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trying out box sizing to place two links side by sidehttp://cdiwwwtest.cdicorp.com/staffingAlso using relative & absolute positioning.what has me a bit confused is how to best center the text. I think I only kinda hacked it so far.& why is the gradient I used off on one of the boxes?thank youD
It's not clear where you want those links to go, and I can't see any attempt at sizing at this point. What have you tried?
You still haven't optimised those background images on your site. They take AGES to load. Your users will hate you if you don't correct this. It's much more important than styling those links.
Good morning thereWell. for the box sizing...how do i center the boxes side by side w/in the containing wrap. & center the text w/in the individual boxes...No matter how I play w/the margin & padding so far i seem to be off.
as for the background images...I am open to advice.
Actually someone else on the team is now working on them. I think he has actually reduced them on size already. Don't know what process he uses but he is supposed to be pretty experienced.I read the previous material that was referred to me. Used photoshop optimization for them...I must be missing a step there.
I run into this yesterday while i was looking for something elsehttp://css-tricks.com/perfect-full-page-background-image/just getting to read it now. And will fwd it on along w/any advice on how to improve on the download time.
Could you post an image of how you want them to look? I think that background image will be very distracting.
not 100% sure.but right now i'd like to understand how to affect the padding and margin so the two boxes are side by side and the text is centered. even if the boxes expand horizontally or vertically.also why is it that the gradient doesn't line up evenly?Thank youD
Padding and margins are not what you need to be looking at here, so that's the problem.
There are various options, but I'd be looking at display: inline-block or perhaps display: table. Here's a starting point with display: inline-block:
.staffingCtr {text-align: center;}
.staffingCtr div {display: inline-block; padding: 20px;}
why is it that the gradient doesn't line up evenly
No idea what you mean there.
thanks Ralph! will work on that.as for the button's gradients I meant what while they are side by side the gradient is slightly diff in each box.D
The buttons with the gradients have disappeared.
oh that is sooo funny. Thank you wp.yeah it's really weird we have been running in a few such bugs where code disappear or reverts. Thx Ronpat!


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Neutrogena Naturals Face and Body Bar
Neutrogena Naturals Face and Body Bar Reviews
NiceI like this soap. I've used it on my face and body as well. It feels so smooth to the touch, Love the color of it. Makes me feels clean without an over drying effect. I feel it's very gentle but effective all the same. It's price frienly as well, which is a big plus! — 4 years, 7 months agoEricaC123 | 458 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 4 of 4 people said helpful
Nice & CleanI generally use Basis face wash and switched to the bar version of Basis, but more and more it's difficult to find so I decided to try this after reading a little bit about it. I like the fact that it's natural - it's a multi-tasker (face & body) and that it's not tested on animals. One of the BIG things about Neutrogena that has kept me away from their products in the past. This soap doesn't h...read moreave any smell to it other than natural ingrediants. It also holds up better in the shower. I use this with my cleansing brush on my face and it removes all traces of makeup without leaving my skin feeling stripped or tight. At around $3 a bar and the fact that you can find this at pretty much any drugstore, chances are I'll be retaining this in my skincare routine! — 6 years, 5 months agoSwoldierGirl72 | 342 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 23 of 28 people said helpful
Great!One thing I DID NOT notice when I bought my first bottle in the store was that this product contains Salicylic Acid. Usually Salicylic Acid content is something cleansers try to brag about, and put in big letters on the label. I skimmed the back and didn't see the usual "SALICYCLIC ACID .3%", so I figured it didn't have any. What I missed was: "This face wash contains natural salicylic acid found...read more in Willowbark bionutrients to penetrate..." If you're looking for an SA cleanser, look no further. But, while SA may work for a lot of people, there's an equal number out there where it usually has the opposite effect, and I'm one of them. After bad experiences with a number of different SA-based cleansers I'd sworn it off, until purchasing this cleanser without realizing it contained the acid. Truth is, I've been happy with it, so I'm going to keep going. Maybe the SA content is extremely low, or perhaps the naturally-derived variant of SA isn't as bad, but either way I can't argue with the results, which have been generally positive. This is gentle enough to use twice a day, has a fairly mild fragrance (though I wish it didn't have any at all), contains no oils, and has a short list of ingredients. That's all I want out of a cleanser, so it gets 9 stars from me. — 4 years, 2 months agoCirbii | 67 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 1 of 3 people said helpful
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Print this issue
The conference committee charged with brokering an agreement on
the fiscal year 2013 state budget completed its work last night.
