How to defend yourself

Yesterday, I went to the Courts of Law,at Republic street, Malta, and, having a basic knowledge of legal training, I socialize with people and help them with their presentation skills in the case of witness and defence, in preparation for a trial:
a) Find a story that makes the accused person appear to breach the law e.g. if your neighbour says that you have thrown dust in their private property, ask them whether the dust is then arising and invading the open air that forms part of your airspace within your private property if you have an apartment above your neighbour and your neighbour is so perfectionist that he sues you for improper civil behaviour of some sort. That is, if honesty is not the best policy, as some might argue, it is sometimes a good and ethical approach to a defence argument, based on the notion that common sense and the interrogations will theoretically be in place to reduce the incidence of untruthful narrations, usually under oath, remaining credible. Some persons lose their identity documents, this can delay the proceedings when you have little to add to the statements, unless you want to make questions. I find litigation a good example of explaining conflicts, it makes people appear to feel confused and I do write about some of these on my wall, on my social media page
where I have a fake name, because I do not like people snooping on my private posts, in a country where everyone minds your business. This is one of my preferred socially acceptable replies to antipatique interview questions about employment gaps for example, it is available online.AArguments based on notions of socialism, commonly accepted norms of behavior, science and knowledge that can have a positive tone or a concilatory one if it is evident that you are admitting guilt are a good way to compromise. Procedural errors are a common way of nitpicking on perceived lack of fairness in the processing of an accusation, with human rights being a commonly cited text. Nevertheless what might be socially acceptable and what is legally acceptable as an excuse for bending the rules, are different and you might find that there is a conservative legal interpretation of laws.
Be fair and do not take advantage of your own knowledge as a source of power, every legal person has equal rights before the law. Privacy is generally a good argument if you are a person who seeks to mind your own business, you can refrain from answering and change subject if you do not wish to reply. You can also use an argument that is based on case law, a precedent, consequence/risk and that based on humanitarian basis. It is only human to make a mistake after all and it is only moral to ask for forgiveness. The past is not necessarily a reflection of the future, but nobody knows the future this is a known philosophical fact. At times it is good to delay stating the obvious, it makes people feel ashamed of themselves if it is a very sensical argument or a reasonable explanation for the events where you are made to feel under the blade or within the accusation pitch as I like calling the prosecution lawyer's introductory speech. Ask for evidence when you know there is none. Plead guilty if you are guilty, however you can always try making a false statement, just be aware that you might be accused of taking a false oath or perjury. Psychological arguments are sensical when you are explaining what happened in the context that you feel is a reasonable action taken in the circumstances where certain matters were not within your control. Some propose a counter-accusation, however be careful of reading too much between the lines, it makes prosecution lawyers feel angrier and they might retaliate with stronger evidence if they had the intention of being polite to you initially. Lawyers are polite people they make a statement and they usually follow up with evidence in a subtle fashion, sometimes even joking about it. They are really close to putting a rope around your neck awaiting for the Inquisitor to hang you after the magistrate or judge has no option but to find you guilty. I would daresay this is a form of pleasure in inflicting emotional pain upon others which can be compared to sadism, an unethical form of sexual activity and in this case, you should quote your rights and the code of ethics to make the prosecution lawyer appear mean and disgraceful in the eyes of the jury, if there is one. Shaming and naming is thought to be an interesting way of convincing people, but it can also fire back as there can be accusations of libel, verbal harassment, slander, defamation out of making untrue or exagerrated statements, therefore one has to careful distinguish between facts, arguments, and, emotional cues, preferably sticking to factual arguments if you fall short of evidence. A friend once had a personal issue against me, and, I realised this through the repeated number of phone calls on my mobile phone, so immediately I wanted to setup a traceable log of events that would lead me to file lawsuit back if he continued to threaten with personal direct or indirect libellous charges, the main trick to use here is heftiness and neatness in writing out complaints on nuisances, and, avoiding mention of identifiable names as investigations can be done by legal professionals thereafter.
