text:
Health and wellness
Asia's top 10 wellness resorts
Exotic locations, ancient healing traditions and outstanding personal service is Asia's recipe for outstanding resorts
Pot B&Bs and 'forest bathing': Wildest new spa trends
They might feel good, but will these trendy wellness practices hold up to the test of time and science?
World's fastest growing wellness destination? It's Africa!
A new report says in Sub-Saharan Africa the number of spas has tripled since 2007, and spa revenue has leaped 184%
Healthy Beijing: A wellness guide to the city
Despite legendary pollution, Beijing offers access to nature, healthy restaurants and eco-friendly retreats
9 deluxe weight loss vacations
How to turn that "Christmas gut" into something other people worry about
Bloody Marys and salt caves at the best new spas in Hong Kong
Spa scene gets exciting with new niche offerings, including a remedy for asthma and a men's center that just gets it
Blame my hormones, honey
Korean men should be on the lookout for menopause symptoms, says Samsung Medical guru
Do you double dip?
You would never double dip a chip, but you don't think twice about going in for seconds with your chopsticks. Local experts weigh in on Shanghaining's germ swapping ways
How bad is the pollution in your Shanghai apartment?
We tested the pollution in homes around Shanghai; we're not sure you're going to like what we found -- but at least we tell you what to do about it
A clinic for Bangkok's poor, ailing masses-- backpackers included
Deadly dog bites, STDs and pregnancy scares. One kind-hearted man's clinic near Khao San Road deals with it all, and for free
Learning to be happy
Happiness and stress are inversely correlated, according to the jovial folk at Bangkok's TRIA urban health retreat. We took a crash course in stress reduction and came out smiling


text:
Camera Enforcement
Red Light Cameras
> Montana Legislature Considers Red Light Camera Ban
Montana Legislature Considers Red Light Camera Ban
Montana state lawmaker seeks to outlaw red light cameras.
The Montana state House Transportation Committee yesterday held a hearing on legislation designed to thwart municipal attempts to install red light cameras. The city of Bozeman had hoped to have its automated ticketing machines operational by May, but state Representative Bill Nooney (R-Missoula) wants to cut the program off before it can begin.
"An automated enforcement system designed to detect traffic violations that is attached to a traffic control device may not be used to enforce traffic laws," House Bill 531 states.
The Bozeman City Commission voted 4-1 last October to enter into a multimillion dollar agreement with an Australian firm, Redflex Traffic Systems, to set up cameras at six intersections. Under the deal, Redflex would pay for the right to issue the $135 citations in the city's name. These tickets would go to drivers who make right-hand turns on red, slide through an icy intersection during the winter and who enter an intersection a fraction of a second after the light turns red.
After a number of independent studies began to show that the devices fail to deliver the promised safety benefit, some states moved to ban their use (
view studies
). Mississippi's state House voted nearly unanimously last week to ban photo ticketing. Alaska, Arkansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin banned automated citations either through judicial or legislative action. In other cases, the public has taken matters into its own hands.
, Ohio recently voted to ban speed and red light cameras. Between 1991 and 1997, voters also turned out in Batavia, Illinois; Peoria, Arizona and Anchorage, Alaska to reject photo radar.
House Bill 531
(Montana Legislature, 2/6/2009)
Permanent Link for this item
Return to Front Page
Related News
Illinois Appellate Court Defends Short Yellow Times
Arlington, Texas Voters Dump Cameras And Pro-Camera Mayor
Missouri House To Allow Voters To Decide On Traffic Cams
Texas: Company Pays Outsiders To Campaign For Cameras
Florida Town Sues Red Light Camera Vendor
View Main Topics:
Camera Enforcement
Speed Cameras
Red Light Cameras
Revenue from Cameras
Camera Accuracy
License Plate Readers
Police Enforcement
Random Checkpoints
Speed Limits/Traps
Tickets and Cash
Parking Tickets
Taxes and Tolls
Drunk Driving Laws
Miscellaneous Issues
Bad Policy and Injustice
New Technologies
Privacy Issues
The Revolt
Camera Destruction
Subscribe via RSS or E-Mail
Back To Front Page
Front Page
Get Updates
Site Map
News Archive
: Driving politics

subset: commoncrawl


text:
25th May 2010
Queen discusses Pope's controversial visit in coalition speech 20
2:57 PM — In her speech today, the Queen outlined the Pope's planned religious activities for his state visit in September. His visit will be the first Papal one ever in the UK, that of Pope John Paul II in 1982 being a papal one. Britain's welcoming of the Pope has not gone down well with the LGBT population.
19th February 2010
Government accused of U-turn over faith schools' teaching on homosexuality 62
11:49 AM — The government has been accused of performing a U-turn over an amendment allowing faith schools to teach about homosexuality in line with their "religious character". Some critics it looked like "another Section 28".
12th February 2010
Protestors will tell Pope to 'snog off' 39
5:36 PM — A 'kiss-in' will be held as part of Sunday's Valentine's Day protest against the Pope's visit to the UK. Demonstrators plan to march from London's Westminster Cathedral to the Italian embassy in Grosvenor Square and those willing are being asked to take five minutes to publicly show their love for their partners.
10th February 2010
Valentine's Day protest over Pope's UK visit 10
2:53 PM — A protest against the Pope's visit to the UK is to take place in central London this Sunday. It is being planned by the Central London Humanist Group in partnership with the British Humanist Association, the National Secular Society and gay equality group OutRage! among others.
14th December 2009
Coalition calls on Lords to reject religious exemptions in Equality Bill 12
12:36 PM — A coalition of liberal religious and social justice groups is calling on the House of Lords to reject religious opt-outs from the Equality Bill. The bill is scheduled for its second reading in the Lords tomorrow.


text:
Chiefs draft Arkansas RB Davis in third round
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Arkansas running back Knile Davis with a compensatory pick in the third round Friday night, grabbing a bulldozer to take some of the load off Jamaal Charles.
Davis has a nice blend of size and speed, resulting in comparisons to former Razorbacks star Darren McFadden. But the knock on Davis - and one of the big reasons he fell late into the third round - is that he's dealt with a number of injuries throughout his career.
He's struggled with ankle trouble going back to high school.
The Chiefs drafted offensive tackle Eric Fisher first overall Thursday night, then had to wait until the first pick of the third round before selecting again. They took Cincinnati tight end Travis Kelce with that choice Friday night.
Related Stories
Member Comments
Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.
NFL Headlines
NFL Insiders: Dolphins name Dennis Hickey new general manager
Carroll: Seahawks CB Richard Sherman sorry about postgame rant
Browns to interview Bills' Pettine with Broncos' Gase out of running
NFL talking to 49ers about sideline hit vs Seahawks in NFC title game
Falcons hire former Chiefs GM Pioli as assistant general manager


text:
Oops. Memory slip. I meant Brian Anderson!
Oops. Memory slip. I meant Brian Anderson!
Josh Fields have a place to play in the 'nati?
Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13
University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98
Anderson and Patterson in the same lineup.
"But I do know Joey's sister indirectly (or foster sister) and I have heard stories of Joey being into shopping, designer wear, fancy coffees, and pedicures."
I miss Adam Dunn.
I knew they would come out of the woodwork. I sometimes think Gallagher just changes screen names and still lives on this board. Oh well.
I hope he accepts, but a little bit of me will go with him to the Sox. It was always my dream that he would play for the Reds and though it was not as much as I wanted, it still was a pleasure to watch him for 8 years and I'll miss him.
Now, much of RedsZone will have to find another whipping boy to call the worst defensive outfielder in MLB. That should be fun. I look forward to the discussion.
Something inside me says he will not OK this deal, but I hope he does. He deserves to play on a winner--something he didn't do for 8 years.
"You only have to bat a thousand in two things; flying and heart transplants. Everything else you can go 4-for-5."
-Beano Cook
The Louisville Bats are playing the ChiSox AAA team today, fwiw. I plan on attending the game so Junior discussion should bbe prevelant.
"Since I've been with the Reds in 1989, we've never had a farm system this loaded," Bowden said. "If we were the New York Yankees and had unlimited dollars, we could have traded for Colon, (Jeff) Weaver, Rolen, (Cliff) Floyd, (Kenny) Rogers and Finley and gotten them all -- and still held onto our top five prospects. That's an amazing statement."
Some of these contracts end up with multiple teams paying the tab. I think the Rockies and the Marlins are still covering some portion of Mike Hampton's deal. I won't go into it here, but you can see the breakdown (no pun intended) at Cot's (http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/200...braves_15.html).
In the same way that a baseball season never really begins, it never really ends either. - Lonnie Wheeler, "Bleachers, A Summer in Wrigley Field"
The Baseball Emporium - Books & Things, that's Rallyonion.com
The Baseball Bookstore
Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13
University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.


text:
May 26, 2015
With temperatures cooling down, many people are turning up the heat. There are some safety measures you need to consider when firing up your furnace for the first time.
When you first turn on the heat, you could be risking your safety if you don't first check your furnace.
"Some of the insulation, tape given way could be a fire hazard," said William Barlow with Abner's Heating and Air.
Service technicians with Abner's Heating and Air are checking Sherwin Rader's heater.
"Sounded like I had some build-up in the chimney, so I'm glad I called him," Rader said.
They're checking the furnace's pilot light for color.
"Make sure it's a nice blue flame. If you have a yellow flame, or soot, you have a problem," Barlow said.
But Barlow says the biggest potential problem is a silent danger.
"You can't smell carbon monoxide, but it is deadly," he said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns as you turn up the heat, the risk for carbon monoxide poisoning goes up. They recommend you get a detector. It's about 20 dollars at your local store and works like a smoke detector.
Experts say the best advice is to have your furnace checked once a year by a qualified service technician.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


text:
Hal Leonard Iron Maiden Bass Anthology (Tab Songbook)
Sku #620019000000000
Hal Leonard
Anthologies & Collections Bass Tablature
- Write a Review
- Seen a Lower Price? Click Here.
45 day price guarantee, 45 day return policy, 100% secure shopping
Hal Leonard Iron Maiden Bass Anthology (Tab Songbook)
A must-have for any rock bassist.
The Iron Maiden Bass Anthology is a tab songbook from Hal Leonard that contains note-for-note bass transcriptions for 20 classic songs as played by Steve Harris.
- Includes lyrics and tab for:
- Aces High
- Blood Brothers
- Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
- Can I Play With Madness
- The Clansman
- Evil That Men Do
- Fear Of The Dark
- For The Greater Good Of God
- Innocent Exile
- Iron Maiden
- Killers
- No More Lies
- No Prayer For The Dying
- The Number Of The Beast
- The Phantom Of The Opera
- Run To The Hills
- Running Free
- The Trooper
- Wicker Man
- Wrathchild
Call or click to order this book of Iron Maiden bass tabs today!
Iron Maiden Bass Anthology (Tab Songbook) Specifications:
- Width: 9"
- Length: 12"
- 200 pages
review resources /productDetail/reviews/productReviews.jsp 1
write a review
Also consider


text:
- News
- Premium
- Lifestyle
- Tech
- Communities
- Video
- Multimedia
- More
Ex-Chelsea star Drogba joins Galatasaray: Turkish report
Published on Jan 28, 2013 6:05 AM
ANKARA (REUTERS) - Ivory Coast captain and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has left Shanghai Shenhua to sign a 1-1/2 year contract with Galatasaray, Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk said on Sunday.
The channel did not give any more information and Galatasaray could not be reached for immediate comment.
The 34-year-old, who is on African Nations Cup duty with his country, moved to China after helping Chelsea win the Champions League last May.
Drogba signed a 2-1/2 year deal with Shenhua in June that was, according to media reports, worth around US$300,000 (S$370,800) a week.
To continue reading, log in if you are a subscriber
Enjoy 2 weeks of unlimited digital access to The Straits Times. Get your free access now!


text:
Dear Ted:
How lovely of a person is Daniel Radcliffe for his support of the LGBT community at this very heartbreaking time? It gives hope that there still good role models out there who believe in fairness and equality, even if we're surrounded by the ignorant 50 Cent's of the world. If more people were open-minded and respectful, the world would be a much better place.
Dear Wizard Wonder:
What's especially amazing is that Dan has been a long-time supporter of the community and hasn't let that status waver despite people inevitably questioning his own sexuality (though the curiosity is moot at this point). See, you can be a gay-rights activist and confident with your sexuality at the same time. Crazy, huh?
Dear Ted:
Wish I could get Cass Stimulata's nasty story off my mind...but it's so gross that I just have to know more. Is Cass's husband/boyfriend also famous? Does he know the real reason she isn't getting pregnant?
Dear Poopfully Concerned:
Yes, Cass' significant other is considered famous. And I'd be surprised if he knew everything there is to know about her past ways.
Dear Ted:
Your words were very eloquent regarding the tragedies happening with gay teens. It's heartbreaking. It has me wondering what Butter Pussy has been up to. Still considering coming out of the closet? It seems like an appropriate time for a megacelebrity to make such an announcement.
—Lisa Marie
Dear Buttered Up:
Wish she would, but the courage B.P. had back in the day has wavered since then. Isn't that always the case? Huge shame.
Dear Ted:
Your comment section is definitely an interesting slice of fanatic followers. They love you. They hate you. They love Robert Pattinson. They hate blond women who hang out with Rob. The most interesting thing to me is how the fans dissect Rob and Kristen Stewart's relationship. If there's a PDA, it must be for show. But if there's no touching, it's because they split up. The couple is obviously cool as hell, but do you see them taking some extended time off from movie making to just be a "normal" couple?
Dear Robsten Redux:
Thing is, babe, I've been saying it all along: They're not a normal couple. Far from it, actually. First there's the fact that they're some of the biggest superstars in the world right now. As for putting a pause on their careers to focus on the relaysh, don't count on that. They're both très career focused, which is part of the reason they work so well together.
Dear Ted:
So what has Strawberry Snort 'Em been up to lately? Anything of interest?
—Rescue Pup Owner
Dear Berry Blunders:
She's been keeping her nose clean—extra, super squeaky clean. Relatively speaking, that is.
Dear Ted:
I don't get it. Joe Jonas and Ashley Greene went from being PR to a proper couple in your column in just under a week. So which is it? Are they genuinely as happy to be together as they seem, or is this just Joe and Demi Lovato all over again?
Dear Going Gronas:
Sure, they're happy to be together—why not?—but that doesn't mean I believe they're jumping each other's bones every chance they get. Ya know, especially when the paparazzi aren't there.
Dear Ted:
Considering his rapid rise to fame in the past two years, you don't talk about Alexander Skarsgård all that much. Any new gossip on the sexy Swede? Has he dumped Kate Bosworth yet?
Dear Alexander the Great:
Trust, doll, I talk about A.Skars every chance I can get, but that's the problem. The dude—as much as you may think otherwise—does actually prefer laying low. Almost makes me cry, 'cause I know what kind of naughty potential he has.
Dear Ted:
You recently said that most of your Blind Vicers were A-listers, with the occasional B-lister. Whereabouts on the scale would you place naughty old Moisty Mohr, and would you say that many of your B.V.s are less famous than him?
Dear Makin' A List:
If Mr. Mohr has thrown you off your Vice game, trust, he was a pretty big exception in the grand scheme of the Blind Vice archive. Moisty was on the way lesser-talked-about spectrum of the monikered celebs, but the dish was so juicy I just had to spill.
Dear Ted:
I'm like 10 years late, but is there any juicy information about what went on behind the scenes on Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Dear Vamps of Yesteryear:
Sarah Michelle Gellar? Vice. David Boreanaz? Vice. Just those two alone stirred up some juicy goss between takes. And that's only two members of a pretty large cast.
Dear Ted:
In light of your latest chapter on Toothy, I think I am now almost as confused about what Toothy is up to as Toothy is of his own sexuality! If Tooth is choosing to secretly hook up with chicks away from prying eyes, I struggle to understand how this will bolster the faux public hetero image pushed by his handlers. What makes you so certain that this is "fake babe-nailing" and that T2 does not genuinely have the hots for both boys and girls à la Nevis Divine? And I guess your comment on Grey Goose being "over it" means that sadly, the love story between T.T. and G.G. is on the outs. So who gets Baby Tile?
Dear Tile-Phile:
Whew! So many queries, hon-pie. In order you mentioned: You are not alone. It won't. Because I know. Not yet. TBD.
Dear Ted:
Regarding your remark to Sophia Bush about getting naked for PETA. I hereby start an online petition to have you, Ted Casablanca, drop trou. It's for the animals.
Dear Petitioner:
Two things, sweetheart: First, thank you. Second, you'd better start this campaign before I stop smoking, 'cause, once I do, no Reese's Peanut Butter Cup will be safe.


text:
Is your resume in need of a little disruption?
Startups are all about
making things work better.
Our resume writing service is all about doing that for your CV.
StartUpHire is the place to find Engineering jobs in and near Los Gatos. Review the list below of Engineering Los Gatos jobs. These Engineering jobs represent some of the most rewarding careers available. You can refine your job search for Engineering jobs in Los Gatos by adding a job title, company name, or keyword to the search box above … or click the "Advanced Search" link for more options. Don't see the employment opportunity you're looking for? Check back soon for more Engineering jobs in Los Gatos, or sign up for an email alert (link in upper left) to receive periodic updates on new Engineering jobs in Los Gatos, .
Recommind has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the Bay Area. We have just been praised as one of the ?World?s Ten Most Innovative Companies in Big Data? by Fast Company and awarded a position in the ?Leaders? Quadrant of Gartner?s 2013 report, ?Magic4/21/2015 San Francisco, CA Save This Job
Descriptions Mechanical Design Engineering on Products and Processes for Integrated Optical modules. Job Duties and Responsibilities Responsible for designing mechanical parts/modules, designing and implementing new tooling/fixtures for manufacturing and monitoring the product4/21/2015 Sunnyvale, CA Save This Job
Livescribe is a privately held, venture-funded, consumer-electronics company that is blazing new trails in the area of digital speech and handwriting and is changing the way people write, learn, and communicate. Livescribe products enable consumers to capture handwriting and4/21/2015 Oakland, CA Save This Job
We are transforming the cloud computing industry and you will be helping us lead the charge. As an account executive at Mirantis you will develop and execute a strategic and comprehensive business plan for your territory, including identifying core customers, mapping the4/21/2015 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
Mirantis invites inquisitive engineers to help us provide the best OpenStack experience to our customers. This position is within the Mirantis product engineering organization and we?re searching for disciplined, inquisitive minds to play a vital role in the intersection of IT4/21/2015 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
Descriptions An Optical Networking Engineer will be a key part of the team for creating the most advanced optical networking solution for future compute-com networks. The responsibilities will include low-level (layer 0 to layer 2) network design & testing, platform management4/21/2015 Sunnyvale, CA Save This Job
You are rock-star Partner Marketing Manager strong technical understanding of the data center technologies in the server, storage, and networking areas as well as in cloud management platforms and in Linux operating systems. You can roll up your sleeves to install and configure4/21/2015 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
Req No. REQ108356 Location US-CA-San Francisco Category Data/Analytics Job Description: Manager, Innovation & Integration Services Job Description: This person will be responsible for influencing how ServiceSource find new and innovative ways to drive efficiency,4/21/2015 San Francisco, CA Save This Job
We?re disrupting IT infrastructure and rewriting the rules of cloud for enterprises, developers, and service providers, and we want your help. As a Technical Marketing leader for Mirantis OpenStack, you?ll be the primary product-technology resource to drive our technical value4/21/2015 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
Mirantis is the leading global provider of Software and Services for OpenStack ?, a massively scalable and feature-rich Open Source Cloud Operating System. OpenStack is used by hundreds of companies, including AT&T, Cisco, HP, NASA, Dell, PayPal and many more. Mirantis has4/21/2015 Mountain View, CA Save This Job
There are only a few times in your career when you come face-to-face with the future! This is one of those moments. Working at Apigee is like taking a ride in the Back to the Future time machine and not only seeing what our new digital world will look like in few years but4/20/2015 San Jose, CA Save This Job
SoundHound is leading the mobile sound search revolution. Join us. SoundHound delights millions of users every day with its famously fast music and voice recognition apps, and is winning awards and praise along the way. Our flagship app for iPhone and Android recently won the4/20/2015 Santa Clara, CA Save This Job
Responsibilities: Present and demonstrate TelTel technologies and solutions to resellers and customers, both on-site or through online tools. Assist sales in answering pre-sales questions, defining SOW, and compiling customer requirements. Assist in post-sales4/20/2015 Santa Clara, CA Save This Job
We are Apigee. We are from the Future. We are looking for you. Are you ready to become an instrumental part of the new digital economy where apps, data and APIs are becoming the very fabric of business? Is innovation in your DNA? Do you believe in technology?s ability to change4/20/2015 San Jose, CA Save This Job
Nominum has been building the backbone of the Internet for more than a decade. Nominum software is used by dozens of Internet service providers around the world, reaching more than 500 million subscribers each day, and that number is growing all the time. We?re in the process of4/20/2015 Redwood City, CA Save This Job
SoundHound is creating and productizing transformative technologies that improve life. Join us. After amassing a global user community well over 200 million strong, a large portfolio of core technologies and award winning products?we?re just getting started. At SoundHound we4/20/2015 Santa Clara, CA Save This Job
Metamarkets is looking for an outstanding Automation Engineer to work on automating our build and test processes. The ideal candidate is someone with a keen interest and experience with Continuous Delivery for SaaS applications. We're looking to build automation infrastructure4/20/2015 San Francisco, CA Save This Job
SoundHound is leading the mobile sound search revolution. Join us. SoundHound delights millions of users every day with its famously fast music and voice recognition apps, and is winning awards and praise along the way. Our flagship app for iPhone and Android recently4/20/2015 Santa Clara, CA Save This Job
SUMMARY: Reporting to the VP Solutions Delivery and Support, the Senior Technical Trainer will be an individual contributor based in Redwood City responsible for developing and delivering technical product education courses to Nominum?s global customers, employees, and partners.4/20/2015 Redwood City, CA Save This Job
CircleUp is an online marketplace for private investing. Our mission is to help entrepreneurs thrive by giving them the resources and capital they need. We also provide investors access to a highly-curated set of investment opportunities and help those investors connect with the4/19/2015 San Francisco, CA Save This Job


text:
The Basics of Bariatric Surgery (Continued)
Laparoscopic Weight Loss Surgery
In laparoscopy, the surgeon makes one or more small incisions through which slender surgical instruments are passed. This technique eliminates the need for a large incision and creates less tissue damage. Patients who are super-obese (more than 350 pounds) or have had previous abdominal operations may not be good candidates for laparoscopy, however. Adjustable gastric banding is routinely performed via laparoscopy.
This technique is often used for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and although less common, biliopancreatic diversion can also be performed laparoscopically. The small incisions result in less blood loss, shorter hospitalization, a faster recovery, and fewer complications than open operations. However, combined laparoscopic procedures are more difficult to perform than open procedures and can create serious problems if done incorrectly.
Excerpted and adapted from the Weight Control Information Network.
Reviewed by Paige Reddan, MS., RD., LN., CDE. 4/14
You are subscribed!
You are subscribed!
You are subscribed!
Recipe Shuffle
Half-Wheat Biscuits Banana and Berry Rice Pudding Vanilla-Raspberry Treat Tangy Shrimp Appetizer Skewers Ambrosial Oranges Baked Shrimp Seafood in a Tomato Stew Mojo Chicken Ham with Curried Apples Cactus Salad
Because I apparently have a lot of free time on my hands and because I'm remarkably immature, I offer my first installment of a series I will call, "Typo." If you're like me, you might be lazy. You might have a pile of clean clothes on the side of your bed the size of an igloo that you promised your wife you'd put away weeks ago. You might also shorten words because one-syllable words are way easier to say than two. I often refer to Dexcom as Dex....


text:
Thanks for redeeming.{{else}}
Success! Thanks for repurchasing.{{/if}} {{else}} {{#if Expired}}
Increase my visibility!{{else}} {{#if IsMultiPack}}
{{#if HasMultiPack}} You have {{MultiPackCount}} top spot(s) left. Now loading you into the search listings... {{else}} You have used all top spots. Now loading you into the search listings... {{/if}}{{else}}
We are loading you into the search listing pages...{{/if}} {{/if}} {{/if}} {{/if}}
{{Current}} just saw you!{{/if}} {{#if LastTopSpotPurchaseIsMulti }} {{#if HasAnyTopSpot}}
{{#if HasFreeTopSpot }} {{ UnclaimedTopSpotFree }} Free {{/if}} {{#if HasPaidTopSpot }} {{#if HasFreeTopSpot }} & {{/if}} {{ MultiPackCount }} {{/if}} Top Spot{{#if Plural}}s{{/if}} Left{{else}}
0 Top Spot{{#if Plural}}s{{/if}} Left{{/if}} {{else}} {{#if HasFreeTopSpot }}
{{ UnclaimedTopSpotFree }} Top Spot{{#if Plural}}s{{/if}} Left{{/if}} {{/if}} {{else}} {{#if HasResults}}
{{Current}} see you now!{{else}} {{/if}} {{/if}}
You can now invite anyone to meet at your favorite Starbucks.
Limited-time feature
37 year old man | Tampa, FL, USA | Seeking women 26-35 within 25 miles
Active within 24 hours
Hi, I'm Joe. Sorry, ladies, I will not just...
Hi, I'm Joe. Sorry, ladies, I will not just hook up with you! Stop asking!! I'm an outgoing and athletic guy that my friends would say is fun and witty; someone who is loyal, genuine, generous, honest, and down-to-earth. I'm active and love to exercise. I'm motivated and successful but think we should always strive to keep improving. I'm confident but not cocky; there's a huge difference. I enjoy the simple things in life the most, especially brunch! I love to run. I do marathons and triathlons (just did an Ironman in Kentucky). And yoga. Spending time with my friends, family, and dog is my favorite thing to do, especially if I can cook for them. For me, being happy is all about surrounding yourself with the right people. Travelling, esp using my passport, is important to me as well. It lets you see how big the world is, how small you are in it, and allows me to practice my amateur skills of photography. A few random facts: In a prior life, I was a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska (just like on those Discovery channel shows). When I buy my own boat, it will be called...Spanish Pantalones. I climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; Africa's highest mountain; I've run with the bulls in Pamplona. Watermelon is my favorite food. I could easily eat an entire one at once. I can neither confirm or deny if that has ever happened. I am one of the 4 members of the mariachi band Patatas Bravas. We have never performed or practiced. Some actually claim we don't even exist. No one truly knows... I actually enjoy reading books on theoretical physics. I do carpentry and make some pretty beautiful furniture, if I do say so myself. I think the best relationships are those where you make each other better people. When an issue arises, the golden rule should be applied. Neither person should feel entitled or take the other for granted; mutual respect is the name of the game. I dislike drama. I don't like to play games. I think open communication is essential. I'd like to find a woman that is smart, considerate, and loves to have fun and laugh. I think life is nicer when you have a true friend as a partner to share it. I'm an active guy that likes to exercise, eat healthy (mostly. You gotta live a little. Sometimes... a lot), and take care of myself, so having that in common would be ideal. I like to go out, but more so to low-key spots where you don't have to fight huge crowds for a drink or scream to talk. Like everyone, I think it is sometimes nicer to just relax at home, drink some wine, watch movies, and hang out. A favorite quote that pretty much sums up how I try to live my life: "I would rather be ashes than dust! -Jack London
Coffee and conversation , Cooking , Dining out , Movies/Videos , Museums and art , Music and concerts , Exploring new areas , Nightclubs/Dancing , Performing arts , Playing sports , Religion/Spiritual , Shopping/Antiques , Travel/Sightseeing , Volunteering , Watching sports , Wine tasting
Cycling, Dancing, Football, Other types of exercise, Running, Swimming, Walking / Hiking, Weights / Machines, Yoga
I exercise 5 or more times per week.
I like Dogs
I have a 2 year old min-pin named Zipper.
Really anywhere as long as with good company. London, Italy, France, Spain, NYC, San Fran, New Orleans, Alaska, the beach.
Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Nature shows(esp by David Attenborough) Radiohead, Coldplay, The Killers, VW, Passion Pit. Daily Show, Scrubs, Sunny in Philly, Tosh.O, Arrested Development, FOTC. Sushi, thai, mexican, chocolate, watermelon, fresh produce
Host dinner parties, run, travel, hang out with friends, go out to eat/socialize, carpentry, BBQ. I think anything, even doing nothing, is fun with the right people.
Crime and Punishment. Hyperbole and a Half.
Z{{Cta}} {{#if HasMoreInfo}} ?{{CtaSecondary}} {{/if}}
|What he is looking for
|5'10" (177cms)
|5'1" (154cms) to 6'0" (182cms)
|Body type:
|Athletic and toned
|Slender, About average, Athletic and toned
|No preference
|Light brown
|No preference
|No Way
|No Way
|Social Drinker
|Never, Social Drinker, Moderately
|Medical / Dental / Veterinary / Fitness
|No preference
Interventional Radiologist (a minimally invasive surgeon).
|I'll tell you later
|No preference
|Never Married
|Never Married
|Have kids:
|Wants kids:
|Definitely, Someday
|White / Caucasian
|Asian, Latino / Hispanic, White / Caucasian
I'm half-Cuban, but you'd probably never guess that.
|Christian / Catholic
|No preference
As long as you're a good person, that's what matters.
|English, Spanish
|Graduate degree
|Bachelors degree
English literature major. Medical school. Both at Georgetown University. Then radiology residency with a subspecialty in interventional radiology.


text:
In a distributed computer network where a gateway device is provided having multiple switched communications ports, a mechanism for allocating access to the switched ports between outgoing and incoming calls is provided. A remote procedure call facility in the distributed system is modified with an interface mechanism having a pool of virtual handles or software images of physical ports. On receiving a remote procedure call for a switched communications, one of the virtual handles is returned. It is only when a physical switched communications link is actually necessary, as indicated by the return of the virtual handle to the gateway device, that a port is located and the remote procedure call bound to it for attempting a call. If no port is available at that time, an error code is returned. Otherwise, a return code is generated that is consistent with the result of the call attempt. As the number of virtual handles can far exceed the actual number of ports, many clients to the gateway device can be satisfied concurrently, despite the occupation of all of the ports.
1. In a shared media network system comprising a plurality of workstations, a gateway station having switched ports for communications between the workstations and an external network, and a shared transmission media for communications between the workstations and the gateway station, a method of allocating ports at the gateway station to the workstations for communication to the external network in response to requests from the workstations requesting access to a switched port, comprising the steps of
assigning a virtual handle at the gateway to a request from a first workstation for allocation to the first workstation of a port having prescribed attributes and saving the attributes of the requested port at the gateway station in association with the virtual handle,
transmitting the virtual handle to the first workstation, in response to a subsequent port connection request from the first workstation that contains the virtual handle, locating an idle one of the ports, programming the located port with the attributes associated with the virtual handle, establishing a connection between the first workstations and the idle one of the ports and
transmitting a return code to the first workstation indicating successful establishment of the connection.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of locating an idle port further comprises
determining if the idle port is allocated to a second workstation,
if the idle port is allocated to a second workstation, saving the virtual handle assigned to the second workstation for the port and preempting the allocation to the second workstation by programming the idle port with the attributes associated with the first workstation, and
reprogramming the port with the attributes associated with the second workstation on completion of the connection associated with the first workstation.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the request from workstations to the gateway station are performed by remote procedure calls from the workstations to the gateway station, wherein a remote procedure call includes a local client procedure at a workstation operating on behalf of other local procedures to issue requests for service to agent procedures at the gateway station in a fashion transparent to the local procedures.
4. For use in a shared media network system comprising a plurality of workstations, a gateway station having switched ports for communications between the workstations and an external network, and a shared transmission media for communications between the workstations and the gateway station, apparatus for allocating ports at the gateway station to the workstations for communication to the external network responsive to requests from the workstations requesting access to a switched port, comprising
means for assigning a virtual handle at the gateway to a request from a first workstation for allocation of a port having prescribed attributes to the first workstation,
means for transmitting the virtual handle to the first workstation, means for saving the attributes of the requested port at the gateway station in association with the virtual handle,
means for locating an idle one of the ports responsive to a port connection request from the first workstation containing the virtual handle,
means for programming the located port with the attributes associated with the virtual handle, means for establishing a connection between the first workstation and the idle one of the ports, and
means for transmitting a return code to the first workstation indicating successful establishment of the connection.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the means for locating an idle port further comprises
means for determining if the idle port is allocated to a second workstation,
saving responsive to the determining means for preempting the allocation of the idle port to the second workstation,
means activated after the preemption of the second workstation for programming the idle port with the attributes associated with the first workstation, and
means for reallocating the port to the second workstation on completion of the connection associated with the first workstation.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein
a workstation further comprises a client procedure for issuing requests to the gateway station as remote procedure calls.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein the gateway station further comprises a server procedure for receiving and processing requests issued from the workstations as remote procedure calls.
8. A gateway station for use in a distributed network system, wherein the network system comprises a plurality of workstations and the gateway station further comprises at least one input port for communicating with the workstations and a plurality of switched ports for communications with external networks, said gateway station comprising apparatus for allocating the ports to workstations responsive to requests from the workstations, said apparatus comprising
means for transmitting a virtual handle from the gateway station to a first workstation responsive to a request from the first workstation for allocation of a port having prescribed attributes,
means for saving the attributes of the requested port specified by the first workstation at the gateway station in association with the virtual handle,
means for locating an idle one of the ports responsive to a port connection request from the first workstation containing the virtual handle,
means for programming the located port with the attributes associated with the virtual handle, and
means for transmitting a return code to the first workstation indicating successful establishment of the connection.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for locating an idle port further comprises
means for determining if the idle port is allocated to a second workstation,
means responsive to the determining means for preempting the allocation of the idle port to the second workstation,
means activated by the preempting means for programming the idle port with the attributes associated with the first workstation, and
means for reallocating the port to the second workstation on completion of the connection associated with the first workstation.
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/130,598 filed Oct. 1, 1993, now abandoned.
The contents of co-pending application Ser. No. 08/131,059, entitled HIGH PERFORMANCE MACHINE FOR SWITCHED COMMUNICATIONS IN A HETEROGENEOUS DATA PROCESSING NETWORK GATEWAY, are hereby incorporated by reference as non-essential material.
This invention relates to the distributed system environment, and provides, in particular, a method and an interface mechanism for allocating switched communications links from a distributed system, such as a local area network (LAN) through a gateway device to a switched network such as a switched wide area network (WAN).
A distributed system is, broadly speaking, an aggregate of individual systems that are connected via electronic communications. The separation of components inherent in a distributed system provides advantages over a tightly integrated system approach in allowing the truly parallel execution of programs, the containment of faults without system disruption, and the use of isolation and interlocks as security enforcement measures.
A LAN is a type of distributed system that loosely couples remote processors and workstations. Generally, workstations on a LAN do not share a central memory, but do share common servers such as one or more file servers, print servers, etc. High-speed LANs, in particular, effectively increase the power and flexibility of workstations (computers designed for one or more single users with sufficient processing power and memory to run users' application programs) by enabling them to have access to shared data and resources located in their own and other server computers.
The LAN system that has been in the widest use in recent years is produced by Novell, Inc. of Provo, Utah, and is marketed under the trademark Novell. In a Novell system, a LAN device driver is implemented on top of the local operating systems to be coupled, and device driver commands (and responses) at the LAN workstations are directed from (and to) the workstations onto the LAN to (and from) the target servers.
As the users of personal computers and workstations, as well as minicomputers, mainframes and supercomputers, try to take better advantage of their combined resources, LANs are being grown with disparate (i.e., heterogeneous) systems made up of the variety of hardware, software and applications already installed.
However, network access and connectivity alone are not sufficient to perform useful work between disparate systems on a LAN. These components must have a common understanding of the particular type of work or application to interoperate. They must also utilise the same procedures to implement that type of work. One level of interoperability is to establish terminal emulation to access applications on other systems. Another option is to use a batch file transfer mechanism to transfer data to another machine, where a program will parse the data and perform work on it according to a pre-established protocol. Both of these mechanism require system specific software that is not portable without modification, for connecting other types of hardware and/or operating systems.
One goal of developments in distributed systems is to develop means for providing interoperability that is more universal (portable to a larger number of computers and/or operating system types), while maintaining transparency (concealment of separation) to the user (whether that user is a machine or application). Ideally, the user should not be aware of accessing resources on remote servers in a LAN, but should perceive the system as a whole rather than as a collection of individual components.
In a homogeneous distributed system, such as the Novell Netware1 LAN, each separate computer has the same operating system and identical software hierarchy. This is referred to as the Netware Asynchronous Service Interface (NASI). The LAN device driver contains facilities for communications between processes in separate computers. The target Novell server runs the Netware Asynchronous Communications Server (NACS).
The Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) of the Open Software Foundation (OSF2) is a very recent emerging technology enabling distributed computer among heterogeneous systems. When implemented on each of the disparate systems, DCE allows transparent interoperation between computers on the LAN through a mechanism called the remote procedure call (RPC) that extends to the distributed environment the concept of a local procedure call, a well understood communications mechanism for constructing a program using subroutines (also called subprograms or procedures) within an operating system. The RPC mechanism is implemented in DCE in conjunction with a multi-threading capability similar to that described in the IEEE POSIX 1003.4a draft standard3. This combination permits RPC concurrency in the OSF DCE environment.
Normally, in the absence of an RPC mechanism, there is a unique interface between the calling program and a specific subroutine, and the local procedure call invokes all necessary logic for operability. When the subroutine resides on a different machine than the calling program, communications logic (i.e., the location of the subroutine, data conversions, etc.) is required for the call and must be hard-coded into the calling and/or called programs.
In OSF's DCE, the RPC itself automatically invokes the communications services for the programmer, and all, or optionally almost all, communications code, error handling and data conversion are handled transparently, thereby removing concern for the communications mechanisms from the programs that use remote procedures.
In the DCE system, for each subroutine call, the RPC mechanism can automatically invoke a directory that provides naming and other support protocols for every resource in the network. Thus, application programs can make use of distributed services by issuing calls to remote procedures by name, without knowing their location(s). This provides location transparency, as the distributed system is completely configurable in terms of the location of its components. As described above, the RPC mechanism also permits heterogeneity in the DCE environment.
The increasing proliferation of remote electronic information exchange has made access to remote servers such as processors and databases a necessity. This access is often facilitated through circuit-switched communications links over wide area networks (WANs).
A useful description of a typical switched area network of this type is that described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,896,319, 4,897,874 and 4,958,341, all to AT&T, that relate to a "metropolitan area network" (MAN). The switches described in these patents are similar to those typically used for WANs, although the protocols for the type of system specified appears to be directed to the secure transmission of data.
As described in my concurrently filed application titled HIGH PERFORMANCE MACHINE FOR SWITCHED COMMUNICATIONS IN A HETEROGENEOUS DATA PROCESSING NETWORK GATEWAY (U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,625), the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, the typical mechanism used for instituting access to or from a remote machine across a WAN from (or to) a workstation on a LAN is through a switched communications link at a LAN gateway server. A device driver for the gateway is provided with physical ports (or modems) that can be linked to switched communications WANs.
Existing gateway mechanisms, such as Novell's NACS and NASI, are generally implemented on top of the LAN device driver as a switched communications device interface and a LAN redirection facility on the workstation programming interface, and a corresponding LAN redirection facility and switched communications device interface implemented at the gateway, providing for both the transmission and receipt of switched communications links through the gateway modems. Redirections are also used for communicating serial port and modem commands between the gateway and other machines on the LAN.
In such systems, the user's initialization of the communications link-up procedure redirects the user hardware commands to the gateway. The communications interface in the gateway driver then institutes and maintains the switched communications link, diverting hardware resources of the driver to do so. An exclusive device driver access mode would typically be used in accessing the remote ports. The connection and access procedures are then executed using the gateway ports and modems in order to link the user's system with the switched communications network. A remote connection is established through the WAN. This sets up a point-to-point configuration through the port along the communication line between the user computer and server computer, monopolizing the switched communications device in use.
The device driver interface is hardware-oriented, and imposes the restriction that the device drivers in the workstations and LANs support compatible LAN redirection facilities. These are generally not available in a heterogeneous system, with the result that most current LAN systems require that the computer and/or operating system at the workstations and the gateway be homogenous.
Also, the LAN workstations are effectively in full control of the switched hardware ports at the gateway. This virtually eliminates the possibility of implementing any flexible automatic and transparent support for regulated network attachments in the centralized gateway.
One area impacted is the regulation and certification required for attachment to particular WANs or switched networks. Examples of such regulation include various software timeout and frequency limit requirements for call activities, as well as hardware management schemes. Presently, the workstation software applications should be separately updated according to the periodically-issued CCITT recommendations and separately certified.
In addition, the workstation software applications must be aware of the types of modems attached to the gateway WAN ports, and should replicate specific software support to take advantage of distinct features for these various devices. Because these protocols cannot be implemented at the central gateway, manual configuration steps in the attachment process across all of the workstations are often required.
In order to emulate heterogeneity in systems without RPCs, translation mechanisms are also required to support incompatible data representations (e.g., big and little endian formats) and character sets (e.g., ASCII and various EBCDIC code pages) between the LAN workstations, the gateway and/or the modems. For example, character set support in the Novell-based LAN gateway is restricted to ASCII, and the word widths of the device driver interfaces are fixed.
While the current approach of redirecting the LAN device driver facilitates relatively fast single-message transfers across the LAN, this direct access also results in monopolization of these driver resources for effecting and maintaining a switched communications link for certain users while denying access to others.
Further, currently implemented LAN systems (such as the NACS Novell system) partition the available ports into one pool dedicated to incoming calls and a second pool dedicated to outgoing calls; that is, switched ports used to wait for incoming calls are separate from those used for outgoing calls.
Where one pool of ports is completely occupied, subsequent calls to the pool of assigned ports are simply rejected by typical device drivers. This partitioning of ports between incoming and outgoing calls in the LAN can result in the situation where LAN clients wanting to implement outgoing calls are refused connection, despite the idleness of some ports in the incoming pool. Similarly, call attempts that are received from the switched network have a more limited chance of actually being connected in the NACS system because only a subset of ports have been allocated for receiving incoming calls.
Monopolization of the communications hardware in the LAN device driver and gateway ports can lead to inconvenience for LAN users or, alternatively, higher overall system costs for additional ports in order to provide the desired level or port availability.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a centralized server scheme to manage remote shared resources and to dispense with the constraints caused by the immediate and exclusive binding of the hardware resources for effecting switched communications to and from applications in distributed systems discussed above.
It is a further object of this invention to implement a gateway machine that would be useful in transparently and centrally enforcing regulation support for the LAN workstations for accessing WANs and other switched networks.
Accordingly, the present invention provides, in a distributed computer network having a gateway device with multiple switched communications ports and a remote procedure call facility, a mechanism for allocating communications links through the ports, comprising an interface mechanism for receiving remote procedure calls and returning a simulated message of a port before attempting to locate an available port.
The invention further provides a control mechanism for allocating hardware resources in a distributed system for implementing switched communications links between multiple users in the distributed system and remote servers in at least one external network, the distributed system including a gateway server having multiple switched communications ports, a device driver for directing communications across the distributed system and a facility for implementing remote procedure call communications in the distributed system. The control mechanism includes a pool of simulated return codes compatible with a remote procedure call request for a switched communication, means for issuing one of the simulated return codes in response to a remote procedure call to the gateway, first monitoring means for determining the availability of ports, second monitoring means for determining the necessity of physical port connection to the remote procedure call, and means for attempting port connection and returning a physical code.
The present invention is also directed to a method for allocating switched communications ports between multiple remote procedure calls in a distributed system gateway device, having the computer generated steps of generating code to return a virtual image of a hypothetical port in response to a new remote procedure call received at the gateway device, determining port availability for binding the new remote procedure call to a port, and generating a physical return code on determining port availability.
The method also preferably includes the step of returning to the gateway the code generated to return a virtual image for triggering a need for binding the remote procedure call to a port.
Preferably, the step of establishing port availability includes locating an idle port, opening the idle port, programming said idle port with a profile for the new remote procedure call, and attempting a switched communications call.
In the preferred method, the step of establishing port availability includes locating a sharable port, suspending a previous remote procedure call bound to the sharable port, and programming the sharable port with a profile for the new remote procedure call.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a LAN network supporting a homogeneous computing environment of the prior art.
FIG. 2 is a schematic overview diagram illustrating the functional layers in an interface for implementing RPCs in a LAN.
FIG. 3 is a schematic depiction of the target heterogeneous distributed environment and a switched communications network for a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a gateway server implemented through remote procedure calls (RPCs) and virtual handles, according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the process for accessing a multiplexed switched communications port at a LAN gateway through virtual handles, according to the invention.
FIG. 6 is a Markov-type state diagram illustrating port capacity according to the prior art.
FIG. 7 is a Markov-type state diagram, similar to FIG. 5, illustrating port capacity according to the present invention.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are flow diagrams illustrating the procedures used for emulating outgoing and incoming switched calls in an experimental set-up of a machine utilising concurrent RPCs and virtual handles for a LAN gateway, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1 illustrates a LAN, generally designated by 1, for a homogeneous computing environment, of the type of the Novell implementation described above.
A client machine 2 on the LAN 1 seeks to issue an outgoing call through the LAN gateway server 4 to a remote server 13 across a switched network 12, while another client machine 3 (also called a server to remote users across the switched network 12) entertains an incoming call from remote machine 14 received through the gateway server 4. (It should be recognised that a "client machine" is a client to the gateway running at least one application process, and may be attended or unattended by a human agent.)
For simplicity, the following common coding has been used in FIGS. 1 and 3 to differentiate the active states of individual workstations and processors in both LANs and WANs: workstations/processors shown as shaded squares are intended to denote client machines issuing outgoing calls, while those depicted as unshaded circles are intended to denote server machines receiving incoming calls.
Ordinarily, the client machine 2 with the outgoing call issues a command through its programming interface 5 with the LAN 1 to implement a switched communications interface 6, that in turn connects to a LAN redirection facility 7 for redirecting the device driver commands over the LAN 1 to the parallel corresponding interface mechanisms 8 and 9 at the LAN gateway 4.
The gateway 4 contains a number (m) of switched communications ports 11 that can be linked to the switched communications network 12.
As the command for issuing an outgoing call from the user 2 is received from the LAN 1, the LAN redirection facility 8 and switched communications device interface 9 on the gateway 4 side of the LAN 1 include logic that channels the call command to the target port from the appropriate pool of ports.
An incoming call to the gateway 4 passes, in parallel fashion, through the switched communications device interface 9 and LAN redirection facility 8 on the gateway 4 side of the LAN 1 before crossing the LAN and passing through the communications interface layers 7 and 6 that complete the connection requested by the server machine 3.
Users 2 and 3 can be applications in the same (client) machine or different (client) machines.
In the NACS and NASI implementations of Novell, in the absence of a conversion interface written to the specific application (i.e., accessing a switched communications gateway), the user (2, 3) side and the gateway 4 side of the LAN must utilise a common operating system environment, that is, the LAN must be homogeneous.
In its DCE, OSF has addressed the homogeneity problem in LANs through the use of RPCs.
A schematic overview of the mechanism for implementing RPCs in a LAN, such as OSF's DCE, is shown in FIG. 2. The underlying network is transparent to the client and server programs. Although reference is generally made herein to LANs, since this is the predominant implementation, it should be noted that the present invention could also be implemented on a WAN.
Connectivity and interoperability between user workstations and servers that may be heterogeneous (i.e., utilising different computer hardware and/or operating system environments) are achieved using RPC interfaces to implement transparent communications across the heterogeneous distributed system, with the result that the RPCs appear to the client machine to be transparent local procedure calls.
The implementation of concurrent RPCs is illustrated in FIG. 2. A client workstation application thread 21 and server application thread 22 on opposite sides of a LAN 20 are shown, with the RPC interfaces 23 and 24 interleaved, in symmetrical fashion, between the client thread 21 and the network routines 25 for accessing the LAN hardware (device driver) on one side, and between the server 22 and network routines 26 on the other side. The client thread 21 and its RPC interfaces 23 and network routines 25 are generally implemented in one system, as are the server thread 22 and its RPC interfaces 24 and network routines 26. Through the transparency provided by RPCs, these systems may be disparate (i.e., separate and heterogeneous) or may reside on the same machine and perform in the same way.
The RPC issued from the client thread 21 to the server 22 is sent in the form of a request message (whether this is a remote processor or a server residing on the same machine as the sender), and the server is able to transparently receive the call, execute the procedure and return a reply message. Analogous to local procedure calls, the calling program in the user 21 waits until the called procedure returns. The sequence followed is designated, for greater clarity, by the letters a through j on FIG. 2.
Because remote procedures cannot have access to any variable or data values in the calling program's environment (since the procedure is executed in a disjoint address space), an interface compiler (not shown) is generally used as a basis for integration of RPCs into the respective operating system languages of the client 21 and server 22. The interface compiler replaces each call to a remote procedure in the client program by a call to a client stub procedure 23. This is the procedure in the client program that "stands-in" for the remote procedure in the server program. The task of the client stub 23 is to marshal the arguments and pack them up with the procedure identifier into a message, send the message to the server, and then await the reply message, (un)marshal it and return the results.
Before the server program is compiled, it too is processed by the interface compiler that checks the procedure definitions in the server against the interface specification, and generates a server stub 24 that obtains input arguments by (un)marshalling the request message, calling the appropriate server procedure, and when it returns, marshalling the output arguments (or in the case of a failure, an error report) and making a reply message which it sends back to the client.
Through the concurrency provided by multi-threading, several RPC procedures can be occurring simultaneously, in parallel, in the network. This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2 with multiple instances of each schematic block.
In OSF's DCE, the RPC interfaces support (among other things):
1. network and transport protocols that may be connectionless or connection-oriented;
2. similar and dissimilar hardware and/or operating systems;
3. use of commonly-supported (networked) data types, regardless of the application programming language, machines' native data representations (e.g., big or little endian), or code page (e.g., ASCII and various EBCDIC code pages).
4. packing and unpacking of procedure input and output parameters (i.e., marshalling and unmarshalling) for transport across the network by software stubs; and
5. other related features, such as authentication of the applications involved, as well as authorizations for access to the various distributed resources within the network.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,625 describes an extension of the RPC mechanism beyond the limits of a single distributed system by replacing the traditional system for effecting switched communications outside the LAN based on redirection of device driver commands with a high performance machine that utilises the RPC mechanism in a procedure for dynamically allocating and controlling the hardware resources used in effecting switched communications links between the distributed and possibly heterogeneous environments of LANs and WANs.
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the architecture of an active heterogeneous LAN with a switched communications gateway server and is representative of the type of heterogeneous environment utilising multi-threading and RPCs in which the present invention is ideally implemented, although the communications management mechanism of the present invention is equally useable for managing switched communications from concurrent homogeneous distributed environments.
In FIG. 3, a LAN, generally designated by the numeral 30, consists of an electronic link 32 interconnecting single workstations 33 and 34, as well as different types of other local area networks 35, 36 and 37. As illustrated, networks 35 and 36 are examples of token ring LANs, and both networks 32 and 37 are examples of Ethernet LANs.
In the case of networks 35 and 36, an intelligent device, such as a router 38a and 38b, connect the multiple workstations/processors (generally denoted as 39 for network 35, and 40a and 40b for network 36) into the main LAN 32.
Network 37 connects workstations/processors 41a and 41b through a bridge 42 to the main LAN 32.
LAN applications may represent users that access remote server applications, such as users issuing outgoing calls. LAN applications may also represent services that are used by remote users and/or applications that initiate incoming calls from the remote side of the switched network.
A single gateway server 43 includes multiple ports 44 for linking the incoming and outgoing calls between users and servers in the LAN with remote users 46 and servers 47 across the outside switched network 45.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, for an outgoing call through a switched LAN gateway, a client machine on a LAN issues an RPC 50 that goes through the client stub processing and network routines, as well as the LAN and the server network routines, as described earlier in relation to FIG. 2. The RPC arrives at the server stub 51 with attendant procedure dispatch support, as described above.
As described for the implementing the invention of my concurrently filed application, a message would be sent to the LAN Gateway Master Logic Support 52, which would locate and bind a physical port 54 for effecting the switched link 55, and return a physical handle (representing the specific physical port) to the client.
However, according to the present invention, the Gateway Master Support 52 first locates a virtual handle from the Virtual Handle Support 57 to provide to the client a software image of a hypothetical physical port, including appropriate return codes, until an idle physical port is necessary and can be located.
The virtual handles are taken from a pool, the number of which is not limited by the number of physical ports. Each virtual handle can only be occupied with one client at a time, a virtual handle located will communicate client-server context information without any dependency on the specific RPC implementations.
Thus, while the Master Logic Support basically implements the remote procedure and its overall function, it relies on the Virtual Handle Support to locate the properties (e.g., the port profile) associated with a virtual handle received from the client, to bind the client to the physical port and to identify the physical binding of a client's virtual port.
The Physical Device Support 54 is used to locate port objects in various states (e.g., without any bindings or with live connections), to point to the virtual handle of a client seeking to establish a switched link and to maintain a record of the number of "live" switched calls.
When the switched connection is established (e.g., an outgoing call has been successfully made), the reverse path is traversed (55 to 54 to 52 to 51 to 53) and the RPC response is sent back to the client.
A summary of the various standard functions related to switched communications links is set forth below. These functions are labelled with easily recognisable generic names and their usual operations briefly defined.
For understanding these functions, it should be recognised that in the DCE implementation, the LAN gateway maintains two data buffers for each DCE client; one buffer for maintaining data characters to be transmitted to the switched network on behalf of the client and the other for maintaining data characters that are received from the switched network for the client.
reads characters in the input buffer received from the switched communications network
discards the characters in the input buffer of characters received from switched communications network
appends characters to the output buffer for transmission to the switched network
specifies that a break signal is to be sent to the switched network
expedites transmission of specified characters by-passing the output buffer
transmits all characters in the output buffer before returning
discards all characters in the output buffer
block thread until specified event(s) occur
call for use of a communications port (returns a "handle")
discontinue use of resources associated with the specified handle
Program-- Profile
program communications port according to given input parameters
Read-- Profile
read current profile of port
switched network connectivity request (requires automatic connection type for input or output, and, in the case of outgoing calls, requires switched network address, (i.e., telephone number)
terminates switched communication
Disconnect-- Answer
terminates switched communication and automatically sets port back into call-receiving mode
All of the foregoing operations except PortOpen are performed in relation to a particular actual "handle" (address, type, etc.) that is returned by the DCE gateway server after processing the PortOpen call.
When a "handle" is returned by the PortOpen RPC, the client machine does not know how this handle parameter is generated or how it may be used by the gateway server. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,625, the returned handle is derived from the Physical Device Support 53 (FIG. 4). It is a physical handle and represents an exclusive binding of the client to the target port 55.
However, in the present invention, the server gateway generates a unique virtual handle (from the Virtual Handle Support 52--FIG. 4) to identify the client that issues a PortOpen RPC. The virtual handle must be unique among all concurrent virtual handles, so that there is one virtual handle for each executed PortOpen that has not been followed up by a PortClose call.
The processing of a Connect RPC is related to that of PortOpen, and a simple outline of the processing steps implemented on heterogeneous machines is illustrated in the flow diagram of FIG. 5. The validity of the virtual handle issued from the Virtual Handle Support must be determined 100, for all RPC functions other than PortOpen. Where the virtual handle is invalid, an error code is returned 101.
The gateway server generates handles that it returns to clients, and honours only those RPC requests (other than PortOpen) that return the previously dispensed handles.
In a further aspect of the present embodiment, the identities of clients can be further authenticated using the security features that are automatically provided within OSF's DCE.
Where the virtual handle is valid, the Master Logic Support determines whether there are any ports that can be opened 102, since other non-RPC applications at the server may have opened some of the ports. In the case of no other applications using the ports, this determination would still be made if fewer than the m ports had been opened by the RPC server.
Where available ports are located, a port is selected and opened 103, and the derived physical handle for the selected port is recorded against the virtual handle bound to the RPC 104. The presence of a physical handle indicates that the corresponding port has been Opened by the server. The virtual handle is associated with the physical handle of the port that it is bound to as shown to in block 104.
The selected port is then programmed with the client's profile (based on its virtual handle) 105 and a call attempted 106. A return code appropriate for the requested connection type and based on the results of the call attempt is subsequently generated 107.
Where no available ports are located and if the Connect RPC is for automatic answering mode 110 (i.e., asking for incoming calls), a return code is generated indicating that no ports are available 108.
If the RPC Connect request is for automatic outgoing call, and if there is a physical sharable port in the automatic answering mode 111, the physical port is selected and reprogrammed for outgoing calls 109. The association between this borrowed port and the client are established, and the procedure for attempting an outgoing call is followed, including recording associated handles 104, programming the port with the client profile 105 and finally attempting the outgoing call 106.
If the outgoing call attempt is successful 113, an appropriate RPC return code is generated 107. Otherwise, the previous state of the port is examined to determined whether the port is borrowed 114. If the port was idle before the present RPC, it is marked as idle or unallocated 115, it is then reset as an idle port 118 and a return code is generated 107. If the port was borrowed, it is reassociated with the previous client 116 suspended during the borrowing. On reassociation with the previous client, the port is reprogrammed for incoming calls 117, and the RPC of the client requesting an outgoing call is returned with a "failure" return code 107.
The reassociation set forth in blocks 116 and 117 are performed on any borrowed port upon intentional or abrupt disconnection of the outgoing call as well as upon failure to establish an outgoing call.
The present invention permits central reconfiguring through the Virtual Handle Support mechanism. One particular area where this can be used is in adding another parameter to the Connect RPC function. A parameter called a share-flag can be used by the client to specify whether it wants to allow for its port to be shared by other clients (ports to be borrowed for outgoing calls). For those clients who use the existing Connect RPC specifications as provided in the invention of my concurrent application (i.e., have no share flags), the Virtual Handle Support at the gateway server can use its own centrally configurable default behaviour.
A further aspect of the present invention is illustrated, by comparison, in FIGS. 6 and 7 that illustrate incoming and outgoing "live" calls in a system of the prior art (FIG. 6) and of the present invention (FIG. 7). In these figures, the first number in each circle represents the number of active incoming calls at any point in time, while the second number illustrates the number of outgoing calls active at the same point of time. Thus, the origin or "0,0" represents no active incoming or outgoing calls at that point in time, while "0,2" represents zero incoming calls and two outgoing calls at that point in time. Further, arrows pointing away from the origin illustrate call connections, while arrows pointing back to the origin illustrate call disconnections.
As previously discussed, in the common implementation of the Novell's NACS illustrated in the Markov-type state diagram of FIG. 6, the physical switched communications ports are segregated into two pools; one pool containing m1 ports for receiving incoming calls, and the other pool containing m2 ports for issuing outgoing calls from the switched network 12. Of course, the sum of m1 and m2 equals the total number of ports, m. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the number of outgoing calls calls possibly at any time is limited by the number of physical ports in the m1 pool because no use can be made of any idle ports in the other pool. Thus, LAN clients seeking to make incoming calls can be delayed where all of the m1 ports are in use, despite the idleness of ports in the m2 pool for receiving outgoing calls.
According to this further aspect of the present invention, the ports are capable of multiplexing, that is, can be programmed to issue outgoing calls or receive incoming calls as needed. The port directions and client associations are managed by the Virtual Handle Support 57 shown in FIG. 4 in the manner set forth in FIG. 5 that permit the "borrowing" of ports between RPCs. The result is the significant increase in potential call states at the gateway illustrated in FIG. 7.
This programming of port direction can be statically configured at initialisation time, or performed dynamically by the server, as requried.
In order to establish the workability of the proposed embodiment and to demonstrate its cost-efficiency over known LAN gateways, a prototype was set-up to simulate a LAN gateway environment. Some features included in the experimental set-up relate to my previously described concurrently filed application.
Three workstations running the Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) of the Open Software Foundation (OSF) on a LAN were used in this experimental set-up. One workstation was for clients issuing incoming switched calls, a second was for clients issuing outgoing switched calls and a third for running a server emulating a LAN gateway. Multiple threads within one process were used to simulate multiple clients.
The gateway server was configured to allow for multiple parallel executor threads (up to four times the number of assumed ports in the gateway). The threads were triggered by the scheduling of arrived RPCs for execution, and each thread could run a single RPC at a time.
It is also pointed out that in the case of the particular release of the OSF DCE implementation, only a fixed number of outstanding RPCs are permitted at the server at any one time due to hard-coded limits on the POSIX environment for which DCE is configured, although during the experiment, the number of RPC retries by clients never reached one percent for each RPC.
The clients simulating requests for incoming calls communicated with the gateway server over connection-oriented (TCP/IP--Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) LAN connections, while other clients (those issuing simulated outgoing calls) used datagrams (UDP/IP--User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol).
The server also collected statistics for analyzing the workability and efficiency of the proposed system.
A timer thread 56 (FIG. 4) was used to simulate incoming calls from a switched network to the server. Upon waking up by the system following a sleep time corresponding to interarrival of calls, this single thread looked up the status of ports. If it did not find a port waiting for an incoming call, it would then record a switched call "loss" to the Statistics Composition Support function; otherwise, it would notify the Master Logic Support to bind the switched call to an RPC client that is awaiting a call (in this case, an incoming switched call "success" is recorded).
FIG. 8 illustrates the simulation of clients issuing outgoing calls. After starting the workstation 60, common variables and protocols were initiated 61. Multiple independent threads were issued 62 to simulated multiple user devices seeking to issue multiple outgoing calls through the gateway server. For each single simulated device started 63, the thread was put to sleep for a random period of time 64 to simulate the random access to the gateway's resources from a real LAN set-up.
After "waking" the device thread 65, a thread for sequential procedure calls for each thread simulating a single connection request was dispatched 66. A procedure PortOpen call was issued to the gateway server for each simulated client application thread.
The procedure call for each PortOpen command 67 issued by the client to the gateway server actually called a previously generated procedure stub. The call returned a virtual handle from the server. The client then issued a Connect(out) 68 to the gateway that returned when a simulated successful outgoing call was established. The procedure call thread was then "put to sleep" for a random period of time 69 (to simulate random connection time between the LAN workstation application and a remote server), after which Disconnect and PortClose commands 70 and 71 were sequentially issued with the same handle before the thread was terminated 72. The main thread continued throughout the experiment 73.
A simulation of an incoming call is illustrated in FIG. 9. After starting this workstation 74, common variables and protocols were again assigned 75, and multiple independent child threads (corresponding to the number of simulated ports) to simulate LAN servers for remote clients on a switched network, dispatched 76. Again, the main thread continued throughout the entire experiment 77.
After the start of each dispatched thread 78, a PortOpen call was issued to the gateway server to receive a virtual handle 79. Then, a Connect(in) message 80 was sent to the gateway server; this RPC returned when a simulated incoming call had been successfully established. The simulated LAN gateway server was configured to each Connect(in) RPC that it received as a sharable.
To simulate data transmission over the established switched link, the thread was "put to sleep" for a random period of time 81. After "waking", the thread issued a Disconnect-- Answer command 82 to simulate the immediate reoccupation of a port after disconnect. This procedure was repeated several times in the course of the experiment.
When long duration runs on the experimental set-up were made, it was found that the high performance machine proposed herein effectively provided concurrency in establishing switched communications links through a LAN gateway server, freeing hardware resources of the LAN not immediately involved in maintaining the switched links.
The gateway interface of the present invention is described in this application in use in a specific type of LAN architecture. It will be clearly recognized, however, that with appropriate modifications that would be obvious from the present description to a person skilled in the art, that the interface is portable and may be adapted for connecting other types of area networks having similar gateway characteristics.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
Legal Events
Original Image


text:
Napoli administrator Andrea Chiavelli has hit back at claims they should have points deducted over their involvement in the betting scandal.
Italian Football Federation prosecutors had asked for the Partenopei to be docked one point and Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava to be banned for nine months after they allegedly failed to report former goalkeeper Matteo Gianello for trying to fix a match against Sampdoria in 2010.
"The current incarnation of Napoli is only eight years old," Chiavelli told reporters. "And since then has based themselves on transparency and sound principles.
"The damage this could cause the club is great.
"We will be deprived of two members of the squad and suffer a points penalty whilst the season is still in progress."


text:
Publisher's Description+
From Creative Technology: Creative WebCam NX Pro is the ideal and easy way to supercharge your instant messaging with video. Sitting at only 4 inches (9.93cm) tall on the desk, it can ergonomically transform to attach snugly to most LCD monitors or notebooks. Creative Webcam NX PRO is built to pitch 30 degrees downwards and 15 degrees upward and even a 360 degrees panning angle.
read more +


text:
The Best of the Best: Fittest Female Celebrity of 2009
Which Female Celebrity Is the Fittest Female of 2009?
by Fitness
Like us on Facebook
December is here already and the last month of the year means it's time to look back at 2009. Here are FitSugar, we thought we would begin that process by letting you all decide which female celeb has the fittest bod.
Whether their motivation comes from within, a kick-ass trainer, or an inspiring movie role, celebrities work hard to stay in shape. It was hard to pick such a small group of fit female celebs this year, but we think these women typify what staying healthy in Hollywood means — staying in shape by working out regularly, eating right, and maintaining a tremendous amount of dedication.
Which female celebrity do you think is the fittest of 2009?
Source: Getty
5 years
Okay, I voted to for Jessica Biel. BUT, everyone is severely underestimating Hilary Swank. Her body is pretty amazing. Totally fit and sexy. c'mon.
foxymardy 5 years
Jennifer Anniston should be in there, definitely. Her body's awesome.
Giasbash6260 5 years
Madonna = GROSS!!!! Jessica Biel = HOT HOT!
clew001 5 years
megan fox!!
ElectroPopTart 5 years
ALL!!!! But I picked Madonna since I'm a fanatic, lol.
5 years
Jessica Biel has become increasingly thin and rather gross looking; she is old news. I would vote for Lady Gaga, who is extremely toned without being overly thin and has an amazing body.
honeycreepshow 5 years
I chose Christina, she has absolutely beautiful curves but she's still fit.
darc5204 5 years
You can't tell "fittest" by looking, and "best" is a matter of opinion. I guessed that of those choices, Jessica Biel probably has the healthiest habits overall.
syako 5 years
That last sentence sounds funny, basically I feel like she has a healthy balance.
syako 5 years
Yeah I think it should be a whole package kind of thing. Although generally I like Reese's approach (at least that which we see) to balance simple work outs (like jogging) and spending time with her kids eating ice cream and what not. It just doesn't seem her body and fitness consumes her.
lilkimbo 5 years
I agree, Spectra. If I was answering the question posed in the title ("Which female celebrity has the best body of 2009?"), I'd probably go with Fox. Aesthetically, I think she has the best body. But, my answer to the question posed in the body of the piece ("Who do you think is the fittest female celebrity of 2009?") is different.
Spectra 5 years
I would pick Hilary Swank or Jessica Biel--they both seem fit and muscular and not overly skinny. I think Megan Fox has a nice body, but I wouldn't pick her based on the fact that she does indeed have some pretty bad health habits.
syako 5 years
I hate when women can't praise one body type without putting another one down Agreed. It actually made me vote for Biel because before I was on the fence. :P
lilkimbo 5 years
That picture is from May 2009, so it certainly fits the Fittest Female Celeb of 2009 question here. I hate when women can't praise one body type without putting another one down; it's always been a huge pet peeve of mine.
rafaela-losardo 5 years
EW Jessica Biel looks like a man, and now she's just way too skinny...this is an old picture. I chose Anna, but I could easily choose Christina too, they are both amazing.
5 years
I would have voted for Jennifer Aniston. Madonna's look is very unnatural... I'd bet my left eye she takes steroids... nothing healthy about that.
urban-chic-101 5 years
Reese Witherspoon! She looks amazing!
Jess8902 5 years
Yeah,my vote would be for Kristen Bell also.
Martini-Rossi 5 years
Jessica biel hands down. She is fit but not Madonna fit. IMO being as fit as Madonna is too time consuming, Im sure her fitness and diet regime take control of her life. With a body like Jessicas it seems like she works out hard eats right and thats it. Nothing more to it - I like it.
GlowingMoon 5 years
I'm biased towards Madonna. She's over 50 years old. To me, she seems to value her body, and takes excellent care of it. And it shows. She's aged exceptionally well. I have reservations about Jennifer Aniston. She still smokes, doesn't she? I'm reluctant to think that a smoker has a fit body. JMHO.
chloe-bella 5 years
Gwen Stefani! I saw her live at the No Doubt reunion concert, and she truly looks amazing. Also, I would pick Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow.
lilkimbo 5 years
I went with Jessica Biel. I like that she's so dedicated to fitness.
Vanonymous 5 years
I picked Jessica Beil b/c I think toned arms look great on a woman. However, the first name that came to mind was Kristen Bell.
5 years
Get Aniston in this poll. She beats out everyone. And Reese? Did you see her bikini body walking on the beach with Jake? Not the best. And they asked for best body. not best healthy role model! Go Megan Fox!


