Beer was discovered accidentally as a result of grains being left in water and undergoing fermentation. The process of making beer involves converting the starches in grains (such as barley or wheat) into sugars, which are then fermented by yeast to produce alcohol. It was often consumed as a safer alternative to water, which could be contaminated with disease-causing pathogens.
Beer was also used in religious ceremonies and was considered a valuable commodity for trade. Over time, beer-making techniques spread throughout the world, and different regions developed their own unique styles of beer; now supported by artificial intelligence algorithms that analyze chemical compounds to identify specific flavor and aroma profiles for more nuanced flavors.
Abstract: The art of brewing beer has a long tradition that dates back to the very dawn of civilization. While the brewing process has been automated to a great extent, the creation of new beer recipes remains the result of creativity and human expertise with only minor support from software to validate chemical constraints. We collected a dataset of 157,000 publicly available recipes from all over the world and created a transformer-based model to support the creative process in brewing by suggesting new beer recipe templates. As a proof of concept, we crafted the IPA “Deeper” along a recipe generated by our model. Over 100 international newspapers and radio stations have reported on the first AI-crafted beer from Switzerland over the past few months. For the first time, this paper reveals the underlying pipeline architecture of eight transformer networks trained end-to-end that made this remarkable success possible.
“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow,
yet we forget that he is someone today.”
– Stacia Tauscher
Today we run a status check on the stream of technical and management standards evolving to assure the highest possible level of security in education communities. The literature expands significantly from an assortment of national standards-setting bodies, trade associations, ad hoc consortia and open source standards developers. CLICK HERE for a sample of our work in this domain.
School security is big business in the United States. According to a report by Markets and Markets, the global school and campus security market size was valued at USD 14.0 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 21.7 billion by 2025, at a combined annual growth rate of 7.2% during the forecast period. Another report by Research And Markets estimates that the US school security market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 8% between 2020 and 2025, driven by factors such as increasing incidents of school violence, rising demand for access control and surveillance systems, and increasing government funding for school safety initiatives.
Because the pace of the combined annual growth rate of the school and campus security market is greater than the growth rate of the education “industry” itself, we’ve necessarily had to break down our approach to this topic into modules:
Security 100. A survey of all the technical and management codes and standards for all educational settings — day care, K-12, higher education and university affiliated healthcare occupancies.
Security 200. Queries into the most recent public consultations on the components and interoperability* of supporting technologies
Video surveillance: indoor and outdoor cameras, cameras with night vision and motion detection capabilities and cameras that can be integrated with other security systems for enhanced monitoring and control.
Access control:doors, remote locking, privacy and considerations for persons with disabilities.
Panic alarms: These devices allow staff and students to quickly and discreetly alert authorities in case of an emergency.
Metal detectors: These devices scan for weapons and other prohibited items as people enter the school.
Mass notification systems: These systems allow school administrators to quickly send emergency alerts and notifications to students, staff, and parents.
Intrusion detection systems: These systems use sensors to detect unauthorized entry and trigger an alarm.
GPS tracking systems: These systems allow school officials to monitor the location of school buses and track the movements of students during field trips and other off-campus activities.
Security 300. Regulatory and management codes and standards; a great deal of which are self-referencing.
As always, we reckon first cost and long-term maintenance cost, including software maintenance for the information and communication technologies (i.e. anything with wires) installed in the United States. Cybersecurity is outside our wheelhouse and beyond our expertise. In order to do any of the foregoing reasonably well, we have to leave cybersecurity standards to others.
When your students love the school security guard- he gets flowers! Thanks, Steve! You are the BEST and we appreciate your hard work keeping us safe and building relationships! pic.twitter.com/VCJQ6y9S44
Education Community Safety catalog is one of the fast-growing catalogs of best practice literature. In developing district security plans, K-12 school leaders stress that school safety is a cross-functional responsibility and every individual’s participation drives the success of overall safety protocols. We link a small sample below and update ahead of every Security colloquium.