Today, the House and Senate are set to approve the measure. The
budget provides $560.9 million in funding for the trial court.
Additionally, the trial court was granted transferability giving
the court administrator flexibility needed to manage the trial
courts business and administrative operations. Additionally, the
Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation got $12 million for
fiscal year 2013.
here to view the MBA's correspondence to the conference
committee on the trial court.
here to view the MBA's correspondence to the conference
committee on MLAC.
The budget will next head to Gov. Deval L. Patrick, who has
10 days to review it.


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Boot Barn Item #: 2009989
Color: Click a button belowcolor
- 2 stranded necklace
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Whether you're going to a casual lunch or a formal gathering, this Abstract Bead Jewelry Set will easily tie together your outfit. The necklace features two chains with contrast colored beads. The earrings feature the same set of beads. This set is perfect together, but you can wear them separately as well!
Style(s): NE1291BLK
Lifestyle: Western
Material: Metal
Color: Silver
Product Weight: 1 lbs
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text:
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/8/2013 (1466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
If you're over the age of three, you probably think you don't require any instruction when it comes to the rather intimate act of wiping your own behind.
But the unacceptable state of some wilderness campsites in and around southern Manitoba illustrates the unfortunate reality many of us do not, in fact, know how to poop in the woods.
Late in the summer camping season, stomach-churning stories of toilet-paper-strewn campsites are streaming in from high-use wilderness areas of Manitoba provincial parks and northwestern Ontario Crown lands.
As per usual, the complaints chiefly involve unburied human waste and toilet paper and tampons discarded at popular canoe campsites in Manitoba's Whiteshell Provincial Park and Ontario's Experimental Lakes Area. But this year, there are also reports of off-putting conditions in more remote areas of Nopiming Provincial Park and islands in the heavily populated northern basin of Lake of the Woods.
While not every campsite in the region has been trashed, you're almost certain to encounter unsanitary conditions at a significant minority of canoe campsites along popular flatwater and whitewater routes by this point in the summer. Over the past year, I have personally batted about .200 in July and August, encountering disgusting scenes at one in every five campsites.
Obviously, some paddlers are messing up the wilderness for everyone else. And yes, these are in fact paddlers, as most of the areas in question are not accessible by cars or rarely frequented by motorboats.
The only way to combat this situation is to act like a parent of a child undergoing potty training and spread the word about the proper way to defecate. So without further ado, here are the first few things to consider before you deposit No. 2:
1. If there's a throne, use it.
At high-use campsites along the Mantario Trail and the Manigotagan River, you may find plastic throne-style outdoor toilets within stumbling distance of the main tenting area. These are essentially outhouses and must be used, regardless of any impulse to let loose wherever you like. These latrines exist to prevent the widespread dispersal of human waste around campsites that will almost certainly be visited by a large number of people over the course of a season.
2. In most cases, start digging.
When there's no outhouse -- and in most places, there is not -- you must dig a shallow hole for your waste, far from any trail, tenting area or water source. Leave No Trace Canada advises you walk 60 metres away, or about half the distance of a football field, and dig a cathole 15 to 20 centimetres deep. Bury your feces in this hole and cover it up with earth, rocks, twigs or whatever else is available. If you can see your handiwork, then you haven't done a good enough job obscuring it. In about a year, your waste will biodegrade below the surface.
3. Bury or burn your toilet paper.
Leave No Trace Canada maintains it's OK to bury toilet paper in your cathole. I prefer to burn it in a campfire, if and only if I'm having one. Obviously, do not attempt this while cooking meals. Also do not attempt this in the cathole itself.
4. Pack out used tampons.
Tampons don't break down in the environment and also cannot be burned easily. Bag them and toss them in your trash. Then carry that trash out of the woods.
5. Pack out everything in some areas.
In places where there's no soil or little biological activity, different rules apply. In high-use desert areas such as Grand Canyon National Park, hikers are handed small brown paper bags and instructed to carry out their waste along with their toilet paper. Plastic bags may also do the trick. Similar practices may also be required in the High Arctic or along river canyons.
