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WHAT? THERE'S A `DELETE' BUTTON?: Our campaign to capture the easy-as-pie District 5 council seat has run into a spot of trouble, thanks to this whole Gen. David Petraeus email snafu.
Last summer we sent the following text to a woman named W.:
"Since you'll be in Costa Rica next week, is it cool if I invite Veronica out for coffee?"
Another, this one sent from San Clemente to the same woman. Again with the coffee: "I'm having random and unprotected coffee with a local anonymous girl."
Here's a text sent to us from a woman named B.: "You love M.? I'm not speaking to you." We replied: "It didn't mean anything."
You can see how any of these messages might be taken out of context. You can see how the press and our opposition could have a field day with this stuff. You can see how this could, with people having the sort of weird thoughts that people sometimes have, kill our campaign a-borning.
"Bring the monkey," we once texted a woman.
We don't even recall what we meant by that, but it can't do us any good if that text got out to the public.
We don't recall to whom "I look great in shorts!" was sent, but it was probably one of our many women friends to whom we're not married. Happily, we're fairly certain we didn't send her a picture of us in shorts, because a picture of us in shorts would have flown in the face of what we wrote in the text.
Some of our texts, which we've acquired through the Freedom of Information Act and WikiLeaks, are painfully frank confessions that portray a tortured and often troubled person:
"I had granola bar and three of those little booze-filled chocolate bottles for lunch."
"You can't kill yourself just by holding your breath. I just tried."
We want to get all of this out now, so we can concentrate on the real issues in our campaign for the City Council, chief of which is the question of how can we make that job even easier?
TEXAS GOES EX-US?: Wait. Texas wants to secede from the United States of America? The whole state? With all the Texans in it? That reminds us of a joke that we'll have to retool for our purposes.
A Californian and a Texan are walking along the beach when they stumble upon a lamp. The Texan picks it up.
"Rub the lamp," says the Californian, because the Texan couldn't pour water out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.
The Texan rubs the lamp and, because this is a joke, a genie pops out. The genie says, "Thanks, fellas. For your reward, I will give each of you one wish."
Texan goes, "I'm tired of the United States and its socialist/Kenyan president. I want Texas to be a separate state."
Genie says, "Done," and turns to the Californian.
"It's already done? Texas is no longer part of the United States?" asks the dumbfounded Californian.
"That's right," says the genie.
"And the Texans are all going to stay there?"
"Yep. What is your wish?"
Californian says, "I guess I'll just have a Diet Coke."
MAIL BAG: Great news! We got new phones in our sprawling suite of offices high up on the first floor of the Arco/Molina Towers. Turns out the message system works. Here's our inaugural message from an anonymous woman caller on our new and fancy phone:
"You're a fat old liberal, and why didn't you write about despair and grief in the right wing? And I need to correct you: It's not just despair and grief; we're sad and disappointed. And there certainly wasn't a mandate. And of course I'm sure you felt a thrill go up your leg - not a pretty sight. I dare you to handle this issue in one of your columns, but I'm sure you won't."
Not a pretty sight? We look great in shorts!
Certainly not a mandate? Certainly a mandate! Just a few days before the election we were helping our daughter with her high school government homework and we went over the part about how the central idea of a democracy is the authority the citizens in a democracy grant to act as their representative. In a democracy, when you win an election, you are given a mandate - the authority - to govern. Dang, we're not going to get in an argument over this, are we?
Otherwise, we'll grant you fat, liberal and a chickening out on your dare to write about the despair, grief, sadness and disappointment of the right wing.
We know how you feel. We've been there but, as we learned four years ago and again last week, eventually, things get better.
firstname.lastname@example.com, 562-714-2116 or twitter.com/grobaty


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Vulnerable children in Wiltshire have been exposed to a significant risk of harm by Wiltshire Council's failed child protection team, inspectors have said.
Leader of the council Jane Scott admitted that findings by Ofsted inspectors were "not good enough".
Police and health authorities also came under fire in the report which said 17 cases out of 92 inspected left inspectors concerned.
The council has pumped an emergency £500,000 from its reserves into the children's services department in a bid to turn around its fortunes.
Inspectors found 'significant failings' in child protection work. There were oversights by managers who were tasked with minimising risks to children, while child protection plans were not issued when they should have been.
Cllr Scott said: "Inspections are difficult but necessary. We don't hide away from them and we fully accept it wasn't good enough."
It has emerged that the council was aware the department had problems last November when it carried out its own review.
Carolyn Godfrey, corporate director for children's services, said: "It was not just the managers that were not robust but the quality control was not there either. We did have some concerns when we did our own review.
"We were putting the changes in just when the inspectors arrived."
The two-week inspection, carried out in March, said that the council's 'looked after' children's services were adequate and that they had adequate capacity to turn around the 'inadequate' finding for safeguarding services.
Inspectors praised the council for not cutting its budget and said that its interventions had a strong child-focus.
An independent board will now be established to monitor the department's work more closely, while inspectors are expected to return in six to nine months to check on progress.

subset: commoncrawl


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Washington Post Sold To Amazon's Jeff Bezos for $250 million
(Washington, DC) -- The "Washington Post" will be in the hands of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The paper says the deal is worth 250-million-dollars. The sale is expected to be complete in the next two months. The Post has been in the control of the Graham family for decades. CEO Donald Graham says it means the paper will have a greater chance of success.


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Google maps not in IOS6 via BBC
Not sure how this will play out?
Google maps not in IOS6 via BBC
Started by Jacques Gélinas , Jun 11 2012 04:03 PM
1 reply to this topic
Posted 11 June 2012 - 04:03 PM
Jacques Gélinas
Cartographer @ www.cartesgeo.ca
Posted 11 June 2012 - 04:11 PM
That's the word on the street. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I was quite happy with Google as Apple's map vendor of choice. We'll see. If the end result is anything like these early examples from the Mac photo service, it won't be pretty.
http://www.cartotalk...p;hl=apple maps
http://www.cartotalk...p;hl=apple maps
GIS Reference and Instruction Specialist, Stanford Geospatial Center.
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Discussion in 'The Garage' started by ryan22re, Mar 14, 2006.


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1 Junkins Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801, Tel: (603) 610-7281Fax: (603) 427-1575 Email:
About the Coalition
Targeted Aid Solution
Facts & Figures
News Releases
Contact Us
News Releases- Archives
Jan. 10, 2002
CONCORD, NH -- The Coalition of Communities fighting to overturn the statewide property tax has now grown to 31 with the addition of Tuftonboro, Portsmouth Mayor Evelyn Sirrell announced Thursday as the Coalition urged bipartisan support of a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate "donor" communities.
Mayor Sirrell, the leader of the Coalition that held its monthly working meeting on Thursday, also announced Portsmouth is prepared to host a Coalition Communities political forum in the Spring where all the gubernatorial candidates will be invited to answer questions regarding the statewide property tax issue.
"This will be a wonderful opportunity for all of us to really put these candidates' feet to the fire on this issue before the November elections," said Mayor Sirrell.
Tuftonboro becomes the fourth "donor" community in a month to join the Coalition's three-pronged attack on the statewide property tax. The community of 2,148 will be required to send $1,126,999 to Concord for the fiscal year beginning next July 1 -- the equivalent of $525 for every man, woman and child in town. In the past month, the towns of Sugar Hill, Easton and Center Harbor also have signed on to the Coalition's campaign to overturn the statewide property tax.
Representatives of the Coalition Communities said Thursday they hope Democrats, Republicans and Independents, alike, will support the proposed "hold harmless" constitutional amendment. The amendment, which has not yet been formally introduced in the recently reconvened Legislature, would prevent any community from being forced to send to Concord more property taxes than the state, under its formula, has determined is necessary to provide an adequate education to the children in that community. In addition, the Coalition continues to support the outright reversal of the statewide property tax made permanent in June, and is waging a campaign in the Legislature, through statewide education and if necessary, future court challenges.
"In the past three years since the statewide property tax was imposed, the overall per capita tax burden in donor towns -- including both county and state taxes -- has increased a whopping seven times as much as it has in the other towns in our state," Mayor Sirrell said. "This is a gross injustice that our Legislature must rectify!"
Currently, there are 57 communities across New Hampshire forced to send Concord more funding than they receive because their communities are property-rich even if their citizens are not. And as of next July 1, for example, Moultonborough must "donate" $5.7 million -- the equivalent of $1,272 for every man, woman and child in the town. Portsmouth -- which ranks near the top of the state in subsidized housing and free and reduced lunches for poor children -- will be sending $3.7 million, or $179 per capita.
A constitutional amendment must pass both houses by a 60 percent margin, and be approved by the state electorate by a two-thirds vote, which could come as early as next November. The proposal is described as a "common-sense approach" that is very narrowly targeted.
1 Junkins Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801, Tel: (603) 610-7281Fax: (603) 427-1575 Email:


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'"We were hurting ourselves more than the Islanders were beating us," defenseman Toni Lydman said after a 6-4 season-opening loss to New York Friday night in front of 18,690 at HSBC Arena. "We made mistakes. We turned the puck over. … It's a disappointing loss." Then he said, "81 to go."'
The Sabres Report - October 6, 2007


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USC law graduate finds art in unexpected places
By Peggy Binette, firstname.lastname@example.com, 803-777-5400
View Gallery
While most people around Doug Rosinski are looking at a breathtaking waterfall or a stately historic building, he likely is facing the other direction.
A 52-year-old Columbia lawyer and 1997 USC School of Law graduate, Rosinski has been looking in the other direction for years and, as a result, has captured amazing photos that pop with color, texture and striking lines.
"There isn't a particular inspiration," said Rosinski who keeps his camera close by. "I enjoy all of it. I like to go where everyone else goes, but they usually are looking in one direction and I'm looking in another direction. People want to know where a photo is taken because there won't be an Eiffel Tower in the background as a clue."
More than 30 of Rosinski's photos taken from 2003-08 are on display this year in an unlikely gallery, the third floor of the USC School of Law. Captured in the images are wildlife, nature, found objects and architecture as well as people participating in Ground Zero commemorations in 2006 and in St. Mark's Square in Venice.
"I look for color or a hard edge, what I call industrial photography. It's an old building, 'old iron,' as we call it in the industry, or old machinery that kind of strikes me," Rosinski says. "The biggest challenge is people. You cannot adapt a poorly shot picture and use some technology on it to make it look completely different. You have to be true."
Rosinski, whose interest in photography goes back to working on his high school's yearbook, says the art of photography balances his lawyerly left-brain.
"It fills the right side of my brain," he said. "Actually, I think I use my left brain all the time. Photography is very scientific because it combines computers, which I've done since the first generation of PCs, with art. The whole process is computer-driven now. Digital photography never discolors or ages, so you can play with images years later."
The exhibit is an ancillary project of the School of Law's Pro Bono Program and its S.C. Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts project. Rosinski, a Navy submarine veteran who specializes in nuclear regulatory law with Ogletree Deakins, continues his commitment to the pro bono work that he began at USC by advocating for the rights and benefits of military veterans. When not working, he usually can be found looking the other direction with a camera in his hand.
News and Internal Communications


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Bookmark this site
DALLAS -- 7-Eleven is giving its snack section a better-for-you makeover, targeting health-conscious consumers with items like organic trail mix, veggie chips and dry-roasted edamame.
The Dallas-based convenience chain's 8,000 U.S. stores will merchandise the "healthy" snacks on standalone displays that are immediately visible when customers enter the store.
Selections, ranging from Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps to Skinny Pop All-Natural Popcorn, will be priced between $1.49 and $4.99.
"Better-for-you is one of the fastest-growing segments of the snacking category," said Rebecca Frechette, 7-Eleven vice-president of merchandising. "People are snacking throughout the day, and they're looking for ways to improve what they eat without sacrificing taste."


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Bookmark this site
For those who pay attention to such things, there have been some odd goings on in business literature. According to the authors, what has worked in the past will no longer work in the future. It may not even be working in the present. Business, of course, is still business. It's still about the bottom line, but how to boost that bottom line has changed markedly.
One bluntly titled example of this change was recently put out by Sir Richard Branson in his new book "Screw Business As Usual" (Portfolio Books, Dec. 2011). You can't get any more direct than that. Branson, of course, turned selling records out of a church crypt into a billion-dollar (or pound) business that eventually expanded into some 200 companies in more than 30 countries. Although often seen as wildly eccentric, there's no denying his business acumen.
In his new book, he calls for more social responsibility on the part of businesses. This is not touchy-feel or cynical publicity, but a way to integrate social and political policies into businesses in profitable ways. The publisher is pushing the book as an antidote to the bullying bluster of Donald Trump.
The other writing news of 2011 was Ray Dalio. If the name isn't familiar, it's because Dalio belongs to that semi-secretive world of hedge funds. He heads up Bridgewater Associates LP, a hedge fund that controls more than a $100 billion. In that rarefied world, he's regarded as a superstar. However, the secret of his success remains, well, a secret.
Then, in 2011 something odd began to happen. Bits and pieces of an internal document, Dalio's "principles," began circulating among Wall Street types. The Connecticut-based Bridgewater, often viewed as more mysterious (and successful) than other hedge funds, became the subject of gossip. Some even called it a cult. Just what was going on in Westport that was so profitable? What is the secret formula? Finally Dalio made the unprecedented move of posting the entire document for free download on his company's website. Anyone could download the secret of his multibillion dollar success. Then he appeared on a number of talk shows for interviews.
The secret could not have been more shocking to traditional Wall Streeters than if the Bridgewater folks were conducting human sacrifices and dancing naked around bonfires in Westport, CT's woods. Dalio describes his approach as "an extreme meritocracy of ideas," regardless of where they originate among the firm's more than 1,000 employees. In practice, the business philosophy calls for employees to subdue their egos. Ideas can be proposed by anyone and challenged by anyone regardless of where they reside in the company hierarchy. If this sounds comically commonsensical, think back to some of the bosses you've known and how they would react to challenges.
In the bulk vending and coin-op businesses, there are important lessons to be learned in these examples. When very credible and successful people like Branson and Dalio are in the vanguard of change, you can be sure they're not in it for their health. They have adapted to rapidly evolving business environments. If the past few years have taught us anything, it is that business is not about to return to some imagined ideal of "normal" any time soon. The business that many vending operators entered a decade ago is not the same one they will likely retire from in another decade.


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In 2013, Judge Brian Walsh was appointed by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to serve as chair of the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee for a one-year term, replacing Judge Laurie Earl on the Judicial Council.
Prior to his election in 2013 as presiding judge in Santa Clara County, Judge Walsh served as the court's assistant presiding judge. Appointed to the bench in 2000, Judge Walsh has served on many of his court's committees, including as chair of the Superior Court Budget Committee, Probate Practices Task Force, Jury Standards Committee, and Media Relations Committee.
Judge Walsh has also served on many of the statewide advisory groups, including the Task Force on Trial Court Fiscal Accountability, California State-Federal Judicial Council, Supreme Court Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, Financial Accountability and Efficiency for the Judicial Branch Advisory Committee, and the Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee and its Funding Methodology Subcommittee. In addition, Judge Walsh co-founded the Bench-Bar Coalition and served on the Judicial Council as an attorney member from 1994 to 1998.
Judge Walsh reports on the Superior Court of Stanislaus County


