another potential campfire thread: TML math group(s) Fall, Winter?

To give you a previsionary hint of what would be radically more vital than the asphyxiating formalisms in computer programming or Badiou, see 

one of the most poetic works of the 20c.

Cheers :)
Xin Wei


On 2010-06-14, at 5:15 AM, Sha Xin Wei wrote:

This thread started last Spring for a very specific subgroup of TMLabbers who want to prepare for more sophisticated research in pattern recognition and media synthesis.  But I'm opening it as a knowledge opportunity for TMLabbers as a whole.

I propose to use some of the Thursday 4:00 - 5:30 campfires for this.  It will be occasional and partial use of the time but also open to all.

RSVP me directly, and join http://pattern.posterous.com/   if you're interested.

Xin Wei
Wild Academy Montreal


On 2010-06-14, at 5:07 AM, Sha Xin Wei wrote:

Hi I don't remember who raised their hands for learning math for art + media research, but I spoke with some of you about doing a study group.   This Fall I will invest some energy into doing this properly with the TML researchers.

There is an order to things:

Fall:
Linear Algebra
ODE's
intro to  Dynamical Systems
intro to Statistical Physics 

Winter
Topics:
Monte Carlo methods
Spectral methods 
(for PhD, philosophical work)
intro Differential Geometry
intro Topology
intro Measure Theory 

So we should move fast but do it well.   Take turns teaching each other.  I can give some orienting talks for Linear Algebra and ODE's and intro Dynamical Systems.   You must do or try to do exercises.

I will commit some of my time this Fall to work with you on this, but I expect you to do it smart, for big payoff: supple (not brittle gappy) knowledge.  This means you guys taking turns to lead the group.    Pick topics to absorb and present in working group.  For example Michael  can do a series on Monte Carlo for the group.

 I will work with the presenter in 1-1.   Everyone must do exercises.   I will not check or grade them or provide answers so recommend you work for example from Schaum outline series (or equivalent -- there are many texts with worked exercises).  I will pay for texts that we decide are useful.

Winter I will not have time for hand-holding, but at that point you should be ready to do special topics.  And then we can maybe also enroll new experts (Adrian?) if they have time and are suitably rewarded ;)

Then the audience splits into two: programmers / "makers", and writers / "theorists".

If the PhD's are interested, at that point, for those of you who have the basics, then I can give intros to some of the "real" math from riemannian geometry, point set topology, measure theory... with theorems and maybe one or two arguments to give you a flavor of how the theorems are made.    This will be off the cuff, but as real as we can make it.   I will not expect you to create proofs unless you can, but by the end of the year.  (someday :)  but by the end of the year, it would be great if you can follow a proof and understand some of the process of propositional adventure to which Stengers gestured.

This would be more useful for the philosophical investigations and for graduate research in engineering than for hacking.  Different audience different purpose, and different level of sophistication.  So it's up to you.  But by then I should have written the last chapter that I'll be revising: the math chapter.   We can decide in December.

After the ATACD (topology and cultural dynamics) conference in Barcelona, and this  recent one in Aberdeen on Lit+Math, I think there's definitely an opening for a new generation of informed discourse.  But I would very much like to do it in a way that is much more sophisticated as to mathematical content and to the ethos.  (Can you say "structuralism" ?!)   A symptom of the problem: Badiou-ismo.  This may prep the PhDs for readings of Deleuze, Simondon, Badiou, Plotnitsky, Petitot, Connes etc.

Cheers,
Xin Wei
________________________________________________________________________________
Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar • French and Italian Department • Stanford University
Canada Research Chair • Associate Professor • Design and Computation Arts • Concordia University
Director, Topological Media Lab • topologicalmedialab.net/  •  topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei
+1-650-815-9962 • 
 
1-514-817-3505 (m)  
• skype: shaxinwei • calendar
________________________________________________________________________________




another potential campfire thread: TML math group(s) Fall, Winter?

Dear TML folks,

This thread started last Spring for a very specific subgroup of TMLabbers who want to prepare for more sophisticated research in pattern recognition and media synthesis.  But I'm opening it as a knowledge opportunity for TMLabbers as a whole.

