Rephrase:

This work focuses on proving that ... but does not implement a video game.

Cap?

I think this section would be made more concrete with an example of a video game where it is common practice for players to do this

So? Sentence feels a little out of place. Make it make sense in this para

Slightly too repetitive. Maybe 'We interpret this as meaning that the game world can handle...'

What does the figure tell me? A description is fine but I need you to draw a conclusion from it.

No need for a 'this' here. I would just say : Therefore, the requirement for all testing conducted is that the game must run at at least 60 FPS to be considere ...

This sentence is hard to read

This whole sentence doesn't quite track to me. The 'but' particularly throws me off

Got a citation for this?

Does a boid program need the render part?

comma? Or reword to be less clunky. Maybe just While the game is the running, the game loop ...

This shouldn't be how you start the diss. Something more like

The fundamental limitations of traditional multiplayer game architectures ...

Voici un sommaire de la vidéo avec des indications temporelles basées sur le déroulement du contenu :

• Introduction (Début de la vidéo) : L'introduction est faite par Elena, la fondatrice de Toadhouse Games. Elle explique que ce tutoriel est conçu pour les débutants qui n'ont aucune connaissance en codage et que les premières vidéos seront gratuites sur YouTube. Elle présente Ren'Py comme un moteur de roman visuel utilisé par des milliers de créateurs.

• Qu'est-ce que Ren'Py ? (Environ 0:00 - 1:00) : Ren'Py est un moteur pour créer des romans visuels et de la fiction interactive. Bien qu'il fonctionne avec du code Python, il n'est pas nécessaire de savoir coder pour l'utiliser. Le logiciel fournit tout ce dont vous avez besoin, y compris des éditeurs de texte.

• Téléchargement de Ren'Py (Environ 1:00 - 2:00) : Il faut se rendre sur ri.org et cliquer sur le bouton de téléchargement. Différentes versions sont disponibles pour Windows, Mac, Linux, Android et iOS. Une fois le fichier téléchargé, il faut l'exécuter et extraire les fichiers dans le dossier de votre choix.

• Ouverture et présentation du lanceur Ren'Py (Environ 2:00 - 4:00) : Dans le dossier extrait, double-cliquez sur l'application Ren'Py (l'icône avec un anime) pour ouvrir le lanceur. Le lanceur affiche les projets ouverts (tutoriel et question par défaut) et les fichiers associés à chaque projet. Sur la droite, l'option "script" permet d'accéder aux fichiers de code, qui peuvent être édités dans un éditeur de texte comme Atom. Ren'Py peut télécharger et installer Atom pour vous.

• Exploration des fichiers du projet (Environ 4:00 - 5:00) : Le dossier "game" contient tous les fichiers du jeu (audio, musique, images, etc.). Un raccourci vers le dossier "images" est également disponible. Le fichier "script" contient le code du jeu, y compris les dialogues, les transitions, la musique et les scènes. Les options et les écrans (screens) permettent de personnaliser l'apparence du jeu.

• Construction et distribution du jeu (Environ 5:00 - 5:30) : L'option "build distributions" permet de créer une version jouable de votre jeu pour la partager avec d'autres sur différentes plateformes comme PC, Linux, Mac, itch.io ou Steam.

• Exercice pratique avec le projet "The Question" (Environ 5:30 - 8:00) : Il est recommandé de sélectionner le projet "the question" et de lancer le projet pour jouer au jeu. Ensuite, ouvrez le script du projet "the question". L'exercice consiste à jouer au jeu tout en regardant le code correspondant dans l'éditeur de texte. Cela permet de comprendre comment le code contrôle le déroulement du jeu (musique, scènes, dialogues, choix). Il est possible de faire de petites modifications dans le script et de recharger le jeu pour voir les changements.

• Présentation de Scrivener (Environ 8:00 - 9:00) : Scrivener est un logiciel optionnel qui peut être utilisé pour écrire le dialogue et organiser le contenu de votre roman visuel. Un modèle Ren'Py pour Scrivener créé par Toadhouse Games est disponible. Scrivener propose des conseils d'écriture de base et des modèles pour les profils de personnages et le code Ren'Py.

• Conclusion (Environ 9:00 - Fin de la vidéo) : Elena encourage les spectateurs à commencer à expérimenter avec Ren'Py en modifiant le projet "the question". Des tutoriels plus avancés sur les "flags" et les choix seront proposés ultérieurement. Des ressources d'aide sont disponibles sur Twitter, par e-mail (teamtoadhouse@gmail.com), sur les subreddits et les forums Ren'Py, ainsi que sur le Discord de Toadhouse Games.

Voici un sommaire avec des indications temporelles basées sur le déroulement de la vidéo :

• Introduction (Début) : Elena Linaire, fondatrice et directrice créative de Team Toad House et Toad House Games, présente le studio et annonce un game jam de visual novels sur itch.io.

Elle mentionne des ateliers animés par des professionnels de Toad House pour aider à la création de visual novels. L'objectif est de rendre la création de jeux accessible aux débutants.

• Téléchargement de Ren'Py (Environ 2-3 minutes) : Elena explique comment télécharger Ren'Py depuis le site renpy.org.

Elle précise que Ren'Py est un moteur de jeu open source et gratuit spécialement conçu pour les visual novels. Elle cite d'autres moteurs de jeu comme Unity, Unreal, Game Maker, Godot et Twine, notant qu'ils sont adaptés à différents types de jeux.

Elle souligne que la connaissance de Python n'est pas nécessaire pour utiliser Ren'Py, bien que le "pi" dans Ren'Py fasse référence à Python.

• Documentation et Ressources (Environ 4-5 minutes) :

Elena mentionne que le site de Ren'Py contient de la documentation, qui est parfois considérée comme peu conviviale.

Elle recommande également le serveur Discord Ren'Py et le forum Lumisoft comme ressources d'aide.

La documentation couvre les bases et les utilisations plus spécifiques de Ren'Py, y compris les systèmes de dates, de monnaie et d'inventaire.

• Lancement et Création d'un Nouveau Projet (Environ 6-10 minutes) :

Elena montre l'interface du lanceur Ren'Py, affichant des projets existants comme ceux de Toad House Games.

Elle explique comment créer un nouveau projet, choisir la langue (avec des options comme le pig latin) et sélectionner un éditeur de texte (recommandant Adam, qui peut être téléchargé directement depuis Ren'Py).

Il est possible de choisir la résolution du projet, avec 1280x720 comme valeur par défaut, et un schéma de couleurs clair ou foncé pour l'interface (GUI).

• Structure des Fichiers d'un Projet (Environ 11-13 minutes) :

Elena présente la structure des dossiers créés pour un nouveau projet Ren'Py, notamment les dossiers game (contenant images, audio, gui, saves), audio cache et autres.

Elle explique que le fichier script.rpy est l'endroit où le code du jeu est écrit.

Elle montre comment remplacer l'icône de l'application et modifier les éléments de l'interface graphique dans le dossier gui.

• Jeu Ren'Py par Défaut et Code de Base (Environ 14-16 minutes) :

Elena lance le projet par défaut de Ren'Py pour montrer les fonctionnalités intégrées comme les sauvegardes, les chargements, les préférences (volume, plein écran, saut, etc.) et l'écran "À propos". Elle exécute le court jeu par défaut pour illustrer la structure de base : arrière-plan (bg), sprites et dialogue.

Elle ouvre ensuite le fichier script.rpy dans Adam pour montrer le code correspondant, expliquant les déclarations de personnages (define) et le point de départ du jeu (label start).

• Définir des Personnages et Écrire du Dialogue (Environ 17-19 minutes) : Elena explique comment définir des personnages avec un nom et une couleur de texte.

Elle montre comment écrire du dialogue en utilisant le nom du personnage défini. Elle aborde la question de la gestion de plusieurs personnages avec des noms similaires.

• Outil Narratif Scrivener (Environ 19-22 minutes) : Elena présente Scrivener comme un outil utile pour la planification et l'écriture du récit d'un visual novel, permettant d'organiser l'intrigue, les dialogues et même d'intégrer des éléments de code de base avant de les copier-coller dans Ren'Py.

• Narration et Positionnement du Texte (Environ 22-24 minutes) : Elena explique comment gérer le texte de narration (sans nom de personnage), souvent utilisé pour les pensées internes.

Elle mentionne les deux modes de texte principaux dans Ren'Py : en bas de l'écran et en plein écran (NVL). Elle déconseille de placer le texte narratif ailleurs à cause de la complexité du code.

• Choix, Sauts (Jump), Appels (Call) et Drapeaux (Flags) (Environ 25-41 minutes) :

Elena démontre comment créer des choix (menu) dans Ren'Py, en utilisant les mots-clés menu, les options et les actions à entreprendre (texte, jump vers un autre label, call à un autre label).

Elle explique la différence entre jump (saut sans retour) et call (appel avec retour après un return).

Elle introduit le concept de drapeaux (flags), qui sont des variables utilisées pour suivre les décisions du joueur et influencer le déroulement de l'histoire (default nom_du_drapeau = False, \$ nom_du_drapeau = True, if nom_du_drapeau:).

Elle montre comment les drapeaux peuvent être utilisés avec des instructions if pour afficher du contenu conditionnel.

• Analyse des Jeux Tutoriel et "The Question" (Environ 41-47 minutes) :

Elena examine le jeu tutoriel inclus avec Ren'Py, soulignant ses fonctionnalités (sauvegarde, chargement, préférences, rollback, historique) et son contenu éducatif sur les bases de Ren'Py.

Elle explore ensuite le jeu d'exemple "The Question", attirant l'attention sur l'analyse du jeu du point de vue d'un développeur (apparence des sprites, positionnement, expressions, choix).

Elle montre comment le code du jeu "The Question" utilise la définition de personnages avec des couleurs de texte personnalisées (codes hexadécimaux), les drapeaux et la structure des labels pour créer des choix et des embranchements narratifs.

• Exemple de Code de "Good Looking Home Cooking" (Environ 47-1 heure 17 minutes) :

Elena présente le code de son jeu "Good Looking Home Cooking" comme un exemple plus complexe, montrant l'utilisation de définitions pour les sons, les curseurs et les personnages (avec des propriétés comme la couleur et le texte alternatif pour la synthèse vocale).

Elle explique l'utilisation de variables pour suivre les choix importants (drapeaux) et comment ces drapeaux sont utilisés dans les menus et les instructions conditionnelles pour créer différents embranchements et fins.

Elle illustre l'utilisation de transformations et de positionnement pour les sprites, les transitions (dissolve, fade to black), et la création d'une séquence de crédits animée à partir d'une image PNG défilante. Elle discute des différentes fins possibles dans un visual novel (bonne, mauvaise, tiède).

• Taille des Images et Arrière-Plans (Environ 1 heure 17 minutes - 1 heure 21 minutes) :

Elena aborde la question de la taille des images, expliquant qu'elle est déterminée par essai et erreur pour correspondre à la résolution du projet et à l'aspect souhaité. Elle montre des exemples d'arrière-plans filtrés dans le jeu Ren'Py "Karashojo".

• Conseils de Gestion du Temps et Conclusion (Environ 1 heure 21 minutes - Fin) :

Elena termine en donnant des conseils pour la gestion du temps et éviter le "crunch" pendant le game jam, notamment en se fixant des mini-échéances régulières et en étant réaliste quant à la portée du projet.

Elle encourage les participants à utiliser des outils comme Scrivener et à rejoindre la communauté Discord pour trouver de l'aide et des collaborateurs.

Elle rappelle l'importance d'inclure la mention légale de Ren'Py dans le jeu.

Document de Briefing : Conception de Jeux Vidéo de Type Visual Novel

Source : Extraits de la diffusion en direct "Basic Visual Novel Art | Characters and Environments | Lecture Stream | with Heather Gartner"

Date : Non spécifiée dans le texte

Présentateur : Heather Gartner (Thunderbird Paints), Lead Artist et Art Director chez Toad House Games.

Public Cible : Artistes débutants et développeurs de visual novels, potentiellement participants à une game jam (Toad House Jam).

Objectif de la Diffusion : Fournir des bases et des conseils pratiques pour la conception de personnages, d'environnements et potentiellement d'interfaces utilisateur (UI) pour les visual novels.

Thèmes Principaux et Idées Clés :

I. Introduction et Préambule :

• L'hôte, Heather Gartner (Thunderbird Paints), remplace Alanna, la dirigeante habituelle de Toad House.
• Elle est la lead artist et art director de Toad House Games, ayant travaillé sur "Call Me Sarah", "Role for Confidence" et "Good Looking Home Cooking".
• La session est prévue pour durer environ 2 à 2h30 et se concentrera sur les bases de la création d'éléments visuels pour les visual novels.
• L'outil principal utilisé sera Adobe Photoshop, bien que Heather mentionne également son intérêt pour Affinity Photo et son utilisation de Krita pour l'animation.
• Un thème fictif de visual novel sera créé en direct pour illustrer les concepts. Le thème initialement suggéré par le chat était un "cowboy western" ou une "ren fair", mais un thème "dungeons and dragons" (fantasy RPG) sera finalement retenu.

II. Conception de Personnages :

• Point de Départ : L'Idée du Scénario : "the first thing that you want to have is an idea of what your plot is going to be". La connaissance de l'intrigue est essentielle pour informer la conception des personnages.
• Thèmes Overarching : Définir le contexte général (futuriste, moderne, historique, etc.) est une étape préliminaire importante.
• Personnage Principal : Il peut être statique ou adaptable (via un générateur de personnage). L'oratrice préfère un personnage principal spécifique car il est au cœur du jeu et son design initial influence la conception des autres personnages et des scènes spéciales (CGs).
• Détails du Personnage Principal : Pour l'exemple, un barde non-binaire avec un accent texan et une origine demi-orc est choisi. L'importance de considérer la race et le type de personnage est soulignée.
• Scènes Spéciales (CGs) : Ces scènes, souvent débloquables, nécessitent de considérer l'interaction du personnage principal avec les autres. Pour les personnages créés via un builder, il faut s'assurer de la cohérence esthétique (taille, proportions, etc.).
• Processus de Dessin :Commencer par une idée de la structure corporelle de base (le "frame").
• Heather Gartner réalise généralement des "turnarounds" (vues de face et de dos) pour ses personnages.
• Utilisation de calques est essentielle pour la flexibilité et la correction d'erreurs.
• Des lignes de repère (pour la hauteur, les épaules, la taille, etc.) sont recommandées pour assurer la cohérence des proportions.
• Le processus de dessin d'Heather est souvent direct avec la couleur, sans forcément passer par un lineart précis.
• Détails et Reconnaissance :Ajouter des détails distinctifs (un chapeau de cowboy dans l'exemple) pour rendre le personnage reconnaissable par sa silhouette.
• Considérer la "cosplayability" du personnage peut influencer le design.
• Les formes (angulaires vs. rondes) peuvent communiquer des aspects de la personnalité.
• Coloration : Heather utilise généralement une seule couche pour l'illustration principale, avec une esquisse en dessous. L'utilisation de couleurs profondes (vert olive pour la peau de l'orc) est explorée.
• Personnalisation : L'importance de la communication avec l'équipe (écrivains, etc.) pour comprendre la personnalité, le background et les préférences physiques du personnage est soulignée. L'artiste doit parfois traduire des "sentiments" en esthétique visuelle.
• Expressions Faciales : Il est conseillé de prévoir différentes expressions (colère, tristesse, joie) pour les sprites. Un nombre limité (6-7) peut suffire pour la plupart des situations, à moins d'un arc narratif spécifique nécessitant des changements d'apparence.
• Sprites et Assets : Les expressions faciales sont généralement stockées comme des assets séparés du corps. Parfois, le corps entier est redessiné pour correspondre à l'expression et au langage corporel souhaités. Des exemples de sprites de "Call Me Sarah" et "Good Looking Home Cooking" sont montrés pour illustrer cela.
• Création Rapide de Personnages : Pour les projets avec des délais courts (un mois), il est conseillé de simplifier les designs (moins de détails, peu d'accessoires complexes comme les chapeaux), de réutiliser les assets (formes corporelles) et de limiter le nombre d'expressions faciales (3 expressions génériques peuvent être suffisantes).

