text: Great to see there's some interest. Kai - thanks for setting up the wiki. ( https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Probability) I just put up a proposed meeting format on there and also a set of chapter 1 problems which we can hopefully go over at the 1st meeting. To figure out the meeting time, can everybody please put in what time works for you at: http://www.scheduleonce.com/MP.aspx?param=VT02OTA3My5UPTEuTT0zMzE1Ngqualqual Look forward to meeting you all, -Ben Ps. Does somebody know how to set up a mailing list? On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 5:25 PM, Kai Chang <kai.salmon.chang at gmail.com>wrote: > I'd be down for teaching a chapter. > > https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Probability > > On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 3:48 PM, Mike Schachter <mike at mindmech.com> wrote: > >> Hey Ben, >> >> I'd be interested in meeting up but I'm usually pressed for time. I >> cc'ed the machine learning group - probability is pretty important >> for them and surely some ML'ers are interested! >> >> mike >> >> >> On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 3:44 PM, Ben Weisburd <ben.weisburd at gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> Hi, >>> Is anyone interested in joining up to learn probability over the next 1.5 >>> months or so? >>> There is a great text book that's available free online: Fundamentals of >>> Applied Probability Theory by Al Drake<http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-041-probabilistic-systems-analysis-and-applied-probability-spring-2006/related-resources/> >>> The author taught probability at MIT for many years. >>> Ideally, we would meet once a week and go over 1 chapter. Depending on >>> people's interest, we could either have one person teach the chapter to >>> everyone else during the meeting, or we could each read the chapter at home >>> and do 10-or-so of the recommended problems. Then, we could spend the >>> meeting discussing what we found interesting/confusing and comparing answers >>> to the problems. >>> >>> -Ben >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list >>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net >>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ml mailing list >> ml at lists.noisebridge.net >> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/ml >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/ml/attachments/20101101/3a71dd73/attachment.htm


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Tips For Healthy Living
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For those seeking ways to extend and live their lives feeling whole, healthy, joyful and spiritually connected, sign up for my newsletter and receive inspirational stories, special announcements, editorials, educational articles and more.
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Latest Features
Expert advice and in-depth features for a healthy life
The Best Life Coach Tool
You wake up to the day and what is your first thought? You might be thinking of your children, you partner, your pets, your work day. There are
Vibrational Medicine
"Feel the vibes." "Being on the same wavelength". Bring yourself back to that moment when you felt balance and alignment. That is the healing dynamic of vibrational medicine.
Flower Power
I am ecstatic about the amazing power of flower essences also referred to as flower remedies and their ability to transform. Just about any situation within yourself or
Affirmations for Vibrant Living
I still stand by my belief in the power of positive energy and thought as a foundation for well-being. Yes, life throws at us stuff we don't want
Healthy Fats and Oils
On this particular Friday at the salon I listened to my hairstylist and another client engage in conversation about cooking oils and which ones were good for cooking
The Answers Are Within You
Our intuition, our gut feelings are often readily available to us as long as we are tuned in. Even then, often it is difficult to trust the messages
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Everybody wants more energy to get through their daily routines.
Incorporating these tips will not only give you more energy, they are preventative and aid in keeping you healthy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Stellarton NSCC campus dismissing early due to water line break
Students and staff at the Stellarton NSCC campus will be leaving school early today due to a water main leak near the campus.
The Pictou County Chapter of Silent Witness Nova Scotia is celebrating their first birthday.
The local chapter began in April 2013.
Since 1990 more than 80 Nova Scotia women have lost their lives due to violence. For 36 women, their deaths came at the hands of their intimate partners. The Pictou County Chapter of Silent Witness Nova Scotia is a group of individuals working together to raise the voices of women who have lost their lives at the hands of their intimate partners. Through community involvement and support, the Pictou County Chapter is creating free standing, life-size, red wooden silhouettes, each one bearing the name of a Pictou County woman whose life ended as a result of domestic violence.
Statistics show that one in three women have experienced domestic violence. As a way to mark the Pictou County Chapter's first year, they will be a hosting an information booth at the Highland Square Mall on Saturday. There will be cake for passersby to enjoy and some of Nova Scotia's Silent Witnesses will be on display.
Over the past year the chapter has been very busy. Their first public event was a display at the Highland Square Mall in December 2013 to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The months following their display were spent planning a conference they hosted in March 2014 featuring Dr. Allan Wade, a Canadian expert in violence. They are now beginning to work on a "Remember Me" Silhouette which they anticipate having ready for the fall of 2014.


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Hey everyone, been reading up now for the past 2 weeks about everything, this site is a great find! Now, I'm just about ready to go live with my site, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips about what to include in a direct mail flyer. Should I be specific, or should it be overly vague so that they would want to find out more when they visit my site? What have you guys done in the past to make it work for you, and what pitfalls were avoided on a 2nd chance mailing?
What's the purpose of your flyer? Is it a general site announcment, or are you planning to run a specific promotion? Who is your target audience? What is the purpose of your site? What do you want them to do when the visit your site? How large of a mailing are you sending out? Is it off of a purchased list, people you know, or . . . ?
These are all things to consider before getting specific about what will and will not work.
Hey Jeeplaw,
Mafunk has some good advice there, and it really does start with defining the purpose of the flyer. I think any direct mail piece should be very specific, and it should state a specific benefit to the recipient to encourage them to take action - however you define "action."
If you want them to call you for more information, you have to sell the benefits of picking up the phone and calling you.
If you want them to visit your site, then you need to sell the benefits of visiting your site. But stick to one objective, and don't try to accomplish more than one thing at a time.
Personally, I can't stand "Awareness" type pieces - you know, the mailings that say "We're so and so, the new design company in town. We've been in business for 4 months and we do this and we do that. Here's our phone number blah blah blah..."
It doesn't inspire me to want to contact 'em, yet I see it all the time in print advertising and on websites! Aargh!
A much better approach is to send a mailing that entices the reader to want to visit your site - and offering something to them for free is a great way to attract their attention. How about offering a "Free guide to help your business profit from the internet" or something along those lines? When they visit your site for the free guide, you then request their email address to email it to them - and when you send it make a mention to encourage them to sign up for your free, valuable newsletter (you do have a newsletter, dont you?) If you don't, you should seriously think about it - as it's a great way for you to build credibility with your website visitors and start developing a relationship with them.
At least if you don't make a sale when they first visit your site, you have the opportunity to get to know them better and encourage them to do business with you over time.
Take a look at Seth Godin's excellent book on "Permission Marketing" and also [http://www.givetogetmarketing.com and [url=http://www.themarketingbible.com]http://www.themarketingbible.com](http://www.givetogetmarketing.com) - there is a wealth of info in those three resources that could help you out as they have me.
All the best,
If you are mailing this out or handing it out I think you have to get peoples attention first.Upside down text in color in Chinese with a big word MYSTERY in english may get the thing opened if sent via mail.If done via a posting on a community message board. I suggest a two pager, with something unique on one side to get people enticed to read the other page with your content.
Or you could go the extreme targeted method, if mailed just fit your product and price right there plainly on the envelope or paper if handed out. Most will toss it immediately but your extremely interested people will be sure to read it.
Thanks for some great advice guys. My targetted audience is the legal world. I'm a lawyer who has decided to go back to his roots..technology. I'm hoping to reach law firms that need I.T outsourcing or web design/hosting. I don't want it to be too gimickky..you know? I may just try the straightforward approach. Keep it clean and presentable.
An interesting thing happened to me late last year. I was finally ready to start really targeting new clients. I did a cool flashy post card that would get their attention. I decided to introduce the company and also make them an offer. I offered them one year of free hosting with any custom design or redesign. Guess what. I had no response. None! I should have followed up with a phone call but that is another story.
After about a month I chose another (similar) group to mail to. I wrote a simple letter on linen paper that introduced the company and included my business card. No offers... no flash... no nonsense. I had no response again. Until recently. Out of nowhere I have been getting some calls from people that got my letter and business card and "filed" it away for when they needed my service.
Wow Matt - How many pieces did you mail with each campaign? I'm really surprised you didn't have ANY takers at the time.
Care to share the pieces you sent to them with us? Maybe I can make a few suggestions that might improve your response rate.
My 0.02$
That is exactly why just sending a letter is not enough :rolleyes: If you send 100 letters probably 1 hits a company that actually is in a need of your services at that very moment. That is why you need to call after sending the letter and find out what is the need. And that's what salespersons are here for: they try to make the possible customer to realize the need exists even the customer wouldn't know it himself.
If you never call they read the letter and put it in the X-pile of papers "for future needs" - among the 50 another letters they've got. They never even remember getting any letters from you after 2 days. Calling makes them to remember you and same time you get valuable information when there would be a chance to hit. Also many times calling to lead X has given a lead to company Y - if you make a good impression they might say "well we got all we need at the moment but there's one company in our neighbour/our client/my friend who might need your services. Do you want their number?"
I think it was around 150 each mailing.
I did save one postcard. It's stock that I got form Vistaprint. I'll see if I can get it scanned in later today (busy!)
Ok here is the postcard. I dug it out. It is the last one. I did a quick scan and crop so it is cut off a little on the right.
The back was the services we offer, contact info and the web hosting deal. I know...I know....I should've listed benefits instead (or in addition). It was supposed to be part awareness / part offer. Not a good combo I suppose?
Anyway I thought it was "eye catching" :lol:
I forgot to mention that I did have a couple of these come back, but they were ones that I handed out not mailed.
Thanks Matt - Looks like you've learned your lesson, so I won't beat you up for not listing all the benefits of doing business with you there. Although I'm curious now, and wonder what a postcard mailing with a great benefit laden headline and call to action would do for ya.
I'm still debating a postcard mainling of my own, but some other good leads have come in so I may put it off for a while. If I do something I'll be sure to share the results of the campaign with you here.
One thing to remember about post cards. The have a "hand life" of about 30 seconds with the adverage person.
A CDROM has a life of 1 hour, (unless it's AOL, in that case it .03 seconds or less). A business card CD has a "hand life" of 3 days.JusT my 0.02 worth on marketing stragety that has worked for me.
Couple Pennies.....
Any business person can tell you, word of mouth advertising is the most powerful advertising tool that you cannot buy!
If you have any association with individuals in your target market, or someone who may know someone, you have a better chance of making some long-lasting client relationships. Get involved with local business mixers too!
Marketing well involves a mix (more than one ingredient). I believe someone else suggested it too, follow-up calls on a mail-out is beneficial if you take the time to respect the client on the phone, find out if your target is really being hit correctly. Meet people (personal touch always adds a bit of value over the next company who has gotten money hungry and only sees a monthly paycheck, rather than a human.
After that, most successful businesses are based on problem solving (finding a need and filling it). Is there a specfic need your target audience has (beyond standard hosting services)? Find out and see if you can fulfill it.
Mail-out campaigns generally have the lowest rate of return. Be more than "eye-catching", start a conversation on a human level (not with cheesy stock letters either), with thoughtful headlines that speak directly to your target's needs.
As for your target on this one: Legal world tends to be very stiff. You can either buck the system and try to add a little character and style to it, or show them you are as sophisticated as they are and would like the opportunity to do buisness with them.
Best Regards,Michael Wisniach3rd Cherry Designs
I've done many postcard mailings with great success. But I'm in a different field (retail sales) so I don't know how my results will translate. My company was essentially a direct mail company five years ago. We built an email list largely through visitors from search engines and a few highly targeted newsletter sponsorhip advertisements. Many of our existing customers also of course visited our web site when it came about. We began sending an email newsletter -- first monthly, then weekly. Today we no longer send our once regular newsletter in the mail.
To convert our existing customers to email we sent a postcard -- about 5000 of them -- simply saying "Visit the new Mycompany.com to sign up for our free email newsletter -- save 10% off next purchase." We got 1800 newsletter signups (36%)!
You know your field well -- is there something that you can offer: a white paper, etc. -- that would be of real interest to prospects?
Further postcard tips:
A) The offer should be restated with a similar look and feel to your mailing somewhere on the website so that responders don't have to search for it.
B) If you really need to save money, you can make the postcard, upload it to the US Post Office online and they'll send it for you, with a discounted postage rate too!
I am having the same problem with the postcards. I understand that you should call the potential customer after you mail them. But what should you say when you call them back? I know that you can't give me a word for word, but maybe just a scenerio of a call back. My audience have been small businesses within retail or service. I just don't really know what to say when I approach people or call them back after handing out flyers or business cards.
You're right, there is no perfect formula...
So, be direct, polite, and LISTEN!
Have a goal when you are calling. What do you want to get out of the call? A meeting? A bid opportunity? A sale? An opportunity to get them more information. A brochure, pamphlet, video, etc.
Introduce yourself again: They probably will barely remember your mailing if at all.
Re-Qualify the lead: You may or may not be hitting your target market, come up with some questions that determine if these are even the right people to be receiving your marketing efforts in general, or if you just have the wrong person within the organization. No mail list is perfect.
LISTEN: There is not much that annoys me more than someone who does not listen to what the client is saying. If they aren't going to give you the time of day, don't push it!
Don't Ramble: Give the other person a chance to speak, majorly annoying to listen to someone read to you. Be natural.
Don't give up, be consistent in your efforts, and you will eventually breakthrough. Mail-outs typically have a low response. Get to know people.
Best Regards,Michael Wisniach3rd Cherry Designswww.3rdcherry.com
Thank,thirdcherry .
I will try to put your advice to use. Hopefully it will help.
I'm a bit late on the game here with this conversation. But I still thought it worth chiming in. I've sent out a lot of direct mails -- and I mean millions and millions of letters. Personally I found that about 5 years ago the impact of postcards style and even catalog style mailings from a performance perspective were being passed by a very personal looking letter.
To the extent that some of my best performing mails ever, I actually had people hand write the address on the envelope and purposely made them look a little crumpled and dirty.
There are a lot of assumptions I could make about why, but the only that always stuck with me is that as email usage grew and grew, people started receiving less and less personal letters. So if you're mailing came across like that it instantly inherited a novelty factor of 'ooohh I've got a letter' and got the attention you crave.
I suggest your direct mailing advertisement must be professionally designed. Make sure that it is simple yet attractive and focuses on the services you offer and benefits to your reader.


