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Many scenarios as Harrison investigates partnership opportunity
BREMERTON - Harrison Medical Center is in the midst of discussions to affiliate with a bigger system, and it appears likely it will head in that direction, even though its leaders say it still can remain independent.
"Affiliate" is an amorphous term and can mean anything from a complete buyout to partnering in some way.
No one yet knows what it would mean for a community that since the 1918 flu pandemic has had its own independent hospital. Or for hospital managers, doctors, staff, volunteers — or patients.
A new name in a year? It's too soon to tell.
"I don't know what we do next looks like," said David Veterane, chairman of the Harrison board of directors.
Harrison has received proposals from potential partners and in April narrowed the field to a few finalists. A decision could come later this year.
Pushing the discussion are the economy, fewer patients, rising expenses and reduced federal reimbursements for hospitals.
The biggest pusher of all is health-care reform, and hospitals can't afford not to have the talk now before it hits hardest in a couple of years.
Under reform, it will be advantageous to be bigger. Hospitals that have a wider range of care options from pre-acute to post-acute will fare better. Those with the ability to adopt new ways to pay for care outside of federal reimbursements will be better positioned.
"The larger systems are in a strong place," said Scott Bond, Washington State Hospital Association chief executive officer.
About three-dozen hospital affiliations have taken place in Washington since 2000. Nationally in the past 15 years, about 1,300 have occurred, according to merger expert and author Larry Scanlan.
Driving the discussion in part locally is that Harrison needs to build a new hospital in Silverdale in the next decade and cannot come up with $200 million on its own, its leaders said. Harrison owns 32 acres there near highways, and the location is easily accessed by a large part of growing Kitsap County. While Harrison has some facilities there now, a complete hospital in Silverdale is essential for Harrison to continue to provide the most comprehensive care it can in the future. In 2009, Harrison leaders froze plans to build one. Money was too tight.
"Would it be easier with a partner? More than likely," Harrison President and CEO Scott Bosch said of Harrison's need for a capital infusion.
But building hospitals is going to be more difficult in the future. Reform will push outpatient care, clinical care or home care as alternatives to the more expensive hospital care. Those alternatives are called pre- and post-acute care.
"I think it will be much more difficult to build new hospitals in the decades ahead," Bond said.
Harrison leaders said Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton will remain open in the future, and certainly they committed toward that with a new heart center and cancer facilities there in recent years. But those only take up portions of the building. The structure is aging and is squeezed onto only seven hillside acres.
"You can only remodel and clean up and do those kinds of things so many times before you have to renew your structures," Bond said.
Another big driver is Harrison questioning whether it can continue to provide all the services it needs to.
"One of the reasons we are doing this is because we're not sure we have the capital to provide a broad range of services to our community in the future," Veterane said.
How Harrison looks to suitors
Harrison leaders say they entered the affiliation discussion while the hospital is in a position of strength, not weakness.
That appears true now, but what if they waited?
"Our operating margins, I can tell you, have been going in the wrong directions," Veterane said.
Yes, but not drastically so.
Over the past four years, Harrison's revenues have increased 26 percent, but expenses have gone up 33 percent. Widening the gap has been a 13 percent drop in patient admissions, according to Internal Revenue Service documents.
The hospital's charity costs are expected to hit $17 million soon, but that's not out of line with what other hospitals are swallowing. Its debt is under $100 million — about the same amount it has in reserves. Harrison's in the black and is expected to make about $10 million this year.
"We're doing fine," Bosch said.
But by having the discussion now, "They are in control of the process," Bond said.
Harrison in January approached selected larger regional and national systems and asked them to submit proposals. Those included nonprofits like itself, for-profits, and secular and religious systems. By all accounts, Harrison piqued a lot of interest. In March, a group of 28 people, including the Harrison board of directors and key Harrison executives and physicians, eyed the proposers up and down before narrowing the field.
What would prospective suitors see?
A mix.
On the plus side is Kitsap's population, which grew 8 percent from 2000 to 2010 and rose from a median age of 36 to 39. That spells future patients. The peninsulas are by no means overbuilt with hospitals now, and Harrison's financials still are OK.
It has invested in itself, most recently in a small orthopaedic hospital in Silverdale.
Harrison recently partnered with Hospice of Kitsap County. The partnership could turn into a full merger, offering a potential new use for part of the old hospital. Peninsula Community Health Services recently opened a clinic next to Harrison. A suitor might be impressed with what looks like Harrison's access to a wider range of pre- and post-acute options.
Bosch, CEO for nearly eight years, is chairman of the state Hospital Association and under his leadership, the hospital has implemented a number of steps to try to bring expenses down. Some of the 16 board members have lifelong roots in Kitsap, including those like Joan Soriano, on the board since 1972. It has a good stable of physicians, and the area is attractive. Those are all enticing to potential partners, author Scanlan said.
On the minus side is the '60s-era hospital building in Bremerton. Also, Harrison has it tougher than larger hospitals recruiting top physicians and top-drawer administrators, and it could get more difficult as predicted physician and nurse shortages become reality. Young physicians coming out of medical school are more likely to go to bigger hospitals, said Dr. Gordon Cromwell, chief of the Harrison medical staff.
The hospital faced challenges, particularly with efforts to lower a higher-than-average rate for central-line infections, and a recent threat that Medicare reimbursements could be pulled.
And the geographic area, while attractive, still is remote. Far more affiliations have taken place across the water.
Potential suitors
No one is sharing names of the potential players in a Harrison affiliation.
The Kitsap Sun interviewed some of the hospital systems that already have a foot in Harrison territory, except Virginia Mason Medical Center, which turned down interview requests.
"Speaking hypothetically, Harrison would complement any number of health systems in the Northwest," said Meta Dooley, senior strategist for Tacoma-based Franciscan Health System.
Franciscan in recent years has added a clinic in Port Orchard, brought its own brand of in-home hospice care to Kitsap, and enjoyed a handful of local physicians aligning themselves with it instead of Harrison. Most recently, it tried to introduce home health in Kitsap but was turned down by the state. It is asking for reconsideration.
It invested $160 million in St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor, which, after opening in 2011, drew South Kitsap patients away from Harrison.
On a smaller scale, it's done just what Harrison is looking for, providing capital infusion to build a new hospital. In 2007, it acquired the aging Enumclaw Regional Hospital, rebuilt it for $75 million and reopened in 2011 it as St. Elizabeth Hospital.
But building more hospitals might not be in Franciscan's future now. Dooley suggested Franciscan's long-term plan might be to instead turn its focus to widening pre- and post-acute options, such as introducing home health to Kitsap.
Stepping in on Harrison's north border has been Seattle-based Swedish Health Services, which is in its first full year of partnerships with Jefferson Healthcare of Port Townsend, Olympic Medical Center of Port Angeles and Forks Community Hospital. The three small hospitals now are a component of the affiliation between Swedish Health Services and Seattle-based Providence Health & Services, the biggest in the state, finalized in February.
Under the agreements, the small hospitals pay Swedish regular fees, for which Swedish gives them advice, services, access to specialists and bigger buying power for supplies.
Swedish is working with all three to place a neurology clinic in Sequim. Port Townsend and Port Angeles are planning to hook into Swedish's electronic-records system next year. Before the partnerships, Swedish had telemedicine relationships with the two.
Marcel Loh, Swedish's chief executive for hospitals and affiliates, declined to comment when asked if it's seeking to widen its footprint in west Puget Sound.
Among the more intriguing potential players is Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, a health-maintenance organization. HMO's are systems that provide comprehensive services to their members, who pay fixed fees.
"We'll be in the mix. It's an important market for us that is growing," Paul Sherman, Group Health executive medical director of health plan services, said of west Puget Sound.
Group Health currently has 40,000 members in Kitsap County, and clinics in Port Orchard, Silverdale and Poulsbo, as well as other offices. It acquired KPS Health Plans in 2005. The only hospital it actually owns is one on Capitol Hill in Seattle. More typically, its physicians work in other hospitals not only on Group Health members, but increasingly on nonmembers.
Sherman said Group Health could increase the way its physicians work with Harrison, perhaps developing some form of specialty care.
Bob Cross, Harrison's chief strategist, said an "interesting thing" about Group Health and HMOs are their population-based models. Group Health is an acknowledged leader in that area that's getting a lot of attention as reform looms.
Under the models, Group Health studies a population to determine who is at risk for, say, diabetes. Then it proactively reaches out to those people in a number of ways to treat them before they get sicker. Patients stay healthier and the services cost less.
Also intriguing about Group Health under reform is the monthly fees members pay for whatever service they receive, rather than the traditional fees based on the services provided. Non-HMO hospitals are looking at new ways to charge for services.
Staying independent
From the physicians on down, just asking the question has made Harrison workers nervous about their jobs, their futures.
"The perception of change is always difficult," said Cromwell, the chief of staff.
But Harrison leaders believe they'd be hiding their heads in the sand if they didn't ask whether to affiliate. In its invitation to other hospitals, Harrison made it known that one of its top issues was a long-term commitment to Harrison's medical staff and other employees.
Of all the affiliation talks that have taken place in recent years in Washington, there aren't many that didn't take the next step into partnership. Depending on the type of affiliation, approval might have to be given by the state Department of Health or the Office of the Attorney General, or by the Federal Trade Commission.
Overlake Hospital Medical Center of Bellevue is a rare exception. Overlake turned down an interview request from the Kitsap Sun, but the Puget Sound Business Journal in December quoted an Overlake leader as saying the hospital had the discussion, but decided nothing would be gained with an affiliation.
As for Harrison and its deliberations, all the community can do at present is wait until the boardroom door swings open and an announcement is made.
"Our board brings the best interest of the community to the table," Bosch promised.
Affiliations in Washington
To read about how hospitals similar in size to Harrison Medical Center have experienced partnerships, click here. Below, a list of affiliations and their type secured during 2011.
Strategic partnership: Evergreen Healthcare (Kirkland) and Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle)
Integration of services: Deaconess and Valley hospitals, Rockwood Clinic (all Spokane)
Affiliation: Olympic Medical Center (Port Angeles) and Swedish Health Services (Seattle)
Alliance: PMH Medical Center (Prosser) and Kadlec Regional Medical Center (Richland)
Affiliation: Swedish Health Services and Providence Health & Services (Seattle)
Pending affiliation: United General Hospital (Sedro Woolley) and PeaceHealth (Bellingham)
Strategic alliance: Valley Medical Center and UW Medicine
Affiliation: Southwest Washington Medical Center and PeaceHealth (Vancouver)
General definitions of affiliations:
Acquisition: One hospital buys out another.
Affiliation: A general term used to describe the wide range of ties two hospital systems can have.
Alliance: Each hospital remains independent, but one may refer its patients to specialists at the other, or the two may share electronic medical records.
Disaffiliation: Goals of an affiliation are not met, so both sides revert to their previous separate identities.
Merger: Both hospitals agree to combine and form one entity.
Strategic partnership: Two different entities, such as a public hospital district and a private hospital, pair up to share services. Both remain independent.
System integration: A network of health-care groups whose members each agree to provide specific services so that altogether they can provide a fuller range of care.
Washington State Hospital Association
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BRUNSWICK, Ohio — A Brunswick woman is the proud mom to four baby boys after a very rare pregnancy.
"First, I was pregnant with one, then they found twins," said Lindsay Lowrie.
In fact, they found two sets of twins.
Lowrie delivered the four babies at Fairview Hospital in April. They're still in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Kenneth and Colton are identical to each other. Bentley and Griffin make up the second set of identical twins.
Lindsay Lowrie is engaged to the father of the boys, Kenny Carr. They said they did not use fertility medication.
"I've heard that this is one in 70 million," said Carr.
"As my mom said you hit the baby lottery," said Lowrie.
The baby boys' original due date was July 10. They're all healthy and getting bigger by the day.
"All doing good," said Carr. "Two are trying bottles and wearing clothes, and the other two are right behind them growing really fast."
"Really blessed and wouldn't have it any other way," said Lowrie.


