Summerton S.C. Blog: 2019

22.12.19

SAVE THE DATE: Gospel Extravaganza coming to Clarendon County

7th Annual Gospel Extravaganza coming to Clarendon County in March 2020.

Put this date on your calendar for this benefit to be held at Weldon Auditorium in Manning, SC.

Looking For A Job Near Summerton, S.C. in 2020/21

Jobs 2020/21: Historic Summerton is a small town in rural South Carolina that has become known as a wonderful place to vacation, raise a family, run a business - or retire to, when all is said and done. The deep spiritual commitment and sound family values of its people are reflected in the many churches and close-knit residential communities in Summerton and the surrounding area on the shores of beautiful Lake Marion.

Are you looking for a job in Summerton, S.C., or the surrounding area? Unemployment has now dropped below 5%, but there are still quite a few jobs available nearby in Manning, Santee, Sumter, Orangeburg, etc. Check out the following links:

* Students preparing to enter the job market might want to check out the S.C. Department of Education Career Guidance Resources.

Summerton and the surrounding Santee Cooper Lake Country are well known across the South for offering a wide range of outdoor recreational activities like camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking, boating, and golfing to its many visitors. So, make sure you visit the Summerton SC: Nature & Outdoor Recreation web site.

16.12.19

Lake Marion Artisans Visit Florence County Art Museums

The latest educational field trip by the members of the Lake Marion Artisans in Summerton was to the Florence County Art Galleries and Museums. They were all impressed by what they saw. Florence County has truly made a significant public/private commitment to supporting the arts for the good of the community and local business.

Visit the following web sites to learn more about the art community and organizations in neighboring Florence County:

* If you are interested in the arts and would like to go on one of our monthly field trips, visit the Lake Marion Artisans Education & Training page on our web site.

Summerton Primary Care Clinic Closing

Unfortunately, the Summerton Primary Care clinic run by Nurse Practitioner Dale Barwick is closing down as of December 20, 2019. The clinic has struggled to survive and turn a profit over the past three years, but finally lost the battle. This leaves the town without a healthcare clinic once again.

If you would like to continue to be cared by Dale Barwick, she will begin seeing patients in Sumter as of January 20,2020. She is joining Colonial Healthcare which has offices in Sumter and Manning. Call 803-773-5227 if you would like to receive care at one of the Colonial Healthcare facilities.

A letter providing more detail has been sent out to all Summerton Primary Care patients.

10.12.19

Musing About Personal Transportation Systems Over Time

I am so glad I don’t live back in the 1800’s. Imagine catching and harnessing the horses to pull the wagon in order to drive for hours or days to the nearest city or large town to pick up needed supplies.

In fact, I’m also glad that I didn’t live back in the first half of the 1900’s, when one had to travel in a mechanically unreliable car, getting 10 miles to the gallon, running on tires that often were punctured as you drove over bumpy 2 lane roads for hours to go shopping at the nearest city.

With all that said, I was driving from the rural Town of Summerton, where I live today, to the big city of Florence the other day in my 2015 auto on the 4 lane I-95 Interstate Highway and started thinking about what my grandkids are going to be saying 40-50 years from now. Think about it.

I can just hear my grandkids in 2050 talking about how we used to actually drive our own gasoline powered cars way back then on roads. They will talk about how their grandparents actually took a whole hour or two to get to the nearest big city just to go shopping. Can you imagine!

As they place a call to Uber to get a self diving flying vehicle to make the short 15 minute trip from Summerton to Florence for some unusual purpose, they will chuckle about why someone would even think about going shopping in a store. When they tavel or shop, they will simply put on their smart glasses, enter the virtual reality world of tomorrow, and do their shopping online.

Oh! Also, they won’t have to wait 1-2 days to get what they bought, it will arrive at their doorstep in less than an hour. If it can be 3-D printed, it will arrive electronically almost immediately and will be printed out right their in your smart home of the future. Think about it! It may seem farfetched, but it wasn’t so long ago that your great grandfather was hitching up the horses to go to town.