III. Conception d'Environnements :

• Perspective : Bien que moins cruciale pour les environnements organiques, la perspective est importante pour les scènes en intérieur ou les paysages urbains. Des outils comme les "perspective brushes" peuvent être utiles. La ligne d'horizon est généralement placée à mi-hauteur pour un visual novel.
• Réutilisation des Environnements : Concevoir des environnements qui peuvent être réutilisés avec des variations (éclairage, saisons, jour/nuit) est une stratégie efficace.
• Esquisse Rapide : Commencer par des formes simples (boîtes pour les bâtiments). Le style et l'atmosphère sont ajoutés avec les détails.
• Astuces de Dessin : Utiliser la touche Shift pour tracer des lignes parfaitement droites.
• Placement des Personnages : Dessiner les arrière-plans en ayant une idée de l'emplacement prévu des personnages pour s'assurer qu'ils s'intègrent bien dans la scène. Ajuster la taille des éléments de l'arrière-plan en fonction de la distance perçue du personnage.
• Utilisation de Références : Les photos de lieux réels peuvent servir de référence pour la composition, l'échelle et les formes.
• Coloration des Environnements : Bloquer les couleurs de base, puis ajouter des détails. Les bâtiments et les éléments naturels sont souvent placés sur des calques séparés pour faciliter les modifications.
• Éclairage et Ambiance : L'éclairage est un outil puissant pour créer différentes ambiances (jour, nuit, crépuscule). Des calques de couleur en mode de fusion (overlay, multiply) peuvent être utilisés pour simuler différents moments de la journée. La manipulation des couleurs (ajout de jaune pour simuler la lumière du jour sur un ciel bleu) est expliquée.
• Ombres : L'ajout d'ombres pour les bâtiments et le terrain est crucial pour donner du volume et du réalisme.
• Arrière-Plans Simples vs. Détaillés : Il est acceptable d'avoir des arrière-plans moins détaillés ou flous, surtout si la narration est le point central.
• Environment-Tober : Heather mentionne un événement annuel (en octobre) où elle propose des thèmes pour la création d'environnements, encourageant la pratique.

IV. Interface Utilisateur (UI) :

Le temps imparti ne permet pas d'aborder en détail la conception de l'UI. Heather invite les spectateurs à la contacter sur Discord pour toute question concernant l'UI.

V. Conclusion :

• Heather remercie les spectateurs pour leur participation et pour les dons de subs.
• Elle encourage à la créativité, à la bienveillance envers soi-même et se dit disponible pour répondre aux questions sur Discord.
• Citations Pertinentes :
• "the first thing that you want to have is an idea of what your plot is going to be" (concernant la conception des personnages).
• "visual novels can just be a platform for telling a story hard stop. it is basically a playable story" (soulignant la nature narrative des visual novels au-delà de la romance).

En Résumé :

Cette diffusion en direct offre une introduction pratique à la conception visuelle pour les visual novels.

Heather Gartner partage son expérience et ses méthodes de travail pour la création de personnages et d'environnements, en mettant l'accent sur l'importance du scénario comme point de départ, la considération des détails pour la reconnaissance des personnages, et l'utilisation de références et de techniques d'éclairage pour les environnements.

Elle encourage également la simplification et la réutilisation d'assets pour les projets avec des contraintes de temps. Bien que l'UI n'ait pas été abordée, la session fournit une base solide pour les artistes débutants et les développeurs de visual novels.

When these alpine plants experience warmer temperatures but the usual competitors, the effect of competition increases. (Lower log response ratio of response of competition.) This is exacerbated when novel competitors are introduced. BUT overall these effects are weak and insignificant because it's a short term study and competition is a long term game

Numbers Game Scorebooks<br /> https://www.numbersgame.co/

I am not sure how I feel about using this metaphor in this article. This aspects of this situation are mre than just a "game of cat and mouse."

Gondwana Game reserve, offering animals a real and large space without causing harm to them and protecting them from poachers.

Voici un sommaire de la discussion avec des indications temporelles basées sur l'ordre d'apparition dans le transcript :

• Introduction et présentation d'Albert Moukheiber (Docteur en neurosciences et psychologue clinicien). Il explique qu'il essaie d'allier la compréhension du fonctionnement du cerveau avec ses applications pratiques.
• Genèse du livre "Neuromania". L'idée initiale était de déconstruire des phrases courantes et simplistes entendues sur le cerveau et notre fonctionnement. Des exemples incluent l'idée que les gens n'aiment pas changer ou que la tristesse est due à un déséquilibre chimique. L'auteur cite Stanislas Lem sur le danger de la sursimplification.
• Pourquoi ces simplifications ont pris autant de place. Plusieurs raisons sont évoquées : le caractère récent des neurosciences, l'incertitude scientifique ouvrant la voie aux interprétations, et l'instrumentalisation des découvertes scientifiques (comme la radioactivité ou la physique quantique à des fins marketing).
• Remise en question du paradigme selon lequel "les gens n'aiment pas changer". Ce concept est davantage lié aux systèmes qu'aux individus. La résistance au changement est souvent utilisée pour justifier des passages en force. Le changement dépend du contexte et de ce qu'il implique.
• La possibilité de changer et la question de la patience. Changer de tempérament est différent de la résistance au changement organisationnel. Les traits de personnalité (stables) se distinguent des états (temporaires). Le changement prend du temps, ce qui peut être problématique pour quelqu'un d'impatient.
• Différences entre traits et états de personnalité. Des exemples sont donnés pour illustrer comment quelqu'un peut être colérique (trait) mais pas toujours en colère (état), et comment le contexte influence l'expression de ces traits.
• La stabilité des traits pour la prédictibilité et la coopération. Un changement trop rapide et constant rendrait la collaboration difficile. L'idée d'un "self" unique et constant est remise en question par la notion de "self switching" selon les contextes.
• Comment travailler sur l'impatience. Identifier les situations déclenchantes, les conditions propices et agir au niveau approprié. Accepter que le progrès se fait par étapes et prend du temps. La "cognition incarnée" souligne que nos réactions dépendent de notre corps et de notre environnement.
• Stratégies pour gérer l'impatience. "Think our way out of it" est possible dans certaines situations (exemple du métro en retard), mais pas dans d'autres. Distraction, relaxation corporelle et se souvenir des succès ("count the hits not the misses") sont des pistes. Il faut aussi accepter parfois de ressentir de la frustration.
• La dichotomie émotion/raison. L'auteur a toujours eu un problème avec la hiérarchisation de ces processus. Souvent, les pensées justifient les émotions. L'opposition frontale est rare.
• Distinction entre émotions (substrat biologique), ressenti phénoménologique (affects) et communication de l'émotion. Le langage français utilise souvent le même mot pour ces trois réalités, contrairement à l'anglais ("emotions" et "feelings"). Dans le cerveau, il y a des neurones, pas des émotions ou des pensées en soi.
• L'opposition se fait plutôt entre différentes émotions et pensées. L'exemple de la jalousie ou de l'énervement suivi d'un apaisement est donné. Penser en termes de diades ou de triades (incluant le ressenti corporel) est plus pertinent. Les personnes anosognosiques (ne reconnaissant pas leurs émotions) ne deviennent pas de meilleurs décideurs rationnels, car les émotions sont une forme de feedback.
• Rôle des émotions comme feedback pour adapter notre comportement. Le déficit émotionnel rend le comportement inopérant. Les bases biologiques des émotions sont dans le cerveau et le corps (cognition incarnée). L'opposition émotion/raison remonte à l'Antiquité (Platon).
• Les émotions peuvent être remplacées. Nous avons des émotions et des pensées automatiques, mais aussi des processus métacognitifs et métaémotionnels qui permettent de les modifier progressivement. La rumination (une cognition) nourrit l'émotion, montrant leur interdépendance.
• La porte d'entrée pour casser un cycle émotionnel/cognitif dépend des individus. Injonction émotionnelle, raisonnement, action corporelle, distraction attentionnelle ou acceptation peuvent être utilisés. Les émotions négatives sont importantes et adaptées dans certains contextes (deuil après un licenciement). Vouloir toujours aller bien est une forme de folie.
• L'idéologie de la maximisation et de l'efficience. Cette tendance, visible dans le minimalisme et la technologie, se reflète dans la volonté de maximiser les expériences positives et d'éliminer les émotions négatives. L'auteur ne cherche pas à se maximiser constamment dans tous les domaines.
• Apprendre plus vite est parfois une illusion. Il n'y a pas toujours de raccourcis, notamment pour l'apprentissage des langues. Des vendeurs profitent du désespoir pour vendre des méthodes inefficaces. L'immersion est souvent nécessaire.
• La quête d'amélioration et la comparaison aux autres. Admirer ceux qui apprennent vite ne doit pas nous faire oublier que les compétences varient. Il faut accepter les "règles du jeu" de notre esprit, comme on accepte les limites physiques de notre corps.
• Comparaison avec les capacités physiques. On n'aurait pas la même discussion sur la possibilité de sauter du troisième étage ou de soulever une voiture. L'amélioration du cerveau passe par son utilisation. La quête d'une amélioration constante peut être une source d'insatisfaction.
• La motivation et le changement constant. Ce qui motive l'auteur n'est pas une quête intense, mais plutôt l'intérêt. Le changement est inévitable ; la question est comment et à quelle vitesse.
• Philosophie de vie et éducation de sa fille. Ne pas se prendre au sérieux est une protection. Ne pas lui dire qu'elle est spéciale, mais normale.
• Remise en question du système scolaire. L'école n'est pas conçue pour le bien-être des enfants, mais pour permettre aux parents de travailler. L'heure de réveil est absurde. Malgré cela, sa fille ira à l'école comme les autres.
• Inculquer la tolérance à la frustration. La société actuelle cherche à éviter la frustration, ce qui pourrait être problématique. Le côté coercitif de l'école peut paradoxalement aider à développer cette tolérance.
• La période d'adaptation à l'école. L'objectif initial est la survie et l'adaptation. L'apprentissage viendra plus tard. L'auteur évite les pratiques éducatives qu'il juge néfastes. Il n'a pas lu de livres sur la parentalité pour éviter de se "mêler le cerveau".
• Le phénomène de l'éducation positive. L'enfant d'une amie, élevé sans se voir dire non, semble bien se développer, mais l'avenir reste incertain. Il faut éviter le piège de la cause unique : de nombreux facteurs influencent le développement d'un enfant (amis, professeurs, etc.). L'éducation positive reflète aussi le désir des adultes d'éviter la frustration.
• La notion de "bon niveau explicatif". Pour comprendre un phénomène, il faut l'observer au niveau pertinent (exemple de l'embouteillage, de la voiture, d'Alzheimer, de la dépression). Pour comprendre le développement d'un enfant, il faut considérer la famille, l'entourage et la société. Nous avons des pistes sur ce qu'il ne faut pas faire (manque d'affection) et quelques-unes sur ce qu'il faut faire, mais pas de feuille de route précise. La société actuelle produit de la frustration, d'où l'importance de la tolérance.
• L'approche translationnelle (aller-retour entre théorie et pratique). L'expérience clinique (thérapie) a montré que le déséquilibre chimique n'est pas le bon niveau explicatif pour la dépression, car des facteurs de vie concrets sont souvent en cause. La science a longtemps cherché à objectiver, mais la subjectivité humaine est essentielle.
• Le défi de développer une science de la subjectivité. La douleur est un exemple de phénomène subjectif difficile à objectiver. Les inégalités de traitement de la douleur entre hommes et femmes sont mentionnées. La recherche sur le cerveau se fait majoritairement en IRM, dans des conditions non naturelles. Il y a une surestimation de ce que l'on sait sur le cerveau ("Neuromania").
• Appel à refaire de la science avec émerveillement et imagination. La science actuelle est perçue comme trop aseptisée (blouses blanches et statistiques). L'imagination et l'émotion sont nécessaires pour faire avancer la science. La collaboration entre différentes expertises (philosophie, mathématiques, biologie) est cruciale.
• Paradoxe apparent entre la critique de la surresponsabilisation de l'individu et l'appel à une science de la subjectivité. Retour à la notion de niveau explicatif : selon le phénomène étudié, le niveau pertinent varie. S'intéresser à la subjectivité est important pour comprendre l'individu, mais pour certains phénomènes (comme un embouteillage ou une tendance sociétale), il faut considérer un niveau d'analyse plus large.
• ** L'exemple de la propriété émergente de l'eau (nécessité de six molécules pour "mouiller")**. Certains phénomènes n'apparaissent qu'à un certain niveau d'organisation. Pour comprendre le vote, regarder l'activité cérébrale individuelle est descriptif, pas explicatif.
• Importance de distinguer le bon niveau explicatif, la correspondance entre les niveaux et la différence entre description et explication (corrélation vs causalité). L'exemple de la corrélation entre le nombre de McDo et les cas de COVID est donné.
• Facteurs méta (sociétaux) sous-estimés. Organisation sociétale, rythme social, heures de travail, pression financière et matérielle. La perte des aides sociales et communautaires d'avant est évoquée. L'explosion des burnouts et des troubles anxieux ces dernières années est notable.
• Le biais des populations "WEIRD" (White, Industrialized, Educated, Rich, and Democratic). La majorité des études en psychologie et neurosciences sont réalisées sur ces populations, puis généralisées à toute l'humanité, ce qui est problématique car ces populations ne sont pas représentatives.
• Exemple de jeu économique (ultimatum game) montrant des différences culturelles dans les comportements. Les étudiants américains réagissent différemment des populations d'autres cultures face à des offres inéquitables.
• Remise en question de croyances psychologiques universelles basées sur des échantillons restreints. La culture a une influence profonde. L'exemple du faible taux de natalité en Corée, potentiellement lié au patriarcat, est donné.
• La complexité des problèmes et le rejet des solutions simplistes. L'auteur se sent dépassé par cette complexité. L'exemple de la dépression, parfois liée à l'environnement social et culturel, est mentionné.
• Nécessité d'une "thérapie de la société" plutôt que d'une sur-focalisation sur l'individu et le développement personnel. La volonté individuelle a ses limites face aux déterminants environnementaux et sociaux.
• Expérience de l'auteur face à des patients où il se sent impuissant à aider. Il en parle ouvertement avec le patient et l'oriente parfois vers d'autres thérapeutes plus adaptés. La psychologie clinique est encore une discipline jeune avec des limites. Il est important de reconnaître ces limites pour éviter de culpabiliser les patients.
• Reconnaissance des limites actuelles de la psychologie clinique. Le mythe d'une compréhension totale de la créativité, des émotions, etc., est dangereux. Il est crucial d'expliquer aux patients que leur souffrance n'est pas forcément de leur faute. La psychologie clinique n'est pas aussi mature que d'autres domaines de la santé.
• Le mensonge des cinq sens. Nous en avons neuf : la vue, l'ouïe, l'odorat, le goût, le toucher, la thermosception (chaleur/froid), la proprioception (position du corps), la nociception (douleur) et l'interception (organes internes). L'omission des quatre autres est un mystère.
• Le pseudo "sixième sens" (souvent associé à l'intuition). L'auteur pense que ceux qui ont popularisé cette idée ignoraient l'existence des quatre autres sens. Le sixième sens est interprété différemment par chacun.
• La fascination du réel déjà complexe. L'auteur ne comprend pas pourquoi on cherche à ajouter des artifices (comme des "auras") alors que le fonctionnement réel est déjà extraordinaire. La réalité est plus complexe à comprendre qu'à inventer. La facilité n'est pas nécessairement ce que les gens aiment, mais certains profitent de ce biais apparent.
• Les raisons du succès des solutions simplistes et erronées. Promesse de résultats rapides et faciles, détresse des personnes cherchant de l'aide, asymétrie argumentative (il est plus facile de convaincre de ne pas faire quelque chose en exagérant un risque que de convaincre de faire quelque chose en prouvant une sécurité à 100%). La loi du nombre explique le succès des démarcheurs téléphoniques.
• Les neuf sens et la misophonie (sensibilité excessive à certains sons). La question de savoir comment agir sur ces sens est posée. L'auteur partage son expérience de la misophonie et de la difficulté à la gérer.
• Le bon niveau explicatif pour la misophonie est l'interaction, pas seulement l'individu. Avant de chercher à changer, il faut évaluer l'impact du problème. Des solutions mécaniques (atténuation du son) peuvent être envisagées, mais sont contraignantes. Un travail sur la gestion émotionnelle peut aider. Parfois, l'acceptation est la meilleure voie.
• Fonctionnement "bottom-up" (des sens vers le cerveau) et découverte récente du fonctionnement "top-down" (du cerveau vers les sens). Notre cerveau "hallucine" activement le réel (processing prédictif).
• Le cerveau influence activement notre perception sensorielle. Les illusions d'optique illustrent ce phénomène. Il serait intéressant d'explorer si des processus "top-down" pourraient aider à moduler la sensibilité à certains sons comme dans la misophonie. Référence à Andy Clark et son livre "The Experience Machine" sur le cerveau prédictif.
• Expériences personnelles de l'auteur en matière de changement. Il a consciemment travaillé sur son anxiété, sa manière de parler et sa gestuelle. Il essaie d'avoir plus d'opinions et de ne pas être toujours indifférent aux choix collectifs. Le changement est constant.
• Recommandation d'une ressource marquante récente : la série "Severance" sur Apple TV+. Une série de science-fiction explorant la séparation entre vie professionnelle et personnelle au niveau cérébral.
• Le plus grand obstacle surmonté par l'auteur : son anxiété et son stress durant l'adolescence. L'acceptation de soi et le fait de moins se prendre au sérieux l'ont aidé.
• Personnes que l'auteur aimerait entendre au micro : Zoé Dubu (historienne des psychédéliques) ou Lucy Berkovitz (psychiatre travaillant sur la psilocybine).
• Définition de "ne pas prendre le pouvoir de sa vie" : la subir. Clarification importante : il ne s'agit pas de prôner la soumission, mais de souligner que vouloir tout contrôler et subir sont tous deux indésirables. Maximiser l'agentivité est essentiel, mais cela passe par un effort collectif et ne dépend pas uniquement de la volonté individuelle.
• Conclusion et remerciements. Invitation à soutenir les librairies indépendantes.

just like music have no more parental advisory warning labels, advertising is free game to children.

