The Chinese room argument holds that a digital computer executing a program cannot be shown to have a "mind", "understanding" or "consciousness", regardless of how intelligently or human-like the program may make the computer behave. The argument was first presented by philosopher John Searle in his paper, "Minds and Programs", published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences in 1980, it has been discussed in the years since. The centerpiece of the argument is a thought experiment known as the Chinese room; the argument is directed against the philosophical positions of functionalism and computationalism, which hold that the mind may be viewed as an information-processing system operating on formal symbols. The argument is intended to refute a position Searle calls strong AI: "The appropriately programmed computer with the right inputs and outputs would thereby have a mind in the same sense human beings have minds."Although it was presented in reaction to the statements of artificial intelligence researchers, it is not an argument against the behavioural goals of AI research, because it does not limit the amount of intelligence a machine can display.

The argument applies only to digital computers running programs and does not apply to machines in general. Searle's thought experiment begins with this hypothetical premise: suppose that artificial intelligence research has succeeded in constructing a computer that behaves as if it understands Chinese, it takes Chinese characters as input and, by following the instructions of a computer program, produces other Chinese characters, which it presents as output. Suppose, says Searle, that this computer performs its task so convincingly that it comfortably passes the Turing test: it convinces a human Chinese speaker that the program is itself a live Chinese speaker. To all of the questions that the person asks, it makes appropriate responses, such that any Chinese speaker would be convinced that they are talking to another Chinese-speaking human being; the question Searle wants to answer is this: does the machine "understand" Chinese? Or is it simulating the ability to understand Chinese? Searle calls the first position "strong AI" and the latter "weak AI".

Searle supposes that he is in a closed room and has a book with an English version of the computer program, along with sufficient papers, pencils and filing cabinets. Searle could receive Chinese characters through a slot in the door, process them according to the program's instructions, produce Chinese characters as output. If the computer had passed the Turing test this way, it follows, says Searle, that he would do so as well by running the program manually. Searle asserts that there is no essential difference between the roles of the computer and himself in the experiment; each follows a program, step-by-step, producing a behavior, interpreted by the user as demonstrating intelligent conversation. However, Searle himself would not be able to understand the conversation. Therefore, he argues, it follows that the computer would not be able to understand the conversation either. Searle argues that, without "understanding", we cannot describe what the machine is doing as "thinking" and, since it does not think, it does not have a "mind" in anything like the normal sense of the word.

Therefore, he concludes. Gottfried Leibniz made a similar argument in 1714 against mechanism. Leibniz used the thought experiment of expanding the brain. Leibniz found it difficult to imagine that a "mind" capable of "perception" could be constructed using only mechanical processes. In the 1961 short story "The Game" by Anatoly Dneprov, a stadium of people act as switches and memory cells implementing a program to translate a sentence of Portuguese, a language that none of them knows. In 1974, Lawrence Davis imagined duplicating the brain using telephone lines and offices staffed by people, in 1978 Ned Block envisioned the entire population of China involved in such a brain simulation; this thought experiment is called the China brain the "Chinese Nation" or the "Chinese Gym". The Chinese Room Argument was introduced in Searle's 1980 paper "Minds and Programs", published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, it became the journal's "most influential target article", generating an enormous number of commentaries and responses in the ensuing decades, Searle has continued to defend and refine the argument in many papers, popular articles and books.

David Cole writes that "the Chinese Room argument has been the most discussed philosophical argument in cognitive science to appear in the past 25 years". Most of the discussion consists of attempts to refute it. "The overwhelming majority", notes BBS editor Stevan Harnad, "still think that the Chinese Room Argument is dead wrong". The sheer volume of the literature that has grown up around it inspired Pat Hayes to comment that the field of cognitive science ought to be redefined as "the ongoing research program of showing Searle's Chinese Room Argument to be false". Searle's argument has become "something of a classic in cognitive science", according to Harnad. Varol Akman agrees, has described the original paper as "an exemplar of philosophical clarity and purity". Although the Chinese Room argument was presented in reaction to the statements of AI researchers, philosophers have come to view it as an important part of the philosophy of mind, it is a challenge to functionalism and the computational theory of mind, is related to such questions as the mind–body problem, the problem of other minds, the