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March Launch
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Price $50 hour rate 15 days after all content and details are received.


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The Priory clinic has assisted Ronnie Wood, Paula Yates and former England footballer Paul Gascoigne.
Although fees at the clinic are thought to run to thousands of pounds a week, it is offering free assessments for people with drink and drugs problems.
A spokesman said it was trying to "draw attention" to mental health problems.
The Priory clinic in Roehampton, Surrey, is the best-known of its 16 treatment centres across the UK.
Other celebrities who have called on its services in the past include television presenter Michael Barrymore, model Kate Moss and writer and actress Caroline Aherne.
Fees for a week's stay for some clients reportedly approach £2,500 in some cases, although the clinic is keen to stress that every individual treatment package attracts a different price.
One of the adverts placed in the national press depict a smudged list of comments made by drinkers - followed by the line: "If this is all you can remember about last night, call the Priory".
Helping out
The Priory's spokesman, corporate communications manager Karen Croft, told BBC News Online that the company was publicising a helpline number - but it was not the intention to turn every caller into a client.
She said: "It could be that The Priory is not the most suitable place to help them - we might direct them to their GP, or perhaps to Alcoholics Anonymous, if that would work better for them."
"These people will be offered a full assessment of the type we offer to everyone who wishes to become a patient - including taking a brief medical history."
She said: "Our intention is to discover the extent of the problem and recommend the best course of action.
"We are simply hoping to raise awareness of the huge problem of alcohol and drug addiction in society."
A spokesman for Alcohol Concern said that it still feared the Priory would be too expensive for many who took up the offer of the free assessment.
"People will have to pay or go back to the waiting list," said a spokesman.


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EA has released some new screenshots from the upcoming Battlefield 3 DLC Close Quarters. The infantry-centric pack will feature destructible environments, where everything from the furniture to the plaster is ready to explode into tiny bits, with teams struggling through rubble and debris. Close Quarters will also include four new maps, 10 new weapons, including the M417 sniper rifle and L86LSW machine gun, 10 new assignments, and five dog tags.
Battlefield 3: Close Quarters is set to launch in June for the 360, PC, and PS3 for 1200 MS Points/$14.99.
Official Site: Battlefield.com


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Hi guys,
I have downloaded BackTrack 4 final. I would like to install it on a partition that i have already created while installing windows. The problem is the instalation wizard and even forums do not say much about it. You would only have "how to install BackTrack on USB, or windows partition". Can someone help me get to install it on another partition apart from C: (the windows partition).
Thank you


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From our hotel room high in St. Louis, we could see fans by the thousands cruising into the downtown Scottrade Center arena for the Lady Gaga Monster Ball Tour last Saturday night.
The joint holds about 20,000. They tell me every seat was occupied for a high-dollar performance from what is currently the world's hottest female entertainer. From the outside looking in, I can report that I've never seen so many women in short black dresses, painted faces and high heels.
I've never seen so many men in short black dresses, painted faces and high heels either.
The whole block screamed fishnet.