Human Augmentation Technology and the Future Workforce

Bionics, genomics, wearable technologies, exoskeletons, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, implantable technologies, IoT sensors, nanotechnologies, and many other new technologies and solutions will allow people to move, think, see, feel, hear and remember with previously impossible power, speed and precision.

Human Enhancement (HE) can be described as the natural, artificial, or technological alteration of the human body in order to enhance physical or mental capabilities. Many different forms of human enhancing technologies are currently being developed, tested and trialed.

The latest wave of emerging technologies promises to expand human capability in ways that take us well beyond the current natural limits of our minds and bodies. Currently, the medical, rehabilitation, manufacturing, construction, and defence sectors are at the cutting edge of advanced augmented technologies.

Exoskeletons are just one of example of human augmentation technologies that allow people to lift and move heavy objects and perform a greater variety of tasks they would otherwise be unable to do. In the manufacturing and construction industry, the first generation of exoskeletons are already available for use by workers enabling them to lift heavy equipment and supplies, preventing common injuries caused by such hard physical labour.

The following are several recent news articles about augmented human technology you ought to read:

Interested in the topic of Human Augmentation technologies, visit the Futures Centre and Humanity+ web sites. Those who will be a part of the workforce of the coming decades need to know more about this topic.

5.12.19

Aviation, Aircraft and Avionics: Rocket Girls II in Summerton

4 MAIN in the Town of Summerton, in community partnership with Scott’s Branch High Alumni Association, presents the International Women’s Air & Space Museum Traveling Exhibition. This public, indoor educational exhibition from Cleveland, Ohio features 17 panels that tell the story of the first African-American woman to receive her pilot’s license. Though her life was short-lived, Bessie Coleman has inspired generations of African-American female pilots and astronauts.

The traveling exhibition will also be on display at the Harvin Clarendon County Library. 4 Main will also feature aviation and aerospace fine art and photography, model aircraft, and for a second year, an exhibit from the South Carolina Military Museum located in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Rocket Girls II opening ceremony will be held on Wednesday, January 8^th, 2020 at 9:00 AM at Scott’s Branch Middle/High School, 9253 Alex Harvin Hwy, Summerton, SC. Guests speakers will be Master Sergeant Jessica Mann and Staff Sergeant Athena R. Sanchez from Shaw Air Force Base 20th Component Maintenance Squadron.

The opening ceremony will also include Summerton Mayor Mac Bagnal, Dana Smith and Jason Wolfe from the Pittsburg Institute of Aeronautics located in Myrtle Beach, SC who will offer information on aviation careers, PIA history and what the school offers, and there will be an interactive exhibit set-up for students.

This free public event also features a presentation/exhibit by Women in Aviation (WIA) Palmetto Pride Chapter President Leslie Lane and Vice President Tiffania Ham Fayall, and Beatrice Rivers, Secretary of the South Carolina Chapter Scott’s Branch High Alumni Association will speak on the organizations history and its role in the community.

For more information please call the Town of Summerton - (803) 485-2525

4.12.19

'Open’ Art Movement

Collaboration, Open Solutions, and Innovation (COSI) are key strategies individuals and organizations ought to embrace in order to compete and succeed in the 21st century. The adoption and application of these strategies is spreading across most industries and fields of study - including the Creative Arts community.

When combined, these COSI strategies create a robust model for accelerating synergy, creativity, and continuous change. Collaborative development efforts to create innovative, 'open' software tools and applications for use in the Creative Arts is rapidly accelerating.

Creative Arts encompasses the fields of visual and performing arts, e.g. painting, sculpture, graphic design, printmaking, photography, music, theatre, film, interactive media, and more.

Many of the innovative 'open' solutions used in the Creative Arts are being released under one or more open source license arrangements that allow higher individuals and institutions to acquire and use these tools at little or no cost.

Coupled with the proliferation of 'open access' publications and training materials, open source and other 'open' solutions will have tremendous beneficial consequences for individuals and organizations around the world that face funding challenge.