Rocket Queen is a multiplayer game that offers unique mechanics and a captivating storyline. Your challenge? Place a bet and exit the game just in time before the rocket with the charming heroine launches. If you miss, your bet is lost! Experience non-stop excitement and entertainment at our site. Are you ready for the challenge?

I like this as a strategy to start, otherwise it could do the opposite and cause anxiety if students don't understand the concept first

You could have added more details in the game.

his use of humor in Rabelais’ depiction of widows engaging in sexual activity to potentially conceive a legitimate heir plays with social conventions and challenges moral boundaries. This reflects the Bhagavad Gita's teaching: "You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work." Here, the act of sexual engagement is framed as a mere process, detached from the moral implications typically associated with it. Just as the Gita advocates detachment from the outcomes of one’s actions, Rabelais uses humor to detach these actions from societal judgment, treating them as absurdly natural and disconnected from the usual expectations of legitimacy and virtue.

"You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. Let not the fruit of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction." — Bhagavad Gita 2.47

I choose to enter into a conflict. I can also choose to walk away. I choose where my attention goes. Perhaps I am not playing in a particular finite game, but is my attention consumed with watching it, being a spectator? What does that accomplish?

If Flagg has a good game, Duke will win the game.

We agree with the idea of the player acting as the "spect-actor" in the game "c ya laterrrrr" and believe, like Boal said, that it fosters the player to think more deeply about the experience presented.

We also acknowledge that the user must use critical thinking skills to decipher the death of the brother.

We also agree that the format of the game can illustrate the severities of trafficking and allow users to emphasize with the victims. However, as referred to in the concept of being a "spectactor", the player is still unable to fully understand how a victim of human trafficking may feel.

We agree that the main goal of Motion is to inform the audience on issues surrounding human trafficking. The creator of the game stresses the point that human trafficking is not a simple issue and emphasizes this by putting various scenarios and stories all over the page. The game also allows for more open conversations surrounding the complexities of human trafficking and works to reduce the stigma around these difficult conversations.

This is a really interesting take on the ending of "c ya laterrr." When the majority of our group members finished the game, we never really viewed this ending slide as a way to break the immersion. Not to say the point is wrong, it is just a new perspective, and it may have been the authors intention to break the immersion - or it could have been coincidence. Either way, it is an interesting example of not pushing the reader into fantasy.

A better explanation, the poem makes it seem the society seem on the brink of collapse. It read like that of poetry of 1500 Western and Southern Europe: a struggling and emotionally charged group of kingdoms. Much like that of (The story of) Julius Caesar or Romeo and Juliet

This is something that even NSU is aware of, after freshman year they have heavily implemented the SSO sign-on. This may seem time consuming to students having yo log and receive a text 2 times before they can ever access their schoolwork, but NSU is on a very big network with over a 1000 students. NSU try's to regulate the usage of users and ensure they are using the public WIFI for the right means. In a lot of classrooms in Public schools they also do this by forming blockers, I remember wanting to play a online game called "Bad Eggs" and this becoming banned on the internet and nearly impossible to access. Having the firewall is useful and hopefully prevents an amount of misuse. We can even individually download VPN's and Blockers to prevent others effecting or access your personal information.

Zombie spotting and holon energising

Love all these quotes you're incorporating

There’s no business because of the game.

stackblitz one click start up experience

Patrick is showing that he values Colin's feelings and is complimenting him by highlighting strengths. He also expresses that he can relate to him by putting himself in Colin's situation (Difficult Conversations Book Summary).

Colin and Patrick seem to agree that they both want a resolution. Colin has an aha moment and then makes a request which is an example of non violent communication (How You Can Use the NVC Process).

Patrick has some self realization and compromise for the conversation. He proposes a possible solution with positive words such as build, trust, and work together (Let's Rumble).

I find this aspect of broadcasting important to understand. Broadcasting became quicker and more efficient to reach audiences. The press had to now realize that they were losing the top spot in their industry. Since broadcasting was so new there was lots of room for growth and development. This aspect also gives them a leg up when it come to press and newspapers. Now most people want their news faster so they look to broadcasts over press/newspapers.

Reviewer #1 (Public review):

Summary:

There has been intense controversy over the generality of Hamilton's inclusive fitness rule for how evolution works on social behaviors. All generally agree that relatedness can be a game changer, for example allowing for otherwise unselectable altruistic behaviors when c < rb, where c is the fitness cost to the altruism, b is the fitness benefit to another, and r their relatedness. Many complications have been successfully incorporated into the theory, including different reproductive values and viscous population structures.

The controversy has centered on another dimension; Hamilton's original model was for additive fitness, but how does his result hold when fitnesses are non-additive? One approach has been not to worry about a general result but just find results for particular cases. A consistent finding is that the results depend on the frequency of the social allele - non-additivity causes frequency dependence that was absent in Hamilton's approach. Two other approaches derive from Queller via the Price equation. Queller 1 is to find forms like Hamilton's rule, but with additional terms that deal with non-additive interaction, each with an r-like population structure variable multiplied by a b-like fitness effect (Queller 1985). Queller 2 redefines the fitness effects c and b as partial regressions of the actor's and recipient's genes on fitness. This leaves Hamilton's rule intact, just with new definitions of c and b that depend on frequency.

Queller 2 is the version that has been most adopted by the inclusive fitness community along with assertions that Hamilton's rule in completely general. In this paper, van Veelen argues that Queller 1 is the correct approach. He derives a general form that Queller only hinted at. He does so within a more rigorous framework that puts both Price's equation and Hamilton's rule on firmer statistical ground. Within that framework, the Queller 2 approach is seen to be a statistical misspecification - it employs a model without interaction in cases that actually do have interaction. If we accept that this is a fatal flaw, the original version of Hamilton's rule is limited to linear fitness models, which might not be common.

Strengths:

While the approach is not entirely new, this paper provides a more rigorous approach and a more general result. It shows that both Queller 1 and Queller 2 are identities and give accurate results, because both are derived from the Price equation, which is an identity. So why prefer Queller 1? It identifies the misspecification issue with the Queller 2 approach and points out its consequences. For example, it will not give the minimum squared differences between the model and data. It does not separate the behavioral effects of the individuals from the population state (b and c become dependent on r and the population frequency).

The paper also shows how the same problems can apply to non-social traits. Epistasis is the non-additivity of effects of two genes within the individual. (So one wonders why have we not had a similarly fierce controversy over how we should treat epistasis?)

The paper is clearly written. Though somewhat repetitive, particularly in the long supplement, most of that repetition has the purpose of underscoring how the same points apply equally to a variety of different models.<br /> Finally, this may be a big step towards reconciliation in the inclusive fitness wars. Van Veelen has been one of the harshest critics of inclusive fitness, and now he is proposing a version of it.

Weaknesses:

van Veelen argues that the field essentially abandoned the Queller 1 approach after its publication. I think this is putting it too strongly - there have been a number of theoretical studies that incorporate extra terms with higher-order relatednesses. It is probably accurate to say that there has been relative neglect. But perhaps this is partly due to a perception that this approach is difficult to apply.

The model in this paper is quite elegant and helps clarify conceptual issues, but I wonder how practical it will turn out to be. In terms of modeling complicated cases, I suspect most practitioners will continue doing what they have been doing, for example using population genetics or adaptive dynamics, without worrying about neatly separating out a series of terms multiplying fitness coefficients and population structure coefficients.

For empirical studies, it is going to be hard to even try to estimate all those additional parameters. In reality, even the standard Hamilton's rule is rarely tested by trying to estimate all its parameters. Instead, it is commonly tested more indirectly, for example by comparative tests of the importance of relatedness. That of course would not distinguish between additive and non-additive models that both depend on relatedness, but it does test the core idea of kin selection. It will be interesting to see if van Veelen's approach stimulates new ways of exploring the real world.

This is a fact from the game stats that was added to the article to explain the coaches reaction to the reffing.

this is an example of a conclusion that the author came to. Calling him a sore loser is a characterization of the quotes from the coach and his reaction to the game.

This transformed the idea of fast news. Broadcasting networks were able to get this information to citizens at a much faster rate than the press. This seemed made broadcasting networks more popular at this point because citizens were able to receive the same information just at a faster and more effective rate.

This is a shift in power. Speed becomes more important than depth. It reminds me of Twitter/X and social media breaking stories before major news outlets do today. We’re still living in this tension—immediacy vs. credibility.

What I've noticed is that these battles of technology are often about speed. Throughout history media is constantly fighting to be faster and more instant than their competitors. The radio was a game changer in this instantaneous form of delivering information. The amount of information and the speed in which we can acquire it continues to increase.

for - question - Serbia - student protests - how to avoid making the same mistake? - People make the same mistake, - big protests give opportunity for the next authoritarian leader to game representative democracy - Something must be done fundamentally differently to prevent this from happening in the future

This is especially interesting to me now, as we saw the rise of smartphones people started to talk to each other in person less and less, especially after 2020. And I just think it's interesting to see how peoples interactions with each other changed after that. There is simply a lot more communication that is only text based now, I'd argue more now than there has ever been before. And I know from experience how easy it can be to misinterpret a text that someone sent, because you can't tell what tone they said it in through text and you can't see if they make a hand or arm motion to show its a joke, or a million other things could happen and cause someone to misjudge the situation that could never happen in person for a million different reasons.

This conclusion is based on observation of human nature (we tend to lose physical and mental performance as we age). The author did not set a specific date for when this will happen but still presented this as a fact although it is speculating something that may or may not happen in the future.

Reference list

Game Mechanics

I should do research about this .

Sources i can visit for more information and get proper reference.

How question,why .

Precedence of Design practice .checking existing games and study them ,what have they done and what can i improve and also incorporate in my game.

Difference between Game-Based leaning & Gamification

Game mechanics or what to consider when making a game ,PlotTwist,Music,Characters(Villain ) ,Obstacles ,anti hero

Gamification Definition and what are advantages over traditional learning approach .how does it improve knowledge and better learning engagement through social mechanism like badges ,points or leaderboards

Direct quotes

Will your game need line drawing and path finding in a hexagonal grid, or how more specifically do you find this source relevant?

if second stage goal is to survive, then how do sustainability come in? Is that a third stage, or sustainability not a goal but a factor for an egocentric game goal?

Insight:

"Political leaders, however, must be open about the fact that such a policy involves tradeoffs. Tightening export controls on Russia will reduce Western firms’ sales there—although, with only three percent of the world’s GDP, Russia is a small market for most companies. Cutting off Russia’s commodity exports, which would challenge the Kremlin’s ability to fund its foreign policy, would also raise prices for Western consumers in more serious ways—impacting everything from metals to gasoline."

It is interesting to see how even cutting trade with Russia, which has a relatively small population and less economic power compared to the U.S.'s other geopolitical Enemy of China, had such a big impact on global prices. i would assume that global sanctions on Russia mostly would have effected Russians and barely effected Americans, but I remember how much prices of gas skyrocketed after the war started and how there was a global shortage of wheat because of Ukraine.

"Political leaders, however, must be open about the fact that such a policy involves tradeoffs. Tightening export controls on Russia will reduce Western firms’ sales there—although, with only three percent of the world’s GDP, Russia is a small market for most companies."

Question: To what extent are governments willing to bear economic costs in order to uphold their priciples? I think that the sanctions of Russia surprised many Americans with how big the impact actually was, so I'm curious to see if America would take similiar step sthe next time there is a war.

"This type of reasoning can be uncomfortable for many U.S. and European officials, who understandably prefer economic policies that leave everyone better off. The alternative vision, by contrast, is based on a zero-sum logic of power politics and implies ongoing costs for Western economies. Like it or not, however, the United States and Europe’s relationship with Russia is now mostly zero-sum. "

Insight: It is interesting for me to see how trade can continue to be zero-sum. Usually, things like the Hecksher-Ohlin model/PPC show that trade is a positvie sum game that an benefit all countries involved.

Author response:

The following is the authors’ response to the original reviews.

Public Reviews:

Reviewer #1 (Public reviews):

Summary:

In this study, Fakhar et al. use a game-theoretical framework to model interregional communication in the brain. They perform virtual lesioning using MSA to obtain a representation of the influence each node exerts on every other node, and then compare the optimal influence profiles of nodes across different communication models. Their results indicate that cortical regions within the brain's "rich club" are most influential.

Strengths:

Overall, the manuscript is well-written. Illustrative examples help to give the reader intuition for the approach and its implementation in this context. The analyses appear to be rigorously performed and appropriate null models are included.

Thank you.

Weaknesses:

The use of game theory to model brain dynamics relies on the assumption that brain regions are similar to agents optimizing their influence, and implies competition between regions. The model can be neatly formalized, but is there biological evidence that the brain optimizes signaling in this way? This could be explored further. Specifically, it would be beneficial if the authors could clarify what the agents (brain regions) are optimizing for at the level of neurobiology - is there evidence for a relationship between regional influence and metabolic demands? Identifying a neurobiological correlate at the same scale at which the authors are modeling neural dynamics would be most compelling.

This is a fundamental point, and we put together a new project to address it. The current work focuses on, firstly, rigorously formalizing a prevailing assumption that brain regions optimize communication, and then uncovering what are the characteristics of communication if this optimization is indeed taking place. Based on our findings, we suspect the mechanism of an optimal communication to be through broadcasting (compared to other modes explored in our work, e.g., the shortest-path signalling or diffusion). However, we recognize that our game-theoretical framework does not directly address “how” this mechanism is implemented. Thus, in our follow-up work, we are analyzing available datasets of signal propagation in the brain to see if communication dynamics there match the predictions of the game-theoretical setup. However, following your question, we extended our discussion to cover this point, cited five other works on this topic, and what, we think, could be the neurobiological mechanism of optimal signalling.  

It is not entirely clear what Figure 6 is meant to contribute to the paper's main findings on communication. The transition to describing this Figure in line 317 is rather abrupt. The authors could more explicitly link these results to earlier analyses to make the rationale for this figure clearer. What motivated the authors' investigation into the persistence of the signal influence across steps?

Great question. Figure 6 in part follows Figure 5, which summarizes a key aspect of our work: Signals subside at every step but not exponentially (Figure 5), and they nearly fall apart after around 6 steps (Figure 6 A and B). Subplots A and B together suggest that although measures like communicability account for all possible pathways, the network uses a handful instead, presumably to balance signalling robustness versus the energetic cost of signalling. Subplot C, one of our main findings, then shows how one simple model is all needed to predict a large portion of optimal influence compared to other models and variables. In sum, Figure 5 focused on the decay dynamics while Figure 6 focused on the extent, in terms of steps, given that the decay is monotonic. Together, our motivation for this figure was to show how the right assumption about decay rate and dynamics can outperform other measures in predicting optimal communication. 