* Interoperability refers to the ability of different technologies or systems to communicate and work together seamlessly. In the context of school security technologies, interoperability can help improve the effectiveness of security systems and make it easier for school personnel to manage and respond to potential security threats. Here’s what we look for:
Standardization: By standardizing communication protocols and data formats, school security technologies can be made more compatible with each other, making it easier for different systems to communicate and share information.
Integration: School security technologies can be integrated with each other to provide a more comprehensive security solution. For example, access control systems can be integrated with video surveillance systems to automatically trigger alerts when an unauthorized person enters a restricted area.
Open Architecture: Open architecture solutions enable different security systems to be connected and communicate with each other regardless of their manufacturer or supplier. This approach makes it easier to integrate different technologies and avoid vendor lock-in.
Cloud-based Solutions: Cloud-based security solutions can enable interoperability by providing a centralized platform for managing and monitoring different security systems. This approach can also simplify the deployment of security technologies across multiple locations.
Collaboration: School security technology providers can work together to develop interoperability standards and best practices that can be adopted across the industry. Collaboration can help drive innovation and improve the effectiveness of security systems.
The original University of Michigan standards advocacy enterprise (see ABOUT) began following the evolution of NFPA 730 and NFPA 731 since the 2008 Edition. That enterprise began a collaboration with trade associations and subject matter experts from other universities (notably Georgetown University and Evergreen State University) to advocate user-interest concepts in the 2011 edition. A summary of advocacy action is summarized in the links below:
in the appeared in a trade association journal Facilities Manager:
An online presentation by Michael C. Peele (Georgetown University) — one of the voting members of NFPA 730 and NFPA 731 technical committees– was recorded and is linked below.
Public comment on the First Draft of the 2026 Edition will be received until January 3, 2025. You may key in your own ideas by clicking in to our user-interest Public Consultation Meeting Point or by communicating directly with the NFPA.
This title remains on the standing agenda of our Security colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.
At the 1853 New York World’s Fair Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut by an axeman. The platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt; thus proving the safety locking mechanism he had invented will work. These elevators quickly became the type in most common usage and made vertical living possible.
Most large research universities have 100 – 1000 elevators that are highly regulated, maintained by highly regulated service personnel and inspected by highly trained conformance operatives; thus our primary interest in state-specific regulations. We have a secondary interest in innovation in the technology generally. Many sustainability goals urged in academic circles — which include greater population density in smaller areas — are challenged by mobility issues.
From the project prospectus:
“…The main feature of these products is that they are an integral part of industrial, residential or public buildings. Consequently, they should be adaptable to the technical and architectural constraints of such buildings. They must also meet the capacity requirements imposed by the intended use of the building. These products are considered as means of transport and therefore represent an essential component of the functional life of the buildings in which they are installed. Contrary to most public means of transport, they are intended for free use and operation by their passengers, which makes the integration of safety an essential concern…”
We maintain the work products of this committee on the standing agendas of our Mechanical, Elevator and Global colloquia; open to everyone. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.
Michigan Stadium — the largest collegiate stadium in the world — has 19 elevators.
Today we break form from our normal custom of assessing conceptual movement in stabilized safety and sustainability standards for education settlements and, instead, venture into a domain that will inform nearly everything we do; and with gathering pace.
We begin with the action among the experts in the organizations listed below:
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):
NIST’s Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization: NIST is working on standardizing cryptographic algorithms that are secure against quantum attacks. The goal is to ensure that data remains secure even with the advent of quantum computers. This involves selecting algorithms through an open competition, which began in 2016, and is still ongoing.
Quantum Information Program: NIST conducts research and develops standards related to quantum information science, including quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum metrology.
Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C):
Formed as part of the National Quantum Initiative Act, QED-C aims to enable and grow the quantum industry in the U.S. It involves various stakeholders, including industry, academic institutions, and government agencies, working together to identify and address standards and other needs to foster a robust quantum ecosystem.
National Quantum Initiative (NQI):
Established by the National Quantum Initiative Act in 2018, NQI coordinates efforts across multiple agencies, including NIST, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Science Foundation (NSF), to advance quantum information science. This includes the development of standards, infrastructure, and research to support quantum technologies.