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Revision 2.59
Hooray! Now you know you can expand points to get more details. Alternatively, there's an "expand all" at the top of this document.
Objective-C is a very dynamic, object-oriented extension of C. It's designed to be easy to use and read, while enabling sophisticated object-oriented design. It is the primary development language for new applications on Mac OS X and the iPhone.
Cocoa is one of the main application frameworks on Mac OS X. It is a collection of Objective-C classes that provide for rapid development of full-featured Mac OS X applications.
Apple has already written a very good, and widely accepted, coding guide for Objective-C. Google has also written a similar guide for C++. This Objective-C guide aims to be a very natural combination of Apple's and Google's general recommendations. So, before reading this guide, please make sure you've read:
Note that all things that are banned in Google's C++ guide are also banned in Objective-C++, unless explicitly noted in this document.
The purpose of this document is to describe the Objective-C (and Objective-C++) coding guidelines and practices that should be used for all Mac OS X code. Many of these guidelines have evolved and been proven over time on other projects and teams. Open-source projects developed by Google conform to the requirements in this guide.
Google has already released open-source code that conforms to these guidelines as part of the Google Toolbox for Mac project (abbreviated GTM throughout this document). Code meant to be shared across different projects is a good candidate to be included in this repository.
Note that this guide is not an Objective-C tutorial. We assume that the reader is familiar with the language. If you are new to Objective-C or need a refresher, please read Programming with Objective-C .
They say an example is worth a thousand words so let's start off with an example that should give you a feel for the style, spacing, naming, etc.
An example header file, demonstrating the correct commenting and spacing
for an
@interface declaration
An example source file, demonstrating the correct commenting and spacing
for the
@implementation of an interface. It also includes the
reference implementations for important methods like getters and setters,
init, and
Blank lines before and after
@implementation, and
@end are optional. If your
@interface declares instance variables, a blank
line should come after the closing brace (
Unless an interface or implementation is very short, such as when declaring a handful of private methods or a bridge class, adding blank lines usually helps readability.
We use spaces for indentation. Do not use tabs in your code. You should set your editor to emit spaces when you hit the tab key.
You can make violations easier to spot by enabling Preferences > Text Editing > Page guide at column: 100 in Xcode.
- or
and the return type, and no spacing in the parameter list except between
Methods should look like this:
The spacing before the asterisk is optional. When adding new code, be consistent with the surrounding file's style.
If you have too many parameters to fit on one line, giving each its own line is preferred. If multiple lines are used, align each using the colon before the parameter.
When the first keyword is shorter than the others, indent the later lines by at least four spaces, maintaining colon alignment:
Invocations should have all arguments on one line:
or have one argument per line, with colons aligned:
Don't use any of these styles:
As with declarations and definitions, when the first keyword is shorter than the others, indent the later lines by at least four spaces, maintaining colon alignment:
Invocations containing inlined blocks may have their segments left-aligned at a four space indent.
@public and
@private access modifiers
should be indented by 1 space.
This is similar to
private, and
protected in C++.
@ label on its own line and a
space between the
@ label and the opening brace
{), as well as between the
@catch and the
caught object declaration.
If you must use Obj-C exceptions, format them as follows. However, see Avoid Throwing Exceptions for reasons why you should not be using exceptions.
This applies to class declarations, instance variables, and method declarations. For example:
There are several appropriate style rules, depending on how long the block is:
^{. If the block takes parameters, there is no
space between the
^( characters, but there is one space
between the
) { characters.
If the collection fits on one line, put a single space after the opening and before the closing brackets.
If the collection spans more than a single line, place the opening bracket on the same line as the declaration, indent the body by two spaces, and place the closing bracket on a new line that is indented to the same level as the opening bracket.
For dictionary literals, there should be one space before the colon and at least one space after it (to optionally align the values).
The following are all incorrect:
Naming rules are very important in maintainable code. Objective-C method names tend to be very long, but this has the benefit that a block of code can almost read like prose, thus rendering many comments unnecessary.
When writing pure Objective-C code, we mostly follow standard Objective-C naming rules. These naming guidelines may differ significantly from those outlined in the C++ style guide. For example, Google's C++ style guide recommends the use of underscores between words in variable names, whereas this guide recommends the use of intercaps, which is standard in the Objective-C community.
Any class, category, method, or variable name may use all capitals for initialisms within the name. This follows Apple's standard of using all capitals within a name for initialisms such as URL, TIFF, and EXIF.
When writing Objective-C++, however, things are not so cut and dry. Many projects need to implement cross-platform C++ APIs with some Objective-C or Cocoa, or bridge between a C++ back-end and a native Cocoa front-end. This leads to situations where the two guides are directly at odds.
Our solution is that the style follows that of the method/function being
implemented. If you're in an
@implementation block, use the
Objective-C naming rules. If you're implementing a method for a C++
class, use the C++ naming rules. This avoids the situation
where instance variable and local variable naming rules are mixed within a
single function, which would be a serious detriment to readability.
File extensions should be as follows:
|C/C++/Objective-C header file
|Objective-C implementation file
|Objective-C++ implementation file
|Pure C++ implementation file
|C implementation file
File names for categories should include the name of the class being
extended, e.g.
GTMNSString+Utils.h or
In order to minimize clashes between the differing naming styles when
mixing Cocoa/Objective-C and C++, follow the style of the method being
implemented. If you're in an
@implementation block, use
the Objective-C naming rules. If you're implementing a method for a
class, use the C++ naming rules.
When designing code to be shared across multiple applications,
prefixes are acceptable and recommended (e.g.
Prefixes are also recommended for classes of large applications that
depend on external libraries.
For example, if we want to create a category on
for parsing, we would put the category in a file named
GTMNSString+Parsing.h, and the category itself would be
GTMStringParsingAdditions (yes, we know the file
name and the category name do not match, but this file could have many
separate categories related to parsing). Methods in that category
should share the prefix (
in order to prevent collisions in Objective-C which only has a single
namespace. If the code isn't meant to be shared and/or doesn't run in
a different address-space, the method naming isn't quite as
There should be a single space between the class name and the opening parenthesis of the category.
The method name should read like a sentence if possible, meaning you
should choose parameter names that flow with the method name. (e.g.
convertPoint:fromRect: or
replaceCharactersInRange:withString:). See Apple's
Guide to Naming Methods for more details.
Accessor methods should be named the same as the variable they're
"getting", but they should not be prefixed with the word
"get". For example:
This is for Objective-C methods only. C++ method names and functions continue to follow the rules set in the C++ style guide.
Do not use Hungarian notation for syntactic attributes, such as the static type of a variable (int or pointer). Give as descriptive a name as possible, within reason. Don't worry about saving horizontal space as it is far more important to make your code immediately understandable by a new reader. For example:
Instance variables are mixed case and should be prefixed with an underscore e.g. _usernameTextField. Note that historically the convention was to put the underscore at the end of the name, and projects may opt to continue using trailing underscores in new code in order to maintain consistency within their codebase (see the Historical Notes section). It is recommended you leave old code as-is, unless doing so would create inconsistency within a class.
Constant names (#defines, enums, const local variables, etc.) should start with a lowercase k and then use mixed case to delimit words. For example:
Because Objective-C does not provide namespacing, constants with global scope should have an appropriate prefix to minimize the chance of name collision, typically like kClassNameFoo.
Though a pain to write, they are absolutely vital to keeping our code readable. The following rules describe what you should comment and where. But remember: while comments are very important, the best code is self-documenting. Giving sensible names to types and variables is much better than using obscure names and then trying to explain them through comments.
When writing your comments, write for your audience: the next contributor who will need to understand your code. Be generous—the next one may be you!
Remember that all of the rules and conventions listed in the C++ Style Guide are in effect here, with a few additional points, below.
Every file should contain the following items, in order:
If you make significant changes to a file with an author line, consider deleting the author line since revision history already provides a more detailed and accurate record of authorship.
If you have already described an interface in detail in the comments at the top of your file feel free to simply state "See comment at top of file for a complete description", but be sure to have some sort of comment.
Additionally, each method in the public interface should have a comment explaining its function, arguments, return value, and any side effects.
Document the synchronization assumptions the class makes, if any. If an instance of the class can be accessed by multiple threads, take extra care to document the rules and invariants surrounding multithreaded use.
This helps eliminate ambiguity, especially when the symbol is a common word that might make the sentence read like it was poorly constructed. E.g. for a symbol "count":
or when quoting something which already contains quotes
Instance variables which are pointers to objects derived from NSObject are presumed to be retained, and should be either commented as weak or declared with the __weak lifetime qualifier when applicable. Similarly, declared properties must specify an assign property attribute if they are not retained by the class. An exception is instance variables labeled as IBOutlets in desktop Mac software, which are presumed to not be retained.
Where instance variables are pointers to Core Foundation, C++, and
other non-Objective-C objects, they should always be declared with
strong and
weak comments to indicate which
pointers are and are not retained. Core Foundation and other
non-Objective-C object pointers require explicit memory management,
even when building for automatic reference counting or garbage
Examples of strong and weak declarations:
Object ownership and lifetime are explicit when using ARC, so no additional comments are required.
It is important for those who might be subclassing your class that the designated initializer be clearly identified. That way, they only need to subclass a single initializer (of potentially several) to guarantee their subclass' initializer is called. It also helps those debugging your class in the future understand the flow of initialization code if they need to step through it.
init... method,
make sure you override the superclass' designated initializer.
If you fail to override the superclass' designated initializer, your initializer may not be called in all cases, leading to subtle and very difficult to find bugs.
NSObject at the top of an
This commonly applies (but is not limited) to the
copyWithZone:, and
dealloc methods.
init... methods should be grouped together, followed by
NSObject methods.
Convenience class methods for creating instances may precede the
NSObject methods.
0 or
nil in the
init method; it's redundant.
All memory for a newly allocated object is initialized to 0 (except
for isa), so don't clutter up the
init method
by re-initializing variables to 0 or
NSObject class method
nor override it in a subclass. Instead, use
alloc and
init methods to instantiate retained objects.
Modern Objective-C code explicitly calls
alloc and an
init method to create and retain an object. As the
new class method is rarely used, it makes reviewing code
for correct memory management more difficult.
Unlike C++, Objective-C doesn't have a way to differentiate between public and private methods—everything is public. As a result, avoid placing methods in the public API unless they are actually expected to be used by a consumer of the class. This helps reduce the likelihood they'll be called when you're not expecting it. This includes methods that are being overridden from the parent class. For internal implementation methods, use a category defined in the implementation file as opposed to adding them to the public header.
If you are using Objective-C 2.0, you should instead declare your private category using a class extension, for example:
which will guarantee that the declared methods are implemented in the
@implementation section by issuing a compiler warning if
they are not.
Again, "private" methods are not really private. You could accidentally override a superclass's "private" method, thus making a very difficult bug to squash. In general, private methods should have a fairly unique name that will prevent subclasses from unintentionally overriding them.
Finally, Objective-C categories are a great way to segment a large
@implementation section into more understandable chunks
and to add new, application-specific functionality to the most
appropriate class. For example, instead of adding "middle truncation"
code to a random object in your app, make a new category on
#import Objective-C/Objective-C++ headers, and
#include C/C++ headers.
Choose between
#import and
#include based
on the language of the header that you are including.
#include. The header should provide its own #define
Some Objective-C headers lack
#define guards, and expect
to be included only by
#import. As Objective-C headers
may only be included in Objective-C source files and other Objective-C
headers, using
#import across the board is appropriate.
Standard C and C++ headers without any Objective-C in them can expect
to be included by ordinary C and C++ files. Since there is no
#import in standard C or C++, such files will be
included by
#include in those cases. Using
#include for them in Objective-C source files as well
means that these headers will always be included with the same
This rule helps avoid inadvertent errors in cross-platform
projects. A Mac developer introducing a new C or C++ header might
forget to add
#define guards, which would not cause
problems on the Mac if the new header were included with
#import, but would break builds on other platforms
#include is used. Being consistent by using
#include on all platforms means that compilation is
more likely to succeed everywhere or fail everywhere, and avoids
the frustration of files working only on some platforms.
While it may seem tempting to include individual system headers from a
framework such as Cocoa or Foundation, in fact it's less work on the
compiler if you include the top-level root framework. The root
framework is generally pre-compiled and can be loaded much more
quickly. In addition, remember to use
#import rather than
#include for Objective-C frameworks.
autorelease them on
the same line as you create them rather than a separate
release later in the same method.
While ever so slightly slower, this prevents someone from accidentally
removing the
release or inserting a
before it and introducing a memory leak. E.g.:
autorelease then
retain pattern.
When assigning a new object to a variable, one must first release the old object to avoid a memory leak. There are several "correct" ways to handle this. We've chosen the "autorelease then retain" approach because it's less prone to error. Be aware in tight loops it can fill up the autorelease pool, and may be slightly less efficient, but we feel the tradeoffs are acceptable.
init and
dealloc method execution, so code in
those methods should avoid invoking accessors.
Subclasses have not yet been initialized or have already deallocated
init and
dealloc methods execute, making
accessor methods potentially unreliable. Whenever practical, directly
assign to and release ivars in those methods rather than rely on
dealloc should process instance variables in the same order
@interface declares them, so it is easier for a reviewer
to verify.
A code reviewer checking a new or revised
implementation needs to make sure that every retained instance
variable gets released.
To simplify reviewing
dealloc, order the code so that
the retained instance variables get released in the same order that
they are declared in the
@interface. If
dealloc invokes other methods that release instance
variables, add comments describing what instance variables those
methods handle.
NSString, should always
the string it accepts.
Never just
retain the string. This avoids the caller
changing it under you without your knowledge. Don't assume that
because you're accepting an
NSString that it's not
actually an
@throw Objective-C exceptions, but you should be
prepared to catch them from third-party or OS calls.
We do compile with
-fobjc-exceptions (mainly so we get
@synchronized), but we don't
@throw. Use of
@catch, and
@finally are
allowed when required to properly use 3rd party code or libraries. If
you do use them please document exactly which methods you expect to
nil checks for logic flow only.
nil pointer checks for logic flow of the application,
not for preventing crashes when sending messages. With current compilers
as of LLVM 3.0/Xcode 4.2), sending a message to
reliably returns nil as a pointer, zero as an integer or floating-point
value, structs initialized to 0, and
_Complex values equal
to {0, 0}.
Note that this applies to
nil as a message target, not as
a parameter value. Individual methods may or may not safely handle
nil parameter values.
Note too that this is distinct from checking C/C++ pointers and block
pointers against
NULL, which the runtime does not handle
and will cause your application to crash. You still need to make sure
you do not dereference a
NULL pointer.
Avoid comparing directly with
BOOL is defined as a signed char in Objective-C which means
that it can have values other than
YES (1) and
NO (0). Do not cast or convert general integral values
directly to
BOOL. Common mistakes include casting or
converting an array's size, a pointer value, or the result of a bitwise
logic operation to a
BOOL which, depending on the value of
the last byte of the integral result, could still result in a
NO value. When converting a general integral value to a
BOOL use ternery operators to return a
YES or
NO value.
You can safely interchange and convert
_Bool and
bool (see C++ Std 4.7.4, 4.12 and
C99 Std 18.104.22.168). You cannot safely interchange
BOOL and
Boolean so treat
Booleans as a general
integral value as discussed above. Only use
BOOL in
Objective C method signatures.
Using logical operators (
|| and
!) with
BOOL is also valid and will return
values that can be safely converted to
BOOL without the
need for a ternery operator.
Also, don't directly compare
BOOL variables directly
YES. Not only is it harder to read for those
well-versed in C, the first point above demonstrates that return
values may not always be what you expect.
A property's associated instance variable's name must conform to the
leading _ requirement. The property's name should be the same as its
associated instance variable without the leading _. The optional space
between the
@property and the opening parenthesis
should be omitted, as seen in the examples.
A property's declaration must come immediately after the instance
variable block of a class interface. A property's definition (if
not using automatic synthesis) must come immediately after the
@implementation block in a class definition. They are
indented at the same level as the
@interface or
@implementation statements that they are enclosed in.
NSString properties should always be declared with the
copy attribute.
This logically follows from the requirement that setters for
NSStrings always must use
copy instead of
Be aware of the overhead of properties. By default, all synthesized
setters and getters are atomic. This gives each set and get calls a
substantial amount of synchronization overhead. Declare your
nonatomic unless you require atomicity.
Dot notation is idiomatic style for Objective-C 2.0. It may be used
when doing simple operations to get and set a
of an object, but should not be used to invoke other object behavior.
Use of automatically synthesized instance variables is preferred. Code that must support earlier versions of the compiler toolchain (Xcode 4.3 or earlier or when compiling with GCC) or is using properties inherited from a protocol should prefer the @synthesize directive.
Automatically synthesized instance variables take the form of the property's name prefixed with an underscore and so typically conform to the required variable naming style. If your property name is unusual, or you are otherwise unable to use automatically synthesized instance variables, use of the @synthesize directive is preferred, with the instance variable name specified explicitly (as @synthesize does not add a leading underscore by default).
For projects that use Xcode 4.2 or later and will run only on 64-bit Mac OS X 10.7 and iOS 5.0 and later, ARC is preferred. Use manual reference counting when supporting earlier environments where zeroing weak pointers are not available.
Classes that require ARC should include a preprocessor directive to prevent compilation using manual reference counting.
Ownership qualifiers like
__unsafe_unretained and
__weak should precede variable names. Specifying
__strong for variables is not required since it is
the default. Properties, on the other hand, should always specify the
strong keyword rather than relying on the compiler default.
Files that are compiled using ARC need to have preprocessor directives to prevent compilation without ARC. See the code snippet below for details.
Example of an implementation file enforcing ARC style. Note that
declaring instance variables in the @implementation is permitted when
using ARC.
For projects that use Xcode 4.4 or later with clang, the use of NSNumber literals is allowed. Note however that this will limit the portability of your code to other toolchains.
NSNumber literals are used just like Objective C string literals.
Boxing is used when necessary. Code using NSNumber literals can be
deployed on any iOS/MacOS system.
A class that implements the delegate pattern should typically:
@protocols for callback APIs.
@protocol, using
@optional if not all the methods are required.
Our style guide used to have a rule saying that instance variables should be named with a trailing underscore, similar to the naming of member variables in C++. This was changed to leading underscores to be consistent with the broader Objective-C community, to better follow Apple's official guidelines, and to allow for use of new compiler features like automatic instance variable synthesis. New projects are strongly encouraged to use leading underscores. Existing projects may continue to use trailing underscores in new code to maintain consistency with the rest of their codebase.
Revision 2.59Mike Pinkerton


text: What a cool thing it is to connect with so many people, from so many places, and with so many perspectives. I want to hear from others, about how God is at work in their own theological, philosophical, cultural, and social ethics journey. For contribution opportunities, go here. I personally do not endorse everything that [Read More…]


text:
Millions of Americans suffer from propane shortage during cold snap
The weather outside is frightful, but the propane needed to heat homes is becoming more expensive and harder to come by for millions of Americans in the Midwest and the Northeast.
The propane shortage affecting 24 states has prompted federal lawmakers to look into the issue after federal energy regulators issued orders to pipeline companies "to temporarily provide priority treatment to propane shipments from Mont Belvieu, Texas, to locations in the Midwest and Northeast in order to help alleviate a shortage of propane supplies in those regions."
This is the first time that such an order has ever been issued by federal energy regulators.
"We're mindful of the emergency situation that has developed in parts of the country where bitter cold weather has created problems for consumers who need supplies of propane," said Acting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Cheryl LaFleur in a statement.


text:
Ships Free to USA*!
From Magikitch'n Commercial Cooking Equipment - Coal Charbroiler, counter model, gas, 60" wide, 13" high, free floating round rod top grate with EZ tilt to front grease trough, ceramic briquettes, stainless steel exterior and 6" service shelf, top grid scraper, towel bar, 4" adjustable legs - Your Source for Quality Restaurant Equipment and Supplies.
MagiKitch'n manufactures a variety of high quality, heavy duty charbroilers, griddles, fyers, catering equipment and more.
Are you familiar with this product? Be the first to review this item!


text:
1996 Mercury Villager Problems
RepairPal has identified the most common problems with the 1996 Mercury Villager based on complaints from actual vehicle owners. We'll tell you what the problem is and what it'll take to fix it.
4Known Problems
The fuel injectors can fail and cause drivability problems. Often there is no Check Engine light and the failures can be caused by corrosion of the connector, clogging beyond the point of cleaning, and/or internal failures.
The distributor shaft bearing can become rusty, and seize causing the engine to stall or not start. The failed distributor will commonly require replacement.
A coolant leak may develop from a plug on the front of the rear cylinder head, behind the timing cover.
The exhaust manifold often warps and cracks, breaking off the studs between the cylinder head and the exhaust manifold. A ticking type noise may be noted most noticeable when the engine is cold.


text:
Dear Kingman,
Hearing the Mets would not be allowed by MLB to wear first responder caps during the game of 9-11, I sent an E-Mail to the Mets expressing my disgust and for them to defy MLB and any and all repercussions it may cause and WEAR THE CAPS in game.
I was answered with a voice mail from Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Mr. David Newman. He told me he would be in his office, tomorrow (Monday) afternoon to discuss my concerns. I'm telling you this so that if any other LOGE 13'ers feel the same way, they too can express their concerns. His number is 718-565-4305....Paul
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text:
'Urgency's at hand, yet the Sabres came out against Detroit as if this were a game in November and they'd catch up on the two points later in the year. The offense was listless save the line of Patrick Kaleta, Adam Mair and Maxim Afinogenov — two tenacious checkers and the free-spirited winger. What does it say when those three bear responsibility for igniting the team at this point of the campaign, with a playoff berth slipping away?'
Sabres face key moment in season
March 3, 2008 Submitted by
Via: Buffalo News


text:
Executive Properties, Inc.
We love what we do, and we work hard to maintain high standards of quality. Our staff is committed to providing excellent service in a friendly, professional manner. We continually improve our buildings and services to ensure our residents the hassle-free advantages they desire in apartment living!
We manage 5 buildings in Akron, Tallmadge, and Cuyahoga Falls Ohio with a total of over 600 apartments, plus commercial offices.
- Akron
- Cuyahoga Falls
- Tallmadge
- West Akron
- Highland Square
- Akron University
- Kent State University


text:
The University of Florida Herbarium is a unit of the Department of Natural History of the Florida Museum of Natural History. The herbarium is affiliated with the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Department of Biology and the Department of Plant Pathology. The FLAS acronym is the standard international abbreviation for the University of Florida Herbarium. It is derived from the herbarium's early association with the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
Our mission focuses in plant collections acquisition and care, research based on the collections, education and public service.
Collections / Policies
The herbarium and the associated paleobotanical collection have combined holdings of approximately 1/2 million specimens.
Research / People
Herbarium staff and students participate in diverse projects spanning traditional morphological plant systematics, floristics, plant anatomy, molecular analysis and pollination ecology. Our major focus areas include the plant families Orchidaceae, Ericaceae and Melastomataceae, Angiosperm family phylogeny, Florida floristic inventories and cultivated plant systematics.
- research projects
- people (contact info.)
- Laboratory of Molecular Systematics and Evolution (Soltis lab) (affiliated program)
Databases / Imaging
Our computer databases and image galleries are being developed with a thematic focus. The collections catalog includes nearly 111,000 searchable specimens and 50,000 high-resolution digital images.
- Herbarium / Florida Museum News Feed
- July 2012 : Dr. Walter S. Judd receives the Botanical Society of America's Merit Award.
- April 2012 : Dr. Walter S. Judd receives the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany from the Department of Botany and the United States Herbarium of the Smithsonian Institution.


