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China is the most popular destination amongst martial arts enthusiasts. There's virtually no better place to improve your Tai Chi technique than here. China is full of many significant places for Tai Chi practitioners to visit as well. Some of these are Jiaozuo, home of Chen Tai Chi and Yongnian County where Yang, Wu, and Sun Tai Chi originated. So, pick a Tai Chi training in China today and boost your focus and energy flow!
Directly translated into English, Wing Chun (or Wing Tsun) means "an ode to spring". However, despite its pleasing title and deflective approach to force, Wing Tsun is a direct, destructive and fearsome martial art when dealing with an attacker.
Martial arts is highly beneficial not only in conditioning the body, mind, and soul, but it is also very useful in self-defense.
Kung Fu comes in a variety of disciplines to explore – it also happens to be one of the most popular styles. Moreover, it has been an essential part of China' s 5000-year-old culture. It has been long celebrated its land of origin far before the world's most renowned martial artist, Bruce Lee, left us captivated by the awesomeness that is Kung Fu.
When we first came across 'The Last Masters', a blog focused on sharing information and insights about martial arts in China – from Taiji, Kung Fu to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), we were instantly hooked. As we dig deeper, we found out that the man behind the blog, Sascha Matuszak, has been travelling around China to meet as many Kung Fu masters and practitioners as he can as a part of his documentary film, 'The New Masters'.
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Save Money & Buy a 30 Eco Pack Key Features Vitamin E the most powerful antioxidant vitamin in the body Lutein can help protect the retina from UV damage Eye support contains Zeaxanthin Lutein can reduce the risks and effects of Age Related Macular Degeneration Description Vegan supplements, Vegan vitamins and Vegan Minerals. We are at the cutting edge of supplying you with the very best supplements & vitamins money can b...
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Eye support comes by way of an easy to swallow gluten-free capsule. Body By Natures eye support supplement contains high amounts of health-promoting antioxidants including Vitamin E which is most powerful. The antioxidants found in vitamin E are known for decreasing the likelihood of developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Our whole-food product also contains the beneficial carotenoid Lutein.
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|Active Nutrient
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|providing Polyphenols
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FloraGLO Lutein (providing zeaxanthin), capsule shell (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose), grape seed extract; bilberry extract; vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol acetate); zinc citrate
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What is our responsibility to others - especially our beleaguered brethren in
What can a single individual do to elevate the nation?
Rabbi Yissocher Frand addresses these questions with eloquence and wisdom. To
listen to these lectures is to rise above the mundane and feel a new sense of
hope and challenge.


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10 Best Budget Destinations for 2014
With amazing food, glorious public spaces, and unparalleled museums, theme parks, and beaches, the only thing "budget" about these world-class vacation spots is the price tag!
Conditions are perfect for visiting these near- and far-flung, culture-rich locales: Price-wise, 2014 is their year. Dipping hotel rates, new attractions, and some perennially affordable sights and eats make these 10 cities ideal to consider for your travel itinerary this year.
The country that Nelson Mandela changed forever will change you, too
Why in 2014: Take your pick of locales to visit in South Africa this year: Hotel rates are down 8 percent across the country. Put wildlife at the top of your agenda, whether you're looking to see the big five on a safari or just want to hang out with the free-roaming penguins on Boulders Beach in Cape Town (careful, they bite). For a less risk-fraught animal excursion, Kruger National Park is one of the best on the continent. For an entrance fee of about $20, you can take in the South African landscape and keep your eyes peeled for both the big five and the little five (buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, ant lion, and rhino beetle). Beach lovers will flip for Cape Town's beaches, at the intersection of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Go Atlantic (the western side) for sunbathing and watercolor sunsets; hit the Indian (the eastern side) for swimming and surfing. Many of the eastern beaches have lifeguards. Soweto township in Johannesburg offers numerous opportunities to absorb the city's prominent history, such as the Nelson Mandela Museum and the Apartheid Museum. When you're hungry, visit the restaurants on Vilikazi Street; the indigenous local food menus include tripe, morogo (boiled wild spinach), and ting ting (sour porridge).
Where to Stay: In Cape Town, the Parliament Hotel's helpful staff, free breakfast, and safe location next to a police station are key basic reasons to book your stay. Nearby, you'll find Company's Gardens, where you can marvel at an aviary and scope out the oldest pear tree in Africa, and the Slave Lodge Museum, which educates visitors about South Africa's history of oppression. (parliamenthotel.co.za, from $67)
Yes, Venice! Hit the enchanting city of canals while hotel rates are down
Why in 2014: Put "floating down picturesque Venetian canals in a gondola" on your 2014 itinerary. Spending time in Venice is now more affordable than ever—hotel rates are down 7 percent from last year. Along with the iconic gondola trip, visiting the Piazza San Marco is a must: The Sansovino Library and the Ducal Palace stand at either side. You can't miss the two large granite columns from the 13th century that are topped with two symbols: the Lion of Saint Mark and a statue of Saint Theodore. Soak in the work of Venetian masters such as Vittore Carpaccio, Tiziano Vecelli, and Giorgione at Gallerie dell'Accademia, then follow it up with a dose of modern art at the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which showcases works from her personal collection by big names including Picasso, Dali, and Pollock. Ask your hotel's concierge about water transportation to Murano, where you can see traditional glass blowing on a small tour. Be aware that there's a hard sell at the end of the tour. They really want you to buy fancy glass.
Where to Stay: For opulent Venetian atmosphere, consider Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo. Nice touches like Murano glass chandeliers and exposed beams add to the 1700s feel. (alpontemocenigo.com, from $115)
Affordable all-inclusive resorts put this island paradise within reach
Why in 2014: Growing more popular by the day, the DR is a go-to 2014 beach destination if you've been priced out of vacation spots like Cabo or aren't up for sharing sand with the fashion crowd in Tulum. The five-star all-inclusive Majestic Colonial Beach Resort in Punta Cana is surprisingly affordable, at about $212 per night for two people. For a more rustic trip, up-and-coming Las Terrenas, a little-known former fishing village in the Samaná province, is easy on the purse strings and heavy on pristine beaches. To get your nature fix, pay a visit to Los Haitises National Park, a protected virgin forest informally known as Caño Hondo. Rent a kayak for $3 (plus a licensed guide) and glide through lagoons and mangrove canals to spy on wildlife like brown pelicans and endangered leatherback turtles.


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Finance topics, trends, & specific term sheets
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American University of Puerto Rico Stats, Info and Facts
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Nissan Expands its Green Manufacturing Footprint
Nissan Green Program 2016 helps guide environmental strides as manufacturing capacity increases
IRVINE, Calif. Nissan has established itself as the global leader in zero emission vehicles with more than 75,000 Nissan LEAF electric cars on the road today. As Nissan adds plants and jobs increasing production capacity throughout the Americas, its operations are continually getting greener as well.
A set of collective efforts reflects Nissan's broader global environmental initiative, Nissan Green Program 2016, which focuses on reducing environmental impacts of corporate activities and pursuing harmony between resource consumption and ecology by promoting and widening the application of innovative green technologies, energy management and fuel-efficient vehicles.
In Mexico, Nissan has expanded a green energy program so that 50 percent of the energy used by the Aguascalientes Vehicle Assembly Plant comes from renewable sources including wind power and landfill gas. For more than a year, the plant has used a wind farm in southern Mexico and methane from garbage at the city dump, which combined have cut the plant's utility costs by more than 10 percent.
Nissan's program leverages Mexico's largest wind farm, which consists of 35 large wind turbines about 600 miles away. The wind replaces about 5.3 million gallons of fuel oil. Nissan also currently gets about 5 percent of its power from generators that run on methane from a local landfill with aims to almost double that. The biogas that is produced from the breakdown of organic matter is used as fuel. One of the limiting factors is the availability of trash. "If we had access to more, we'd use it," said Marco Antonio Rivera, senior manager for energy and environment at Nissan Mexico.