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Umm, And I'll Have The Colonoscopy, Please (Part II)
Make sure you read Part I.
What does it feel like to wake up the morning of your execution? I think I got a glimpse the day of my colonoscopy. The feeling was... resignation. Things had spun out of my control. All I could do was put one foot in front of the other and venture into that dark room from which I could see no exit. And yet, surprisingly, it wasn't that hard or frightening. Mostly, I felt curiosity. "Hmmm, the waiting room looks just like every other waiting room." "I'll put my glasses in my shoe, and put my shoes right here, and the next time I see them, it will be over. Hmmm." "This is the room they'll do me in. Why's it so big?"
There were two nurses in the room when I entered. One instructed me to lie down on the padded table, gently placed a blanket over me, and then started an IV. IV's don't bother me at all. New hole -- no problem. The other nurse worked quickly, wheeling monitors and equipment into place. A minute later, a cocky doctor strolled in, introduced himself, and asked about my preferences regarding anesthesia.
These are all pictures from Dr. Fusco's colon. I hope mine looks this minty fresh.
I made it clear that I wanted the full dose -- double scotch, neat.
Leaning casually against a counter while the two nurses fussed over me, the doctor observed, "I'll bet it isn't often you have two women working on you." The nurses showed no reaction (I expect because they hear this line several times a day). Nor was this the first male doctor I've encountered who likes to engage in fraternity humor with nurses around. They hope you'll blush or fumble for words, and in this way they demonstrate their status as Alpha Male.
I'm an aging buck fighting to stay in the game, so I dug deep to rise to the challenge. "No," I replied. "But this isn't quite the apparatus I see in my fantasy." At this, the nurses giggled, and the doctor threw me a nod. These were my last words before going under.
The anesthetics typically used -- midazolam and diazepam -- are often described as inducing "conscious sedation." A friend had
described it to me this way: "During the operation, you're fully conscious. It's just that afterwards you can't remember anything about it." She seemed fine with this idea. "What difference does it make," she asked me when I protested, "if it hurts like hell but you have no memory of it afterwards?"
I knew she didn't believe in an afterlife, so I countered, "Would you have any objections to undergoing three months of excruciating torture on the belief that when you finally die, your memory will be erased?"
Trust me. I did a lot of research beforehand to make sure that my friend's what-you-don't-remember-can't-hurt-you theory was pure bunk. I would never have allowed myself to be lain upon the alter had I any lingering doubt. If you think about it, most doctors wouldn't want you thrashing around in pain, if for no other reason than that it would waste time and thus cut into their profits. The idea behind these drugs is that you really are out -- feeling no pain -- but can still respond to questions from the doctor: "Tell me, asswipe. Thinking it might be your last hurrah, did you masturbate last night?"
Most people report waking up (as Dr. Fusco did) surprised to learn that
the procedure is over. I wasn't quite this lucky. Somewhere near the end of the ream job, I became semi-conscious, aware of a pain in my gut, almost like horrible gas. And this turned out to be just what I had. I found out later that I have an unusually twisty colon -- so to negotiate some of the hairpin turns, they had to both knead my stomach and pump air in my colon. It was this air (and the balloon it made of my colon) that was largely responsible for the "discomfort." For the thirty seconds or so I was conscious, I could feel the thing advancing up me, a weird sensation, sort of like having a gerbil loose in my gut.
When I finally awoke for good, I did so to the sound of some rip-snorting farts -- my own, of course. All the air they had blown up my ass was now expressing itself. I was still woozy enough to not give a fig that I was doing my imitation of Don King with one of the nurses right by my side.
And that was it. They walked me to a recovery room, sat me in a recliner, told me they found nothing, fed me
some juice and bagel, and then let me get dressed. I found my glasses in my shoe, right where I had left them. I walked into that waiting room that looked like all other waiting rooms and found my wife, just as I'd left her. She drove me home and by the next day, I'd resumed my life.
A few months later, I felt I'd been had when I heard news of what sounded like the technological break-through I'd been waiting for: virtual colonoscopy. It turns out, however, that this is a virtual sham. To perform it, they still need you to clean yourself out, they still stick a tube up your ass (just not as far), and they still blow air through your rectum 'til you rise up off the table. The supposedly big selling point is they can do this with virtually no anesthesia, so that you can walk right out of there under your own power. Well, they sure figured out why most of us don't want a colonoscopy, didn't they? It's that lost thirty minutes it takes coming to, and the inconvenience of having to bring a friend or spouse to drive us home. But the real kicker is that if they find anything, they schedule you for... a colonoscopy.
In retrospect, the colonoscopy was like most things in my life -- not as bad as I feared, nor as good as I hoped. But there is comfort in the knowledge that there's nothing nasty brewing in my colon, and that no one will be poking around in there for another ten years. Err, nine.
155 Comments on "Umm, And I'll Have The Colonoscopy, Please (Part II)"
So, your results were good? No abnormal stuff?
This kind of thing always reminds me of a test my dad had at the proctologist. He had to be filled with gas to distend his colon. After the appointment, he went into a convenience store, where the gas began to come out.
Every step he took was accompanied by a fart all the way out to the car. I guess the accoustics were amazing, and the clerk gave him the worst look ever.
At least you didn't have to drive yourself home. I enjoyed your story.
.....hugging bunnies since 1969
thats just gross
best bet is to get some really good drugs
Yes, after they fill your colon with air for the procedure you'll rip a fart that rattles the windows. In fact, the nurse told me that they won't let you go after the procedure until you rip a good one. All in all, though, my colonoscopy was less unpleasant than a trip to the dentist, due I think to the fact that they give you better drugs.
Somehow I expected the inside of the colon to look darker... dirtier... slimier. This looks eroti--- no, that's definetly the wrong word. Uhmm, clean. Sparkling clean. Like the good Doctor eats nothing but fiber.
I am glad I have 20 years until my first colonscopy. By then, maybe they'll have figured out a better way. This seems way too barbaric.
What scares me is how the doctor looks.. He looks just like Murray from American History X. Him staring at that bowl of jello is creepy.
-Pill Pooper
So did you get a steak and egg breakfast afterwards like the good doc?
I was pondering today about handicapped people's crapping habits. I imagine they have a lot of good stories since if they have to rush to take a dump, they're out of luck.
It'd take them a minute or two just to get situated assuming they could find a suitable restroom. Not to mention if they're in the middle of nowhere and have to kind of roll off the wheelchair and crap while lying on their side?
Fascinating pictures. I agree with Ty that I was shocked to find it so clean. I guess those enemas and junk they give you really do clean out your colon. It's just proof that those health charlatins trying to sell us colon pills that clean out our "stuck shit" are full of it themselves. Where in that colon could stuck shit hide?!?
I found Jesus! He was behind the sofa the whole time!
I will never let ANYONE shove ANYTHING up my ass. Ever.
*~shiver~* O god, i would NOT like to experience a snake like objcs fellng its way up my ass. YOu are one unlucky dude
Mmm mmm mmmph mmph mmmrrr mrrr....
Translation: I can't talk now I've got a tube in my fucking mouth!
I read somewhere that having too many colonoscopies can actually CAUSE polyps. Be careful guys.
I found Jesus! He was behind the sofa the whole time!
Damn! Someone lost a camera up there, didn't they. God forbid someone disagree with you, logjam! What, are you now going to force colostomys on everyone?
The main thing that causes more cancer other than radiation and too many chemicals is stressing about having cancer. Get a life, butthole!
Freakazoid, you are such an asshole!
He was kidding!
I found Jesus! He was behind the sofa the whole time!
Bite me!
There is other thing about colonoscopies. My dad had one a few years ago and he said they make you rip off some pretty awesome farts!
I found Jesus! He was behind the sofa the whole time!
Sometime back on Craigslist, a very unlucky man submitted a story. He'd had either a sigmoidoscopy or or colonoscopy (probably the siggy) and afterward, the staff did NOT ensure that he ripped a full, final fart before leaving their premises.
Our informant, not realizing that he was still a ticking bomb, left the medical office building, went for a walk---and suddenly realized that he had to rip a major fart--immediately.
But he was ashamed to do this in public, so he ran to the only available public restroom which was in the main library. That particular bathroom is a major hang out for various and sundry street people, dope dealers, etc.
Our friend fled to a stall, locked himself in, then blasted off with a long and ghastly ass wail. Meanwhile, he had to listen to the shocked comments of the loiterers:
'Man! What's thaaaat?'
"Weeee, that sounds like Satan' etc.
Make sure the doctor will let your fart on the premises before you go home after getting this prodcure done.
If I'm ever crazy enough to get an ass cameraing I'm going to save the fart until I get outside. Preferably in a crowded public place.
He he he!!!
I found Jesus! He was behind the sofa the whole time!
Why the hell can't the docs vent the gas they just introduced into the colon? I was in excruciating pain from the colonoscopy gas for ten to 15 minutes afterwards until I was able to expel it. Part of the reason I was getting the procedure was excruciating bowel pain. I'm sure my roomates in the semi-private room were delighted by my loud, long ass trumpets.
Can't they just reverse the air pump and suck out what they've blown in. Are they afraid I might turn inside out if they suck too hard?
I guess then we could say that colonoscopies both blow and suck.
i wish freakazoid would grow up
I've had two colo's and need surgery to remove a lipoma/polyp the size of a bowling ball. Yesterday I had a siggie
I actually had one yesterday and while it is unpleasant to think of them, the preperation is worse than the procedure. They stuck a needle in my arm, I talked to the anastheseologist for three minutes and the next thing I knew it was an hour later and they were done! My abdomen hurt badly from the air and a big nurse grabbed me and squeezed me like a squeeze toy and I let out a two minute ripper that rattled the pictures on the wall. The whole procedure was worth it for that...plus they found 2 very small polyps that they got rid of.
WOW...after some VERY unpleasant lower-back procedures, I'm getting to KNOW the anesthesiologist first. I WOKE UP during one procedure and I now know where they got the "eyes spinning" in the cartoons from. SERIOUS PAIN! Sounds like they used "strong valium" on LJ. I had "verced" (I think that is the spelling) and still remember it all. Reading this makes me nervous. Not many things SCARE me...a doctor with a probe that has a knife on it..*shudderrrr*
The big farts would be cool....too bad we can't save them to use later(!)
Asphincter says WHAT...(!)
I'm now 5 hours into the prep for tomorrow's colonoscopy I guess it's nearly complete since the last trip produced a bright yellow clear liquid nearly indistinguishable from the lemon Jello I ate about 2 hours ago.
I'm hoping to achieve Poland Spring purity before heading off to bed. Hopefully I only have about 2 more hours of squirting. I can't help but wonder what happens to all that artificial color under normal conditions. What has the power to turn yellow dye to brown?
I am hoping this procedure doesn't put much pressure on the prostate. My prostate does much better when allowed to sleep quietly. I've had a few digital prostate exams that were excessive and left me with an unnatural and unneeded urge to piss.
So good to have this forum to vent the night before the big scoping.
I'm not thrilled about going to sleep. I hear it kills brain cells.
Best to all you over 50 who remember the candy jingo - OPEN WIDE FOR CHUNKY.
You guys are a riot. I will be having a coloscopy Monday. So tomorrow is clean out day. As a woman I hate to think of actually farting in public. Oh, the embarrassment would be terrible. But you guys take pride in it, how funny. I can just imagine a recovery room full of post op colonoscopy guys. I can picture you all holding it as long as you possibly can, then letting go. Just to try and claim the prize of longest foulest fart imagainable. What I always wondered is why would you want to specialize in this end of the buisness?
Next friday is my very first colonoscopy:-) I have never had an iv, so that scares me to death. I have never had any kind of surgery, etc. I have had 3 sigmoids though. Not too bad after the fact actually. Now I am freaking myself out about it all. is the procedure risky?? Can I die?? and are those odds veryl slim or what?!?! Anyone know???
I am reading this as I down a gallon of Colyte (yum!) for my second colonoscopy at the age of 53. The first used the Phopho Soda and it is much better than this god-awful Colyte. I had a barium swallow last week and it was worse. There is a special place in hell for the designers of these preparations.
