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Price of privileges is learning about 'no'
If your house is like my house, the Christmas lists have begun in earnest: Tomas wants a watch. A Nintendo DS. A fish. A Nintendo DS. Bunk beds.
Did I mention he wants a Nintendo DS?
One of his best friends has one, and it's "the best." No matter that he already has two electronic game-playing devices, which he assures me he could sell on eBay for a chance at the coveted Nintendo.
It would probably be easy to go ahead and get it for him. But thanks to Madeleine Levine, I'm not going to.
Levine is a clinical psychologist and the author of "The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids." Levine was in Memphis recently, and so many parents at my kid's private school wanted to hear her that we moved to a larger space.
Her talk began, and so did the a-ha moments.
"We have to be careful about projecting our own needs onto our children."
She was talking about parents who do absolutely anything to get their kids into Ivy League colleges, but I quickly saw myself on the sidelines of Tomas's soccer games, where I've realized that the reason I want him to score so badly is because I never really had a chance to.
"(Kids feel that) it's not enough to be good at something; you have to be outstanding. And then it's not enough to be outstanding at one thing, you have to be outstanding at everything."
Just that afternoon, Tomas had sighed that he "wasn't smart." Why? "Well, there are lots of things I'm not good at. Like multiplication." Jeez. In third grade.
"I want to model for my kids that I have something else to do than be a passive participant in their lives."
Maybe this is the rationalization of a busy working mom, but suddenly my twice-weekly yoga classes and insistence on date night with my husband felt justified, even exemplary.
But here was the kicker: "There's been a shift in tolerance for seeing our kids unhappy."
I have distinct memories of my own parents saying no over and over, and any subsequent whining was rewarded by a time alone in my room. I also remember when they finally said yes.
So it's clear that the most important gifts I can give Tomas this Christmas include the understanding that you don't always get what you want, and ability to be happy with what you have. Even if it doesn't turn out to be a Nintendo DS.
On the Web
How do you handle your kids' holiday wish lists? Share your strategies by going to iDivamemphis.com and posting a comment. Leanne Kleinmann is editor of Skirt! magazine. E-mail her at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 901.521.1927.
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I rummaged around in the wicker chest that was pushed up against the far wall of the attendant's quarters. I needed armor today, what little protection it was. I pulled a bright saffron square of cloth out of the chest, clutching it to my breasts for a moment. It was a small comfort.
I didn't understand what was going on between Leander and Solomon, but I knew it wasn't good. If what Hafya told me was true, why had the dark lion come now? I didn't know what he wanted with Leander, or why Leander seemed so intent on competing with him. Weren't they brothers? I'd always thought brothers were supposed to be bondedfriends even.
Maybe they were in a way. Despite the fact that Solomon had nearly killed me, here he was, having a sleepover with Leander after all.
I shook my head. I didn't understand any of it.
I grimaced as I knotted the cloth around my waist, tucking the ends under and letting them dangle down to my knees. It wasn't as careful as I'd normally have made it, but my back protested each time I tried to reach behind me. In the end, I took comfortable over neat. I couldn't bend far enough to reach my ankles without crying out, so the gold bands were left in their box.
Hafya and my siblings watched on with concern in their eyes. Leander was probably right, though I hated to admit it. I could have used another day of rest, but staying in that room with the two lions wasn't an option. Let them duke it out without meanything was better than being stuck in the middle of their pissing match.
"Have any of you seen the children?" I asked as I reached back and began to weave my hair into a loose braid. It hadn't been washed in days and I wasn't going to deal with the frizzy mass right now.
Hafya shook her head. "They wander a lot during the daywe don't keep track."
I couldn't help but frown. I didn't approve of how the attendants had been raising the children, but then, they weren't my children. Whatever methods they used, they worked well enough. Hafya and the other attendants were obedient, I'd give them that. They followed unquestioningly, and perhaps that was what Leander wanted, but I didn't have to like it.
My parents had raised their children to have a strong sense of community. We helped each other, but it wasn't the same as what Leander was doing here. This wasn't community in the same way as what we'd had in the village. This was all for one, and that one was Leander. I'd never understand their lack of self, and I'd never be able to fall in line with it.
Maybe I was just trying to talk myself out of fitting in. I didn't hate it here, but it was
uncomfortable. I would have given my left arm to hide away in the caves near the village for an afternoon. With Solomon here I was out of my depth. I didn't know how to handle the situation to begin with, but this was getting out of hand. A dark hole was starting to look good.
I massaged the back of my neck to ease some of the tension in my skin. I was starting to get a headache.
"Sadia?" I turned towards my little sister and she shrugged.
"Great." I sighed. "I'll check in with you guys later. I want to find the children and get them back here. I don't think it's safe for them to be wandering around with Solomon hanging around the Hall. He tried to attack Sadia." I pointed out. "I'd feel better if we knew where they were from now on."
"Khet, you can't-" Mahir began to protest.
"I'll take it easy, I promise, but I can't sit around here all day and do nothing." I kissed Mahir's forehead and flashed them all a small smile. "I'll be back for the afternoon meal."
"Khet-" he started again.
I didn't wait around to hear them argue. Nothing was going to keep me in the Hall this day.
I strode out of the room, purpose in my step. I headed first to the open courtyard. Surely someone would know where the children had gone. Perhaps I should have taken Sadia with me, but I didn't. She needed the sleep, and I needed the quiet.
I stepped into the doorway of the courtyard, bracing myself against the stone of the archway and scanned the room. The young attendants were back to their training and didn't notice me right away.
"Has anyone seen the children?" I called across the open space. The sound of my voice brought a few stares and I waved a hand to stop their bows before they started. "I'm not staying. Has anyone seen the children?" I repeated again. There were a few shrugs and shakes of heads. No one here knew either. "Thanks." I called back and stepped away from the doorway, continuing down the corridor.
I couldn't even begin to imagine where a child would play around here. It wasn't as if there were all that many places for them to go. They weren't even allowed in one half of the Hall. I glanced in the children's pillar garden as I passed by, but wasn't surprised to find it still empty.
The next room I searched was the dining hall. There were still a few attendants huddled around the fire, and they turned to look at me as I entered the room.
"Has anyone seen the children?"
The attendant's eyes went wide as they saw me. I'd forgotten that they didn't know I was alive yet. I held up two hands.
"I'm okay. I didn't die. The children?"
"I don't think I've seen them since last night." One of the male attendants spoke up. "Why are you looking for them?"
"Just keeping tabs on them. Solomon, the Father's brother, seems to be staying. I'd feel better if we knew where the children were." I shrugged. "If you see any of them, tell them to meet me at the pillar garden."
The attendants nodded, and I turned to stride out of the room. The group gasped behind me and I winced. They'd seen the mess of my back. I didn't stay to answer questions and hurried out of the room and back into the corridor.
I was ashamed of the marks on my backthe teeth marks around my neckthe short gash on my belly, but I didn't fully understand whymaybe because it had been a quick jolt back into reality. Comfortable wasn't the right word, there was nothing comfortable about my situation, but I'd started to feel a bit more relaxed around Leander. Meeting Solomon had been a wake-up call.
If I had to glue myself to Leander's hide in order to keep me and my siblings safe, then I'd do it, but I couldn't let myself forget again that the brothers were not men. I couldn't afford to look at them like they were. They were lions through-and-throughno, even that wasn't accurate. They were gods. I needed to remember that.
The foyer was still empty except for the extra security at the entryways. The attendants fell to their knees once again as I entered, and I ignored them. I hoped it didn't become a habit. With quick feet I half-jogged down the wide steps of the Hall entrance and out onto the small plateau at their end, urgency in my steps.
I paced to the edge of the small drop off, my eyes scanning down along the hillside, and inhaled a deep breath. It felt good to get out of that place.
My gaze caught on a large dark puddle some distance below. Blood. I grimaced. There were drag marks in the gravel, and they were streaked with the thick black substance. I turned away and jogged back to the entrance, taking the left-hand path towards the laundry plateau.
I didn't want to remember.
The mid-morning air was already warm, and distant clouds hung over the western mountains, threatening rain. The air was clear today and I could see all the way to the bottom of the valley, but a crack of thunder peeled on in the distance. I stared at the dark roiling clouds that were just beginning to peek over the craggy peaks. There'd be a storm by nightfall.
Large beetles buzzed in the heat, irritated by the humidity, and I watched one fly across the path as I skirted around one of the large boulders. The steps up to the laundry plateau appeared around the bend of the boulder, and I climbed up them with heavy footfalls. I was more tired than I'd realized, and the small hike up the stairs took a greater effort than I'd anticipated.
By the time I reached the top of the plateau, my breathing was only short gasps of air. I had to stop, and I bent over, resting my hands on my thighs until I could catch my breath. The flat plain was empty. A few long saffron clothes were laid out in the sun to dry, but otherwise there was nothing to see. I frowned and glanced around the flat stone. My gaze fell on the brief steps of stone that made up the tumbling path of the waterfall as it fell from a high cliff above. Could they have climbed it?