The plant is looking at other renewable sources as well to balance the mix of sources required to offset variables with renewable energy that can't be controlled such as the wind. Additionally, nearly 100 percent of recyclable materials at the plant are recycled.
The green energy program will be extended to the Cuernavaca Vehicle Assembly Plant and to the new Aguascalientes 2 assembly plant scheduled to open later this year.
United States
Energy conservation
In the U.S., Nissan is a leader in energy performance with three new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® accolades on the shelf, including the 2013 Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award, the highest honor given to select organizations that are dedicated to protecting the environment through energy efficiency.
"Since becoming an ENERGY STAR partner in 2006, we have saved more than 800 billion BTUs (British thermal units) in our vehicle assembly process," said Bill Krueger, Nissan's senior vice president of Manufacturing, Purchasing, Production Engineering and Supply Chain Management. "That's enough energy to power the all-electric Nissan LEAF for more than 750 million miles."
This award closely follows two other ENERGY STAR achievements for Nissan's powertrain plant and vehicle assembly facilities.
Nissan's powertrain plant in Decherd, Tenn., recently achieved the EPA's ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry recognition for reducing the amount of energy needed to assemble engines by 7 percent in just 12 months by investing in more efficient equipment and establishing a compressed air leak reduction program.
Nissan's vehicle assembly plants in Smyrna, Tenn., and Canton, Miss., were recently awarded the ENERGY STAR Certification for the seventh year in a row, signifying Nissan's spot among the top 25 percent of the automotive manufacturing industry for superior energy management.
Nissan has implemented several energy-savings programs in recent yearsincluding a program to identify and repair air leaks in the Nissan Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant and the debut of a new and more efficient paint plant in Smyrna, which brought the plant above the 75th percentile in energy performance, according to ENERGY STAR metrics.
Nissan debuts efficient paint plant
With the recent additions of Infiniti QX60 and Nissan LEAF, and with production of Nissan Rogue on the way to the Nissan vehicle assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn., the company has added its most advanced paint plant in the world that sets new standards for quality, efficiency and environmental impact. In fact, the new paint plant is capable of reducing energy consumption by 30 percent, carbon emissions by 30 percent and volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions by 70 percent.
The plant uses an innovative three-wet paint process that applies all three paint layers in succession before the vehicle goes into the oven. Previous processes required a dehydration process to take place between the primer application and the topcoat layers. Implementation of this new technology reduces energy consumption, cost and emissions while increasing production efficiency.
"Nissan is committed to increase energy efficiency as we reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing the highest quality vehicles sold in North America," said Susan Brennan, Nissan's vice president of Manufacturing in Smyrna. "These efforts align with our global strategies of zero-emission leadership and corporate social responsibility to employees, stakeholders and customers."
The plant is Nissan's "Showcase Project" as part of the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Better Plants Challenge, where Nissan has committed to reducing energy in its three U.S. plants by 25 percent by 2020.
Nissan is a proud ENERGY STAR® Partner and was awarded ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year in 2010 and 2011 and Sustained Excellence, ENERGY STAR's highest honor, in 2012. The Smyrna plant has received the ENERGY STAR distinction for the past 7 years.
In May 2012, Nissan's Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant became the first passenger vehicle manufacturing facility to attain ISO 50001 and Superior Energy Performance (SEP) certifications. Accredited under the American National Standards Institute and National Accreditation Board, these certifications recognize the Smyrna facility as a leader in energy management.
Brazil builds green into growth plans
Brazil anticipates opening its new Resende manufacturing plant in the first half of 2014 as one of the most sustainable facilities in the world. The plant features a "Green Belt" that circles the entire facility and is designed to help neutralize C02 emissions while also reducing noise levels of the factory for the surrounding environment. Construction of wetlands also will help to balance the area ecosystem.
The Resende plant, which will build Nissan March and Versa when it opens, will boast integrated production methods, modern and efficient equipment and waste management methods that together will significantly enhance the plant's environmental friendliness.
Nissan also expects the new Resende plant to have the one of the lowest rates of CO2 emissions in the world among automotive companies. This feat will be accomplished in part by sourcing raw material near the plant, which reduces CO2 emissions in transport. Use of state-of-the-art equipment and production technologies including the most modern robots will provide greater energy efficiency. The plant's design also allows for natural light to reduce energy use.
The plant will use water-based ink, which is more environmentally friendly and will use ink cartridges in painting robots, which significantly reduces the waste based on the lower discharge of ink and solvent. The process also increases the average efficiency of ink usage from an average today of about 30 percent and Nissan's new plant will be at 80 percent efficiency.
Based on significant recycling and efficient use of resources, Nissan's Resende plant is designed to achieve one of the lowest rates of landfill use by June 2015. The goal is to have less than 0.5 percent plant resources become unusable waste.
The future
Nissan Green Program 2016 promotes activities not only in development and manufacturing departments associated with the production of automobiles, but also in sales, service and all other departments of the company. Even with its plans to increase sales volume globally, Nissan forecasts that through the initiative CO2 emissions from its new vehicles and corporate activities will peak in the 2020s and then subside while the volume of new natural resources used will be maintained at the level of the 2010s.
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This week's cover by Doug Zider, "Christmas Eve Arrival," combines the artist's two primary interests, maritime landscapes and history. The view of the sea and a ship coming into port as night approaches also reinforce Zider's style that evokes a special mood. Although the scene is not a contemporary one (circa 1870s), we would feel at home there, meeting family and friends and taking them home to a waiting fireplace and holiday cheer.
The human figures are small in the cover image, overwhelmed by the huge ship. This contrast in scale is arresting, and we are motivated to take a closer look at a boy and his grandfather, a family hurrying home before it gets very dark. Some of Zider's modern landscapes also feature small objects, including birds in the distance. Whether they are panoramic views or close-ups, the images are crisp and inviting. And oddly enough, they could represent the past as well as the present.
Q: It seems you have combined not only your penchant for coastal towns and history, but I see your being influenced by also mixing illustration and painting.
A: Yes, I like that mixture. Remember Norman Rockwell was considered our finest American illustrator, and Frederick Remington did illustrations in magazines but was a western painter, too.
Q: How about the role that nostalgia plays in your work? I see that, too.
A: When I was a kid I remember Christmas cards with a church in the distance. They're making a comeback now; there's a strong sense of nostalgia. My cover tries to capture more simple times.
Q: What is it about the past that attracts you specifically?
A: I'm in love with modes of transportation (particularly clipper ships) and the hardships of those days. But I like the idea of people meeting each other, too, not just here, but also in semi-civilized countries. That's very romantic for me.
Q: Where did this interest come from, do you think? This sense of adventure and history?
A: My grandmother came over from England a long time ago. I like the idea of someone who had adventure in their life. We also had a relative in the Civil War.
Q: I know you are drawn to Civil War sites, as I am: I grew up not far from several Civil War battlefields in Maryland.
A: Recently we visited Williamsburg, Virginia, and loved going into cornfields with toy muskets. When I was a Boy Scout, we would camp out on the Gettysburg's battlefield.
Q: What other things through the years have inspired your love of maritime subjects and history?
A: I had a painting of a clipper ship at sea, "Son of the Ocean," hanging over the mantel that inspired me. And I do live near the water, which is important.
Q: How about movies about the sea? While they might not have influenced you directly, they are some of your favorites, I imagine.
A: Yes. Gulliver's Travels, Mutiny on the Bounty, Moby Dick.
Q: How do you feel personally about the ocean?
A: It is terrifying out at sea. There is over 100 feet of water, and you don't know what lurks there. But I have great respect for water. Its power is incredible.
Q: What was your greatest influence?
A: My parents moved from California to Long Island; my father wanted to live by the water. Every day I am so glad to be here, to see the sunset and sunrise. It's so comforting to live where your roots are. It's important to know where you are.