The first colonoscopy was sheer torture because no one told me that it was the prep that was the worst. The procedure itself was a breeze, except for the fact that I was hungry, thirsty, exhausted (can't shit and sleep at the same time), my butt hurt and I was generally a cranky old bitch by the time they started. I remember lying on the padded gurney with an IV in my arm, trying to watch the monitor as I intentionally quickened and slowed my pulse. The next thing I remember is coming to. To my great surprise, when I got home, I wanted to sleep more than eat. I slept for eight hours straight.
Thank you for writing this. It is just what I needed on "Colonoscopy Eve!"
My colonoscopy was in October 2001, just about six weeks after my wife had left me and our son for another man (the damn thing--the colonoscopy, as well as (evidently) the other man--had actually been scheduled, back when we were together, to accommodate HER schedule!). This was before Hermione (she was still just a good friend then), so my poor Daddy had to take me to the procedure. There is nothing worse than watching a parent deal with something even remotely relating to the issue of the mortality of his or her child, even a grown child. My mother died when I was fairly young, but I remember to this day, all through the funeral, feeling more sorry for my grandmother--HER mother--than I did even for myself.
But I digress. I relate that simply to note that I had the emotional overlay of Daddy's worry to process, as well.
I was already set up in the "procedure room," with the IV going and everything, when the Doc himself comes in and starts taking my history.
Now, I digress again, but those of you who know me from the site are aware that I'm what that generous soul, C. Everett Poop, calls a Monkey Spooge-Gargling Lawyer. Yes, I sue doctors! Yes, my doctor knew that!! And, OH SHIT!!!, they had forgotten to get my updated history before they plugged me up, as is required by The Standard of Medical Care.
No wonder Doc condescended to come in there 60 seconds early and do this menial job himself. Talk about who was the Alpha Male in that situation?
(To be continued--I gotta go cook supper for Little Dumpster.)
Sorry for the interruption, but I need to finish this story before I take my leave of absence.
(You know that we Dumpsters have to be steam cleaned at least once a year....)
Anyway, here's Dr. Omega, all concerned because he hadn't dotted every t and crossed every i. Nevertheless, recognizing that my life (or at least some portion of it) was going to be in this man's hands for the next hour or so, I felt like I needed to put him a bit more at ease.
Most of the questions were routine:
"Do you smoke?"
"No." [I lied.]
"Do you drink?"
"No." [I lied.]
"Do you use street drugs?"
"No." [Telling the truth, for once.]
"Are you sexually active?"
"I said, are you sexually active?"
"Well, doc, I mostly just lie there...."
"Okay, okay--have you had any significant weight gains or losses recently?"
"Well, yes; as a matter of fact, I have." (I think they had started the Demerol feed by this time.)
"Oh? What would that be?"
"Doc, I've recently lost 120 pounds of unwanted weight," I replied.
***Dead Silence***
"120 Pounds!!" he exclaimed, a bit too anxiously for my taste.
"Ah, yeah--I got divorced last Friday."
***General Laughter***
I remember no more about the rest of the procedure than I remember about my own conception (Dad has offered to share details of that event with me, an offer I've politely declined). Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the Recovery Room, with Doc, Daddy, and Big Nurse all hanging over me.
"Dumpster, I have some good news and some bad news for you," he said, in perfect doctorspeak.
"Whell, whasht de bad noos, dock?" I asked, still somewhat (actually quite) high.
"You have Irritable Bowel Syndrome," he responded, and proceeeded to enumerate the consequences of that, most of which I already knew, and the rest of which I couldn't have grasped in that moment with a gun to my head.
"An de good newsh?" I slurred.
"You are a perfect asshole. Come back in ten years, Mr. Dumpster."
Logjam, why do you inspire me to start typing? Damn! Maybe I could have gotten ten (much-needed) points for those posts! Your stories are so sympatico that they make me forget myself.
Would you please call Miss Hermione Granger at 1-555-xxx-xxxx and whisper a few words in her ear on my behalf? I will gladly pay.
She has a hard time understanding that, here on PR, "perfect asshole" is a term of endearment. In fact, Dave should consider conferring it as another Order of Nobility, sort of like the uberpoopers on the forums.
What a bunch of sissies. The worst part of the procedure is the night before with the phospho-
soda concoction. You wake up in post-op and get to fart. No big deal. Or would you rather not know you have colon cancer until it's too late. R.I.P. Frank Zappa.
I took my first dose of Pico-Salax this morning and I'm just about to take the second dose. It tastes like strong orange Tang. I thought i'd be running to the john more often but i've only gone twice so far. I have my baby wipes and jar of vasoline handy in the bathroom. I had toast and coffee this morning and a big bowl of vegetable soup for lunch. Now it will be liquids and jello until after the procedure. I'll update if anything interesting happens before then.
Holy poop this is great stuff. I'm awake at 1:56 in the morning, hungry with a headache and nervously anticipating my 1st colonoscopy in a few hours. This post is actually very helpful. But I wonder if, during the prep the day before, did you experience what feels like...um...peeing out of the anus from that awful phospho-crap drink? And after many hours didn't your anus ..well..burn and get sore from so much liqui-pooping? I'm concerned I might reject the hose. Anyway thanks for the enjoyable account. Here's my transcription of my conversation with a Danish nurse (I'm a New Yorker living in Denmark) I had to try and put me at ease. Well maybe it sort of helped?
Love this site. Wish I had a clever quip.
Had my second colonoscopy today. The first was 3 years ago and a couple of polyps were removed. Nothing today... hooray! To all who are talking about the prep being the worst part, I agree. The first time I started the prep after work and was up half the night running to the bathroom. Start early getting ready. The trick is to help out your bum by going light on your food consumption the day before you begin the prep. Eat light, nothing spicy, nothing particularly fat or greasy, a nice bowl of bran or something with lots of fiber. You'll poop easier once the prep begins. Then do your clear liquids and hydrate well before beginning the prep. Take the day off and start the prep no later than noon. You'll be done by bedtime.
My only problem was a headache from not being able to start the day with caffeine. I remember nothing whatsoever about the procedure itself. And... you MUST fart soon and fart often. Get in whatever position helps to get the gas out and you'll feel much better. :-)
I love this site. It is doing a very good job of keeping my mind off of prep-hell. My bowels move very slow. It is technically Tuesday morning. I haven't eaten since friday night. I'm on my second prep (first movi-prep now nulytely). I'm hoping this will do the trick. So for now I'm camped out in the bathroom, surfin the net on my TX.
This must be my fourth or fifth scope since being diagnosed w/Crohn's about 15yrs.ago. The last scope was just a year ago. If they ask me to come back in another year, I will run screaming (and farting) out the door.
I do agree that the procedure is not that big of a deal. Just please find a better prep or take my scarred up old guts out.
For you newbies, don't let my belly-achin' (ooh, good un- intended pun) put you off. This is the best preventative procedure ever.
Everything you described went the same for me! I was very surprised. I remembered nothing and felt nothing, I woke up knowing it was over because I had a warm blanket over me. Like you say, glad it's over and happy I'm clean of any cancer. I dealt with the gas for three days, but this eventually ended too. Thanks Doc...you learned your lessons well!!!
Jim O (Charleston, WV)
did the second package of Pico-Salax. Now doing all I can not to upchuck. Butt hurts...and nausous. Anybody else vomit on the pico-salax stuff? High Speed water bombs seem to be subsiding a 'bit'.... tummy is achy... appointment is 8:45. My questions are: anybody else vomit on the stuff and get the chills? Looking for some comfort...
I had my first colonoscopy yesterday. The day prior I did the clean out with 1 bottle of powdered Miralax mixed with 2 quarts of white grape juice which I drank as one 8 ounce glass every 15 minutes from 9AM to 11AM. I highly recommend the Miralax as it dissolves thoroughly in any liquid and is completely odorless and tasteless so its easy to get down without nausea. I had eaten lightly the day before so the process was much easier than I expected. I was virtually cleaned out by 1PM and was able to do household chores, etc. I was a bit hungry, but kept hydrated with broth, juice, popsicles and water. The worst was opening the frig and seeing my wonderful leftovers from Christmas that I couldn't have, like cherry pie and prime rib. My husband came home for lunch and started to eat in front of me - I made him go to another room! Before bedtime I had 3 gin and tonics (they were clear liquids!) and I slept like a baby. Forgot to mention that at 4PM I took 4 tiny little Ducolax tablets which seemed like overkill to me at that point. My tummy started to gurgle around 4 AM and I had two more trips to the bathroom and couldn't get back to sleep. I was pretty nervous about what was coming. I finally got up, showered and left for the hospital for my 6:30 appt. I sat in a pre-op waiting room for about 10 minutes before I was called in. I chatted with my nurse until I could change into a gown and hospital issued socks. After a very thorough interview/history with her, she started my IV and hooked me up to monitors. She asked me if I had any anxiety and I said, "oh, yeah." I looked at the read- out screen where I could see my heart rate right then was 146 and my blood pressure was way up too. She said she would ask the anesthesiologist if she could administer some Versed if I wanted, just to take the edge off if I agreed. So I had two baby doses of that while I waited for my turn and it did help me relax and get my numbers down but I was still coherent. During this time I was visited by my surgeon, the anesthesiologist and his nurse anesthetist. All were very pleasant and reassuring and answered all my questions patiently - and I had plenty of questions even at this point. I was confident finally that I would be given both a sedative and an analgesic and it would not be a question of just "no memory" of pain. Next thing I know they say its my turn. All I remember is being wheeled into a room, checking it out briefly, getting my gown untwisted, getting a monitor and oxygen hooked up and being asked to turn to my side like I was taking a nap. Boom! I was out like a light. No discomfort, no embarrassment, no memory of anything. I'm in the recovery area being roused to wakefulness by a nurse. As before the procedure, I'm covered with heated blankets so I'm cozy and comfortable. I felt a little tipsy for a bit, not a bad feeling. I asked for a TV so I could spend the day there, I was so comfortable. The nurse offered me a choice of food and beverage, transferred me to a chair and then called my husband in. The doctor had reported to him that I had no polyps - nothing, so I was relieved to hear I was clear for maybe another 10 years. My procedure had started around 8AM and by 8:30 I was awake in recovery. I never once felt that my dignity or privacy was compromised; everyone was very professional. My extreme anxiety was probably misplaced. I wish I had known some of the tips two days ago that I now know, like using wet wipes, because my bum did get a bit sore. So ask for the Miralax protocol and get this important screening done. Get all your questions answered and make sure you are comfortable with your caregivers and the facility you choose.
Had one last week. Prep was no big deal. Wasn't hungry since I was drinking so much. I was conscious during the early part and could see the monitor. As that point I started to feel some discomfort, mentioned it to the doctor. The next thing I remember I was awake and redy to go home.
One suggested warning: eating after the colonscopy. I see that some responses mentioned that the doctor's office provided a small amout of food. Not a bad idea! My wife (the designated driver) and I went to breakfast. I had 2 1/2 pancakes and some coffee. Not feeling anything except a few minor cramps and very little farting, we went shopping for about a half hour.
On the way home I was getting very light-headed and just in the driveway I vomited. In seconds I felt fine and the rest of the day was ok.
I inquired of the Dr. office. Today the nurse thought that the symptoms were caused by air rising up through my gut and stomac and expelled the food and that the walking helped that occur.
Since they removed one polyp, I go back in 5 years. Next time Ii'll re-eat more sensibly.
Having this every 5-10 years is no big deal considering it helps monitor risk for 3 major cancers. Also I suggest that the guys out there have their PSA monitored (althought this is somewhat not super reliable) and skin checked regularrly.
I'm glad I found this site. Having the procedure done in the morning. I already did the prep and yeah, it was pretty yucky. I only just turned 42, so I'm assuming that since I need one of these, something must be wrong. Not too keen on farting in front of people either.
I was just finishing the awful prep for my colonoscopy tomorrow. On the last glassful of that "stuff", I began to vomit. I probably vomited about 4 cups of the liquid... Now what!??
My 1st colonscopy is Monday. I'm scared. One they found a large mass so going to find out what it is. I just want to save my dignity in there, do they keep you covered as much as possible, and that farting business do you have to in front of other people? Last question is Lemon jello considered a clear liquid? I know knox gelatin is clear and tasteless too they say but i think it tastes horrid!