I strode across the flat rock of the plateau, stepping carefully between the rows of brightly colored cloth. The steps of the waterfall weren't steep, but the water was cool. I sunk my hands into the rapidly moving water and stepped up onto the first step. The cold water ran across my stomach and down the length of my body as I slowly climbed my way up the short waterfall and pulled myself onto the rock above.
The land evened out here at the top, just a small platform that dwindled back between a set of boulders. The small river that fed the waterfall trickled between the rocks from some point higher up the mountain. I paused for a moment, listening for any sign of the children, but there was none; not a single voice or bit of laughter.
I climbed my way up the small path between the boulders; my bare feet sinking into the cold trickle of the river. There was a small fluttera flap of wings in between the rocks, and I turned towards the sound automatically. A small black and white bird with a bright red burst of color on its head darted in between the boulders and came to sit atop one of the rocks. It cocked its head to one side and then the other as it studied me.
I slunk forward on quiet feet, my eyes transfixed on the small bird. I hadn't seen any wildlife this far up the mountain since I'd arrived at the Hall. There was little vegetation here, and I idly wondered where the little bird had come from.
"Khet?" A small voice echoed down from the mountain above, and the little bird startled. It darted away, swooping down the mountainside and out of sight, and my gaze followed the movement until it disappeared behind a large gray rock.
I glanced up the embankment to find a hand full of small faces peeking over the edge of a short drop off. I'd been so focused on the little bird that I hadn't even noticed the sound of children just a few feet away.
"There you are." I half said it to myself. "What are you doing up here?" I called out to the small children. Two more faces peered over the drop off.
"Swimming!" Came a small boy's voice.
"Swimming?" I furrowed my brow.
The children looked between themselves for a moment, and they whispered fervently between them. After a minute they glanced back down at me from over the embankment.
"Come up!" One of the little girls shouted down at me, her pale blonde hair hanging around her face and over the small cliff.
I glanced around and spotted a small dirt path to the right. It was well hidden behind the bounders, and impossible to see from farther down the hillside. Clever.
I nodded towards the small children. "On my way."
The hill was steep, and the path narrow. I grabbed onto small handholds in the rocks as I wound my way around a sharp turn in the path where it shimmied between two dirt embankments. Roots of long-dead plants hung down the sides like long gnarled fingers, and my bare feet slid in the loose dirt that tumbled from the caving sides.
I reached the top of the embankment, pulling myself out of the narrow crevice to find six nervous faces staring down at me. The skin of my back burned like an open wound from the strain of the climb. I sat on the edge of one of the small walls, dragging my feet up onto the plateau where the children crouched in a semi-circle. I tried to hide my wince.
"We thought you were dead." a small girl, only five or six, exclaimed as I stood and dusted off the back of my saffron cloth.
"Well, do I look dead?" I asked, flashing a smile at the little girl.
She seemed to study me for a moment, but finally shook her head. "No."
"Sadia cried. She wouldn't play with us." A little boy, perhaps nine or ten summers, commented.
"She will. She was just scaredworried."
"Some of the grownups were scared too." A familiar little boy spoke up. What was his name? I paused to think. Ilyas. "They were really quiet after you disappeared."
I didn't know what to say to that. I frown twitched at the corner of my lips. You never forget the first time you see an adult afraid. My mother had been afraid the day Leander had given me my name. The look on her face was burned into my memory.
"Sadia said the other lion tried to eat her and you attacked it." Ilyas continued.
I nodded. "I thought he was going to." I explained. "So I hit him with a rock."
The children's eyes went wide.
"You attacked Father's brother. You're really brave." An older girl, perhaps eight or nine summers, spoke up.
"Brave." I nodded. "But also stupid." I pointed out. "I lost the fight. I'd have died if Father hadn't stepped in to stop his brother."
"I still think you were brave." The girl pouted. "I'd have run away."
"Well thank you." I smiled at the little girl. "But really it was my own fault. I shouldn't have been out that late at night while everyone was sleeping. If I'd been inside where I should have been neither Sadia nor I would have been in danger."
The children fidgeted quietly at my statement. I hope they'd made the connection. I glanced around at them now. There were six of them, their hair long and blonde against dark skin. They were thin for their age and a little mussed, but otherwise healthy. Their hair clung to their water-drenched skin and glistened in the late morning sun. I glanced around and found their clothes piled up in a jumble on the bank of a small pool.
The pool was deep, but not as wide as the plateau we stood uponmaybe twenty feet at its widest. Its waters were clear, and small round stones decorated the bottom in a mosaic of color.
"Do you children come up here a lot?" I wandered across the plateau to the edge of the water and stuck my toe init was just as icy as the waterfall below. The children filtered closer to the pool, wading back into the cool depths.
"Only when it's sunny." Ilyas offered a wide grin on his boyish face.
"Do the adults know you come up here?" I asked and untied the cloth at my waist. I tossed it away from the pool a few feet and waded into the pool. It was already soaked through from climbing the waterfall, but it could dry in the sun while we swam. My breath caught in my throat as I sank inthe water was startling cold, and I felt goose bumps raise on my arms. The burning in my back dulled to a dim ache as my body grew numb.
Ilyas shrugged. "Naw. They don't really care where we go."
I frowned at the statement. "Well I care." I took a deep breath. "I'm going to be taking over as your trainer from now on." I said, glancing from one small face to the next. "So please, from now on, make sure I know where you are."
"Why?" Ilyas frowned.
"Because I don't want what nearly happened to Sadia to happen to you too. I want you guys to be careful around the Hall while Solomon is here." I looked pointedly at the older children of the group. "Watch out for each other, and don't go anywhere alone. I lived because Father stuck up for meand just barely. If Solomon decides to come after one of you and no one knows where you are," I continued. "No one will be around to help you. All right?"
The children nodded one by one.
"Well then, do you have names? I should know what to call you." I grinned, but the children didn't return my smile.
Ilyas fidgeted. "We don't all have names yet."
I blinked. "What?"
"Father gives us our names." One of the little girls explained.
Ilyas interjected, "Sometimes we don't get named until we're in combat training." The little boy shrugged. "Hafya says it's because our names have to mean something." His boyish face squished up into a perplexed frown.
"Then what do the others call you?" I asked.
"Well," Ilyas pointed to himself. "I'm IlyasFather already named me." He shrugged. "It means one who serves the Father. My family's been in his service for the past eight-hundred summers."
I felt my eyes widen. "Eight-hundred?"
Ilyas nodded. He didn't comment further but turned to point at the youngest of the girlsshe could only be five or six summers.
"She's Alifa." He shrugged. "It means meek. Alifa doesn't like to talk a lot." The little girl was half-hidden behind Ilyas' back, and it didn't take much imagination to understand why her name was Alifa.
"The rest of them don't have names." He finished.
My brow furrowed. "Then what do they call the rest of you?"
"Child." A small chorus of voices answered.
I scrunched up my nose at the reply. "Well, that won't do. I have to be able to call you something."
The children looked between themselves nervously. "Won't Father be mad?"
"Maybe." I shrugged. I wasn't feeling particularly charitable towards the Lions of the hall at the moment. "But I think he'll understand if I give you temporary names until he can think up better ones." Maybe he wouldn't notice right away with his brother around to occupy his attention. I could hope.
"So for now
" my voice trailed off as I studied the remaining four children. I pointed to each one down the line starting at the eldest girl. "Minha," then the youngest boy. "Naim," then the last two of the girls. "Hakima and Laila."
"Minha." The eldest girl repeated the name, rolling the sound of it on her tongue. "It means
gift, doesn't it?" she glanced towards me.
I only smiled in response, and turned away to swim to the center of the pool. Goosebumps dotted my skin as a small breeze rushed over the plateau, lifting half-damp strands of platinum hair from the children's shoulders. The children continued in their play, shrieking and jumping into the water. They played games of holding their breath at the bottom of the pool, and skipping small stones in the far corner.
I drifted, staring up at the sky and watched the clouds roll in across the valley. The children left me alone for the most part; they weren't used to dealing with adults, though I was hardly that. It hadn't been too long ago that I'd been like them. I'd spent my days playing in the river that snaked through the valley, and avoiding my mother when she had that look that chores were sure to follow.
For some reason, being here made me forget that I wasn't any older than the attendants below training in the courtyard. Maybe it was because no one looked at me like I was child here.
A loud crack of thunder peeled on in the distance, and I turned to look towards the mountains across the valley. It was mid-afternoon now, but the sky had grown the deep gray blue that signaled the approach of rain. Even as I thought it, the sun disappeared behind the oncoming line of clouds advancing over the mountain, and the sky grew dark over our heads.
On numb feet I waded out of the pool, sloshing freezing water onto the dirt that ringed it. The youngest of the children, Alifa and Naim, watched the sky with wary eyes from their perch on a flat rock just a few feet away.
"It's time to go inside, I think." I said as I crossed to where my cloth still sat near the edge of the pool. I knelt down to pick it up, and as my fingers brushed the saffron fabric, there was a familiar sound of knees hitting stone. Great. I sighed to myself and tied the bright fabric around my waist in a haphazard knot before turning to the other end of the plateau where the trail led up to the isolated pool.
