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Dynamic Electricity Pricing
For most things people purchase – like toothpaste, books, and televisions – prices don't change over the course of the day: Consumers pay the same price regardless of whether they buy it at 8am, 2pm or 10pm. Residential households in the United States pay for the electricity that they consume like this too: Regardless of the time of day – 8am, 2pm or 10pm – households pay the same price per kilowatt-hour to power their iPad, run their air-conditioning, or charge their electric vehicle.
There are good policy reasons, however, for favoring dynamic electricity pricing – that is, charging a different price per kilowatt-hour of electricity over the course of the day – rather than time-invariant electricity pricing. One good reason is that there is often a large difference in the demand for electricity during peak periods – say, the middle of the afternoon on a hot summer day – compared to the demand for electricity during off-peak time periods – say, the middle of the night during that same hot summer day. To satisfy peak demand on a hot summer day, very expensive peaking plants need to be dispatched. As a result, shifting demand from peak periods to off-peak periods would create large economic gains.
One open question related to dynamic electricity pricing is how consumers would change their electricity consumption behavior as there is a dearth of rigorous, scientific program evaluations of time-varying pricing. As well, an important hurdle to implementing dynamic pricing is that many residential consumers lack the in-home technology that would allow them to respond to dynamic pricing, such as smart meters that would allow households to see their electricity consumption over the course of the day.
Koichiro Ito, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and alumni of the Energy Institute at Haas from his days as a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, has a really neat new paper joint with Takanori Ida and Makoto Tanaka that addresses this open question. You can find their working paper here.
Ito and his coauthors are interested in understanding how residential households respond to dynamic electricity pricing. They find that households reduce their electricity consumption in peak hours when the peak hourly price is increased relative to the non-peak hourly price.
While that is not terribly surprising, they do find several more surprising results. First, they find no evidence that households shift electricity consumption to non-peak hours when households know they will face higher prices in peak periods compared to non-peak periods. In other words, households do not appear to "pre-cool" or "post-cool" their homes when prices are higher in peak periods compared to non-peak periods. In addition, although they find households continue to reduce their electricity consumption as the marginal peak price increases, they also find the incremental reduction becomes smaller as the marginal peak price increases.
These researchers have a very nice setting available to them for looking at these questions. Their findings are based on a randomized field experiment, a rigorous scientific approach to program evaluation, implemented in four communities in Japan. Each residential household in the field trial was provided a smart meter with an in-home display that shows the household's electricity consumption over the course of the day as well as the hourly schedule of electricity prices for the current day as well as the next day. Households in the control group are charged (nearly) the same price at all hours of the day, while households in the treatment group are charged substantially higher prices during peak hours of the day (1pm-5pm) compared to off-peak hours of the day. For the treatment group, the peak hourly price is randomly assigned from four different peak price levels.
Ito and his coauthors are clear: their results are highly preliminary. First, these results are based on the first few months of a field experiment that is on-going for the next several years, and second, these results are based on just one of the four communities.
Nevertheless, the results are intriguing and provide some well-needed insight into dynamic electricity pricing based on rigorous, scientific methods.


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Apple is rumored to have acquired privacy-focused AI startup Silk Labs, according to a Tuesday report from The Information. While the move may seem like just another example of big tech snapping up the hottest AI startup, beneath the surface, it signals something deeper:
The competition among tech giants over AI isn't just an arms race —it's a battle of philosophies.
Credits: AngelList via Outlook
51.562308 0.076435

subset: commoncrawl


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In his Saturday column in The Indian Express, editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta recounts his encounter with India's most wanted man, the Bombay-born underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim, when he was at India Today:
"I had had one long, and partly on-record conversation on the phone with Dawood Ibrahim before the Bombay blasts, set up through my colleague [rediff.com editorial director] Sheela Bhatt, who edited the Gujarati edition of India Today and was a veteran on the underworld beat in Bombay.
"This was in 1992, just after Dr Manmohan Singh, as finance minister, was freeing up the economy and opening up imports, even of gold. I called Dawood (in Dubai) and asked if this had not harmed his smuggling business. He said what we called smuggling in India was a legitimate business activity in Dubai, so he was breaking no law.
"He also said he welcomed what "Manmohan ji" had done, except that somebody should have done that much earlier. He did not regret losing some business, he said, as "my country benefited from such reform." He was at pains to underline his patriotism.
"Even in cricket, he said, he always supported and betted on India and was so distraught (he spoke in language more colourful than this, but unpublishable) that India had lost to the West Indies in the World Cup that morning — that is why we know that the conversation took place on March 10, 1992, when the West Indies walloped India by five wickets at Wellington.
"He said any time I wanted a more proper interview, I only had to let him know….
"He spoke to Sheela Bhatt again after the bombings (published alongside my story in India Today, April 15, 1993) and said he was being victimised by Bombay Police. He fulminated over how badly Muslims were targeted in the Bombay riots, how their women had been humiliated and children burnt, but denied any role in the serial bombings whatsoever. If the government set up an inquiry consisting of RAW and the CBI in Delhi, but excluding Bombay Police, he would even present himself before it. Of course, no such thing was to happen as his gang's role in the conspiracy became clearer by the day.
I decided now to take him up on his earlier offer of a more "proper" interview, and called him. He said he couldn't promise that "right now". But after some cajoling, he agreed to see me if I came to Dubai, though only if I agreed to keep the meeting off the record unless he agreed to come on record.
"I did visit Dubai in the first week of April, 1993 and presented myself at his "workplace", the 17-storey Pearl Building housing many airline offices in the buzzing Al Fahidi Street, a kind of subcontinental shopping paradise then.
"Dawood and his brother Anees were at their 12th floor office, decorated with gold-inlaid paintings of Ajmer Sharif and Quranic verses. It was just around noon, but I was struck by the fact that the morning's Times of India (Bombay edition) lay on his table — the don stayed in touch with the latest!
"He was in the news then and, of course, all references to him and Dubai in a front-page story had been blackened out by Dubai censors.
"Dawood was not willing to give an interview now. Not even to acknowledge that he was in Dubai. "When we do the interview, bhai," he said, "you won't come to Dubai just like this." He would call me back again, he said, and then "my car will go and receive you at the tarmac and bring you to me… you will be my guest… and my people will also take you shopping" etc, etc. But for now, he said, please do not even mention that you met me here, "as it creates problems for my hosts".
"I persisted, nagged and talked around him as reporters usually do, and all he would concede was that I mention I visited his office, without quoting any conversations. And then, as I turned around to leave, making no secret of my dismay and even reluctance, he sensed something.
"Ai bhai," he said, as I turned around, hoping somehow that he had changed his mind.
"Dekhna bhai, likhna nahin maine jo kaha (see, brother, do not report what I said)", "dekho na, achcha nahin hoga (see, it won't be nice)".
It felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped 30 degrees below zero, and yet I was sweating on the forehead. That memory isn't selective, nor is it convenient. And it hasn't faded even a bit after two full decades."
Photograph: courtesy Outlook
Read the full story: Lest we forget


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Have you ever heard of a person who is in a state of whelm? Mostly, we hear about crazy, busy, overwhelmed lives or being underwhelmed. Whelm seems like it should mean balance, a state of being to strive for. While whelm may be an archaic word, it certainly describes many people's daily lives. With Index Card Cure™, we suggest a discrete number of actions about specific topics; not just skimming the surface, but hitting the essentials. Even complicated subjects are manageable if divided into small increments.
There are things we know we should do, that we are not doing, and that keeps us in a state of low-level anxiety. The Heartbleed bug exposed security lapses of sensitive data. We know that we should do a better job managing our online presence. But, if you are not being told by your office IT person to make passwords a certain length with specific characters and change them at a certain frequency without using the previous 10 iterations of passwords, does it happen? How many use the same password for multiple sites and store passwords in computer files or written on lists. Every report of another security breach adds to the anxiety of wondering if we're vulnerable to getting hacked.
In addition to the proposed steps on each index card, there are two or three blank lines. These blanks allow you to modify the index card for your specific needs. We want the Index Card Cure™ platform to give a starting point that you can personalize for your needs. Too many steps = too hard. And too hard means it doesn't get done. It's too easy to put off a complicated project. How many excuses can you come up with to not clean and organize the basement: too big, too hard, too much time, the sun is shining?
If you have suggestions or edits for one of the cards, please leave a comment. Together we can improve the Index Card Cure™.