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I'm fourteen and I've just found bumps developing on lips and but there small but there also on my penis and it looks like the head of my penis is swollen but its irritating me a little but I'm also a virgin what do I do
Bumps on Lips and Penis?
Doctor Answers 2
Bumps on penis and lips
The most common bumps I see on the lips are tiny yellow lesions called Fordyce glands. This may also be what you have on your penis, but if the lesions are flesh colored and found at the base of the glans (tip of the penis), then they are pearly penile papules. Electrodesiccation (and less commonly CO2 laser) can be a very successful treatment for both types of lesions, although trichloroacetic acid application can also be used for Fordyce glands. Speak with your dermatologist about the best treatment options for you. Dr. Benjamin Barankin, Toronto Dermatology Centre.
Pearly penile papules
These spots on the penis are likely pearly penile papules, while the ones on the lips are Fordyce spots. Both types of lesions are benign and can be removed by a dermatologist.
Anatoli Freiman, MD, FRCPC
Toronto Dermatology Centre
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


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A flurry of information and announcements from the Reserve Bank was unable to cause a big shift in the local currency on Tuesday. The dollar edged slightly lower, from $US1.04 overnight to $US1.038, after Reserve Bank deputy governor
"Nowadays, there is a greater recognition that the high exchange rate is likely to be quite persistent and firms, including in the manufacturing sector, are adjusting to this," he said.
Mr Lowe's assessment of the economy was interpreted as suggesting the RBA would remain "patient" before cutting rates, and financial markets moved to price in the chance of an interest rate cut in April at less than 10 per cent. That shift would traditionally support the currency but, as Mr Lowe noted in his address: "The one notable exception to the expected responses following a substantial easing of monetary policy is that there has been little movement in the exchange rate."
Despite record low official interest rates, the dollar's strength is broad, having hit a five-year high against the Japanese yen last week. The RBA's trade-weighted index is once again close to its highest level since 1985.
The Australian Financial Review


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Mon Jun 4, 2012, 03:15 PM
white cloud (2,499 posts)
Dereg and Rates to triple, Break contract
The solution? Allow prices to rise. And thats why, despite a decade low in natural gas prices, which account for most of the states generation, and falling coal prices, electricity rates are going up across most of the state this summer. The prices increases wont bring new generation online fast enough to prevent possible shortages this summer, but hey, you have to start somewhere.
So 10 years into the deregulation fiasco, were looking at a summer in which consumers, having endured years of high prices, can expect them to only go higher; retailers may not be able to afford to honor their customer contracts and generators may not be able to afford to keep the lights on.
This is moving in the right direction?
5 replies, 1300 views
Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum
Replies to this discussion thread
|5 replies
Dereg and Rates to triple, Break contract (Original post)
|white cloud
|Jun 2012
|white cloud
|Jun 2012
|Jun 2012
|Jun 2012
|Jun 2012
|Jun 2012
Response to white cloud (Original post)
Mon Jun 4, 2012, 03:16 PM
white cloud (2,499 posts)
1. Companies asking to change fixed-rate contracts
The negative impacts, if any, on longer term, fixed price contracts are avoidable in a market where hedging all or a portion of sales is essential to prudent risk-taking and practice, the company wrote.
So what will that mean for consumers?
If the PUC allows companies to break fixed-rate contract, you might keep a close eye on that electric bill.
Response to white cloud (Reply #1)
Mon Jun 4, 2012, 03:30 PM
mbperrin (7,672 posts)
2. Yes, considering the current $3000 contract is triple what FERC allows in the rest of the country.
Triple THAT seems excessive, especially when the reason these fossil fuel generators are not practical is because wind power is so cheap, and produces more than the state grid can handle.
We need more transmission lines, and if another fossil fuel or nuke plant is never built in Texas, good.
Response to mbperrin (Reply #2)
Mon Jun 4, 2012, 06:04 PM
sonias (18,063 posts)
4. "deregulation fiasco"
Pretty much says it all. SNAFU in the electric industry where they have been allowed to run free market crazy. No surprise ERCOT would recommend tripling the price. After all ERCOT works for the industry, not the consumers.
In addition to transmission lines for more wind power, I would also like to see solar increase its share of the market. He have plenty of hot air and hot sun in Texas.
Response to white cloud (Reply #1)
Mon Jun 4, 2012, 03:38 PM
pennylane100 (3,053 posts)
3. If a contract is legally binding, I think the reasons for breaking it must be valid.
I believe that some contracts have escape clauses, but if the company could have avoided this need by using sound business practices, I think that a court may be able to have the final say in this.
Response to white cloud (Original post)
Thu Jun 7, 2012, 04:43 PM
DhhD (4,695 posts)
5. Compare our Texas price for electricity
with the prices of surrounding states. Deregulation in Texas allows consumers to be abused. When and by whom did deregulation get started? Apparently it is ok with the voting majority of Texas to elect lying and cheating legislators/politicians. (It has happened recently with Weapons of Mass Destruction, destroying labor unions instead of just getting the campaigned concessions, voter suppression, defunding and privatizing public education, and on and on).


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ADAMS-L ArchivesArchiver > ADAMS > 2005-10 > 1130103513
Subject: Re: Robert Adams/Mourning Lewis
Date: 23 Oct 2005 15:38:33 -0600
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Ferguson, Lewis, Adams
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
Message Board Post:
Dear Marsha, Your Anna Adams would then have been a sister to Agnes Adams who married James Samuel Ferguson, Jr. about 1735-1738 in Goochland, my ggggggrandfather. Hugh Lewis could have been a cousin or nephrew to William Lewis, and the Indians were civilized, half white--near Powhatan.
This thread:


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Colchester United have completed the signing of veteran David Wright from Crystal Palace.
The 32-year-old former Ipswich Town player, who is the U's eighth signing of the transfer window, can play in a variety of positions.
Wright played much of his early career at full-back but over recent seasons, has played predominantly in midfield for Crystal Palace.
He has clocked up nearly 450 league appearances during his career and offers U's boss Joe Dunne another option in defence and midfield, particularly with skipper Kem Izzet still sidelined with an ankle injury.
For all of the latest Colchester United news, see Friday's Gazette.


