Sink

“The desert and the ocean are realms of desolation on the surface. The desert is a place of bones, where the innards are turned out, to desiccate into dust. The ocean is a place of skin, rich outer membranes hiding thick juicy insides, laden with the soup of being. Inside out and outside in. These are worlds of things that implode or explode, and the only catalyst that determines the direction of eco-movement is the balance of water. Both worlds are deceptive, dangerous. Both, seething with hidden life. The only veil that stands between perception of what is underneath the desolate surface is your courage. Dare to breach the surface and sink.”

••~Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

San Diego: Beach Sunset

Colors are so beautiful. How unfortunate and sad that they must disappear into the night.
~~~F

Grace Ling

This is in San Diego!

More of my photos!

http://irungracepace.tumblr.com/tagged/photography

https://instagram.com/irungracepace

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Artificial Intelligence, Deep Neural Networks and Deep Learning: Oh My!!

♥In Love with Technology♥

I can’t explain how much I love learning about technological breakthroughs. I’m not scared in the least bit by much when it comes to the forefront of intellectualism. I recently read a hard copy article in the May 2015 issue of The Economist titled Artificial intelligence:
Rise of the machines. The byline says… “artificial intelligence scares people—excessively so?” Really? What a bunch of wimps!! People continue to fight enlightenment, progression and change to stay in boxes they have built. Not me.

At a speech in October 2014 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a scholar said that artificial intelligence (AI) was “summoning the demon.” People are paranoid that machines will take over in employment’s race for productivity. With industry powerhouses like Google and Amazon buying AI start-up companies, maybe human worries are justified? We will just find other jobs right? It’s called perseverance.

•Photo I snapped while reading the article in the library.•

Will computers continue to replace some of the things that people normally do? Probably. I loved this quote. “The torrent of data thrown off by the world’s internet-connected computers, tablets and smartphones, and the huge amounts of computing power now available for processing that torrent, means that their algorithms are more and more capable of understanding languages, recognizing images and the like.” Why didn’t I visit the San Diego Supercomputer Center many years ago when I had the chance? I also could have ditched my conference last October to go there! Now that would have been a real memory to cherish!

The article in The Economist said “signs of the AI boom are everywhere.” Google recently paid $400 million for DeepMind. Have you ever heard of DeepMind? If not, you should so check it out!! Pure awesomeness if you like video games. Just Google it and see. There is also a great article in The New Yorker which discusses how deep neural networks operate. Deep neural networks are used by companies like DeepMind. These artificial networks are much like the neural networks in the human brain. It is amazing to read about.

The newest form of AI tied to deep neural networks is now capable of “deep learning!” Computers can learn through the analysis of large amounts of data using algorithms. Freak out on the algorithm Facebook recently deployed. Did you think you were anonymous in that untagged photo? Think again… DeepFace “can recognise specific human faces in images around 97% of the time, even when those faces are partly hidden or poorly lit.” I want to be that smart and write programs like this. It’s not fair!! Male engineers created DeepFace and I give them tons of respect, but why are intelligent women often seen as  domineering? That’s not fair either.

•Smart Woman Army•

Another thing I found interesting in the article was that since most data is labeled by humans, and algorithms need that data to learn better, another race is on. It is a race to develop “unsupervised-learning” algorithms. This way, the need for human labeling is basically eliminated. How accurate will it be? I guess we will see. Artificial neural networks were invented in the 1950s by people with big brains who wanted bigger, faster, more accurate brains! I lovvvvve brains!! I am so not turned off by them!! Haha… These smart people were simulating the neurons and electrochemicals in a human brain to create artificial intelligence. It worked!!

♦"Just watch! Imma make my perfect woman!" (Dr.J before the chemical waste accident that birthed The Joker and this is not Harley Quinn)♦

If you are a brave fellow intellectual and enjoy all things mind blowing, you should read the article in The Economist. It so so worth the read. You can also learn about the interesting problem with AI. Do you know the one thing people can immediately identify that a computer simply can’t define? Porn… Yes… pornography. I guess machines provide plenty of access to porn, but don’t ask a damn machine to intelligently recognize porn lol. We can leave that type of analysis to the humans!

A New “San Diego” Theme

My new web site theme is about the ocean. This was a photo from my 2014 trip to San Diego, CA. I love this quote by Christopher Paolini (Eragon). He said… “The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.” The bay was beautiful first thing in the morning. I would love to spend hours writing near the water. Maybe one day I will go back to write and forget conferences!!

Kissing statue, San Diego

I love this sculpture by Seward Johnson. An amazing artist captured this moment between a sailor and nurse after WWII. I can only imagine what this man was “feeling” when he swept this woman up in his arms in real life. It’s part of Johnson’s Unconditional Surrender series. Feelings are so powerful. ~~~F

Pursuit of Life

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Infinite words but just one small life.

Beautiful photo. Magical place. I loved the last paragraph of this post from “Cool San Diego Sights.” ~~~~~F

“Our lives are finite. But the infinity that is contained in words can expand our lives. That is their purpose.”

Postcard from San Diego: Sunsets and Pelicans

Beautiful… From New Mexico, it’s just a dream.
~~~F