I wasn't about to kneel, and didn't think I could, so it was with Leander's name on the tip of my tongue as I glanced to the figure stepping up out of the crevice. I'd meant to explain why I wouldn't bow, but the name died on my lips when my gaze fell on the dark disheveled hair of his brother.

subset: commoncrawl


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Trailer, Clip Emerge from Ian Curtis Biopic, A Hit at Cannes
Well, it's not radio, and it's not a live transmission, but we do have some early glimpses to share from Control, the much-discussed, Anton Corbijn-directed biopic that chronicles the life of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. The film premiered last week at the Cannes film festival, and early reviews on IFC and a number of British publications have raved about relative newcomer Sam Riley's portrayal of Curtis, who killed himself at age 23 just as Joy Division were about to embark on their first American tour.
What's apparent from these clips: Anton Corbijn has filmed the tale in the washed out manner familiar to those who've adored his videos; Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" comes to mind as a most apt parallel to Control's aesthetic, although the film is shot in hazy black-and-white. But while it does look gorgeous, and while Riley seems completely capable of replicating Curtis' seizures and almost equally spastic on-stage demeanor, even these brief glimpses depict scenes explored in 2002's 24 Hour Party People: The studio sessions with Martin Hannett (portrayed brilliantly in the older film by Andy Serkis, a.k.a. Gollum from Lord of the Rings), the chats with Tony Wilson (played with equal aplomb by Steve Coogan in Party People), the onstage brawl. This is not good news.
But the trailer certainly contains loads of interaction between Curtis and his wife, Deborah, played by Oscar-nominee Samantha Morton (In America, Sweet & Lowdown) -- after all, the film is based on Deborah's memoir, Touching From a Distance. Here's hoping we get deeper into Curtis' short life than the brilliant Party People afforded us. PETER GASTON
Now Watch This:
A clip from Control, via telerama.fr
Control trailer
On the Web:
Talk: Can Control step out of 24-Hour Party People's shadow?


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Cincinnati leads 1-0 (as of 9/4)
Game 1: Friday, September 4 | ||
Cincinnati | 3 | Final |
Atlanta | 1 | |
Recap »Boxscore » |
Game 2: Saturday, September 5 | ||
Cincinnati | 3 | Final |
Atlanta | 1 | |
Recap »Boxscore » |
Game 3: Sunday, September 6 | ||
Cincinnati | 4 | Final in 12 |
Atlanta | 2 | |
Recap »Boxscore » |
7:30 PM ET, September 4, 2009
Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
ATLANTA -- Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds are enjoying a September surge that has their confidence on the rise and the Atlanta Braves feeling frustrated.
Arroyo, who pitched out of a first-inning jam, gave up one run in seven innings and the Reds beat the Braves 3-1 on Friday night for their fifth straight win.The Braves, who began the day four games behind Colorado in the NL wild-card race, have lost three straight.The Braves did not score after loading the bases with no outs in the first. Brian McCann hit into a double-play grounder that forced Matt Diaz out at the plate. Adam LaRoche ended the inning with a fly ball to left field."It's just frustrating," McCann said. "We had our chance in the first. I grounded into a double play and kind of killed the rally. Then it seemed like every ball we hit hard was right at them."Manager Bobby Cox was ejected for second straight game, and the seventh time this season, to extend his major league record to 150.The Reds, coming off a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh, matched a season high with their fifth straight win."We obviously don't have a chance for the playoffs, but we have an opportunity to look at what we will have next year," Arroyo said.Brandon Phillips says it is not too late for the Reds (61-73) to avoid a losing season."We're just trying to get as many wins as possible," Phillips said. "If we can get to .500, that would be a positive thing for us."Arroyo (12-12) gave up six hits and one run in seven innings. He shut out the Braves for five innings before giving up Nate McLouth's homer in the sixth. He has lasted at least seven innings in seven straight starts. The right-hander was only 1-2 in his last six starts despite a 1.99 ERA."After that first inning, he got on track and dealt the rest of the way," said Reds manager Dusty Baker.Arroyo's only other win in the seven-game span was a two-hit shutout of Washington on Aug. 13."After pitching well several games in a row and not getting the win, to finally get over the hump and get a win feels really good," Arroyo said.Jonny Gomes' 17th homer in the second gave Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 31st save.Arroyo beat Derek Lowe (13-9), who gave up seven hits and three runs in seven innings.Kenshin Kawakami pitched a perfect eighth in his first relief appearance for Atlanta after 25 starts."Our pen needs some help right now," Cox said. "We've got some guys that need a little bit of rest so he's going to have to carry a little bit of load out there."Tim Hudson's return from elbow surgery left the Braves with six starting pitchers, allowing Cox to move Kawakami to the bullpen.The Reds scored two runs in the sixth. Joey Votto walked and scored on Brandon Phillips' double to center field. Scott Rolen's single to center drove in Phillips.McLouth came off the 15-day disabled list after missing 17 games with a strained left hamstring.Plate umpire Brian Gorman ejected Cox in the fourth inning.Gorman called Yunel Escobar out for running outside the base path on the infield grass as he tried to beat Arroyo's throw to first. Arroyo's throw hit Escobar. Cox argued the call."Unbelievable," Cox said of the call.Cox said Escobar had to be in line with Arroyo's throw to first base if Escobar was to run across the base."You can only be where you are," Cox said. "The ball had to hit him no matter where he was."Escobar appeared to be injured while stretching for first base. X-rays were negative.Cox said Escobar's status is day to day. Escobar nodded when asked if he expected to miss two or three days.Omar Infante moved from left field to shortstop to replace Escobar.Game notes
Cox also was ejected in Thursday night's 8-3 loss at Florida. ... McLouth did not start but entered the game in the fourth inning after Escobar's injury. ... Wladimir Balentien's first-inning triple was the first of his career in 472 at-bats. ... The Reds opened a 10-game road trip and a streak of games on 17 consecutive days.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Regular Season Series
Cincinnati leads 6-3 (as of Fri 9/4) | ||
Fri 4/24 | ATL 4, @CIN 3 | Recap |
Sat 4/25 | ATL 10, @CIN 2 | Recap |
Sun 4/26 | @CIN 8, ATL 2 | Recap |
Tue 6/16 | @CIN 7, ATL 2 | Recap |
Wed 6/17 | @CIN 4, ATL 3 | Recap |
Thu 6/18 | ATL 7, @CIN 0 | Recap |
» Fri 9/4 | CIN 3, @ATL 1 | Box Score |
Sat 9/5 | CIN 3, @ATL 1 | Recap |
Sun 9/6 | CIN 4, @ATL 2 | Recap |
Complete Schedule: Reds | Braves |
Scoring Summary
2nd | J Gomes homered to left. | 1 | 0 | |
6th | B Phillips doubled to deep right center, J Votto scored. | 2 | 0 | |
6th | S Rolen singled to center, B Phillips scored. | 3 | 0 | |
6th | N McLouth homered to right. | 3 | 1 | |
View complete Play-By-Play |
Game Information
Stadium | Turner Field, Atlanta, GA |
Attendance | 24,219 (49% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
Game Time | 2:25 |
Weather | 80 degrees, clear |
Wind | 4 mph |
Umpires | Home Plate - Brian Gorman, First Base - Chris Guccione, Second Base - Jerry Layne, Third Base - Tony Randazzo |


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Rugby Union
Select a team
Six Nations
- England
- France
- Ireland
- Italy
- Scotland
- Wales
Aviva Premiership
- Bath
- Exeter
- Gloucester
- Harlequins
- Leicester
- London Irish
- London Welsh
- Newcastle
- Northampton
- Sale
- Saracens
- Wasps
The Rugby Championship
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
Guinness PRO12
- Cardiff Blues
- Connacht
- Dragons
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Leinster
- Munster
- Ospreys
- Scarlets
- Treviso
- Ulster
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Top 14
- Bayonne
- Bordeaux-Begles
- Brive
- Castres
- Clermont Auvergne
- Lyon
- Montpellier
- Racing Metro
- Stade Francais
- Toulon
- Toulouse
- Grenoble
- La Rochelle
- Oyonnax
Home team | Away Team | |
South Africa
31 - 8 |
Match Links
- Rugby Championship
- 29th Sep 2012
- Ground: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
- Att: 44,463
Habana hat-trick in Boks romp
Ashley-Cooper injury blow for Wallabies
Related links
Also see
South Africa bounced back from consecutive defeats on the road with a comprehensive 31-8 Rugby Championship victory over Australia at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
Habana took his Test tries tally against Australia to nine, overtaking the previous record of seven by winger Breyton Paulse, as the Springboks benefited from an open, attacking game plan in perfect conditions at one of their favorite grounds on the highveld.
By contrast, Australia have now not won in their last six visits to Loftus Versfeld.
The Springboks led 14-3 at the interval but the Wallabies were lucky not to be much further behind.
Two tight calls from the TMO meant the home side did not have the four-try bonus point by half time, but Heyneke Meyer's men secured a full house of points after the break as Bryan Habana bagged a hat-trick to add to earlier scores from Zane Kirchner and Francois Louw.
Mike Harris touched down in the last quarter for the Wallabies but the horse had already bolted.
While Boks fans will certainly sleep better after their side showed the most attacking prowess of the Meyer era so far, their enthusiasm should be held in check by the fact that this was not Australia's strongest team by any stretch of the imagination.
Indeed, Robbie Deans' squad looks to have been even further depleted by injuries as they head to Argentina after Adam Ashley-Cooper was taken from the field on a stretcher.
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text:
Snow and ice cause travel disruption
Motorists have been urged to take extra care in treacherous conditions as snow across much of the UK turns to ice.
The Met Office has issued nine warnings for ice after disruption to road, rail and air travel following up to 16cm (6in) of snow in some areas.
Half of the 1,300 scheduled flights at Heathrow were cancelled and some trains and Tube services also disrupted.
Almost 400 transatlantic passengers are stranded overnight in Ireland after six London-bound flights were diverted.
Earlier, hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the M25 and M40, with some drivers forced to spend the night in their cars.
Snow swept down to London and East Anglia on Saturday evening after covering parts of Scotland, Wales, northern England and the Midlands earlier in the day.
Latest local information from the BBC
Church Fenton, in North Yorkshire, reported 16cm (6in), which contributed to more than 60 accidents on the region's roads.
BBC forecaster Holly Green said ice was likely to be a hazard, particularly across much of England and south-eastern parts of Wales, as rain hits frozen surfaces and lying snow freezes overnight.
She said there was a risk of further small accumulations of snow in eastern parts of England on Monday morning, with patchy rain elsewhere.
The Met Office advised people to "be aware" of the dangers of the icy conditions.
In other developments:
- Forecasters warned of widespread ice in Wales as the worst of the weather eased
- A 55-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after injuring his spine in a sledging accident in Terrington, North Yorkshire
- A 35-year-old woman was taken to hospital with hypothermia after being rescued from a frozen lake in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on Saturday evening
- London Ambulance Service experienced a surge in 999 calls with 2,500 in the 12 hours to midday - up 26% on the same period last Sunday
- Key roads in and out of Dover were closed after heavy overnight snow in Kent, while rail operators reported delays and cancellations
- There were several incidents in Surrey overnight, including a car that ran into the back of ambulance in Ashford
- In Staffordshire more than 100 vehicles were abandoned on the A50 in Uttoxeter after two lorries jack-knifed, although the road has been re-opened
- There were warnings of icy roads after 5cm of snow fell in parts of Scotland
- Sunday's Championship match between Derby County and Nottingham Forest was postponed and all three horse racing meetings in the UK - Fontwell, Kempton and Musselburgh - cancelled
Two British Airways flights from Atlanta, carrying 122 passengers, and Dallas, with 259 onboard, which were due at Heathrow, remain grounded at Shannon Airport in Ireland.
They were among six flights forced to land at the airport in County Clare because of the cold conditions. They are expected to depart for London on Monday morning.
Heathrow operator BAA said it had decided to reduce the flight schedule at Heathrow on Saturday to "minimise disruption" and said airlines had been able to re-book some passengers as a result.
Richard Scott, from BAA, said because Heathrow operated at capacity, there was no slack in the system to deal with the reduced number of flights that could take off and land in bad weather.
He added: "If we don't proactively cancel flights, the delays build and build and build and it's much worse for passengers."
Transport Secretary Justine Greening said she supported the "resilience plan" between the airport and air traffic control.
"It was a co-ordinated effort and a decision they took to cancel flights in advance so we didn't have passengers turning up at the airport and then finding their flight was cancelled," she said.
"So I think that was actually the right approach to take."
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said it seemed a sensible precaution.
At Stansted Airport in Essex, flights were operating but queues in the terminals were busier than normal as schedules were disrupted.
A dozen Ryanair flights were cancelled, some planes were delayed whilst de-icing took place, and there was a knock-on effect from 11 inbound flights being diverted away on Saturday night during snow clearing.
At Gatwick, flight arrivals and departures were operating, although passengers were warned they may face some disruption.
At Luton Airport, 10cm of snow fell overnight and its runway was closed for a period, causing three departing flights to be cancelled.
Passengers were warned that flight departures and arrivals may be subject to delay or cancellation.
British Airways said it would allow passengers scheduled to fly on Sunday to re-book for journeys between Monday and Thursday.
Birmingham Airport reopened after closing whilst snow was cleared from the runway, and Leeds Bradford Airport has warned of delays or cancellations.
On the roads, Thames Valley Police said as many as 100 vehicles were stationary on the M40 between Junction 4 High Wycombe and Junction 9 Bicester for several hours and snow ploughs were brought in to help clear the roads.
Motorist Katie Jones told BBC News she had spent hours sitting in her car on the M25 in Hertfordshire.
"We were stationary for about seven and a half hours. We passed cars abandoned in the side of the road, having crashed off. We passed lorries jack knifed across two, three lanes of the motorway and it's been impassable in large part."
Transport for London said several Tube lines were hit by suspensions or delays. earlier on Sunday.
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text: On October 2, 2001 08:15 pm, you wrote: > I've seen several postings relating to crashes when trying to start the > arts daemon in KDE 2.2. I was able to fix this and get sound working under > KDE by installing the following library: > > audiofile-0.2.2.tar.gz > > I then had to recompile the KDE base and KDE multimedia components. After > that everything worked fine. > > - Doug Actually, the problem is probably the use of -march=i686 for compiling KDE. I had the same problem at first, but dropping to -march=i386 -mcpu=i686 fixed it. -- Unsubscribe: send email to listar at linuxfromscratch.org and put 'unsubscribe blfs-support' in the subject header of the message


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US 5889989 A Abstract A load sharing system which minimizes overall costs by assigning segments of a divisible load to distributed processors based on the monetary cost of each processor. The distributed processors are connected to a network such as a local area network or the internet. A controller divides a divisible load and assigns each segment of the load to a processor based on the processor's monetary cost which is a function of its operating cost and its processing speed. The allocation is then optimized by transferring portions of the load from the expensive processors to the cheaper processor while maintaining an acceptable finish time for all processing. The optimization can also be performed for minimizing the finish time of the processors within a cost constraint.
Claims(41) 1. A system for distributing an incoming computing job comprising:
a plurality of processors, each with an associated monetary cost; a queue for receiving said incoming computing job; a controller for dividing said received computing job into segments and allocating said segments to at least two of said processors; and a network for connecting said processors and said controller; wherein said controller retrieves associated monetary cost data for said plurality of processors and identifies at least one processor with a low said monetary cost, wherein said allocation of said segments is responsive to said retrieved associated monetary cost data of each said processor and wherein said controller further reallocates said segments to said processors in order to minimize said computing job's overall monetary cost. 2. A system of claim 1, wherein said controller is one of said processors.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein said controller is not allocated at least one said segment.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein said processors include at least two different types of said processors.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein said monetary cost of each said processor is responsive to said processor's speed and said operating cost of said processor.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein said operating cost of each said processor is further responsive to said purchase price of said processor.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein said reallocation occurs from said processors with high monetary cost to said processors with low monetary cost.
8. A The system of claim 1, wherein said controller further reallocates said divisible jobs among said processors to reduce said computing job's monetary cost below a selected cost constraint.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein said reallocation further minimizes said computing job's finish time.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein substantially all of said processors' segment finish times are equal.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein said allocating of said segments is further responsive to each said processor's processing speed.
12. A method for distributing a computing job among a plurality of processors comprising the steps of:
determining a monetary cost associated with each said processor; dividing said computing job into segments; and allocating said segments to said processors responsive to said monetary cost of each said processor. 13. The method of claim 12, further including the step of identifying one of said processors with a low said associated monetary cost.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said allocating step allocates one of said segments to said identified processor.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein said determining step polls each of said processors to determine said monetary cost.
16. The method of claim 15, further including the step of polling each of said processors to determine its availability and wherein said allocation step is responsive to said availability.
17. The method of claim 12, wherein said determining step checks a predesignated memory location which stores said monetary cost of each said processor.
18. The method of claim 17, further including the step of reading a predesignated memory location which stores each of said processor's availability and wherein said allocating step is responsive to said availability.
19. The method of claim 12, wherein said monetary cost of each of said processors is at least responsive to said operating cost of said processors.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein said monetary cost is further responsive to said purchase price of said processors.
21. The method of claim 12, further including the step of optimizing said distribution of said divisible job to minimize said computing job's overall monetary cost.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein said optimizing step includes reallocating portions of said segments distributed from said processors with high said associated monetary costs to said processors with low said associated monetary costs.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein said computing job's finish time is incrementally extended during said optimizing step.
24. The method of claim 12, further including the step of optimizing said distribution of said divisible job to reduce said computing job's monetary cost below a selected cost constraint.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein said optimizing step includes reallocating portions of said segments distributed from said processors with high said associated monetary costs to said processors with low said associated monetary costs.
26. The method of claim 24, wherein said optimizing step further minimizes said computing job's finishing time.
27. The method of claim 12, further including the step of distributing said allocated segments and processing said allocated segments on said allocated processors.