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Cheesecake Brownies, Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies, Chocolate Espresso Brownies, Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, Lepage
Thank you to everyone who read, commented or wrote to me about my recent opinion piece. I was concerned about mixing food and politics but all of you put my concerns to rest. During the past week I've received an overwhelming amount of support and encouragement. But I was most touched by those of you who shared your personal stories with me.
Please continue to share your stories and speak out about how our governor's policies are affecting Mainers. We have got to make sure we are heard and not just swept under the carpet. LePage has to be held accountable for his actions and constantly reminded that he also represents the 61% of us that didn't vote for him.
Now to truly thank all of you I've decided to share my beloved Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake Brownie recipe. This recipe has been perfected after several different tests and now I can say with confidence that these are the best darn brownies I've ever had. Seriously. I was hoping to take some gorgeous shots of the finished brownies but then my hungry family devoured them in no time at all and is now demanding a second batch!
(Also for those of our who have been asking about the apple pie recipe, it will be posted next.)
Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake Brownies
Brownie Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh brewed espresso (brewed coffee will also work but make sure it isn't flavored)
- 1/3 cup cocoa (preferably Dutch-processed)
- 1/2 cup of boiling water
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon table salt
- 6 ounces Callebaut Espresso chunks (if not available use any other bittersweet espresso chocolate. I recommend Ghirardelli Espresso Escape Intense Dark Chocolate Bar. If using the bar break it up into 1/2 inch chunks)
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


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And a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him.
Luke 9:35
(Bible tract found tucked in the handle of my car door / Julie Cook / 2019)
So yesterday I made mention of two little rural church signs I saw during my recent back and forth travels.
Two little signs that opened both my heart and mind…more or less, reawakening my senses.
Another little sign made its way to me again yesterday morning.
Having not been home for any length of time over the past three weeks, a most needed grocery run
was greatly in order and the first thing on the day's docket.
Nearly 45 minutes later, the bagger gal, who insisted on pushing my overflowing cart out to my car,
emptied the cart into my car as I finally made my way to back to the driver's door.
Nestled in between the handle and car was a small piece of folded paper.
Upon further inspection, the paper folded up under my car's door handle was actually a Bible tract.
It's always a mystery to me how these things materialize.
I leave the car, buy some groceries, then poof, God's word winds up tucked into my
car's door handle.
The title: This Is My Beloved Son In Whom I Am Well Pleased…
Hear Ye Him!
Hear Ye Him…
I pondered that line.
It sounded archaic…perhaps King James.
However, upon a further later investigation of the line, which is from the Book of Luke,
it turns out that the version is actually from the American Standard Bible.
And so I pondered deeper…
Most versions read "Listen to Him" versus this version of "Hear Ye Him"
Hear versus Listen…the 'ye' bit I get— meaning you there…
but it was the balance of hear vs listen that had me ruminating.
Aren't they the same?
Don't both words mean the same?
Words and their meanings have always intrigued me.
According to Merriam Webster,
Hear: transitive verb
to perceive or become aware of by the ear
to gain knowledge of by hearing
to listen to with attention
transitive verb
to have the capacity of perceiving sound
to gain information
to receive communication
Listen: transitive verb
to give ear to
intransitive verb
to pay attention to sound
to hear something with thoughtful attention: give consideration
to be alert to catch an expected sound
So yes, I see that there is a difference between the two words…to hear vs to listen.
Firstly, to hear seems active whereas to listen appears more passive.
God is wanting us to perceive, to become aware of, to gain.
He also wants us to pay attention, to give consideration to and to be alert…
as well as to passively receive.
He wants us to lend our ear…but the question we must ask ourselves is to lend it for what?
We must be open in order to actually hear.
We must be wanting and willing.
We can hear something but are we truly hearing it?
Is it like white noise in the background or is it received into the cognizant part of
our brain for the processing of what it really is?
Seems more signs just keep coming my way…
So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."
John 4:48


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The nature of moods — and swings — is that sometimes they are in peaceful repose, but more often they are in motion. So it will be with this blog. What goes in here will change according to my inclination and current obsessions. The pieces are a part of my puzzle. Some of them may fit your puzzle as well. If so, by all means make use of them. Some things might not end up fitting mine either. In which case I'll put them in another place. Or not.
My name is Rebecca Saady Bingham. This is my blog until the wind changes.


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McGreevey, NJ jail program earn spot at Sundance
TRENTON, N.J. - The jailhouse treatment program where former Gov. Jim McGreevey counsels inmates has earned a spot at the Sundance Film Festival and accolades from the U.S. Justice Department.
McGreevey is spiritual counselor to as many as 40 women who are taking part in a pilot program at Hudson County Correctional Center to reduce recidivism - and therefore lessen crime. The program aims to address the problems that keep them returning to jail: drug dependence, difficulty finding jobs, lack of decent housing, inadequate education and absence of counseling.
The program is rare in a county jail, where the revolving inmate population is usually seen as too transient to benefit from scarce rehabilitation dollars. Midway into its second year, the Community Reintegration Program caught the attention of the Department of Justice, which cites it as a model, and a filmmaker in New York, whose documentary about it was chosen for screening at Sundance this month.
"There is an intrinsic value and beauty to the women that needs to be recognized and lifted up," McGreevey, 55, told The Associated Press during a recent interview.
"My ladies," as he affectionately refers to the inmates he advises, have been locked up for crimes including manslaughter, gun possession and drug dealing. Many are affiliated with gangs. Three-quarters have addictions. Most have pasts stained with sexual violence. Nearly all have been through the criminal justice system before.
"Fall to Grace" by filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, a daughter of House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, intertwines the ex-governor's story with the stories three women he counseled. Pelosi shot the 48-minute documentary over 18 months with a hand-held camera at the jail, on the streets of Newark and Jersey City and at McGreevey's home. The film will compete in the Utah festival's short films category, and McGreevey said he plans to attend.
"Alexandra's work will hopefully lead people to reconsider what prison ought to be," McGreevey told the AP. "If 70 percent of incarcerated individuals are addicts or alcoholics, and addiction is a disease, we ought to be treating them for their addictions, not just locking them away."
The title of the film is borrowed from McGreevey's description of his own fall, a nationally televised resignation as governor over an affair with a male subordinate in 2004, and his subsequent search for a more authentic life. That search led him to the Hudson County jail, where he works with Integrity House, a substance abuse treatment provider based in Newark, to help female inmates get back on their feet and stay upright.
A former assistant prosecutor and onetime executive director of the state Parole Board, McGreevey describes himself as "wed to the status quo" of corrections until he took a turn at jailhouse ministering as an academic requirement of his Episcopal seminary training.
"It was my own fall to grace and working with offenders in Harlem and at Hudson that has changed my vision and my understanding of what prison should be," he said. "Incarceration as we practice it in America is an abysmal failure."
Referring to the percentage of convicted felons in the U.S. who commit another felony within three years of being released, he added, "If any business in America had a 66 percent failure rate, it would be shut down."
The jail's program is funded by a $750,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Justice Department. Hudson County matches that, and the state pays $120,000. The money goes toward addiction counseling services to participants for up to 90 days before they leave jail and transitional housing, job skill and other services after they leave. The Justice Department cites it as one of the two top re-entry programs nationwide.
The program has been shown to cut recidivism by more than half, from a rate of 53 percent for Hudson County prisoners who are released without treatment to 22 percent for women who have gone through it.
Put another way, 13 of the 160 women who can go through the program in a year are returning with a new offense, compared with 33 women out of 160 without treatment. Keeping 20 people from returning to the jail for a year saves taxpayers in the state's most densely populated county $942,040, according to therapist Frank Mazza, who keeps statistics on the program.
"Being in that program completely prepared me for everything I'm facing," said Lisa Buchek, who was released a year ago, has been reunited with her daughters and is studying to be a substance-abuse counselor.
But the 41-year-old mother of two still struggles. Despite having a master's degree, she is working at a low-wage job because of her record. She and the girls were staying with friends until she saves enough to rent an apartment.
"It worked for me," she said of the program. "It was completely nurturing; it meant everything. I worked on myself tremendously."
A similar program for male inmates started in July and has a wait list.


text: This is a set of 3 audio files. First one is the sound of an alien space ship working fine, second one is space ship having some serious problems and 3rd one is the sound of ship taking off. May be useful both for games and cartoons. Files included are: Alien-Ship-01.wav 0:15 Alien-Ship-02.wav 0:18 Alien-Ship-03.wav 0:19 Alien-Ship-01.mp3 0:15 Alien-Ship-02.mp3 0:18 Alien-Ship-03.mp3 0:19


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Today's Workout: Windmill move good for stretching or as a warmup
It is officially springtime. The kids are out of school and our schedules are altered a bit for the week. Work hours get shifted, and, in some cases, our fitness gets thrown out the window.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Instead of letting chaos and boredom take over, get creative with the kids and keep yourself fitness-minded as well. Include the kids in your workout. It will keep them busy and introduce them to healthy habits.
Our move today may take you back to your PE class days. It is a windmill move, which is basically a standing diagonal toe touch. This move will be working your core and toning your chest, shoulders and lower body all in one. All you need for this move is an open area.
Begin this windmill move by placing your feet outside your hips, stand tall and extend both arms straight out away from your body. Keep your chest up and engage your core.
Keep the arms extended and proceed to reach your left arm diagonally across the front of your body, reaching toward your right toe. Once you have executed one sweeping movement, reverse and return to your starting position. Then, immediately begin reaching your right arm toward your left toe. Continue this alternating windmill movement, keeping your body in alignment — chest tall, neck neutral, and a strong back — because good form cuts down on many injuries.
Shoot for at least 10 reaches on each side, taking a small rest, then continue for at least three to five sets.
This is a great time to have the kids, and yourself, count aloud. Since this is a group effort, it keeps everyone accountable.
You can incorporate this move as a stretch or a warmup to any other exercises you choose. The kids will love it and you are not sacrificing your daily routine just because the weekly schedule is a little different.
Happy spring break.
— Marlo Alleva is a correspondent for The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida. She is an instructor at Gold's Gym and group fitness coordinator at Fontaine-Gills YMCA, and can be reached at email@example.com.


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Microsoft is boosting the virtualization components of its Desktop Optimization Pack suite of IT management tools.
MDOP, as the suite is known, is gaining a new desktop virtualization tool, while an existing one is getting upgraded, Microsoft plans to announce on Wednesday.
The new product, called User Experience Virtualization (UE-V), is designed to establish user preferences and settings in a central server location and have those settings and preferences automatically applied to the multiple devices a user employs, so that applications don't need to be reconfigured manually in each one.
The goal is for UE-V to deliver a personal, consistent Windows experience across devices, said Karri Alexion-Tiernan, Windows product marketing director. UE-V works with Windows 7 and will work with Windows 8, which is now in beta testing.
Meanwhile, the upgraded product, App-V, which lets IT departments store applications in a central server and stream them on demand to multiple user devices, features in this latest 5.0 version what Alexion-Tiernan describes as a "deeper platform integration," which lets the virtualized applications perform more like traditionally installed applications.
App-V 5.0 also comes with a new Web-based management interface, so that IT administrators can perform management tasks via a browser, as opposed to being limited to the machine where the management console is installed. Like UE-V, App-V 5.0 will work on Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines.
Both UE-V and App-V will be available for beta testing on Wednesday. Once they exit the beta stage, they will be added to the MDOP suite at no extra cost to existing customers. MDOP is available only as an add-on option to the Software Assurance volume licensing program subscribers. Almost 40 million licenses of MDOP have been sold so far.
In addition, Microsoft has decided to phase out an MDOP component called Asset Inventory Service (AIS), which will be discontinued as of April 3, 2013. AIS gives IT staffers a snapshot of their organization's desktop software and hardware products. A similar function is performed by Microsoft's Intune PC management and security tool.
The other components of the MDOP suite are Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM), Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) and Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM).
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.


text: Hi guys, I'm spec'ing out a system for a lab here, and although we're most likely leaning towards the eventual use of Myrinet, I also saw that LSI Logic has a 2Gb/s PCI-X adapter, and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with it? Also, back on the subject of Myrinet, (.. and I know a few of you Myri guys read this list!..), is there anything remotely like a product roadmap available, so I'd be able to plan out a time-frame for our purchases? Or, at the very least, know what sort of hardware I'd need? On a mostly unrelated note, I just saw something on a new (upcoming) motherboard from Gigabyte, the GA-6MXDR, allowing for 2 x Tualatin CPUs, and 8 GB of DDR RAM, and equipped with 2 PCI-X 64-bit 100/133Mhz slots. I prefer the Athlons, but hey, it still sounds like a pretty well loaded boad. (www.ocworkbench.com) Thanks for any info, - Brian


text:
A trend I've been seeing in the development community, is people sharing the story of how they got into software development. I've found many of these stories to be both interesting and inspiring, so I've decided to share mine in the hopes that it will be of use to someone, and in hopes that doing so will inspire me to write more as well. **Be warned: the story below is quite long**.
A Foundation Set by My Parents
My first memory of seeing a computer was when I was around 6 years old. It was "take your child to work day", and my father took it seriously. He was a medical transcriptionist, but his department used computers to do their job of typing up doctor's reports. I remember one of my dad's coworkers set up a word processing program on one of their computers and let me type on the keyboard.
I was fascinated. I hit letters on the keyboard and they would appear on the screen. From there I could backspace them, move the cursor, all kinds of stuff. How could something like this possibly work? To my 6-year-old mind, the computer seemed like magic. And I decided right then and there that I *hated* magic. Incomprehensible things must be understood and made to fit with my model of the universe. And so I decided that I would learn about these mystical "computers", until I was satisfied that I understood their inner workings well enough that they were no longer magic.
From a very early age my mother worked very hard to teach me to read, practicing with me constantly. I was able to read short children's books myself at 3 years of age, and was reading young adult novels not long after. I regard this early intensive reading education as one of the greatest gifts my mother ever gave me, since it allowed me to broaden my horizons starting from a very early age. My mother also provided me with an endless supply of reading material, since a trip to the library to borrow more books was part of our normal weekly routine. So it was that after my first exposure to computers at my father's work place, I began borrowing every book on computers that caught my eye. I started in the library's children's section, and in later years moved up to computer books aimed at adults.
Learning Programming Without a Computer
I don't remember many of the books I read in the early years. But one that sticks out in my mind was the book
Write Your Own Program: Creating a Database Adventure Game by Steve Rodgers and Marcus Milton. That book was aimed at children, and contained code for a simple text-based adventure game set under the sea. The game was written in BASIC, and variations were included for both the Apple IIe and Comodore 64 versions of the language (though I had neither). I read this book through several times. And although my 6-year-old brain couldn't completely grasp some of the concepts in the book, I remember coming to the following important realizations:
- Computers can be programmed.
- Those programs can be video games
- I can somewhat understand this book. Therefore, I can potentially create video games.
I was hooked. I decided right then that I would be a programmer when I grew up, and I never looked back. I immediately started working on writing my own programs based on what I'd read.
You must understand though, that at this point I still had no access to a computer. So when I say I was "writing my own programs", I mean on paper. With a crayon. None of my Crayola-based programs were ever actually keyed into a real computer, of course. But that did not dampen my enthusiasm at all.
My First Computer – The TRS-80
One of my Mom's friends ran a business out of his basement repairing computers, arcade machines, and other electronics. He was getting rid of an old TRS-80 computer, and asked my parents if they'd like to have it for the kids to play with.
At the time it was given to us, the TRS-80 was already hopelessly outdated. In an age where other kids had computers with "hard drives" and "colors", I was getting a computer that only displayed green, and required a 5.25-inch floppy disk to be inserted before it would start up. I didn't care. It was a computer, and it had a BASIC interpreter, and it was mine. I remember the day I got it, my Mom's friend showed me how to launch BASIC from the command line, and I typed my first program:
10 FOR i = 1 to 10000000 20 PRINT i 30 NEXT i
I typed `RUN`, and the computer proceeded to count to 10,000,000…very…very…slowly. After 20 minutes or so I finally turned the computer off because I didn't know how to stop a BASIC program from executing. Still, I was amazed. I had finally written a real program on a real computer! And it worked!
Over the next year or so I wrote more programs that were somewhat more complicated. I used my limited allowance to buy more floppy disks so I could store them. The programs I wrote were very simple. Things like "guess a number between 1 and 10" or a program that would send ASCII-art to the attached dot-matrix printer.
Along with the TRS-80 we were also given a couple games, including Asteroids. Asteroids was probably the very first computer game I ever played. It was fun and ran smoothly, much more smoothly than anything I was able to write in BASIC. I couldn't figure out why my programs and games performed so badly when Asteroids ran so fast. I didn't yet understand the difference between interpreted and compiled programs, or the limitations of the hardware I was using. Still, I felt a great sense of accomplishment and what I'd been able to program so far. And I knew that if I just kept at it, I would be able to make games like Asteroids in time.
Spurred on by a Friend
When I was around 9 years old, I met Scott. Scott was several years older than me. But when I learned that he like programming, we hit it off. He had a much newer computer than mine. It was an 80386 with 256-color VGA graphics. Scott introduced me to QBasic, and he showed me the games he was working on. He had a Q-Bert clone/sequel that he had gotten pretty far along. I was amazed at what his computer and QBasic made possible.
Not long after I met Scott, the same friend who had gifted us the TRS-80 once again gave us an old computer he no longer needed. This one was an 80286 with a 40 MB hard drive. It was still inferior to what Scott was using, but it ran QBasic. I got Scott to give me copies of his programs and I learned by reading his code. I also remember spending a lot of time with Gorillas.BAS, which was an example game Microsoft bundled with QBasic for newbies to learn from. The game featured 2 gorillas who would take turns throwing exploding bananas at each other. It was controlled by manually typing a throwing angle and speed into the keyboard and then adjusting after seeing the results. I was constantly copying and tweaking that game's code. I made the tiny explosions in the game huge. I made the bananas change direction in mid-air. I made it so no matter where the bananas landed the game would interpret it as a hit on Player 2. It was glorious.
Using the what I'd learned from Scott and from Gorillas, I started making my own games. The largest one I made was called Paper Man. It was about an anthropomorphized piece of paper that shot pencils. I was perhaps 10 years old when I wrote this game, and I am very proud of it to this day. Despite the fact that I'm a much better programmer today than I was then, I don't think I've ever gotten as close to really *finishing* a personal game project as I did with Paper Man when I was 10. It had several themed worlds with bosses and everything. I regret very much that 10-year-old me did not yet understand how to make proper backups. Alas, no copies of Paper Man have survived to this day.
Scott gave my programming skill one more really big boost in the form of an unexpected gift. After I'd known him several years he showed up at my house one day with a book called Moving from QBasic to C. He told me he'd seen it on clearance and thought of me. That book completely revolutionized my understanding of programming. I purchased a copy of Borland C++ using the money from the paper route I then had, and within a few months I was writing code with pointers, null-terminated strings, and even some inline-assembly language. And these programs got compiled into an EXE that I could distribute! It was then I finally felt I had "grown up" as a programmer, although of course I still had a lot to learn.
An Early Business Venture
Armed with my newfound knowledge of C, I decided it was time to start making money from my craft. I naively assumed that it would be easy. I didn't have any business knowledge, but I was familiar with the shareware programs I'd received from my friends. Most of these included a free version of the program, with instructions on where to mail a payment to get the full version. I decided I would use the same model.
I created a program I called Programmer's Image Developer, or PID. It was a simple paint program for creating sprite-based graphics for games. It was likely inferior to every other tool that game developers of the day were using to draw their graphics. But not having been exposed to the tools professionals were using, I didn't know that. I figured I'd put the free version out in the wild, and then ask people to mail me money to unlock the free version. People would undoubtedly want to do this and I would have a steady income.
My flawed childish understanding of copyright law led me to believe that I had to register for a copyright before I could sell my software, so I did. I spent some time doing research on what forms I needed, and then I printed out the source code for my program and sent it to the United States Copyright Office. My copyright was officially registered with the Library of Congress on May 9, 1995. I was then 12 years old.
After receiving acknowledgement of my copyright registration, I gave a copy of my program to an adult that I knew had internet access, and I asked her to upload it somewhere that people would find it. I then sat back and waited for the money to roll in.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, an expensive tool aimed at game developers written by a 12-year-old with no real game development experience and uploaded to who-knows-where by a random adult sold a whopping zero copies. However, this did not deter me at all. I figured that it might take a while for news of my program to spread, and I was patient. By the time I realized that I wasn't going to make a sale I was already a much better programmer who had moved on to bigger and better projects, and I was content to forget about my previous work.
The Internet, and Becoming a Professional
At some point during my early teens, my family got dial-up access to AOL, and I finally had internet access. I was eager to learn about this new frontier and it wasn't long before my programming skills included HTML and Javascript. I loved being able to search online for solutions to my programming issues. It was so much easier than always trying to find a book at the bookstore or library! I maintained a homepage on AOL, and later on a service called Tripod, and continually tried out new web development skills as I learned them.
In the spring of the year 2000, I decided that I would be a full-time professional programmer before I turned 18. I approached this with the same blind optimism that I did when attempting to sell my software at age 12. This time, however, my efforts paid off. I found an ad on the now-defunct ComputerJobs.com from a company called Chameleon Power. They wanted to hire a junior web developer and were looking for 'talent, not necessarily experience'. I wrote up my resume and applied, including in my cover letter links to my Tripod home page, a site I did for my Asheron's Call guild (which is amazingly still up!), and some C++ software I'd written.
Looking back at my old web site, I'm somewhat embarassed by what 17-year-old me apparently thought was cool and stylish. But something must have impressed the hiring manager. Because I got an interview, and then later got the job. The very first software development job I ever applied for. I started working for Chameleon Power in March of 2000, at the age of 17, for $12/hour. There was one other developer working there at the time. Chameleon Power used a lot of technologies I'd never been exposed to before, such as SQL and Coldfusion, but I mastered them quickly and soon earned a much more respectable wage. When the lead developer quit a couple years later, I moved into his role and the rest is history. Although to further my career and my skills I eventually had to leave Chameleon Power, I still look back with appreciation on that first company that was willing to make a leap of faith and hire a self-taught teenager to his first real programming gig.
I continued learning and experimenting with side projects in C++ while doing web development at Chameleon Power. I would occasionally contribute code or screenshots from my projects to sites like Flipcode.com, where hobby game developers gathered. These days I continue to polish my programming skills by visiting user groups, reading blogs, attending conferences, using sites like Stack Overflow, and of course I still buy books. But I know that despite all the effort I put in to learn my craft, I wouldn't be where I am today without my parents and friends who supported and inspired me, starting from so long ago.


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The interview to God
I am browsing on my friendster group discussion and saw this new topic posted by a member named Jonaliza. The title it self grasp my attention so I hurriedly click the link that she put in her topic. While watching the video I really can not explain how I feel but for sure it was a great feeling. It's sad to affirm that sometimes we stop thinking about our GOD. The presentation is great as well the photos. But what is better in this presentation is the message that the person behind this presentation wants it to share to the viewer. It really touches my heart. I can say that this is the most stunning and inspirational website I saw in the World Wide Web. The link is here The Interview with God. Enjoy watching…..


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Pure Mind
This luminescent sunset wave existed for a brief moment on the West side of Kauai, on the white sand beach of Polihale. I found the statue of the Buddha more than 6,000 miles West of the Hawaiian islands, in everyones favorite Bali town, Ubud. I love the stillness in motion here. The Buddha remains focused with clear pure mind as the waves crash around him. Rumi says, "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop."
" Another One Opens "
Nourish All Things
The radiating ripples of water were created by the reflection of one image from the Tirta Empul Temple in the center of Bali. This temple was built in a spring in the year of 962. Balinese believe these waters are holy and they travel from all over the island to bath in this sacred, cleansing spring. Seeking protective blessings and good health, offerings are laid upon the pools before entering. I tinted the Buddha green to complement the moss in the water. The Anja and Anahata chakras we made to be transparent, highlighting the interconnectedness of our true selves and the universe, as our bodies are made up of at least 50% water. As Lao-Tzu says, "The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to."
Eyes of Preah Khan
I made this piece by reflecting one image I made of a corner of the Preah Khan Temple in Angkor, Cambodia. It is printed on metallic photo paper adhered to tri- plywood and cut using a laser cutter. The temple was built in 1191 to commemorate the father of King Jayavarman VII and is my favorite temple of the Angkor complex. Surrounded by a moat, and measuring 800m x 700m, the temple is so massive that finding myself alone among these walls was not difficult. Trees grow over the structures, sending their roots deep into the walls and push the bricks out of their way. reclaiming this 800-year-old building. I love the textures of the moss, and the way the statues seem to be praying to themselves. Demonstrating the idea that we are all one, that god is in each one of us. The way the totality of the images creates a face, with its large eyes looking back at you. The whole piece seems to breathe with life.
" The Protector "
Green Ganesha - After the Rain
I made this photo of the green and purple leaves in the jungle of Northen Sumatra shortly after the shining sun washed away a rainstorm. By reflecting the leaves upon themselves, I hope to create a meditative moment. I found Ganesh in the home of a family I stayed with in Ubud, Bali. Every home compound on Bali has at least one temple. Offerings are made three times a day to appease the spirits and bring good health to the family.
I love the colors and textures of this piece. I have accented this with the bamboo frame, setting the photo as far back as possible to accentuate the layers of the image. This adds even another layer as the shadow is cast from the bamboo, further repeating the form of the leaves. Giving a sense of radiating power, of Unity, Oneness. Indonesia is a great place to feel this kind of sensation, as its more than 17,500 islands are connected through the volcanic system known as the "ring of fire.


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This two hour production was aired on Wednesday 9 October, 2012. It was a thorough look at the two men. I was not comforted.
Romney emerged from this portrait as a self obsessed businessman who wants the presidency as a prize, a symbol of accomplishment in a life dedicated to personal accomplishment and devotion to a church that he avoids discussing. He has a very exalted view of himself as does his wife. In one revealing incident recounted in the production, Romney and his wife met with a group of Iowa Republicans in Boston just after he left the State House. One of the Iowans asked hard questions. Ann Romney was so incensed at this that she rose, left the room without a word and did not return. What does this say of the imperial presidency that might emerge from a Romney victory? The tale of his always shifting policy positions makes it clear that he is through and through a businessman. Policy positions mean nothing in business. Only profits have meaning in business. If you think that you know what a President Romney might do in a crisis with regard to any issue, you are probably wrong. In any situation he will sum up his personal "balance sheet" and act on that basis.
President Obama may not be strong enough physically and emotionally to suffer the "blows" that would be his portion in another four year term. Look how much the man has aged in the last four. His road to power was a tortured path in which he survived and prospered by his wits as he moved from one elite eductional institution to another in search of identity. Listenng to him speak to the camera as president of the Harvard Law Review is revealing. IMO, at that point he was still a white man in a somewhat black skin and his black colleagues on the Review thought the same. His body language, diction and vocabulary selection were not "black" at all. It took his deliberate "voyage" into the bosom of his wife's family to achieve what is at least a plausible public persona as a black American, rather than just another mainstream American. If he is elected, Republican obstructionism will continue unabated. He is a sensitive, intelligent soul. He looks exhausted, used up. pl


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Pakistan Blocks U.S. Supply Routes After Attack
Pakistan on Saturday blocked vital supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and demanded Washington vacate a base used by American drones after coalition aircraft allegedly killed 24 Pakistani troops at two posts along a mountainous frontier that serves as a safe haven for militants.
The incident was a major blow to American efforts to rebuild an already tattered alliance vital to winding down the 10-year-old Afghan war. Islamabad called the bloodshed in one of its tribal areas a "grave infringement" of the country's sovereignty, and it could make it even more difficult for the U.S. to enlist Pakistan's help in pushing Afghan insurgents to engage in peace talks.
A NATO spokesman said it was likely that coalition airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, but an investigation was being conducted to determine the details. If confirmed, it would be the deadliest friendly fire incident by NATO against Pakistani troops since the Afghan war began a decade ago.
A prolonged closure of Pakistan's two Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies could cause serious problems for the coalition. The U.S., which is the largest member of the NATO force in Afghanistan, ships more than 30 percent of its non-lethal supplies through Pakistan. The coalition has alternative routes through Central Asia into northern Afghanistan, but they are costlier and less efficient.
Pakistan temporarily closed one of its Afghan crossings to NATO supplies last year after U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers. Suspected militants took advantage of the impasse to launch attacks against stranded or rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies. The government reopened the border after about 10 days when the U.S. apologized. NATO said at the time the relatively short closure did not significantly affect its ability to keep its troops supplied.
But the reported casualties are much greater this time, and the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. has severely deteriorated over the last year, especially following the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town in May. Islamabad was outraged it wasn't told about the operation beforehand.
The government announced it closed its border crossings to NATO in a statement issued after an emergency meeting of the Cabinet's defense committee chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
It also said that within 15 days the U.S. must vacate Shamsi Air Base, which is located in southwestern Baluchistan province. The U.S. uses the base to service drones that target al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region when they cannot return to their bases inside Afghanistan because of weather conditions or mechanical difficulty, said U.S. and Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic matters.
The government also plans to review all diplomatic, military and intelligence cooperation with the U.S. and other NATO forces, according to the statement issued after the defense committee meeting.
The Pakistani army said Saturday that NATO helicopters and fighter jets carried out an "unprovoked" attack on two of its border posts in the Mohmand tribal area before dawn, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others. The troops responded in self-defense "with all available weapons," an army statement said.
Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani condemned the attack, calling it a "blatant and unacceptable act," according to the statement.
A spokesman for NATO forces, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, said Afghan and coalition troops were operating in the border area of eastern Afghanistan when "a tactical situation" prompted them to call in close air support. It is "highly likely" that the airstrikes caused Pakistani casualties, he told BBC television.
"My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan security forces who may have been killed or injured," said Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, in a statement.
The border issue is a major source of tension between Islamabad and Washington, which is committed to withdrawing its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Much of the violence in Afghanistan is carried out by insurgents who are based just across the border in Pakistan. Coalition forces are not allowed to cross the frontier to attack the militants. However, the militants sometimes fire artillery and rockets across the line, reportedly from locations close to Pakistani army posts.
American officials have repeatedly accused Pakistani forces of supporting or turning a blind eye to militants using its territory for cross-border attacks. But militants based in Afghanistan have also been attacking Pakistan recently, prompting complaints from Islamabad.
The two posts that were attacked Saturday were located about 1,000 feet apart on a mountain top and were set up recently to stop Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan from crossing the border and staging attacks, said local government and security officials.
There was no militant activity in the area when the alleged NATO attack occurred, local officials said. Some of the soldiers were standing guard, while others were asleep, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said map references of all of the force's border posts have been given to NATO several times.
Pakistan's prime minister summoned U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter to protest the alleged NATO strike, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. It said the attack was a "grave infringement of Pakistan's sovereignty" and could have serious repercussions on Pakistan's cooperation with NATO.
Munter said in a statement that he regretted any Pakistani deaths and promised to work closely with Islamabad to investigate the incident.
The U.S., Pakistan, and Afghan militaries have long wrestled with the technical difficulties of patrolling a border that in many places is disputed or poorly marked. Saturday's incident took place a day after a meeting between NATO's Gen. Allen and Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad to discuss border operations.
The meeting tackled "coordination, communication and procedures ... aimed at enhancing border control on both sides," according to a statement from the Pakistani side.
The U.S. helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers on Sept. 30 of last year took place south of Mohmand in the Kurram tribal area. A joint U.S.-Pakistan investigation found that Pakistani soldiers fired at the two U.S. helicopters prior to the attack, a move the investigation team said was likely meant to notify the aircraft of their presence after they passed into Pakistani airspace several times.
A U.S. airstrike in June 2008 reportedly killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops during a clash between militants and coalition forces in the tribal region.
This program aired on November 26, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.


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Energy Information Agency 2012 forecast confirms America moving beyond coal, though report understates extent of coal's demise
Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–January 23, 2012. Coal-fired electricity will continue its steady decline in 2012, opening market space for clean energy, according to the 2012 energy outlook released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
"For many years the Energy Information Agency has exaggerated coal's prospects for the future, and every year has had to downgrade its projections," said Bruce Nilles, Senior Director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "Today EIA again downgraded coal's future, though we know coal's future is even darker than EIA is predicting."
The EIA's key projections for 2010-2035 include the following:
*At least 33,000 megawatts worth of existing coal-fired power plants are expected to retire in the coming decades, not including any retirements due to the recently-finalized mercury and air toxics standard from the Environmental Protection Agency. For reference, an average-sized coal-burning power plant is approximately 500 megawatts.
*The biggest difference from last year's EIA projection is that more coal retirements will be driven by rising coal prices, state renewable energy standards and EPA clean air standards. All these signs point to reduced market share for coal and expanded market share for clean energy.
*Coal's market share of U.S. electricity production is expected to continue to drop, from 44 to 39 percent. Last year's EIA report thought coal would fall from 48 to 44 percent between 2010 and 2035, continuing the trend of having to downgrade its coal projections each year.
*No new coal plants are predicted to be constructed in the time period, beyond those few that are already under construction.
*The share of electricity production from clean energy sources (including hydropower and biomass) should increase from 10 to 16 percent during the time period.
*Overall electricity demand growth is expected to remain below one percent annually.
For the past five years, EIA's annual report has revised coal's market share further downward, with today's EIA report conceding that coal's future is much dimmer than even a year ago. In 2010 the EIA projected that coal would drop to 44% of electricity generation by 2035, but just two years later the country has already hit 44%.
While the EIA estimates that over the next 25 years approximately 33,000 megawatts of existing coal power will retire, the Sierra Club has identified over 38,000 megawatts of existing coal power that has retired or announced an upcoming retirement since January 2010 – and more are expected soon. There are about 340,000 megawatts of coal in the United States as of January 2010.
"Even today's EIA projections remain far too rosy for coal; we expect the vast majority of coal plants to be retired no later than 2030," said Nilles. "We agree, however, with EIA's prediction that no new coal plants will break ground in the future because clean energy is more cost effective, and we expect even more coal plant retirements."
The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign works in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and a nationwide coalition of allies to retire one-third of the nation's aging coal plants by 2020, replacing them with clean energy like wind and solar by 2030. Coal plants are the largest sources of climate disruption and toxic air pollution like mercury, soot and carbon pollution.
Source: sierraclub.org


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When it comes to comedy, Marion Grodin can pretty much do it all….When it comes to life… well, she's still working on paying her parking tickets, and trying not to eat cake. Marion started out as a staff writer for the network sitcoms "It's a Living" and "Princesses", was put under contract to Twentieth Century Fox, and later went on to sell six screenplays. Just as she was about to embark on her seventh screenplay, it dawned on her that her father had not lovingly nicknamed her "Mouth" for nothing; she decided it was time to start saying all these funny things she was writing for other people to say…
So, for the last decade, Marion Grodin has been one of the hottest comics in the country. She is a favorite at New York City's top clubs, including Standup NY and Gotham Comedy Club, where she regularly headlines. As one of the country's top emcees, Marion's incredible ability to improvise has allowed her to master the art of talking with the audience. Always willing to be as self-revealing as she is probing of the audience…this affectionately edgy style has become Marion's trademark. The result is a hilariously personal show that makes the audience feel like it was custom-made just for them.
Marion has toured with Linda Ronstadt, opened for Lewis Black, Judy Gold, and Robert Klein…as well as having shared the stage with Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Roseanne Barr and Robin Williams. She has performed for 1000+ seat rooms and for A+ private events, including Gilda's Club and Ethel Kennedy's annual fundraisers.
Marion has also been seen on The Joy Behar Show, NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and ABC's The View where she recently made her second appearance. In addition, she worked as the Charles Grodin show's comedy producer, making regular appearances on the MSNBC show, as well as conducting comedic celebrity interviews. Marion also hosted her own radio show for CBS, over a two year period, where her guests included friends, like Lisa Lampanelli, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Kyra Sedgewick, and Lewis Black.
In addition to her standup, Marion has most recently produced two highly successful fundraisers, starring such luminaries as Martin Short, Lewis Black, Regis Philbin, Charles Grodin, and Paul Shaffer.
Marion knows firsthand that laughter is truly the best medicine, having survived breast cancer, divorce, and various addictions – including an inappropriate relationship to Häagen Dazs. Her dream is to be able to integrate her diverse life experiences, genuine concern for people, and unstoppable ability to make EVERYTHING funny...in a forum that would be both entertaining and helpful to other people.
In the tradition of Carrie Fisher's "Wishful Drinking" Marion's hilarious and heartbreaking book - "Standing Up - A Memoir Of A Funny (Not Always) Life" is published by Center Street, Hachette.
Most recently, Marion has been coaching both comedians and executives to help them acheive their fullest potential!
Copyright © 2018 · All Rights Reserved ·
Marion Grodin


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At one point last week I was pretty sure that Chick-Fil-A had ruined my family.
When the Chick-Fil-A anti-gay controversy broke out during the summer, it was a no-brainer for C.J.'s Dad and I to have a conversation with our sons about the company's beliefs and decide as a family that we weren't going to eat there anymore.
Our little family took a big stand and let it be known. Most people assumed our anti-Chick-Fil-A stance was based on our love and support of my gay brother. It's a correct assumption, but a limited one. My husband, my sons and I decided to boycott Chick-Fil-A in love and support of the entire LGBTQ community and, more importantly, because in our house we believe that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated that way. To us, there is no excuse for hate and discrimination, not even the go-to "the bible told me so" explanation. Call us crazy.
We also wanted to use the situation to teach a life lesson: sometime you have to sacrifice in order to stand up for what you believe in. Chick-Fil-A has long been a favorite of C.J. and his Brother. They would miss the food for sure.
Our kids agreed with our decision. Our nine-year-old son wrote a letter to Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy. Our five-year-old son (who is gender nonconforming) understands that Chick-Fil-A isn't nice to everybody, that they are mean to some people and that that is not okay.
My husband and I made it quite clear to those close to us — especially those people who, on occasion, feed our kids when we are not around — that we would not be eating at Chick-Fil-A.
That was our decision. If someone we knew didn't make the same decision, we were disappointed but we didn't unfriend them. We just asked them to get their fill of those homophobic nuggets, sandwiches and waffle fries when we weren't around.
Sometimes you have to agree to disagree.
We've learned that sometimes that is easier said than done.
Last week, a member of our family had a few moments alone with our oldest son and engaged C.J.'s Brother in a conversation about Chick-Fil-A, which lead to the family member explaining the biblical definition of marriage and what the bible says about homosexuality to our nine-year-old.
We. Were. Pissed.
We felt like we had been purposefully betrayed and deceived. We felt like our son had been part of talk that was inappropriate because of our beliefs, his age, the topic and the family member's knowledge that we are LGBTQ allies through and through. And, none of that takes into account that our son's beloved uncle is gay and his brother has a very high likelihood of being gay or transgender.
Once we took a few days and few steps back, we realized that we assume that people in our family's lives will behave as we expected them to.
"The easiest way to get your expectations unmet is to fail to communicate those expectations to the person who is supposed to meet them," someone said to me recently.
We had never clearly communicated how we expected the adults in our family's lives to conduct themselves around our children when it came to matters of religion and being LGBTQ.
We sat down with the family member and, for the first time, said out-loud what we expect of them and others. Initially, it felt weird to do it. But after we did it, it felt weird that we hadn't done it earlier.
We had never said out-loud to the people in our lives:
1. Please do not talk about religion to our children. We believe that God is more about love, kindness and inclusiveness than he is about fear, hate and shame. We believe that he created each person perfectly and without flaw and that, more than anything, he wants each person to be treated that way. And, if judgment is necessary for entrance into heaven? It's God's to give, not ours.
Whether you agree with our religious views or not, let's all play it safe and refrain from engaging children in conversations meant to sway them. If you feel like it's your calling to spread the word of your God or your religion, please don't spread it onto our children.
2. If you have something unkind (at best) or hateful (at worst) to say about the LGBTQ community we have to insist that you do not say it around our children or us. We've ended friendships for less and do realize that sometimes family ties are a little trickier to deal with.
All that being said, anyone – family or not – who teaches our children that their uncle and other LGBTQ people aren't equal, are sinful and should be excluded from things like civil rights will be eliminated from our lives.
3. Because our child is gender nonconforming and has been for more than half of his life, statistically speaking he has about a 75 percent chance of being a member of the LGBTQ community. When our family is around, please conduct yourself as if a member of the LGBTQ community is in your presence.
4. Also, because of his gender nonconformity, compared to his peers he has a much higher likelihood of attempting suicide, experiencing major depression, abusing substances, developing addiction and practicing unsafe sex and behaviors. We can lower the likelihood of all of those things being in his life if we protect him from bullies. Bullies aren't just at school; all too often they are in the home. Our home and family has to be a safe, loving and accepting place for him. Always. If you can't help create that kind of environment then you are probably helping to destroy it – which means you shouldn't be a part of it at all.
Thankfully, our family member listened to our expectations and agreed to meet them in the future. We agreed to forgive and try to move forward. We also agreed that Chick-Fil-A wasn't what almost ruined our family – that family member's actions and our failure to communicate our expectations did.
* * *
Would you allow someone with different religious beliefs to talk to your children about their beliefs and religion without you around?


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Part Two
Pre-Tribulation Rapture
If viewed from an historical Jewish point of view, the evidence for the Rapture to occur before the Tribulation is overwhelming. Also overwhelming is the venomous response that some people have to the idea of a pre-tribulation Rapture. Between those 2 things, I almost feel intimidated about trying to present it all here in a way that will make sense.
Nevertheless, I will attempt to do so because I believe that it is very important for believers to be ready. Those who have been following my blog know that recently I fasted for 21 days, putting the question to God: "Given that these are the End Times, what should we be doing to be prepared for what comes next?" It was during that fast that I became aware that the Rapture is likely to be "what comes next."
To begin with, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet about the End Times. Every wacko theory is broadcast on the internet from Obama being the antichrist to the "mark of the beast" being to worship God on the wrong day of the week. Because the things written about the End Times in Daniel and Revelation are so fantastic, many people take them as allegorical. Some of those same people take Noah's Ark, the Burning Bush, and Jonah in the Fish (see my recent post A Pipsqueak and a Fish Story) as being literal, yet they say that the future things are allegorical. That kind of inconsistency doesn't even make sense! If any of the Bible is untrue, then all of it comes into doubt—especially given the usual things that have been recorded in the Bible (like fire from Heaven that burns up a soaking-wet offering).
So, future events recorded in the Bible are to be taken every bit as literally as past events. In other words, when the Bible says that we will be "caught up" to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17), that's exactly what it means.
Some people don't believe in the Rapture at all, simply because the word rapture isn't in the Bible. It's true. The word rapture is not in the English language Bible, but that word came from the Latin Vulgate. In the original Greek Bible, the word is harpadzo (pronounced har-POD-zoh, and written ἁρπάζω), and means to seize, carry off by force; to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly; to snatch out or away. The Latin version translated harpadzo as rapiemur, from the root rapio, meaning to seize, snatch, carry away. So although the word rapture doesn't appear in the English translation of the Bible, the concept is clearly there, and it seems like it would be perfectly acceptable to translate Paul's word harpadzo as rapture.
The next problem that people have with the Rapture is that they confuse it with the Second Coming of Jesus. The Rapture and Second Coming are different events. I can understand the confusion, but let's look carefully at the differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming:
"My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am," (John 14:2-3).
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord's Word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever, (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
Those 3 passages describe the Rapture. The Rapture is all about the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. The words from John: "I go and prepare a place for you, and I will come back and take you to be with me," are what the bridegroom tells his bride in the Jewish wedding ceremony. Here is a link to an excellent video that shows the Jewish wedding ceremony and explains the connection with the Rapture: The Rapture Revelation. There is a connection, and it's important because you must remember that Jesus was a Jewish man speaking to Jewish people. So when He these Jewish men: "I go to prepare a place for you," they understood that He was speaking to them as their Bridegroom speaking to His Bride.
Rapture deniers and others who don't believe in a Pre-tribulation Rapture say that there won't be a secret Rapture. It won't be a secret when it happens. I heard a prophecy that when we are caught up through the devil's territory (remember, he's the prince of the power of the air), there will be an EMP effect. Follow the link for that prophecy: EMP Effect at the Rapture.
The following are passages that describe the Second Coming of Jesus:
On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him. On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name, (Zechariah 14:4-9).
Immediately after the distress of those days, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, (Matthew 24:29-31).
Where the confusion comes is with this trumpet in Matthew and the trumpet mention in both 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians, above. Here's a link for a video that explains the difference between these 2 trumpets: The "Last Trump" Explained & Revealed.
There is also confusion with the last part of that passage in Matthew, which sounds like the Rapture. However, it can be explained by understanding the Jewish harvest cycles. The harvest isn't one single event in Israel, but a series of events. First they take a part of the field that has ripened the fastest—usually from the center of the field. That goes to the Temple, and it is called First Fruits. Then is the general harvest, but they leave the corners because of what is written in Leviticus 23:22: "And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am the Lord your God," (AMP, emphasis mine). The very same is repeated in Leviticus 19:9. So they leave the corners until after the poor have had a chance to gather what they need. Then they harvest the 4 corners, and that is the harvest alluded to in Matthew 24:31, the very last part of the harvest: "He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." To see a great illustration of how the Jewish harvest cycle ties in with the Rapture and the final harvest, see Are There Really Over 7 Rapture Scenarios?
Something interesting that most people overlook is the fact that the book of Revelation is chronological. We can know that by the frequent use of the word then in the book of Revelation—54 times in the NIV.
To sum things up, there are some vast differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming, which I've put below:
Rapture—Comes suddenly and without warning (Matthew 25:13)
Second Coming—Preceded by many signs, including the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 11:1-2)
Rapture—Believers will meet Jesus in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Second Coming—Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives to meet believers on earth (Zechariah 14:4)
Rapture—Mount of Olives remains whole (no change is noted at the Rapture because Jesus will not come all the way down to touch the earth)
Second Coming—Mount of Olives splits when Jesus touches down on it, forming a valley east of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4)
Rapture—Believers get glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53-54)
Second Coming—Bodies of remaining believers are unchanged (no such change is noted at the Second Coming)
Rapture—Faithful go to Heaven (Revelation 19:6-9)
Second Coming—Believers return from Heaven in glorified bodies, earthly believers (living Tribulation Saints) remain on earth (Revelation 19:14)
Rapture—The world is not yet judged (2 Thessalonians 2:6-12)
Second Coming—The world is judged and righteousness is established (Revelation 19:17-20: 15)
Rapture—The Church is saved from God's wrath (Isaiah 26:20)
Second Coming—Remaining believers have endured the wrath (Matthew 24:22)
Rapture—Only the saved are involved (Matthew 25)
Second Coming—Everyone is involved (Matthew 24:30)
Rapture—Satan remains free (Revelation 18)
Second Coming—Satan is bound for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3)
Since the Rapture and Second Coming clearly are different events that do not occur at the same time, this would rule out a Post-Tribulation Rapture scenario.
Lately I've been waking up with the Rapture on my mind. I believe that it will be soon. And this morning I asked the Lord if He had a Word for me today. I turned to Zephaniah, and here it is, with the section title:
The Day of the Lord Is Near
"Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated His guests," (Zephaniah 1:7, ESV).
Be silent before the Lord! The Lord has consecrated His guests! Sounds like a wedding to me! God is good!


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This is just a short introductory excerpt from a longer piece published on the EthZ International Relations and Security Network (ISN) here.
Suddenly the talk is of a new Cold War between Russia and the West, as Crimea is quietly written off as "lost" for the foreseeable future and the diplomatic focus moves to preventing a further—and potentially devastating—move into eastern Ukraine. While an understandable metaphor, though, this is a dangerous one. The Cold War, for all its brinkmanship and proxy conflicts, was a relatively stable and even rules-bound process. Instead, in this new "hot peace," perhaps a better, if less comfortable analogy would be the Great Game, that (since mythologized) nineteenth-century era of imperial rivalry over Central Asia between Britain and Russia,, the freewheeling nineteenth-century struggle for authority in Central Asia.
One of the particular characteristics of the original Great Game was that there was little real distinction between the instruments of conventional conflict and competition such as wars, diplomatic missions and treaties and those of the informal realm, from subsidized bandit chieftains to third-party intelligence freelancers. Although even during the Cold War there was a place for the mercenary, gangster and assassin this was, it has to be said, very much at the periphery. Even proxy wars fought by irregulars, such as the mujahideen resisting the Soviets in Afghanistan and the Viet Cong in Vietnam, were more-or-less formally acknowledged by their patrons. Now, though, Great Game II is one in which open state actions, deniable missions by state agents and the activities of mercenary agents (from computer hackers to local warlords) blend much more seamlessly. Furthermore, the nature of those operations ranges from military missions and shows of force, through espionage and sabotage, to subversion and misdirection by paid mouthpieces and front companies.


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PASADENA – The college football season doesn't kick off until later this month, but the $175 million Rose Bowl renovation project already has hit crunch time.
There are 23 working days remaining before UCLA's Sept. 8 home opener against Nebraska, and Darryl Dunn, the general manager for the Rose Bowl Operation Co., is confident the stadium will be ready.
Jackhammers, drills, cranes and empty spaces make it look like it will be anything but ready for college football.
The million dollar question is: Will the Rose Bowl be ready for the opening day? Dunn and project supervisors get asked all the time.
"Oh, yes," Dunn said. "The intention for this season is that we'll have about one-third of it that needs to be done in order for us to accomplish what we need to accomplish. The whole thing won't be complete. But the necessities, in terms of all of the operations for broadcasting, public-safety areas, media, premium seat holders that have existing contracts, we have enough and feel very good about our schedule."
As of Friday, the project was five days behind schedule on the pavilion – which is home to the luxury suites, broadcast booths, press box, coaching booths and other requirements for games. Construction crews ran into delays because of unexpected hazardous materials like lead paint.
Only 35 percent of the pavilion needs to be completed, per guidelines of the three-phase renovation project, by the season opener, according to Dunn. During the days between games, construction crews will continue to work Monday through Thursday to have the pavilion ready for the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl.
Chris Pomey, superintendent of the renovations, said the renovations will be ready Aug. 31, nine days before the first game, so the final week can be devoted to moving furniture and such for games.
In order to be football-ready, crews are working from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. There are an estimated 250-280 workers on site daily, according to Pomey.
The city has approved the late-night shifts.
"We anticipate hard work in August," Dunn said. "We've talked with our project management and they feel great. Come UCLA-Nebraska, people are going to be impressed by what they see."
Pomey is calm, so Dunn takes cues from him. Pomey worked on the Michigan Stadium renovation project, which is similar to the Rose Bowl's renovation. Pomey is from Ann Arbor, Mich., and was wearing a Michigan polo under his fluorescent yellow construction vest last week.
He also carries an iPad in the back pocket of the construction vest which has the layout plan and all of the deadlines his crews need to meet.
There was no panic around the site Friday. One worker was humming "Close to You" by the Carpenters, and there was a big smiley face imprinted on a wall in the north end of the press box that will be closed until January.
"This is common for us," Pomey said of the state of the project. "Any phased project we do, we're accustomed to the project being this way. We build our schedules based on this."
Permanent power is scheduled to be ready Aug. 13.
On Sept. 6, crews will complete a major cleanup and safety inspection. A fire chief toured the facility last week. Pomey told him all would be clean and up to code by the time fans will be walking through those tunnels.
On game days, there will be plumbers and electricians on hand in case problems arise in the pavilion.
There are some luxury suites that already have bamboo flooring, granite counter tops and cabinets installed. Some don't have any of those things.
There are 1,000 premium seats under contract to be done for this season, but Pomey said he believes they will have more than 1,000 seats ready for use.
The Rose Bowl will feature seating outside of the luxury suites, much like those at Staples Center. Those benches are created, but there are no chairs there yet.
The first two stories of the pavilion are concrete to keep the historic look of the stadium, so fans will be used to that.
Right now, it looks very much like a major construction project.


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The Latest: Cherono of Kenya wins men's Boston Marathon
BOSTON (AP) — The Latest on the Boston Marathon (all times local):
12:20 p.m.
Kenya's Lawrence Cherono outsprinted Ethiopa's Lelisa Desisa over the final few steps to win the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Cherono crossed the finish line in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 57 seconds on Monday. That was just ahead of Desisa, the 2015 champion, who came in at 2:07:59.
Kenya's Kenneth Kipkemoi was third in 2:08:06. Kenya's Felix Kandi was fourth and 2017 champion Geoffrey Kirui was fifth.
It was the Boston debut for Cherono, a winner of six marathons, who most recently won the 2018 Amsterdam Marathon.
Cherono, Desisa and Kipkemoi broke away during Mile 24 and were shoulder-to-shoulder heading into the final mile. They stayed that way until Cherono and Desisa made it a two-man race with about 200 meters to go.
Desisa took the lead and appeared headed for victory before Cherono got on his left shoulder and outlasted him to the tape.
Early morning rain ceased by the start of the race this year, with a temperature of 59 degrees. Last year's race was contested in the rain, with temperatures dipping into the mid-30s.
American Scott Fauble led the race around Mile 18, but started to fade at Mile 21. He finished seventh, in a time of 2:09:10.
Ethiopia's Worknesh Degefa broke away from the rest of the field early and ran alone for the last 20 miles to win the women's Boston Marathon on Monday.
Degefa crossed the finish line in Boston's Back Bay in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 30 seconds.
She is the eighth Ethiopan woman to win the race, and the third in seven years.
It's her first major marathon victory. She won the Dubai Marathon in 2017, setting an Ethiopian national record in the process.
A half marathon specialist, Degefa opened up a 20-second advantage by Mile 7. It increased to more than three minutes by the halfway point.
10:45 a.m.
Daniel Romanchuk has won the men's wheelchair race at the Boston Marathon with the fastest time ever by an American. Romanchuk crossed the finish line on Boylston Street on Monday in an official time of 1 hour, 21 minutes, 36 seconds.
Manuela Schar, meanwhile, is on her way to a sweep of the World Marathon Major women's wheelchair races.
Schar won Boston for the second time on Monday, finishing in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 19 seconds with no one else in sight. She is already the defending champion in Berlin, Chicago, New York and Tokyo. If she wins in London in two weeks, she will have swept the series.
Romanchuk is the youngest winner of the race at 20 years, eight months and 12 days. He is the first American winner since Jim Knaub in 1993.
Romanchuk finished three minutes ahead of Japan's Masazumi Soejima, who was second in 1:24:30. Marcel Hug was third, coming in at 1:26:42.
Romanchuk says: "I knew it was possible, it was just a matter of everything coming together."
Romanchuk's victory breaks up the recent dominance of Hug and Ernst van Dyk, who between them have 14 Boston Marathon victories. Hug had won the previous four Boston races.
Schar, a 34-year-old from Switzerland, was about six minutes slower than the record she set in her other Boston victory, two years ago.
10:05 a.m.
The 123rd Boston Marathon has begun.
Defending champion Yuki Kawauchi of Japan was back to defend his title. Heavy winds and rain overnight had dissipated and the runners left Hopkinton under overcast skies and temperatures in the high 50s.
That's much better than last year, when an icy rain and near-gale headwinds led to the slowest winning times in four decades.
A field of 30,000 runners is following the top runners on the 26.2-mile trek to Copley Square.
American Sara Hall led the women's race through the two mile mark. It's her birthday; she turned 36 on Monday.
9:35 a.m.
Defending champion Des Linden is back on the course at the Boston Marathon.
Linden was the first American woman to win the race since 1985 when she crossed the finish line first last year. She ran through an icy rain and near-gale headwinds to break the slump.
It's another wet day on Monday, but much better than last year. Overnight thunderstorms had stopped by the start of the women's race. It was 61 degrees, with calm wins and overcast skies.
9:02 a.m.
The wheelchair race is off at the Boston Marathon.
First the men, then the women left Hopkinton on their way to Boston's Back Bay, 26.2 miles away. Heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight had settled down, but it was still expected to be a wet and windy day.
More than 30,000 runners were expected to make their way along the course in the 123rd edition of the race. Among them is Des Linden, who last year became the first American woman to win the race since 1985. Yuki Kawauchi is the men's defending champion.
This year's event falls on the sixth anniversary of the 2013 bombing that killed three people and maimed hundreds more. Boston officials were planning a moment of silence at 2:49 p.m., the time of the first explosion.
7:20 a.m.
Runners are trying to stay dry as they await the start of the 2019 Boston Marathon.
The 123nd running of the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon got a wet start. But it's not as cold as expected, with temperatures in the 60s as runners arrived instead of the 30s that were initially forecast.
Monday is the sixth anniversary of the deadly Boston Marathon bombings. It's the first time the anniversary date falls on the same day as the marathon.
Runners are gathering underneath large tents set up outside of a high school in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
Defending champions Des Linden and Yuki Kawauchi have said they're not bothered by the forecast for a rainy, windy day because they won last year in similar conditions. They lead a field of about 30,000 runners on the 26.2-mile (42-kilometer) trek from Hopkinton to Copley Square.
The mobility impaired division is scheduled to begin at 9:02 a.m.
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


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Well, with World Environment Day approaching, I decided I really should poke my head above the parapet. As an environmental engineer it behooves me to add my bit about waste.
Let me explain where I fit in. I work in the oil and gas business (boooo I hear you say). Well that aside, someone needs to work there to keep them as clean as possible! My forte is waste and water management and zero waste is the target.
Most of the environment and waste blogs I have been avidly reading lately relate to urban domestic homes in the main, so I thought to move your eyes over the map of the world to less populated areas. Let us start with the middle of the Sahara desert, where I have been working.
Starting work on a greenfield site—or yellow in my case—with no infrastructure, no waste collections, and 1,000 miles away from real 'civilization' (such as a bar), we found the issues were somewhat daunting. The realization quickly dawned that if we were going to manage waste in a sustainable way, we were going to have to treat it all ourselves, there and then.
With "zero waste to landfill" as a target, we set about getting budgets and writing procedures that I won't bore you with here.
The crux of it was that we wanted to build a waste management centre without resorting to landfill. We did build a landfill, I was forced into that one, but I'm happy to say that the only thing that went in to it was the ash from the incinerator on site.
So, from a vast expanse of nothing we built a recycling centre and storage for anything that could be reused or recycled. That was plastic bottles, paper, card, metals, car batteries, oil, food, drink cans, good tine, wood, mixed plastics, tires, glass and so on. Now all this is very interesting, but what is the relevance to the rest of us I hear you wondering.
Well the message I would like people to think about in the run-up to World Environment Day, is that…
"All waste can and should be processed at the source."
It's as simple as that. We took out a mobile Materials Recycling Facility and were ready to sort and minimize waste on Day 1. The unit contained balers, drum crushers, can crushers, aerosol piercers, oil tanks, and bulb and glass crushers.
And I got to wondering why isn't there one of these in every village? Instead of waste vehicles transporting largely air, they should be transporting baled and crushed recyclates.
Food is a classic example of on-site waste treatment. A waste food processor that feeds directly into a composter saves a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
If an oil and gas industry giant can do its bit for the environment, at least at the "upstream" end, it begs the question; what will we do at the consumer end?
Andy Ive
This free webinar will inform attendees on the most significant updates and modifications in the new standard, known as E1527-21 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.


text: On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 01:20:49PM -0500, Lawrence Stewart wrote: > Personally, I believe our thinking about interconnects has been > poisoned by thinking that NICs are I/O devices. We would be better > off if they were coprocessors. Threads should be able to send > messages by writing to registers, and arriving packets should > activate a hyperthread that has full core capabilities for acting on > them, and with the ability to interact coherently with the memory > hierarchy from the same end as other processors. I'm up for dedicating 1+ normal processor cores to doing the special stuff. Nodes have a lot of cores these days, and all-2-sided programs don't have to dedicate a core & thus would pay nothing. In the MPI 1-sided model, you'd probably want to run all the cores on separate programs and have the dedicated core get access to the appropriate process' address space. -- greg


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This is hosted by Taking on a World of Words & we basically just have to answer the 3W question which are:
🌟 What are you currently reading?
🌟 What did you recently finish reading?
🌟 What do you think you'll read next?
🌟 What about your lists? Do we have anything in common?
Are there good books that I missed this month?