6. And yes, this applies to you.
If you don't want to take the time to properly dispose of your waste in the wilderness, then you shouldn't be there. Be considerate to the people who will follow your behind.


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Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry Magazine
MDDI Article Index
Originally Published May 2000
The correct choice of a software architecture and its supporting operating system facilitates development and clears a path to the marketplace.
Today's software developers are faced with a serious challenge—how to produce a safe and reliable product in the shortest possible time frame. This is not a new problem; it has simply been exaggerated in recent years by pressures from the marketplace, and the medical device manufacturing industry certainly is not immune to those pressures. Many solutions have been sought by manufacturers, including throwing large budgets into software development tools and manpower. In some cases these approaches have worked, but often they have not.
This article shows that the software system architecture, coupled with the proper choice of an operating system (OS) that supports this architecture, is the key to faster development and more-reliable system operation in the field. Throughout the article, references to the word process generally refer to the concept of a software process (an instance of an executing program) rather than a medical process or treatment.
In addition, the term system will refer to a medium or large embedded system; typical examples might be a patient-monitoring system, a dialysis machine, or an MRI scanner. While many of the techniques presented here lend themselves well to systems of any size, several could not be applied to a smaller system such as might be implemented on an 8051 microcontroller. The hypothetical software example presented is designed with the idea that it will likely change in the future—few products today are only released once and never revised. Thus, the architecture chosen for the system lends itself well to future modifications.
To achieve faster integration, manufacturers must break their system problem into small components that allow for integration. Among its many advantages, componentization
While the advantages of breaking a system into components may be obvious, the proper software architecture to represent these components, and the communication mechanism between them, are not.
When designing a system, consideration must first be given to the medical task the system is intended to perform and the processes required to accomplish it. This information will dictate what types of hardware are required (e.g., what types of sensors), and what safety requirements will be placed on the system. This portion of the development forms the overall specification phase of the project and, though important, is beyond the scope of this paper. At some point during this decision-making process, however, design of the software system must begin. This software design should begin as early as possible so that the software's impact on the development of the overall system can be understood. For example, a manufacturer often selects hardware from among similar devices that will not have a bearing on the medical process or system cost. If the hardware is chosen blindly (i.e., without software consideration), however, equipment might be purchased that could considerably lengthen the software development time.
The first element to be considered in designing a software system is the choice of a proper software architecture—this element has serious ramifications on how easily, and how quickly, the system will be integrated later. While this decision should be based on factors such as easing system complexity and maximizing system responsiveness, it is often based solely on the prior experiences of the designers and the assumptions they hold regarding the weaknesses of various architectures. To design a system properly, however, each type of architecture must be looked at fully to understand its real strengths and weaknesses, and how it might fit with the system being designed.
Three basic software architectures exist for a medical device manufacturer's consideration: single-process, control-loop architecture; single-process, threaded architecture; and multiple-process architecture. Each is presented below and will be examined for its advantages and disadvantages. All of the architecture explanations assume the presence of an underlying OS and its associated system services.
Single-Process, Control-Loop. The single-process, control-loop architecture is probably the most well known method of system design. In this approach, the system consists of one large process that is broken down into logical subroutines and coordinated using one large control loop. During the execution of the control loop, events that have occurred since the last loop cycle are examined and processed by calling the appropriate set of subroutines. In addition to providing a logical breakdown of the system, this architecture offers several other advantages:
Given these advantages, this method would appear to be the ideal architectural choice, and in the case of a simple, small system, this is often true. Unfortunately, few systems today are either simple or small. When a system becomes even moderately complex, many problems can occur when attempting to integrate the components from this architecture model, even though each component may have worked perfectly during isolated development and testing. Difficulties include the following:
Single-Process, Threaded. Under the single-process, threaded architectural model, the system is coded as one large process with multiple threaded paths of execution throughout its code base. Threads execute independently of each other, and each thread has the ability to block while waiting for an event to occur without interfering with the execution of other threads. Thread execution scheduling is the concern of the OS, not the programmer.
In addition to the advantages enjoyed by the single-process control loop, threaded processes offer the following advantages:
On the other hand, threads do present their own problems. