wouldn’t hurt anymore. He clicks on a video. As it transitions, the screen goes black. Hector sees a heavy, bespectacled man staring back at him. He shuts the laptop. He leans back in his chair and looks out at Elsie’s apartment. The cicadas sing through the closed window.

title: [RF/FN] Hector. (part 2)

question: What does the story say about the video game Hector plays?

answer: It seems to be a game set in a world of magic, probably some sort of role-playing game considering there are different classes. Hector plays the Knight-Enchanter and courts a character in-game (Cassandra, a templar). He finds the narrative of a mage-hunter Templar being in a relationship with a magic-user appealing, hoping that it will be the push that brings reconciliation. Toward the end of the story, Hector starts playing a new character, and this time, he avoids Cassandra.

question: What does the story say about Hector's romantic and sexual life?

answer: Hector discovers porn as a teenager through a friend, who insists that he visit a certain website. This leads to his discovery of female anatomy and how to masturbate. Hector, as an adult, masturbates routinely and seems to be the withdrawn, shy type. He thinks that he can't understand social clues well enough because he avoided playing with his brother and friends as a child, to which he attributes his lack of romantic prospects. Hector works as a cashier and encounters a girl named Elsie, but he can't speak to her. He dreams of being with her but can't find the courage to do anything.

question: What does the story say about Hector Salamanca's final fate?


text:
[R-CMD-check] [Check with knitr examples] [test-coverage] [Coverage status] [Downloads from the RStudio CRAN mirror] [Lock threads]

The R package KNITR is a general-purpose literate programming engine, with lightweight API's designed to give users full control of the output without heavy coding work. It combines many features into one package with slight tweaks motivated from my everyday use of Sweave. See the package homepage for details and examples. See FAQ's for a list of frequently asked questions (including where to ask questions).

Installation

You can install the stable version on CRAN:

    install.packages('knitr')

You can also install the development version from XRAN, which provides daily build of KNITR:

    # update all existing packages first
    update.packages(ask = FALSE, repos = 'https://cran.r-project.org')
    install.packages('knitr', repos = c('https://xran.yihui.org', 'https://cran.r-project.org'))

Note that if you want to build the source package via R CMD INSTALL without a previously installed version of KNITR, you must either pre-install KNITR from CRAN, or run R CMD INSTALL on this source repo, otherwise R CMD build will fail (which is probably a bug of base R).

Motivation

While Sweave and related add-on packages like CACHESWEAVE and PGFSWEAVE are fairly good engines for literate programming in R, I often feel my hands are tied. For example:

-   I stared at the source code of Sweave and wished for hundreds of times, _if only I could easily insert_ [width=.8\textwidth] _between_ \includegraphics _and_ {my-plot.pdf}. (The official way in Sweave is \setkeys{Gin} but it is setting a global width, which is unrealistic since we often have to set widths individually; yes, you can use \setkeys{Gin} for many times, but why not just provide an option for each chunk?)
-   I wished for many times, _if only I could use graphics devices other than PDF and postscript_; now the dream has come true in the official R, but what I was hoping for was an option as simple as dev = 'png' or dev = 'CairoJPEG'.
-   I wished multiple plots in a code chunk could be recorded instead of only the last one.
-   I wished there was a way to round the numbers in \Sexpr{} other than writing expressions like \Sexpr{round(x, 3)} for _each single_ \Sexpr{}
-   I wished I did not have to print() plots from. GGPLOT2 and a simple qplot(x, y) would just give me a plot in Sweave.
-   I wished users would never need instructions on Sweave.sty or run into troubles due to the fact that LaTeX cannot find Sweave.sty.
-   I wished CACHESWEAVE could print the results of a code chunk even if it was cached.
-   I wished BREW could support graphics.
-   I wished R2HTML could support R code syntax highlighting.
-   ...

[The book Dynamic Documents with R and knitr]

The package KNITR was designed to give the user access to every part of the process of dealing with a literate programming document, so there is no need to hack at any core components if you want more freedom. I have gone through the source code of PGFSWEAVE and CACHESWEAVE for a couple of times and I often feel uncomfortable with the large amount of code copied from official R, especially when R has a new version released (I will begin to worry if the add-on packages are still up-to-date with the official Sweave).

Usage

    library(knitr)
    ?knit
    knit(input)

If options are not explicitly specified, KNITR will try to guess reasonable default settings. A few manuals are available such as the main manual, and the graphics manual. For a more organized reference, see the knitr book.

License

This package is free and open source software, licensed under GPL.

question: What does the text say about Nvidia?

question: What does the text say about the R package KNITR?

answer: The R package KNITR is a general-purpose literate programming engine, with lightweight APIs designed to give users full control of the output without heavy coding work. It combines many features into one package with slight tweaks motivated by using Sweave every day. The package KNITR was designed to give the user access to every part of the process of dealing with a literate programming document, so there is no need to hack at any core components for more freedom. If options are not explicitly specified, KNITR will try to guess reasonable default settings. The package is free and open-source software licensed under GPL.


text:
I stare intensely at nothing as I ponder the question posed to me, thinking back to the things I've heard, seen and done. It's a simple question, but one with depth that that could be thought upon for hours.

I remember the day I enlisted in the Armed Forces and was sent to boot camp. I had always been a fairly physical guy but nothing could prepare you for that hell, or the hell that was to follow. Between my muscles screaming for respite daily, the drill sergeant barking orders and the horrific hazing from my supposed "brothers-in-arms", I wasn't off to a very happy start of my career.

It wasn't all bad though. I did meet someone who helped me out. Daniel McAfee was a small town deputy before joining the military. "Danno" we called him, after the cop from that one show. He hated that name.

Eventually we were both fully sworn into the 29th Infantry Division based out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia. I was ecstatic to be out of that training base, but the feeling didn't last long once we were finally sent out on our first deployment in Cambodia.

There was an uprising among the people over the way the government dealt with the people in their logging industry. Communism was gaining a foothold and we were sent in to "protect free choice." Looking back, it wasn't about helping an ally or the people their. They wanted communism, we wanted to keep our bases in the region safe so we could have a quick response should North Korea or China try anything. Which, in a way, they already were.

We went in expecting to be fighting farmers with sticks and bows at best, not a fully functioning rebel army supplied by the PLA. We didn't expect them to be trained in tactical manoeuvres an jungle warfare. We didn't expect them to outnumber us four to one.

We didn't expect an RPG to slam into our APC, killing half my squad before we fired a single shot.

I remember the ringing in my ears driving me insane to the point where I couldn't feel the heat of the fire. Luckily, Danno dragged me out by my collar before I knew what was really going on. After I heard a couple rounds ping off the side of our million dollar hunk of scrap, we just ran. I know it's wrong and dishonourable or whatever, but after the reception we just got, my mind said "fuck it, we're leaving."

A hundred yards into the jungle, however, we had to dodge bullets again. Not many though, it seemed like there was a straggler or someone making sure no one snuck up on them. Out of pure instinct I I just fired into the trees until I heard something hit the ground. Danno and I went to check it out and I got one of them. Right through the head, lucky shot. Or so it seemed. We turned the body over to check for anything we could use and out hearts dropped.

It wasn't a man, it was a boy. No older than sixteen, probably younger. Here I was, some stranger in a foreign land and my first kill is a kid with enough conviction and dedication to his ideals that he'd pick up a gun and risk his life. "Join the military! You might accidentally kill a kid!" Not exactly a winning slogan.

Things didn't get much better after that either. Fought some more battles, killed some more faceless enemies that I knew nothing about for no other reason than "because I was told to", saw more friends die in front of me.

The question still running through my mind, I think back to another time. Years later, we were stationed in Uzbekistan, a smaller country that ninety percent of the western world wouldn't be able to point out on a map. No idea why we were there, probably oil or some such bullshit.

We were all having a break on one on the forward bases. It was hot so we took all our gear off and were just sitting around drinking water and swapping stories. Everything was going fine, we were having a good time. The only thing we were missing was a slightly homoerotic volleyball match. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just don't like volleyball.

Let me tell you, I was not expecting to look over at Danno and have that big smile on his face he always wore suddenly disappear in a pink mist as a fifty cal round punched through his skull.

There I sat, slack jawed and wide eyed covered in my friend's brain. The only thing that snapped me out of it was when we finally heard the report of the rifle. Twenty minutes later, we were under a full attack. The mess hall was on fire, the front gates were broken down and I was watching my CO lay on a grenade to save the rest of the squad. I don't remember much after that as a tank shell flipped a jeep onto my legs, crushing them beyond use. I passed out from the shock and woke up two days later in a field hospital to a nurse telling me I was going home for good.

I snap back from my memories and adjust myself in the wheelchair I've been confined to. I rub my face with my hand, feeling the wrinkles that make my fifty five year old self look eighty. I run my thumb around the childproof lid of the pills I take that are supposed to suppress my nightmares, even though I still wake up screaming every once in a while. I snap back to reality when my grandson repeats the question.

"Papa, did you hear me? I asked if you had any good war stories!" He says innocently. I look at him with a thin, fake smile.

"No." There's no such thing.

--------

I've been considering joining the army lately as it's something I've wanted to do my entire life. I tend to work out my fears for decisions through writing and I liked how this one turned out, so I decided to post it. Hope you liked it!

title: [RF] The Truth Hurts: A tribute to the Armed Forces and people struggling with PTSD

question: Why was the narrator sent home from the war?

answer: The narrator's squadron came under attack. He was severely injured during the attack and would never walk again. He was, therefore, of no use to the war machine.

question: Why does the narrator not want to tell his grandson war stories?

answer: The narrator says that there is no such thing as a good war story. It was his grandson's question that triggered the horrible memories of war in the first place. His first kill was a sixteen-year-old kid. Then he saw his best friend, Danno, killed and lastly, he lost his legs.

question: Why was the narrator's squadron fighting in Uzbekistan?