title: Automating iterative tasks with programming by demonstration

authors: Paynter, Gordon W.

subjects: programming by demonstration

abstract: Programming by demonstration is an end-user programming technique that allows people to create programs by showing the computer examples of what they want to do. Users do not need specialised programming skills. Instead, they instruct the computer by demonstrating examples, much as they might show another person how to do the task. Programming by demonstration empowers users to create programs that perform tedious and time-consuming computer chores. However, it is not in widespread use, and is instead confined to research applications that end users never see. This makes it difficult to evaluate programming by demonstration tools and techniques.

This thesis claims that domain-independent programming by demonstration can be made available in existing applications and used to automate iterative tasks by end users. It is supported by Familiar, a domain-independent, AppleScript-based programming-by-demonstration tool embodying standard machine learning algorithms. Familiar is designed for end users, so works in the existing applications that they regularly use.

The assertion that programming by demonstration can be made available in existing applications is validated by identifying the relevant platform requirements and a range of platforms that meet them. A detailed scrutiny of AppleScript highlights problems with the architecture and with many implementations, and yields a set of guidelines for designing applications that support programming-by-demonstration.

An evaluation shows that end users are capable of using programming by demonstration to automate iterative tasks. However, the subjects tended to prefer other tools, choosing Familiar only when the alternatives were unsuitable or unavailable. Familiar's inferencing is evaluated on an extensive set of examples, highlighting the tasks it can perform and the functionality it requires.

text: Automating iterative tasks with programming by demonstration Programming by demonstration is an end-user programming technique that allows people to create programs by showing the computer examples of what they want to do. Users do not need specialised programming skills. Instead, they instruct the computer by demonstrating examples, much as they might show another person how to do the task. Programming by demonstration empowers users to create programs that perform tedious and time-consuming computer chores. However, it is not in widespread use, and is instead confined to research applications that end users never see. This makes it difficult to evaluate programming by demonstration tools and techniques.

This thesis claims that domain-independent programming by demonstration can be made available in existing applications and used to automate iterative tasks by end users. It is supported by Familiar, a domain-independent, AppleScript-based programming-by-demonstration tool embodying standard machine learning algorithms. Familiar is designed for end users, so works in the existing applications that they regularly use.

The assertion that programming by demonstration can be made available in existing applications is validated by identifying the relevant platform requirements and a range of platforms that meet them. A detailed scrutiny of AppleScript highlights problems with the architecture and with many implementations, and yields a set of guidelines for designing applications that support programming-by-demonstration.

An evaluation shows that end users are capable of using programming by demonstration to automate iterative tasks. However, the subjects tended to prefer other tools, choosing Familiar only when the alternatives were unsuitable or unavailable. Familiar's inferencing is evaluated on an extensive set of examples, highlighting the tasks it can perform and the functionality it requires.

year: 2000

title: Petrogenesis of Cenozoic, alkalic volcanic lineages at Mount Morning, West Antarctica and their entrained lithospheric mantle xenoliths: Lithospheric versus asthenospheric mantle sources

authors: Martin, Adam P.

subjects: volcanic lineage

abstract: Two volcanic lineages are identified at Mount Morning, a Cenozoic to recent, eruptive centre in the Ross Sea, West Antarctica, which is part of the McMurdo Volcanic Group. Both the older (at least 18.7–11.4 Ma), mildly alkalic, nepheline- or quartz-normative Mason Spur Lineage, and the younger (at least 6–0.02 Ma), nepheline normative, strongly alkalic Riviera Ridge Lineage evolved by fractional crystallization from nominally anhydrous (<0.5 wt% H2O) parental magmas. Both lineages are analogous to other, relatively anhydrous lineages in the McMurdo Volcanic Group and distinctly different from those in which kaersutite is present on the liquid line of descent. Sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) xenoliths entrained in Riviera Ridge Lineage rocks show trace element and isotopic Sr–Nd–Pb variation that is consistent with four-component mixing whereby depleted mantle has been refertilised by enriched, HIMU-like and Nb-enriched (carbonatite) components. Refertilization may have occurred c. 530–490 Ma ago when fluids derived from subduction associated with Gondwanaland amalgamation infiltrated the SCLM. Similar trace element and isotope variation (Sr–Nd–Pb) in Mount Morning basaltic rocks and entrained xenoliths suggests that the source for the basaltic magmas lies (at least in part) in the lithospheric mantle. It has long been recognized that Cenozoic volcanic rocks in Antarctica (Victoria Land – including Mount Morning – and Marie Byrd Land), Zealandia and eastern Australia share common chemical and isotopic source characteristics and they have been argued to collectively constitute a single diffuse alkaline magmatic province (DAMP). Source characteristic similarities suggest DAMP volcanic rocks inherit at least some of their trace element and isotopic characteristics from the lithospheric mantle. Super-chondritic Nb/Ta values measured in some SCLM xenoliths and volcanic rocks at Mount Morning, and in volcanic rocks across the DAMP, can be explained by addition of ⩽5 wt% carbonatite to the source. The DAMP SCLM is a significant Nb reservoir that offers an explanation for the Nb paradox.