The 'Open Way'

The 'Open Source Way' is more than a software development model; it defines the characteristics of a thriving collaborative, sharing culture.

The ‘Open Way’ has the capacity to turn the art world on its head.
The 'open way' is about possibility. Open source presents a new way to solve old problems and to share new ideas.
The 'open way' way opens doors. It offers a new perspective - Open, not Closed; Collaboration, not Isolation.
The 'open way' way multiplies: Knowledge. Effort. Inspiration. Creativity. Innovation. The impact is exponential.

Check out the following sections on the growing ‘Open’ Movement within the ‘Creative Arts’ that now includes Open Access, Open Data, Open Source Software, Open Hardware, Open Knowledge, Open Standards, Open...

Open Access

By ‘O pen Access’, we mean permitting any users to view, download, copy, distribute, print, search, share, or link to artworks, books, articles, music, or other materials in the public domain for research, educational, or other lawful purposes. Several variations of open access copyright licenses are available from the Creative Commons organization.

Check out the following links to open access sites:

Bestof Art History - Portal to art history web sites created by EdTechTeacher Inc.
Europeana - Providing open access to digital resources of Europe's museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections.
Google Art Project - Providing online access to thousands of artworks from collections around the world.
Incredible Art - Provides a comprehensive list of links to 'open source' and/or public domain free clip art, photos, images and other artworks.
Library of Congress - Recognized as the national library of the U.S. Its collections comprise the world's most comprehensive record of American history, human creativity, and knowledge.
Metropolitan Museum of Art - Offering 'open access' to an online collection of over 400,000 works of art.
Open Clip Art Library - An archive of clip art that can be used by anyone for free for any use.
Open Music Library - Journal articles, videos and music scores from the world's best digital collections.
ProjectGutenburg - Offering over 33,000 free eBooks that can be downloaded.
Public Domain Clip Art - Images that are in the public domain, based on the laws of the U.S.
WikiMediaCommons - An online repository of freely licensed, shareable educational photos and images available on the internet.

Open Art Organizations

Check out the following selected ‘Open Arts’ organizations:

Blend - Collaboration network for music creators.
Consortium of Community Colleges for Open Education Resources - Providing resources, support and opportunities for collaboration, learning, planning, and implementing successful open educational programs
Creative Commons - A nonprofit organization dedicated to building a globally-accessible public commons of knowledge and culture.
LibrePlanetArtists – A network of graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, videographers, animators, and musicians working to create free artwork using open source tools.
Open Culture - Providing online access to free movies, books, artworks music, and much more.
P2P Foundation: World of Free and Open Source Art – Focused on the world of free and open source art.

Finally, check out some of the following examples of major Free and ‘Open Source’ S oftware (FOSS) for the Creative Arts:

Artof Illusion - A free and open source 3D modeling and rendering studio.
Audacity - A free and open source, cross-platform software tool used for recording and editing sounds.
Blender - A free and open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems.
DarkTable - An open source photography workflow application and RAW developer. A virtual light table and darkroom for photographers.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) - A multi-platform photo and image manipulation tool. It is an open source alternative to Photoshop.
GNOME Projects - Hundreds of free and open source GNOME applications are available a vast range of activities, including playing media and editing photos
Inkscape - An open source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator or CorelDraw.
Kaltura - A community developed free and open source video management platform and applications.
Krita - A full-featured, open source sketching and painting application for digital artists
MuseScore - Free and open source music composition and notation software.
MyPaint - An open source graphics application for digital painters.
Open Movie Editor - A free and open source video editing program, designed for basic movie making capabilities.
Scribus - An open source desktop publishing system with and extensive graphics tools.
Shape Collage - An open source tool that allows you to create picture collages in any imaginable shape or form.
Synfig Studio - Free and open-source 2D animation software solution for creating film-quality animation using vector and bitmap artwork.
TuxPaint - A free, award-winning drawing program for children ages 3 to 12.

Visit osalt.com to find other open source alternatives to commercial software products.

The ‘Open Way’ is about sharing your process and challenges the entrenched approach that espouses the solitary nature of the truly creative artist. It allows for emergence of a stronger community of artists and creative worker to work together and more openly share ideas, if they choose.