text:
Plus SizeDresses
Party time, date night or prom princess? Dress up with our edit of all-occasion plus-size dresses. Choose from cold-shoulder styles, jersey bodycon or floor-sweeping maxis in sizes (UK) 16 -30.
Something went wrong, we're working hard to fix it so please try again in a second or two.


text:
Paul McCartney ends feud with John Lennon widow Yoko Ono
Listen to Paul McCartney on iHeartRadio
Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono have finally buried the hatchet after decades of feuding.
The 71-year-old opens up about their peace treaty and what was behind his decision to end their bitter battle in an interview with the new issue of Rolling Stone —and Popdust has the details.
"She's badass," McCartney says. "Time, the great healer. I thought, 'If John loved her, there's got to be something. He's not stupid."
"[George Harrison] would say to me, 'You don't want stuff like that hanging around in your life."
McCartney and Ono—who was married to John Lennon from 1969 until the time of murder in 1980—have been feuding for years, mostly over songwriting credits for Beatles tunes.
But McCartney is going out of his way to build bridges nowadays—even giving the 80-year-old widow credit for helping John further develop his creative side and props for helping him write the Lennon classic, Imagine.
"I don't think he could have done that without Yoko, so I don't think you can blame her for anything," McCartney says. "When Yoko came along, part of her attraction was her avant garde side, her view of things, so she showed him another way to be, which was very attractive to him."
Pick up the November 7 issue of Rolling Stone to read the full interview.


text:
On the Shelf
Blue Monday, and Other NewsBy Dan Piepenbring
- Today is supposedly Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year. And Jude the Obscure, 120 Days of Sodom, Germinal: these are among the fifteen most depressing books in literature.
- And yet The Day of the Locust lands on a list of comfort reads.
- Ship first, ask questions later. Amazon's latest stratagem: "anticipatory shipping," a program in which the company preemptively sends you products it expects you to buy, "based on previous searches and purchases, wish lists, and how long the user's cursor hovers over an item online."
- Not unrelatedly, here's a roundup of socially resonant dystopian fiction. "These dystopias, I think, speak to a different kind of anxiety … one of widespread helplessness in an unfathomably complex world."
- "Using science to explain art is a good way to butcher both." A scorched-earth takedown of Jane Austen, Game Theorist.
- This roundup is looking pretty bleak. In the name of balance, a celebration of literary rule-breakers.


text:
A bright blue storefront, heavily pockmarked with gunfire, is the backdrop to a wrecked, bullet-bashed car.
But the music, these days, is really more of a backdrop when it comes to Coachella.
With that as a backdrop, The Daily Beast secured an exclusive interview with Jalil this weekend.
The core of the story is set against the backdrop of the Iraq invasion, the buildup, and the immediate aftermath.
Parliament is not just the backdrop to the Palliser novels but really their subject.
A low line of hills loomed beyond, painted of silver gray against the backdrop of starry sky and the pallor of moon mists.
He recognized a backdrop he had seen thousands of times behind the announcer who introduced the news-casts.
The green-sloped, snow-capped Bernardinoes form a backdrop for the desert underneath.
She was raised for the most-part in Maine, which forms a backdrop to much of her fiction.
Eyes the size of Navy dirigibles, with pupils of deep cerulean blue, floating against the backdrop of the gray cumulus.


text:
can you download the SAM file? then try and crack that?
i have a backtrack 5 64-bit KDE installation in a VM. ive got a meterpreter shell on a windows xp sp3 VM. The meterpreter shell doesn't have admin rights. I tried several thinks to get these rights:
getsystem: outcome: priv_elevate_getsystem operation failed access is denied
incognito: i cant get the tokens because im not system
migrate: when i try to migrate to a system process i get a acces denied error
all the modules in the post/windows/escalate folder. The either say they cant find a vulnerability or they say that they cant be excecuted on a sp3 machine
i have looked at every link on 5 pages of google results, non of them giving a sollution.
the wiki only says how to install CUDA when i click on privilige escalation
does anyone know what to do? i cant think of any options any more now. thx in advance!
can you download the SAM file? then try and crack that?


text:
Jennifer Lopez teams up with Chris Brown
Listen to Jennifer Lopez on iHeartRadio
"Jenny from the Block" is back in the studio and it appears she's enlisting the help of one of R&B's most controversial artists.
Jennifer Lopez took to Twitter on Thursday to post a picture of herself in the studio with Chris Brown. Lopez's longtime producer and songwriting partner Cory Rooney was also in the picture.
Rooney has teamed up with Lopez on some of her biggest hits, including "Jenny from the Block," "If You Had My Love" and "I'm Real."
@chrisbrown @coryrooney @beaucaspersmart @missgillygrace #studiolife #makinghistory #Album10 #SAMEGIRL twitter.com/JLo/status/314…— Jennifer Lopez (@JLo) March 21, 2013
Brown is just the latest artist to collaborate with Lopez. Last month Future let fans know that he was in the lab with the singer by posting a similar picture on his Twitter account.


text:
When residential architect set out to cover the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast two years after Hurricane Katrina's devastation, we assumed we'd end up with a story of hope. We did—sort of. Many of the local architects we talked to expressed optimism about the future of the region. They spoke with energy and passion about plans to renew neighborhoods, to remake cities and towns, and to fortify against the next hurricane. But the very same people, sometimes within the same conversation, also revealed serious doubts about the pace and direction of the recovery effort. Like the family of a critical care patient, they scrutinize every little change, veering back and forth between delight and despair. Especially in New Orleans, they anxiously await each new development in the rebuilding process, unsure whether it will help or harm. In this report, we've endeavored to illuminate the good and the bad, the true signs of hope and the harsh realities of its absence. Over and over, Gulf Coast architects emphasize that people around the country need to know what's really going on in this still-devastated but still-compelling area. They're right. Its redevelopment incorporates the most crucial issues facing architects today: land use, affordable housing, sustainable design, historic preservation, and social responsibility. How this process succeeds or fails will influence architecture and planning for decades to come.
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it propelled architect Kurt Hagstette, AIA, into a nomadic existence. He and his wife and children rode out the storm at his sister's house in Covington, La., then took shelter with his in-laws in Missouri. One son's private high school temporarily transferred its students to a similar school in Houston, so the family moved there and rented an apartment. "We didn't know whether they were going to board up New Orleans," Hagstette says. As an associate at the New Orleans firm Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, which relocated to Baton Rouge, La., for three months after the storm, he spent each workweek in Baton Rouge and drove four hours back to Houston on the weekends.
Just before Katrina, Hagstette and wife Kelli Wright had remodeled a 1930s Cape Cod-style house in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans. They couldn't wait to get back to it, even though standing water had caused substantial damage. As soon as schools reopened and residents were permitted to return, they did, staying in another house they still owned in a part of the city spared by the storm. The Broadmoor home's first floor already sat three feet off the ground, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends, so Hagstette didn't go to the expensive, time-consuming trouble of raising it higher. "I figured I can always raise it later," he says. "It was more important for me to get back into my house." The family reoccupied their re-remodeled residence in July 2006, almost a year after the storm.
They count as the lucky ones, compared to some of their fellow Gulf Coast residents. As the world witnessed in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina took nearly 2,000 lives in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Hurricane Rita struck Louisiana and Texas 26 days later, hampering recovery efforts. The total cost of the damage from Katrina, estimated by the National Hurricane Center, is $81.2 billion.
reality check
According to figures released in mid-June, about 70,000 families along the Gulf Coast still are living in temporary housing units provided by FEMA. Studies by the Sierra Club and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have shown dangerously high formaldehyde levels inside the FEMA trailers—just one of the many reported problems with these emergency shelters. "People are living in inhumane conditions," says 6-foot-7-inch architect Bruce Tolar, whose family stayed in a non-FEMA trailer for seven months while their house in Ocean Springs, Miss., underwent repairs. "I could hardly stand up in ours, and ours was a little above a FEMA standard. After two months, the cabinet doors started falling off. For those who have never had the ability to get out of the trailers, it's awful."