The Indiana Botanic Gardens is the largest and oldest retailer of herbs in the United States. Born in Wisconsin in 1878, Joseph Meyer acquired a curiosity about plants and nature at a young age, his father, a photographer took Meyer out on assignments into forests and fields. From here, he learned a great deal about various aspects of nature. Complications in Meyer's family and financial life caused him to temporarily step aside from nature and take up a more practical career in printing. Meyer soon found himself in Chicago working for a large printer. Not long after, a strike shut down the printer and Meyer found himself at The Hammond Times. After settling in Hammond, Meyer desired to have a business of his own, preferably something in the printing industry. Giving consideration to his set of skills, Meyer realized that he knew a great deal about printing and more about nature. A company that sold herbs through a catalog would be a profitable endeavor thanks to his possession of an old printing press and vast knowledge of natural remedies.

It was with the blending of these two passions. The name Indiana Botanic Gardens is a owned, family run business that operates within the vitamin and herbal supplement industry; the Indiana Botanic Gardens has had a rich history within the Northwest Indiana region for nearly 100 years. Its history can be read about in botanical and herbal publications, as well as literature pertaining to the history of the Calumet Region. Indiana Botanic Gardens was founded in 1910 by horticulturalist/herbalist Joseph Meyer in a small cottage in the rear of his home in Hammond, Indiana. Called the Indiana Herb Gardens, the business made living expenses for the large Meyer family which consisted of seven sons and one daughter. Joseph Meyer's elder sons helped their father to grow the business by gathering herbs from the nearby fields; the family diligently and untiringly packed boxes, filled orders, fed the printing press, folded circulars during the day. The daily workload for the Meyer's bled into their evenings where they put catalogs together by binding them with needles and thread.

Once the company began to sustain itself, it moved from Meyer's cottage to a more formal and larger building off of Calumet Avenue in Hammond, Indiana. Due in part to his roots as a printer, Joseph E. Meyer published a 400-page book in 1918 entitled, The Herbalist. Seven years The Herbalist Almanac, an annual publication, was produced in 1925; the Herbalist Almanac was an eclectic booklet that contained everything from listings of the herbs and roots that the company sold, Indian weather forecasts, treatments for common ailments, popular songs of the day, to advice on farming issues. In 1979, after fifty-four years of publication, The Herbalist Almanac was retired. Vintage copies of The Herbalist Almanac are still around, some dating back to the 1950s, can be purchased online through book shops and eBay. There are many collectors and agricultural and gardening enthusiasts that have copies. Colleges and universities still study and use the almanac for educational reasons in many horticulture classes.

The University of Florida has done their fair share of preserving these almanacs seeing that they have a vast collection ranging from 1929-1971 in their rare books collection. A copy of The Herbalist can be found in the Smithsonian Institution Library. In 1925, Meyer purchased a wild tract of land on the Little Calumet River; the land held a profusion of medicinal plants and virgin forest. One year in 1926, this fertile ground would become home to the newly named Indiana Botanic Gardens; the offices and warehouse were now housed in a 36,000-square-foot English gabled building. The grounds and gardens covered 10 acres and were filled with beautiful landscaping and architecture; the property featured a mill where all of the botanicals were manufactured. During the next few years, Meyer traveled to all parts of North America to gather material and information on native plants and their uses. Mail poured in from all over the world including universities, libraries and people from all ranks of life.

In 1932, he traveled to Europe to seek rare herbals. In Joseph Meyer's time, self-treatment with herbs was practiced and necessary due to economic conditions or the scarcity of professional medical help. Meyer devoted his life to providing herbs to people, many grateful customers sent letters and recipes extolling the benefits; the Old Herb Doctor was compiled from this information to let other customers know how other customers had used herbs and the good results they obtained from them. The business has been handed down from generation to generation on to his grandson David Meyer, still part of the organization, along with great-grandson Tim Cleland, current president of the company. In 1990, the company moved into a more modern facility in Indiana. Although no longer a grower of herbs, Indiana Botanic Gardens sells vitamins, essential oils, beauty care products, other nutritional supplements in addition to being a distributor of bulk herbals; the Hobart location has a retail store that contains the majority of the Botanic Choice line and sells wholesale products.