The authors used resting-state fMRI data to generate functional connectivity matrices, which they used to inform their model of neural dynamics. If I understand correctly, their functional connectivity matrices represent correlations in neural activity across an entire fMRI scan computed for each individual and then averaged across individuals. This approach seems limited in its ability to capture neural dynamics across time. Modeling time series data or using a sliding window FC approach to capture changes across time might make more sense as a means of informing neural dynamics.

We agree with you on the fact that static fMRI is limited in capturing neural dynamics. However, we opted not to perform dynamic functional connectivity fitting just yet for a practical reason: Other communication models used here do not fit to any empirical data and provide a static view of the dynamics, comparable to the static functional connectivity. Since one of our goals was to compare different communication regimes, and the fact that fitting dynamics does not seem to substantially change the outcome if the end result is static (Figure 7), we decided to go with the poorer representation of neural data for this work. However, part of our follow-up project involves looking into the dynamics of influence over time and for that, we will fit our models to represent more realistic dynamics.

The authors evaluated their model using three different structural connectomes: one inferred from diffusion spectrum imaging in humans, one inferred from anterograde tract tracing in mice, and one inferred from retrograde tract-tracing in macaque. While the human connectome is presumably an undirected network, the mouse and macaque connectomes are directed. What bearing does experimentally inferred knowledge of directionality have on the derivation of optimal influence and its interpretation?

In terms of if directionality changes the interpretation of optimal influence, we think it sets limits for how much we can compare communication dynamics of these two types of networks. We think interpreting optimal communication in directed graphs needs to disentangle incoming influence from outgoing influence, e.g., analyzing “projector hubs/coordinators” and “receiver hubs/integrators” instead of putting both into a common class of hubs. Also, here we showed the extent of which a signal travels before it significantly degrades, having done so in an undirected graph. One of its implications for a directed graph is the possibility that some nodes can be unreachable from others, given the more restricted navigation. A possibility that we did not observe in the human connectome as all nodes could reach others, although with limited influence (see Figure 2. C). We did not explore these differences, as we used mice and macaque connectomes primarily to control for modality-specific confounds of DSI. However, our relatively poorer fit for directed networks (Supplementary Figure 2) motivated us to analyze how reciprocal connections shape dynamics and what impact do they have on networks’ function. Using the same connectomes as the current work, we addressed this question in a separate publication (Hadaeghi et al., 2024) and plan to extend both works by analyzing the signalling properties of directed networks.

It would be useful if the authors could assess the performance of the model for other datasets. Does the model reflect changes during task engagement or in disease states in which relative nodal influence would be expected to change? The model assumes optimality, but this assumption might be violated in disease states.

This is a wonderful idea that we initially had in mind for this work as well, but decided to dedicate a separate work on deviations in different tasks states, as well as disease states (mainly neurodegenerative disorders). We noticed the practical challenges of fitting large-scale models to task dynamics and harmonizing neuroimaging datasets of neurodegenerative disorders is beyond the scope of the current work. Unfortunately, this effort, although exciting and promising, is still pending as the corresponding author does not yet have the required expertise of neuroimaging processing pipelines.

The MSA approach is highly computationally intensive, which the authors touch on in the Discussion section. Would it be feasible to extend this approach to task or disease conditions, which might necessitate modeling multiple states or time points, or could adaptations be made that would make this possible?

Continuing our response from the previous point, yes, we think, in theory, the framework is applicable to both settings. Currently, our main point of concern is not the computational cost of the framework but the harmonization of the data, to ensure differences in results are not due to differences in preprocessing steps. However, assuming that all is taken care of, we believe a reasonable compute cluster should suffice by parallelizing the analytical pipeline over subjects. We acknowledge that the process would still be time-consuming, but besides the fitting process, we expect a modern high-performance CPU with about 32–64 threads to take up to 3 days analyzing one subject, given 100 brain regions or fewer. This performance then scales with the number of cluster nodes that can each work on one subject. We note that the analytical estimators such as SAR could be used instead, as it largely predicts the results from MSA. The limitations are then the lack of dynamics over time and potential estimation errors.

Reviewer #2 (Public review):

Summary:

The authors provide a compelling method for characterizing communication within brain networks. The study engages important, biologically pertinent, concerns related to the balance of dynamics and structure in assessing the focal points of brain communication. The methods are clear and seem broadly applicable, however further clarity on this front is required.

Strengths:

The study is well-developed, providing an overall clear exposition of relevant methods, as well as in-depth validation of the key network structural and dynamical assumptions. The questions and concerns raised in reading the text were always answered in time, with straightforward figures and supplemental materials.

Thank you.

Weaknesses:

The narrative structure of the work at times conflicts with the interpretability. Specifically, in the current draft, the model details are discussed and validated in succession, leading to confusion. Introducing a "base model" and "core datasets" needed for this type of analysis would greatly benefit the interpretability of the manuscript, as well as its impact.

Following your suggestion, we modified the introduction to emphasize on the human connectome and the linear model as the main toolkit. We also added a paragraph explaining the datasets that can be used instead.

Recommendations for the authors:

Essential Revisions (for the authors):

(1) The method presents an important and well-validated method for linking structural and functional networks, but it was not clear precisely what the necessary data inputs were and what assumptions about the data mattered. To improve the clarity of the presentation for the reader, it would be beneficial to have an early and explicit description of the flow of the method - what exact kinds of datasets are needed and what decisions need to be made to perform the analysis. In addition, there were questions about how the use or interpretation of the method might change with different methods of measuring structure or function, which could be answered via an explicit discussion of the issue. For example, how do undirected fMRI correlation networks compare to directed tracer injection projection networks? Similarly, could this approach apply in cases like EM connectomics with linked functional imaging that do not have full observability in both modalities?

This is an important point that we missed addressing in detail in the original manuscript. Now we did so, by first adding a paragraph (lines 292-305, page 10) explaining the pipeline and how our framework handles different modeling choices, and then further discussing it in the Discussion (lines 733-748, page 28). Moreover, we adjusted Figure 1, by delineating two main steps of the pipeline. Briefly, we clarified that MSA is model-agnostic, meaning that, in principle, any model of neural dynamics can be used with it, from the most abstract to the most biologically detailed. Moreover, the approach extends to networks built on EM connectomics, tract-tracing, DTI, and other measures of anatomical connectivity. However, we realized that a key detail was not explicitly discussed (pointed to by Reviewer #2), that is, the fact that these models naturally need to be fitted to the empirical dataset, even though this fitting step appears not to be critical, as shown in Figure 7.

Lines 292-305:

“The MSA begins by defining a ‘game.’ To derive OSP, this game is formulated as a model of dynamics, such as a network of interacting nodes. These can range from abstract epidemic and excitable models (Garcia et al., 2012; Messé et al., 2015a) to detailed spiking neural networks (Pronold et al., 2023) and to mean-field models of the whole brain dynamics, as chosen here (see below). The model should ideally be fitted to reflect real data dynamics, after which MSA systematically lesions all nodes to derive the OSP. Put together, the framework is general and model-agnostic in the sense that it accommodates a wide range of network models built on different empirical datasets, from human neuroimaging and electrophysiology to invertebrate calcium imaging, and anything in between. In essence, the framework is not bound to specific modelling paradigms, allowing direct comparison among different models (e.g., see section Global Network Topology is More Influential Than Local Node Dynamics).”

Lines 733-740:

“As noted in the introduction, OI is model-agnostic, here, we leveraged this liberty to compare signaling under different models of local dynamics, primarily built upon undirected human connectome data. We also considered different modalities, e.g., tract tracing in Macaque (see Structural and Functional Connectomes under Materials and Methods) to confirm that the influence of weak connections is not inflated due to imaging limitations (Supplementary Figure 5. A). The game theoretical formulation of signaling allows for systematic comparison among many combinations of modeling choices and data sources.”

We then continued with addressing the issue of full observability. We clarified that in this work, full observability was assumed. However, the mathematical foundations of our method capture unobserved contributors/influencers as an extra term, similar to the additive error term of a linear regression model. To keep the paper as non-technical as possible, we omitted expanding the axioms and the proof of how this is achieved, and instead referred to previous papers introducing the framework. 

Lines 740-748:

“Nonetheless, in this work, we assumed full observability, i.e., complete empirical knowledge of brain structure and function that is not necessarily practically given. Although a detailed investigation of this issue is needed, mathematical principles behind the method suggest that the framework can isolate the unobserved influences. In these cases, activity of the target node is decomposed such that the influence from the observed sources is precisely mapped, while the unobserved influences form an extra term, capturing anything that is left unaccounted for, see (Algaba et al., 2019b; Fakhar et al., 2024) for more technical details.”

(2) The value of the normative game theoretic approach was clear, but the neurobiological interpretation was less so. To better interpret the model and understand its range of applicability, it would be useful to have a discussion of the potential neurobiological correlates that were at the same level of resolution as the modeling itself. Would such an optimization still make sense in disease states that might also be of interest?

This is a brilliant question, which we decided to explore further in separate studies. Specifically, the link between optimal communication and brain disorders is a natural next step that we are pursuing. Here, we expanded our discussion with a few lines first explaining the roots of our main assumption, which is that neurons optimize information flow, among other goals. We then hypothesized that the biological mechanisms by which this goal is achieved include (based on our findings) adopting a broadcasting regime of signaling. We suspect that this mode of communication, operationalized on complex network topologies, is a trade-off between robust signaling and energy efficiency. Currently, we are planning practical steps to test this hypothesis.

Lines 943-962:

“Nonetheless, our framework is grounded in game theory where its fundamental assumption is that nodes aim at maximizing their influence over each other, given the existing constraints. This assumption is well explored using various theoretical frameworks (Buehlmann and Deco, 2010; Bullmore and Sporns, 2012; Chklovskii et al., 2002; Laughlin and Sejnowski, 2003; O’Byrne and Jerbi, 2022) and remains open to further empirical investigation. Here, we used game theory to mathematically formalize a theoretical optimum for communication in brain networks. Our findings then provide a possible mechanism for achieving this optimality through broadcasting. Based on our results, we speculate that, there exists an optimal broadcasting strength that balances robustness of the signal with its metabolic cost. This hypothesis is reminiscent of the concept of brain criticality, which suggests the brain to be positioned in a state in which the information propagates maximally and efficiently (O’Byrne and Jerbi, 2022; Safavi et al., 2024). Together, we suggest broadcasting to be the possible mechanism with which communication is optimized in brain networks, however, further research directions include investigating whether signaling within brain networks indeed aligns with a game-theoretic definition of optimality. Additionally, if it does, subsequent studies could then examine how deviations from optimal communication contribute to or result from various brain states or neurological and psychiatric disorders.”

Reviewer #1 (Recommendations for the authors):

I would recommend that the authors consider the following point in a revision, as well as the major weaknesses of the public review. Some aspects of Figure 1 could be clearer. What is being illustrated by the looping arrow to MSA? What is being represented in the matrices (labeling "source" and "target" on the matrix might enhance clarity)? Is R2 the metric used to assess the degree of similarity between communication models? These could be addressed by making small additions to the figure legend or to the figure itself.

Thank you for your constructive comment on Figure 1, which is arguably the most important figure in the manuscript. We adjusted the figure and its caption (see above) based on your suggestions. After doing so, we think the figure is now clearer regarding the pipeline used in this work.

Reviewer #2 (Recommendations for the authors):

Overall, as stated in the public review and the short assessment, the manuscript is in a clearly mature state and brings an important method to link the fields of structural and functional brain networks.

Nevertheless, the paper would benefit from an early, and clear, discussion of the:

(1) components of the model, and assumptions of each, should be stated at the end of the introduction, or early in results. (2) datasets necessary to run the analysis.

The confusion arises from lines 130-131, stating "In the present work (summarized in Figure 1), we used the human connectome, large-131 scale models of dynamics, and a game-theoretical perspective of signaling." This, to me, indicated that a structural connectivity map may be the only dataset required, as the dynamics model and game theory component are solely simulated. However, later, lines 214-216 state that the empirical functional connectivity is estimated from the structural connectivity, indicating that the method is only applied to cases where we have both.

Finally, Supplemental Figure 5 validates a number of metrics on different solely structural networks (which is a very necessary and well-done control). Similarly, while the dynamical model is discussed in depth, and beautifully shown that the specific choice of dynamical model does not directly impact the results, it would be helpful to clarify the dynamical model utilized in the early figures.

Thank you for pointing out a critical detail that we missed elaborating sufficiently early in the paper: the modelling step. Following your suggestions, we added a paragraph from line 292 to 305 (page 10) expanding on the modelling framework. We also explicitly divided the modelling step in Figure 1 and briefly clarified our modelling choices in the caption. Together, we emphasized the fact that our framework is generally model agnostic, which allows different models of dynamics to be plugged into various anatomical networks. We then clarified that, like in any modelling effort, one needs to first fit/optimize the model parameters to reproduce empirical data. In other words, we emphasized the fact that our framework relies on a computational model as its ‘game’ to infer how regions interact, and we fine-tuned our models to reproduce the empirical FC.

Again, this is not a critique of the methods, which are excellent, but the presentation. It would help readers, and even me, to have a clear indication of the model earlier. Further, it would help to discuss, both in the introduction and discussion, the datasets required for applying these methods more broadly. For instance, 2-photon recordings are discussed - would it be possible to apply this method then to EM connectomes with functional data recorded for them? In theory, it seems like yes, although the current datasets have 100% observability, whereas 2-photon imaging, or other local methods, will not have perfect overlap between structural and functional connectomes. Discussions like this, related to the assumptions of the model, the necessary datasets, and broader application directions beyond DSI, fMRI, and BOLD cases where the method was validated, would increase the impact and interpretability for a broad readership.

This is a valid point that we should have been more explicit about. The revised manuscript now contains a paragraph (lines 740-748) clarifying the fact that, throughout this work, we assumed full observability. We then briefly discuss, based on the mathematical principles of the framework, what we expect to happen in cases with partial observability. We then point at two references in which the details of a framework with partial observability are laid out, one containing mathematical proofs and the other using numerical simulations.

References:

Hadaeghi, F., Fakhar, K., & Hilgetag, C. C. (2024). Controlling Reciprocity in Binary and Weighted Networks: A Novel Density-Conserving Approach (p. 2024.11.24.625064). bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.24.625064

omg. I've been talking a big game about moving away from pixelly aesthetics but you know I am twitching avoiding buying this.

via Jillian

I agree. But rules in writing, more than any other, are meant to be broken. To work from a correct definition supposes that that definition is correct, easy to learn, worth learning, or not subject to change. Adaptability is key to good writing, and you learn adaptability best when you're comfortable, not being whipped by rulers. Tests of comprehension and knowledge are easy to pass for those who can memorize and conform.

Reviewer #3 (Public review):

Summary

This manuscript outlines a series of very exciting and game-changing experiments examining the role of peripheral MORs in OIRD. The authors outline experiments that demonstrate a peripherally restricted MOR antagonist (NLX Methiodide) can rescue fentanyl-induced respiratory depression and this effect coincides with a lack of conditioned place aversion. This approach would be a massive boon to the OUD community, as there are a multitude of clinical reports showing that naloxone rescue post fentanyl over-intoxication is more aversive than the potential loss-of-life to the individuals involved. This important study reframes our understanding of successful overdose rescue with a potential for reduced aversive withdrawal effects.

Strengths:

Strengths include the plethora of approaches arriving at the same general conclusion, the inclusion of both sexes, and the result that a peripheral approach for OIRD rescue may side-step severe negative withdrawal symptoms of traditional NLX rescue.

Weaknesses:

All weaknesses were addressed.

Mazda really has to up its game with the Mazda3 trims to make you consider the Select

pg 14 - Robert J. Koester came up with a questionnaire for dementia wanderers - Koester says "it's the ultimate detective game" - After 2,200 wandering cases, Koester has learned that most dementia-driven wanderers in cities are found within 3.2 km from home or the location they disappeared

Emulation enables software designed for one hardware architecture to run on a different system by translating CPU instructions. Unlike virtualization, which optimizes performance by running code natively, emulation is slower because each instruction must be translated. Emulation is valuable for legacy software preservation, allowing old programs to run on modern systems. It is also widely used in gaming, enabling old console games to run on new hardware. However, performance limitations make it impractical for high-performance computing tasks. Writing a correct emulator is challenging because it requires replicating an entire CPU in software.