text:
People often ask us what the biggest innovation is that RightScale offers beyond other forms of server management. The real answer is the integrated approach that puts together all the parts needed to architect multi-server deployments, launch them, monitor and manage them, and then cycle back to re-architecting, re-launching, etc. But if there is one aspect of the overall integration that is special to RightScale, it's the methodology of dynamic server configuration using ServerTemplates and the ability to publish these ServerTemplates and meter their usage.
We recently took a look at how our customers and ISV partners use ServerTemplates and just published some of our findings in a press release. Among the interesting facts that surfaced, our customers have developed a total of 42,500 RightScale ServerTemplates for Cloud Deployments as of 2011, doubling the number from the previous year. Of those, 42% of the customer-developed ServerTemplates were built from RightScale ServerTemplates and 58% were created from scratch or from partner templates. I was myself intrigued by the sheer number of ServerTemplates and looked a bit into what our users are doing. Of course a good number of the derived ServerTemplates come from customers making improvements to the ones we've published, and many of them are good fuel for our roadmap. But the vast majority of customer-created ServerTemplates are variations that are specific to the customer's environment or have very customer-specific software. Looking at these numbers is really a good reminder that while most organizations use standard software, and most sysadmins try to adhere to standard ways for installing and operating this software, the reality for the leading companies is that customization is a vital necessity and RightScale supports just that.
The ServerTemplate methodology is also uniquely suited to supporting multiple cloud implementations. This ability to leverage our and our partners' ServerTemplate investment has led to the just announced partnership with Tata Communications where we'll support their cloud offering with our multi-cloud ServerTemplates. The Tata clouds are based on Cloud.com's system, which means that customers will be able to deploy servers based on the same RightScale ServerTemplate in Amazon EC2, Tata's InstaCompute cloud, as well as the customer's in-house private Cloud.com cloud (if they have one). What really excites us in enabling this level of portability is that it leads to more business for everyone! Most of our larger EC2 customers have plans for other clouds, whether public clouds by other providers or private clouds, and in every single case the result will be more EC2 consumption because the overall goal isn't to move EC2 servers back in-house but to enable more parts of the business to leverage cloud computing! Dynamic Configuration The dynamic configuration of servers through ServerTemplates is key to all this. The way we see a server coming together within RightScale is:
- The cloud provides a virtualization container, the "hardware," with requested resources for processing, memory, disk, and network
- The cloud then boots a machine image which sets up the operating system and the RightLink agent
- RightScale runs the set of boot scripts identified in the server's ServerTemplate, these perform several types of tasks:
- install the full complement of software that the server needs to operate,
- add additional hardware resources to the server, for example, disk volumes restored from snapshot, assignable ip addresses, etc, and
- configure all the software and bring the server into an operational state
- RightScale starts collecting monitoring data and generates alerts according to the alert specifications of the ServerTemplate
Where we've innovated in the face of the new opportunities offered by cloud computing is in moving the boundary between what's cast into the machine image vs. what's done dynamically at boot time. Traditionally in the virtualization world there is little difference between an image and a server. An image is just a snapshot of a server, or perhaps its embodiment when the server is not running and has no hardware resources allocated to it. While this methodology works in the cloud as well, it doesn't allow the benefits of the cloud to be leveraged.
How to Fully Leverage the Cloud
To fully leverage cloud architecture the role of images has to change. An image has to be the basis for launching and relaunching many servers. This is how auto-scaling happens, this is how failing servers get replaced quickly, this is how IT becomes agile and can spin up or rev servers. The key insight needed is that fewer things should be cast in the image and more needs to be customized on demand to each server's role and configuration. The truth is that to leverage the cloud we have to recover the operating system as an abstraction layer!
What has happened is that the operating system, the application, and often also the application data are mushed together in machine images. Remember that one of the main roles of an operating system is to abstract the specifics of the hardware and present a portable machine abstraction to applications. We need to preserve this in the cloud so we can replicate and move servers and server configurations!
For example, as a server configuration moves from development to production the hardware (really the virtualization container) can change drastically. It may move from an internal dev cloud to an external production cloud or simultaneously to multiple internal and hosted production clouds around the world. Each time the operating system needs to be able to change while the stack on top of it remains the same. Some of the typical OS changes include: 32-bit vs. 64-bit platforms, uniprocessor vs. multiprocessor, slight changes in OS revision/configuration, changes in disk layout, hypervisor changes, etc.
The best way to recover the abstraction layer is to dedicate the machine image to contain only a cloud-optimized version of the operating system. This is exactly what we do with RightImages. These are base OS installs that we've been producing for years that provide effective abstraction across multiple clouds and virtualization containers. They consist of an optimized operating system install, the RightLink agent, and a few other very common supporting software packages. RightImages serve as the foundation upon which ServerTemplates dynamically assemble the rest of the software stack at boot time. This methodology lets us reliably stand up the same server configuration across a large number of clouds and machine types.
Often users get hung up about what happens at boot time versus what is already present on the image from a performance perspective. The performance of installing software at boot is a non-issue in most cases, but not always, and that doesn't really break the model. Many of our customers create their own images that simply have more software pre-installed. Some good examples are pre-installing the version of Java a customer uses across many servers, or pre-installing SharePoint on Windows as it takes a long time to install. The advantage is that booting is faster, but the disadvantage is that a larger portion of the stack becomes more difficult to manage. It helps to remember that you're effectively adding this software to the operating system abstraction, so to speak.
Keeping the application software separate from the operating system adds great runtime and maintenance flexibility. For example, you can test something out on a running server by adding a new script, making sure it works, committing the ServerTemplate, then rolling forward all running servers to that revision of the ServerTemplate to have it applied immediately. With bundled images, you would have to push the script to all machines manually and re-snapshot an image to use for future instances. Or, If you're an ISV publisher of a solution on RightScale, and you make a simple bug fix to a script on a ServerTemplate, anyone using that solution can pull in the bug fix onto their existing servers where they may have added additional scripts and applications. When ISVs deliver their software through pre-bundled images, customers have to get the new image with any fixes, then reinstall and re-configure any applications and take a new snapshot - very tedious! In short, ServerTemplates are flexible like playlists on an iPod, where virtual machine images are like burning and shipping a CD.
RightScale Learnings
A related trend that we've found ourselves pursuing is to be more procedural and less declarative. At first blush a declarative template that states "this server needs X Y and Z" may seem better than one that cobbles things together in a script, but we've had relatively little success with that beyond simple demo examples. Disk volumes are a case in point. It may seem natural to specify in the ServerTemplate that it needs a 1TB volume, or perhaps even a volume restored from a specific snapshot (this is what the EC2 API supports). But in reality a server will need to restore data from a snapshot backup, generally the most recent consistent backup of the role the server is about to take on. This ends up involving listing recent snapshots, filtering for those pertaining to the role and that are tagged as being consistent (in many cases several volumes have to be backed up and are then tagged as consistent if all the snapshots complete correctly within the allotted timeout), and then selecting the most recent one. After attaching the volume, it needs to be mounted and appropriate recovery procedures often have to be run. All this ends up being procedural, and the best methodologies we've seen are to use configuration languages that don't repeat work that has already been performed and are idempotent, such as Puppet and Chef.
Thoughts on AWS' CloudFormation
In this context, it's interesting that Amazon decided to use a declarative approach in the new CloudFormation (CF) templates. The CF templates are mostly at a different level of abstraction from ServerTemplates in that they focus on putting together multiple servers and their associated resources. We've been using our macro feature for that purpose for some time and have published a number of "getting started" macros to set up demo deployments as well as partner macros that setup clusters with software from multiple vendors. We've again found that past the simple examples, we really want to have procedural control over the setup of a server cluster, if only to be able to let the user input some parameters, like the number of app servers, and adjust how everything unfolds accordingly, or handle the cases where some resources already exist and should be used as-is.
Another area where we've taken a broader approach: CloudFormation really only targets setup (of course that's the most juicy part where money starts flowing if you're the underlying cloud provider ;-) ). Servers also need actions performed on them during operation and often their roles and complexity are no different from initial setup. For example, when you run a RightScale operational script to re-mount the latest production snapshot on a staging database, that's really no different at the core from what happened when the server originally launched. Or, if you choose to relaunch the staging server to get the latest snapshot, then the operational script to reconnect all the app servers to the new database is the same as the app server to database connection when all the servers were originally launched. A dynamic runtime configuration system is needed really at all three stages of a server's lifespan: launch, runtime, and decommissioning.
What I hope becomes clear through these examples is the value of the integrated approach that RightScale offers. We see tremendous leverage in integrating all the pieces that developers and sysadmins need to architect, deploy, manage, track, audit, and recycle servers in one platform. We are leading the cloud industry in that respect, and we also still have a lot of cool new features under development in the pipeline!