The bulk of the business continues to be derived from mail order catalog sales. The old IBG building is still standing in Hammond, IN off of I-80/94. For those individuals that are familiar with the area, Reaper's Realm Haunted Mansion is housed in the building Joseph Meyer built in 1926. In 1998, the United

A fudge factor is an ad hoc quantity or element introduced into a calculation, formula or model in order to make it fit observations or expectations. Known as a "Correction Coefficient", defined by: κ c = Experimental value Theoretical value Examples include Einstein's Cosmological Constant, dark energy, the initial proposals of dark matter and inflation; some quantities in scientific theory are set arbitrarily according to measured results rather than by calculation. However, in the case of these fundamental constants, their arbitrariness is explicit. To suggest that other calculations may include a "fudge factor" may suggest that the calculation has been somehow tampered with to make results give a misleadingly good match to experimental data. In theoretical physics, when Einstein tried to produce a general theory of relativity, he found that the theory seemed to predict the gravitational collapse of the universe: it seemed that the universe should either be expanding or collapsing, to produce a model in which the universe was static and stable, he introduced an expansionist variable, whose sole purpose was to cancel out the cumulative effects of gravitation.

He called this, "the biggest blunder of my life." A common feature of "fudge factors" in science is their arbitrariness, their retrospective nature. However, in project management it is common to build a certain error margin into the predicted "resource cost" of a project to make predictions more realistic: there are many unforeseen factors that may delay a project or make it more costly, but few factors that could result in it being delivered before time or under the calculated budget... so to some degree, "unexpected" overruns are to be expected if their precise nature can't be predicted in advance. Experienced planners may know that a certain type of project will tend to overrun by a certain percentage of its calculated resource requirements, may multiply the "ideal" calculations by a safety margin to produce a more realistic estimate, this margin may sometimes be referred to as a fudge factor. However, when planning ahead for expected unpredictabilities, these "error margins" are assigned other, more specific names: for instance in warehouse stock control, where a certain amount of stock is expected to disappear through damage, pilfering or other unexplained problems, the discrepancy is referred to as shrinkage.

In engineering, a "fudge factor" may be introduced to allow a margin of error in unknown quantities. Anthropic principle Confidence interval plug

The Cunninghams were an American band formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington. Described as power-pop or pop-punk, The Cunninghams made one album, Zeroed Out, released in 1997 via Revolution Records/Warner Bros. Records. Members included Eric Craig, Scott Bickham, Eliot Freed and Johnny Martin; the Cunninghams formed out of the ashes of Seattle rock band Jesus Headtrip in the spring of 1996 by vocalist Seven Pearson, guitarists Eric Craig and Scott Bickham. Soon after recording demos for Giant Records, drummer Eliot Freed joined the fold and the band began playing the transitioning Northwest club scene. By the winter of 1996, the band was picked up by newly re-tooled label Revolution Records, headed by Irving Azoff; the Cunninghams debut album, Zeroed Out, was released May 20, 1997, was produced by Don Gilmore and mixed by Tom Lord-Alge. Los Angeles bassist and vocalist Johnny Martin was added to the line-up and the single "Bottle Rockets" debuted as the third-most-added song at rock and alternative radio, behind only Collective Soul and The Wallflowers.