I propose to use some of the Thursday 4:00 - 5:30 campfires for this.  It will be occasional and partial use of the time but also open to all.

RSVP me directly, and join http://pattern.posterous.com/   if you're interested.

Xin Wei
Wild Academy Montreal


On 2010-06-14, at 5:07 AM, Sha Xin Wei wrote:

Hi I don't remember who raised their hands for learning math for art + media research, but I spoke with some of you about doing a study group.   This Fall I will invest some energy into doing this properly with the TML researchers.

There is an order to things:

Fall:
Linear Algebra
ODE's
intro to  Dynamical Systems
intro to Statistical Physics 

Winter
Topics:
Monte Carlo methods
Spectral methods 
(for PhD, philosophical work)
intro Differential Geometry
intro Topology
intro Measure Theory 

So we should move fast but do it well.   Take turns teaching each other.  I can give some orienting talks for Linear Algebra and ODE's and intro Dynamical Systems.   You must do or try to do exercises.

I will commit some of my time this Fall to work with you on this, but I expect you to do it smart, for big payoff: supple (not brittle gappy) knowledge.  This means you guys taking turns to lead the group.    Pick topics to absorb and present in working group.  For example Michael  can do a series on Monte Carlo for the group.

 I will work with the presenter in 1-1.   Everyone must do exercises.   I will not check or grade them or provide answers so recommend you work for example from Schaum outline series (or equivalent -- there are many texts with worked exercises).  I will pay for texts that we decide are useful.

Winter I will not have time for hand-holding, but at that point you should be ready to do special topics.  And then we can maybe also enroll new experts (Adrian?) if they have time and are suitably rewarded ;)

Then the audience splits into two: programmers / "makers", and writers / "theorists".

If the PhD's are interested, at that point, for those of you who have the basics, then I can give intros to some of the "real" math from riemannian geometry, point set topology, measure theory... with theorems and maybe one or two arguments to give you a flavor of how the theorems are made.    This will be off the cuff, but as real as we can make it.   I will not expect you to create proofs unless you can, but by the end of the year.  (someday :)  but by the end of the year, it would be great if you can follow a proof and understand some of the process of propositional adventure to which Stengers gestured.

This would be more useful for the philosophical investigations and for graduate research in engineering than for hacking.  Different audience different purpose, and different level of sophistication.  So it's up to you.  But by then I should have written the last chapter that I'll be revising: the math chapter.   We can decide in December.

After the ATACD (topology and cultural dynamics) conference in Barcelona, and this  recent one in Aberdeen on Lit+Math, I think there's definitely an opening for a new generation of informed discourse.  But I would very much like to do it in a way that is much more sophisticated as to mathematical content and to the ethos.  (Can you say "structuralism" ?!)   A symptom of the problem: Badiou-ismo.  This may prep the PhDs for readings of Deleuze, Simondon, Badiou, Plotnitsky, Petitot, Connes etc.

Cheers,
Xin Wei

________________________________________________________________________________
Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar • French and Italian Department • Stanford University
Canada Research Chair • Associate Professor • Design and Computation Arts • Concordia University
Director, Topological Media Lab • topologicalmedialab.net/  •  topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei
+1-650-815-9962 • 
 
1-514-817-3505 (m)  
• skype: shaxinwei • 
calendar
________________________________________________________________________________

Theater + memory/identity/place work

Hi Jen,

Thanks a lot for this note, and Weber's article.   
Of course I agree that the theatrical exercises would be a very large boost for our experimental design.  Rather than start from the "bare ground" of a psych experiment, we start from thick events.  I mean experientially thick, though we may use a physically spare stagings as well as domestic settings.

I hope you'll get a chance to meet up with Tristana and talk directly soon after you're back from London :)

Let's all stay in touch also via our blog:  http://memoryplace.posterous.com/
We should be able to post to it by emailing memoryplace@posterous.com

I'll take a look -- merci & bon voyage,
Xin Wei


On 2010-06-05, at 5:54 AM, jen s wrote:

Hello,

I'm attaching the short piece I mentioned the other evening regarding theatricalty & special effects, and discusses this in terms of place (not unpacked in much detail but still...)