Perennial Pastimes

What is it about watching the sun set? The jewel-like colors in the sky? The feeling of being witness to that day’s curtain call? Or is it that magical feeling that comes from watching that last flash of light as the sun dips below the horizon–that blink-and-you might-miss-it moment? For me, it’s all three.

A National Geographic article on the science of sunsets says the sun sometimes appears as if it is raging against the dying of the light, but for me, the sun’s final act of the day is a moment of utter silence and absolute peace. If I can capture even a fraction of that with my camera, I feel lucky. On a recent evening on the pier at Ocean Beach in San Diego, I felt doubly lucky when I came across two brown pelicans, who, like the sun, were also calling it a night.

  

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Blackened Halibut

I have been cooking up some healthy, protein packed meals. Tonight it was some deliciously blackened Halibut with cauliflower. I have been eating blackened fish for a while, but I must say that this is one of the things I fell more in love with in San Diego. Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen (my fav in ABQ) has some awesome blackened fish as well. I am more conscious about sustainable and certified organic foods then ever before because it is important to me. Sadly, it is hard to be a vegan bodybuilder…though I know they do exist. I need to power up for the gym! 💪

Fragility

I broke the mug I carefully carried all the way home from California’s ocean side to my dusty state. With my extra loving care, it survived a long trip, but it was never intended to survive any further than that. If I could have kept it, I would have used it every single day. It would have been my favorite mug. It was a special souvenir to me. I guess I can keep the damaged mug as a reminder of fragility. I should just throw it away…that’s what most would do. I just know when things are one of a kind in my hand. Unique. Special. Irreplaceable. Unforgettable.

••The special mug I brought back from the 2014 ARMA International Conference. I thought this mug was a great reminder of the conference theme...Oceans of Opportunities.••

San Diego

This is a beautiful photograph.
~~~Felicia

Rolling Up Your Records Management Sleeves!

Amazing post Rafael! Loved it! So true. Great to see the perspective of a CRM/IG Professional who is well-rounded. I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves and to sweat. I am a bureau chief and I still move boxes. I’m a hard worker and it’s great to read the story of another like me! I added your site to my follows. I am a CDIM who qualified to sit for the CRM recently. Sadly…I failed my first test with almost two decades of experience in records and archives. At the ARMA Live Conference in San Diego last week, I attended the ICRM Business Meeting and Reception. I was glad I went. I met so many smart people who have failed tests. It made me feel better. If you have a chance, check out “San Diego” in my category cloud. This was a great read!! Smart, tough people rock!!! Roll those sleeves up!! 🙂
~~~F

The Bastard's Blog

We all know that labor intense records management projects, those in which repetitive, mundane grunt work is required, are avoided like the plague by employees and management alike.

Even when a project does happen to spark interest and garner support, once it moves past the planning stages it can begin to feel like nobody on the team wants to be bothered with the actual logistics. Suddenly everybody is a “thought leader” and “focused on strategy” and that’s okay… but maybe that’s also where some of our productivity issues originate. 

 

Nonetheless, what can emerge from these situations, albeit rarely, are new leaders, because these are also opportunities for individuals willing to actually roll up their sleeves. These are people who drive initiatives and projects forward because they’re more interested in getting the job done and learning something than getting (or taking) the credit.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish with…

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Home Sweat Home

~Workers install a new sign at Mandrills Gym in Santa Fe, New Mexico.~

Sunday was my first day back to my real gym after a trip to the ocean. There is nothing like working out in the city I love. On Sunday I slammed an aggressive chest/back workout. Though I was off my regular training schedule last week, I was glad I wasn’t set back one bit this week on strength. I like working out early in the day. When I got on the scale, I realized that my commitment to a relatively clean diet (with the exception of liquor) paid off. I didn’t eat any junk in San Diego. My body rewarded me with no scale tips. No…I’m not bulking!