text:
How to Buy
Solutions Overview
This script is Copyright (C) 2005-2014 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
Synopsis :
The remote HP-UX host is missing a security-related patch.
Description :
s700_800 11.04 Webproxy server 2.1 update :
Two potential security vulnerabilities have been identified in OpenSSL
by NISCC (224012/1 and 224012/2). The Common Vulnerabilities and
Exposures project has referenced them as the following CAN-2004-0079,
and CAN-2004-0112. The CERT summary is TA04-078A. 1. The
do_change_cipher_spec function in OpenSSL allows remote attackers to
cause a denial of service via a crafted SSL/TLS handshake that
triggers a null dereference. CVE-2004-0079 2. The SSL/TLS handshaking,
when using Kerberos ciphersuites, does not properly check the length
of Kerberos tickets during a handshake, which allows remote attackers
to cause a denial of service via a crafted SSL/TLS handshake that
causes an out-of-bounds read. CVE-2004-0112.
See also :
Solution :
Install patch PHSS_30649 or subsequent.
Risk factor :
Medium / CVSS Base Score : 5.0
Family: HP-UX Local Security Checks
Nessus Plugin ID: 17533 (hpux_PHSS_30649.nasl)
Bugtraq ID:
Get Nessus Professional to scan unlimited IPs, run compliance checks & more
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text: OverviewBack to top NeoCell - Collagen Sport Ultimate Recovery Complex French Vanilla - 1.49 lbs. Item# :105995UPC# :016185129191 Brand:NeoCell Size/Form:1.49 lbs. Ship Weight:1.76 Servings:15 Dosage:1 Scoop(s) Flavor:French Vanilla Neocell Laboratories - Collagen Sport Ultimate Recovery Complex French Vanilla - 1.49 lbs. (23.8 oz. / 675 g) Neocell Laboratories Collagen Sport is the Ultimate Recovery Complex. 15 g Pure Whey Protein Isolate 15 g Super Collagen Peptides 4.5 g BCAAs & L-Glutamine Multi-Vitamin Antioxidant Fortification Collagen Type 1&3 Benefits:Provides specific amino acids necessary to replenishing the body's collagen supply helps minimize fine lines and wrinkles, and improves elasticity in the skin builds and supports bone matrix, corrects weak, broken, split and damaged nail beds thickens fine hair, adds body and slows down hair loss repairs connective tissues for improved elasticity; improves circulation; promotes wound healing glycine builds lean muscle to help burn fat while you sleep. Collagen: The Body's Anti-Aging ProteinCollagen supplementation is one of the most fundamental things a person can do to prevent premature aging and promote youthful vitality. Understanding collagen begins with knowing that it is truly the glue that holds the body together; it is the building block for all our body's major systems. Although abundant in our youth, the body's natural collagen production typically slows at a rate of 1.5% per year after the age of 25. As this collagen production slows, the collagen fibers in the body become brittle and begin to break down resulting in many of the tell-tale signs of aging, such as loose, flaccid skin, wrinkles, ligament and tendon injuries and osteoarthritis. Super Collagen+C utilizes Collagen Types 1&3, which is 90% of the body's total collagen supply and the main collagen constituents in the skin, hair, nails, ligaments, tendons, bones and muscles. The Science of CollagenSuper Collagen 1 & 3 is composed of nineteen amino acids and is a rich source of glycine, proline, alanine and hydroxyproline. Once taken orally, it can produce peptides that stimulate fibroblast cells to produce and reorganize new collagen fibers which, upon bundling, can build the mechanical strength of the connective tissues and strengthen the extracellular matrix. Super Collagen's Advanced BioavailabilitySuper Collagen+C uses an advanced enzymatic hydrolyzation process to break the large collagen molecules into low molecular-weight peptides that are both bioavailable and bioactive in the body. Super Collagen+C contains hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, two amino acids specific to Collagen. These are not regularly found in amino acid supplements and are especially important to collagen production. Collagen+C genetically parallels the amino acid structure of the body's collagen and it's been shown that persons taking hydrolyzed Collagen Type 1 & 3 will experience 90% absorption into the blood stream where cellular changes occur. Available in 3 different, bioavailable delivery systems: powder, tablets and liquid. Super Collagen+C tablets and Super Collagen+C Pomegranate Liquid are formulated with Vitamin C, which is absolutely essential to collagen formation. Super Collagen powder is water-soluble, neutral tasting, and mixes easily with water or juice containing Vitamin C, or other Vitamin C supplements are highly recommended. The Diference Between Collagen Type 1&3 and Collagen Type 2:Scientific studies show that more than 90% of the collagen found in the body is Collagen Type 1 & 3. The protein composition consists of nineteen amino acids responsible for the growth and maintenance of the body with unusually high percentages of glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline, which are all found in the skin and muscle. Collagen Type 2 protein consists of eighteen amino acids, which amino acid profiles parallel the profile of the joint cartilage. Collagen Type 1 & 3 and Collagen Type 2 should not be combined due the types having different amino acid profiles. If taken together, the two proteins will bind and form a complete protein and the body will not recognize it as collagen. It is recommended that if you want to take both sources of collagen protein, it should be done at least an hour apart. The NeoCell Family of ProductsNeoCell's Dietary Supplement Line includes ImmuCell Collagen II, Hyaluronic Acid, Blueberry Hyaluronic Acid Liquid, Fish Collagen with Hyaluronic Acid and Pomegranate from the Seed.Each carefully formulated product targets specific areas of the body for maintaining health, pain management and anti-aging. About Neocell LaboratoriesScientifically Advanced Nutrients and Skin CareNeoCell Corporation is a leader in the natural supplement and skin care industries offering consumers around the globe access to products that promote health and wellness. NeoCell Corporation has provided consumers worldwide with some of the finest and most effective collagen-based products for improved health, pain management and anti-aging. When you think of nutritional collagen protein food supplements, NeoCell should come to mind. After all, they are the "original collagen people" and you'd be hard-pressed to find a company that is a greater authority on the subject. For nearly two decades, they've had wellness covered.


text:
Excellence In Action: Government Support of Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am Brad Scott, Regional Administrator, Region 6 of the General Services Administration (GSA). I appreciate the opportunity to report, on behalf of Administrator Stephen Perry, on the GSA's continuing efforts to observe the spirit of the two laws enacted to promote government contracting with service-disabled veteran owned small businesses; the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-50) and Section 308 of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-183). It has been my personal privilege to play a meaningful part in developing and implementing programs designed to promote contracting with small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, as well as implement programs to further GSA's internal goals in achieving this important socioeconomic goal.
GSA is not alone in these efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Defense, and many other agencies have contributed assistance and partnership to this initiative and the continued effort to assist service-disabled veterans.
I would like to take this opportunity to present an overview of GSA's external and internal strategies.
External StrategyOur external strategy is a coordinated outreach program aimed at our constituency: federal buyers, business owners and service-disabled veterans. We are harnessing the power of the internet to promote our initiatives. Perhaps the easiest way to obtain information regarding these programs is at the GSA Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU) website. Here we maintain an updated list of conferences, workshops, and seminars the agency is holding throughout the country to reach the service-disabled veteran small business owners. The website is also host to our Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business page, www.gsa.gov/service-disabled.
When Public Law 108-183 took effect last December, Administrator Perry challenged the GSA management team to aggressively begin planning a series of outreach efforts around the country. To date, GSA has held conferences in Washington D.C. and New York, with major conferences being planned in many of our regions within the next year, hosted by our regional Small Business Utilization offices. All of our regional OSBU offices are acting as conduits to the veterans community. Each of these offices share a sincere and abiding commitment to helping service disabled veteran entrepreneurs understand the immense opportunities presented by this legislation.
Our conference in Washington D.C. was held May 27 at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building, and was the culmination of months of planning by our National Capital Region. It was a huge success, with over 700 attendees and an address by Senator Bob Dole, a service-disabled veteran himself and a true American hero. While we do not always have that kind of star presence at our conferences, the information, assistance, and counseling we provided was very useful and well received by the veteran community. The conference would not have been the success that is was, were it not for the cooperation and partnership that we received from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, SBA, the Defense Logistics Agency, and many other Federal Agencies.
I would like to add that since May 27, Senator Dole has recorded a public service announcement for radio that will inform service-disabled veterans of the opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses in Federal government contracting.
Even as I speak, our Rocky Mountain regional office in Denver, in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management, is sponsoring a small business conference on Federal contracting opportunities for veterans and service-disabled veterans, at the Denver Federal Building. This conference will continue tomorrow. The workshops and panels being held will provide valuable assistance for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses across the country as they begin to do business with the Federal Government.
After the Denver conference, GSA's Mid-Atlantic Region will be holding a similar conference in September at the Pittsburgh area, and our Pacific Region will be holding a conference in December in Pearl Harbor, again with co-sponsoring from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and other agencies.
We are actively seeking feedback from veterans organizations. We use our conferences and other venues to solicit ideas on how to improve our customer facing processes. Here in Washington, GSA's OSBU maintains a permanent liaison to the Task Force for Veterans' Entrepreneurship. This task force consists of most of the major veterans service organizations that are interested parties to the federal contracting goals for their constituents. In fact, this month's meeting of the Task Force was hosted at the GSA Main Headquarters building. Although membership in the Task Force is restricted to non-profit, veterans service organizations themselves, GSA has maintained an observer status since shortly after the task force was established in 2000. GSA was among the first agencies to appoint a program manager for service disabled veteran businesses in its Office of Small Business Utilization, in 1999.
GSA's National Customer Service Center in Kansas City has trained its operators to identify any calls relating to the service-disabled veterans program, and to forward them directly to the GSA Regional Office of Small Business Utilization in the caller's geographic area. The small business staff in the appropriate region can immediately respond to the call with its expertise in small business issues.
We also examined our current external web presence and identified many deficient and inaccurate internet hyperlinks. This was preventing our constituents from moving easily between agencies that historically generate the greatest amount of opportunities, such as GSA, SBA, DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Our information technology personnel worked with their counterparts at these agencies to fix such problems during the last three months.
Finally, GSA held a conference in April in Kansas City that brought together representatives of GSA's Small Business Utilization offices assigned to jump start this program. This jump start initiative included establishing criteria for a common customer experience, call center training, and the creation of the website specifically for service disabled veterans. In May of this year, follow up meetings were held during the GSA EXPO to continuously strive to improve GSA's efforts on this initiative.
Internal Strategy
Now I would like to discuss GSA's internal strategy for the program. As you may know GSA has three distinct business lines, the Federal Supply Service (FSS), the Public Buildings Service (PBS), and the Federal Technology Service (FTS).
The Federal Supply Service contracts for products and services for federal government use through its Multiple Award Schedules Program and other contracting vehicles. Currently, over 79 percent of FSS Multiple Award Schedule contractors are small businesses. FSS business volume is over $25 billion dollars annually and offers more products and services than any commercial enterprise in the world.
The mission of the Public Building Service is to provide a superior workplace for the federal worker and superior value to the American taxpayer. To construct, maintain, and repair these workplaces, PBS contracts with private sector businesses.
The Federal Technology Service delivers best value and innovative solutions in Information Technology, Network Services, and Professional Services to support government agency missions worldwide.
Each of GSA's three services is dedicated to supporting socioeconomic concerns through their contracting opportunities. Agency-wide we are making progress towards our service disabled veteran socioeconomic goal, albeit slower than we had first hoped. We continue to make improvements to the number of opportunities for service disabled veterans.
The net outcome of these ongoing efforts has not only benefited service-disabled veterans, but will also help GSA raise the bar for support of other socioeconomic programs. We are applying the lessons learned during this Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business initiative to improve our processes for all socioeconomic concerns. GSA is working in concert with other Federal agencies to make improvements in helping small businesses publicly identify their socioeconomic status, for example, improvements to DOD's Central Contractor Registration. Today businesses listed in the GSA e-library contracting website, whether they are a small business, a small disadvantaged business, a service disabled veteran owned small business or any other designation recognized by statute, are prominently identified as such.
For example, the end of FY2003, GSA had 167 schedule holders designated as Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses. In March of this year, after GSA conducted an in-house review and contacted businesses listed on GSA's Schedule Program to inform them of the passage and ramifications of Public Law 108-183, that number of schedule holders has nearly doubled to 332 businesses. By June 30 we reached 351 businesses. We maintain and regularly update a list of Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses on our www.gsa.gov/service-disabled website. While the contracting process is dynamic, we are endeavoring to provide what our customers have asked for, a more user-friendly method of identifying a pool of Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.
Our service disabled veteran website listing Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses is a tool for any agency buyer or contracting officer to review vendors, as well as a way for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses to double-check their status within our systems.
Now, I would like to remark on the achievements of GSA's Office of Acquisition Policy. Although it does not obligate a large amount of dollars itself, this Office's role in federal
procurement, through its responsibility of helping to write and then publish the Federal Acquisition Regulations, is one of vast importance. GSA made issuing the acquisition regulations to implement Section 308 of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003(P.L. 108-183) a top priority, and as a result, interim final regulations were published in the Federal Register on May 6, less than five months after the law was signed. In the world of government regulations, that is very fast. The 60 day comment period has now ended and GSA is reviewing all comments received, with the goal of issuing final regulations before the end of the year.
This concludes my testimony on GSA's actions on behalf of the service-disabled veteran business community and I would be happy to respond to any questions you may have.


