Petal Twig

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, PRICAI 2004, held in Auckland, New Zealand in August 2004. The 94 revised full papers and 45 revised poster papers presented together with 3 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from 356 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on logic and reasoning, knowledge representation and search, ontologies, planning, constraint satisfaction, machine learning, computational learning, Bayesian networks, evolutionary computing, neural networks, fuzzy logic, data mining, classification and clustering, case-based reasoning, information retrieval, agent technology, robotics, bioinformatics, image processing and computer vision, natural language processing, and speech understanding and interaction.

This is an open access book. The International Conference of Green Technology (ICGT) is an annual multidisciplinary forum for promoting and fostering interactions between researchers, scientists, academia, and related industrial communities in studying the development of science and green technology. These conferences introduce newcomers to the field, keep practitioners aware of current developments, and provide unparalleled networking opportunities. Innovative science and technology must be developed to offered solutions for new normal adaptation in Post pandemic life in all fields. Therefore, “Empowering innovative science and technology for future environmental perspective” become the main topic of The 12th ICGT 2022. Considering the uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak, The 12th ICGT 2022 was held fully hybrid on October 26-27, 2022. The scientific programs will include keynote lectures, plenary lectures and invited lectures in parallel sessions. All participants will have virtual access to join the conferences and all authors will have opportunities to present work either virtually or on-site, in Malang Indonesia.

Paint the classic subjects that inspired ancient Chinese masters. This book introduces the venerable art of painting with ink on rice paper using traditional techniques developed over a thousand years ago. It is ideal for a beginner hoping to practice a large variety of techniques and subjects. With this practical guide, you will learn to paint: Towering landscapes The elegant Four Gentlemen Plants like bamboo, orchids, plum blossoms, and chrysanthemums Five animals from the Chinese Zodiac The basic strokes used in calligraphy And more! Known as a "soft martial art," brush painting is as meditative as it is artistic. As you move through the lessons and exercises, you'll gain insight into and appreciation for the symbolism, historical context, techniques, and mindfulness associated with this ancient art form.

In the Palace of Versailles there is a fabulous golden clock, made for Louis XV by the king’s engineer, Claude-Siméon Passemant. The astronomical clock shows the phases of the moon and the movements of the planets, and it will tell time—hours, minutes, seconds, and even sixtieths of seconds—until the year 9999. Passemant’s clock brings the nature of time into sharp focus in Julia Kristeva’s intricate, poetic novel The Enchanted Clock. Nivi Delisle, a psychoanalyst and magazine editor, nearly drowns while swimming off the Île de Ré; the astrophysicist Theo Passemant fishes her out of the water. They become lovers. While Theo wonders if he is descended from the clockmaker Passemant, Nivi’s son Stan, who suffers from occasional comas, develops a passion for the remarkable clock at Versailles. Soon Nivi is fixated on its maker. But then the clock is stolen, and when a young writer for Nivi’s magazine mysteriously dies, the clock is found near his body. The Enchanted Clock combines past and present, jumping back and forth between points of view and across eras from eighteenth-century Versailles to the present day. Its stylistically inventive narrative voices bring both immediacy and depth to our understanding of consciousness. Nivi’s life resembles her creator’s in many respects, coloring Kristeva’s customary erudition with autobiographical poignancy. Part detective mystery, part historical fiction, The Enchanted Clock is a philosophically and linguistically multifaceted novel, full of poetic ruminations on memory, love, and the transcendence of linear time. It is one of the most illuminating works of one of France’s great writers and thinkers.

Produce mind-blowing visual effects with Autodesk Maya. Gain the practical skills and knowledge you need to recreate phenomena critical to visual effects work, including fire, water, smoke, explosions, and destruction, as well as their integration with real-world film and video. In Creating Visual Effects in Maya, Maya master Lee Lanier has combined the latest studio techniques with multi-chapter, hands-on projects and professionally-vetted workflows to bolster your CG toolkit. Engaging, full-color tutorials cover: Creating foliage, fire, and smoke with Paint Effects Growing Maya Fur and nHair on clothing, characters, and sets Replicating water, smoke, sparks, swarms, bubbles, and debris with nParticles and nCloth Controlling scenes and simulations with expressions and MEL, Python, and PyMEL scripting Adding dust, fog, smoke, rippling water, and fireballs with Fluid Effects containers Creating damage with Effects presets, deformers, and animated textures Matchmoving and motion tracking with Maya and MatchMover Creating complex destruction by combining rigid bodies, nParticles, nCloth, and Fluid Effects Setting up, rendering, and compositing mental ray render passes with Autodesk Composite, Adobe After Effects, and The Foundry Nuke The companion website (www.focalpress.com/cw/lanier) features a treasure trove of Maya, MatchMover, After Effects, and Nuke project files, image sequences, texture bitmaps, and MEL, Python, and PyMEL scripts, allowing you to immediately apply the techniques taught in the book.