Cf. TUNIC – in that case it's trying to nudge you in the direction of that paper world, but the instruction manual exists premade. The aesthetic study IG girlies know that meticulous note-taking is its own satisfaction; what would a game (experience?) look like if designed around the idea that you would have to produce your own artifact to play it, and that the real satisfaction should come from that artifact's production?

I thought the concept of pulling the rope sideways was great concept and idea to always keep in mind. We should all try to conceptualize the different angles we can take when it come to policy and law. Maybe we should look at different angle to impact social change.

for - universal ledger - necessary but not sufficient

comment - traumatized humans who succeed to become the next generation of abusers will always game any system design

sir he was constructing a frame narrative to keep writing books

How does this statement correspond with the artifacts below? Be more explicit about that connection; right now, this section intro and the artifacts seem to exist as separate entities.

Golding's children are isolated and makes it incorrectly appear their viciousness just came from them.

Absolutely. Whenever possible, students should be involved in the process of norm creation to enhance their sense of ownership and participation. Collaboratively negotiating what constitutes fair use and the “rules of the game” is a valuable exercise in itself.

.

Highlighted here is an very important piece. In order to truly abide to ethics being transparent is part of the game. Finding out information that does not help out and can even hinder is bound to happen. However, it would not be ethical to lie against the truth. People would lose **respect. **

briefing détaillé basé sur les sources que vous avez fournies, en mettant en évidence les thèmes principaux et les informations importantes.

Brève sur les Sources "Academia: School Simulator"

Thèmes Principaux :

Modding (Personnalisation) du Jeu : Le premier extrait est un tutoriel vidéo sur la création de mods visuels pour "Academia: School Simulator" via le Steam Workshop. L'accent est mis sur la modification des images du jeu, comme les personnages et les objets.

Guide de Démarrage du Jeu : Le second extrait est un guide de démarrage pour aider les nouveaux joueurs à établir une école prospère.

Il couvre des aspects tels que la planification, la construction, la gestion du personnel et des finances.

Idées et Faits Importants :

Source 1 : Tutoriel sur le Modding

• Objectif : Le tutoriel vise à simplifier le processus de création de mods visuels pour les artistes et les joueurs.
• Préparation :Créer un dossier dédié pour stocker les mods.
• Télécharger le dossier "Academia mod folder" depuis le wiki du jeu.
• Renommer le dossier avec le nom du mod souhaité (ex : "zombie mod").
• Localisation des Images :Accéder aux fichiers du jeu via Steam ("Propriétés" > "Fichiers locaux" > "Parcourir les fichiers locaux").
• Les images modifiables se trouvent dans "Academia data/streaming assets/base game".
• Exemples : "tiles/characters" pour les personnages, "objects" pour les objets, "sprites" pour les éléments tenus par les personnages.
• Modification des Images :Utiliser des logiciels d'édition d'image (ex : Photoshop).
• L'auteur utilise des fichiers PSD pour faciliter la modification des couleurs et des formes.
• Il est conseillé de s'inspirer de références visuelles.
• Intégration des Mods :Placer les images modifiées dans le dossier du mod.
• Modifier le fichier "tile sprite mapping.XML" pour indiquer au jeu où trouver les nouvelles images. Ce fichier contient des instructions pour le jeu sur l'emplacement des images à afficher.
• Copier les entrées du fichier XML original et les modifier dans la version du mod pour pointer vers les nouvelles images.
• Tester le mod en activant le "develop folder" dans le jeu et en sélectionnant le mod.
• Publication sur Steam Workshop :Renseigner le nom et la description du mod dans le jeu.
• Télécharger le mod sur Steam Workshop via le jeu.
• Citations :
• "the very first thing that you want to do before you make them on is first go to wiki academia game.com"
• "this is the folder where you can find all the images that that you can you can watch"
• "these entries are instructions for the game as to like where to find the images that it's going to display in the game"

Source 2 : Guide de Démarrage

• Difficulté : Il est recommandé de commencer en mode Facile ou Normal pour se familiariser avec le jeu.
• Revenus : La principale source de revenus est le nombre d'étudiants dans l'école.
• Grants : Utiliser efficacement les subventions pour financer la construction et le développement de l'école.
• Construction :Planifier l'aménagement de l'école à l'aide de l'outil de plan.
• Construire un bureau de direction pour débloquer la recherche.
• La taille optimale des salles de classe est de 9x6.
• Prévoir des toilettes en nombre suffisant pour éviter que les élèves n'urinent à l'extérieur.
• Aménager une cafétéria et une cuisine.
• Personnel :Engager des enseignants compétents avec des compétences d'au moins 30 dans leur matière et sans traits négatifs.
• Choisir des professeurs moins qualifiés au début pour réduire les coûts.
• Maintenir la propreté de l'école en engageant des concierges et en plaçant des poubelles.
• Fin d'année :L'examen de fin d'année évalue le taux de réussite, la propreté, la délinquance et la qualité des diplômés.
• Recherches utiles :Routes de travail (pour automatiser la réparation des objets).
• Prérogative du directeur (pour automatiser les punitions des délinquants).
• Suppression des brutes (pour que les surveillants retirent automatiquement les brutes de l'école).

Citations :

"Your main source of income will be for each student you have in your school." "At the start of every year you are put into the build stage." "Cleanliness is very important in running a successful school."

Again, another tradition that is carried out by royals overseas. Here, I feel as though there is a divide. Those who hunt for trophy that have disposable income to spend on exotic hunts versus those who hunt to provide meat for their families who tend to be in poorer economic statuses.

Very narc

There’s a fear of being invisible and forgotten and loosing admiration (aka loosing identity) if you don’t ensure it that others will admire you by exaggeration. It’s a trauma response. Your identity falls apart if the outside world doesn’t admire you so it feels like life or death to secure that admiration and if the false self doesn’t believe you by yourself will be enough it will have you exaggerate to feel ok or stable in your own body.

He’s projecting his shame onto the people in the world, and sees them as evil’s because they’re following him to remind him of his shame which he can’t escape by plunging into the game anymore.

Just added humiliation.

This EXACT pattern happened to me with fantasy. Reality became too difficult to control, too daunting, too confusing to feel safe in. So I lived for coming home from school just to go and live vicariously through my fantasy world. My characters were perfect god-like being, admired, powerful. It was the only identity I had, the only thing I cared about. I wasn’t interested in hobbies or the world, the only thing I cared about or had to share was my character characters. I definitely input my inner desires and wants and ideal self into those characters so when I dreamed of how someday I would become a famous filmmaker and everyone would love my characters, I vicariously felt seen and adored.

The reader have no context for this -include more set up.

don't be afraid to exaggerate on your bullets a little bit, you can probably add another bullet talking about streamlining data from csv files. even if it's just importing a csv as a game, really emphasize how useful this feature is

i recommend you keep the game jam project since hackathon projects check off a lot of benchmarks. collaboratively working on code, working in fast-paced environment, playing different roles in a team , etc...

This basically continues to illustrate the point that revisions are necessary and many professionals are forced to revise 10s or maybe even 100s of times.

Counters to bad behavior online like discipline could lower chance of behavior to continue.

Experiments that make "fake social societies " and creates different situations and records their reactions.

Mention this game and the group's impact on human behavior.

A Vancouver staff member, had his life saved by a fan, ,during the Seattle Kraken game. A fan noticed a concerning mole on the staff members neck and alerted him of it. A few days later he went to the doctors and discovered it was skin cancer and got it removed. He found the fan through social media as his story popularized and the Krakens gifted her 10,000 dollars towards her college tuition for her kindness.

Foldit is an online puzzle video game that engages players in folding protein structures to advance scientific research. The game allows users to contribute to scientific discoveries by solving complex puzzles related to protein folding. It combines gaming with real-world biochemistry, aiming to leverage the problem-solving abilities of gamers for scientific advancements. Launched in 2008, Foldit has had notable successes, including contributions to understanding HIV and other diseases.

reply to u/Pope_Shady at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1iwrlij/highest_price_youd_spend/

Generally my cap for typewriter purchases is in the $20-35 range. Most of my favorite machines (the standards) were acquired for $5-10 and they're so much better than the portables. At these prices I'm not too worried about the level of work required. I regularly spend 3-4 times more money on a full reel of bulk typewriter ribbon than I do on a typical typewriter.

A few of my more expensive acquisitions: * I went as high as $100 on a machine (including shipping) to get a Royal Quiet De Luxe with a Vogue typeface that turned out to be in about as stunning a condition as one could hope for. * I went to $130 on an Olympia SM3 in part for it's Congress elite typeface as well as an uncommon set of mathematical characters. I'm sure I could have gotten it for significantly less, but wanted to help out the seller and it was in solid condition except for worn bushings. * I also went to around $150 for an (uncommon in the US) early 30's Orga Privat 5 that was in solid shape. I've yet to run into another Orga in the wild in the US since.

It also bears saying that I don't mind buying "barn machines" as a large portion of the fun in collecting for me is cleaning, adjusting, and restoring them to full functionality. I've been dissapointed once to have bought a Remington Quiet-Riter once for $10 only to discover it was in near mint condition and didn't need any work at all.

I am at the point where I'm going to need to start selling machines, work at a local shop, or start my own shop if I'm going to keep up with the "hobby" and maintain a sane spouse simultaneously. If I didn't enjoy wrenching on machines so much, I would definitely be buying them from local shops for significantly more money, and I'd probably have far fewer.

It's not talked about in great length in some typewriter collector spaces, but I think some of the general pricing "game", beyond just getting a "deal", is the answer to the questions: "What am I into this space for anyway? What makes it fun and interesting?" If you don't have the time, talent, tools, or inclination to do your own cleaning and restoration work, then paying $300-$600 for a nice machine in exceptional clean/restored condition from a shop is a totally valid choice and shouldn't be dismissed. Some are in it for the discussions of typewriters. Some are in it for the bargain hunt. Some just want to write. Some want rare gems. Some want common machines from famous writers. Others just want one "good" machine while others want all the machines. It's a multi-faceted space.

ur project sucks

I think this is a great aspect to include when testing a product or in this example a game. Being able to see someone's live reaction while they're interacting may reveal something that couldn't be seen through questions. Facial expressions or body language can say so much more than a few words. Additionally, this allows the designers and engineers see certain parts that may confuse people or doesn't seem super clear.

Author response:

The following is the authors’ response to the original reviews.

Public Reviews

Reviewer #1 (Public Review):

Summary:

The authors have created a system for designing and running experimental pipelines to control and coordinate different programs and devices during an experiment, called Heron. Heron is based around a graphical tool for creating a Knowledge Graph made up of nodes connected by edges, with each node representing a separate Python script, and each edge being a communication pathway connecting a specific output from one node to an iput on another. Each node also has parameters that can be set by the user during setup and runtime, and all of this behavior is concisely specified in the code that defines each node. This tool tries to marry the ease of use, clarity, and selfdocumentation of a purely graphical system like Bonsai with the flexibility and power of a purely code-based system like Robot Operating System (ROS).

Strengths:

The underlying idea behind Heron, of combining a graphical design and execution tool with nodes that are made as straightforward Python scripts seems like a great way to get the relative strengths of each approach. The graphical design side is clear, selfexplanatory, and self-documenting, as described in the paper. The underlying code for each node tends to also be relatively simple and straightforward, with a lot of the complex communication architecture successfully abstracted away from the user. This makes it easy to develop new nodes, without needing to understand the underlying communications between them. The authors also provide useful and well-documented templates for each type of node to further facilitate this process. Overall this seems like it could be a great tool for designing and running a wide variety of experiments, without requiring too much advanced technical knowledge from the users.

The system was relatively easy to download and get running, following the directions and already has a significant amount of documentation available to explain how to use it and expand its capabilities. Heron has also been built from the ground up to easily incorporate nodes stored in separate Git repositories and to thus become a large community-driven platform, with different nodes written and shared by different groups. This gives Heron a wide scope for future utility and usefulness, as more groups use it, write new nodes, and share them with the community. With any system of this sort, the overall strength of the system is thus somewhat dependent on how widely it is used and contributed to, but the authors did a good job of making this easy and accessible for people who are interested. I could certainly see Heron growing into a versatile and popular system for designing and running many types of experiments.

Weaknesses:

(1) The number one thing that was missing from the paper was any kind of quantification of the performance of Heron in different circumstances. Several useful and illustrative examples were discussed in depth to show the strengths and flexibility of Heron, but there was no discussion or quantification of performance, timing, or latency for any of these examples. These seem like very important metrics to measure and discuss when creating a new experimental system.

Heron is practically a thin layer of obfuscation of signal passing across processes. Given its design approach it is up to the code of each Node to deal with issues of timing, synching and latency and thus up to each user to make sure the Nodes they author fulfil their experimental requirements. Having said that, Heron provides a large number of tools to allow users to optimise the generated Knowledge Graphs for their use cases. To showcase these tools, we have expanded on the third experimental example in the paper with three extra sections, two of which relate to Heron’s performance and synching capabilities. One is focusing on Heron’s CPU load requirements (and existing Heron tools to keep those at acceptable limits) and another focusing on post experiment synchronisation of all the different data sets a multi Node experiment generates.   

(2) After downloading and running Heron with some basic test Nodes, I noticed that many of the nodes were each using a full CPU core on their own. Given that this basic test experiment was just waiting for a keypress, triggering a random number generator, and displaying the result, I was quite surprised to see over 50% of my 8-core CPU fully utilized. I don’t think that Heron needs to be perfectly efficient to accomplish its intended purpose, but I do think that some level of efficiency is required. Some optimization of the codebase should be done so that basic tests like this can run with minimal CPU utilization. This would then inspire confidence that Heron could deal with a real experiment that was significantly more complex without running out of CPU power and thus slowing down.

The original Heron allowed the OS to choose how to manage resources over the required process. We were aware that this could lead to significant use of CPU time, as well as occasionally significant drop of packets (which was dependent on the OS and its configuration). This drop happened mainly when the Node was running a secondary process (like in the Unity game process in the 3rd example). To mitigate these problems, we have now implemented a feature allowing the user to choose the CPU that each Node’s worker function runs on as well as any extra processes the worker process initialises. This is accessible from the Saving secondary window of the node. This stops the OS from swapping processes between CPUs and eliminates the dropping of packages due to the OS behaviour. It also significantly reduces the utilised CPU time. To showcase this, we initially run the simple example mentioned by the reviewer. The computer running only background services was using 8% of CPU (8 cores). With Heron GUI running but with no active Graph, the CPU usage went to 15%. With the Graph running and Heron’s processes running on OS attributed CPU cores, the total CPU was at 65% (so very close to the reviewer’s 50%). By choosing a different CPU core for each of the three worker processes the CPU went down to 47% and finally when all processes were forced to run on the same CPU core the CPU load dropped to 30%.  So, Heron in its current implementation running its GUI and 3 Nodes takes 22% of CPU load. This is still not ideal but is a consequence of the overhead of running multiple processes vs multiple threads. We believe that, given Heron’s latest optimisation, offering more control of system management to the user, the benefits of multi process applications outweigh this hit in system resources. 

We have also increased the scope of the third example we provide in the paper and there we describe in detail how a full-scale experiment with 15 Nodes (which is the upper limit of number of Nodes usually required in most experiments) impacts CPU load. 

Finally, we have added on Heron’s roadmap projects extra tasks focusing only on optimisation (profiling and using Numba for the time critical parts of the Heron code).

(3) I was also surprised to see that, despite being meant specifically to run on and connect diverse types of computer operating systems and being written purely in Python, the Heron Editor and GUI must be run on Windows. This seems like an unfortunate and unnecessary restriction, and it would be great to see the codebase adjusted to make it fully crossplatform-compatible.

This point was also mentioned by reviewer 2. This was a mistake on our part and has now been corrected in the paper. Heron (GUI and underlying communication functionality) can run on any machine that the underlying python libraries run, which is Windows, Linux (both for x86 and Arm architectures) and MacOS. We have tested it on Windows (10 and 11, both x64), Linux PC (Ubuntu 20.04.6, x64) and Raspberry Pi 4 (Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm), aarch64). The Windows and Linux versions of Heron have undergone extensive debugging and all of the available Nodes (that are not OS specific) run on those two systems. We are in the process of debugging the Nodes’ functionality for RasPi. The MacOS version, although functional requires further work to make sure all of the basic Nodes are functional (which is not the case at the moment). We have also updated our manuscript (Multiple machines, operating systems and environments) to include the above information. 