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What If Monty Python And The Holy Grail Had Been Filmed Today? [VIDEO]
It's a classic that began as a cult classic 30 years ago. Now it's virtually part of our fabric of conversation when we ape a British accent. Mention the word 'shrub', 'swallow' or 'Camelot' and someone in the room is bound to launch into a scene read from Monty Python and The Holy Grail.
Now, thanks to near-visionary and video-maker Stephen Bouley (who, by the way has a whole THREE videos on his YouTube Channel) we can see what this movie trailer would look like if the film had been made in today's overly-grandiose epically-dramatic world of Hollywood hype.
Complete with thrilling on-the-edge music and insanely gripping edits of the characters and scenes, we get to envision the film in a whole new light; as suspense-thriller-action-drama. A direct parody of how serious Hollywood takes itself and how the trailers we see can completely mislead you as to the film's content and plot.
Now of course, it all becomes even more absurd when we realize the total absurdity of the original movie. It's as if the Brit comedy troupe reunited for one last nose-thumb to Hollywood, complete with lens-flares and classic silver screen go-to font on the ending title.
Watch, chuckle and enjoy. And keep scrolling for an added bonus: The modern-day trailer for Life of Brian.
BUT be careful, I've watched these so many times, it may have turned me into a newt.
Subscribe to 103.7 The Loon on
Subscribe to 103.7 The Loon on


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The only thing I liked about this hotel was leaving it!
Decent location and nice woman who helped up front. Very basic amenities.
Super cheap rate, no problem getting a room. I had asked for a queen, but they didn't have any that were ready at the time so they upgraded me to a king for no extra cost. Small rooms, no extras (breakfast, pool, etc), location is literally right next to the freeway, freeway noise at all times. If all you need is a bed to crash in and you're not looking for anything more, than this is a good value.
The motel was clean, easy to find, and cheap. The pool was clean as well! The morning guy was happy, and made us feel welcome. There were no convenience soaps. Also, the walls were not sound proofed at all. We could hear everything going on around us. The ladies at the front desk almost made us feel like we were a pain, and they were not happy to help us.
Nicely remodeled. Convenient location. Very helpful and friendly staff. No place to hang garment bags in our room.
It was better than we expected - bed was firm but OK - linens were good - bed was made well - sheets tight - square corners. Room had smoker odor. Nothing matched in the room - the couch was soiled - needs a good cleaning.
I picked this motel cause it was close to where I needed to go early in the morning. Staff not friendly, not really an office, and no coffee in room or in office.
nothing the staff was very rude and were trying to tell us what we could and couldn't do. we got the pet room and they were trying to tell were the dog could and couldn't go in the room
The room was clean and had a fridge. no hooks to hang clothes in bathroom. no breakfast.
Clean - good place to stay for a night - the price was right
The rooms are actually a lot better than you would think when you pull up to the hotel. It's just a really old hotel and it's location is terrible. There is not a lot to do around the area.


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The medical profession is refusing to back plans by two universities to set up new medical schools, warning of a potential glut of unemployed doctors.
Charles Sturt University in regional NSW and Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia have lodged applications with the federal government for student places in medicine.
If they are successful it would bring the number of medical schools in Australia to 22.
But the Australian Medical Association says it cannot support new medical schools when the hospital training system is already struggling to cope.
Association president Andrew Pesce said Australia needed more doctors but already this year international students graduating from NSW medical schools could not find jobs because of a lack of training capacity.
Australian nationals were guaranteed a place but the situation was only going to get worse unless the issue was fundamentally resolved, Dr Pesce said.
"This is part of the reason why I don't think we can automatically support calls for another couple of medical schools."
The Australian Medical Students Association said it would be reckless to set up any new medical school ahead of a report to be delivered by the national medical workforce agency, Health Workforce Australia. The agency, established by the Coalition of Australian Governments, will map doctor shortages.
The president of the student association, Ross Roberts-Thomson, said Australia had already over-dosed on medical schools by international standards, with the World Health Organisation recommending one medical school for every 2 million people.
He said hospitals were struggling to cope with the training requirements of existing students, the number of which had increased by more than 150 per cent over the past decade.
"We shouldn't be increasing medical student numbers if we are unable to plan their future training," Mr Roberts-Thomson said.
"There is no data to suggest that we have enough training and clinical capacity to train these students."
On Wednesday, Charles Sturt vice-chancellor
"A new, rurally-based medical school is essential if we are serious about addressing the rural doctor crisis," he said.
Meanwhile, Curtin University this month lodged an official bid for $50 million in federal funding to help create WA's third medical school. Vice-chancellor
"Basically, the state needs more medical graduates," she said.
Both universities claim they will offer a fresh approach to medical education. They promise to train doctors side-by-side with other health professionals such as nurses and physiotherapists. Curtin calls it "inter-professional" training; Charles Sturt refers to it as "integrated primary healthcare".
The theory is these collaborative health teams will be better equipped to meet the needs of an ageing population and to treat people in community settings, thus minimising the number of costly hospitalisations.
"We would argue this is not just a matter of making existing medical schools bigger," Professor Hacket said. "We want to offer something different."
The Australian Medical Association has lobbied for more doctor training, which successive governments have delivered, but said it was now time for a period of consolidation.
Australian universities offer both undergraduate and graduate-entry programs for medicine. Once students emerge as graduate doctors they must do an internship, typically at a hospital, to be registered as a medical practitioner. Following that, they typically spend another three to four years training for a specialisation under the supervision of a consultant.
Dr Pesce said it was the capacity for the training system to cope at these postgraduate levels that was causing the problem.
Mr Roberts-Thomson said about 2776 medical students would graduate in 2010, rising to 3723 in 2013.
"To put it in context, in 2003 there were 1469. So, in 10 years, we'll have increased the number of graduates by more than 150 per cent," he said.
"To move before the Health Workforce Australia report would suggest these universities are looking just to get the prestige of offering a medical degree rather than serving the needs of the community."
Professor Goulter said there was a general doctor shortage but it was worst in rural areas.
"It's not just another medical school," he said.
The university will ask for the support of the NSW government to open additional clinical training places in the state's hospitals.
John Dwyer, the former head of the University of NSW medical school, has been the chief consultant for Charles Sturt University's bid.
He said the idea was to build a health science precinct in Orange to train doctors alongside other health professionals.
"We would be training these kids to get used to the fact they respect each others' distinctive skills and they are happy to work as a team as first amongst equals," he said. "That's particularly important for rural areas."
Emeritus professor Dwyer agreed that it would be unthinkable to establish another medical school in Sydney.
"I'm acknowledging the fact we don't need to train more doctors, we just need to have some of those doctors trained differently," he said.
The Australian Financial Review


text:
Students who earn Graduation with Leadership Distinction demonstrate extensive, purposeful engagement beyond the classroom; understanding of course concepts in "real world" settings; and application of learning to make decisions and solve problems: cornerstones of USC Connect.
This formal distinction honors the broader scope of achievements for students engaged within and beyond the classroom and sets them apart in ways worthy of recognition by others (e.g., potential employers, graduate schools). Students are recognized with graduation cords and the distinction appears on graduates' transcripts and diplomas as Graduation with Leadership Distinction in (Experience Pathway Name).
Students can earn Graduation with Leadership Distinction if they meet the requirements, graduate with an associate or baccalaureate degree in any major from USC Columbia, Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter or Union and have a GPA of 3.0 or greater.
General Requirements
Students pursuing GLD must have extensive beyond the classroom experiences in their
respective pathway. They must also have taken part in enhancement activities (lectures,
workshops, events) and have taken approved courses relating to their GLD pathway.
Students earning GLD also complete a public presentation (Discovery USC) and produce
an E-Portfolio demonstrating their learning in their pathway.
The first step in pursuing Graduation with Leadership Distinction is completing the GLD Orientation.


text:
WASHINGTON -- You might think someone who excoriates President Barack Obama for his handling of Syria and questions his ability to lead would no longer be interested in dealing with the White House.
But Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who brokered real estate deals in an earlier life, said he'd like to keep working with the president on a raft of thorny issues facing the nation.
"I'm a businessman and I want to solve problems," the former Chattanooga mayor said Friday. "And part of solving problems is working with the folks who are going to play a leading role in helping make that happen, and the White House is going to continually play some role in that."
Two days earlier, Corker was slamming Obama. He said the president's "muddled" speech on Syria Tuesday and the indecisive way he's dealt with that country's apparent use of chemical weapons against its own people has hurt U.S. credibility abroad and diminished Obama's stature on Capitol Hill.
"The president just seems to be very uncomfortable being commander in chief of this nation," Corker told CNN.
On Friday, Corker said he doesn't regret those words. But he is ready to move on, basically because there's no choice.
"The country has decided who our president's going to be for the next three years and most of these issues cannot possibly be dealt with without some level of involvement from the executive branch," he said. "It's not like you can take your football and go home."
The president doesn't seem to be dwelling on it either. At least not publicly.
Asked about Corker's comments, White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to address them specifically. But he did defend what he called Obama's willingness to be patient when events rapidly unfurl.
"I would simply say that when it comes to being a commander in chief, I think that the American people, at least in my assessment, appreciate a commander in chief who takes in new information and doesn't celebrate decisiveness for the sake of decisiveness," Carney told reporters.
Defenders of the president say events moved quickly that day due to Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to send monitors to Syria to find and destroy the arsenal of chemical weapons. And Obama's decision to delay a vote for military authorization in both the House and Senate came amid signs that Congress was likely to reject the proposal.
Harsh words are not uncommon between Washington politicians. Much of the time, the rhetoric belies the cooperation those very same lawmakers are hammering out quietly, congressional observers say.
When former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former President Bill Clinton came to Capitol Hill four years ago for the unveiling of former Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott's portrait, Clinton said a lot was accomplished behind closed doors in the 1990s despite politically charged impeachment proceedings against him.
"The world would be amazed to know what good chemistry Newt and Trent and I had in private," Clinton said.
Senate historian Donald A. Ritchie said it's only natural there would be friction when individuals of different political stripes and interests congregate in one place.
"But when people need each others' votes, it's remarkable how much they can find reasons to get together," he said.
The relationship between Corker and Obama seemed to transcend the partisan divide gripping Washington.
The Tennessee senator is part of a cadre of GOP senators who meets regularly with the president or other administration officials to discuss issues of mutual interest. He's also golfed with Obama. And last month, Corker was described by a White House spokeswoman as someone who can "routinely put aside party politics and work to make progress on the priorities of the nation's middle-class families."
Corker's amendment earlier this year to beef up border security is credited with helping the Senate pass an immigration reform bill that's one of Obama's top priorities. And as the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corker hustled to help pass a resolution last week that would grant Obama authority for a limited military strike against Syria.
Corker also is in regular contact with White House Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough. But when the senator fired off a terse email to McDonough Wednesday expressing his disappointment with the president's speech -- and how it was different from what he told senators earlier that day -- there was no reply.
Corker thinks it's because the White House knows the president fumbled the moment.
"The fact that he didn't respond speaks to the fact that I think he knows that I know they retreated from the argument they were going to make at one point," Corker said.
Norm Ornstein, a congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said Corker went "way overboard" with his comments on the president. But he said he would be stunned if this meant the end of their relationship.
"Obama's not going to say: 'Screw you Corker. I won't try and work out a compromise on fiscal policy because you said bad things about me' " Ornstein said. "Nor is Corker, who now especially is in full problem-solving mode. He wants to do good things. He wants to do big things. And he's not going to lose that desire as a consequence of Syria."
It's not clear whether the relationship between Corker and the president will be as chummy as it once seemed to be. The Tennessee senator is not waiting for an invitation to golf again anytime soon.
"I doubt my phone rings after some of the comments," he said. "It probably won't ring over the weekend."