28. The method of claim 12, wherein substantially all of said allocated processors' segment finish times are equal.
29. The method of claim 12, wherein said allocating step is further responsive to each said processor's processing speed.
30. A method for distributing a received computing job among a plurality of processors with associated monetary costs using a monetary cost ceiling, comprising the steps of:
selecting said monetary cost ceiling; determining said monetary cost associated with each said processor when said computing job is received; dividing said computing job into segments and allocating said segments to said processors responsive to said monetary cost of each said processor and said monetary cost ceiling; and distributing said segments to said processors when a total monetary cost for processing said computing job comprising said determined monetary costs of said processors with allocated segments is at or below said selected monetary cost ceiling. 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said allocating said segments step is further responsive to each said processor's processing speed.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein said segment allocated to said processor with the greatest associated monetary cost is reallocated to said other allocated processors.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein said other allocated processors all finish processing said allocated segments at the same time.
34. The method of claim 30, wherein said processors are comprised of at least two different types of processors.
35. The method of claim 30, wherein said dividing step further minimizes said computing job's finishing time.
36. A controller for distributing a received computing job comprising:
means for interfacing with a plurality of processors when said computing job is received, wherein each said processor has an associated monetary cost; means for determining said monetary costs of said processors and for segmenting said computing job into segments to be allocated among said processors, wherein said allocated processors are selected based on said monetary costs, said determining means being coupled to said interfacing means; and means for sending at least one of said allocated segments to at least one of said selected processors and for receiving intermediate results from said selected processors via said interface means. 37. The controller of claim 36, wherein said processor are comprised of at least two different types of processor.
38. The controller of claim 36, wherein said monetary cost of each said processor is responsive to said processor's operating cost.
39. The controller of claim 38, wherein said monetary cost is further responsive to said processor's purchase price.
40. The controller of claim 36, wherein said controller has an associated monetary cost and is capable of being allocated one of said segments.
41. The controller of claim 37, further comprising means for reallocating said segments to said processor in order to minimize said computing job's overall monetary costs.
Description The present invention relates to a load sharing controller for optimizing the monetary cost of computation of the distributed processors within a networked system. Parallel processing techniques divide jobs among at least two separate processors to gain computational efficiencies when operating on a large group of data, called a load or job. It is often more efficient, where possible, to divide a job for concurrent processing among multiple processors in order to complete the computations in a shorter period of time. Loads to be processed can either be characterized as indivisible or divisible. An indivisible load is one that cannot be divided into two or more smaller fragments to be distributed among multiple processors but requires that the load be processed by a single processor. A divisible load is a load that can be arbitrarily partitioned in a linear fashion and can be distributed to more than one processor to achieve a faster solution time. An example of a divisible load is a very long linear data file associated with a simple operation such as the summation of a large set of numbers. Intermediate sums of the list of numbers can be computed on different distributed processors and then later recombined and added together to gain the final solution. A more sophisticated example of a divisible load is data representing an input waveform which is to be applied to a series of digital filters to identify the waveform. The data can be segmented and processed on different processors in order to expedite the required computation period. In general, the class of divisible loads includes problems where a number of repetitive and independent operations are performed on very large data files. Examples of divisible loads commonly appear in the areas of signal processing, image processing and experimental data processing. Divisible load theory has the benefit of being completely deterministic without requiring any statistical or probabilistic assumptions. When a divisible load is distributed to a number of processors, there is a need for a central controller, which can be one of the processors, to select which processor gets which portion of the load and in what order. One scheme is to assign the fastest processor (in terms of computational speed) with as much data as possible within a given time constraint. This speed based load sharing approach must take into account the number of available processors, the speed of each processor, the speed of the communication links, the load origination point and the network architecture. Previous allocations of controllers have been based upon processor speed among networked processors in order to gain time efficiencies by parallel processing the divisible load. As computer hardware and communications technology are quickly advancing, an opportunity to link processors located at different remote sites together to compute a load is promising. The internet currently allows for the fast and cheap communication between processors irrespective of their physical locations. Indeed, the internet allows for worldwide communication on a relatively inexpensive basis. Communication costs (e.g., telephone line charges) are one of the monetary costs associated with distributed processing. Different processors also have varied associated monetary costs themselves. One minute of processor time on a super-computer is many orders of magnitude more expensive to operate than on a simple 486 computer platform. Businesses now have the capability of renting out their idle processor time to other users when connected in a global network such as the internet. Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems of Texas, made a business out of renting idle time on private mainframe computer installations to run programming. The increased number of different types of processors with varied associated monetary costs creates a need for a load sharing controller which assigns divisible loads among distributed processors to minimize the overall monetary cost to process the load. The present invention includes a controller for the allocation of divisible load jobs among a plurality of distributed processors based on their monetary costs. The system includes a plurality of processors and a network for connecting the distributed processors where one of the processors is a controller for dividing the computer job to be processed into segments and assigning the segments to the distributed processors based on each processor's associated monetary cost. The monetary cost of a processor includes the operational cost of the processor itself and the platform upon which it runs. The monetary cost can also include a percentage of the purchase price of the computer platform so that the owner of the processor can recoup some of its initial investment. The controller determines the monetary cost of a distributed processor by either polling the processor, checking a predetermined memory location with the information or by calculating the monetary cost based on known information. The controller also optimizes its distribution by allocating portions of the load from a more expensive processor to a less expensive processor while still maintaining an acceptable finish time to complete the job. The controller can also minimize the finish time of the processors while remaining at or below the cost ceiling. Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures showing a preferred embodiment of the invention, on which: FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of a system for load sharing a divisible job among distributed processors based on monetary costs in accordance with the invention; FIG. 1B shows a portion of the system in FIG. 1A further including a memory to store information regarding the distributed processors; FIG. 1C shows a data file which is stored in the memory of FIG. 1B; FIG. 2 shows the steps of the method for distributing a divisible computer job among two or more processors based on monetary cost; FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a controller which operates in the system of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 shows a method to optimize the finish time while remaining within a selected cost constraint; FIG. 5 is a timing diagram of the initial allocation of a distributed load in accordance with the invention; and FIG. 6 is a timing diagram of the distributed load after it has been optimized to minimize the overall monetary cost when the finish time is increased incrementally. Divisible loads which can be parallel processed are becoming more common as storage capacities and the speed of processors are increasing to handle large computing jobs. The variety of different types of processors capable of processing divisible loads is also increasing dramatically. Personal computers now have a number of different types of processors which operate at many different speeds and have varying costs associated with them. These processors include the 386, 486, pentium and the P6. Also available for distributed jobs are computer platforms including work stations, mini-computers, super-computers as well as main frames. New technologies such as GaAs circuitry and chips operating at cryogenic temperatures are becoming available. These processors and platforms are becoming easier to interconnect and allow communication between one another. The increasing advances in the internet and other networks are also facilitating processor cooperation. Thus, a divisible load can be segmented and have its portions be simultaneously processed on different types of computer platforms including a 486 computer, a work station and a super-computer. Each of the individual processors or group of processors could be a computer "utility" which leases computer time to other users. Each different type of processor and computer platform has an associated monetary cost when used to process a portion of a load. The platform includes the processor, supporting electronics and devices necessary for the processors operation (e.g., the "motherboard"). The monetary cost of a processor is based upon the computing cost whose unit is "cost per second" and the computing speed whose unit is "loads per second". The unit "load" in the computing speed parameter is of predetermined size in order to be able to compare different processors using the same parameters. The monetary cost for a processor for a unit load is the computing cost times the inverse of the computing speed to produce a parameter with the unit "cost per unit load". For example, if a 486 platform computer has a computing cost of $5/second and a computing speed of 2 loads per second, the cost of processing a unit load is $2.50. If a mini-computer platform has a computing cost of $10/second and a computing speed of 8 loads per second, the cost of processing a unit load is $1.25. Therefore, the monetary cost of the mini-computer processor is cheaper than the 486 due to its vastly increased speed relative to its computing cost. The computing cost of a processor is based upon the operating cost of the processor and platform and/or upon the initial purchase price of the processor and platform. The operating cost component includes power costs, communication charges, maintenance to the processor and any other charges associated with the running of the processor and platform. The purchase price of the processor and platform can be depreciated over the useful life of the processor and charged as an expense to temporary users utilizing the processor as part of the load-sharing technique. An alternate calculation could be based upon the value of alternative jobs which could be processed by the processor during the time spent processing the segment of the load (a lost opportunity cost). This approach may lead to optimizing the largest rental income for each processor while minimizing the monetary costs for a single job. Another environment where monetary cost is an important factor in the load sharing process is one in which each processor in a network has an individual predetermined charge rate. One example of this situation occurs in a university which allocates the cost of purchasing and operating a processor by internally charging out the time used on a processor to each user