We also discussed Rebecca Schneider as a performance studies scholar who may have some useful writing or references concerning body, movement, memory and place. http://research.brown.edu/myresearch/Rebecca_Schneider, and Peggy Phelan, who writes about performance memory and identity among other things.

Much of theatrical/performance studies on memory and identity are of the 'molar' variety (cultural identity, mourning, trauma, etc.) which I don't think is really what you're after, but there may be something useful nonetheless.  I came across this bibliography, though its more sound focused: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/place/music.htm;

My friend Ofer Ravid is a grad student working on Theatre and Phenomenology and has a draft of his lit. review on his blog. http://theatre-phenomenology.blogspot.com/ Some of his works cited might be useful, I'm not sure:

Works Cited

Farleigh, Sondra. “A Vulnerable Glance: Seeing Dance through Phenomenology.” Dance Research Journal, 23.1, (1991): 11-16.

Garner, Stanton B. Jr. Bodied Spaces: Phenomenology and Performance in Contemporary Drama. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP, 1994.

Heidegger, Martin. “The Age of the World Picture”. In The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. NewYork: Harper & Row, 1977.

---. “The Fundamental Discoveries of Phenomenology, its Principle, and the Clarification of its Name.” In Moran, Dermot and Timothy Mooney eds. The Phenomenology Reader. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Husserl, Edmund. “Material Things in Their Relation to the Aesthetic Body.” And “The Constitution of Psychic Reality through the Body.” In Don, Welton (ed.) The Body: Classic and Conte,porary Readings. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.

Jones, Amelia. Body/Art: Performing the Subject. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1962.

---. The Visible and the Invisible. Ed. Claude Lefort. Trans. Alphonso Lingis. Evanston: Northwestern UP, 1968

Moran, Dermot and Timothy Mooney eds. The Phenomenology Reader. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Rayner, Alice. Ghosts: Death's Double and the Phenomena of Theatre. Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota P., 2006.

States, Bert O. Great Reckonings in Little Rooms: On the Phenomenology of Theater. Berkeley: U. of California P., 1985.

Wilshire, Bruce. Role Playing and Identity: The Limits of Theatre as Metaphor. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1982.

Young, Iris Marion. On Female Body Experience: "Throwing Like a Girl" and Other Essays. New York: Oxford UP, 2005.

Zarrilli, Phillip B. "Toward a Phenomenological Model of the Actor's Embodied Modes of Experience." Theatre Journal 56.4 (2004): 653-66.

Artaud/Grotowski inspired techniques may be of use in terms of thinking experimental body-centered approaches, although the books on this aren't great.  We discussed Peter Brooks The Empty Space although I don't think that really chronicles experiments that I can recall.  A lot of theatre 'warm-up' and 'group-building' exercises are about changing relationships to space/others, so could be a good place to mine for ideas for generating your own experiments.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know.
Cheers,
Jen
<weber special effects and theatricality.pdf>

________________________________________________________________________________
Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar • French and Italian Department • Stanford University
Canada Research Chair • Associate Professor • Design and Computation Arts • Concordia University
Director, Topological Media Lab • topologicalmedialab.net/  •  topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei
+1-650-815-9962 • 
 
1-514-817-3505 (m)  
• skype: shaxinwei • calendar
________________________________________________________________________________





ILYA and Frankenstein planning Montreal June 21 - 24

Amici IL Y A & Frankenstein,

Sabbatical book is howling for blood, but June 22-23-24, I'll cut myself into two pieces between IL Y A and Frankenstein's Ghosts.

I would love to join Frankenstein's for retreat one day (morning to evening).  If necessary I'll drive back to Montreal the evening of (after) the meeting.   Ann-Marie, Liselyn, Michael, as soon as people decide what day the retreat is, I can set the agenda with the IL Y A team.

I can spend the remaining time on workshopping IL Y A.
Can we schedule the IL Y A workshop so I can also fit in some 1-1 meetings during those days with other TMLabbers and projects?

Travel:
Arrive 19:55  Monday June 21,
(I can do a night meeting with JS and Navid  if necessary to warm up.)
Depart  9:00 Friday June 25.