text:
Pat Buchanan was very moved. Chris Matthews "heard greatness this morning." Joe Scarborough said Romney "hit it out the park." But with his speech on faith this morning, Mitt clearly didn't make a believer out of Sally Quinn, doyenne of the DC establishment and wife of former WaPo editor Ben Bradlee.
SALLY QUINN: I have to say that I'm really stunned because I think it was an obliteration of the idea of the separation of church and state. He eliminated anybody who was a doubter, an atheist, an agnostic, a seeker. It's like, if you believe in God or Christ, if not, you're not.
View video here.
Which "separation of church and state" did Quinn have in mind? The one that's not in the Constitution? The First Amendment does of course contain an Establishment Clause, prohibiting the establishment of a state religion. But Romney could not have been more explicit in stating that he would not let Mormonism or any other religion dictate his decisions as president.
MITT ROMNEY: Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or any other church for that matter, will ever influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs. And it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.
As governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution. And of course, I will not do so as president. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.
As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's political religion, the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I'm fortunate to become president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.
With that statement, Romney entirely fulfilled the mandate of the Establishment Clause. As for non-believers, did Quinn not hear Romney's homage to Lincoln's description of America's "political religion" based on the constitution and not any religion?
As noted at the beginning, Romney did win some rave reviews.
PAT BUCHANAN: I don't know how he could have done it better. I mean, I was very moved.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: I have to say if he wins the presidency, it started here . . . For the first time in this campaign, and it's been a long campaign, I heard greatness this morning.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: He hit this thing out of the park. It was a great morning for him.


text:
Online lettering design software - LiveArt
|Share it:
|Updated at:
|6 Aug 2008
|Editor's review:
|Not yet reviewed
|developflash | More...
Online t-shirt design software: liveart description
Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt is an online design group that helps you to create great, natural-looking designs for t-shirts. The user friendly interfaces help you to create your own design or customization in a fun fashion. You are given a variety of ways in which you can work, you can upload your own work (jpg, png, gif or swf), drag and resize pre-existing work, or add texts and clip art to freestyle designs. There is also a wide selection of tools so that you can create your T-shirts exactly they way you want.
Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt is licensed as commercial. Follow the link bellow and free download Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt.
Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt download notice »
It is not legal to make use of cracks, patches, pirate registration codes or serial numbers, key generators, and other similar tools that interfere with future developments of the software, while it is not safe nor allowed to obtain Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt 1 from file sharing websites such as MegaUpload, Rapidshare or YouSendIt. Using these methods to eliminate the need to obtain a genuine license for Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt 1 could put your computer and activity at risk by infecting the system with viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, dialers and adware, distroying its stability and stealing your personal information, as well as propagating through the network to take control of other computers. In such cases, you won't be able to use your computer, not even Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt, anymore.
You can find and use free legal download links for Online T-Shirt Design Software: LiveArt 1 on Download3000 and on the official website of the publisher.


text:
Video Everywhere
Broadcast TV on Phones?
Current cell-phone video offerings are underwhelming, but two (incompatible) technologies coming soon will let more carriers provide multiple live TV channels. DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld), promoted by Motorola, Nokia, and Intel, and FLO (Forward Link Only), from Qualcomm's MediaFLO USA division, will both beam live video to your phone; each requires an overlay network on top of a 3G network.
Current 3G nets have unicast capabilities, which work well for calls with a signal traveling between a single transmitter and receiver. But unicast networks bog down if many users demand the same content; extra bandwidth is needed for each additional viewer of, say, a live World Series clip. DVB-H and FLO will let 3G networks multicast: One transmitter will reach many receivers.
In the U.S., Hiwire and Modeo are building DVB-H networks; no cell carriers have announced plans to use them yet. Verizon has signed up for FLO.
The network roll-outs should begin in late 2006 and throughout 2007. Also on the way: TDtv, from the Sprint-funded IPWireless, which runs over existing 3G nets. You may also hear talk of firms' using WiMax, also known as 802.16 (a wireless broadband standard with longer range than 802.11 Wi-Fi), on handheld devices, but no plans have been announced.


text:
Subject: Re: [htdig] Help with FreeBSD & htdig
From: Gilles Detillieux (email@example.com)
Date: Fri Apr 07 2000 - 09:48:08 PDT
According to Sean:
> Sorry if this was posted a minute ago.. I don't thik it made it.
It sometimes takes a while for posted messages to get back to you.
> I am trying to install htdig on a freebsd box 2.2.5 and keep getting the
> following error in the make..
> gcc -o db_archive db_archive.o err.o getlong.o libdb.a -lc_r
> ld: -lc_r: no match
> *** Error code 1
If upgrading, as others have suggested, is too difficult to tackle right
now, you may want to try a quick fix. Try removing the -lc_r from the
LIBS definition in Makefile.config and db/dist/Makefile, then rerunning
make. It may work, but no promises.
-- Gilles R. Detillieux E-mail: <email@example.com> Spinal Cord Research Centre WWW: http://www.scrc.umanitoba.ca/~grdetil Dept. Physiology, U. of Manitoba Phone: (204)789-3766 Winnipeg, MB R3E 3J7 (Canada) Fax: (204)789-3930
------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from the htdig mailing list, send a message to email@example.com You will receive a message to confirm this.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Fri Apr 07 2000 - 07:33:08 PDT


text: Gardening New Uses for Old Things Facebook Pinterest Twitter Print Mail Save Left Arrow Right Arrow Photo by Beatriz da Costa Left Arrow Right Arrow 12 of 46 Grid View See All Garden Hose Holder as Holiday Light Organizer Coil strings of holiday lights round and round for knot-free hall decking. Your reward: You won't blow a fuse trying to hang next year's light show. Start


text:
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text:
Romesco Vinaigrette
This rich, nutty dressing from chef Geoffrey Zakarian's book, My Perfect Pantry, is based on a traditional Spanish red pepper sauce. The vinaigrette works beautifully with hearty bitter greens.
Slideshow: Salad Dressings
- Total Time:
- Servings: 1 cup
- 1/4 cup roasted almonds
- 1/4 cup basil leaves
- 1/4 cup tarragon leaves
- 3 drained piquillo peppers
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1/2 garlic clove
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Torn chicory, for serving
How to make this recipe
In a food processor, puree the almonds with the basil, tarragon, piquillo peppers, vinegar and garlic until a paste forms. With the machine on, gradually add the water and olive oil. Season with salt. Toss the dressing with chicory.
Contributed By Geoffrey Zakarian Published August 2014