or department. It is advantageous for a user of the university system to use the controller which allocates divisible loads among linked processors based on the monetary cost associated with each processor. The use of the controller achieves the cheapest solution within a selected finish time. Distributing the load generally achieves a faster processing time than if the load was processed on a single processor and the controller minimizes the overall cost of processing the load. Another example of a monetary-based load sharing technique occurs in a corporation with a large number of networked processors which allows multiple loads to be optimally distributed among the processors. FIG. 1 shows a system 100 which performs a load sharing operation based upon the monetary cost of each processor. The system in the preferred embodiment includes a controller 103, a job queue 111, a network 114, a processor 107 with a high associated monetary cost, a processor 105 with a moderate monetary cost and a group of inexpensive processors 109 with relatively low monetary costs. The controller 103 can be one of the distributed processors and process a portion of the load as well as act as the controller. Alternatively, the control processor can be dedicated to properly distributing the load. The number of processors in each monetary cost group can vary. Additionally, the number of different monetary cost groups of processors can vary. In this example, the high monetary cost processor 107 is a mini-computer processor which costs $5/unit load to operate (the costs are for illustrative purposes only); the moderate cost processor 105 is a super-computer platform processor which costs $3/unit load to operate; and least expensive group of processors 109 is made up of 486 platforms which costs $1/unit load to operate. The operation cost and the speed of each processor go into the calculation of the monetary cost as described above. The job queue 111 can be any terminal, processor or other electronic unit which provides the controller with a divisible load to be apportioned in the most cost-effective manner within a selected finish time among the distributed processors. The job queue 111 provides the controller with a divisible process to be distributed. The job queue 111 can hold multiple jobs (loads) for processing and operates in a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) manner. Alternate schemes which can be used in the job queue include using user defined priority flags, a Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) scheme or any other conventional queuing scheme. The network 114 can be a Local Area Network, the internet, a bus interconnected network or any other conventional network. Although the super-computer platform is more expensive in operating costs, the cost per unit load is lower than that of the mini-computer processor because the magnitude of the increased processor speed offsets the higher operating costs associated with the super-computer platform. Controller 103 contains the load to be divided and distributed to other processors and also will contain the results of the completed jobs. Any job which can be divided into segments will operate with the described load sharing system. The interaction between the controller and processors and the method employed by the system will be described in detail in connection with FIG. 2; however, a general description follows. The cheapest available processor in the system can be designated to be the controller. When the controller receives a divisible job from the job queue 111, it will first determine the monetary costs of any available distributed processor connected to the system's network which can process a portion of the load. This can be performed either by an active query to all processors on the network, or can be extracted from a data location in the controller containing the current costs of available processors. The control processor can also determine its own monetary cost if it is available to process a segment of the load. The controller can link to other individual processors or networks via a modem, dedicated line or the internet. FIG. 1B shows an alternate embodiment of system 100 in which the controller 103 is coupled to a network and is also coupled to an external memory 115. The memory 115 contains the monetary costs and status of each processor on the network. A typical file 150 stored in memory 115 is shown in FIG. 1C. The status column is constantly updated by each of the processors in the network. The cost column is also periodically updated. Controller 103 can then select the cheapest available process in memory 115 in which to distribute the sections of a divisible load. Memory 115 could also be located in controller 103. Additionally, memory 115 can be located in a central file server or in a web site on the internet. Once the monetary unit cost of each available processor is known, the controller 103 will select the cheapest processor to allocate the first portion of the divided load. The processor will initially allocate the maximum portion of load which can be processed on that cheapest processor within a selected finish time. The finish time is selected by the originator of the job or the controller. The processor will then allocate in succession the remaining portions of the load to the next available cheapest processors. An optimization routine can then be performed based upon an incremental increase to the maximum amount of time allowed to finish the entire process. The loads are then distributed in optimum partitions to the selected distributed processors. After processing, the processed segments of the load or intermediate results will be returned to the controller 103 from each selected distributed processor to be integrated to form a completed job result and provide the solution to a selected destination. One example of an intermediate result is an intermediate sum of that portion of numbers assigned to each processor. The order in which the distributed processors is loaded is important if the communication time between processors in non-negligible. When the communication time is a factor and the controller cannot transmit messages in parallel, it is desirable to load the cheapest available processor first so that it can process its segment of the load for the maximum time. The most expensive processor selected for participation will receive its load last to ensure that the time that it processes the load is the least among the selecting processors in order to minimize the cost. FIG. 2 shows the steps that are performed in the system 100 when a divisible load is shared among distributed processors. In step 201, the controller 103 receives the divisible load from the job queue 111 to be distributed among at least two processors. The controller can be an independent apparatus or can be one the processors in the distributed system. The controller is preferably the cheapest processor if it is one from the distributed system. Step 203 retrieves the monetary cost (cost per unit load) of each available distributed processor in the system. The controller may be an available processor. Some processors may be busy working on other applications and not available for the particular job. The monetary cost data may be supplied by each distributed processor after the controller 103 polls each processor on the network. Alternatively, the monetary cost data can be loaded from an internal or external memory which is periodically updated by each processor. Another method is having the distributed processors supply their operating cost data and operating speed data from which the controller 103 can calculate the effective cost per load for the processor. Additionally, the controller 103 may simply access a memory containing data including the type of each processor to allow the controller to estimate the approximate monetary cost. The controller next divides the load into segments which can be processed separately in steps 205 to 209. The segments can be of different sizes which depends on the speed and cost of the distributed processors used. The number of segments also depends upon the selected finish time and the types of available processors used. The selected finish time data can be sent with the divisible load to the controller, can be predetermined for the system, or can be determined by the controller. Transmission time to the processors is normally negligible due to the relatively large size of the loads but becomes non-negligible when the divided segments of the load are very small requiring that the communication time be considered in the optimization technique. One example of a divisible load is a list of data to be searched that can be divided into three segments and processed on three different distributed processors, where each processor performs a search routine on its particular segment. The assigning and optimization of the load distribution is performed prior to physically sending the load segments to each distributed processor. Step 205 allocates the cheapest available processor (based on the cost/unit load) in the network with a divided segment of the load. When the initial cheapest processor is identified, it will be allocated with the first divided segment of the load. The load will be divided so that the segment will fully utilize the cheapest processor for the entire selected finish time constraint. The proportional segmentation can be calculated based upon the speed of the distributed processor which can be found in the similar manner as the monetary cost. The distributed processor just allocated will then change its availability status to "busy" to indicate it is not available for other loads. Then, in later steps, subsequent available distributed processors with the lowest monetary cost will be allocated with the remaining segments of the load. Step 207 identifies the next cheapest available processor which is to be assigned an unprocessed segment of the load. The processors which already have been allocated a segment of the load are no longer available. A complete list of available processors could be formed and updated in step 203 so that step 207 will have already been performed. However, in the preferred embodiment, the network is checked for new additional processors which became available and which may have a cheapest monetary cost. Step 209 checks if there is any remaining segments of the load to be processed. If there is, then the method jumps back to step 205. If there is not, then the method continues with step 210. Steps 210 to 215 optimizes the original load sharing allocation to distributed processors in order to provide the lowest monetary cost processor with a larger share of the load while extending the finish time incrementally. This optimization will drive down the overall cost of processing the load thus becoming more cost efficient. Step 210 selects the amount of incremental time which will increase the finish time while reducing the overall monetary cost of processing the distributed job. The controller receives the selected incremental time from the originator of the job via the network or an input device connected to the controller. The controller can also use a default incremental time if the user wishes to reduce costs. The user may decide that an extra minute of processing finish time is acceptable if the overall costs can be reduced by a large amount, e.g., by twenty percent. Step 211 checks if the cheapest processor used to load share the job can process an additional portion of the load within the selected increased finish time constraint. A divisible load by definition can be subdivided into as many parts as necessary. For example, if the distributed load is initially segmented and allocated to be completely processed in three minutes to reduce costs, and the selected incremental finish time is five seconds, the load controller 103 will reallocate a divisible portion of the load equal to five seconds of processing time from the most expensive processor to the least expensive processor. If the cheapest processor is fully allocated for the selected incremental finish time period, the next cheapest processor is checked to determine if it could process a portion of the most expensive processor's load within the incremented time period. Step 213 reallocates a portion of the most expensive processor's load to a cheaper processor's load which will be able to complete execution by the initial finish time plus the incremental finish time. If the segment of the load assigned the expensive processor is completely reallocated to cheaper processors, the expensive processor will no longer be used and will become available for other jobs in the system. Step 215 determines if there are any processors remaining which have not had their loads reallocated during the optimization technique. If there are additional cheaper processors not yet checked and which can process additional loads within the incremental finish time, the method jumps back to step 211. If there are no unchecked processors, then the optimization is complete and the method continues with step 217. Step 217 distributes the load to the selected processors using the determined allocation in the previous steps. The cheapest available processor will be sent its allocated portion first and the other selected processors will be sent their portion in an ascending order according to the monetary cost of each processor. Alternatively, smaller portions of each allocated segment can be sent to each processor so that the processors can begin to operate on their load segment sooner. The controller would keep distributing the remaining smaller segments until all the allocated segments were distributed. Step 219 processes each of the allocated load portions on the assigned distributed processors. Each load is processed on a distributed processor as soon as it is received from the controller. Step 221 returns the intermediate results of all the segments of the divisible loads which were processed on the distributed processors to the controller. This function may entail further calculations such as adding the intermediate results together or concatenating the resultant data from each processor together to form a solution. The job result is then complete. It can be stored in a memory or delivered back to the originator of the job or selected destination. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a load sharing controller used in the present invention. The controller 300 includes a central processing unit 301, a memory 303, other conventional electronics necessary for the operation of the controller 305 and interface 307. Each of the components are coupled by conventional connectors. Interface 307 is connected by transmission lines 309 to both the job queue 111 and the network 114. Alternatively, job queue 111 can be a part of controller 103 using memory 303. The interface 307 may be large enough for both job queue 111 and network 114 to be simultaneously connected or interface 307 may be have a switching ability. The load is transmitted from the job queue 111 over transmission lines 309 to interface 307. The load is then stored in memory 303 and partitioned into smaller loads to be assigned among a number of distributed processors. The CPU 301, which controls the operations of the controller 300, determines the available distributed processors connected to network 114 by either polling the processors or checking a predesignated memory location listing the cheapest available processors. The loads are then allocated to each of the distributed processors, starting with the cheapest processor. CPU 301 then checks the possibility of the cheaper processors to take on additional segments of the load to be completed within the selected incremented finish time constraint. If the cheaper processor can take on the additional load within the incremented time constraint, the segments of the load are reallocated from the more expensive processors to the less expensive processors. Once the segmentation has been optimized, the load segments are sent to each distributed processor through interface 307 and along transmission lines 309. The controller 300 can be one of the processors which is allocated a portion of the divided load. CPU 301 would process its allocated segment after it had performed the function of the controller. FIG. 4 shows the steps of a technique for minimizing the finish time of the load sharing distribution by a controller when a final cost ceiling is selected by the originator of the job. This technique is used, for example, when a user wants to process a divisible load the quickest way but for under $25. The controller will receive the cost ceiling data and allocate the load accordingly to meet the cost ceiling while extending the finish time as little as possible. Step 401 allows the user to select a maximum cost constraint for a particular job to be processed in a distributed system. The cost constraint information can be sent from the job queue with the divisible load to the controller 103 or can be entered directly into the controller via a keyboard, data file or other input device. The cost constraint can also be standard for all jobs from a particular user or group or users. For example, a user can require that all jobs should be processed for under $10. Step 403 calculates the overall cost of the divisible job to be distributed among the available processors in the network. The overall cost is equal to the summation of the monetary cost (cost/unit load) of each processor times the fraction of the load being processed on that processor times the size of the overall load. The cost is minimized by placing as much of the load on the processors with a low monetary cost while still completing the processing within an acceptable finish time. Step 405 determines if the calculated overall cost is greater than the selected cost constraint. If the overall cost is greater, the technique jumps to step 407. If the overall cost is not greater, then the cost is within the selected cost constraint and the optimization technique is complete. The technique then continues with step 409. Step 407 reallocates an incremental portion of the load from the most expensive processor to the cheaper processors (which reduces cost but most likely decreases speed). In order to minimize the finishing time given a cost ceiling, all the processors allocated segments of the load must stop processing at the same time. Thus each of the cheaper processors will receive a portion of the reallocated load based upon the speed of the individual processor receiving the incremental load. A processor X that is twice as fast as a processor Y will receive a larger portion of the incremental load because it can process more of the load while being able to finish processing its load at the same time as processor Y. Thus, the overall finishing time will be marginally increased but still minimized for a given cost ceiling. The size of the incremental portion reallocated between processors depends on the actual size of load and could range, for example, from 1% to 5% to 100% of the load segment. A load reallocation to a cheaper processor will by definition decrease the overall cost of the processing the load. The process then continues with step 403 to determine if the decrease in cost is sufficient to make the overall cost become equal to or below the cost ceiling. Step 409 distributes the load to the selected processors using the determined allocation in the previous steps. The cheapest available processor will be sent its allocated portion first and the other selected processors will be sent their portion in an ascending order according to the monetary cost of each processor. Alternatively, smaller portions of each allocated segment can be sent to each processor so that the processors can begin to operate on their load segment sooner. The controller would keep distributing the remaining smaller segments until all the allocated segments were distributed. Step 411 processes each of the allocated load portions on the assigned distributed processors. Each load is processed on a distributed processor as soon as it is received from the controller. Step 413 returns the intermediate results of all the segments of the divisible loads which were processed on the distributed processors to the controller. This function may entail further calculations such as adding the intermediate results together or concatenating the resultant data from each processor together to form a solution. The job result is then complete. It can be stored in a memory or delivered back to the originator of the job or selected destination. When optimizing the finish time of a load allocation without regard for the monetary cost, all of the distributed processors must stop processing at the same time. If this was not the case, then some of the processors would be idle while other processors are busy. However, when monetary costs are a factor, it may be more efficient to not use the more expensive processors while the less costly processors operate for a greater time period. The technique for optimally allocating a divisible load based on monetary costs is different than when based simply on speed of the processors and their finish time. FIG. 5 shows a timing diagram of N inter-connected processors participating in an application of the load sharing technique described in FIG. 2. In this example, the first processor unit 501 acts as the both the controller and a processor which operates on a segment of the divisible load. Each processing unit in this example contains two separate processors, a main processor and a front end processor for transmitting and receiving data simultaneously with the operation of the main processor. In this example, the load is divided and sent in a serial manner to each of the other distributed processors. The loads are apportioned so that the finish time of all the loads occur at the same time. FIG. 5 shows the computation time of a first processor which acts as the controller and immediately processes its portion of the load. The process time block 501 for the first processor starts at t=T1 and processes the load segment until t=Tf. The other processors are transmitted their respective load shares in succession. The process time for the second processor (as shown by processing block 503) starts at time T2 and processes until Tf. The process time for the third processor (as shown by processing block 505) starts at time T3 and processes until Tf. The process time for the Nth processor (as shown by processing block 507) starts at time TN and processes until Tf. The delay of the start of each processor is due to the successive transmission times of the load segments from the controller to each processor. The initial allocation ensures the cheapest monetary cost while still finishing the entire job by Tf (excluding the time to transmit the results back to the controller). The timing diagram corresponds to the operation of steps 201 to 209 of FIG. 2 before further optimization and reduction to the monetary cost of the job. FIG. 6 shows a timing diagram of N inter-connected processors when further reducing the monetary cost by incrementally increasing the finish time to an acceptable level. In this diagram, the finish time after the initial allocation is extended to Tnew. The first processor now processes for a longer time as shown by processing block 601 starting at time T1 and running until Tnew. The extra load was reallocated from the most expensive processor TN and added to the load of the first processor. Other cheaper processors also had their processing loads extended (as shown in processing blocks 603 and 605) by reallocating portions of loads from the expensive processors. The expensive Nth processor now has a finish time less than the original time Tf (as shown by processing block 607) because a portion of its load (shown as dashed portion 609) has been reallocated to the other processors. The result is that the overall monetary cost of the job decreases while the finish time is increased incrementally. The monetary cost/finish time tradeoff can be decided by the job provider and indicated to the controller through transferred data, data protocols or separate input to the controller. The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, apparatus and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and are thus within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by its claims. Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
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Other J&P Cycles Destination Daytona Superstore Just north of Daytona Beach at the Junction of I-95 and US 1, this is the place to go to gear up for Bike Week: you're bound to find something to make you look and feel the part among the 15,000 sq ft of aftermarket ...
Markets, Streets & Arcades Daytona Flea & Farmers Market With over 1000 booths and 600 vendors, this gargantuan market is one of the world's largest. Fans of garage and car-boot sales will not want to miss this: allocate plenty of time...
Food & Drink Peterbrooke Chocolatier Come here for chocolate-coated popcorn, pretzels and more. Reserve ahead for tours ($1 including samples), which run at 10am Monday to Friday. There's a great bench two blocks west...
Markets, Streets & Arcades St George Street This 11-block stretch of pedestrian shopping, eating and entertainment is the heart of Old Spanish St Augustine. Look for everything from souvenir shops hawking pirate shot glasses to elegant antiques stores.
Shopping Centre St Augustine Outlets Dozens of name brands, including Saks, BCBG and Kate Spade, just down the street from St Augustine Premium Outlets. The outlets are a 15-minute drive from downtown along FL-16.
Other Antique Dealers Association of St Augustine Meandering through the town's antique shops could take days; contact the Antique Dealers Association of St Augustine for a brochure or advice on finding collectibles.
Other Anomaly Buying the jewelry, casual tops, or kids' beachwear in this lime-colored shop makes you feel warm inside: the goods sold here are created by local designers.
Sports & Outdoor Chopper's World The best of the bike shops; browse brain buckets, deerskin dusters and studded saddlebags among more than 10,000 motorcycle parts.
Markets, Streets & Arcades Aviles Street Opposite the plaza from St George St, this tiny pedestrian-only alleyway has some wonderfully dusty map shops and art galleries.
Other Global Goods and Gifts Global Goods sells handmade crafts and farmer-grown coffee, all processed and imported by fair trades-people.