The band toured behind the album, opening up for Matchbox Twenty, Cheap Trick, INXS, Third Eye Blind. The accompanying music video for the "Bottle Rockets" single, directed by Nigel Dick caught airplay on MTV's 120 Minutes and was added to regular rotation on MTV2; the band performed on MTV's Road Rules with Third Eye Blind, as well as MTV variety show Oddville, in addition to having several tracks used on MTV's Road Rules and The Real World. By the end of 1997, the band had appeared on CNN's Showbiz Tonight, performed with Blur on Rockline, live at KNDD's Endfest in Seattle with headliners such as The Offspring, Radiohead, Matchbox Twenty and at St. Louis's Pointfest with headliners such as Cheap Trick, Beck. By 1998 the band parted ways with vocalist Seven Pearson and brought in Vancouver writer and vocalist Wenzel Templeton of the band The Daisy Chain; the newly fronted band wrote and produced new music for Revolution Records. Since Pearson and Craig were contractual key writers, firing Pearson had nullified the band's record contract.

The band had unknowingly put themselves into an option situation. While the band was recovering from turmoil, the label was just entering into it. Label-head Azoff began gutting the staff and most of the artists; the band renamed themselves Boy Girl Radio and proceeded to headline shows in Seattle and showcase in Los Angeles at The Opium Den and The Viper Room in search of a new label home. Upon returning from Los Angeles empty-handed, Templeton returned to Vancouver and the Cunninghams disbanded. In 1999, while Bickham and Freed remained in Seattle, Craig relocated to Los Angeles and took a position within Dreamworks Records marketing department. Pearson and Martin relocated to Los Angeles, where they formed the band Jimmy Girl. On February 17, 2001 Pearson hanged himself in his Los Angeles apartment. Johnny Martin went on to become a member of the Los Angeles rock band The Chelsea Smiles. In 2001 Craig and Freed formed a new band called The Blue Mondays; the lineup was rounded out by singer/songwriter John Heintz, keyboardist Jamie Bennett and bassist Rodney Mollura.

The newly formed group was courted by several major labels and signed by executive Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records. Next the band wrote some 75 songs, by the end of 2002 headed into the studio with producer Ron Aniello to produce their debut album, Every Waking Moment. Upon completion, the album was delivered to Interscope. After months of discussion in regard to the sound of the album, the band executed a clause in their contract and departed Interscope before the album would be released. In the spring of 2003, Craig accepted a position with Lakeshore Entertainment as Director of A&R and Music Supervision. In summer 2005 Wenzel Templeton and Eric Craig completed a new track, "Miss Disinformation Junkie", under Wenzel Templeton's moniker Zero The Antistar that can be heard on the album The Broken Electric Lullaby. In the winter of 2006 Eliot Freed returned to Seattle. Johnny Martin continues to play with various artists. 1997: Zeroed Out – The Cunninghams 1998: One Small Step – Boy Girl Radio 2003: Every Waking Moment – Daysleeper 2012: The Broken Electric Lullaby – Zero The Antistar The Cunninghams Eric Craig on Allmusic John Heintz on Allmusic The Cunninghams on Allmusic Notes on Seven Pearson on Michael Hutchence Official site

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2004/39/EC as subsequently amended is a European Union law that provides harmonised regulation for investment services across the 30 member states of the European Economic Area - the 27 EU member states plus Iceland and Liechtenstein. The directive's main objectives are to increase competition and investor protection in investment services; as of the effective date, 1 November 2007, it replaced the Investment Services Directive. MiFID is the cornerstone of the European Commission's Financial Services Action Plan, whose 42 measures will change how EU financial service markets operate. MiFID is the most significant piece of legislation introduced under the Lamfalussy procedure designed to accelerate the adopting of legislation based on a four-level approach recommended by the Committee of Wise Men chaired by Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy. There are three other "Lamfalussy Directives"—the Prospectus Directive, the Market Abuse Directive and the Transparency Directive.

MiFID retained the principles of the EU "passport" introduced by the Investment Services Directive but introduced the concept of "maximum harmonization" which places more emphasis on home state supervision. This is a change from the prior EU financial service legislation which featured a "minimum harmonization and mutual recognition" concept. "Maximum harmonization" does not permit states to be "super equivalent" or to "gold-plate" EU requirements detrimental to a "level playing field". Another change was the abolition of the "concentration rule" in which member states could require investment firms to route client orders through regulated markets; the MiFID Level 1 Directive 2004/39/EC, implemented through the standard co-decision procedure of the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, sets out a detailed framework for the legislation. Twenty articles of this directive specified technical implementation measures; these measures were adopted by the European Commission, based on technical advice from the Committee of European Securities Regulators and negotiations in the European Securities Committee with oversight by the European Parliament.