text:
Hi, On 08/27/2010 10:46 PM, Robert Haas wrote: > What other subsystems are you imagining servicing with a dynamic > allocator? If there were a big demand for this functionality, we > probably would have been forced to implement it already, but that's > not the case. We've already discussed the fact that there are massive > problems with using it for something like shared_buffers, which is by > far the largest consumer of shared memory. Understood. I certainly plan to look into that for a better understanding of the problems those pose for dynamically allocated memory. > I think it would be great if we could bring some more flexibility to > our memory management. There are really two layers of problems here. Full ACK. > One is resizing the segment itself, and one is resizing structures > within the segment. As far as I can tell, there is no portable API > that can be used to resize the shm itself. For so long as that > remains the case, I am of the opinion that any meaningful resizing of > the objects within the shm is basically unworkable. So we need to > solve that problem first. Why should resizing of the objects within the shmem be unworkable? Doesn't my patch(es) prove the exact opposite? Being able to resize "objects" within the shm requires some kind of underlying dynamic allocation. And I rather like to be in control of that allocator than having to deal with two dozen different implementations on different OSes and their libraries. > There are a couple of possible solutions, which have been discussed > here in the past. I currently don't have much interest in dynamic resizing. Being able to resize the overall amount of shared memory on the fly would be nice, sure. But the total amount of RAM in a server changes rather infrequently. Being able to use what's available more efficiently is what I'm interested in. That doesn't need any kind of additional or different OS level support. It's just a matter of making better use of what's available - within Postgres itself. > Next, we have to think about how we're going to resize data structures > within this expandable shm. Okay, that's where I'm getting interested. > Many of these structures are not things > that we can easily move without bringing the system to a halt. For > example, it's difficult to see how you could change the base address > of shared buffers without ceasing all system activity, at which point > there's not really much advantage over just forcing a restart. > Similarly with LWLocks or the ProcArray. I guess that's what Bruce wanted to point out by saying our data structures are mostly "continuous". I.e. not dynamic lists or hash tables, but plain simple arrays. Maybe that's a subjective impression, but I seem to hear complaints about their fixed size and inflexibility quite often. Try to imagine the flexibility that dynamic lists could give us. > And if you can't move them, > then how will you grow them if (as will likely be the case) there's > something immediately following them in memory. One possible solution > is to divide up these data structures into "slabs". For example, we > might imagine allocating shared_buffers in 1GB chunks. Why 1GB and do yet another layer of dynamic allocation within that? The buffers are (by default) 8K, so allocate in chunks of 8K. Or a tiny bit more for all of the book-keeping stuff. > To make this > work, we'd need to change the memory layout so that each chunk would > include all of the miscellaneous stuff that we need to do bookkeeping > for that chunk, such as the LWLocks and buffer descriptors. That > doesn't seem completely impossible, but there would be some > performance penalty, because you could no longer index into shared > buffers from a single base offset. AFAICT we currently have three fixed size blocks to manage shared buffers: the buffer blocks themselves, the buffer descriptors, the strategy status (for the freelist) and the buffer lookup table. It's not obvious to me how these data structures should perform better than a dynamically allocated layout. One could rather argue that combining (some of) the bookkeeping stuff with data itself would lead to better locality and thus perform better. > Instead, you'd need to determine > which chunk contains the buffer you want, look up the base address for > that chunk, and then index into the chunk. Maybe that overhead > wouldn't be significant (or maybe it would); at any rate, it's not > completely free. There's also the problem of handling the partial > chunk at the end, especially if that happens to be the only chunk. This sounds way too complicated, yes. Use 8K chunks and most of the problems vanish. > I think the problems for other arrays are similar, or more severe. I > can't see, for example, how you could resize the ProcArray using this > approach. Try not to think in terms of resizing, but dynamic allocation. I.e. being able to resize ProcArray (and thus being able to alter max_connections on the fly) would take a lot more work. Just using the unoccupied space of the ProcArray for other subsystems that need it more urgently could be done much easier. Again, you'd want to allocate a single PGPROC at a time. (And yes, the benefits aren't as significant as for shared_buffers, simply because PGPROC doesn't occupy that much memory). > If you want to deallocate a chunk of shared buffers, it's > not impossible to imagine an algorithm for relocating any dirty > buffers in the segment to be deallocated into the remaining available > space, and then chucking the ones that are not dirty. Please use the dynamic allocator for that. Don't duplicate that again. Those allocators are designed for efficiently allocating small chunks, down to a few bytes. > It might not be > real cheap, but that's not the same thing as not possible. On the > other hand, changing the backend ID of a process in flight seems > intractable. Maybe it's not. Or maybe there is some other approach > to resizing these data structures that can work, but it's not real > clear to me what it is. Changing to a dynamically allocated memory model certainly requires some thought and lots of work. Yes. It's not for free. > So basically my feeling is that reworking our memory allocation in > general, while possibly worthwhile, is a whole lot of work. Exactly. > If we > focus on getting imessages done in the most direct fashion possible, > it seems like the sort of things that could get done in six months to > a year. Well, it works for Postgres-R as it is, so imessages already exists without a single additional month. And I don't intend to change it back to something that couldn't use a dynamic allocator. I already run into too many problems that way, see below. > If we take the approach of reworking our whole approach to > memory allocation first, I think it will take several years. Assuming > the problems discussed above aren't totally intractable, I'd be in > favor of solving them, because I think we can get some collateral > benefits out of it that would be nice to have. However, it's > definitely a much larger project. Agreed. > If the allocations are > per-backend and can be made on the fly, that problem goes away. That might hold true for imessages, which simply loose importance once the (recipient) backend vanishes. But other shared memory stuff, that would rather complicate shared memory access. > As long as we keep the shared memory area used for imessages/dynamic > allocation separate from, and independent of, the main shm, we can > still gain many of the same advantages - in particular, not PANICing > if a remap fails, and being able to resize the thing on the fly. Separate sub-system allocators, separate code, separate bugs, lots more work. Please not. KISS. > However, I believe that the implementation will be more complex if the > area is not per-backend. Resizing is almost certainly a necessity in > this case, for the reasons discussed above I disagree and see the main reason in making better use of the available resources. Resizing will loose lots of importance, once you can dynamically adjust boundaries between subsystem's use of the single, huge, fixed-size shmem chunk allocated at start. > and that will have to be > done by having all backends unmap and remap the area in a coordinated > fashion, That's assuming resizing capability. > so it will be more disruptive than unmapping and remapping a > message queue for a single backend, where you only need to worry about > the readers and writers for that particular queue. And that's assuming a separate allocation method for the imessages sub-system. > Also, you now have > to worry about fragmentation: a simple ring buffer is great if you're > processing messages on a FIFO basis, but when you have multiple > streams of messages with different destinations, it's probably not a > great solution. Exactly, that's where dynamic allocation shows its real advantages. No silly ring buffers required. > This goes back to my points further up: what else do you think this > could be used for? I'm much less optimistic about this being reusable > than you are, and I'd like to hear some concrete examples of other use > cases. Sure. And well understood. I'll try to take a try at converting shared_buffers. > Well, it's certainly nice, if you can make it work. I haven't really > thought about all the cases, though. The main advantages of LWLocks > is that you can take them in either shared or exclusive mode As mentioned, the message queue has write accesses exclusively (enqueue and dequeue), so that's unneeded overhead. > and that > you can hold them for more than a handful of instructions. Neither of the two operations needs more than a handful of instructions, so that's plain overhead as well. > If we're > trying to design a really *simple* system for message passing, LWLocks > might be just right. Take the lock, read or write the message, > release the lock. That's exactly how easy is is *with* the dynamic allocator: take the (even simpler) spin lock, enqueue (or dequeue) the message, release the lock again. No locking required for writing or reading the message. Independent (and well multi-process capable / safe) alloc and free routines for memory management. That get called *before* writing the message and *after* reading it. Mangling memory allocation with queue management is a lot more complicated to design and understand. And less efficient > But it seems like that's not really the case we're > trying to optimize for, so this may be a dead-end. > >>> You probably need this, but 8KB seems like a pretty small chunk size. >> >> For node-internal messaging, I probably agree. Would need benchmarking, as >> it's a compromise between latency and overhead, IMO. >> >> I've chosen 8KB so these messages (together with some GCS and other >> transport headers) presumably fit into ethernet jumbo frames. I'd argue that >> you'd want even smaller chunk sizes for 1500 byte MTUs, because I don't >> expect the GCS to do a better job at fragmenting, than we can do in the >> upper layer (i.e. without copying data and w/o additional latency when >> reassembling the packet). But again, maybe that should be benchmarked, >> first. > > Yeah, probably. I think designing something that works efficiently > over a network is a somewhat different problem than designing > something that works on an individual node, and we probably shouldn't > let the designs influence each other too much. > >>> There's no padding or sophisticated allocation needed. You >>> just need a pointer to the last byte read (P1), the last byte allowed >>> to be read (P2), and the last byte allocated (P3). Writers take a >>> spinlock, advance P3, release the spinlock, write the message, take >>> the spinlock, advance P2, release the spinlock, and signal the reader. >> >> That would block parallel writers (i.e. only one process can write to the >> queue at any time). > > I feel like there's probably some variant of this idea that works > around that problem. The problem is that when a worker finishes > writing a message, he needs to know whether to advance P2 only over > his own message or also over some subsequent message that has been > fully written in the meantime. I don't know exactly how to solve that > problem off the top of my head, but it seems like it might be > possible. > >>> Readers take the spinlock, read P1 and P2, release the spinlock, read >>> the data, take the spinlock, advance P1, and release the spinlock. >> >> It would require copying data in case a process only needs to forward the >> message. That's a quick pointer dequeue and enqueue exercise ATM. > > If we need to do that, that's a compelling argument for having a > single messaging area rather than one per backend. But I'm not sure I > see why we would need that sort of capability. Why wouldn't you just > arrange for the sender to deliver the message directly to the final > recipient? > >>> You might still want to fragment chunks of data to avoid problems if, >>> say, two writers are streaming data to a single reader. In that case, >>> if the messages were too large compared to the amount of buffer space >>> available, you might get poor utilization, or even starvation. But I >>> would think you wouldn't need to worry about that until the message >>> size got fairly high. >> >> Some of the writers in Postgres-R allocate the chunk for the message in >> shared memory way before they send the message. I.e. during a write >> operation of a transaction that needs to be replicated, the backend >> allocates space for a message at the start of the operation, but only fills >> it with change set data during processing. That can possibly take quite a >> while. > > So, they know in advance how large the message will be but not what > the contents will be? What are they doing? > >>> I think unicast messaging is really useful and I really want it, but >>> the requirement that it be done through dynamic shared memory >>> allocations feels very uncomfortable to me (as you've no doubt >>> gathered). >> >> Well, I on the other hand am utterly uncomfortable with having a separate >> solution for memory allocation per sub-system (and it definitely is an >> inherent problem to lots of our subsystems). Given the ubiquity of dynamic >> memory allocators, I don't really understand your discomfort. > > Well, the fact that something is commonly used doesn't mean it's right > for us. Tabula raza, we might design the whole system differently, > but changing it now is not to be undertaken lightly. Hopefully the > above comments shed some light on my concerns. In short, (1) I don't > want to preallocate a big chunk of memory we might not use, (2) I fear > reducing the overall robustness of the system, and (3) I'm uncertain > what other systems would be able leverage a dynamic allocator of the > sort you propose. >
Next: From: Markus Wanner Date: 2010-08-30 09:06:02 Subject: Re: bg worker: patch 1 of 6 - permanent process Previous: From: Peter Eisentraut Date: 2010-08-30 08:19:05 Subject: Re: upcoming wraps