Let's say you want to use an accusation as a form of defense, this is a negotiation tactic, where you no longer take the vests of the innocent lamb, but take on the role of the devil and start firing back accusations based on what you know about the other party, the party that you want to annihilate in front of a judge, with the just intention to avail from justice so that you do not lose. Life is an auction, you might think, so you place the bid on the table, like you do when you are playing poker.
If you are innocent and you are sure that there is no strong evidence, ask for evidence, so the argument falls back on their feet. It is useful and rewarding to ask for compensation if you are the injured party bearing in mind that injury can be physical, psychological, consequential and assuming that in the area of civil litigation everything has a penalty, the higher you pitch your accusation the stronger your argument appears to be in its presentation, so you feel that you are more convincing as you hit more penalty points and these may increase your chances and those of your attorney of scoring points leading to earning money for compensation, after all, you badly need that payment, and, so does your lawyer, his performance depends on how his influencing skills fare in the courtroom and if we read codes of ethics even outside of the courtroom. Finally, renegation, silence, and, right to not incriminate yourself are valid principles by which to defend yourself. One can resort to privacy when your back is against the wall, and, unless you receive an order, you can drag your feet in defense of your own stance. This is called the lion's approach. Another socially acceptable excuse is the time saving disclaimer, that is, you are always busy and you do not like to lose time therefore you seek the most efficient means to an end, however, the counter-argument would be that you might not have done enough diligence in your approach in this manner, as there is a rapid and a less-than rapid route to litigation, and, both appear to be in use in litigation as communication and presentation approaches. Nevertheless diligent commercial procedures are a way of presenting yourself as a professional to the courts of law and this is usually seen in better light as is the way you present yourself, the clothes you wear and so on. Socially acceptable does not mean that it will be acceptable by the magistrate or the judge, it just means that it is a way of beating around the bush. Reneging and delaying can be useful time-saving procedures, however be aware that procedures are in place to administer diary notes as they are scheduled by the Courts of Law. Sometimes you can find instances where you feel you have been treated unfairly and therefore the charter of fundamental human rights, is a good line of thought in your appeals, which have to be presented as a recourse through a private or a state-appointed lawyer. Privacy is another good line of defense, as is a personal need for security or safety, thus this is a good excuse not to pick up a phone call when you are not sure you can identify the caller, are unsure what to expect from the telephone call, or is expected to cause disruption which is unplanned for and is not within your responsibilities or your immediate control. There are many circumstances which are beyond your control, including the weather. Technology is inherently difficult to troubleshoot you can shift the blame upon the person to whom you communicated or ought to have communicated the issue as they should be aware of how to monitor their own infrastructure and to poll for information accordingly, you might argue. Technology includes computers, cars, electronic devices and anything else you might have paid for or acquired which you have not manufactured yourself, basically.