(4) Lastly, when I was running test experiments, sometimes one of the nodes, or part of the Heron editor itself would throw an exception or otherwise crash. Sometimes this left the Heron editor in a zombie state where some aspects of the GUI were responsive and others were not. It would be good to see a more graceful full shutdown of the program when part of it crashes or throws an exception, especially as this is likely to be common as people learn to use it. More problematically, in some of these cases, after closing or force quitting Heron, the TCP ports were not properly relinquished, and thus restarting Heron would run into an "address in use" error. Finding and killing the processes that were still using the ports is not something that is obvious, especially to a beginner, and it would be great to see Heron deal with this better. Ideally, code would be introduced to carefully avoid leaving ports occupied during a hard shutdown, and furthermore, when the address in use error comes up, it would be great to give the user some idea of what to do about it.

A lot of effort has been put into Heron to achieve graceful shut down of processes, especially when these run on different machines that do not know when the GUI process has closed. The code that is being suggested to avoid leaving ports open has been implemented and this works properly when processes do not crash (Heron is terminated by the user) and almost always when there is a bug in a process that forces it to crash. In the version of Heron available during the reviewing process there were bugs that caused the above behaviour (Node code hanging and leaving zombie processes) on MacOS systems. These have now been fixed. There are very seldom instances though, especially during Node development, that crashing processes will hang and need to be terminated manually. We have taken on board the reviewer’s comments that users should be made more aware of these issues and have also described this situation in the Debugging part of Heron’s documentation. There we explain the logging and other tools Heron provides to help users debug their own Nodes and how to deal with hanging processes.

Heron is still in alpha (usable but with bugs) and the best way to debug it and iron out all the bugs in all use cases is through usage from multiple users and error reporting (we would be grateful if the errors the reviewer mentions could be reported in Heron’s github Issues page). We are always addressing and closing any reported errors, since this is the only way for Heron to transition from alpha to beta and eventually to production code quality.

Overall I think that, with these improvements, this could be the beginning of a powerful and versatile new system that would enable flexible experiment design with a relatively low technical barrier to entry. I could see this system being useful to many different labs and fields. 

We thank the reviewer for positive and supportive words and for the constructive feedbacks. We believe we have now addressed all the raised concerns.  

Reviewer #2 (Public Review):

Summary:

The authors provide an open-source graphic user interface (GUI) called Heron, implemented in Python, that is designed to help experimentalists to

(1) design experimental pipelines and implement them in a way that is closely aligned with their mental schemata of the experiments,

(2) execute and control the experimental pipelines with numerous interconnected hardware and software on a network.

The former is achieved by representing an experimental pipeline using a Knowledge Graph and visually representing this graph in the GUI. The latter is accomplished by using an actor model to govern the interaction among interconnected nodes through messaging, implemented using ZeroMQ. The nodes themselves execute user-supplied code in, but not limited to, Python.

Using three showcases of behavioral experiments on rats, the authors highlighted three benefits of their software design:

(1) the knowledge graph serves as a self-documentation of the logic of the experiment, enhancing the readability and reproducibility of the experiment,

(2) the experiment can be executed in a distributed fashion across multiple machines that each has a different operating system or computing environment, such that the experiment can take advantage of hardware that sometimes can only work on a specific computer/OS, a commonly seen issue nowadays,

(3) he users supply their own Python code for node execution that is supposed to be more friendly to those who do not have a strong programming background.

Strengths:

(1) The software is light-weight and open-source, provides a clean and easy-to-use GUI,

(2) The software answers the need of experimentalists, particularly in the field of behavioral science, to deal with the diversity of hardware that becomes restricted to run on dedicated systems.

(3) The software has a solid design that seems to be functionally reliable and useful under many conditions, demonstrated by a number of sophisticated experimental setups.

(4) The software is well documented. The authors pay special attention to documenting the usage of the software and setting up experiments using this software.

Weaknesses:

(1) While the software implementation is solid and has proven effective in designing the experiment showcased in the paper, the novelty of the design is not made clear in the manuscript. Conceptually, both the use of graphs and visual experimental flow design have been key features in many widely used softwares as suggested in the background section of the manuscript. In particular, contrary to the authors’ claim that only pre-defined elements can be used in Simulink or LabView, Simulink introduced MATLAB Function Block back in 2011, and Python code can be used in LabView since 2018. Such customization of nodes is akin to what the authors presented.

In the Heron manuscript we have provided an extensive literature review of existing systems from which Heron has borrowed ideas. We never wished to say that graphs and visual code is what sets Heron apart since these are technologies predating Heron by many years and implemented by a large number of software. We do not believe also that we have mentioned that LabView or Simulink can utilise only predefined nodes. What we have said is that in such systems (like LabView, Simulink and Bonsai) the focus of the architecture is on prespecified low level elements while the ability for users to author their own is there but only as an afterthought. The difference with Heron is that in the latter the focus is on the users developing their own elements. One could think of LabView style software as node-based languages (with low level visual elements like loops and variables) that also allow extra scripting while Heron is a graphical wrapper around python where nodes are graphical representations of whole processes. To our knowledge there is no other software that allows the very fast generation of graphical elements representing whole processes whose communication can also be defined graphically. Apart from this distinction, Heron also allows a graphical approach to writing code for processes that span different machines which again to our knowledge is a novelty of our approach and one of its strongest points towards ease of experimental pipeline creation (without sacrificing expressivity). 

(2) The authors claim that the knowledge graph can be considered as a self-documentation of an experiment. I found it to be true to some extent. Conceptually it’s a welcoming feature and the fact that the same visualization of the knowledge graph can be used to run and control experiments is highly desirable (but see point 1 about novelty). However, I found it largely inadequate for a person to understand an experiment from the knowledge graph as visualized in the GUI alone. While the information flow is clear, and it seems easier to navigate a codebase for an experiment using this method, the design of the GUI does not make it a one-stop place to understand the experiment. Take the Knowledge Graph in Supplementary Figure 2B as an example, it is associated with the first showcase in the result section highlighting this self-documentation capability. I can see what the basic flow is through the disjoint graph where 1) one needs to press a key to start a trial, and 2) camera frames are saved into an avi file presumably using FFMPEG. Unfortunately, it is not clear what the parameters are and what each block is trying to accomplish without the explanation from the authors in the main text. Neither is it clear about what the experiment protocol is without the help of Supplementary Figure 2A.

In my opinion, text/figures are still key to documenting an experiment, including its goals and protocols, but the authors could take advantage of the fact that they are designing a GUI where this information, with properly designed API, could be easily displayed, perhaps through user interaction. For example, in Local Network -> Edit IPs/ports in the GUI configuration, there is a good tooltip displaying additional information for the "password" entry. The GUI for the knowledge graph nodes can very well utilize these tooltips to show additional information about the meaning of the parameters, what a node does, etc, if the API also enforces users to provide this information in the form of, e.g., Python docstrings in their node template. Similarly, this can be applied to edges to make it clear what messages/data are communicated between the nodes. This could greatly enhance the representation of the experiment from the Knowledge graph.

In the first showcase example in the paper “Probabilistic reversal learning.

Implementation as self-documentation” we go through the steps that one would follow in order to understand the functionality of an experiment through Heron’s Knowledge Graph. The Graph is not just the visual representation of the Nodes in the GUI but also their corresponding code bases. We mention that the way Heron’s API limits the way a Node’s code is constructed (through an Actor based paradigm) allows for experimenters to easily go to the code base of a specific Node and understand its 2 functions (initialisation and worker) without getting bogged down in the code base of the whole Graph (since these two functions never call code from any other Nodes). Newer versions of Heron facilitate this easy access to the appropriate code by also allowing users to attach to Heron their favourite IDE and open in it any Node’s two scripts (worker and com) when they double click on the Node in Heron’s GUI. On top of this, Heron now (in the versions developed as answers to the reviewers’ comments) allows Node creators to add extensive comments on a Node but also separate comments on the Node’s parameters and input and output ports. Those can be seen as tooltips when one hovers over the Node (a feature that can be turned off or on by the Info button on every Node).  

As Heron stands at the moment we have not made the claim that the Heron GUI is the full picture in the self-documentation of a Graph. We take note though the reviewer’s desire to have the GUI be the only tool a user would need to use to understand an experimental implementation. The solution to this is the same as the one described by the reviewer of using the GUI to show the user the parts of the code relevant to a specific Node without the user having to go to a separate IDE or code editor. The reason this has not been implemented yet is the lack of a text editor widget in the underlying gui library (DearPyGUI). This is in their roadmap for their next large release and when this exists we will use it to implement exactly the idea the reviewer is suggesting, but also with the capability to not only read comments and code but also directly edit a Node’s code (see Heron’s roadmap). Heron’s API at the moment is ideal for providing such a text editor straight from the GUI.

(3) The design of Heron was primarily with behavioral experiments in mind, in which highly accurate timing is not a strong requirement. Experiments in some other areas that this software is also hoping to expand to, for example, electrophysiology, may need very strong synchronization between apparatus, for example, the record timing and stimulus delivery should be synced. The communication mechanism implemented in Heron is asynchronous, as I understand it, and the code for each node is executed once upon receiving an event at one or more of its inputs. The paper, however, does not include a discussion, or example, about how Heron could be used to address issues that could arise in this type of communication. There is also a lack of information about, for example, how nodes handle inputs when their ability to execute their work function cannot keep up with the frequency of input events. Does the publication/subscription handle the queue intrinsically? Will it create problems in real-time experiments that make multiple nodes run out of sync? The reader could benefit from a discussion about this if they already exist, and if not, the software could benefit from implementing additional mechanisms such that it can meet the requirements from more types of experiments.

In order to address the above lack of explanation (that also the first reviewer pointed out) we expanded the third experimental example in the paper with three more sections. One focuses solely on explaining how in this example (which acquires and saves large amounts of data from separate Nodes running on different machines) one would be able to time align the different data packets generated in different Nodes to each other. The techniques described there are directly implementable on experiments where the requirements of synching are more stringent than the behavioural experiment we showcase (like in ephys experiments). 

Regarding what happens to packages when the worker function of a Node is too slow to handle its traffic, this is mentioned in the paper (Code architecture paragraph): “Heron is designed to have no message buffering, thus automatically dropping any messages that come into a Node’s inputs while the Node’s worker function is still running.” This is also explained in more detail in Heron’s documentation. The reasoning for a no buffer system (as described in the documentation) is that for the use cases Heron is designed to handle we believe there is no situation where a Node would receive large amounts of data in bursts while very little data during the rest of the time (in which case a buffer would make sense). Nodes in most experiments will either be data intensive but with a constant or near constant data receiving speed (e.g. input from a camera or ephys system) or will have variable data load reception but always with small data loads (e.g. buttons). The second case is not an issue and the first case cannot be dealt with a buffer but with the appropriate code design, since buffering data coming in a Node too slow for its input will just postpone the inevitable crash. Heron’s architecture principle in this case is to allow these ‘mistakes’ (i.e. package dropping) to happen so that the pipeline continues to run and transfer the responsibility of making Nodes fast enough to the author of each Node. At the same time Heron provides tools (see the Debugging section of the documentation and the time alignment paragraph of the “Rats playing computer games”  example in the manuscript) that make it easy to detect package drops and either correct them or allow them but also allow time alignment between incoming and outgoing packets. In the very rare case where a buffer is required Heron’s do-it-yourself logic makes it easy for a Node developer to implement their own Node specific buffer.

(4) The authors mentioned in "Heron GUI’s multiple uses" that the GUI can be used as an experimental control panel where the user can update the parameters of the different Nodes on the fly. This is a very useful feature, but it was not demonstrated in the three showcases. A demonstration could greatly help to support this claim.

As the reviewer mentions, we have found Heron’s GUI double role also as an experimental on-line controller a very useful capability during our experiments. We have expanded the last experimental example to also showcase this by showing how on the “Rats playing computer games” experiment we used the parameters of two Nodes to change the arena’s behaviour while the experiment was running, depending on how the subject was behaving at the time (thus exploring a much larger set of parameter combinations, faster during exploratory periods of our shaping protocols construction). 

(5) The API for node scripts can benefit from having a better structure as well as having additional utilities to help users navigate the requirements, and provide more guidance to users in creating new nodes. A more standard practice in the field is to create three abstract Python classes, Source, Sink, and Transform that dictate the requirements for initialisation, work_function, and on_end_of_life, and provide additional utility methods to help users connect between their code and the communication mechanism. They can be properly docstringed, along with templates. In this way, the com and worker scripts can be merged into a single unified API. A simple example that can cause confusion in the worker script is the "worker_object", which is passed into the initialise function. It is unclear what this object this variable should be, and what attributes are available without looking into the source code. As the software is also targeting those who are less experienced in programming, setting up more guidance in the API can be really helpful. In addition, the self-documentation aspect of the GUI can also benefit from a better structured API as discussed in point 2 above.

The reviewer is right that using abstract classes to expose to users the required API would be a more standard practice. The reason we did not choose to do this was to keep Heron easily accessible to entry level Python programmers who do not have familiarity yet with object oriented programming ideas. So instead of providing abstract classes we expose only the implementation of three functions which are part of the worker classes but the classes themselves are not seen by the users of the API. The point about the users’ accessibility to more information regarding a few objects used in the API (the worker object for example) has been taken on board and we have now addressed this by type hinting all these objects both in the templates and more importantly in the automatically generated code that Heron now creates when a user chooses to create a Node graphically (a feature of Heron not present in the version available in the initial submission of this manuscript).  

(6) The authors should provide more pre-defined elements. Even though the ability for users to run arbitrary code is the main feature, the initial adoption of a codebase by a community, in which many members are not so experienced with programming, is the ability for them to use off-the-shelf components as much as possible. I believe the software could benefit from a suite of commonly used Nodes.

There are currently 12 Node repositories in the Heron-repositories project on Github with more than 30 Nodes, 20 of which are general use (not implementing a specific experiment’ logic). This list will continue to grow but we fully appreciate the truth of the reviewer’s comment that adoption will depend on the existence of a large number of commonly used Nodes (for example Numpy, and OpenCV Nodes) and are working towards this goal.

(7) It is not clear to me if there is any capability or utilities for testing individual nodes without invoking a full system execution. This would be critical when designing new experiments and testing out each component.

There is no capability to run the code of an individual Node outside Heron’s GUI. A user could potentially design and test parts of the Node before they get added into a Node but we have found this to be a highly inefficient way of developing new Nodes. In our hands the best approach for Node development was to quickly generate test inputs and/or outputs using the “User Defined Function 1I 1O” Node where one can quickly write a function and make it accessible from a Node. Those test outputs can then be pushed in the Node under development or its outputs can be pushed in the test function, to allow for incremental development without having to connect it to the Nodes it would be connected in an actual pipeline. For example, one can easily create a small function that if a user presses a key will generate the same output (if run from a “User Defined Function 1I 1O” Node) as an Arduino Node reading some buttons. This output can then be passed into an experiment logic Node under development that needs to do something with this input. In this way during a Node development Heron allows the generation of simulated hardware inputs and outputs without actually running the actual hardware. We have added this way of developing Nodes also in our manuscript (Creating a new Node).

Reviewer #3 (Public Review):

Summary:

The authors present a Python tool, Heron, that provides a framework for defining and running experiments in a lab setting (e.g. in behavioural neuroscience). It consists of a graphical editor for defining the pipeline (interconnected nodes with parameters that can pass data between them), an API for defining the nodes of these pipelines, and a framework based on ZeroMQ, responsible for the overall control and data exchange between nodes. Since nodes run independently and only communicate via network messages, an experiment can make use of nodes running on several machines and in separate environments, including on different operating systems.

Strengths:

As the authors correctly identify, lab experiments often require a hodgepodge of separate hardware and software tools working together. A single, unified interface for defining these connections and running/supervising the experiment, together with flexibility in defining the individual subtasks (nodes) is therefore a very welcome approach. The GUI editor seems fairly intuitive, and Python as an accessible programming environment is a very sensible choice. By basing the communication on the widely used ZeroMQ framework, they have a solid base for the required non-trivial coordination and communication. Potential users reading the paper will have a good idea of how to use the software and whether it would be helpful for their own work. The presented experiments convincingly demonstrate the usefulness of the tool for realistic scientific applications.

Weaknesses:

(1) In my opinion, the authors somewhat oversell the reproducibility and "selfdocumentation" aspect of their solution. While it is certainly true that the graph representation gives a useful high-level overview of an experiment, it can also suffer from the same shortcomings as a "pure code" description of a model - if a user gives their nodes and parameters generic/unhelpful names, reading the graph will not help much. 