text:
|Head Coach
|Alma Mater:
|Fonty's Hogeschool (The Netherlands)
|Graduating Year:
|6 Years
Rolf van de Kerkhof continues to lead the University of Delaware field hockey program to national prominence as he is in his sixth season as the team's head coach during the 2016-17 academic slate.
Hired in December 2010, Van de Kerkhof (pronounced 'van—duh—kirk—off') is just the sixth head coach in the history of Delaware field hockey and holds an all-time record of 63-43 (.594) on the turf with the Blue Hens. Following a record-setting campaign in the fall of 2013, Van de Kerkhof was awarded a five-year contract extension, which will keep him in the First State through 2018.
The 2015 Blue Hens continued to be a persistent threat on the national stage and spent 10 weeks ranked No. 18 or higher in the NFHCA Coaches Poll while earning a CAA Championship Three-Peat. Delaware was ranked as high as No. 12 nationally and posted four wins against other NFHCA Top 20 squads, tying the program record set in 2009. The Hens also battled in overtime, but came up short, to three additional Top 20 teams.
Van de Kerkhof and the Blue Hens picked up their third straight CAA title after defeating No. 16 and top-seeded James Madison, 2-1, in overtime in Harrisonburg, Va. In the team's seventh overall trip to NCAA postseason action, Delaware's season ended in a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss at No. 4 Virginia, the team's second overtime game against the Cavs in less than a month.
During the 2014 season, Van de Kerkhof and his Hens captured their second consecutive CAA title en route to the sixth NCAA Tournament berth in school history.
Despite losing five talented seniors from the previous year's NCAA team, the 2014 squad finished the year with a mark of 13-9 while going 4-2 in league action. The No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament, Delaware prevailed for the program's fourth CAA Championship.
Van de Kerkhof, a native of The Netherlands, led Delaware to an outstanding campaign in 2013. The team posted a program record of 17-5 while claiming the CAA regular season and tournament titles on the way to the program's fifth NCAA Tournament berth. Additionally, the Hens earned a Top 20 ranking in the NFHCA Coaches Poll.
For their efforts, Van de Kerkhof, alongside assistants Lynn Farquar, Kim Kinsella and Missy Woodie, earned recognition as the NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year and CAA Co-Coach of the Year.
Van de Kerkhof came to Newark, Del. following a 12-year stint as an assistant and head coach at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. He became the Spartans assistant in 1999 before being named the head coach in 2006. Van de Kerkhof holds a career record of 137-77 over 10 seasons at Delaware and Michigan State.
In total, Van de Kerkhof brings more than 25 years of playing and coaching experience to the Blue Hens. In addition to his time at Michigan State, he spent 16 years playing field hockey, obtaining experience as a goalkeeper, defender and midfielder. In August of 1999, he gave up his playing career to become a full-time coach at the intercollegiate level.
Prior to being named the Michigan State head coach in February 2006, he spent seven seasons as the team's top assistant coach. During his time at MSU, he helped the Spartans put together the most successful era of the program's history and compiled an overall record of 180-80 as both an assistant and head coach. His five-year record as head coach at Michigan State stood at 74-34, including an impressive 33-10 mark over the final two seasons.
The Spartans made eight trips (four as a head coach) to the NCAA Tournament. Just before joining the Hens, Van de Kerkhof guided the 2010 Michigan State program to a 15-6 overall record and NCAA Championship first round appearance.
After leading the Spartans to both the Big Ten regular season and the Big Ten Tournament titles in 2009, Van de Kerkhof was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. The team finished the season with a record of 18-4 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, where, after defeating Delaware, it fell to Virginia, 3-2. Following the 2009 season, Van de Kerkhof was also named the NFHCA West Regional Coach of the Year.
As a Spartan assistant, Van de Kerkhof helped guide the team to two trips to the Final Four and another two into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. MSU's finest season came in 2002, with an overall record of 23-3 and a trip to the Final Four for the first time in program history.
Prior to coaching and living in Lansing, Mich., Van de Kerkhof coached the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 boys and girls teams at various clubs while living in The Netherlands.
He earned a degree in sports, economics and communication at the Fonty's Hogeschool in Tilburg, The Netherlands, in 1996 and also graduated with two official coaching degrees offered by the Royal Netherlands National Field Hockey Association in 1997 and 1998. During the 1998 Field Hockey World Cup in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Van de Kerkhof was in charge of World Cup projects for Whise International Coaching Experts and Brabo International Hockey Equipment.
Since 2000, Van de Kerkhof has been involved in the Youth Olympic Development and Youth Elite Coaching programs, sponsored by the United States Field Hockey Association. In 2007, he served as the head coach of the US under-16 national team, which finished first in the runners-up pool in the HOD tournament in the Netherlands.
In 2001, he served as an assistant coach with the under-16 U.S. National Team, coaching the squad to a bronze medal in the same tournament. In addition, Van de Kerkhof has been coordinating the under-19 U.S. Futures Elite Hockey Tours to The Netherlands and served as head coach of the squads in the spring of 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. He also assists in developmental programs for coaches across the nation and enjoys volunteering for charity organizations, including the Greg Gephart Fund in Houston, Texas and the Worthington Weed Whackers Program in Columbus, Ohio.
He and his wife, Mary, have four children, Sebastiaan, Mark, Lieve and Anneke.
Van de Kerkhof's Career Year-by-Year Head Coaching Record
|Conf. Record (Finish)
|Michigan State
|1-5 (7th)
|Big Ten Semifinals
|Michigan State
|5-1 (2nd)
| Big Ten Semifinals
NCAA Tournament
|Michigan State
|4-2 (3rd)
| Big Ten Semifinals
NCAA Quarterfinals
|Michigan State
|6-0 (1st)
| Big Ten Champions
NCAA Quarterfinals
Big Ten Coach of the Year
NFHCA West Regional Coach of the Year
|Michigan State
|3-3 (4th)
| Big Ten Semifinals
NCAA Tournament
| 9-11
|4-4 (4th)
| CAA Quarterfinals
| 8-12
| 3-4 (5th)
| CAA Semifinals
| 17-5
| 6-0 (1st)
| CAA Champions
NCAA Tournament
CAA Co-Coach of the Year
NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year
|4-2 (2nd)
| CAA Champions
NCAA Tournament
|4-2 (2nd)
| CAA Champions
NCAA Tournament
|Five Seasons
|63-43 (.594)
|21-12 (.636)
| 5 CAA Tournaments
3 NCAA Tournament
|Five Seasons
|74-34 (.685)
|19-11 (.633)
4 NCAA Tournaments
|10 Seasons
|137-77 (.640)
|40-23 (.635)
| 2x Conference Coach of the Year
2x NFHCA Regional Coach of the Year


text:
Third quarter sales at OfficeMax declined 1.7% to $1.74 billion and same store sales dropped 2.1% due to weak demand for office products.
Despite anemic sales, OfficeMax reported a huge increase in profits as it recorded a one time non-cash gain of $671 million related to the extinguishment of something called "non-recourse debt" that was guaranteed by Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. The result was that $416.4 million of reported net income of $433 million and $4.73 of earnings per share of $4.92 were due to the non-recourse debt extinguishment. The third quarter also included $11.4 million of expenses to impair fixed assets associated with certain stores and to record a change in the estimated lease obligation of a previously closed store in the U.S. which reduced net income by $7 million or 8 cents a share.
If all those factors are stripped away, OfficeMax produced adjusted operating income of $44.9 million compared to $41.3 million the prior year. Adjusted net income totaled $23.6 million, or 27 cents a share, compared to $21.5 million, or 25 cents a share the prior year.
"Our team's focus on strengthening the core business resulted in stronger operating margins for the quarter, driven primarily by our U.S. and international contract businesses," said OfficeMax president and CEO Ravi Saligram. "While we continued to drive sales growth in our U.S. contract business including digital initiatives, retail sales were challenged by weaker demand for technology products, especially personal computers."
Retail segment sales decreased 3.1% to $864 million and operating profits declined to $27.7 million from $28.5 million. Sales in the contract division were essentially flat at $881 million, but a slight improvement in margins allowed operating profits to increased to $26.5 million from $23.3 million.
OfficeMax ended the quarter with a total of 960 stores consisting of 872 units in the U.S. and 88 stores in Mexico.