Today was leg day and I squatted and hacked a plate like a champ. I even added a dime to my squat today. My goal is a plate and a quarter by the end of December. About 15 minutes into my leg workout, the power went out. It was funny to see several people quickly trickle out of the gym. Good excuse to bail I guess? Naw…the true blues stayed killing it in the dark. When killing it is second nature, you can do it with no light. You can do it with your eyes closed. You can do it in your sleep. I wasn’t surprised to see the handful of people I did who stayed to clank iron in the dark.

When I drove into the gym parking lot this morning, a new sign was going up. The workers measured and adjusted a big sign with the logo I have grown to love. It features an image of a powerful Mandrillus sphinx, the world’s largest monkey. Maybe I like the logo because it reminds me of training. Or…maybe I’m just an animal? While I stopped to take a picture, I thought… “It should say Home Sweat Home under Mandrills Gym.”

Most Memorable: ARMA Live Conference 2014~ San Diego, CA

~Expo Hall...Oxygen Party Bar~

I didn’t get to do everything I *really* wanted to do in San Diego, but aside from everything I was there to learn about…here is a list of my favorite/most memorable things.

•••••Hanging with smart people the whole time.🙌

•••••Witnessing a breathtaking, vibrant California sunrise.🌇

•••••Visiting an Oxygen Party Bar in the Expo Hall. My fragrance included “kiss me all over” and “sex on the beach.”💋

•••••The lovely scents and sights of San Diego.👀

•••••Amazing PowerPoint presentations for the opening session.🙊

•••••Broken Yolk Cafe☕

•••••Swimming under the stars.🌠

•••••A mind-blowing keynote presenter.✅

•••••How data can be compared to zombies.💻

•••••The beautiful night skyline.🌃

•••••Clean, manicured nails and hands.✋ I want them!!!!

•••••Walking 20 miles to get across the convention center.🏃

•••••Drinking by the ocean.⚓

•••••Night sounds of the city.🌉

•••••A long, hot bath.🛀

•••••Realizing how hard it must be to seamlessly coordinate such an intricate conference with so many attendees.📃

•••••The Crawl and Cocktail Party in the Expo Hall (except for some parts).🍺

•••••Cheering for Jackie to win the drawing.👏

•••••Joe’s Crab Shack😍💜

•••••Margaritaville🍸(yes…I know this is a martini)

Photo Journey: ARMA Live Conference 2014~ San Diego, CA

Notes: Case Study- How We Did It: Lessons from IG’s Smartest Peers

Case Study- How We Did It: Lessons from IG’s Smartest Peers (Enterprise Records Management at Comcast) presented by Ralph Furino, Comcast Corporate Records and Information Management and Tamara Hoagland, Information Management Specialst with Information First, Inc.

ARMA Live Conference
San Diego Convention Center

This session focused on the use of HP Records Manager (formerly HP TRIM). The software “is a scalable enterprise document and records management (EDRM) solution that simplifies the capture, management, security, and access to your information in business context.”

•••They ingest records using TRIMport as Text Tabbed Delimited files.

•••Metadata is extracted and
encrypted data is uploaded to a secure FTP site.

•••Files are decrypted in a batch program to concatenate multiple metadata files into one import file.

•••They are able to run an “empty container report” to see which images didn’t transfer.

•••The use WebDrawer is part of the  standard license of HP TRIM/RM.

•••Images displayed in WebDrawer are the masters and not a copy.

•••The system can be set up to host anonymous users, named users or super users.

•••Active Directory is used to control security with regard to anonymous access.

•••Searching is done via WebDrawer in a web portal.

•••Supports more than 1,300 viewer formats.

•••Records can be redacted electronically while preserving the integrity of the master image.

•••When records are destroyed, metadata is retained and the master digital image is overwritten 10 times, which is in accordance with federal destruction standards.

•••It was recommended (for data integrity) not to use leading zeros on any numeric field because data will be truncated and difficult to manipulate/search.

•••Make sure to complete an upgrade and user acceptance testing in a development environment before moving into a production environment.

•••Use the Software Development Kit (SDK) to develop automated electronic image imports instead of HPTrim port.

•••Back end database utilizes Oracle and SQL.

My questions were:

Is there a digital preservation module with HP Records Manager which allows for check sums and object validation? Answer was yes.

Is there a way to search multiple documents which have been retrieved and automatically identify confidential information for redaction? Answer was yes.