Using discovered, polyphonic patterns to filter computer-generated music

A metric for evaluating the creativity of a music-generating system is presented, the objective being to generate mazurka-style music that inherits salient patterns from an original excerpt by Frédéric Chopin. The metric acts as a filter within our overall system, causing rejection of generated passages that do not inherit salient patterns, until a generated passage survives. Over fifty iterations, the mean number of generations required until survival was 12.7, with standard deviation 13.2. In the interests of clarity and replicability, the system is described with reference to specific excerpts of music. Four concepts–Markov modelling for generation, pattern discovery, pattern quantification, and statistical testing–are presented quite distinctly, so that the reader might adopt (or ignore) each concept as they wish

Junctions and Disjunction in the Aims of Irish Education Policy

This paper aims to isolate and interrogate the main aims that underpin the direction of Irish education policy. In particular, the paper will look at the question as to whether the diverse aims of the different sectors of the system as a whole are aligned and mutually reinforcing or if there are places where there is a disjunction between aims, or even where diverse aims may be at cross purposes with one another

Scotland just bucked the print-is-dying trend with two new Sunday newspapers

First paragraph: My first job as a trainee reporter was on a Sunday title. Sundays are a breed apart. We had contempt for our daily sister, were drunk until Thursday and staffed by some of some of the oddest journalists in town. Unsurprisingly, the paper doesn’t exist any more. There is a different rhythm to newsgathering. Much of the Sunday paper has to be away early, with stories that won’t date. Front page leads have to be exclusives, it’s just too risky relying on events to bail you out – even in Northern Ireland in the 1980s where I was working. This is one reason why the sting and the “kiss-and-tell” are among Sunday staples.https://theconversation.com/scotland-just-bucked-the-print-is-dying-trend-with-two-new-sunday-newspapers-10345