Doug Zider's website is www.dougzider.com
His work is at Sunflower Gallery, Garden City, New York. (172 Seventh Street. Tel. 877-747-7406)


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Getting Started With SQL Azure Development
**this is an update to the article published late last year in MSDN Magazine – it includes information current as of May 29th, including the TechEd 2011 SQL Azure announcements**
In addition to the information in this article, I recently did a series of presentations on SQL Azure for the SSWUG – below is a video preview.
Microsoft Windows Azure offers several choices for data storage. These include Windows Azure storage and SQL Azure. You may choose to use one or both in your particular project. Windows Azure storage currently contains three types of storage structures: tables, queues or blobs (which can optionally be virtual machines).
SQL Azure is a relational data storage service in the cloud. Some of the benefits of this offering are the ability to use a familiar relational development model that includes most of the standard SQL Server language (T-SQL), tools and utilities. Of course, working with well-understood relational structures in the cloud, such as tables, views and stored procedures also results in increased developer productivity when working in this new platform type. Other benefits include a reduced need for physical database administration tasks to server setup, maintenance and security as well as built-in support for reliability, high availability and scalability.
I won't cover Windows Azure storage or make a comparison between the two storage modes here. You can read more about these storage options in the July 2010 Data Points column . It is important to note that Windows Azure tables are NOT relational tables. Another way to think about the two storage offerings is that Windows Azure includes Microsoft's NoSQL cloud solutions and SQL Azure is the RDMS-cloud offering. The focus of this article is on understanding the capabilities included in SQL Azure.
In article I will be explaining differences between SQL Server and SQL Azure. You need to understand these differences in detail so that you can appropriately leverage your current knowledge of SQL Server as you work on projects that use SQL Azure as a data source. This article was originally published in September 2010. I have updated it as of June 2011.
If you are new to cloud computing you'll want to do some background reading on Windows Azure before reading this article. A good place to start is the MSDN Developer Cloud Center.
Getting Started with SQL Azure
To start working with SQL Azure, you'll first need to set up an account. If you are a MSDN subscriber, then you can use up to three SQL Azure databases (maximum size 1 GB each) for up to 16 months (details) at as a developer sandbox. You may prefer to sign up for a regular SQL Azure account (storage and data transfer fees apply), to do so go here. Yet another option is to get a trial 30-day account (no credit card required). To do the latter, go here and use signup code - DPEWR02.
After you've signed up for your SQL Azure account, the simplest way to initially access it is via the web portal at windows.azure.com. You must first sign in with the Windows Live ID that you've associated to your Windows Azure account. After you sign in, you can create your server installation and get started developing your application. The number of servers and / or databases you are allowed to create will be dependent on the type of account you've signed up for.
An example of the SQL Azure web management portal is shown in Figure 1. Here you can see a server and its associated databases. You'll note that there is also a tab on this portal for managing the Firewall Settings for this particular SQL Azure installation.
Figure 1 Summary Information for a SQL Azure Server
As you initially create your SQL Azure server installation, it will be assigned a random string for the server name. You'll generally also set the administrator username, password, geographic server location and firewall rules at the time of server creation. You can select the physical (data center) location for your SQL Azure installation at the time of server creation. You will be presented with a list of locations to choose from. As of this writing, Microsoft has 6 physical data centers, located world-wide to select from. If your application front-end is built in Windows Azure, you have the option to locate both that installation and your SQL Azure installation in the same geographic location by associating the two installations together by using an Affinity Group.
By default there is no client access to your newly-created server, so you'll first have to create firewall rules for all client IPs. SQL Azure uses port 1433, so make sure that that port is open for your client application as well. When connecting to SQL Azure you'll use the username@servername format for your username. SQL Azure supports SQL Authentication only; Windows authentication is not supported. Multiple Active Result Set (MARS) connections are supported.
Open connections will 'time out' after 30 minutes of inactivity. Also connections can be dropped for long-running queries or transactions or excessive resource usage. Development best practices in your applications around connections are to open, use and then close those connections manually, to include retry connection logic for dropped connections and to avoid caching connections because of these behaviors. Another best practice is to encrypt your connection string to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. For best practices and code samples for SQL Azure connections (including a suggested library which includes patterned connection retry logic), see this TechNET blog post.
You will be connected to the master database by if you don't specify a database name in the connection string. In SQL Azure the T-SQL statement USE is not supported for changing databases, so you will generally specify the database you want to connect to in the connection string (assuming you want to connect to a database other than master). Figure 2 below, shows an example of an ADO.NET connection:
Figure 2 Format for SQL Azure connection string
Setting up Databases
After you've successfully created and connected to your SQL Azure server, then you'll usually want to create one or more databases. Although you can create databases using the SQL Azure portal, you may prefer to do so using some of the other tools, such as SQL Server Management Studio 2008 R2. By default, you can create up to 149 databases for each SQL Azure server installation, if you need more databases than that; you must call the Azure business desk to have this limit increased.
When creating a database you must select the maximum size. The current options for sizing (and billing) are Web or Business Edition. Web Edition, the default, supports databases of 1 or 5 GB total. Business Edition supports databases of up to 50 GB, sized in increments of 10 GB – in other words, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 GB. Currently, both editions are feature-equivalent.
You set the size limit for your database when you create it by using the MAXSIZE keyword. You can change the size limit or the edition (Web or Business) after the initial creation using the ALTER DATABASE statement. If you reach your size or capacity limit for the edition you've selected, then you will see the error code 40544. The database size measurement does NOT include the master database, or any database logs. For more detail about sizing and pricing, see this link Although you set a maximum size, you are billed based on actual storage used.
It's important to realize that when you are creating a new database on SQL Azure, you are actually creating three replicas of that database. This is done to ensure high availability. These replicas are completely transparent to you. Currently, these replicas are in the same data center. The new database appears as a single unit for your purposes. Failover is transparent and part of the service you are paying for is a SLA of 99.9% uptime.
After you've created a database, you can quickly get the connection string information for it by selecting the database in the list on the portal and then clicking the 'Connection Strings' button. You can also test connectivity via the portal by clicking the 'Test Connectivity' button for the selected database. For this test to succeed you must enable the 'Allow Microsoft Services to Connect to this Server' option on the Firewall Rules tab of the SQL Azure portal.
Creating Your Application
After you've set up your account, created your server, created at least one database and set a firewall rule so that you can connect to the database, then you can start developing your application using this data source.
Unlike with Windows Azure data storage options such as tables, queues or blobs, when you are using SQL Azure as a data source for your project, there is nothing to install in your development environment. If you are using Visual Studio 2010, you can just get started – no additional SDKs, tools or anything else are needed.
Although many developers will choose to use a Windows Azure front-end with a SQL Azure back-end, this configuration is NOT required. You can use ANY front-end client with a supported connection library such as ADO.NET or ODBC. This could include, for example, an application written in Java or PHP. Of note is that connecting to SQL Azure via OLE DB is currently not supported.
If you are using Visual Studio 2010 to develop your application, then you can take advantage of the included ability to view or create many types of objects in your selected SQL Azure database installation directly from the Visual Studio Server Explorer View. These objects are Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, Functions or Synonyms. You can also see the data associated with these objects using this viewer. For many developers using Visual Studio 2010 as their primary tool to view and manage SQL Azure data will be sufficient. The Server Explorer View window is shown in Figure 3. Both a local installation of a database and a cloud-based instance are shown. You'll note that the tree nodes differ slightly in the two views. For example there is no Assemblies node in the cloud installation because custom assemblies are not supported in SQL Azure.
Figure 3 Viewing Data Connections in Visual Studio
Of note also in Visual Studio is that using the Entity Framework with SQL Azure is supported. Also you may choose to use Data-Tier application packages (or DACPACs) in Visual Studio. You can create, import and / or modify DACPACS for SQL Azure schemas in VS2010.