Thanks for your patience, looking forward to this,
Xin Wei

________________________________________________________________________________
Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar • French and Italian Department • Stanford University
Canada Research Chair • Associate Professor • Design and Computation Arts • Concordia University
Director, Topological Media Lab • topologicalmedialab.net/  •  topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei
+1-650-815-9962 • 
 
1-514-817-3505 (m)  
• skype: shaxinwei • 
calendar
________________________________________________________________________________

ILYA states, feel and implementation

ILYA notes for states, feel and implementation.
informal thoughts on the train in.

To repeat, there are four basic experiential states to be composed  see the attached PDF from the blog.

The key here is that each state for which you compose some set of effects must be parametrizable by more than one parameter (2 is good) that vary the aesthetic in some interesting and palpable way.


For example, to go from 
Glass  --> Discovery
I would like  my state engine patch to :
 blend from the Glass condition where I see a specular refraction of myself (like in a glass window) superposed on the full color full res of the other  the  Navier-stokes 
but ALSO rock the effect of blending between Navier-stokes wind (velocity field) from one side (East) or other side (West).  Call this parameter S.
In this case, I  send 0-1 floats to those two params in JS's instruments.

In
Discovery -> Storm

general cloud (like Navier Stokes densities being blown by wind from optical flow) 

I would like to begin to change  from blend (sum) of cv.a and cv.b according to S to the product of optical flows of the two sides.   Call this product video P

And in the overlap, radically change to the generation of vital substance 
sparse sparks like flecks of red embers from a fire that is strck like match heads by the tow bodie's friciton
  (particles born where the values P exceeds a threshold.  Velocity field is radial away from some function D of original bodies' density, ie velocity field is gradient of D.   D could be for example, 

Note:  It is NOT necessary to synthetically generate vines. only to perfect a video retargeting method that would take ANY video of a linear-growing thing -- like 
blood running down a white cardboard, or 
a streak of red or yellow or white fire along a fuse, (use a 10' long strip of flash paper from any magic spply store  -- but may burn too fast ),
or vine growing.  (need stock)

How about this:  JS needs to do for Navid is to provide a patch that Navid can include in his side, to receive FOUR video streams low res:
(1) cv.a, cv.b - can be plugged directly in to replace what Navid already uses as test input 
(2) low res of final output.
these should toggle to process Navid's own camera feed.

If I can I will work w Navid to further process the result into some float 0-1 params with sufficient dynamics.  This can be trivial for now, as long as we can hear the result.

Then for example, diagetic video like of a bright line of fire racing down a fuse, will drive obvious dynamics in whatever Navid has running, since his instruments are already sensitized this way.   

I would like to have on hand MANY examples for STORM, so we can quickly go through them and see what works well w/r to DISCOVERY, and leading into  DRY.

This modulation from 
(1) pre-composed rich media-stream (ie sound or video file treated as "input" or "impulse" in physical model language) as well as
(2) live media input,
modulated by
(3) params from my state engine
is a  good model for visual as well as audio instruments.


Instead of completely painting a scene with presets, leave always some params open to external patch -- that have a very large qualitative effect.  (Like # particles, lifetime, or friction -- energy loss) .  JS you can tell us what are the most interesting top 5 or 8 params, and later we'll cook it down. :)

Regards,
Xin Wei

[tml-plss] RepRap Repeat Meeting

I will be working with il y a, but will come over to say hello ...

We gave a good watering Wednesday night.  The plant(er)s are quite a striking array -- compliments!

The plants may require a higher rate of water than what we expected.   Will the tml-plss people remain responsible for  attending their thirst and watering them?  For now the plss as a sociotechnical system has a large human component, since our nervous systems and empathy must serve in place of the sensors and arduino logics to come ;)  

- Xinwei

On 2010-06-03, at 11:22 PM, Morgan Sutherland <skiptracer@gmail.com> wrote:

Is everybody available for a quick meeting tomorrow evening (Friday, June 4th)? Pre-pre-game.

7:00pm, TML.

RSVP.