International Standards:
While primarily international, organizations like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have working groups focusing on quantum technologies. U.S. participation in these groups helps ensure that global standards align with U.S. interests and priorities.
Federal Agencies and Research Programs:
The DOE, NSF, and other federal agencies fund research and development in quantum computing, which often includes aspects related to standards and best practices. For example, the DOE’s Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers and NSF’s Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes.
Industry-Led Initiatives:
Several industry consortia and companies are actively involved in developing quantum computing standards. Organizations like the IEEE have working groups focused on quantum computing and quantum communications standards.
Overall, the U.S. approach to quantum computing standards is multifaceted, involving federal agencies, industry consortia, academic research, and participation in international standard-setting bodies.
Andrej Karpathy (Stanford, OpenAI): Introduction to Large Language Models
Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie | Dutch East India Company
FM Global is one of several organizations that produce technical and business documents that set the standard of care for risk management in education facilities. These standards — Property Loss Prevention Data Sheets — contribute to the reduction in the risk of property loss due to fire, weather conditions, and failure of electrical or mechanical equipment. They incorporate nearly 200 years of property loss experience, research and engineering results, as well as input from consensus standards committees, equipment manufacturers and others.
In July FM Global updated its standard FM 2510 Flood Abatement Equipment which should interest flood barrier manufacturers, standard authorities, industrial and commercial facilities looking to protect their buildings from riverline flooding conditions.
The following updates were proposed and mostly adopted:
Modifications to the opening barrier protocol to include water performance testing at lower depths;
Additional tests that apply to open-cellular rubber compounds (i.e., foam-type rubber) which are commonly used as gaskets on flood barriers need to be added to the Standard to sufficiently assess their quality;
Addition of adhesive testing. Many barrier designs use adhesives to bond the gasket material to the barrier. Adhesives are not addressed under the current protocol; Modify the flood abatement pump section to clarify approval of pump packages vs. wet-end only;
Additional requirements for electric drive and submersible flood pumps;
Modifications to backwater valve section to be inclusive of all types of “backwater valves” besides the traditional check valve.
Additional requirements for waterproofing products for building penetrations. Products in this category include collars, plugs, elastomeric seals, and types of putty.
This standard also contains test requirements for the performance of flood barriers, flood mitigation pumps, backwater valves, and waterproofing products for building penetrations, as well as an evaluation of the components comprising these products to assure reliability in the barrier’s performance.
While there are a number of noteworthy colleges and universities that have grown near rivers and lakes — twenty-five of which are listed HERE — severe weather and system failures present flooding risks to them all.
Another Data Sheet — I-40 Floods — was updated in October. Both Data Sheets are available for download at the link below:
You will need to set up (free) access credentials.
You may contact FM Global directly: Josephine Mahnken, (781) 255-4813, josephine.mahnken@fmapprovals.com, 1151 Boston-Providence Turnpike, Norwood, MA 02062
Our “door” is open every day at 11 AM Eastern time to discuss any consensus document that sets the standard of care for the emergent #SmartCampus. Additionally, we dedicate one session per month to Management and Water standards. See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Evensong is a traditional Anglican choral service that takes place in the late afternoon or early evening, typically around sunset. It is also known as Evening Prayer or Vespers.
The service consists of a series of prayers, psalms, canticles, and readings from the Bible, which are sung or chanted by a choir in four-part harmony. The choral music often features elaborate harmonies and complex counterpoint, and is usually accompanied by an organ or other instruments.
Evensong has been an important part of the British choral tradition for centuries, and is still performed in many Anglican churches throughout the UK and beyond. The tradition is particularly strong in Oxford and Cambridge, where the famous college choirs perform regular Evensong services that are open to the public.
The origins of Evensong can be traced back to the monastic offices of the Middle Ages, when monks would gather in the evening to sing the psalms and other prayers. Over time, these services evolved into more elaborate and musically sophisticated forms, which were eventually adopted by the Anglican Church and other Protestant denominations.
Today, Evensong is appreciated for its beauty and spiritual depth, as well as its contribution to the rich heritage of British choral music.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