b)find a strong argument e.g. do research and find similar cases and see how others have defended themselves. I prefer arguments based on science and those based on social sciences such as economics or normative rules of behaviour, which does not mean that someone who is normative is guilty by our own perception. One should also be aware of the possibility of emotional blackmail, it is observed on persons of the female gender who rely on their ability to use their weakness as a strong argument. Downplaying and rationalizing does give rise to lack of objectivity as we tend to forget our own assumptions as the brain is thought to process around 70,000 thoughts per day.
c)gather witness e.g. more people who can provide objective reasoning to the argument you are making would give rise to increased perception of credibility so that you do not feel that you are a minority in a system that is ruled by a majority. We must not confuse democracy with justice, justice is meant to render justice down to the individual case level and can indicate that people would feel that their privacy is no longer a civil right therefore questions have to be relevant and appropriate, even in an interrogation.
c) avoid using in-ethical practices as a litmus test. e.g. the element of surprise can be difficult to handle to some people and although researchers might be aware of overt and covert research methods, covert research methods might appear to come across as rude which may have a negative impact on the mood of the authority involved. People do not enjoy being used as guinea pigs of experiments. Avoid being caught in the act, but if you are, my suggestion is to be honest and open about your reasoning, however this my personal philosophy, based on the tenet that people tend to dislike liars as they find that liars are a waste of time. There are also legal consequences for being dishonest or lying under oath, in countries where religion appears to have an influence over popular culture.
Nevertheless basic presentation, and, negotiation skills might help you prepare your argument in an educated fashion. Moreover, experience indicates that people who have authority tend to be strict or understanding as the propensity of their interest to make a buck through penalizing citizens appears to be obvious in the eyes of the public.
d) Silence is the answer, when you know they have nothing against you, or else, when you have nothing to add as adding more information might inflict more grievous accusation against you. The chairperson (magistrate or judge) may order you to speak, but you can remain tight lipped, and, the police should have read out your rights to yourself in the first place, if they did not they disregarded the procedure and one should notify the defense lawyer about it or else you clarify your complaint succinctly. Some people use martial arts, and know when kicks, punches, and, use of a baseball bat can be claimed to be a legitimate act of self-defence. It is also possible to get a license for a firearm, such as a pistol, the police of Malta even organize ceremonial auctions of weapons that are no longer considered modern.
e) Keep moving, for example, when you are heading straight into a parking lot you realize you have taken up the parking reserved for handicap, and, you might not have realized or might have ignored this because you were late for a meeting, you can keep moving on, and, await the parking ticket. Next time round, find a parking space that is not reserved for persons with a handicap though, once bitten, twice shy!
Further reading
1. Criminal Code available online here.
2. Civil Code available online here.
3. Courts of Law, Malta available online here.
4. Commonlii.org available online here.
5. Right of self-defense available online here.
6. Sun Tzu, The Art of War, available online here. 7. Times of Malta, available online here, the news from the Courts of Law are usually posted under National news. A print edition is also available.
8. Malta Today, available online here.
9. Huffington Post Crime, available online here.
10. Copblock.org available online here.
11. The politics of victimization, available online here.
12. Administrating Victimization: The Politics of Anti-Social Behaviour and Hate Crime Policy, available online here.
13. Crime Today, online social media page available here.
14. Huffpost Crime, online social media page available here.
15. Machine Learning Forensics for Law Enforcement, Security, and Intelligence, available online here.
16. Malta Today, Court and Police Section, available online here.
17. Mirror (UK), Crime section, available online here.
18. Al Jazeera, Human Rights Section, available online here.
19. Amnesty International, available online here.
20. European Court of Human Rights, available online here.
21. United Nations, available online here.
22. Investopedia, available online here.
Internet