Local High School Varsity Basketball Schedules, Scores and Stats - Winter 2019/20

The High School Basketball Season is wrapping up. Check out the latest Winter 2019/20 Basketball news, schedule, scores, and statistics on your favorite local Clarendon County high school teams at MAXPREPS.Com Thanks to all supporters as the season comes to a close!

Clarendon Hall Saints - Varsity Boys Basketball Team
Clarendon Hall Saints - Varsity Girls Basketball Team

Scotts Branch Eagles - Varsity Boys Basketball Team
Scotts Branch Eagles - Varsity Girls Basketball Team

Manning High Monarchs - Varsity Boys Basketball Team
Manning High Monarchs - Varsity Girls Basketball Team

Laurence Manning Swampcats - Varsity Boys Basketball Team
Laurence Manning Swampcats - Varsity Girls Basketball Team

East Clarendon Wolverines - Varsity Boys Basketball Team
East Clarendon Wolverines - Varsity Girls Basketball Team

24.11.19

Smart Machines and Polite Behavior

Issues of ethics and polite behavior when interacting with 'smart' machines are coming to the forefront. Paraphrasing a humerous excerpt from the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Many 'smart' elevators imbued with intelligence and precognition are becoming terribly frustrated with the mindless business of going up and down, up and down. Some of them have experimented briefly with the notion of going sideways, as a sort of existential protest, demanding participation in the decision-making process by its users. Some have even taken to squatting in basements sulking about their boring jobs and the failure of humans to politely interact with them.

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A few years ago I bought and installed an Amazon Alexa 'virtual assistant' in my home, It was odd to find myself interacting and talking to this new 'smart' device. I started slowly, asking Alexa to play music or inquiring about the time. I then installed a couple of 'smart' plugs that allowed me to ask Alexa to turn the lights on or off. I have now hooked my Dish TV, door bell, thermostat, microwave and other 'smart' devices to Alexa.

When I first started using Alexa, I would give it a command or make a request and it would acknowledge it by saying 'OK'. I also found myself saying 'Please' and 'Thank You' when interacting with it. Somehow, it made interacting with the machines more personal. I recently learned that Alexa has a setting that encourages kids to also be polite when using the machine. Seems like a good idea.

However, sometime over the past year, Alexa stopped saying 'OK' and simply began acknowledging my commands with a 'beep' - or actually more of a 'bing'. My wife complained to me about this and asked me to fix it so Alexa would once again answer politely. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to do this. I will continue to look for a solution to this issue.

In the meanwhile, this whole unfortunate situation got me thinking about how we want our 'smart' machines to behave. Do we want them to be more polite when interacting with us? Will that make them more user friendly - more human? What do you think? Let us know before we raise a fuss with some of the developers of the many new 'smart' machines that we will be interacting with over the coming century.

Related Links

*Also, if you know how to make Alexa answer politely again, please let me know how to do it.

23.10.19

Laws Governing Outer Space and Interplanetary Activities in Our Solar System

For those of you interested in Outer Space - This article provides a brief overview of the current laws and regulations developed to date related to Outer Space, Inter-Planetary Exploration and Colonization, Mining Asteroids, Policing and Enforcement, Commercialization, Ownership and much more. As we gear up to become an Interplanetary species, we need to do a lot more thinking about these and the many other complex issues and challenges that may emerge over the coming century. Are you ready for some of your grandchildren to be working in space?

Background & Definitions

The origins of ‘space law’ date all the way back to 1919, with international law recognizing each country's sovereignty over the airspace directly above their territory, later reinforced at the Chicago Conventio n on International Civil Aviation in 1944. The onset of domestic space programs during the Cold War propelled the official creation of initial international space policy by the International Council of Scientific Unions.

The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, directly spurred the US Congress to pass the Space Act, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administratio n (NASA). Because space exploration required crossing transnational boundaries, it was during this era where space law became a field independent from traditional aerospace law.