ILYA production planning May 31: Harry, Scott, Xin Wei

The production responsibilities seem to factor relatively cleanly into those pertaining to designing and building two parts, and what goes into them:

1. The rack / shipping container
Computers
Audio hardware
Powerbar, conditioner
Software for media
Jitter instruments
GL engines
MSP instruments State logic
Cables:
USB, cameras to computer
Power

2. The sculptural part of the installation
Frame
Screen
Projectors
Cameras
Speakers
Cables DVI, computer to projectors
Power

Harry will be responsible for design and construction of (1), except that Xin Wei will be responsible for the sw development.
Scott will be responsible for design and construction of (2).

XW will work with Harry on the media/ time-based behavior, the choreography of the event.
XW will work with Scott on the sculptural design and assembly in Onomy or a Bay Area site, and locating a site.

Xin Wei

ILYA Wed and Friday work sessions?

Thanks all.   Harry, Scott, and I conferred today re the division of responsibilities between Montreal : media, everything that goes into the rack; and SF: physical installation, everything that needs to be attached to the frame of the screen.

I'll be in Montreal 22h00 tonite till Saturday 13h00.  Harry and everyone, the best times for me to come see and work with what JS Michael and Navid  have prepared appear to be
Wednesday after 6:00 pm, and Friday after 6 pm.

See you soon!
Xin Wei

__________________________________________________________
xinwei@mindspring.com  +1-650-815-9962  http:topologicalmedialab.net

On 2010-05-31, at 6:29 PM, Navid Navab <navid.nav@gmail.com> wrote:

for some reason my configurations don't seem to be present in all the links that I posted. Basically for all of them it should be maxCPU power, 4gig ram is good, and for the mini a mini-display adaptor is needed.

On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 9:26 PM, Navid Navab <navid.nav@gmail.com> wrote:
Navid - if you need hardware (say a computer for sound) - please spec it!  You can go to the Apple Store - it's an interesting experience...  Or go online.  Be sure to get an educational discount.  If we're getting enough Apple Hardware in one batch - it could cost less saying we're a business  :P .

This should be good enough for ilya.snd stuff:

Considering that with the macMini we might also need to ship a screen then an iMac is also good:

After ilya the iMac could be put on Jane's desk for admin stuff or become the lab spatialization interface, etc OR if we get a mac-mini then the mac-mini could circulate for a lot of tasks.

I personally prefer a powerful macBookPro for many reasons but all three choices would work for me so I like to leave the decision up to the rest of you based on budget and lab-needs.

best,
-Nav

next week: IL Y A media work session

Dear ILYA team,

I'll be back in Montreal to work on IL Y A,
in between my duties at Congress June 2, and in Ottawa for GRAND NCE June 3-4 during the day.   Watch for a communication from Harry after the weekend to organize working sessions.   I hope to  (1) see palette of video_sound materials working in tandem.   (2) sign the contracts for the rest of the summer :)

I can work late or in the morning.   My Google Calendar will show my obligations as they fall into place.

See you next week and good luck with the Congress et works!
Xin Wei

________________________________________________________________________________
Sha Xin Wei, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar • French and Italian Department • Stanford University
Canada Research Chair • Associate Professor • Design and Computation Arts • Concordia University
Director, Topological Media Lab • topologicalmedialab.net/  •  topologicalmedialab.net/xinwei
+1-650-815-9962 • 
 
1-514-817-3505 (m)  
• skype: shaxinwei • calendar
________________________________________________________________________________




Niomi Anna Cherney: Hearing-Hereing trial, Blackbox workshop notes

On 2010-05-01, at 6:47 AM, Niomi Anna Cherney wrote:

> Apologies for the delayed response. I don't know if this is helpful or interesting, and I hope I'm not just regurgitating what others have said.>> The following is built on scribblings and jottings immediately following the experiment coupled with some additions.>>> The space (somehow empty and full simultaneously) seems to suck sound from my body as I move through it. I spend time feeling the walls, hearing my footfalls, testing velocities of motion that create different sounds of my footfalls on the floor. I am "oriented" in a manner so to speak, to the room's particular response to my body's movement through it - or more precisely, the way I perceive the sound of my footfalls or the time it takes me to run from wall to wall, which must happen at a specific velocity in order to make certain patterns of sound.
>> I put on the same get-up as Shiloh and Andrew - reversed channels but without a delay at first (although later I played with the wireless headphones plus a delay). I did't wear them for long, but I similarly got the hang of it fairly quickly and never experienced the kind of own-body-strangeness that Shiloh describes. I could figure where sound was "really" coming from in two steps. First, I could create a tactile sense of orientation in the space (bumping in a wall - gently! - certainly gave me information about my place in space and therefore what was behind and in front of me). Second, I could do the cognitive task of understanding that what I heard as "in front of me" was actually "behind me", but only because I had already understood and created notions of the space in front or behind (both auditory and dimensional). This raises a few interesting questions:
>> 1) Resonance and limit
> As Andrew and I both experienced when exploring the space with unaltered hearing-scapes, as you approach a wall with eyes closed, you can tell that you are getting close because the echo or resonance of your footfalls changes very slightly. It is hard to separate the auditory perception from the darkening of light on closed eyelids or the sensation against the skin of the body that happens when one draws near to a wall or limit space (obviously our attention could be re-focused by amplifying the sound of footfalls or diminishing the play of light on closed eyelids). But I'm not sure it's actually interesting to do this experiment without being able to see (sensory deprivation) because you lose some interesting things about limits, edges and orientations.
>> 2) Time and Distance
> If you stand on one side of the black box and look at the opposite wall, if you are accustomed to looking at distance and gaging time, you might instinctually know how long it should take you to cross the room at your regular pace (I do). Likewise, if you are accustomed to variations in movement tempo, you might kinesthetically know when you begin moving at a certain velocity, how long it will take you to reach the other side of the space.>> The important point here is to note that one must have an orientation (ie., a habituation to the equation of velocity of motion vs. time "taken" or "covered" from point A to point B) in order to have expectations of what approaching and edge or limit of space will sound and feel like (I am here only talking about motion inside a delimited space, but theoretically it applies to any kind of expectation about a place). The expectations of edged-ness, or the finitude have to do with feeling oriented. I am reminded of the experience of having a leg lowered slowly to the floor by someone else while lying on my back. There's that moment when the leg feels as if it is literally "going through the floor". This is because the floor acts as a limit or edge to the motion of our leg and something about not engaging or controlling the speed of its movement towards the floor disrupts our ability to proprioceptively orient our limb's relation the the surface. Likewise, if we were able to create a similar disruption through altering the relation of hearing-footfalls-approaching-wall to expectations-of-footfalls-approaching-wall we might hear ourselves "going through the wall". Clearly echoscapes must have to do with limitations or edgeness (as is even suggested by a soundwave's reverberation). Is an echoscape an expectation or is expectation created through the experience of an echoscape?
>> The wall and footfall sound altering scenario is too large a scale (especially because as we discovered, the curious sense of detached-ness from place doesn't happen without the noise canceling headphones). What I would suggest instead, is that we treat movement in the near space of the body (or as David suggested, set-ups that invite movement in the near-space of the body), where the body itself serves as the orientation limit space (like the wall when walking across the room or the floor with the leg). In other words, is it possible to actually disorient the sense of where the body begins and ends? Shiloh already experienced dimensions of this (possibly) with the altered feeling of depth in her body.>> I think the key is to set up this habitual movement environment (perhaps the kitchen as David suggests) so that it postures or suggests movement expectations (in terms of velocity, force and direction) to the body, that make sounds. I think the most interesting would be to come up with movement activities that require the body to move through small, mid and extended kinespheres so that we can have some room to play with delays, etc... relative to how long it takes a body to get from one sound-making position of activity to another.>> In response to the background sound/ emotional tone idea: if we're setting up some kind of environment that solicits movement, there is always going to be more than one possibility for moving the particular object or performing the task or whatever. So we might want to consider that there are many possibilities which will not be chosen, multiple sounds that won't be sounded. These too are suggestive and evocative and hang around in the air just like "background noise" or echo. They're kind of like elephants in the room. Which is why the experiment might be more fun (or interesting in terms of creating mood and and emotional timbre) if we selected tools, instruments or objects that have fairly ambiguous uses or could solicit different ways of moving-posturing the body, depending on the task/ expectation the participant chose.
>> Looking forward to our next meeting, whenever the magic of schedule alignment takes place.