This is a problem that to our understanding no software solution can possibly address. Yet having a visual representation of how different inputs and outputs connect to each other we argue would be a substantial benefit in contrast to the case of “pure code” especially when the developer of the experiment has used badly formatted variable names.

(2) Making the link between the nodes and the actual code is also not straightforward, since the code for the nodes is spread out over several directories (or potentially even machines), and not directly accessible from within the GUI. 

This is not accurate. The obligatory code of a Node always exists within a single folder and Heron’s API makes it rather cumbersome to spread scripts relating to a Node across separate folders. The Node folder structure can potentially be copied over different machines but this is why Heron is tightly integrated with git practices (and even politely asks the user with popup windows to create git repositories of any Nodes they create whilst using Heron’s automatic Node generator system). Heron’s documentation is also very clear on the folder structure of a Node which keeps the required code always in the same place across machines and more importantly across experiments and labs. Regarding the direct accessibility of the code from the GUI, we took on board the reviewers’ comments and have taken the first step towards correcting this. Now one can attach to Heron their favourite IDE and then they can double click on any Node to open its two main scripts (com and worker) in that IDE embedded in whatever code project they choose (also set in Heron’s settings windows). On top of this, Heron now allows the addition of notes both for a Node and for all its parameters, inputs and outputs which can be viewed by hovering the mouse over them on the Nodes’ GUIs. The final step towards GUI-code integration will be to have a Heron GUI code editor but this is something that has to wait for further development from Heron’s underlying GUI library DearPyGUI.

(3) The authors state that "[Heron’s approach] confers obvious benefits to the exchange and reproducibility of experiments", but the paper does not discuss how one would actually exchange an experiment and its parameters, given that the graph (and its json representation) contains user-specific absolute filenames, machine IP addresses, etc, and the parameter values that were used are stored in general data frames, potentially separate from the results. Neither does it address how a user could keep track of which versions of files were used (including Heron itself).

Heron’s Graphs, like any experimental implementation, must contain machine specific strings. These are accessible either from Heron’s GUI when a Graph json file is opened or from the json file itself. Heron in this regard does not do anything different to any other software, other than saving the graphs into human readable json files that users can easily manipulate directly.

Heron provides a method for users to save every change of the Node parameters that might happen during an experiment so that it can be fully reproduced. The dataframes generated are done so in the folders specified by the user in each of the Nodes (and all those paths are saved in the json file of the Graph). We understand that Heron offers a certain degree of freedom to the user (Heron’s main reason to exist is exactly this versatility) to generate data files wherever they want but makes sure every file path gets recorded for subsequent reproduction. So, Heron behaves pretty much exactly like any other open source software. What we wanted to focus on as the benefits of Heron on exchange and reproducibility was the ability of experimenters to take a Graph from another lab (with its machine specific file paths and IP addresses) and by examining the graphical interface of it to be able to quickly tweak it to make it run on their own systems. That is achievable through the fact that a Heron experiment will be constructed by a small amount of Nodes (5 to 15 usually) whose file paths can be trivially changed in the GUI or directly in the json file while the LAN setup of the machines used can be easily reconstructed from the information saved in the secondary GUIs.

Where Heron needs to improve (and this is a major point in Heron’s roadmap) is the need to better integrate the different saved experiments with the git versions of Heron and the Nodes that were used for that specific save. This, we appreciate is very important for full reproducibility of the experiment and it is a feature we will soon implement. More specifically users will save together with a graph the versions of all the used repositories and during load the code base utilised will come from the recorded versions and not from the current head of the different repositories. This is a feature that we are currently working on now and as our roadmap suggests will be implemented by the release of Heron 1.0. 

(4) Another limitation that in my opinion is not sufficiently addressed is the communication between the nodes, and the effect of passing all communications via the host machine and SSH. What does this mean for the resulting throughput and latency - in particular in comparison to software such as Bonsai or Autopilot? The paper also states that "Heron is designed to have no message buffering, thus automatically dropping any messages that come into a Node’s inputs while the Node’s worker function is still running."- it seems to be up to the user to debug and handle this manually?

There are a few points raised here that require addressing. The first is Heron’s requirement to pass all communication through the main (GUI) machine. We understand (and also state in the manuscript) that this is a limitation that needs to be addressed. We plan to do this is by adding to Heron the feature of running headless (see our roadmap). This will allow us to run whole Heron pipelines in a second machine which will communicate with the main pipeline (run on the GUI machine) with special Nodes. That will allow experimenters to define whole pipelines on secondary machines where the data between their Nodes stay on the machine running the pipeline. This is an important feature for Heron and it will be one of the first features to be implemented next (after the integration of the saving system with git). 

The second point is regarding Heron’s throughput latency. In our original manuscript we did not have any description of Heron’s capabilities in this respect and both other reviewers mentioned this as a limitation. As mentioned above, we have now addressed this by adding a section to our third experimental example that fully describes how much CPU is required to run a full experimental pipeline running on two machines and utilising also non python code executables (a Unity game). This gives an overview of how heavy pipelines can run on normal computers given adequate optimisation and utilising Heron’s feature of forcing some Nodes to run their Worker processes on a specific core. At the same time, Heron’s use of 0MQ protocol makes sure there are no other delays or speed limitations to message passing. So, message passing within the same machine is just an exchange of memory pointers while messages passing between different machines face the standard speed limitations of the Local Access Network’s ethernet card speeds. 

Finally, regarding the message dropping feature of Heron, as mentioned above this is an architectural decision given the use cases of message passing we expect Heron to come in contact with. For a full explanation of the logic here please see our answer to the 3rd comment by Reviewer 2.

(5) As a final comment, I have to admit that I was a bit confused by the use of the term "Knowledge Graph" in the title and elsewhere. In my opinion, the Heron software describes "pipelines" or "data workflows", not knowledge graphs - I’d understand a knowledge graph to be about entities and their relationships. As the authors state, it is usually meant to make it possible to "test propositions against the knowledge and also create novel propositions" - how would this apply here?

We have described Heron as a Knowledge Graph instead of a pipeline, data workflow or computation graph in order to emphasise Heron’s distinct operation in contrast to what one would consider a standard pipeline and data workflow generated by other visual based software (like LabView and Bonsai). This difference exists on what a user should think of as the base element of a graph, i.e. the Node. In all other visual programming paradigms, the Node is defined as a low-level computation, usually a language keyword, language flow control or some simple function. The logic in this case is generated by composing together the visual elements (Nodes). In Heron the Node is to be thought of as a process which can be of arbitrary complexity and the logic of the graph is composed by the user both within each Node and by the way the Nodes are combined together. This is an important distinction in Heron’s basic operation logic and it is we argue the main way Heron allows flexibility in what can be achieved while retaining ease of graph composition (by users defining their own level of complexity and functionality encompassed within each Node). We have found that calling this approach a computation graph (which it is) or a pipeline or data workflow would not accentuate this difference. The term Knowledge Graph was the most appropriate as it captures the essence of variable information complexity (even in terms of length of shortest string required) defined by a Node.

Recommendations for the authors:  

Reviewer #1 (Recommendations For The Authors):

-  No buffering implies dropped messages when a node is busy. It seems like this could be very problematic for some use cases... 

This is a design principle of Heron. We have now provided a detailed explanation of the reasoning behind it in our answer to Reviewer 2 (Paragraph 3) as well as in the manuscript. 

-  How are ssh passwords stored, and is it secure in some way or just in plain text?  

For now they are plain text in an unencrypted file that is not part of the repo (if one gets Heron from the repo). Eventually, we would like to go to private/public key pairs but this is not a priority due to the local nature of Heron’s use cases (all machines in an experiment are expected to connect in a LAN).  

Minor notes / copyedits:

-  Figure 2A: right and left seem to be reversed in the caption. 

They were. This is now fixed. 

-  Figure 2B: the text says that proof of life messages are sent to each worker process but in the figure, it looks like they are published by the workers? Also true in the online documentation.  

The Figure caption was wrong. This is now fixed.

-  psutil package is not included in the requirements for GitHub

We have now included psutil in the requirements.

-  GitHub readme says Python >=3.7 but Heron will not run as written without python >= 3.9 (which is alluded to in the paper)

The new Heron updates require Python 3.11. We have now updated GitHub and the documentation to reflect this.

-  The paper mentions that the Heron editor must be run on Windows, but this is not mentioned in the Github readme.  

This was an error in the manuscript that we have now corrected.

-  It’s unclear from the readme/manual how to remove a node from the editor once it’s been added.  

We have now added an X button on each Node to complement the Del button on the keyboard (for MacOS users that do not have this button most of the times).

-  The first example experiment is called the Probabilistic Reversal Learning experiment in text, but the uncertainty experiment in the supplemental and on GitHub.  

We have now used the correct name (Probabilistic Reversal Learning) in both the supplemental material and on GitHub

-  Since Python >=3.9 is required, consider using fstrings instead of str.format for clarity in the codebase  

Thank you for the suggestion. Latest Heron development has been using f strings and we will do a refactoring in the near future.

-  Grasshopper cameras can run on linux as well through the spinnaker SDK, not just Windows.  

Fixed in the manuscript. 

-  Figure 4: Square and star indicators are unclear.

Increased the size of the indicators to make them clear.

-  End of page 9: "an of the self" presumably a typo for "off the shelf"?  

Corrected.

-  Page 10 first paragraph. "second root" should be "second route"

Corrected.

-  When running Heron, the terminal constantly spams Blowfish encryption deprecation warnings, making it difficult to see the useful messages.  

The solution to this problem is to either update paramiko or install Heron through pip. This possible issue is mentioned in the documentation.

-  Node input /output hitboxes in the GUI are pretty small. If they could be bigger it would make it easier to connect nodes reliably without mis-clicks.

We have redone the Node GUI, also increasing the size of the In/Out points.

Reviewer #2 (Recommendations For The Authors):

(1) There are quite a few typos in the manuscript, for example: "one can accessess the code", "an of the self", etc.  

Thanks for the comment. We have now screened the manuscript for possible typos.

(2) Heron’s GUI can only run on Windows! This seems to be the opposite of the key argument about the portability of the experimental setup.  

As explained in the answers to Reviewer 1, Heron can run on most machines that the underlying python libraries run, i.e. Windows and Linux (both for x86 and Arm architectures). We have tested it on Windows (10 and 11, both x64), Linux PC (Ubuntu 20.04.6, x64) and Raspberry Pi 4 (Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm), aarch64). We have now revised the manuscript and the GitHub repo to reflect this.

(3) Currently, the output is displayed along the left edge of the node, but the yellow dot connector is on the right. It would make more sense to have the text displayed next to the connectors.  

We have redesigned the Node GUI and have now placed the Out connectors on the right side of the Node.

(4) The edges are often occluded by the nodes in the GUI. Sometimes it leads to some confusion, particularly when the number of nodes is large, e.g., Fig 4.

This is something that is dependent on the capabilities of the DearPyGUI module. At the moment there is no way to control the way the edges are drawn.

Reviewer #3 (Recommendations For The Authors):

A few comments on the software and the documentation itself:

- From a software engineering point of view, the implementation seems to be rather immature. While I get the general appeal of "no installation necessary", I do not think that installing dependencies by hand and cloning a GitHub repository is easier than installing a standard package.

We have now added a pip install capability which also creates a Heron command line command to start Heron with. 

-The generous use of global variables to store state (minor point, given that all nodes run in different processes), boilerplate code that each node needs to repeat, and the absence of any kind of automatic testing do not give the impression of a very mature software (case in point: I had to delete a line from editor.py to be able to start it on a non-Windows system).  

As mentioned, the use of global variables in the worker scripts is fine partly due to the multi process nature of the development and we have found it is a friendly approach to Matlab users who are just starting with Python (a serious consideration for Heron). Also, the parts of the code that would require a singleton (the Editor for example) are treated as scripts with global variables while the parts that require the construction of objects are fully embedded in classes (the Node for example). A future refactoring might make also all the parts of the code not seen by the user fully object oriented but this is a decision with pros and cons needing to be weighted first. 

Absence of testing is an important issue we recognise but Heron is a GUI app and nontrivial unit tests would require some keystroke/mouse movement emulator (like QTest of pytest-qt for QT based GUIs). This will be dealt with in the near future (using more general solutions like PyAutoGUI) but it is something that needs a serious amount of effort (quite a bit more that writing unit tests for non GUI based software) and more importantly it is nowhere as robust as standard unit tests (due to the variable nature of the GUI through development) making automatic test authoring an almost as laborious a process as the one it is supposed to automate.

-  From looking at the examples, I did not quite see why it is necessary to write the ..._com.py scripts as Python files, since they only seem to consist of boilerplate code and variable definitions. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to represent this information in configuration files (e.g. yaml or toml)?  

The com is not a configuration file, it is a script that launches the communication process of the Node. We could remove the variable definitions to a separate toml file (which then the com script would have to read). The pros and cons of such a set up should be considered in a future refactoring.

Minor comments for the paper:

-  p.7 (top left): "through its return statement" - the worker loop is an infinite loop that forwards data with a return statement?  

This is now corrected. The worker loop is an infinite loop and does not return anything but at each iteration pushes data to the Nodes output.

-  p.9 (bottom right): "of the self" → "off-the-shelf"  

Corrected.

-  p.10 (bottom left): "second root" → "second route"  

Corrected.

-  Supplementary Figure 3: Green start and square seem to be swapped (the green star on top is a camera image and the green star on the bottom is value visualization - inversely for the green square).  

The star and square have been swapped around.

-  Caption Supplementary Figure 4 (end): "rashes to receive" → "rushes to receive"  

Corrected.

Richard got punished worse. Why?

This seems like a very unfair punishment for Richard if Laycoe didn't even get ejected from the game.

Such a determined and hard working person. Shows a lot of perseverance from his personality.

Many people probobly went to see fights not the actual game. Whey were they so angry?

Is this normal behavior in hockey? I have only been to one hockey game and never saw fists flying with blood.

Metaphor: Compares the relationship to a card game where the speaker has run out of moves to play

Metaphor:Comparing the relationships to a “game” suggests manipulation and strategy

I like how this interpretation of the addition of walking in a game serves two purposes One that is towards the navigation aspect, allowing for the general exploration of the digital environment surrounding the player, and another towards the actual story. The player can unravel aspects of the story on their own through exploring what is around them. By doing this the. Player can discover this about the plot outside of what is given to them directly by the game maker.

To many critics, “real games” require difficulty, interactivity, and are not meant to be deep and meaningful. In general, a game can be defined as an activity that incites emotions, bringing some sort of diversion or amusement, which is why its weird that some people have redefined games as something that requires “real” action, interactivity, and agency. Nowadays, I feel people are a lot more looser with their definition of a “game” as so many things follow on the category of games, from puzzle games to the typical action games and more.

I think the fact that Katie (who the user also plays) is such an observer in this game which is extremely interesting considering the fact that she is also Sam's older sister and they seem to have a close relationship. It seems obvious that the family dynamic isn't perfect and they aren't as close to each other as one would expect, the slow pace and finding out these bits of her family's lives is so interesting, especially since this is her own family and she is also finding out all this new information while not knowing where any of her family is. I think this should be a larger component spoken about as Katie seems like such an outside character.

I think this is one of the biggest areas of criticism that walking simulators receive. The way that walking simulators are designed creates a hard limit on the players agency, in some cases even more so than a Twine based game, as those at least allow the player to make decisions that alter the outcome of the story. Meanwhile in a game like Gone-Home, that player is nothing more than an observer, and they have no impact on the games story, they can only discover it. This can be seen as both positive and negative, as it is similar to something like a book, where the player simply digests the story. However it can also be seen as a limitation, as the players agency is severely reduced compared to a typical video.

I thought this was an interesting take on what removing violence from a game does. Since shooter games are so action based, the player doesn’t really have the time to sit down with the piece and uncover the deeper details of the game. Removing these violent actions/traits from the game completely transforms the game, allowing the player to experience an almost entirely new game.

This is definitely a real issue in shooter games, as there is generally a very negative environment if you listen to an Xbox voice chat. People are frequently degrading and questioning other people’s ability to play the game. In games that require less skill—such as walking games—the focus is less on the individual player and more on the meaning behind the game itself, fostering a more positive atmosphere in general.