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Home > Karksi Village Museum
Karksi Village Museum
|Karksi küla, Karksi vald, Viljandi maakond | Show on map
|Mobile phone:
|(+372) 534 28070
|(+372) 433 2736
|Method of payment:
|Cash only
|Request info
The Karksi Village Museum has three rooms: a kolkhoz (collective farm) room, a grandmother's-grandfather's room and a school classroom.
The kolkhoz room displays flags, banners, awards and photos from the Karksi Kolkhoz. The grandmother's-grandfather's room has a permanent exhibit on a typical grandmother's-grandfather's room from an early 20th century farm in Mulgimaa. The classroom portrays the history of the Karksi municipal school and the local history from the time of the manors to the present day.
Times and prices
Is open advance bookings only
Languages spoken
- Estonian
- Exhibition
- Souvenirs
- Site lighting
- Toilet
- Free parking
Additional services
- Guide service available


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More pupils attained a grade A*-C in physical education at GCSE in 2011 than in 2010. Initiatives such as the Physical Education and School Sports action plan and the 5x60 initiative have helped to widen the range of activities available to pupils, and the increase girls' participation in physical activity.
In the schools we surveyed, standards of teaching were good or better in around three quarters of the lessons we observed. However, in a minority of lessons, teachers don't plan well enough to ensure that pupils of all abilities make progress. Not all pupils have the ability to learn independently, or to be leaders.
Physical education departments should:
- make sure that lessons provide suitable opportunities for pupils to keep physically active and engage in sustained physical activity; and
- offer learning activities that will enable pupils of all abilities to make progress and, in particular, provide suitable challenge for more able key stage 3 pupils.
Local authorities should:
- improve support and advice for physical education practitioners and promote best practice;
- use the 5x60 initiative to promote more effective links with local clubs and organisations to promote healthy lifestyles and lifelong participation in sport and physical recreation; and
- secure greater accuracy and consistency in judging National Curriculum levels at key stage 3.
The Welsh Government should:
- consider how best to sustain the good practice and impact of the PESS and 5x60 initiatives.
For a full list of recommendations, please download the report.
Best practice
Case studies within the report include best practice from Radyr Comprehensive School, Darland High School, Cwmcarn High School, Maesteg Comprehensive School, Cwrt Sart Comprehensive School, and Porthcawl Comprehensive School.


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Vischer Ferry Plus – why haven't I been here before?
We often cross the Mohawk River on Route 146 at sunset on our way back from the Adirondacks. Our view from the Rexford Bridge is of the water in both directions, tinted in the soft light of evening. Paddlers in canoes and kayaks are below, on their way home from adventures unknown to us. Why […] [Read More]
Down the tube at Vischer Ferry
Herb and I loaded up the kayak and a borrowed one-man canoe from my parents Sunday to do some early-season paddling at the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve in Clifton Park. All entrances to the preserve are on Riverview Road in Clifton Park. Herb wanted to put in at the whipple bridge by the […] [Read More]


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August 4, 2015
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A remark by a strategist for Gov. Rick Perry that the Republican Party shouldn't open itself "like a whorehouse" to new voters has infuriated some GOP women.
The Associated Press reports the comment by David Carney has given Perry's primary rival, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, fuel for the 2010 race.
Perry is trying to distance himself from the remark -- published in the Dallas Morning News.
Carney says he agreed the Republican Party needed to attract new voters. But, he added, quote: "that doesn't mean you take your principles and throw them out the door and become a whorehouse and
let anybody in who wants to come in, regardless."
Some GOP women across Texas are demanding that Perry apologize
for and repudiate the comment.
Perry spokesman Mark Miner says Carney wasn't speaking for the
AP reports Hutchison's campaign didn't buy it.
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 firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Nottingham vice-chancellors among top-paid university bosses
Posted: April 05, 2014|
THE vice-chancellors of Nottingham's two universities are among the highest paid in their role in the country.
Professor Neil Gorman, of Nottingham Trent, and Professor David Greenaway, of the University of Nottingham, even earn more than their Cambridge counterpart.
Mr Gorman was the highest earner of the pair in the 2012-13 academic year.
Figures, released by the Times Higher Education, showed Mr Gorman's salary was £321,000. With a pension contribution of £45,000, his total remuneration was £366,000 - the ninth highest in the country.
Related content
Mr Greenaway's total remuneration was £357,000, the bulk made up by his salary of £313,000.
Both men had pay rises of about seven per cent on the previous year.
The rises have prompted some members of university staff to take part in national strike action, claiming their salary increases pale in comparison.
A University of Nottingham spokesman said: "The vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham manages an international research led institution which employs 6,500 staff and is attended by more than 43,000 students across its award winning campuses here in the UK, China and Malaysia.
"The job of running an institution of this nature with a turn-over of almost £600 million is complex and demanding.
"Therefore, we would expect to be paying a higher-than-average salary to someone who plays such a key role in the operation and development of one of Britain's top universities."
No one from Nottingham Trent University was available for comment.


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Born: July 06,1946 New York City, New York, U.s.
Spouse: Jennifer Flavin
Children: Sage Stallone
Parents: Jackie Stallone,Frank Stallone Sr.
Zodiac: Cancer
Height: 5 feet 9 inches
Biography: No list on Hollywood action stars would be complete without a mention of Sylvester Stallone. His stellar performance as the boxer Rocky Balboa in Rocky and soldier John Rambo in Rambo was his ticket to the action hall of fame. Stallone had a slow start with minor roles in films here and there before Rocky happened. And then, the rest as they say is history!See full bio
Sylvester Stallone : Filmography
- Rocky Iv
- The Expendables 3 2014
- Driven
- Rocky Balboa (film)
- The Expendables (film Series)
- Staying Alive (1983 Film)
- Homefront (film)
- Driven


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Critics of U.S. involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan often make two mutually exclusive points. The first is that the wars have been tremendously costly, and the second is that the means to win security is through development.
Had the Iraq war ended soon after Saddam's ouster—and had the Bush administration not abandoned its initial plans to withdraw after 90 days—then the cost of that war would have been tremendously reduced both in terms of blood and treasure. Iraq has made great strides in the decade since Saddam's ouster, but most of the development in both southern and northern Iraq has more to do with the fact that Saddam is gone than with American investment. The billions spent on development (including the cost of providing those aid workers with security) have produced little if anything.
Nevertheless, soft power or peace through development remains the mantra of too many in the U.S. aid community or for that matter, among our European partners. The problem is that there's no evidence that investment in development is worth it. What caught my eye was this report, from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). In short, two USAID-funded hospitals seem unsustainable, and several others likely won't be able to function at true capacity. In recent months, SIGAR has released a number of damning reports allegedly leading to efforts by some in the administration to muzzle it.
USAID has spent billions of dollars in conflict zones. The U.S. aid community maintains a dashboard that purports to demonstrate bang for the buck. Alas, it never achieves that goal. Take this explanation of USAID investment in Iraq, for example. Stating that money will be applied toward a certain goal does not equate with wise investment. Nor is there evidence that flooding a country with cash improves security. Indeed, Afghanistan proves quite the opposite: USAID might brag about building roads and bridges, but Afghan villagers often beg to be left off the network so as to avoid the resulting land grabs by corrupt government, security and Afghan National Army officials. As a second order effect, local villagers sometimes seek protection in the Taliban, as the very Afghans who are supposed to guard USAID bridges and roads are the ones who seek to confiscate land and livelihood. Terrorism might be a tragedy for a handful of families when bombs kill or maim loved ones, but corruption is a cancer that impacts millions and too often USAID fuels that corruption.
As the Afghanistan conflict winds down and joins the Iraq campaign in something distinctly different from nation-building, some serious introspection is long past due about what benefits if any are derived from aid as it is currently managed. This is not a reason to dispense with aid entirely. But the idea that a multi-billion dollar, bureaucracy-bloated organization is the best way to promote development is questionable at best. Nor should the conventional wisdom that aid contributes to security be accepted as fact. It is long past time for USAID to prove that its investments are worth their cost. Perhaps the lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan should not be that the cost of regime change is too high to bear, but rather than the development welfare that accompanies it is the problem. Perhaps it's time to rebuild the infrastructure of U.S. foreign assistance from scratch.


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Tacoma Community College is a nationally recognized public community college located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, just south of Seattle. TCC enrolls more than 10,000 students each quarter. The college is creative and engaging - recognized nationally as an Achieving the Dream leader college. TCC was recently honored by the 34-college Washington community and technical college system for the largest improvement in the systems student achievement initiative.
We are seeking innovative leaders for a key faculty and administrative positions.
This position is responsible to prepare and teach courses in Economics, including macro economics and micro economics, and support ongoing programs of Tacoma Community College. This position reports to the Dean for Academic Services.
Essential Functions
•Prepare and teach courses in economics.
•Update and revise curriculum as necessary.
•Participate actively in departmental initiatives.
•Perform related duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
•Masters degree in Economics from an accredited college or university.
-OR- Bachelors degree in Economics from an accredited college or university –AND- a Masters degree in Business Administration, Business Management, Business Education, Finance, or Political Science OR closely related field.
•Demonstrated cultural competence, sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff.
Preferred Qualifications
•Masters degree in Economics from an accredited college or university.
•Teaching experience in college/university programs
•Work experience in business, management, marketing or related fields.
•Ability to integrate technology into teaching and learning, including LMS/CMS software.
•Demonstrated ability to provide leadership in departmental projects and initiatives.
•Ability, history, and/or desire to develop & teach on-line/hybrid courses.
Conditions of Employment
•Successfully complete a criminal history background check prior to employment.
The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate
•Ethics and integrity.
•Competence to develop and revise curricula.
•Professional and courteous interactions with students, faculty, and staff.
•Ability and willingness to use innovative teaching techniques & infuse technology in the teaching and learning process.
•Commitment to developing strategies and practices that enhance student success, diversity, and completion.
•Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with students, colleagues and staff.
•Strong commitment to teaching in a community college setting and responding to the needs of a diverse student population.
•A comprehensive understanding of globalization & the likely impacts on economic theory & policy
•Excellent customer service skills; including establishing, building, and maintaining internal/external customer satisfaction.
•Interest & knowledge of development & implementation of open educational resources.
Application Material & Procedures
Complete application packages must include the following: (Packages received that do not contain all of these materials will not be considered by the screening committee.)
1. Tacoma Community College online application.
2. Cover letter and resume. In your cover letter indicate how your background and experience meets the qualifications for this position.
3. Copies of transcripts for all colleges and universities attended.
Terms Of Employment
This is an adjunct faculty position contracted on a quarterly basis. Quarterly contracts are between 48 and 50 days in length (except summer quarter). The salary is $753.00 per credit hour which includes scheduled class time and final exam days as well as time for class preparation, weekly office hours, and grading tasks. Classes assigned to the successful candidate will be fully on campus with an online learning management system (Angel) component for some class materials.