text: Petrogenesis of Cenozoic, alkalic volcanic lineages at Mount Morning, West Antarctica and their entrained lithospheric mantle xenoliths: Lithospheric versus asthenospheric mantle sources Two volcanic lineages are identified at Mount Morning, a Cenozoic to recent, eruptive centre in the Ross Sea, West Antarctica, which is part of the McMurdo Volcanic Group. Both the older (at least 18.7–11.4 Ma), mildly alkalic, nepheline- or quartz-normative Mason Spur Lineage, and the younger (at least 6–0.02 Ma), nepheline normative, strongly alkalic Riviera Ridge Lineage evolved by fractional crystallization from nominally anhydrous (<0.5 wt% H2O) parental magmas. Both lineages are analogous to other, relatively anhydrous lineages in the McMurdo Volcanic Group and distinctly different from those in which kaersutite is present on the liquid line of descent. Sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) xenoliths entrained in Riviera Ridge Lineage rocks show trace element and isotopic Sr–Nd–Pb variation that is consistent with four-component mixing whereby depleted mantle has been refertilised by enriched, HIMU-like and Nb-enriched (carbonatite) components. Refertilization may have occurred c. 530–490 Ma ago when fluids derived from subduction associated with Gondwanaland amalgamation infiltrated the SCLM. Similar trace element and isotope variation (Sr–Nd–Pb) in Mount Morning basaltic rocks and entrained xenoliths suggests that the source for the basaltic magmas lies (at least in part) in the lithospheric mantle. It has long been recognized that Cenozoic volcanic rocks in Antarctica (Victoria Land – including Mount Morning – and Marie Byrd Land), Zealandia and eastern Australia share common chemical and isotopic source characteristics and they have been argued to collectively constitute a single diffuse alkaline magmatic province (DAMP). Source characteristic similarities suggest DAMP volcanic rocks inherit at least some of their trace element and isotopic characteristics from the lithospheric mantle. Super-chondritic Nb/Ta values measured in some SCLM xenoliths and volcanic rocks at Mount Morning, and in volcanic rocks across the DAMP, can be explained by addition of ⩽5 wt% carbonatite to the source. The DAMP SCLM is a significant Nb reservoir that offers an explanation for the Nb paradox.

year: 2013

title: Breaking the browsing barrier for historic search of newspaper texts

authors: Keegan, Te Taka Adrian Gregory

subjects: computer science

abstract: Traditionally, to find information in a newspaper collection it has been necessary to painstakingly browse through the individual issues hoping that relevant words will catch your eye. Researchers of New Zealand’s encounter history received a boost when, in 1996, the Alexander Turnbull Library produced a collection on microfiche totaling almost 18,000 pages and covering a printing period from 1842 to 1933. While having all the newspapers in a single collection was a large step forward, browsing or searching for information in this microfiche collection was still time consuming.
By incorporating the collection into a digital library with an Internet interface, and by enabling full-text search, we have broken this browsing barrier. Making the information available this way is even more significant as the majority of the collection is written in the Māori language; we have created a Māori language resource that is sorely needed by education and research institutes, and one that provides quick and accurate access to the previously obscure source. The process involved in developing this unique digital library collection, the advantages of traditional newspaper stored in this medium, and the possibilities that we intend to investigate in the future, will be discussed in this paper.

text: Breaking the browsing barrier for historic search of newspaper texts Traditionally, to find information in a newspaper collection it has been necessary to painstakingly browse through the individual issues hoping that relevant words will catch your eye. Researchers of New Zealand’s encounter history received a boost when, in 1996, the Alexander Turnbull Library produced a collection on microfiche totaling almost 18,000 pages and covering a printing period from 1842 to 1933. While having all the newspapers in a single collection was a large step forward, browsing or searching for information in this microfiche collection was still time consuming.
By incorporating the collection into a digital library with an Internet interface, and by enabling full-text search, we have broken this browsing barrier. Making the information available this way is even more significant as the majority of the collection is written in the Māori language; we have created a Māori language resource that is sorely needed by education and research institutes, and one that provides quick and accurate access to the previously obscure source. The process involved in developing this unique digital library collection, the advantages of traditional newspaper stored in this medium, and the possibilities that we intend to investigate in the future, will be discussed in this paper.

year: 2001