Food & Drink Hot Stuff Mon Dozens of types of hot sauce made from St Augustine's famous datil pepper and other great gifts for foodies.
Fashion & Accessories Farmers' Market Head to Hemming Plaza, across from City Hall, for quirky jewelry and hand-carved flowers.
Other Eight Flags Antiques Market Three dozen dealers in one large indoor space. Bargains can be found.
Shopping Centre St Augustine Premium Outlets Name brands like Gap, Banana Republic, Nike and more, at steep discounts.


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Senior Member
why'd you change the animation of Dark Matter????? it used to be fun seeing annie get squished by DM.. now its boring~! veigar used to be my main.. but now is getting boring because of this.. pls change it back!! TY RIOT!! pls vote on changing it back.. old DM was way better..
When was the animation changed? What did it look like then and what does it look like as of your post? I'm too lazy to actually get in game and find out. =P
The Conveyer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjhfdQdBdH8 Judging by this video, it looks like it used to actually be a blob of "Dark Matter", lol. Right now it's like a droplet of "Dark Matter" :/
sorry.. have no screenies.. try checking utube.. then try the one now in practice.. but the old one's way WAY better..
I think it was changed to better represent the spell's true AoE radius. That's what it looks like to me, because in the video DM looks a little... large...
but still, then reduce the size of the object.. but still have the same look. its really hilarous.. because of this,i havent touched veigear again.. moving to to diff champs now because of this change. really broke my louuuve for the tiny underpowered(as many claim) champ.
nice! 4 nos and not much comments.. i hate trollers and d*** ***.. ^_^ i guess veigars dead.. T_T
seriously? now 5 nos and not a new comment.. bring back the old DM!! grrr...
Junior Member
You guys need to start a "Bring back the old dark matter graphic or we're going to whine like little babies" club. "I'm NEVER going to play my character again because his ability graphic changed!" LOL This thread just made my night.. G'night, gents.


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SparkRecipes is powered by
This is the way my mother makes it and we love it! You can use Butternut squash instead of acorn squash. I also use unsalted butter instead of Smart Balance from time to time.Submitted by: GETTO140
good as either side dish or mealSubmitted by: KATOUSIGNANT1
A thick and hearty soup that is creamy without all the cream!!Submitted by: APESTEW
Great alternative to stuffed peppers.Submitted by: STRIVE4BALANCE
Submitted by: AFRICAPARISH
Veggie, yet almost like dessert!Submitted by: ANGRYPSYCHOKEL
A light and sweet fall treat!Submitted by: CINNYBUG
Great as a side dish for four or a main dish for two!Submitted by: ELLISUNIT1
Submitted by: SNOWROSE61
Low Sodium, satisfying autumn or winter dish.Good Carbs. Low sugar. Uses Splenda & small amount of maple syrup instead of brown sugar. Serve with a main course oven meal. Submitted by: 60SIXTY
Sweet, as good as dessert! Submitted by: ULVUND50
Sweet Dessert BakeSubmitted by: OKIELORA
Acorn Squash Stuffed with Black Beans, Pine Nuts, Tomato, Scallions & CheeseSubmitted by: LRENAUD1
Submitted by: KYLIEMC8
This dish is simple and quick--you'll love it. Serve it for Thanksgiving or any night of the week. Submitted by: CHEF_MEG
This is a wonderful autumn supper that I just make in the crock pot and let simmer all day.Submitted by: BETOON
Submitted by: YSKINNY
Submitted by: NHSTITCHER
(Other versions on here are lighter ... I prefer mine decadent, with real butter and sugar!) Submitted by: THATJULIET
Roasting adds flavor beyond beliefSubmitted by: BUSBYBOTTOM
This recipe can be used by itself as a soup or add tofu or chicken and rice for a delicious curried dish Submitted by: MAGGIEMEI
Submitted by: KATTIEBUG
Modified from a recipe by Alton BrownSubmitted by: THEMIS27
A great low-fat side dish for Thanksgiving dinner! Attractive presentation, and taste delicious! The original recipe was found at www.lowfatcooking.about.com - I changed the marinade ingredients to reduce the calories a bitSubmitted by: FLUFFYWONKENOBE
If you can find it, a specialty cranberry vinegar is a delicious accent to this recipe. If not, cider vinegar will work fine as a substitute.Submitted by: ALYSSAGB
Submitted by: CYMBIDIUM
This kinda tastes similar to pumpkin/sweet potato pie -- but with different texture.Submitted by: TAKINGBACKLIFE
Family Circle October 2011 Stuffed Acorn SquashSubmitted by: SUZYQVA
Submitted by: ANJAYS-JOURNEY
Submitted by: BOXERMOM19


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RCB Fan Summit 2010 - My contribution
A video that I had done for RCB Fan Summit 2010. Comments?
Okay, we were in flight and Poshin had this to say to me: "When did you write the last post on RCB Website?".. "It's been a while!".."I think you are only lazy".. Truth is, I really have had nothing to write about. Even now, when i was thinking of putting together my thoughts on the RCB Fan Summit, I wasn't able to even think of an apt title..
Natasha wanted a video made for presenting it to the management during the RCB Fan Summit 2010, I wasn't having the best of times at work. Working Nights i hardly had anytime for sleep let alone setting some time out for videos. Neverthless, I did create the video in the spare time I found on friday, just 1 hour and no ideas to work with.
Started off by creating the first slide, one after the other it turned out to be a nice little video. I thought it better worked as text, but really I had no time to find pictures or to add video effects.
Anyways, i just wanted to post this video for you guys to look at, and give me some real comments. Not "wow", "good", "Nice" etc.. Something that gives me an understanding of how I could make it better?
PS: If you have some content like this for your favourite RCB players, I suggest you turn them into video because music brings that feeling you want the viewer to emote, and you have control on how the viewer looks at it! Hoping to see more such videos coming from other fans!
Latest comments
@Raghu: All I needed is one look at the book. I'll get it from Vignesh when I meen him next. For now, It's with Vignesh who I hope has put "Owned by the Chennai RCB Fans" on the first page. :)
@all: Thanks for the comments. Keep them coming because that is what motivates me to do more of this.
Some can say in words, some in pictures and some others by voice. But we all are saying the same things after a really good event.
BTW, I overheard Kunal, Poshin and Vignesh fight over the ownership/custody rights of Wide Angle that Vignesh received as award. I hope they have resolved it amicably - there seemed to be a consensus about a time-share kind of arrangement!


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On The Trail: Midwest Region
Print without images
Friday, June 7, 2013
Southeast visits help Brown find future
By Jared Shanker
Almost two years stand between
George Brown Jr.
Ā(Cincinnati/Winton Woods) and a national letter of intent, so his visit to the Southeast this month was not about naming favorites or eliminating schools.
It did help the 6-foot-6, 255-pound athlete figure out where he wants to play at the next level, though. Brown, a 2015 prospect, is being recruited as a tight end, offensive lineman and defensive lineman. After camping at Clemson and Miami (Fla.), he is going to concentrate solely on defensive end.
"He's about playing defensive end and that's it," said his father, George Brown Sr. "We'll go to Ohio State [June 9] and work the straight D-Line now."
Over the last 10 days, Brown and his father made stops at Clemson, Florida, Florida State and Miami. The Seminoles are the only school among those four yet to offer. Brown Sr. said the Senior coaches told him there is a very good chance they will offer once they see film of Brown at defensive end this fall.
Brown enjoyed all of his visits to the Southeast, but it sounded as if the Gators might have made the biggest impression.
"He loved all of them: Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Miami," Brown Sr. said. "Florida had excellent academics. We've got two years to decide, but Florida is hard to beat. And all those schools are good. I believe in going to a team that's already solid."
With so much time before Brown signs, the family is in no rush to name leaders or make a decision. Brown Sr. acknowledges any decision this early might force the family to reopen his recruitment down the line if the coaching staff leaves between now and February 2015.
"That's the main thing, the bond with the coaches," Brown Sr. said.
Following a camp at Ohio State on Sunday, Brown hopes to camp at UCLA and USC before turning his focus to his high school team.


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Army Ridge Route | [ Sizes: Orig | Med | Small | Thumb ] | |||
Starting from the south end of Cottonwood Lake #3 (right) climb onto the ridge between New Army and Old Army passes. Follow the ridge to the northeast and ascend snow shoots and ledges to reach the high plateau near Army Pass Point. Proceed northward to Mount Langley (off the map to the north). | Image Data
Image ID: 628800 Hits: 707 Object Title: Army Ridge Route Image Type(s): Alpine Climbing |


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Canon 7d with Canon 50mm 1.4
Very soft and pretty Mandy! Beautiful work!!
Very beautiful Mandy. Love the DOF☼
Gorgeous :o)x
Instant Fav..Well done! Love it.
Flower is whispering.
beautiful capture Mandy
This is lovely, Mandy! Wonderful softness and DoF! I love all the undulating buds surrounding this one blossom!
very beautiful Mandy.. I just love the softness around that sharp detail, great pastel colors too.. fabulous!