In many games I have played in the past, there have been permadeath options, where if you die in a game, it sets the player back to the beginning (ex: "Dont Starve"). Yet, in the article, it is discussed that more liberal leaning individuals (especially ones who are a part of the lgbtq community) have created narratives with “permalife”. Unlike permadeath, these games place the user into inescapable real world issues. This approach to game design makes me wonder about how games can evolve from purely escapist experiences into tools for social commentary. It’s not just about surviving in the game world, but confronting the more darker realities that many face in real life.

While I was playing Gone Home, I definitely felt like by the end of the game, I was Katie uncovering all of the secrets of my family and discovering what had happened while I was away. I was hoping that at the end of the game, we would be able to find and speak with Sam, and when I realized that we wouldn't be able to, I felt disappointed. For me, that changed the meaning of the game from a mystery game to something even more thought-provoking. I wonder what the thought-process behind the creators' decision was and why they chose to end the game that way. What message were they trying to send to the players?

Speedrunning---the concept of completing a game as fast as possible---serves little purpose to the audience in walking simulators. Speedrunning shows proficiency of game mechanics, typically of someone who is familiar with the game but does not hold the same value when applied to a walking simulator.

I find this interesting because in the Steam achievements of Gone Home, there is an achievement for completing the game in less than a minute. I wonder why the creator of the game even created that achievement… Was it to foster a similar experience to an adventure game? Was it a joke, making fun of the modern speedrunning? Was the achievement created at first release, or was it added after player feedback?

Reed et al. seem to be arguing that walking sim/ slow games are designed to prevent players from having agency other than the ability to move slowly and to think about the story and its messages.

I'm intrigued by the idea that art and contemplation are linked here and wonder if considering Gone Home an "art" game changes my understanding of it.

Violence in these simulators is often present, it is typically stylized or remembered rather than directly experienced. The common mechanic of a violent death in traditional games, is often absent in walking simulators, replaced by "permalife," where players focus on enduring and existing rather than surviving. This mechanic, often associated with queer designers, challenges players to consider the consequences of living and the emotional weight of existence. In Gone Home, the game uses the dark and "scary" atmosphere to implement fear and push an instinct to keep surviving and existing

This is a very interesting point. Scientific studies seem to corroborate the idea that walking is beneficial, as it is proven that walking in nature can be crucial to maintaining one’s mental health. At the same time, slow paced walking games keep us in front of the screen longer, so are we truly reaping the same benefits of walking when playing a game that simulates it?

While walking games are considered as less mentally tedious because there may not be direct puzzles to solve or combat present, often times they can still spread a message and introduce an overarching theme which is not typically present in games where the soul focus is violence. For example, in "Gone Home" there are many different ideas present one of the largest ones being self-journey and self-identity where Sam decides to leave her family in order to be her true self. This kind of message may not be as present or direct in a game oriented towards violence or achieving some sort of goal.

In the beginning of Gone Home, the house is portrayed in a way that invokes the normal horror survival game. Players initially think that danger is behind them, but as the game goes on, it becomes clear that the true horror of the game is the family. This shift away from fear leads the player to play the game to understand the family.

I find it really interesting that the authors used this part of the quote to describe how shooter games eventually evolved into walking simulators. In walking simulators, it’s interesting to see how we can freely move around and explore things, and to see how something as nonviolent as “Gone Home” could have been derived from a violent game is really surprising. However, I think it is a smart way of shifting the narrative away from violence and more toward more exploratory games that allow people to look around while also thinking about what they’re doing; this kind of gets rid of the idea of a monotonous killing spree.

The original term of “walking simulators” was used as an insult against more passive and linear forms of media within gaming culture. It is argued that they are more akin to a book or a movie, where user interaction essentially does not change anything within the story being told. Although many reviewers criticize this due to the limited form of interaction, it makes it easier to truly step into the shoes of the protagonist. Instead of focusing on many plot points, one central and solidified story can be further developed, as multiple endings do not need to be computed.

It’s interesting how something as simple as waking can be analyzed as a “part of the human experience”. What about humans allows walking to become an experience? This ‘experience’ aspect of walking makes sense towards the creation of walking simulators, adding another depth of experience to the game.

Gone Home, introducing itself to the user as a horror game, leads the player to believe that they must “act quickly” to avoid any supernatural beings. As the game progresses, however, the user realizes that there is no longer any immediate fear, but a longing fear that they are reading a story that they can no longer act upon and have no choice but to observe.

After playing, I was wondering what the actual purpose of the horror aspect was. The argument that the game is meant to transition from external horror to internal horror is a strong interpretation of Gone Home. Playing as Katie brings more emotional meaning to the game rather than playing as Sam. If we would have played as Sam, we would experience more of the first-person shooter action, but playing as Katie really forces us to immerse ourselves into her shoes, as though we have a sibling that has ran away. As we play the game, this concept becomes stronger and stronger as we realize that there is nothing Katie (ourselves) can do at this point.

This portion of the text talks about the origins of the term "Walking Simulator." How, originally, the term was used as an insult to describe how dull the game was. I find it very interesting that prejudice was created towards walking simulators. This quote reflects the fact that a stigma towards walking simulators is ever present, and is even rooted in the game genre's origins. I feel this represents a symptom of the issue with the "gaming community" at large, as it is very common place to attack or belittle games/developers that makes video games that are different or not seen as video games in the traditional sense.

It's interesting how something as developed as movement in a video game is viewed as boring. To me it seems like the rise of technology has caused our attention span to decrease rapidly.

The game Gone Home includes an example of a queer relationship, yet does not make it the main emphasis of the game, as it includes story lines of other characters in Katie’s family, too. The lack of concentration on the queer relationship has brought mixed opinions by critics, which some liking it, and others disliking it. I personally thought the presence of a variety of storylines of each member of the family helped the player be further immersed in the perspective of Katie as it felt a lot more real when each character in the story had their own story and journey they were going through. It also helped sell the separation the family was experiencing, which I felt was also an important part of the storyline of the game.

I found this quote interesting because it made me think more of what the "point" of a game really is and what defines a game. Does there need to be a winner to be a game? Is a game about skill or discovering a deeper message and theme? I feel like the definition of a game is loose- you don't have to discover a deeper message or heavily engage with a storyline in order for it to be a game (like Pacman, Tetris). However, I think that a game without a winner is still a game, even if it focuses more on the plot/storyline and less on skill/ a winner and loser.

Forza is a game that has implemented Fast Travel, which—in my opinion—takes away from the purpose of the game, which is to explore the map.

The notion of “perma-life” connects with Salter’s notion that taking away agency from a player allows a work to better explore the complexities of mental health. In games where dying is possible, there is inherently agency in that taking the “wrong” actions as the player will lead to death as a means of losing the game. But this agency also leads to the obvious fact that the player will be able to retry sections in which they die. Walking simulators, by taking away death, add severity and weight to each development made in the story. The character, and by extension the player, get no do-overs when something goes wrong. This setup accurately mirrors the nature of mental turmoil: things inevitably go wrong in life, which leads to distress, but the only thing that can be done is to face the situation directly. By not allowing players a chance to avoid bad things from happening via a death mechanic that promotes player mastery as a method of solving problems, walking simulators are able to focus fully on the idea of persisting in the face of trauma.

This is good to know and how it affects the present

I feel like as real world situations, drones in this case, become designed to be controlled more like video games, there is a potential for desensitization as combat operations begin to feel like a game. As a result, operators may become emotionally disengaged from the consequences of their actions.

you could rephrase slightly to fit this better into action statement format like 'Collaborated in a team of X developers to build ....'

The relationship that a fan has with their team has always been fascinating to me. It is like that person is on the team, even though they are not physically in the game.

Gabriel's google scholar profile https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Mc00G90AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

This reflects the early association of sports, specifically football, with broader cultural ideals like morality and capitalism. It shows how sports were being linked to national identity and societal values, framing the game as a tool for social and moral development.

I find myself revisiting now due to buggy behavior observed in jszip (discovered through Darius Kazemi's reliance on it for his Twitter archiver project).

The problem is that jszip when given a ZIP with Zip64 data in the end of central directory record handles it poorly (presumably jszip simply doesn't have support for Zip64 despite being advertised as such)—except that that's even really the problem.

The fundamental problem with jszip is that it doesn't support Zip64 (whether it says it does or not) and it makes an assumption that the last file header record in the central directory will be immediately followed by the end of central directory signature and when it encounters a file that violates this assumption its attempts to recover are odd. There's no good reason for jszip or any other software to make that assumption, though, since depending on it is in no way necessary to go ahead and successfully work with the files that are present.

From an earlier private note (from 2021 July 20):

A better way to phrase it: "What if there is some byte sequence that coincides with the sequence used for the local file header signature, but nonetheless does not comprise some part of a file record (i.e., one "referenced by the central directory")?

And the answer, of course, is right there; it is not UB—that isn't a file record.

Some block of data within the ZIP can only be considered to comprise a local file header iff it is referenced by the central directory. A byte sequence appearing elsewhere that collides with the file header signature is just noise.

What happened to the central directory offset not being allowed to be located there?

this is a great concept

may be useful in revising the Copyright Card Game to addresss AI

Exactly. WandaVision really feels like a game-changer for Marvel TV. It’s cool how it’s woven into the larger MCU narrative, making it feel more connected and impactful.

every work of art and artist works around money. While inspiration for film writing is there the old saying goes "money talks" if at the end of the day the consumer wanted sonic to look more like the nostalgia idea of what they remember it is up to the creator to deliver it.

"This passage shows how hit TV shows and movies, along with the rise of social media, have made fandom more mainstream, interactive, and influential."

"This passage shows how fans have been influencing the art they love for a long time, connecting historical examples with today's fandom culture."

This is exactly what I mean when say "positive audience involvement".

The fact that writers have been dealing with this shows how deep this issue does and how much of an effect it has on the entertainment industry over the years.

Inscryption: genuinely top-tier loop, but the weight of the game is in how weird it feels to go outside that loop structure

The one arcade game that's in my life is Killer Queen, because my work team goes to play it every now and again at Jupiter Bar. The arcade as actual competitive arena seems defunct, so this game is interesting in that it manufactures tiny moments of abnormal social interaction; when in our day-to-day does a junior engineer get to crow that she has sabotaged her senior's attempt at achieving something? Anthropologists: the temporary inversion of social norms.

En fait le e-sport est lié à la division genré dans le sport mais aussi dans le jeux vidéo. N'oublions pas par exemple qu'on parle de "Game Boy".

The Ink by Anand Giridharadas

The handing over of the keys to the American Republic by a mendacious president to a megalomaniacal oligarch. Elon Musk is a wealthy private citizen who, relatively late in the game, happened to become a Trump supporter when he saw which way the wind was blowing. Now he has burrowed his way into the bowels of the federal government and is waging what can only be called an anti-constitutional coup.

The Ink by Anand Giridharadas

The handing over of the keys to the American Republic by a mendacious president to a megalomaniacal oligarch. Elon Musk is a wealthy private citizen who, relatively late in the game, happened to become a Trump supporter when he saw which way the wind was blowing. Now he has burrowed his way into the bowels of the federal government and is waging what can only be called an anti-constitutional coup.

Annotation #1

Quote: "Institutions are the key to economic growth because they determine the incentives for savings, investment, and innovation."

Thoughts: This quote is saying that it isn't just the amount that you invest but also the institutions that govern these investments that contribute to economic growth. In other words, it adds another layer to the Solow model we discussed in class, which is how capital investments are managed in an economy. According to North (1990), who received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, institutions shape the rules of the game in society and significantly impact economic performance. While this aligns with our class discussion of the Solow growth model, which assumes that economies grow through capital accumulation and technological innovation, with each round of investment decreasing in value to economic growth, it supports the claim made in this article by suggesting that institutional frameworks govern how effectively these factors operate. Our discussion in class, working to answer the question of what are the sources of Singapore’s success also supports this idea. Based on the reasoning in this quote, one of the reasons for Singapore's economic growth is its pro-investment policies into education and medical institutions that prioritize long term benefits.

Citation: North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change, and economic performance. Cambridge University Press.

Annotation #2

Quote: "Capital deepening alone cannot sustain long-term growth; technological innovation and institutional improvements are equally critical."

Thoughts: This section elaborates on the idea that the Solow model doesn't account for the effectiveness of capital investments in economic growth, by suggesting that it's how this capital investment is used - to develop technology and invest in institutions that will provide long term benefits - that will ensure its effectiveness. This raises a question: How do institutions evolve to foster innovation in countries transitioning from low to high-income status? In class, we discussed a possible answer to the question about what are the sources of SGs economic development, with one possible answer being Singapore's investments into educational institutions that help to foster innovation. However, this led me to wonder if these strategies be applied in countries like Ghana, where institutional weaknesses impede economic progress, or does their success depend on specific historical and political contexts? Additionally, this also makes me want to understand if it might be impossible for some countries to have economic growth in the long term because of corruption that might prevent capital investments from being directed to institutions and technology. Would institutions be beneficial in prompting economic growth if the governing of the institution is corrupt?

Annotation #3:

Quote: "Geography is not destiny; countries with unfavorable geographic conditions can still achieve economic prosperity through sound policies and institutional reforms."

Thoughts: Despite what teh article suggested about all three factors - culture, institutions, and geography - playing an important role in a countries' economic growth, this quote suggests that they can be substituted/made up for by one another. I found this quote extremely interesting since based on the geography theory Singapore should be poorer than many temperature regions solely because it has a tropical climate; however, this isn't true with SG being one of the wealthiest nations in the world. This made me realize that Singapore was able to overcome geographic disadvantages (limited land, no natural resources) through integration into global trade networks and institutional reforms, which is what made them grow economically. In other words, even if their geographic location gave them a disadvantage, their cultural values and institutions enabled them to overcome this. This also supports our discussion in class relating to our inquiry question - What are the sources of Singapore's economic development? - about how Singapore was able to grow rapidly by suggesting that because of its smart capital investments that resulted in growth following the Solow Model. The argument in this article, shown in this quote, challenged my previous assumption that most tropical regions were poorer on average compared to temperate regions because a nation must have all three factors - cultural values, institutions, and geography- for them to succeed with no exceptions.

Blog post reflecting on how one contributed to cave pictograph/research done to make symbols.

Creative/innovative

Was Ad Correctly guessed by class

Quality of writing/argument/presentation

This doesn't just happen in the sports industry, it's literally everywhere. Think any female character in any movie between the 80s-10s. Or anyone popular on social media. If you really want proof, look up "female video game characters"

The first two paragraphs of the Discussion give an overview of the experiment, the most important findings, and their major interpretation.

"This is what we did, this is why we did it, this is what we found, this is what we think it means"

The movie in this web page- -Catch Me if You Can is a story about the hero who uses fake checks to cheat millions of dollars. The FBI is obsessed with chasing the hero, but the hero enjoys the chase game on the run. The film delves into the delicate relationship between identity, deception, and law enforcement. It implies the existence of advanced fraud and reminds the public to be careful about being defrauded.

Showing both graphs, then arguing (if the writer wants to) that zooming, the 2-miles-per-hour decrease from 2012 to 2013 is more significant to the game result (if it is, which would probably need to be supported by more data, such as comparing average knuckleball velocities across different players and different — especially opposing — teams) than it looks from afar.

I think people have high expectations for 'models' or 'tools' thinking they are all validated and rigorously tested, when in fact, few are.

available online as HTML

a game changer

from-youtube

Summary of DevTools FM Podcast with Juan Capa on Membrane.io

Introduction and Background

• Juan Capa is the creator of Membrane.io, a still-in-development platform for simplifying API automation and internal tooling.

"Juan is the creator of membrane.io, a still-on-development platform for simplifying API Automation and internal tooling."_

• He has a background in game development, having spent over a decade working on console, mobile, and web games.

"I have a background in game development. I spent about 10 years a little bit more than 10 years working in game development."_

• Worked at Vercel on the CDN team after being hired through Twitter, then briefly returned to Zynga before joining Mighty under a program that allowed him to work part-time on Membrane.

"I saw a tweet by Guillermo Rauch ... He hired me to work for Vercel ... I spent two years there as the lead in the CDN team."_

"Then I guess my last last thing I did was join Mighty ... working on my startup but also working three days for them."_

• Now focusing on Membrane full-time and looking to onboard users soon.

"So yeah now I'm a member in 100 and yeah hoping that I can show to the world and onboard some users in the coming week or two."_

Membrane: Concept and Vision