title: Domain-independent programming by demonstration in existing applications

authors: Paynter, Gordon W.

subjects: computer science

abstract: This paper describes Familiar, a domain- independent programming by demonstration system for automating iterative tasks in existing, unmodified applications on a popular commercial platform. Familiar is domain- independent in an immediate and practical sense: it requires no domain knowledge from the developer and works immediately with new applications as soon as they are installed. Based on the AppleScript language, the system demonstrates that commercial operating systems are mature enough to support practical, domain- independent programming by demonstration – but only just, for the work exposes many deficiencies.

text: Domain-independent programming by demonstration in existing applications This paper describes Familiar, a domain- independent programming by demonstration system for automating iterative tasks in existing, unmodified applications on a popular commercial platform. Familiar is domain- independent in an immediate and practical sense: it requires no domain knowledge from the developer and works immediately with new applications as soon as they are installed. Based on the AppleScript language, the system demonstrates that commercial operating systems are mature enough to support practical, domain- independent programming by demonstration – but only just, for the work exposes many deficiencies.

year: 2001-02

title: The antibacterial activity of honey against coagulase-negative staphylococci

authors: French, Vanessa

subjects: manuka honey

abstract: Development of antibiotic-resistant strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci has complicated the management of infections associated with the use of invasive medical devices, and innovative treatment and prophylactic options are needed. Honey is increasingly being used to treat infected wounds, but little is known about its effectiveness against coagulase-negative staphylococci. The aim of this study was to determine the minimum active dilution of two standardized, representative honeys for 18 clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci.

text: The antibacterial activity of honey against coagulase-negative staphylococci Development of antibiotic-resistant strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci has complicated the management of infections associated with the use of invasive medical devices, and innovative treatment and prophylactic options are needed. Honey is increasingly being used to treat infected wounds, but little is known about its effectiveness against coagulase-negative staphylococci. The aim of this study was to determine the minimum active dilution of two standardized, representative honeys for 18 clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci.

year: 2005

title: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: Matariki

abstract: The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

text: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

year: 2011