text: Comments by Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com tag:profile.cleveland.com,2015:slitt/2414 2012-07-15T18:36:52Z Movable Type Enterprise 4.29-advance Comment on Sandro Bonaiuto sculpture of Dante at Italian Cultural Garden heralds a giant of Western culture tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.21140989 2012-07-15T18:36:52Z 2012-07-15T18:36:52Z Plaintiff lawyer: Indeed, most if not all regions of Italy, including Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Veneto, etc., have their own rich dialects. Children are taught Tuscan in school, but may grow up speaking the local dialect at home. The situation is slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium will soon release its first big report and is seeking an operations manager tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.21011292 2012-06-26T13:25:07Z 2012-06-26T13:25:07Z Ahmed and Bob Evans: The most widely used short definition of sustainability comes from the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, known as the Brundtland Commission: "Development that meets the needs of the present without jeopardizing slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Turkey's inquiry into 22 treasures at the Cleveland Museum of Art lacks hard proof of looting tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.20727937 2012-05-28T03:17:36Z 2012-05-28T03:17:36Z Dougal: I know of no American art museums that have returned Nazi-looted art in response to what you describe as "dubious claims." The Association of Art Museum Directors makes an appropriate distinction among the antiquities debate and artworks with gaps slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Museum of Art has big economic impact, new study says tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.20161705 2012-04-16T17:01:36Z 2012-04-16T17:01:36Z jvalver: The construction impact comes from a seven-year cumulative number. The annual impact of $140 million is a one year number. slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Departure of trustee Michael Horvitz from Cleveland Museum of Art board raises questions about the institution's future tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.19122928 2012-02-02T19:18:28Z 2012-02-02T19:18:28Z amberobit: From the late 1990s to the 2000s, the frequency of major exhibitions dropped from four a year to three, while the overall number of shows dropped from two dozen to perhaps a dozen a year. In the winter of slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Clinic's new master plan envisions bigger, greener campus with ample room to grow for decades tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.18958633 2012-01-23T17:24:17Z 2012-01-23T17:24:17Z Teapartier: Duly noted. Thanks for the update. slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Museum of Art acquires a hitherto unknown masterpiece by Edmonia Lewis tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.17968873 2011-11-15T21:30:22Z 2011-11-15T21:30:22Z MeAntiqueDigest: The 1911 date came from the recently published "Highlights from the Collection" catalogue of the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Actually, the curator involved informed me that the date was intended to be "after 1911." The museum may change the slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Institute of Art touts its own history in shows on Robert Mangold, Julian Stanczak and Ed Mieczkowski tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.17829457 2011-11-06T21:28:48Z 2011-11-06T21:28:48Z notanignoramus: Thanks for pointing out the unnecessary "s." Duly fixed. slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Museum of Art Director David Franklin throws a changeup at Progressive Field tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.16132159 2011-07-12T18:09:07Z 2011-07-12T18:09:07Z johnny216, thanks for your comment. Duly noted and corrected. slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Museum of Art acquires a Russian masterpiece by Robert Falk as a gift from the estate of Dr. Paul J. Vignos tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.15243592 2011-05-02T01:14:22Z 2011-05-02T01:14:22Z Precept: Thanks very much for your suggestion. I've included the link. The obit is very much worth reading. Dr. Vignos led a magnificent life. slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland's Group Plan Commission calls for big changes around Public Square and the Mall tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.14190524 2011-02-10T18:53:25Z 2011-02-10T18:53:25Z riverpese: Too often in my years at The Plain Dealer I've seen the judgments of traffic engineers trump the concerns of landscape architects, urban designers, community development corporations and others interested in economic development. I wish it were otherwise. I slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland's Group Plan Commission calls for big changes around Public Square and the Mall tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.14189251 2011-02-10T17:38:35Z 2011-02-10T17:38:35Z twinsdays, American da Vinci recently announced plans for a museum devoted to the art and industrial design of Viktor Schreckengost, which will open in May in the Tower Press Building at 21st and Superior. The second annual design expo will slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on GSA designs for new Celebrezze building facades will mute the 1960s look of the tower tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.14008808 2011-01-27T17:40:28Z 2011-01-27T17:40:28Z cbusrugger: The annual savings will be $600,000 to $700,000 a year on present annual energy costs of $3.7 million. I've just updated to add that information. slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Cleveland Museum of Art to auction 32 old master paintings at Sotheby's tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.13875347 2011-01-17T19:13:02Z 2011-01-17T19:13:02Z OldRuss: The museum's 12-step deaccessioning process requires curators to "seek to communicate with a donor or the donor's immediate successors about the disposition of a previously donated work as a courtesy." Museum officials also noted that Muriel Butkin, who bequeathed slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on ODOT invites public to sound off on minor design details of I-90 bridge tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.13479877 2010-12-17T19:54:36Z 2010-12-17T19:54:36Z Riley: For the record, I'm not an architect. I wouldn't want to give a false impression of my credentials. As for the design, the word I'd use is mundane, not urbane. I agree that a cable-stayed solution is not a slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Uptown plaza design wins conceptual approval from Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.13150878 2010-11-22T16:23:13Z 2010-11-22T16:23:13Z 216ism: You can read about Lot 45 here: http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2009/03/university_circle_inc_unveils.html slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Uptown plaza design wins conceptual approval from Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.13104850 2010-11-18T18:58:52Z 2010-11-18T18:58:52Z 216ism: The rendering to which you refer depicts the alley on the south side of Euclid Avenue, which is not the side of the project next to Hessler Street. That's why you see "no sign of Hessler in this rendering." slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on Uptown plaza design wins conceptual approval from Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee tag:blog.cleveland.com,2015:/architecture//2142.13100885 2010-11-18T15:13:01Z 2010-11-18T15:13:01Z To The Great Michael and others: The poverty surrounding University Circle is undeniable. It's also the focus of the five-year-old Greater University Circle initiative, which recently won a $14.75 million grant from Living Cities, a consortium of the nation's largest slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on MOCA Cleveland board approves building new home in University Circle's Uptown development tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.12900419 2010-11-03T20:25:36Z 2010-11-03T20:25:36Z rednedtugent: For the record, MRN Ltd. has purchased the land it needs only for the apartments under construction now. The company has options to buy the rest of the land needed from CWRU and UCI for Phase II of the slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/ Comment on 'Treasures of Heaven' exhibition at Cleveland Museum of Art puts spotlight on the divine tag:www.cleveland.com,2015:/arts/index.ssf/2728.12788455 2010-10-26T14:24:24Z 2010-10-26T14:24:24Z eyehrtfood, I appreciate your suggestion. I've explored these themes in several recent stories, and will return to them in the future. Previous articles on the topic include a piece last winter on the paucity of exhibitions with true star power: slitt http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/


text:
Article ID: 229499 - View products that this article applies to.
This article was previously published under Q229499
If you try to view a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications project in the Visual Basic Editor, the following error message appears:
Project is unviewable
You cannot view or modify the contents of your Visual Basic for Applications project in an Office 97 program when one of the following conditions is true:
You must open your file in the appropriate Office 2000 program in order to view or modify the Visual Basic project.
NOTE: If your project is locked, you must also know the appropriate password to view or modify the project.
For more information about project protection, from the Visual Basic Editor, click the Office Assistant, type protection tab, click Search, and then click to view "Protection tab (Project Properties Dialog Box)."
For additional information about digital signatures, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/206637/EN-US/ )OFF2000: Overview of Digital Certificates
Article ID: 229499 - Last Review: January 24, 2007 - Revision: 2.2
Retired KB Content Disclaimer
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
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text:
Who We Are
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RWF manufactures cast steel wheels by a controlled pressure pouring process. In this process, the raw material used is pedigree scrap (old used wheelsets, axles etc, rejected as unfit for use by the Railways). The scrap steel is melted in Ultra High Frequency Electric Arc furnace. The correct chemistry of molten metal steel is established through a Spectrometer. The wheels are eventually get cast in the graphite moulds, which are pre-heated and sprayed. After allowing for a pre-determined setting time the mould is spilt and the risers are automatically separated from the cast wheel.
The wheel is then subjected to various heat treatments. The wheel undergoes the process of cleaning, checking, peening and various stages of inspections. The wheel produced by this process requires no machining except the precession boring of heats central hole (hub) where the axle has to be fitted.
RWF buys high-quality vacuum-degassed steel blooms from large-scale steelmakers. Axles are manufactured from billets cut from the blooms. These blooms are forged in a precision long-forging machine supplied from M/s GFM, Austria. The billets are heated in a rotary hearth furnace to forging temperatures. Billets then forged in axles on a special purpose long forging machine. The forged axles are gas cut to required length. The axles are heat treated through various heat treatment process. The physical properties are confirmed before machining of the axles. The forged axles are machined on various machines. The operations include end machining, rough turning, finish turning, machining centers, grinding and burnishing. Internationally standardized tests (ultrasonic, magnetic particle, etc.) are used to confirm the quality of the axles.
The assembly of wheel sets is done on a highly automated wheel assembly complex. The wheel seat size of the axles is measured on an automated measuring unit and the dimensions are transferred to two wheel borers. Paired wheels are custom bored as per the wheel seat size to get correct interference fit. The wheels are then pressed on axle in a 300 T Wheel press.


text:
Voice Over Misconfigured Internet Telephone.
Has anyone played with this software ?
It converts an ip stream into a wav file.
Here's the link http://vomit.xtdnet.nl/
i read about it in a post at alt.phreaking.
OFF TOPIC: there is a really cool ip address posted at alt.phreaking. go check it out
Started by lokey , Sep 04 2003 07:46 PM
3 replies to this topic
Posted 04 September 2003 - 07:46 PM
Posted 04 September 2003 - 09:15 PM
thats an interesting idea. i haven't played with the software, but it does sound like it could be quite useful in the right setting
Posted 04 September 2003 - 11:39 PM
Interestingly enough, there is an article in BINREV 1.2 about VoIP by Epiphany that mentions VoMIT.
Posted 05 September 2003 - 01:32 AM
Isn't this what a modem does? Or does this thing just record a conversation so you can .. well record a call.
BinRev is hosted by the great people at Lunarpages!


text:
2011 Questions
When will faculty and unclassified employees receive their final 2011 pay? (12/12/11)
What should I do if I get a virus on a university-owned computer? (12/5/11)
As a Kent State employee, what do I need to know about Title IX? (11/28/11)
When is the Thanksgiving break? (11/21/11)
What is the holiday schedule for December 2011? (11/14/11)
Are there guidelines for developing a university policy? (11/7/11)
Where do staff employees report leave? (10/31/11)
Is there an employee discount for joining a fitness club? (10/24/11)
Do I need to complete Open Enrollment if I am not making any changes to my coverage? (10/17/11)
Can I take paid leave if I serve as a poll worker on election day? (10/10/11)
Where can I receive training on Kent State administrative systems? (10/3/11)
Where can I go to find Human Resources news? (9/26/11)
What is the Open Enrollment and Wellness Fair? (9/19/11)
Are there any OneWellU fitness programs offered this fall? (9/12/11)
When is the period to convert sick leave to vacation? (9/5/11)
What is the President's Excellence Award? (8/31/11)
Is there an employee discount for Kent State football tickets? (8/15/11)
Can I use the tuition waiver for non-credit classes? (8/8/11)
Are there any discounts for Kent State employees? (7/4/11)
Where can I find my Total Compensation Statement? (6/20/11)
Is the Tech Spot open for personal computer service during the summer? (6/6/11)
What is the timeline for Unclassified Performance Evaluations? (5/2/11)
Where can I go to Learn More About the Proposed Changes to the State Pension Systems? (4/25/11)
Where can I find training resources for classified performance evaluations? (4/18/11)
How does an employee notify the university that he/she is voluntarily leaving their position? (4/4/11)
How do I connect my laptop or mobile device to Kent State's secure wireless network? (3/28/11)
When do performance evaluations take place this year? (3/21/11)
What is ALICE training? (3/14/11)
Is the tuition waiver taxable? (3/7/11)
W hen is this year's 20-Year Club recognition program? (2/28/11)
When is this year's Office Support Staff luncheon? (2/14/11)
Is there a change in the process for submitting a request for an Independent Contractor? (2/7/11)
Does Human Resources offer webinars? (1/31/11)
Is there a walking club at Kent State? (1/24/11)
When will my W-2 be available? (1/17/11)
Where can I go if I have questions about my benefits coverage for 2011? (1/10/11)


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As climate experts worldwide fight for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, other people have come up with more radical ideas to beat climate change: bouncing sunlight back to space by pumping nanoparticles into the atmosphere, launching mirrors into Earth's orbit, or thickening and brightening our clouds.
In "Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control", author James Rodger Fleming traces the history of rainmakers, rain fakers, weather warriors and climate engineers.
Through the "tragicomic" story of weather control, the sky can become a dangerous experiment, the publisher Columbia University Press says in its synopsis of the book.
"For more than a century, scientists, soldiers and charlatans have tried to manipulate weather and climate, and like them, today's climate engineers wildly exaggerate what is possible," Columbia University Press said on its website.
"Scarcely considering the political, military, and ethical implications of managing the world's climate, these individuals hatch schemes with potential consequences that far outweigh anything their predecessors might have faced," it said.


text:
These are breakfast slogan examples.
GetaSlogan helps connect your business to relevant and optimized slogans that will stand out from the thousands of businesses competing for your sales. That's why businesses flock to GetaSlogan if they're looking for professional slogan service at an affordable price.
(Note: To see all slogan suggestions, please click 'See All Slogan Suggestions')
Click [HERE] if you need a Slogan
Date: January 29th, 2013 Title:I would like a friendly hometown slogan to put on our uniform shirts, and menus. I serve breakfast and lunch. Thank you.. Keywords: restuarant , breakfast Description:Sundance Grille Metamora on facebook, t-shirt slogan, friends,wake-up with us,home cooking,small town
Winner:Start Your Day Sunny Side Up
Date: August 5th, 2011 Title:Bar Restaurant in a business area Keywords: lunch , breakfast , snacks , food , drinks , restaurant , bar Description:I own a bar / restaurant in a business area. We serve food at breakfast and lunch time. We also serve drinks and snacks typically afterwork hours. As we are facing now some competition we would need a catchy slogan that make our bar / restaurant special in the eyes of our customers. The goal is that they see us different and choose us for lunch and afterwork drinks.
Winner:An Oasis of Good Eating, Drinking and Friends


text:
COLUMBUS, Ga.-- Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC), a leading digital cinema and 3D motion picture exhibitor, today announced that it has entered into a new $265 million senior secured term loan facility and a $30 million senior secured revolving credit facility.
Carmike's existing senior secured term loan facility was set to mature in May 2012 and had a balance of $250.8 million outstanding at December 31, 2009. The new term loan facility will have an interest rate of LIBOR plus 350 basis points, with a LIBOR floor of 2.0% and fully matures in January 2016. The interest rate is 50 basis points lower than the prior expected rate of LIBOR plus 400 basis points, as disclosed in the Carmike news announcement issued January 7, 2010.
Carmike has also replaced its $50 million revolving credit facility previously set to mature in May 2010, which was undrawn as of December 31, 2009, with a $30 million revolving credit facility that matures in January 2013.
The refinancing was led by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., acting as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners, with Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. as documentation agent, Citibank, N.A., as syndication agent, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent.
Carmike has filed a copy of the new credit agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Carmike Cinemas Chief Financial Officer, Richard B. Hare, stated, "The new term loan and revolving credit facility is a positive development for Carmike, which we believe will afford us the requisite flexibility to fund the Company's future growth and success."


text:
The present invention provides a method for devices to be remotely accessed over a network. A remote device drive is coupled to a bus device driver at a network client. The remote device driver communicates to a remote bus proxy to a driver service in the server domain. A device manager provides responsibility for discovering services on network clients, enabling driver services to use the devices, notifying other driver services of the availability of devices, notifying clients of the permission to use a device by a service, and tracking connected devices.
1. A system for providing remote access to a peripheral device located on a desktop unit domain, said system comprising:
a network;
at least one driver service at said server domain, said at least one driver service requesting said peripheral device;
a remote bus proxy at said server domain, said remote bus proxy communicating with said peripheral device;
a remote device driver at said desktop unit and locally coupled to said peripheral device, said remote device driver configured to track said peripheral device being associated with said at least one driver service; and
a device manager at said server domain, said device manager controlling communications over said network between said at least one driver service at said server domain and said remote device driver at said desktop unit domain;
wherein said device manager is further adapted to approve requests to read or send data to said peripheral device via said remote device driver and to control accessibility to said peripheral device via said remote device driver.
2. The system of
3. An apparatus for providing access to a plurality of devices located on a desktop domain over a network, comprising:
a desktop domain having a plurality of devices;
a network;
a server domain coupled to said desktop domain via said network;
a remote device driver locally connected to said plurality of devices;
a plurality of driver services configured to remotely control one or more of said plurality of devices, wherein said remote device driver tracks which one or more of said plurality of driver services communicate with which of said one or more of said plurality of devices; and
a device manager configured to register said one or more of said plurality of driver services with said remote device driver to access said one or more of said plurality of devices;
wherein said device manager is further configured to approve requests to read data from said one or more of said plurality of devices via said remote device driver, to approve requests to send data to said one or more of said plurality of devices via said remote device driver, and to control accessibility to said one or more of said plurality of devices via said remote device driver;
wherein said plurality of driver services and said device manager reside in said server domain;
wherein said plurality of driver services and said device manager are coupled across said network to said remote device driver; and
wherein said remote device driver resides in said desktop unit domain.
4. The apparatus of
5. The apparatus of
6. The apparatus of
7. The apparatus of
8. The apparatus of
a bus device driver locally coupling said remote device driver to said one or more of said plurality of devices; and
a bus proxy remotely coupling said one or more of said plurality of driver services to said remote device driver.
9. The apparatus of
10. The apparatus of
a session manager configured to associate one or more sessions with said one or more of said plurality driver services; and
an authentication manager configured to associate said one or more sessions with said HID.
11. The apparatus of
12. The apparatus of
13. The apparatus of
14. The apparatus of
15. The apparatus of
16. The apparatus of
17. A method for providing access to one or more remote devices over a network, comprising:
receiving by a device manager at a server domain of a device request from a driver service at said server domain;
registering by said device manager of said driver service with a remote device driver at a desktop domain; and
communicating by said driver service with an associated remote device of one or more remote devices at said desktop domain via said remote device driver;
tracking said associated remote device association with said driver service via said remote device driver;
wherein said registering by said device manager of said driver service comprises controlling accessibility to said associated remote device using said remote device driver, approving requests to read from said associated remote device using said remote device driver, and approving requests to send data to said associated remote device using said remote device driver.
18. The method of
19. The method of
20. The method of
associating a session with said driver service via a session manager; and
associating said session with a Human Interface Device (HID) at said desktop unit domain via an authentication manager.
21. The method of
22. The method of
23. The method of
24. The method of
25. The method of
26. The method of
27. The method of
28. The method of
29. An apparatus for providing access to one or more peripheral devices over a network, comprising:
a wide area network;
a plurality of peripheral devices;
a Human Interface Device (HID) locally coupled to said peripheral devices, said HID comprising a remote device driver coupled to said plurality of peripheral devices; and
a server coupled to said HID over said wide area network, said server comprising:
a plurality of driver services configured to remotely control said plurality of peripheral devices for said HID over said wide area network, wherein said remote device driver tracks which one or more of said plurality of driver services communicate with which one or more of said plurality of peripheral devices; and
a device manager configured to register said one or more of said plurality of driver services with said remote device driver to access said one or more of said plurality of peripheral devices;
wherein said device manager is further configured to approve requests to read data from said one or more of said plurality of peripheral devices via said remote device driver, to approve requests to send data to said one or more of said plurality of peripheral devices via said remote device driver and to control accessibility to said one or more of said plurality of peripheral of remote devices via said remote device driver.
30. The apparatus of
31. The apparatus of
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computer systems.
Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, JavaBeans, HotJava and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
2. Background Art
Computer systems often include additional devices used to provide additional functionality. These devices, often called "peripheral" devices, can include keyboards, printers, scanners, network interface and graphics cards, modems, monitors, cameras, and sound input devices. Generally, a device driver is used to control the peripheral device. In some network environments, the traditional device driver may not operate correctly. This problem can be understood by a review of peripheral devices.
Peripheral devices are often connected to a computer system through an expansion bus. An expansion bus allows the processor of a computer system (via software running on the processor), main memory, and other hardware associated with a computer system to control peripheral hardware devices external to the computer system. An expansion bus consists of conductors for data and control signals, along with hardware support logic chips and possibly firmware. There are a variety of expansion buses such as ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), S-Bus, VME bus, etc. Each expansion bus defines a certain protocol by which devices that are on the bus are accessed.
A device driver is software used to control a peripheral device that is coupled with the computer system on the bus. A device driver is a program that controls a particular type of device that is attached to your computer. There are device drivers for printers, displays, CD-ROM readers, diskette drives, and so on. Many device drivers are built into an operating system. New device drivers are needed for devices for which the operating system does not already have drivers. A device driver converts the more general input/output instructions of the operating system to messages that the device type can understand. In many computer systems device drivers exist as a dynamic link library (DLL) file.
A problem can arise where, in some network environments, a peripheral device may not be coupled directly to the computer system through the bus, but rather through a network connection, via a so called "thin" or "ultra-thin" client. For example, in an environment with a thin or ultra-thin client, it may not be possible to embed device-specific code, such as device drivers, for the large number of devices available.
The present invention provides a method for devices to be remotely accessed over a network. A remote device driver is coupled to a bus device driver at a network client. The remote device driver communicates to a remote bus proxy to a driver service in the server domain. A device manager provides responsibility for discovering services on network clients, enabling driver services to use the devices, notifying other driver services of the availability of devices, notifying clients of the permission to use a device by a service, and tracking connected devices.
The invention is a method and apparatus for accessing remote devices. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a more thorough description of embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.
Virtual Desktop System Architecture
One environment in which the present invention may be applied is in a virtual desktop system. One example of such a computer system is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/063,335 filed Apr. 20, 1998 and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Providing a Virtual Desktop System Architecture". In such a system, their is provided a central office metaphor to computing, where features and functions are provided by one or more servers and communicated to an appliance terminal through a network. Data providers are defined as "services" and are provided by one or more processing resources. The services communicate to display terminals through a network, such as Ethernet. The terminals are configured to display data, and to send keyboard, cursor, audio, and video data through the network to the processing server. Functionality is partitioned so that databases, server and graphical user interface functions are provided by the services, and human interface functionality is provided by the terminal. Communication with the terminals from various services is accomplished by converting disparate output to a common protocol. Appropriate drivers are provided for each service to allow protocol conversion. Multiple terminals are coupled to the network. Users can enable their unique session at any one of the terminals by logging in such as by inserting a "smart card" into a card reader. Removing the card disables the session. Re-inserting the card into the same or any other terminal re-enables the session.
In the computer system described above, the interfaces for peripheral devices coupled to the human interface terminal appear over a network protocol and do not involve operating system device drivers in the traditional sense.
In this system the functionality of the system is partitioned between a display and input device, and data sources or services. The display and input device is a human interface device (HID). The partitioning of this system is such that state and computation functions have been removed from the HID and reside on data sources or services. In one embodiment of the invention, one or more services communicate with one or more HIDs through some interconnect fabric, such as a network. An example of such a system is illustrated in FIG. 3. Referring to
Computational Service Providers
In the HID system, the computational power and state maintenance is found in the service providers, or services. The services are not tied to a specific computer, but may be distributed over one or more traditional desktop systems such as described in connection with
Examples of services include X11/Unix services, archived or live audio or video services, Windows NT service, Java™ program execution service, and others. A service herein is a process that provides output data and responds to user requests and input.
It is the responsibility of the service to handle communications with the HID that is currently being used to access the given service. This involves taking the output from the computational service and converting it to a standard protocol for the HID. This data protocol conversion is handled in one embodiment of the invention by a middleware layer, such as the X11 server, the Microsoft Windows interface, a video format transcoder, the OpenGL interface, or a variant of the java.awt.graphics class) within the service producer machine. The service machine handles the translation to and from the virtual desktop architecture wire protocol.
In an embodiment of the invention, each service is provided by a computing device optimized for its performance. For example, an Enterprise class machine could be used to provide X11/Unix service, a Sun MediaCenter could be used to provide video service, a Hydra based NT machine could provide applet program execution service.
The service producing computer systems connect directly to the HIDs through the interconnect fabric. It is also possible for the service producer to be a proxy for another device providing the computational service, such as a database computer in a three tiered architecture, where the proxy computer might only generate queries and execute user interface code.
Interconnection Fabric
In the invention, the interconnection fabric is any of multiple suitable communication paths for carrying data between the services and the HIDs. In one embodiment the interconnect fabric is a local area network implemented as an Ethernet network. Any other local network may also be utilized. The invention also contemplates the use of wide area networks, the internet, the world wide web, and others. The interconnect fabric may be implemented with a physical medium such as a wire or fiber optic cable, or it may be implemented in a wireless environment.
In one embodiment of the invention, the interconnect fabric provides actively managed, low-latency, high-bandwidth communications between the HID and the services being accessed. One embodiment contemplates a single-level, switched network, with cooperative (as opposed to competing) network traffic. Dedicated or shared communications interconnects may be used in the present invention.
Human Interface Devices
The HID is the means by which users access the computational services provided by the services.
A block diagram of the HID is illustrated in FIG. 4. The components of the HID are coupled internally to a PCI bus 412. A network control block 402 communicates to the interconnect fabric, such as an ethernet, through line 414. An audio codec 403 receives audio data on interface 416 and is coupled to block 402. USB data communication is provided on lines 413 to USB controller 401.
An embedded processor 404 may be, for example, a Sparc2ep with coupled flash memory 405 and DRAM 406. The USB controller 401, network controller 402 and embedded processor 404 are all coupled to the PCI bus 412. Also coupled to the PCI 412 is the video controller 409. The video controller 409 may be for example, and ATI Rage128 frame buffer controller (or any other suitable controller) that provides SVGA output on line 415. NTSC or PAL data is provided into video controller through video decoder 410. A smartcard interface 408 may also be coupled to the video controller 409.
Alternatively, the HID can be implemented using a single chip solution as illustrated in FIG. 5. The single chip solution includes the necessary processing capability implemented via CPU 501 and graphics renderer 505. Chip memory 507 is provided, along with video controller/interface 506. A universal serial bus (USB) controller 502 is provided to permit communication to a mouse, keyboard and other local devices attached to the HID. A sound controller 503 and interconnect interface 504 are also provided. The video interface shares memory 507 with the CPU 501 and graphics renderer 505. The software used in this embodiment may reside locally in non volatile memory or it can be loaded through the interconnection interface when the device is powered.
Device Manager
The device manager is responsible for brokering devices that are attached to desktop units (HIDs) on the interconnection fabric for the purpose of remotely accessing the devices from various services. Since a desktop unit has no knowledge of most kinds of devices, it is not possible for it to understand the semantics of the device, and as a result, it is unable to directly control the device.
This means that device drivers should be provided by services running elsewhere on the interconnect. These services locate devices to be controlled through the device manager, and then they can directly control the device through the desktop unit. The device services are treated as the services described above in connection with the HID environment, so attention should be paid to connection with the desktop unit, session movement, and possible disconnection of the unit from the interconnect. Finally, since current peripheral bus architectures, such as USB, IEEE-1394, and PC bus support hot-plugging, both services and the device manager should be aware that devices could be connected, disconnected, or moved while the desktop unit is functioning and while being controlled by a service.
The device manager is also responsible for approving of services, keeping an inventory of devices and their controlling services, and locating devices on the interconnect. Different management scenarios are made available including a global device driver service (such as a Solaris™ nexus driver), a per-device driver, or a per-class driver. There are also different scopes provided, such as interconnect scope, desktop scope, and session scope.
Since the device management framework is focused on controlling devices, it does not perform desktop unit location services, or service and user authentication. These functions are performed by the session manager and the authentication manager respectively described in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/063,339 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,289), entitled "Method and Apparatus for Session Management and User Authentication," and filed on Apr. 20, 1998, and patent application Ser. No. 09/289,788 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,264), entitled "Method and Apparatus for Remotely Administered Authentication and Access Control Services," filed on Apr. 9, 1999, and both assigned to the assignee of the present application. Device drivers in this context are services that join a session in the way described in the co-pending applications, find their devices using the device manager and deal with the device directly using a protocol with desktop unit.
Device management controls accessibility of devices to services, thus to users and user programs. It is flexible enough to handle a wide variety of session and service scenarios from individual devices to all of the devices addressed by the desktop unit. This is done by first establishing a connection with the desktop unit using the standard session management services.
Block Diagram
The session manager 204 knows which services are associated with a particular session and manages connections with the desktop with the help of the authentication manager 203. The authentication manager 203 knows which user is requesting access and which session to associate with that user.
The device manager 201 uses the association between the user, session and desktop to map device services 205 to particular devices connected to particular desktop units. In the process of doing this, the device manager 201 can check a policy list 202 to compare what the service is asking for and the user (session) with an administrative policy for device access permission. If appropriate, then the device manager 201 registers the driver service with the remote device driver 207, and starts passing device discovery configuration events to the service.
Since the device manager 201 controls the service with respect to device attachment, the device manager 201 can inform the service of device loss when a session ends, and, to enforce this, can inform the desktop unit that no more control of a particular device is permitted by a particular service. If the service is controlling more than one device, then it may still be capable of controlling the other devices.
In one embodiment, there is a logically single device manager 201 much like there is a single session manager 204 and authentication manager 203 per interconnect domain. This means that there are single connections between the device manager 201 and each of the session manager 204 and the authentication manager 203. The driver service connects to the session manager 204 as would any service. It may be possible to plumb the device manager 201 between the session manager 204 and driver services to add the device management functionality to session services.
The remote device driver 207 is a standard device driver hosted by the bus device driver 208. The remote device driver 207, however, emulates a number of device drivers for the purposes of remote access, so it is likely to own all but a few of the devices 210A-210D on the desktop unit. As a result, the remote device driver 207 is responsible for keeping track of which remote device services 205 go to which devices that are exposed at the bus device driver 208. Additionally, the remote device driver 207 picks up configuration events from the bus device driver 208 and reports them to the device manager 201 for possible connection to a driver service.
Finally, the remote device driver 207 has the ability to permit and deny device and unit access by driver services. It maintains filters (given to it by the device manager 201) of interested services that are directly connected to it as well as a generic filter to report devices that might not be session-specific.
The authentication manager 203 maintains (possibly intermittent) connections with each of the desktop units for the purposes of authenticating users. This connection is used to additionally pass configuration information to and from the remote device driver 207. This connection is not required to be full-time because it is only needed when a session closes down (and then when a session-based policy is in effect), and when configuration events occur for devices which do not currently have a service controlling them.
The connection between the remote device driver 207 and the driver service is for communicating directly with the device and reporting errors, device disconnection, or loss of permission. This connection can be intermittent because the connection may be lost when a session changes or when a device is no longer available.
The bus type determines the protocol between the service (the bus proxy 206) and the remote device driver 207. The remote device driver's architecture and interface to the bus driver is also determined by the bus driver. Finally, the device description format, parts of the device ownership policy, and address space are also controlled by the bus type.
It is assumed that it is possible to track a user's authentication record from a session so it is possible to provide access to devices and units based on user identity. It is also assumed that it is possible to derive the desktop unit interconnect address from a session to enable communication with the desktop unit, to provide access to devices based on the identity of the desktop unit, and to track device assets based on desktop unit.
Device Manager 201
The Device manager 201 is responsible for brokering devices to services. In doing this, it needs to intercede between the remote device driver 207 and the driver service. The following is a step-by-step procedure for permitting a driver service to access a remote device:
1. When a device request (register) is received from the driver service, it is compared to the device access policy by comparing each field of the request to the policy. If there is a field that is specified in the policy (e.g. has a specific value and is not wild-carded), and the field does not match the field in the request, then the request is rejected. Incomplete matches are enabled for the class, model, and serial number.
2. The attached device data is scanned for a match with the device request. Device requests match devices for the purpose of reporting back to the driver service. If there is an attached device that matches, then a device status (connect) message is sent to the driver service. Otherwise, no response is generated at this time.
3. A received device request (register) is stored in the list of registered services.
4. If a driver services wishes to be the configuration master of the device, it requests configuration write permission with a device request (configure) message. If there is no current configuration service, then the attached device data is updated and a driver registration (configure) message is sent to the desktop unit. Otherwise, the request is rejected.
5. If the driver service wishes to use a particular device unit, then a device request (allocate) is received from the service which signifies the server connection number (e.g. Server socket) to be used for unit connection to this driver service. Otherwise, the device (or unit) remains available for other services to allocate.
6. When a unit is allocated, then a driver registration (allocate) message is sent to the desktop unit.
7. When a Device discovery message is received, then the device is added or removed from attached device data.
8. When a device is added to the device data, the selection data is re-scanned for a match, and device status (connect) messages may be generated if there are matches.
9. Receiving a device request (allocate) renews the lease on a device unit.
10. When a device is removed from the device data, the selection data is re-scanned for matching services. If a service's selection lifetime is met, then the service's registered selection is removed.
11. When the connection with the driver service is lost, or a device request (unregister) is received, or the selection lifetime criterion is met, then the service's registered selection is removed.
12. If a registered selection is removed, then a driver registration (remove) message is sent to the desktop unit.
13. When the connection to the desktop unit is lost, the devices connected to that unit are removed from the list. Any interested services may have their registered selections removed if the selection lifetime is met.
14. If a service's lease on a device expires or a session lease expires, then a Driver Registration (remove) message is sent to the desktop unit.
Device Access Policy
The device access policy is an external file or database that is compared to device access requests to determine if a request is valid. It contains the following fields:
Any of the fields can be left blank, meaning any value in the request will match that field. In order for a complete match, all specified fields should be matched.
Class, model, and serial number allow incomplete matching if the amount specified in the policy matches the first part of the request string.
Unions are allowed for lifetime values (e.g. session connected or permanent).
Device Access Request
The device access request is used by driver services to register and unregister device searches and set the communication capabilities with the desktop unit. The server address and the session number are derived from the session manager 204 connection. This request has several forms: (parenthesized expressions are examples from the USB configuration specification).
Device discovery is used by the desktop unit to report when devices change state—connected, disconnected, owned, released. The desktop unit interconnect address is derived from the authentication manager 203 connection. This request has several forms:
1. Tracks the connection and disconnection of devices for all desktop units on an interconnect.
2. Keeps a list of all devices currently attached devices on all functioning desktop units on an interconnect. This list includes (example mappings: USB, IEC/ISO 13213 [e.g. IEEE-1394]):
3. keeps a list of all driver services registering interest in devices:
4. Informs driver services when a candidate device becomes available whether or not it is in use by another service (all approved services can read a device's configuration space).
5. Accepts device access requests from services. Operational device access requests apply only to individual units so multiple services can control a single device.
6. Controls device access permissions.
7. Compares the device access request to the device access policy.
8. After authorization, registers a driver with a desktop unit.
9. In case of failure, all interested services are reconstructed and each desktop unit queried on a time-available basis for its current list of devices and owning services. External programs can snapshot the device manager 201 state e.g. for inventory purposes, but that is not considered core or critical device manager 201 functionality. Device manager 201 failure does imply the temporary loss of the ability to connect some services to some devices.
10. Driver services may register before the particular device requested is available (e.g. in use or disconnected).
1. Device Status
The device status message is sent to the driver service when a device is connected or ownership changes. Disconnect events come directly from the desktop unit. The message includes the data:
The driver registration message is sent to the desktop unit to attempt to allocate a device on behalf of a service. There are three forms to this message:
All three have the same arguments:
The driver service is the client to device management, and created by an external party.
The driver service needs to completely control the device; e.g., Implement a complete device driver. As such, it is the responsible party for creating device requests. The driver service uses the remote bus proxy 206 to help structure itself with respect to a session and handling the device protocol.
After describing a controllable device to the device manager 201, the driver service waits for device status messages for the purpose of collecting the desktop unit address and the device number. When the device status message is received, then the driver service is free to read the device's configuration space using the remote bus proxy 206. If the device is found to be inappropriate, the driver service waits for more device status messages, and optionally closes the socket it used to access the desktop unit. If the connection is still open and the device is unplugged, then the driver service receives remote device data that reflects this.
If the driver service wishes to fully access the device, it should first determine if there is a current configuration. If there is, then it simply can start sending device requests to open units. If there is not a current configuration, then the service needs to become the configuration owner first. If the driver service is the configuration owner, then it should set the configuration if the bus and/or device require that to be done.
If there are already open device units, then it is possible that the original configuration owner has given up control of the configuration, but the configuration cannot change until all of the units are closed.
After a unit is opened, then read and write operations can happen on any of the conduits associated with the unit; the driver is the sole owner of that unit.
If a session state change is detected, the device manager 201 assumes that the driver service will follow its policy and either continue to service device status requests and control the device, or drop the device and wait for the session to establish itself with a new desktop unit. The device manager 201 additionally enforces this.
When the driver service is done with a device, it releases all of its units using a device request (release) command. If it was the configuration owner, then it should release its configuration using a similar command. If the lease expires on the device, the socket is closed, or if the device is disconnected, then all of this happens automatically at the desktop unit.
1. Device-specific services register from within the context of a session, even if that is a special administrative session.
2. The driver service is responsible for describing the devices it can drive. This can be more than one device.
3. It is acceptable for driver services to discovery a device and to probe its configuration space without either becoming the configuration owner or opening any units.
The remote bus proxy 206 is an easy-to-use interface for both the device manager 201 and the remote device driver 207. The remote bus proxy 206 converts function calls into protocol for both of these.
Since the remote bus proxy 206 handles the remote device driver 207, its interfaces are necessarily bus-specific. For an example of a remote device driver 207, refer to the USB remote proxy 206 interface below.
USB Bus Binding
Device Discovery Formats
Remote Device Protocol
Because all of the data for a session is being multiplexed onto a single socket, it is important to use a call-response protocol similar to the basic USB protocol. This keeps backpressure on the USE bus and not on the TCP connection because only one transaction at a time is allowed on an endpoint. The entire protocol is done in two phases. One to send data or commands and another to receive data or status. Only disconnect events are asynchronous (but you can have only one!).
The well-known port for USB transactions is 5498.
The first data sent is a 16 bit magic number followed by a 16 bit command. After that, all data transfer is done in an even number of 4-byte words. The length of the command is derived from the command and then rounded up to make an even number.
Val is an argument for the particular command, addr is the device address from 1-128, and endp is the endpoint (unit in Device Management parlaise) number from 0-15.
The IN command is used to request data from an endpoint, and for that data to be returned to the service. Val encoded the size of bytes of the desired read, or the amount of the data returned.
The STATUS command is used to return status for OUT commands, or error status for bad IN commands. Error codes are found in the val field and are TBD, but are extended from the OHCI transfer error codes. There will be special error codes to designate that the endpoint is inaccessable, and to designate that the device is inaccessable and/or disconnected if the endpoint is zero. Special error codes will not conflict with operational error codes.
The OUT command is used to write data directly to an endpoint. The length of the transfer is encoded in the val field. The response from the device is always with a status command
The SETUP command is for sending a control transfer. The 8 bytes immediately following the header describe the control command. Vat encodes the length of the data following and should exactly equal the value in bytes 6 and 7 of the control command. If the command is a read (bmRequestType & TRANS_READ), then vat should be zero.
Device manager 201 function should not be required to maintain current device connections. In case of device manager 201 failure, connecting should be retried. When a new connection is established, device request data should be sent to the device manager 201 for database rebuild.
The remote device driver 207 maintains relationships between the device manager 201, the requesting services and the actual bus device driver 208. It can tap all configuration activity on the bus. Its two primary functions are to map configuration information to and from the device space and to convert protocol to and from device data. When a device is plugged in, unplugged, or the ownership of a device changes, the remote device driver 207 should send a device discovery message.
When a device is unplugged or becomes inaccessible to a particular service, then it should send an unplug message over the socket to the driver service and disable that device connection for that service (although it should not remove all of the device connections if they are not all invalid). If the connection to the driver service is lost, it should free all of the resources being held by that service and notify the device manager 201.
When the device manager 201 sends a driver registration message, the remote device drive 207 enables the designated port for the designated resource. If the designated resource is not available, the remote device driver 207 sends a device discovery message to the device manager 201 reminding it who currently owns that resource. If, the resource is available, the resource is allocated and enabled, and a device discovery message is sent to the device manager 201 to indicate the new owner.
The device manager 201 will, from time to time, send driver registration messages indicating that a service no longer has access to a device or unit. In this case, that resource is deallocated, a disconnect message is sent to the driver service, and a device discovery message is sent to the device manager 201 to indicate that the resource has been released.
If the connection to the device manager 201 is lost, then this is retried until connection is reestablished, then all of the current device data is sent to the device manager 201 using device discovery messages.
1. In order to realize one connection per service per desktop unit, it is necessary to perform flow control at the bus level rather than at the connection level.
2. For accounting purposes, a remote device driver 207 reports devices which it does not manage or are currently not connected to a service to the device manager 201.
3. It is possible for the configuration space of all devices, including devices used internally to the desktop unit, to be queried, but if a device is in use (either locally or remotely) it is not possible to change the configuration (other than to connect to a service in the case of an unused device) nor to transfer operational data to or from these devices.
4. If there are already open device units, then it is possible that the original configuration owner has given up control of the configuration, but the configuration cannot change until all of the units are closed.
5. Remote device driver 207 should be able to deny connections to devices from services directly. This is important for policy enforcement.
6. Device manager 201 function should not be required to maintain the list of current device connections.
7. In case of device manager 201 failure, connecting should be retried. When a new connection is established, all device discovery data should be sent to the device manager 201 for database rebuild.
8. Informs all interested driver services when a device is disconnected whether or not they have exerted any control over the device.
1. The Device manager 201 uses the authentication manager 203 connection for a secure, and ubiquitous connection to all desktop units.
2. The device manager 201 uses the session manager 204 connection to be sure that the session that is making requests is currently attached to the desktop unit it wants to control.
3. The device manager 201 does not authenticate individual users. It is up to programming on the device manager 201 target platform to provide a connection into the device manager 201 which can authorize individual users.
Communication Interfaces
1. All remote interfaces use sequenced, reliable byte streams.
2. All communications interfaces depend on the installed networking infrastructure, which is not specified. Initial versions are for TCP/IP at all interfaces.
Patent Citations
Referenced by
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How knowledgeable are ordinary citizens about the Bank Century scandal? Not very, they admit.
"I know about it but I don't really understand because I think it's very complicated," said Bunga, a 21-year old university student. She said she did not care at all at first but her attitude changed when she saw an elderly woman crying on TV after allegedly losing all her money.
"I felt sorry for her and I wondered, how could the people who took the money sleep at night?" said Bunga.
A former bank clerk named Ola said the controversy has always had more to do with power than banking.
"The Century case entered political zone right from the start. From the economic perspective, the case was finished and there was nothing wrong in the decision-making. What the government must find out is where the money went," she said.
An insurance broker named Ferdinand said he did not know anything about the issue, and didn't plan to find out.
"I always skip news about it in the newspaper. It's not that I don't care, but it's complicated," said Ferdinand.
Etty, a 62-year-old housewife, said she did not understand the details of the situaiton but she was worried about its impact on the government.
"I hope the Century case won't make President SBY insecure because I like SBY. I voted for him twice," she said.