text:
Search Results
Search Results Type: Posts; User: natzeh
From Date
Hi all I am doing a course at the moment which I need to do a teaching piece for. A poster, teaching box or booklet is fine. It has to be something PICU and medical based. Does anyone have any...Aug 8, '12
- Forum: PICU Nursing / Pediatric


text:
News from WTOP
News from the AP
Mike Causey
Shows & Panels
Shows & Panels
- Agency of the Month
- Business of Government Hour
- The CFO Agenda: Delivering value from financial transparency and audit efforts in the public and private sector
- Cloud-Driven Data Insights in Government
- CXO Surveys
- Disaster Resilience for America
- Federal News Countdown
- Government Perspectives on Mobility and the Cloud
- Reducing Risk in the Cloud
- Reimagining the Next Generation of Government
Shows & Panels
- AFCEA Answers
- American Readiness: Renewable Power and Efficiency Technologies
- Ask the CIO
- The Business Case for Cloud Computing in Government
- Cloud-Driven Data Insights in Government
- Connecting the Dots: Digital Authentication in Government
- Data-Centric Approaches to Government in the Cloud
- Delivering the Digital Government Mission
- Federal Executive Forum
- Federal News Radio's National Cyber Security Awareness Month Special Panel Discussion
- Federal Tech Talk
- The Future of Government Data Centers
- Government Perspectives on Mobility and the Cloud
- Industrialized, Interoperable and Insight-driven Federal Health Panel
- Innovation and Tech Superiority through Acquisition Reform
- Mitigating Insider Threats in Virtual & Cloud Environments
- Moving Agency Applications to the Cloud with PaaS
- Reducing Risk in the Cloud
- Security in the Age of Targeted Attacks
- Air Traffic Management Transformation Report
- The Business of Cloud
- Cloud First Report
- Data Driven Cloud Series
- Disaster Resilience for America
- General Dynamics IT Enterprise Center
- Gov Cloud Minute
- Government in Technology Series
- Homeland Security Cybersecurity Market Report
- The Intersection: Where Technology Meets Transformation
- Modern Mission Critical Series
- National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- The New IP for Federal IT
- The Social Platform Solution for the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Technology Insights
- The Cyber Security Report
- The Next Generation Cyber Security Experts
Shows & Panels
- Cloud-Driven Data Insights in Government
- Disaster Resilience for America
- F-35 Lightning II Program
- Government Perspectives on Mobility and the Cloud
- On DoD
- Pentagon Solutions
- Reducing Risk in the Cloud
- Reimagining the Next Generation of Government
- Transforming Business Operations at the Defense Department
For stocks, a good first half is tough to match
Monday - 7/1/2013, 8:10am EDT
AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market just had its best first half of the year since 1998. Now what?
History suggests stock investors will make more money the second half of the year.
Since World War II, a big increase in the first half of a year has almost always been followed by more gains in the second half.
In the 68 years beginning with 1946, the S&P 500 index has risen 10 percent or more 23 times, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. During those 23 years, the market rose the second half of the year 19 times. Eleven of those years, or nearly half, the S&P 500 rose at least 10 percent the second half of the year.
The best second half was in 1954, in the middle of the stock market's longest bull run. Stocks increased 26.2 percent July-December. The worst second half was in 1987. The "Black Monday" market crash was Oct. 19, and stocks fell 17.4 percent the second half of the year.
In years like this one, in which stocks have started with a gain of between 10 and 15 percent, the average second-half increase has been 9.4 percent.
Those numbers suggest that when a rally gets going, it keeps going.
Of course, past performance is no guarantee of the market's future, and investors face some hurdles in this year's second half. The Federal Reserve has helped stocks rally by forcing down interest rates. But the central bank is considering reducing that stimulus later this year. Also, concerns about the Chinese economy, the world's second-largest, have unsettled markets in recent weeks.
But the factors that drove the market methodically higher the first five months of the year remain: The housing market is strengthening. Auto sales are strong. Companies continue to earn record profits. Inflation and interest rates are ultra low. The economy is growing moderately and may pick up the second half of the year.
"We're going higher," said Phil Orlando, Chief Equity Strategist at Federated Investors. "Rising stock prices and rising real estate prices are making people feel better about their financial condition ... So we think that second-half GDP and second-half earnings are going to be better than the first half."
Orlando predicts that the S&P 500 will end the year at 1,750.
Although many investors had expected stocks to climb this year, they were surprised at the speed of the advance early on. By May 21, the S&P 500 had climbed to a record 1,669 and was up 17 percent. A day later, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was considering pulling back on its stimulus. The market's advance cooled, and the S&P has lost 3 percent since.
Add dividends to the S&P 500's price rise and the total return for investors is 13.8 percent -- the most in 15 years.
"We're not surprised at the positive performance across U.S. equity markets this year because the fundamentals of the economy are improving," says Steve Rees, head of U.S. Equity Strategy for JPMorgan Private Bank. "We were surprised, though, at how quickly we achieved that performance at the start of the year."
Here are the five best first halves for the S&P 500 since World War II. Data before 1957, when the S&P 500 was launched, combine the values for four earlier S&P indices: the industrials, utilities, financials and transportation:
-- 1975. First half: up 41.7 percent. Second half: down 3.2 percent.
The 1970s began with a bull run, but things soon went sour. The oil crisis of 1973-1974 caused oil prices to soar and the economy entered into what would be a 16-month recession in November 1973. The annual rate of inflation began to climb. It surged as high as 12.2 percent in November 1974 from 3.4 percent a year earlier. The S&P 500 dropped 48 percent between Jan. 11, 1973 and Oct. 4, 1974.
The market soared in the first half of 1975 as inflation moderated and investors grew hopeful the economy was pulling out of its slump. The market gave up some of its gain in the second half of the year as doubts about the strength of the economic recovery grew and concern rose that inflation might re-emerge. New York City's fiscal crisis also weighed on markets.
-- 1987. First half: up 27.4 percent. Second half: down 17.4 percent.
In early 1987, investors were still enjoying a bull run that had begun in August 1982. Unemployment and inflation had fallen. Tax cuts and low interest rates had spawned an economic boom.


text:
Iron Juggernaught yeeeeeeeeeeeey
Iron Juggernaught yeeeeeeeeeeeey
All these halloween stuff make me sad, cause we don't celebrate halloween here T.T
- - - Updated - - -
Halloween should be a world wide holiday.
"There cannot be true dispair without hope." - Bane
I don't like Halloween, I never know what to go as, so I never do. The parties here are either held by Mormons (and are thus, awful and filled with religion) or are held by undesirables who do large amounts of drugs, and drink more a day than Eniah drinks in an entire month.
I keep reading the word Mormons as Morons.... guess the difference isn't too big anyway
"There cannot be true dispair without hope." - Bane
Guess this is the perfect day to listen to Helloween
Sometimes I wonder what my suitemate gets up to in his room....
There are noxious fumes coming from his room right now...and I think something might be being smoked...either that or really fucking strong alcohol fumes.
Oh well, I have class, so I'm leaving (and making sure my door is nice and locked).
"There cannot be true dispair without hope." - Bane
I just don't get how you can keep on failing on normal mode mechanics when you're progressing HC =( makes me wanna cry
NSFW don't click and such and things
Where mah numbers at
Tryhard Duelist, Not even trying , unsubed right now.I often post from my mobile device, typos in my posts are 99% likely to be because of that.All I would ever want and need is a hug.