Another developer tool that can now use to create applications which use SQL Azure as a data source is Visual Studio Light Switch. This is a light-weight developer environment, based on the idea of 'data and screens' created for those who are tasked with part-time coding, most especially those who create 'departmental applications. To try out the beta version of Visual Studio Light Switch go to this location . Shown below (Figure 4) is connecting to a SQL Azure data source using the Light Switch IDE.
Figure 4 Connecting to SQL Azure in Visual Studio Light Switch
If you are wish to use SQL Azure as a data source for Business Intelligence projects, then you'll use Visual Studio Business Intelligence Development Studio 2008 (R2 version needed to connect to SQL Azure). In addition, Microsoft has begun a limited (invite-only) customer beta of SQL Azure Reporting Services, a version of SQL Server Reporting Services for Azure. Microsoft has announced that on the longer-term roadmap for SQL Azure, they are working to cloud-enable versions of the entire BI stack, that is Analysis Services, Integration Services and Reporting Services.
More forward-looking, Microsoft has announced that in vNext of Visual Studio the BI toolset will be integrated into the core product with full SQL Azure compatibility and intellisense. This project is code-named 'Juneau' and is expected to go into public beta later this year. For more information (and demo videos of Juneau) see this link.
As I mentioned earlier, another tool you may want to use to work with SQL Azure is SQL Server Management Studio 2008 R2. Using SSMS, you actually have access to a fuller set of operations for SQL Azure databases using SSMS than in Visual Studio 2010. I find that I use both tools, depending on which operation I am trying to complete. An example of an operation available in SSMS (and not in Visual Studio 2010) is creating a new database using a T-SQL script. Another example is the ability to easily performance index operations (create, maintain, delete and so on). An example is shown in Figure 5 below.
Although working with SQL Azure databases in SSMS 2008 R2 is quite similar to working with an on-premises SQL Server instance, tasks and functionality are NOT identical. This is due mostly due to product differences. For example, you may remember that in SQL Azure the USE statement to CHANGE databases is NOT supported. A common way to do this when working in SSMS it is to right click an open query window, then click 'Connection'>'Change connection' on the context-sensitive menu and then to enter the next database connection information in the 'Connect to Database Engine' dialog box that pops up.
Generally when working in SSMS, if an option isn't supported in SQL Azure either, you simply can't see it such as folders in the Explorer tree not present; context-sensitive menu-options not available when connected to a SQL Azure instance, or you are presented with an error when you try to execute a command this isn't supported in this version of SQL Server. You'll also note that many of the features available with GUI interfaces for SQL Server with SSMS are exposed only via T-SQL script windows for SQL azure. These include common features, such as CREATE DATABASE, CREATE LOGIN, CREATE TABLE, CREATE USER, etc…
One tool that SQL Server DBAs often 'miss' in SQL Azure is SQL Server Agent. This functionality is NOT supported. However, there are 3rd party tools as well as community projects, such as the one on CodePlex here which provide examples of using alternate technologies to create 'SQL-Agent-like' functionality for SQL Azure.
Figure 5 Using SQL Server Management Studio 2008 R2 to Manage SQL Azure
As mentioned in the discussion of Visual Studio 2010 support, newly released in SQL Server 2008 R2 is a data-tier application or DAC. DAC pacs are objects that combine SQL Server or SQL Azure database schemas and objects into a single entity.
You can use either Visual Studio 2010 (to build) or SQL Server 2008 R2 SSMS (to extract) to create a DAC from an existing database. If you wish to use Visual Studio 2010 to work with a DAC, then you'd start by selecting the SQL Server Data-Tier Application project type in Visual Studio 2010. Then, on the Solution Explorer, right-click your project name and click 'Import Data Tier Application'. A wizard opens to guide you through the import process. If you are using SSMS, start by right-clicking on the database you want to use in the Object Explorer, click Tasks, and then click 'Extract Data-tier Application' to create the DAC. The generated DAC is a compressed file that contains multiple T-SQL and XML files. You can work with the contents by right-clicking the .dacpac file and then clicking Unpack. SQL Azure supports deleting, deploying, extracting, and registering DAC pacs, but does not support upgrading them. Figure 6 below, shows the template in Visual Studio 2010 for working with DACPACs
Figure 6 The 'SQL Server Data-tier Application' template in Visual Studio 2010 (for DACPACs)
Also of note is that Microsoft has released a CTP version of enhanced DACPACs, called BACPACs, that support import/export of schema AND data (via BCP). Find more information here . Another name for this set of functionality is the import/export tool for SQL Azure.
Another tool you can use to connect to SQL Azure is the Silverlight-based web tool called the SQL Azure Web Management tool shown in Figure 7 below. It's intended as a zero-install client to manage SQL Azure installations. To access this tool navigate to the main Azure portal here, then click on the 'Database' node in the tree view on the left side. You will next click on the database that you wish to work with and then click on the 'Manage' button on the ribbon. This will open the login box for the web client. After you enter the login credentials, then a new web page will open which will allow you to work with that databases' Tables, Views, Queries and Stored Procedures in a SQL Azure database installation.
Figure 7 Using the Silverlight Web Portal to manage a SQL Azure Database
Of course, because the portal is built on Silverlight, you can view, monitor and manage the exposed aspects of SQL Azure with any browser using the web management tool. Shown below in Figure 8 is the portal running on a MacOS with Google Chrome.
Figure 8 Using the Silverlight Web Portal to manage a SQL Azure Database on a Mac with Google Chrome
Still another tool you can use to connect to a SQL Azure database is SQLCMD (more information here ). Of note is that even though SQLCMD is supported, the OSQL command-line tool is not supported by SQL Azure.
Using SQL Azure
So now you've connected to your SQL Azure installation and have created a new, empty database. So what exactly can you do with SQL Azure? Specifically you may be wondering what are the limits on creating objects? And after those objects have been created, how do you populate those objects with data? As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, SQL Azure provides relational cloud data storage, but it does have some subtle feature differences to an on premise SQL Server installation. Starting with object creation, let's look at some of the key differences between the two.
You can create the most commonly used objects in your SQL Azure database using familiar methods. The most commonly used relational objects (which include tables, views, stored procedures, indices, and functions) are all available. There are some differences around object creation though. I'll summarize the differences in the next paragraph.
SQL Azure tables MUST contain a clustered index. Non-clustered indices CAN be subsequently created on selected tables. You CAN create spatial indices; you can NOT create XML indices. Heap tables are NOT supported. CLR types of Geo-spatial only types (such as Geography and Geometry) ARE supported. Also Support for the HierachyID data type IS included. Other CLR types are NOT supported. View creation MUST be the first statement in a batch. Also view (or stored procedure) creation with encryption is NOT supported. Functions CAN be scalar, inline or multi-statement table-valued functions, but can NOT be any type of CLR function.
There is a complete reference of partially supported T-SQL statements for SQL Azure on MSDN here .
Before you get started creating your objects, remember that you will connect to the master database if you do not specify a different one in your connection string. In SQL Azure, the USE (database) statement is not supported for changing databases, so if you need to connect to a database other than the master database, then you must explicitly specify that database in your connection string as shown earlier.
Data Migration and Loading
If you plan to create SQL Azure objects using an existing, on-premises database as your source data and structures, then you can simply use SSMS to script an appropriate DDL to create those objects on SQL Azure. Use the Generate Scripts Wizard and set the 'Script for the database engine type' option to 'for SQL Azure'.
An even easier way to generate a script is to use the SQL Azure Migration Wizard available as a download from CodePlex here . With this handy tool you can generate a script to create the objects and can also load the data via bulk copy using bcp.exe.
You could also design a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package to extract and run a DML or DDL script. If you are using SSIS, you'd most commonly design a package that extracts the DDL from the source database, scripts that DDL for SQL Azure and then executes that script on one or more SQL Azure installations. You might also choose to load the associated data as part of this package's execution path. For more information about working with SSIS here.
Also of note regarding DDL creation and data migration is the CTP release of SQL Azure Data Sync Services here). You can also see this service in action in a Channel 9 video here . Currently SQL Azure Data Sync services works via Synchronization Groups (HUB and MEMBER servers) and then via scheduled synchronization at the level of individual tables in the databases selected for synchronization. For even more about Data Sync listen in to this recent MSDN geekSpeak show by new SQL Azure MVP Ike Ellis on his experiences with SQL Azure Data Sync.
You can use the Microsoft Sync Framework Power Pack for SQL Azure to synchronize data between a data source and a SQL Azure installation. As of this writing, this tool is in CTP release and is available here . If you use this framework to perform subsequent or ongoing data synchronization for your application, you may also wish to download the associated SDK.
What if your source database is larger than the maximum size for the SQL Azure database installation? This could be greater than the absolute maximum of 50 GB for the Business Edition or some smaller limit based on the other program options.
Currently, customers must partition (or shard) their data manually if their database size exceeds the program limits. Microsoft has announced that it will be providing a federation (or auto-partitioning utility) for SQL Azure in the future. For more information about how Microsoft plans to implement federation, read here. To support federations new T-SQL syntax will be introduced. From the blog post referenced above, Figure 9, below, shows a conceptual representation of that new syntax.
Figure 9 SQL Azure Federation (conceptual syntax)
As of this writing SQL Azure Federation customer beta program has been announced. To Sign up go here
It's important to note that T-SQL table partitioning is NOT supported in SQL Azure. There is also a free utility called Enzo SQL Shard (available here) that you can use for partitioning your data source.
You'll want to take note of some other differences between SQL Server and SQL Azure regarding data loading and data access. Added recently is the ability to copy a SQL Azure database via the Database copy command. The syntax for a cross-server copy is as follows:
CREATE DATABASE DB2A AS COPY OF Server1.DB1A
The T-SQL INSERT statement IS supported (with the exceptions of updating with views or providing a locking hint inside of an INSERT statement). Related further to data migration is that T-SQL DROP DATABASE and other DDL commands have additional limits when executed against a SQL Azure installation. Also the T-SQL RESTORE and ATTACH DATABASE commands are not supported. Finally, the T-SQL statement EXECUTE AS (login) is not supported.
If you are migrating from a data source other than SQL Server, there are also some free tools and wizards available to make the job easier. Specifically there is an Access to SQL Azure Migration wizard and a MySQL to SQL Azure Migration wizard. Both work similarly to the SQL Azure Migration wizard in that they allow you to map the source schema to a destination schema, then create the appropriate DDL, then they allow you to configure and to execute the data transfer via bcp. A screen from the MySQL to SQL Azure Migration wizard is shown in Figure 10 below.
Here are links for some of these tools:
1) Access to SQL Azure Migration Wizard – here
2) MySQL to SQL Azure Migration Wizard – here
3) Oracle to SQL Server Migration Wizard (you will have to manually set the target version to 'SQL Azure' for appropriate DDL script generation) – here
Figure 10 Migration from MySQL to SQL Azure wizard screen
For even more information about migration, you may want to listen in to a recently recorded a 90 minute webcast with more details (and demos!) for Migration scenarios to SQL Azure - listen in here. Joining me on this webcast is the creator of the open-source SQL Azure Migration Wizard – George Huey. I also posted a version of this presentation (both slides and screencast) on my blog – here.
Data Access and Programmability
Now let's take a look at common programming concerns when working with cloud data.
First you'll want to consider where to set up your development environment. If you are an MSDN subscriber and can work with a database under 1 GB, then it may well make sense to develop using only a cloud installation (sandbox). In this way there will be no issue with migration from local to cloud. Using a regular (i.e. not MSDN subscriber) SQL Azure account you could develop directly against your cloud instance (most probably a using a cloud-located copy of your production database). Of course developing directly from the cloud is not practical for all situations.
If you choose to work with an on-premises SQL Server database as your development data source, then you must develop a mechanism for synchronizing your local installation with the cloud installation. You could do that using any of the methods discussed earlier, and tools like Data Sync Services and Sync Framework are being developed with this scenario in mind.
As long as you use only the supported features, the method for having your application switch from an on-premise SQL Server installation to a SQL Azure database is simple – you need only to change the connection string in your application.
Regardless of whether you set up your development installation locally or in the cloud, you'll need to understand some programmability differences between SQL Server and SQL Azure. I've already covered the T-SQL and connection string differences. In addition all tables must have a clustered index at minimum (heap tables are not supported). As previously mentioned, the USE statement for changing databases isn't supported. This also means that there is no support for distributed (cross-database) transactions or queries, and linked servers are not supported.
Other options not available when working with a SQL Azure database include:
- Full-text indexing
- CLR custom types (however the built-in Geometry and Geography CLR types are supported)
- RowGUIDs (use the uniqueidentifier type with the NEWID function instead)
- XML column indices
- Filestream datatype
- Sparse columns
Default collation is always used for the database. To make collation adjustments, set the column-level collation to the desired value using the T-SQL COLLATE statement. And finally, you cannot currently use SQL Profiler or the Database Tuning Wizard on your SQL Azure database.
Some important tools that you CAN use with SQL Azure for tuning and monitoring are the following:
- SSMS Query Optimizer to view estimated or actual query execution plan details and client statistics
- Select Dynamic Management views to monitor health and status
- Entity Framework to connect to SQL Azure after the initial model and mapping files have been created by connecting to a local copy of your SQL Azure database.
Depending of what type of application you are developing, you may be using SSAS, SSRS, SSIS or Power Pivot. You CAN also use any of these products as CONSUMERS of SQL Azure database data. Simply connect to your SQL Azure server and selected database using the methods already described in this article.
Another developer consideration is in understanding the behavior of transactions. As mentioned, only local (within the same database) transactions are supported. Also it is important to understand that the only transaction isolation level available for a database hosted on SQL Azure is READ COMMITTED SNAPSHOT. Using this isolation level, readers get the latest consistent version of data that was available when the statement STARTED. SQL Azure does not detect update conflicts. This is also called an optimistic concurrency model, because lost updates, non-repeatable reads and phantoms can occur. Of course, dirty reads cannot occur.
Yet another method of accessing SQL Azure data programmatically is via OData. Currently in CTP and available here , you can try out exposing SQL Azure data via an OData interface by configuring this at the CTP portal. For a well-written introduction to OData, read here . Shown in Figure 11 below is one of the (CTP) configuration screens for exposing SQL Azure data as OData.
Figure 11 SQL OData (CTP) configuration
Database Administration
Generally when using SQL Azure, the administrator role becomes one of logical installation management. Physical management is handled by the platform. From a practical standpoint this means there are no physical servers to buy, install, patch, maintain or secure. There is no ability to physically place files, logs, tempdb and so on in specific physical locations. Because of this, there is no support for the T-SQL commands USE <database>, FILEGROUP, BACKUP, RESTORE or SNAPSHOT.
There is no support for the SQL Agent on SQL Azure. Also, there is no ability (or need) to configure replication, log shipping, database mirroring or clustering. If you need to maintain a local, synchronized copy of SQL Azure schemas and data, then you can use any of the tools discussed earlier for data migration and synchronization – they work both ways. You can also use the DATABASE COPY command. Other than keeping data synchronized, what are some other tasks that administrators may need to perform on a SQL Azure installation?
Most commonly, there will still be a need to perform logical administration. This includes tasks related to security and performance management. Of note is that in SQL Azure only there are two new database roles in the master database which are intended for security management. These roles are dbmanager (similar to SQL Server's dbcreator role) and (similar to SQL Server's securityadmin role) loginmanager. Also certain common usernames are not permitted. These include 'sa', 'admin', 'administrator', 'root' and 'guest'. Finally passwords must meet complexity requirements. For more, read Kalen Delaney's TechNET Article on SQL Azure security here .
Additionally, you may be involved in monitoring for capacity usage and associated costs. To help you with these tasks, SQL Azure provides a public Status History dashboard that shows current service status and recent history (an example of history is shown in Figure 12) here .
Figure 12 SQL Azure Status History
There is also a new set of error codes that both administrators and developers should be aware of when working with SQL Azure. These are shown in Figure 13 below. For a complete set of error codes for SQL Azure see this MSDN reference. Also, developers may want to take a look at this MSDN code sample on how to programmatically decode error messages.
Figure 13 SQL Azure error codes
SQL Azure provides a high security bar by default. It forces SSL encryption with all permitted (via firewall rules) client connections. Server-level logins and database-level users and roles are also secured. There are no server-level roles in SQL Azure. Encrypting the connection string is a best practice. Also, you may wish to use Windows Azure certificates for additional security. For more detail read here .
In the area of performance, SQL Azure includes features such as automatically killing long running transactions and idle connections (over 30 minutes). Although you cannot use SQL Profiler or trace flags for performance tuning, you can use SQL Query Optimizer to view query execution plans and client statistics. A sample query to SQL Azure with Query Optimizer output is shown in Figure 14 below. You can also perform statistics management and index tuning using the standard T-SQL methods.
Figure 15 SQL Azure query with execution plan output shown
There is a select list of dynamic management views (covering database, execution or transaction information) available for database administration as well. These include sys.dm_exec_connections , _requests , _sessions, _tran_database_transactions, _active_transactions, _partition_stats For a complete list of supported DMVs for SQL Azure see here .
There are also some new views such as sys.database_usage and sys.bandwidth_usage. These show the number, type and size of the databases and the bandwidth usage for each database so that administrators can understand SQL Azure billing. Also this blog post gives a sample of how you can use T-SQL to calculate estimated cost of service. Here is yet another MVP's view of how to calculate billing based on using these views. A sample is shown in Figure 16. In this view, quantity is listed in KB. You can monitor space used via this command:
SELECT SUM(reserved_page_count) * 8192 FROM sys.dm_db_partition_stats
Figure 16 Bandwidth Usage in SQL Query
Further around SQL Azure performance monitoring, Microsoft has released an installable tool which will help you to better understand performance. It produces reports on 'longest running queries', 'max CPU usage' and 'max IO usage'. Shown in Figure 17 below is a sample report screen for the first metric. You can download this tool from this location
Figure 17 Top 10 CPU consuming queries for a SQL Azure workload
You can also access the current charges for the SQL Azure installation via the SQL Azure portal by clicking on the Billing link at the top-right corner of the screen. Below in Figure 18 is an example of a bill for SQL Azure.
Figure 18 Sample Bill for SQL Azure services
Learn More and Roadmap
Product updates announced at TechEd US / May 2011 are as follows:
- SQL Azure Management REST API – a web API for managing SQL Azure servers.
- Multiple servers per subscription – create multiple SQL Azure servers per subscription.
- JDBC Driver – updated database driver for Java applications to access SQL Server and SQL Azure.
- DAC Framework 1.1 – making it easier to deploy databases and in-place upgrades on SQL Azure.
For deeper technical details you can read more in the MSDN documentation here .
Microsoft has also announced that is it is working to implement database backup and restore, including point-in-time restore for SQL Azure databases. This is a much-requested feature for DBAs and Microsoft has said that they are prioritizing the implementation of this feature set due to demand.
To learn more about SQL Azure, I suggest you download the Windows Azure Training Kit. This includes SQL Azure hands-on learning, whitepapers, videos and more. The training kit is available here. There is also a project on Codeplex which includes downloadable code, sample videos and more here . Also you will want to read the SQL Azure Team Blog here, and check out the MSDN SQL Azure Developer Center here .
If you want to continue to preview upcoming features for SQL Azure, then you'll want to visit SQL Azure Labs here. Show below in Figure 19, is a list our current CTP programs. As of this writing, those programs include – OData, Data Sync and Import/Export. SQL Azure Federations has been announced, but is not open to invited customers.
Figure 19 SQL Azure CTP programs
A final area you may want to check out is the Windows Azure Data Market. This is a place for you to make data sets that you choose to host on SQL Azure publically available. This can be at no cost or for a fee. Access is via Windows Live ID. You can connect via existing clients, such as the latest version of the Power Pivot add-in for Excel, or programmatically. In any case, this is a place for you to 'advertise' (and sell) access to data you've chosen to host on SQL Azure.
Are you still reading? Wow! You must be really interested in SQL Azure. Are you using it? What has your experience been? Are you interested, but NOT using it yet? Why not? Are you using some other type of cloud-data storage (relational or non-relational)? What is it, how do you like it? I welcome your feedback.
Happy coding!


text:
Open Wound: The Tragic Obsession of Dr. William Beaumont
"The relationship between doctor and patient is hard enough to parse when both are in the same room. ... And of the gallons of ink spilled over the centuries in attempts at clarification, few efforts in recent memory lay out the frustrations and confusions and crystalline moments of grace better than Dr. Jason Karlawish's marvelous new book Open Wound."
-- The New York Times
"A remarkable debut novel…."
-- Jackson Taylor, author of The Blue Orchard
"Open Wound" should be required reading in medical schools...."
-- Jake Halpern, author of Fame Junkies and Commentator for NPR's All Things Considered
A shotgun misfires inside the American Fur Company store in Northern Michigan, and Alexis St. Martin's death appears imminent. It's 1822, and, as the leaders of Mackinac Island examine St. Martin's shot-riddled torso, they decide not to incur a single expense on behalf of the indentured fur trapper. They even go so far as to dismiss the attention of U.S. Army Assistant Surgeon William Beaumont, the frontier fort's only doctor.
But in the name of charity and goodness, Beaumont ignores the orders and saves the young man's life. What neither the doctor nor his patient understands—yet—is that even as Beaumont's care of St. Martin continues for decades, the motives and merits of his attention are far from clear. In fact, for what he does to his patient, Beaumont will eventually stand trial and be judged.
Rooted deeply in historic fact, Open Wound artfully fictionalizes the complex, lifelong relationship between Beaumont and his illiterate French Canadian patient. The young trapper's injury never completely heals, leaving a hole into his stomach that the curious doctor uses as a window to understand the mysteries of digestion. Eager to rise up from his humble origins and self-conscious that his medical training occurred as an apprentice to a rural physician rather than at an elite university, Beaumont seizes the opportunity to experiment upon his patient's stomach in order to write a book that he hopes will establish his legitimacy and secure his prosperity.
Beaumont, always growing hungrier for more wealth and more prestige, personifies the best and worst aspects of American ambition and power.
"In the grand tradition of the finest historical novels, Jason Karlawish accurately brings to life one of the most fascinating episodes in American medical lore, one that marked our nation's very first entry into the rapidly developing field of research on human subjects. We read here of inspired thinking, courage, ambition, betrayal and of one of the greatest conundrums --- still with us today --- in the ethics of medicine."
- Sherwin B. Nuland
Author of Doctors: The Biography of Medicine and How We Die
"Starting with the bare scaffolding of what is known, setting aside the flimsy particle board of legend and presumption, Jason Karlawish has crafted a carefully reasoned and beautifully written portrait of Beaumont and St. Martin. There is more truth -- deeper truth -- in this fine work of fiction than in many biographical writings on the pair."
- Mary Roach
Author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
"This is an excellent historical novel, so real that the biting winds of the western frontier seem to flutter across its pages and cool our sweaty brows. Within this, however, is something much more profound -- a dark and gripping morality play about friendship, ambition, and the very essence of what it means to be a doctor. This should be required reading in medical schools. I will not soon forget this book."