[behavior blog] Dealing with a toxic person or an abusive person...

Unfortunately the human is a toxic being, so here are some smart ways to get around people's bad moods:
a) Try to be polite to the police - even though this can be thought provoking at times considering the bad experiences different people have had dealing with someone shouting in their face for whatever reason they deem necessary as our friends at - or someone with authority even when they sound like they are being arrogant, abusive and rude, they still have a right to give you a fine, which you can contest and disagree with in the Courts of Law. Court decisions vary from magistrates reprimanding police for breaches of procedure, "copy and paste" action which fall short of holistic investigation practices, and, a sloppy way of interpreting ethics, amidst other issues that are not worthy mentioning here. These were reported on independent newspapers such as The Malta Independent, and, Times of Malta, although there were allegations of financial scandals recently involving various persons including notorious managers within some of these newspapers. Bear in mind that the police conduct is one that can make you lose a job opportunity so it is good to protect your own interest by being as diplomatic and as polite as possible. You can claim retaliation but in Malta this claim is not very strongly supported by authorities, boards and committees as there is a very conservative and authority-centred structure within bureaucracy itself.

This is expected to be provided, but nonetheless nobody can force you to provide this information without your consent and even though conditions are stipulated in a sequential fashion you can still persist in your rightful position of a human rights activist, hoping not to suffer from retailation or bureaucracy. b) try not to break the rules, if you know you have a problem, let them know in advance it avoids surprises for some people particularly those who are low on emotional quotient or else have a different political or business agenda that does not necessarily include your well-being as their topmost priority. Managers tend to use management by objective abbreviated to MBO or MBR their main way of asking people to do their job, and, generally one should not take this personally, but understand that they have expectations, perhaps taking legal advice from workers' union in the process to cover your interests are being advocated. However on the other hand when an expectation cannot be met due to risks and problems, such issues are to be communicated diligently, at least to avoid leaving managers surprised of outcomes, and, also to keep an audit trail of the communication.
c) people are stressed and busy, they make errors of judgment, and, tend to ignore a lot of ideals, particularly when they are at the workplace where they are protected by a policy which covers their actions, powers and where they are regulated by procedures. We never know all of them and most of the time neither do they. For years I have worked with managers with short temperaments, and, managers who liken themselves to soccer managers in their performance management, then they called their boss to convince them to label people into performers and persons who perform less well, we are little beyond pigs on the production line in this contorted view of management. This is a reflection of Max Weber's theory underlying bureaucracy.
d) avoid trying to confuse them or extensive social engineering, most people realize you are trying to trick them as soon as you open your mouth. Reactions can vary from anger, to retaliation to disciplinary actions sometimes leading to dismissal on trivial grounds and with legitimacy due to flaws in employment regulations, to a simple word of caution, depending on the personality of the person, usually the more ego-centered they are they more aggressive they come across and the more they want to fight back and cause damage through politics. Some people will use all their influence or authority to make you look weak and bad, and, this form of bullying is not only found at the school unfortunately. One should seek to report such issues to bodies and authorities and to avoid confronting the person directly after providing them with a warning, preferably in writing and in diplomatic form, hoping for suitable arbitration prior to legal litigation. Mobbing is a problem commonly encountered at the workplace, but it is hard to manage every psychological issue without undergoing therapy and some managers just don't have the time to understand your personal grievances. It is time not to take it personally and to take the right decision about your life and your relationship with the people around you. Finally, if you go beyond your way and take a strict interpretation of a policy that was written unilaterally, and, influence the committees formed to uphold your accusation, then some form of abuse of authority might have been perceived to have occurred, although, by the procedure diligence was effectively carried out. Human behaviour is by far and large erratic, and, as a matter of fact a politician has categorized it as schizophrenic. It would appear that people who are more easily angered tend to attempt to control the behavior of others through discipline, as the driving management/leadership philosophy. A software engineer typically minimizes unwanted correspondence as "spam", whilst an executive appears to make a mountain out of a molehill to push her inethical disciplinary agenda, indicating that small office politics and politics in the wider context play a considerable role in decision making, making decisions made by humans questionable and falsifiable. Disclaimers are induced from the philosophy of minimalism, and this can lack fairness. Legal terminology around unsolicited or unwanted advertising can be used unfairly if you are a small fish trying to compete in a bigger pool of contractors, job-seekers, or other humans just hoping to win that competition, people can be very political in throwing mud at each other and very able in covering their legal responsibilities through renegation when questioned thus appearing to trick the judicial system in this manner, which should take the rights and duties of all parties involved in a disagreement, not just voice your concern as it aims to reach a legally valid reason for establishing a grave or serious breach of law, one that has had consequences, preferably ones that can be quantified as material damages in terms of legitimate currency if we were to resort to the lawyer asking for compensation. Cutajar (2000s) had discussed the Russian roulette effect, where managers appear to selectively pick their subjects of audits in a unilateral and collective fashion, thus giving rise to questions about groupthink and its bias as an error of judgment and appearing to come across as a group of people who arrogantly take decisions that influence the lives of others without appropriate consultation and participation, thus giving rise to the notion of organizational democracy becoming a necessity in the first quarter of 2000s when we should have learnt the lessons after years of colonialism, barbarism and other forms of pre-ponderance ironically coming from a minority group, which is probably paid a much higher wage than the average slave-employee-class is.
Bureaucracy through its unnatural way of making unilateral statements and decisions that affect the other stakeholders does give rise to another form of unfair negotiation, through the unnatural selection and judgment of the other human being, and, what gives us the legal right to form a judgment that can be considered to be discriminatory remains a valid philosophical argument on reasoning that favors objectivity, with an understanding of emotional bias, as an influencing factor, that is not necessarily reduced by elimination, although participation and dialogue are not necessarily always possible and realistic to achieve in every executive decision as there are time bound decisions to take, in our day to day operations.
Further reading at http://higherperspectives.com/toxic-people/ and at this link.
Corruption Today, social media page available online. Internet

Reflect before you fire, stoopid!

