Wednesday 19 June 2013

7:30pm. at the Lindop Building, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB

Information: Currency of Life?

Daniel Polani, Reader in Artificial Life, Adaptive Systems & Algorithms Research, University of Hertfordshire.

Recent studies indicate that Shannon information can act as a "currency" organizing cognitive load in agents via various optimization principles, such as a principle of "informational economy".

This provides formulations for biologically plausible cognitive models of embodied agents, i.e. organisms or robots. Different from other bio-mimicking models (e.g. Evolutionary Algorithms or Neural Networks), this approach does not consider the how of cognitive information dynamics, but rather the how much and the which. The approach provides models such as for the discovery of sensoritopic maps, the intrinsic generation of goals, the evolution of sensors or the emergence of cooperative collective behaviour.

If you wish to attend this meeting, please would you book your places using this booking link.

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Tuesday 17 September 2013

7:00pm. at the Kelvedon Hatch nuclear bunker, Ongar Road, Essex, CM15 0LA

AGM and Visit

Our AGM is followed by a tour of the Secret Nuclear Bunker, the biggest and deepest nuclear bunker in South East England that is open to the public. The bunker was initially an RAF ROTOR Station and latterly a Regional Government Headquarters, with a brief period in the 1960s as a civil defence centre.

When we had our AGM here in 2008, giving directions for finding the Bunker was a little difficult: only one of the mapping websites marked the position of the site and none of them showed where the access road was. We are now better served. The picture on the left shows Google Map's satellite view. The northern outskirts of Kelvedon Hatch is at the bottom of the picture.

The entrance to the access road is where on the map, "Rope Runners" is shown. There is a sign there on the road. You then follow the circuitous access road (giving sentries ample time to identify incoming threats) and you park in the car park which you can see on the south side of the road as a grey area, a short walk to the east of the nuclear bunker.

The postcode given for the bunker is CM15 0LA and if you put this into your satnav, you may end up where you see the red Google label in the picture. However, even in 2008 the secrecy of the bunker had been blown and the local brown tourist road signs told you exactly which way to go, to get to the Secret Nuclear Bunker.

The AGM will begin at 7:00 pm and will last for about 30 minutes. After the meeting the bunker will be available for you to explore. We are asked to leave by 10:00 pm. when the site will be closed.

The entrance fee for members will be paid by the Branch. Guests will be responsible for paying their own entry fees (£11.00 - sorry, but cash only) - this includes refreshments before the AGM.

Getting there

The site is signposted for a radius of around 10 miles with brown "heritage" type signs — "Secret Nuclear Bunker". Once on the A128, the site entrance is not signposted until the actual entrance is reached. The entrance is a relatively inconspicuous turning off the A128 into a field, with a brown sign on the opposite side of the road. The turning opens into a small gravelled area with a single track private road running off to the left. This private road winds back and forth for half a mile before opening into a gravelled car park. The bunker entrance bungalow is on the right of the car park, and a footpath leads off the right hand back corner of the car park, to the canteen.

On arrival, visitors should follow the footpath (about 1 minute's walk) from the car park to some iron mesh gates on the left hand side at the end of the footpath, through which access is gained to the canteen via a short open walk and a tunnel. The canteen will have hot soup, rolls and probably coffee available, but will not be staffed. Payment for items consumed is to be made into an "honesty box" — but note that refreshments will be provided in the room where we will be having the AGM.

The AGM

The meeting room that we shall be using for the AGM, is adjacent to the canteen.

The AGM is open to all (only members may vote). We do urge you to attend so that you may participate in the election of your committee, whose main business is to organise branch meetings and represent members through the Branches Congress.

Volunteers for the committee are always welcome; if you would like to join, please get in touch with Sarah Jacklin, Branch Secretary.

Nominations to the positions of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer should be with the Secretary 14 days ahead of the AGM; nominations for other positions and for those without portfolio may be made at any time before the close of the elections phase of the AGM. Some of our most effective volunteers have put their hands up at the very last minute.

The tour

After the AGM, we must leave via the canteen entrance and walk back down the footpath to the bungalow to get into the bunker for the tour. Disabled people in wheelchairs can be admitted to the tour via the canteen on request. The top floor of the bunker is fully accessible. The middle floor can be accessed by disabled people who are able to use a stair lift, but the bottom floor is reached via steps only and is not recommended for disabled access. The tour is supported by "information wands" and we will be supervised by the owners while on site. They believe between one and two hours are optimum for the tour, depending on how much of the interactive material is accessed.

Booking

If you wish to attend this meeting, please would you reserve your places using this booking link.