- Jake Halpern
Author of Fame Junkies and Commentator for NPR's All Things Considered
"Open Wound is an enjoyable book that is not only a fascinating fictionalized biography of one of America's great medical pioneers, but is also an exploration of the complicated relationship between doctor and patient when it becomes transgressive. Saving St Martin may have been Beaumont's greatest success as a physician, but St Martin became first his indentured servant and later his nemesis. Karlawish, a physician and ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, has crafted an excellent work of fiction with the power to illuminate difficult ethical issues, perhaps giving Beaumont a new fame and notoriety—this time as a cautionary figure in medical history."
- Noah Raizman, The Lancet
"After a fur trapper is shot in an accident in northern Michigan in 1822, Dr. William Beaumont, an army surgeon, fought to treat the young man despite pressure not to run up a tab doing so. But what appears to be altruism develops into something far more complicated as the open stomach wound of Beaumont's patient, Alexis St. Martin, proves scientifically useful to the doctor and potentially to millions of other patients. In this historical novel, the two become entwined in each other's lives medically, financially and even legally. Karlawish sketches their fraught relationship in the ensuing decades artfully, with clear relevance to the ethical questions of modern medicine."
- Kristin Gerencher, The Wall Street Journal
"Novels based on true stories can be challenging to write because authors must work that much harder, but Dr. Karlawish, a professor of medicine and medical ethics, has succeeded admirably. I recommend this well-written and fascinating book to anyone interested in early medicine."
- Susan Zabolotny, The Historical Novel Review
"Open Wound is a story about ambition and ego in a time before institutional review boards or the oversight of human research. ... It is a fascinating story from medical as well as ethical standpoints."
- Natasha Bagdasarian, JAMA
"This is a remarkable story, compellingly written, of how one man's ambition brings him both the fame he coveted and crushing failure. The propriety of a physician treating his patient as a living laboratory and as an avenue to personal glory is set down for the reader to judge. Beaumont was a man both desperate and delusional, yet one who advanced medical science albeit with questionable methods. A provocative read from cover to cover."
- Don Faber
Author of The Toldedo War
"A highly readable and plausible reconstruction of the medical and personal interaction between St. Martin and Beaumont."
- Richard Selzer
Author of the novel Knife Song Korea and Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery
"OPEN WOUND is a fascinating novel about scientific ambition on the American frontier. Read this fine book for its meticulous reconstruction of 19th century life, and for its evocative portrait of a medical researcher whose hunger for success leads him down an ethically dubious path."
- Karl Iagnemma
Author of The Expeditions
"In a remarkable debut novel Jason Karlawish excavates the medical past of Dr. William Beaumont with astonishingly accurate detail. This book recreates an ante-bellum medical world where the quackery of yesteryear is thrown challenge by newer, more modern sciences. The ethical questions that envelop Doctor Beaumont and his patient are here laid bare for all to see--sliced through by Karlawish's sharp scalpel of finely-honed research. The human paradox of Doctor Beaumont will bring question to the mind of anyone who's ever sought medical advice or worried that they ought invite second opinion; it is a novel that illustrates just how fast miracles of medicine can change and how fast medical ambition can be bound to the mysteries of the body. One can't judge this tale without pondering the possible experimental horrors our own bones and flesh might be enduring in our own time."
- Jackson Taylor
Author of The Blue Orchard
"Those who appreciate well researched and written historical novels and those who want to learn informally and imaginatively about the history of medicine can appreciate Karlawish's attention to recreating the past. More significantly, the fictional account engages the ethical imagination, leaving readers to reflect on what to make of Beaumont, St. Martin, and the culture of medicine they operated in. Yes, the doctor gave his patient life-saving care and provided charity, even paying the balance owed on his indenture. But Beaumont benefited professionally and personally from opportunistically turning St. Martin into a research subject, one who was not invested in furthering knowledge about the science of digestion. Yes, the doctor made an important contribution to medical knowledge, but by subjugating an uneducated and poor patient. Do we read Beaumont's robust ambition and assiduous dedication to a goal as admirable personal and American cultural values? Or do we see them as aberrations of the human spirit when success depends on taking advantage of the vulnerable? Does Beaumont's rise from humble origins make him sympathetic? And what do we make of St. Martin? Do patients, especially unique ones, have a duty to participate in a project that will serve humankind? Does St. Martin make an admirable sacrifice or was he exploited? What do we make of a medical system that enlists the poor and vulnerable to benefit others, including physicians and medical researchers? These questions continue to resonate."
- Carol Schilling
NYU's Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database
"Karlawish offers us a nuanced cautionary tale. He demonstrates how an ethical person can slip—how easily those with power and high standing can take advantage of the sick and the poor. More intriguingly, Open Wound raises questions about fundamental American values like freedom, equality, progress, and ambition—and whether they can truly coexist."
- The Pennsylvania Gazette
"The story is fascinating on many levels, but it is Karlawish's portrayal of Beaumont's unstoppable, desperate, and almost dangerous ambition that takes center stage in this engaging historical account…. The story of the man with the hole in his side remains important, not only as a narrative of the early days of medical research and the emerging ethical issues, but as a cautionary tale and case study of that most American of personality traits – ambition."
- Ariella Green, PRIM&R's Ampersand
"For me, the book was personal. As a medical researcher, the amount that I identified with Beaumont was frightening. I identified with the endless hours of work, the travel, the unresponsive government funder, the criticism from fellow researchers, the constant self-criticism, the exasperated spouse, the children wanting to see more of me, the difficulty in finding happiness, the ambition... Indeed, the ambition is what caused the most introspection for me. While it is quite clear that Beaumont's intentions at the beginning of the book were to help a patient and to advance science, those intentions became quite muddy over the years. It made me think about my research and my patients."
- Dan Matlock, MD, GeriPal
Available in hardback, paperback and ebook formats, University of Michigan Press.
Reader reviews at Goodreads and Amazon.
Candid reflections from a medical researcher about how OPEN WOUND speaks to contemporary ethical challenges.
Read an interivew with Jason Karlawish and the noir fiction writer Thomas Pluck.
OPEN WOUND comes to Italy! Read the story in Corriere della Sera.
NPR's Science Friday does a show on Mary Roach's Gulp that features the strange tale of Dr. Beaumont and Alexis St. Martin.
Watch an interview with Jason Karlawish about how he wrote Open Wound and how his training and work as a physician and researcher shaped the story.
Listen to a podcast of the November 12, 2011 interview with Jason Karlawish on the NPR show "2BoomerBabes."
Read Abigail Zuger's review of Open Wound in The New York Times and listen to a Science Times podcast interview with Jason Karlawish.
Listen to NPR's Aaron Stander interview Jason Karlawish on Interlochen Public Radio's Michigan Writers On The Air.
Science Progress website -- "where science, technology and progress meet" -- posts an excerpt from Open Wound.
Listen to a podcast of March 14, 2012 interview with Jason Karlawish on NPR's Radio Times.
Read "A physician's obsession" in Yale Medicine.
OPEN WOUND selected as one of five summer reads.
Holey Cow - NPR's Radio Lab does a show on William Beaumont.
Listen to Jason Karlawish talk about and read from Open Wound at Indiana University School of Medicine.


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Tablets Replace Some Small Businesses Tools
And now to the spreading influence of apps and tablets in the business world. As NPR's Sonari Glinton reports, many small businesses are using tablets to replace everything from the menu to the timecard to the cash register.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: That is ceroni, so the green is like a pistachio.
SONARI GLINTON, BYLINE: In downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, just a block away from the famed University of Michigan, is Iorios Gelateria. Gelato is kind of Italian for ice cream. And it's owned by Nick Lemmer. He's - get this - 20 years old, and a junior studying industrial and operations engineering at the university.
NICK LEMMER: It's hard for a lot of people to grasp. And its fun to see reactions when you walk in the door and kind of looking around and oh, where's - who's the guy I'm supposed to meet?