I have done some research, and, it seems evident to myself that a substantial number of managers think about discipline as soon as they feel angry. This is just psychology, and, this might indicate that a good number of business organizations lack management psychology mentoring, although associations such as the Malta Employers' Association would provide such common sense guidelines based on knowledge of management at least this is what they purport on social media. Yet, there is the minority of cases which does not appear to go through this rational thought, and, some managers still stick to a very simplistic "firing strategy" when things get out of hand. Is this management strategy too simplistic and liberal and how bad does it impinge on the reputation of an organization? Scaremongering is not in fashion, get out of the habit! It is worth highlighting different measures in performance management that might be considered for regulation and discussion. a) education has different terminology than managers of firms. Business tends to make the maximum use of flexibility, and, how is the social risk insured? b) there is six months of probationary period, during which time the employee feels at the mercy of the employer. Training is not provided in 80% of the time even in knowledge-based jobs such as technology jobs and this appears unfair towards the employee. A manager had been interviewed in a research and offloaded the responsibility of training and education upon the employee, but this argument is not valid for company-specific knowledge as the interest of organizational knowledge bears upon the company, and, there is no transferable skill involved. There is also cost and risk involved in firing (not to mention handovers, risk of retaliation from aggrieved employees and so on), and, does your organization provide severance packages or does it simply leave people out in the dark and how well does the social security mechanism protect the individual? It is strongly felt that the usual dealing based on sharing responsibility does not completely meet the social responsibilities of your decisions and although by no means should every manager commit to being socially responsible to the point of covering every financial aspect of the employee to have his employment terminated, there should be a social policy in place that permits some level of comfort. The risk of individual competition increases as people become more individualistic, possibly depressed and experience negative periods in life, where negative thoughts of revenge crop up to one's fears, and whether this is realistic or just a matter of projection, it is still a double-edged sword. In any case legal officers will find the first and easiest disclaimer, including those working for the public and private sector, this is why they hire lawyers. Internet

non-employment and the creation of the vicious cycle of dependence on institutions [addiction]

Is this legal, but is it also ethical and how far can power and influence continue to be acceptable, before we claim "psychological abuse"?
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to act in an involuntary manner by use of intimidation or threats or some other form of pressure or force. It involves a set of various types of forceful actions that violate the free will of an individual to induce a desired response, usually having a strict choice or option against a person in such a way a victim cannot escape, for example: a bully demanding lunch money to a student or the student gets beaten.
Diplomacy (from the Greek δίπλωμα, meaning making a deal with other countries) is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics, culture, environment, and human rights. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians. In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner.
Flexi Bundle In its natural sense, discipline is systematic instruction intended to train a person, sometimes literally called a disciple, in a craft, trade or other activity, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is the case because enforcement of order is often regulated through the threat of punishment to ensure given instructions are carried out.
Sometimes power is used to the extend of making us feel "weak" or "strong" and at this point we should question whether our basic liberties are being threatened. We have the right to express ourselves, and, allowing for ethics and prudency that might avoid us being sued for libel, insults or other mannerisms that lack ethics, and, thus discipline can thus be seen as a latent influencing factor that induces fear and fear is the psychology of the hunter, terrorist and the tiger in the jungle as it eyes its prey before attacking it.
Once my boss told me I am not meeting his performance criteria over and over, and, albeit his argument was a valid criticism, I just said I will do my best given the situation and resources I have to work with, then he fired me because he figured out that he can get the job done from someone who had re-assured him he could do so within one or two days. Now I am confident that the boss does not believe anything I say, judging by his decisions, but, frankly, is this my fault? I am now free of his fears, at least.
I think there is a direct link between one's emotions and their actions and notwithstanding an academic principle echoes "objectivity" in my head, there is little evidence of objective decisions in the workplace, and, private life is much more idiosyncratic than the workplace. People gossip, lie and engage in politics, which include office politics and politics concerning the wider picture.
Sources of reference include www.wikipedia.org, and, the life story of an unfortunate guy based on a 1975 version of an Italian comedy around the life of a fictitious personality named "Ugo Fantozzi". I think that blaming and shaming tactics are warning signs of a toxic and negative person, and, thus I question, do I want to follow their footsteps or should I seek other role models in life, if I am in need of inspiration? Typical teamwork philosophy seems to assume that the word of the majority rule in an environment where decisions have to be discussed, however, sometimes, the particular situation has to be handled in the rise of valid reasons and objections raised by people if we were to be democratic and not simply remain expectant that our wish is everyone else's command. Sometimes "command theory" is not always practical and possible. I do feel guilty of being called a hypocrite or a "back stabber" sometimes, however, it seems that life has taught me to live in fear, insecurity and to try to negotiate for my individual interests first and foremost, since it is easily understood that most living beings are egoistic in their nature. Sometimes striving for collective benefit does not quite appease the majority in any case, so there is a limit on how far you can be altruistic. Some managers appear to be non-tolerant to the point of questioning whether they are psychotic, perfectionist, or typically "results-oriented" and non-caring towards people. It is commonly noticed that people use numbers to gain power, whether in office politics or in making decisions look legitimate even though they might not be ethical. Is society moving backwards in time in social sensitivity?
Internet