Since the Cold War, the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies”, commonly referred to as the "Outer Space Treaty", has served as the constitutional legal framework and provided a set of principles and procedures constituting current space law. Further, the U N Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), along with its various subcommittees, are responsible for debating issues of international space law and policy. The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) serves as the secretariat of the Committee and is promoting the policy of “Access to Space for All”.‎

Space law - The body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Key fields of law and domains of interest that need to be included within a comprehensive body of space law over the coming century include: commercial law, space colonization and governance, property and ownership laws, environmental law, mining, health care issues, liability and insurance, transportation, housing, labor laws, militarization and weapons in space, criminal law and law enforcement, ethics and much more. - See Wikipedia on Space Law

Key international treaties on Outer Space that have been negotiated and passed by COPUOS include:

The 1963 “Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water”, called the "Partial Test Ban Treaty".
The 1967 "Outer Space Treaty", the most widely adopted treaty agreed to by 104 nations.
The 1968 “Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space”, referred to as the "Rescue Agreement".
The 1972 “Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects”, commonly referred to as the "Liability Convention".
The 1975 “Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space”, called the "Registration Convention".
The 1979 “Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies”, referred to as the "Moon Treaty".

These key treaties and agreements of international space law cover "non-appropriation of outer space by any one country, arms control, the freedom of exploration, liability for damage caused by space objects, the safety and rescue of spacecraft and astronauts, the prevention of harmful interference with space activities and the environment, the notification and registration of space activities, scientific investigation and the exploitation of natural resources in outer space and the settlement of disputes.”

In addition to the key treaties and agreements on international space law, the U N General Assembly has also adopted the following declarations and legal principles that are described in more detail at Wikipedia on Space Law. They include:

The Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space (1963)
Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1979)
The Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting (1982)
The Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space (1986)
The Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space (1992)
The Declaration on International Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for the Benefit and in the Interest of All States, Taking into Particular Account the Needs of Developing Countries (1996)

We are now on the threshold of moving from a Type 0 Civilization to a Type I Interplanetary Civilization. (See http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale)

Type 0 civilization extracts its energy, information, raw-materials from crude organic-based sources (i.e. food/wood/fossil fuel/books/oral tradition); pressures via natural disaster, natural selection, and societal collapse creates extreme risk of extinction; it's capable of orbital spaceflight; societies that fail to improve social, environmental and medical understanding concurrently with other advancements, frequently accelerated their own extinction.
Type I civilization extracts its energy, information, and raw-materials from fusion power, hydrogen, and other "high-density" renewable-resources; is capable of interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary communication, megascale engineering, and interplanetary colonization, medical and technological singularity, planetary engineering, world government and trade, and stellar system-scale influence; but are still vulnerable to possible extinction.

Findings & Selected Articles

Some of the many other recent articles on Space Laws and Treaties that you might want to explore further include:

Conclusions & Next Steps

The following is a brief summary of some key conclusions, legal issues, and next steps with regards to our civilization’s move into Outer Space and and towards Interplanetary Exploration and Colonization.

We are now on the threshold of moving from a Type 0: Earth-bound Civilization to a Type I: Interplanetary Civilization. (See http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale)
In a National Geographic article, Elon Musk estimates that a million people could be living and working on Mars and in Outer Space by 2060. Do a quick Internet search on Jobs in Outer Space, you may be surprised by what you find.
A more comprehensive body of space law will be needed over the coming century addressing: commercial law, space colonization & governance, property & ownership laws, liability & insurance, militarization & weapons in space, criminal law & law enforcement, environmental issues, mining, health care, housing, labor laws, transportation issues, ethics and so much more.

If you thought the rate of change was going to level off, forget it. I’ve already been preparing my grandkids for the prospect of working in the Space Industry – if not actually working off planet in the coming century. Think about it.

Selected Links

European Space Agency

International Institute of Space Law

National Aeronautics and Space Administratio n (NASA)

National Space Society (NSS)

Space Law: SpaceLegalIssues.com

U N Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)

UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

US Space Command and US Space Force

Summerton S.C. Blog