Implementation measures in the form of a Commission Directive and Commission Regulation were published on 2 September 2006. After its initial implementation, MiFID was intended to be reviewed. After extensive discussion and debate, in April 2014, the European Parliament approved both MiFID II, an updated version of the original MiFID law, MiFID II's accompanying regulation, MiFIR; the directive and regulation include fewer exemptions and expand the scope of the original MiFID to cover a larger group of companies and financial products. Both MiFID II and MiFIR are effective from 3 January 2018. MiFID was intended to replace the Investment Services Directive, adopted in 1993; the law creates a single market for investment services and activities, which improves the competitiveness in EU markets. While the original law did succeed in lowering prices and expanding choices for investors, weaknesses in ISD's structure became apparent during the financial crisis in 2008. MiFID was intended to make changes to share-trading, it set guidelines for the use of related financial instruments.

The law was introduced in order to reduce systemic risk and strengthen existing investor protections. During the approval process for MiFID, a proposal from the European Commission was read by European Parliament in March 2004. In April 2006, the Commission published consultation responses it received in 2005. In June 2006, the Commission published a new draft of MiFID; the EC and Parliament discussed. A second reading of the legislature by both Parliament and the Commission followed. MiFID was introduced under the Lamfalussy procedure, designed to accelerate the adoption of legislation based on a four-level approach recommended by the Committee of Wise Men; the Committee was chaired by Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy. There are three other "Lamfalussy Directives," including the Prospectus Directive, the Market Abuse Directive and the Transparency Directive; the MiFID Level 1 Directive 2004/39/EC, implemented through the standard co-decision procedure of the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, sets out a detailed framework for the legislation.

It amends Council Directives 85/611/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directive 2000/12/EC and repeals Council Directive 93/22/EEC, Investment Services Directive adopted in 1993. Twenty articles of this directive specified technical implementation measures; these measures were adopted by the European Commission, based on technical advice from the Committee of European Securities Regulators and negotiations in the European Securities Committee with oversight by the European Parliament. Implementation measures in the form of a Commission Directive and Commission Regulation were published on 2 September 2006. To determine which firms are affected by MiFID and which are not, MiFID distinguishes between "investment services and activities" and "ancillary services". More detail on the services in each category can be found in Annex 1 Sections A and B of the MiFID Level 1 Directive. If a firm performs investment services and activities, it is subject to MiFID in respect both of these and of ancillary services. However, if a firm only performs ancillary services, it is not subject to MiFID.

MiFID covers all tradable financial p

Flight from the Dark is the first installment in the award-winning Lone Wolf book series created by Joe Dever. The reader is allowed to choose five Kai Disciplines from a list of ten, is given meagre equipment; because the reader has no equipment from previous books, some disciplines, most notably Weapon Skill, may not be useful at the start of the adventure. This makes initial discipline choices and careful movement through the book more important than in some books, it is however possible to get through the adventure with little to no combat, allowing an astute reader to succeed with weak Combat Skill and Endurance. According to sales figures, this first book sold over 100,000 copies in its first month of publication alone; the 2007 extended version has been critically praised. White Dwarf #60 Mongoose Publishing republished the book in 2007, featuring new internal artwork by Richard Longmore, an extended version of the story, extensively rewritten by Joe Dever. Among the changes made, the start of the adventure is different to the original version.

Instead of being knocked out by a branch, Silent Wolf is present at the Monastery at the time of the attack of the Darklords. He fights his way to the top of Tower of the Sun to activate a beacon that will alert all of Sommerlund of the attack; the re-release was shortlisted for the 2008 Origins Fiction Award. Gamebooks - Lone Wolf Gamebooks - Flight from the Dark Project Aon - HTML Version Quest-Book - russian version