GLINTON: At 20, Lemmer is a business veteran. He and sister, Mary - she's 23 - started selling Italian ice when they were kids. And this summer, they opened their own gelato store. It was Lemmer's job to figure out which kind of cash register to use.
LEMMER: It ended up kind of being obvious for us, being a small business. And just the overhead cost of going with a bigger system wasn't really what we needed. And so the tablet with the Square card reader was kind of the obvious way to go for us.
GLINTON: So at the gelateria, Lemmer has an iPad jerry-rigged on a Lazy Susan attached to cash drawer. He uses an app called Square that allows you to swipe a credit card and email receipts to customers. Not only does he use the iPad as a cash register, he also has another app for his employees to clock in. He can track sales and trends from the comfort of, say, his classroom.
Lemmer says he's used cash registers before, and he's not going back.
LEMMER: Having to go through about a mile long of receipt tape to figure out how many gelatos you sold, or what the total till is for the day, it's pretty rough.
GLINTON: Lance Ulanoff is an editor at Mashable.com, which covers all things tech-related. He says tablets are an entrepreneur's dream.
LANCE ULANOFF: Forty million iPads were sold over the last two years. But you know what? Businesses - small businesses, medium-sized businesses - they're buying these devices as well. And they're finding these really creative ways to use them to get business, and get commerce done.
GLINTON: Back at the gelato store, Nick Lemmer says he's looking at the iPad for any way he can save time or money.
LEMMER: It's like the snowball effect, rolling down the mountain. It's going to get bigger and bigger, and it would scare me if I'm in the cash register market.
GLINTON: Out of the mouth of babes, or 20-year-olds.
Sonari Glinton, NPR News.
NEARY: One of the things that has made tablets and apps so successful is the touch screen. Join us for a special edition of All Tech Considered next Monday, when we explore how touch screens are changing both the way we consume information, and how we interact as human beings. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA—Netgear announced two new products today at its official CES 2013 press conference. The company revealed its universal dual-band Wi-Fi range extender, as well as the 802.11ac-compatible, dual-band gigabit D6200 Wi-Fi router.
The WN3500RP Wi-Fi Range Extender wall plug amplifies any existing Wi-Fi network and features the ability to directly connect to any AirPlay or DLNA compatible speakers, plus wireless printers. It works for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and supports varying Wi-Fi standards except for 802.11ac. The range extender is especially useful for situations where there may be obstructions preventing a particular room from receiving a strong Wi-Fi signal.
The bigger news at the Netgear press conference, however, was the D6200 Wi-Fi Modem Router, which features 802.11ac technology, as well as a built-in ADSL2+ modem and Gigabit WAN with support for fiber-optic networks. In addition to DLNA, the D6200 also features Netgear's ReadySHARE Cloud, which allows users to remotely access USB-connected hard drives, printers, and flash drives via the network. Netgear also enables both iOS and Android users to utilize the Netgear Genie app for mobile access to the router.
The D6200 will also feature five Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as a USB 2.0 port and ADSL2+ port. It will be available in April, but no word yet on how much it will cost. The Netgear Universal Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender is available now to purchase for $99.99.


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I cannot think of a recent Presidential election which has elicited as much passion as this one. Furthermore, I cannot recall two candidates with such polar opposite views as President Obama and Gov. Romney. I'd have to agree that this is the most important election in modern history!
If you remove the personalities, media portrayals and sound bites, and look only to their views on the relevant subject matter, I cannot fathom how anyone would care to vote for a candidate that favors big government over small, greater redistribution of wealth, and higher taxes. Think of it. A vote for a candidate with these views is tantamount to saying, "Government, please take more of my hard-earned money and use it for whatever purpose you deem necessary." Bigger government requires more tax dollars to operate. The only group of people that should favor this approach are those who are less inclined to get out and work hard to become successful. Am I missing something here?
In the course of this election, there have been many charges levied against the candidates. Often, these charges are utterly false. It's reminds me of the person who is interviewing for a job in an advertising agency. The interviewer asks if he has ever lied in the course of business and the prospective employee reluctantly drops his head and says, "Yes." At this point, the employer says, "Perfect. You're hired." Exaggeration? Not by much. It's smacks of something on The Twilight Zone or The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Ok, you get my point (beyond logic).
How will the financial markets react? Well, that's anyone's guess. I can easily see a Romney victory helping businesses, and hence, stock performance. I could easily see an Obama victory cementing the idea that higher taxes, more debt, more regulation and more inefficient spending (e.g.: "Solyndra") will follow. No matter the outcome, I do expect some of the uncertainty to recede as businesses will finally know the rules of the game.
Whatever the case, I agree with Obama that America needs more education. Education yes, but not indoctrination. Critical thinking, elbow grease, and other such useful items are in short supply. Contrary to the belief of some, these cannot be purchased off the shelf at Walmart. Rather, they are achieved through hard work and careful thought.
Sorry for the dim view. I promise to be more upbeat next time!


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Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
eGovernment refers to the government's use of web-based technologies, Internet communications and, in many cases, interconnected applications to facilitate communications and enhance the access to and delivery of government information and services to citizens, businesses, employees and other governments.
The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation operates the State Capitol Welcome Center in the first floor rotunda at the Capitol. Free tours of the Capitol building are conducted Monday-Friday, on the hour between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. It is always best to schedule in advance by calling (405) 521-3356. Many Oklahoma school and other groups might want to coordinate their itinerary with their local legislators. The Welcome Center also has a brochure for self-guided tours. Because the Capitol is undergoing extensive restoration please call 405-521-3356 to find out what is included in the tour at this time. This changes from week to week. House of Representatives, Oklahoma - OHR
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Only members of the Oklahoma Legislature can introduce legislation. Governors can not introduce legislation. They may have their budgets and major program initiatives drafted into bill form for introduction, but the bills must have legislative sponsors before they can be introduced. Governor
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This information is contained in the Oklahoma Legislature Information System and is available on the internet. It can also be obtained by contacting your representative or senator, the House Clerk's office (521-2711 in the Oklahoma City area or 1-800-522-8502 outside) or the Senate Clerk's office (405-524-0126). House of Representatives, Oklahoma - OHR
This is easily remedied. To determine who your representative is, start by looking at the state map or the list of Oklahoma cities and towns on the House's web pages. Some communities, such as Tulsa or Oklahoma City are divided, but maps of those two communities may enable you to determine who your representative is. If you are still in doubt, contact your county election board which can tell you what house district you reside in. You can also go to this ''Find your Representative'' page. These are links to an external web site which we have no control over, so if have problems with their web site then you will have to contact them about the problem. House of Representatives, Oklahoma - OHR
The following business tax types can be filed using Quick Tax. - Sales Tax - Tourism Tax - Waste Tire - Mixed Beverage Tax - Employer's Withholding Tax - Nonresident Royalty Withholding Tax - Use Tax: Vendor - Use Tax: Consumer A guide to assist you with filing is available. Tax Commission, Oklahoma - OTC
No. A domestic insurance company, or one that is domiciled in Oklahoma, cannot be served through the Oklahoma Insurance Department. It must be served directly to the insurance company. Insurance Department, Oklahoma - OID
Visit OK.gov's Tax Resource Site by clicking the link below to find a variety of state and federal tax resources. OK.gov
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About OK.gov
Online applications creation, Web site creation tools, online stores, customer service support, marketing services and security. See the eGovernment Services section of this Web site.
No. OK.gov is a public-private partnership between the State of Oklahoma and NIC. This partnership allows for state agencies to avoid the often cumbersome process of submitting RFPs by instead signing a simple, pre-approved, two page interagency agreement with the Office of State Finance (OSF). Once this agreement is signed, an agency may deal directly with OK.gov with respect to all aspects of the development process.
At the bottom of each page is a link title 'Feedback'. This will allow you to offer general suggestions. Here you can specify the information and/or link address that you would like added to the site. At the portal's discretion, we will add your suggested link within one business week.