Artificial intelligence...coding the heartless machine

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is an academic field of study which studies the goal of creating intelligence. Major AI researchers and textbooks define this field as "the study and design of intelligent agents", where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success. John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1955, defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines".

I am currently doing research with the objective that someday there will be enough analysis to prepare for the coding and development of the machine of the future, which will be modeled on Robocop - the heartless cop. The basic underlying concept is that although we think in emotions, it is the elimination of distractions that will make the machine more effective, capacity-holding and efficient in processing capability, as it seems sensical to assume that artificial intelligence won't spring up from a mushroom; it has to grow.
Another important obstacle to overcome is the generation gap i.e. how does knowledge pass on from one generation of humans to another and what happens to it along the way, which is the subject of quite a few pages of research in its respect, and, I hope to cover this as soon as I find a sponsoring organization. Information is stored from millions of humans brains connected to the supercomputer, so the engine is able to learn without losing any time, this is the most efficient view of information processing. However we need to do more than store the information, this kind of technology is already available, we need the machine to start learning unsupervised and this is the major innovation that is hoped to be answered through artificial intelligence research.

Use case 1.0 - the disgruntled employee
John Smith had a few years ago been fired by a manager and he still feels remorse towards him, to the point that every time that there is an emotional connection, hate is the emotion that is brought up, and, therefore the logical question is whether to try to clone the brain and turn the hate to forgiveness, and this is a Catholic concept, however the answer to this question seems too simplistic, whilst human emotions are difficult to untangle, whilst, they might be more flexibly re-programmed in artificial intelligence.
Secondly, there is the question of whether stopping hate resolves the problem or removes knowledge altogether, as the brain works by association, therefore the machine would obviously need to have a way to archive information, knowledge without replicating the undesired behavior.
This would have to be taken into consideration when we are writing algorithms for supervised and unsupervised learning. Observations indicate that memories do not go away, they are just bound by synapses with weaker associations, and, the intelligence mechanism needs to improve on the prioritization of the associations based on the goals of the system (sub-system) being programmed. One has to investigate whether a computer based on a neural network (human brain model) is the most appropriate model or whether the imperfection lies within the biological architecture of the human brain that requires structural re-engineering, and, this is the major complexity of this project. It is also important for the scientist to follow professionally endorsed academic research methods including detachment from the emotional state of the programming, and, the most appropriate method is that the original writer of the idea is detached from the technical architect of the project, due to an inherent conflict of interest that is perceived. Other ethics have to be prepared within a code of ethics written for these projects.

Use case 2.0 - surgeon
We do not avail from expertise in medical surgery and therefore, we are looking for people who would want to collaborate. In brief, the robot will be mechanically driven and therefore reduce the risk of fatigue, improper professional decisions and conflict of interests.
Initially, we intend to carry out an analysis to study whether over a longitudinal period of time the human intelligence and its contribution towards scientific research is more effective as a "duty of care" than a supervised or unsupervised learning algorithm that seeks to carry out surgery at a lower cost of maintenance. As with most research projects, research and development costs are expected to be high and these would be balanced by the perceived economics of scale and production over a long period of time, which is the raison d'etre for scaling out this project to a widest possible audience and research institutes. Other useful use cases include industrial research, telecommunications, and a study of the underlying models behind social media network Facebook due to the underlying concept of closely affiliating to how people socialize, with a regard for privacy of research subjects. Privacy can be a concern because in certain cases, it might be required to take a decision on how to store data in a secure manner and confidentially and within the parameters of the laws, whilst still keeping a relation between personal data and research information. Information systems theory leads us to attempt to store data on a reductionist "need to know" basis, although the objectives of the research prevail in the strategic sense. Industry leaders have criticized artificial intelligence in a negative manner as warfare can lead to use of weapons which are lead by irresponsible political leaders:
"If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow." Sourced from futureoflife.org.
System architecture The system would have to use the largest processing power available, however, eventually may have to be deployed on a small processor, therefore, capacity planning is a highly relevant stage of this research.
Inputs shall include a variety of devices including computers attaching themselves to the network - generalized through an Internet connection, and, human beings connected through electrodes that read brain signals. An important issue of capturing all possible signals and interpreting them at source arises as a major quality objective. Technologies with which to interface vary widely with the increasing availability of proprietary and open-source technologies, as knowledge is learnt from stable and unstable technologies, this is the main objective behind machine learning i.e. processing the unknown at unprecedented efficiencies and with superior quality of processing as this is the reason why this project is - in theory - feasible. Processing shall include capturing business logic using established models of software architecture and attempting to create new ones along the research project this is the motivation behind novel projects i.e. the unknown. The application shall include usable user-interface, modern software design, and, professional standards of processing business intelligence for the application processing capabilities, whilst loading information from a pre-fetching database, extracting, transforming and loading it to a multi-location data warehouse. Mirrored data shall be synched. Outputs include storing new knowledge and structured information within various research institutes where client applications might be developed and maintained for further processing information and providing information back to the central brain. Eventually outputs are visible through computer-enabled devices, that may consist of thick terminals (desktop PCs), thin terminals, mobile phones, computers and wearable technologies. The advantage of a multi-location database is that data can be spread to reduce the risk of it being deleted accidentally, although it is assumed that backups are taken by normal systems administration procedures. Different communication protocols have to be interfaced with due to the widespread use of technology that includes a huge history of wireless and wired communication protocols, and, satellite links would be explored, in order to transmit data across different planets, not merely to limit intelligence to our own little planet. Thus the physical features of the computers making up the network would have to be resilient to different planets or else be resident on satellites, allowing for an efficient synchronization giving the impression of real-time processing.
This is the architect's vision of the artificial intelligence project, it is expected to take at least 200 years to complete.
I think that the data architecture should initially be composed of the following data set groupings:
a) a human sample of around 1,000,000 personas using a stratified sample to diversify the psychological influences, age, socio-economic background and demographic factors.
b) "Robocop" sample, which is the independent data set whose intelligence is targeted for situations where emotions are thought to be unproductive or lacking efficiency, for example, in the production of high performance cars.
c) unstructured data that needs to be processed using supervised semi-automated learning and eventually unsupervised learning which is subject to a review by a committee of experts and quality assurance analysts. The above is a textual representation in terms of inputs, processing and outputs, the diagram was not scanned to make life a bit more difficult to people who want to copy this idea without acknowledging my work.
Has supercomputer technology outperformed the human brain? "The brain carrying out twenty quadrillion operations every second is not synonymous with twenty quadrillion memories being stored every second. Rather, data is temporarily stored, in a scratch-pad sort of fashion, and is over-written when no longer needed. Given this level of complexity, how then can we estimate how much artificial memory must be allocated for a machine to simulate brain functions? Paul Reber is a brain researcher. If he is correct, the brain has a memory capacity of 2.5 quadrillion bytes. An average modern human's lifespan is seventy-five years. Reber's figure then implies the average human brain stores thirty-three trillion bytes a year (2.5 quadrillion divided by 75). Using this figure, how much artificial memory would be required to historize the activities of the 100 billion people who have ever lived?" Sourced from an online article.
As of 2015, there are supercomputers which can perform up to quadrillions of floating operations per second (FLOPS), according to an article found online.
I am of course open to questions, but more open to answers, funding and structural help, you may contact me on camilleri.jon@gmail.com.

References
1. Robocop (2014) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234721/
2. Artificial intelligence - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence
3. Projection theory and psychology the art of blaming other people - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
4. Signal processing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_processing
5. Copyright - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright
6. Model-View-Controller - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93controller
7. American Association of Neurological Surgeons - https://www.aans.org/About%20AANS/~/media/4A6862BB037742FF99B833D609D23B1E.ashx
8. Data Protection Directive (95/45/EC) and other relevant laws - http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31995L0046:en:HTML
. 9. Could a robot do my job? Robotics in the UK (BBC)
10. Cryonics: What the nervous system of the roundworm tells us about freezing brains and reanimating human minds.
11. A Post-Human World: Should We Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Mites?

Productivity tips...

An online dictionary defines productivity as the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services. Management students and professionals aim to achieve a maximization of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, and, this can be further broken down into variables including cost, quality of work and timeliness of delivery.
Nevertheless, we all know that objective setting is merely the first step towards achieving organizational aims, and, one has to underline common mistakes made by companies in not understanding the effectiveness of their workforce and failing to exploit its potential:
1. Not providing sufficient training and research time is a "no go" for knowledge-based work.
2. Not having a positive attitude and not being an effective leader.
"If you're lucky enough to do well, it's your responsibility to send the elevator back down."
Kevin Spacey quoted at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/kevin_spacey.html#gyyDjb6SCVQ0MOjf.99
3. Having a toxic personality or ways of leadership which are too conventional, conservative and restrictive may give rise to conflicts with your people and in this respect people management skills are becoming increasingly important until you decide to do away with all humans and invest in capital-intensive robotics within your enterprise. Everyone must realize that "we are all humans" as the President of Malta was quoted to say on public media (Dec 2014). 4. Not respecting the privacy and the personal work-life balance of your team members. There is a clear definition of the contract of work and we should avoid being rude or invasive in our requests, leaving the rest for coffee time, if we are into socializing.
5. Avoid the kind of attitude where you focus solely on your work without contributing to the work that you may be a stakeholder of in the future i.e. do not be short-sighted and collaborate, it is not lost time but time spent in learning the environment.
6. Avoid talking bad about your colleagues especially behind their back, what comes around turns around. Office politics create lack of harmony, as the majority of my previous colleagues realized and some of the consequences can have legal repercussions.

7. Productivity is important, however, one has to take into consideration appropriate documentation and training that allows a task-based, organized manner of working, whether under or without supervision. Performance can be measured at the individual level and at the team level, and, reward-based bonuses might motivate, although money does not resolve all your organizational problems, professional managers need to look beyond and think wide these days.
8. Manage your working tools whether they consist of a toolbox or your email, a search engine helps, and putting effective tips in practice in a standardized and uniform manner may be a good way to start working your way towards achieving ISO certification for quality (e.g. ISO 9001).
9. We tend to believe that inconsistencies confirm the fact that someone else is in error, however, do we ever question our own assumptions?
You may contact Jon on camilleri.jon@gmail.com if you want to avail from more tips and hints on how to manage your day to day productivity, and, for other business consultancy services.

How to file a report for discrimination?

Evidence 1. Job advert as advertised on newspaper or online
2. Your Curriculum Vitae, certificates and copies of correspondence exchanged with the employer or provider of a service
3. Recording of the job interview, remember that you have to advise the person that you are recording them according to the Data Protection laws, if you are keeping personal information about them. If you do not quote that you are citing criminal law, as this is legitimate purpose, and, that you are a private investigator.
See the information at https://socialdialogue.gov.mt/en/NCPE/Pages/NCPE_Home.aspx, you need to fill in a complaint form and an arbitrage process will be initiated. You may be required to witness as well. Different countries have different validation and criteria and some of them are not so clear in their validation requirements, it is useful to ask questions where you feel your complaint has not been handled as you wish it was. A book titled The Face of Discrimination available on Google Books details the qualitative data that need to be available, and, these include details of what happened (facts), an explanation of what happened (response), witness statements - preferably signed and initialized so they are more credible (witness), information on the perpetrators and the contact details (who), ideally a legal endorsement of the facts (legal attorney), and I would add legal references as the claim might be presented in a manner that indicates which laws and policies were breached by the facts or events reported. If you are no longer in a position to write it up, have a lawyer write it up for you, preferably a rights lawyer.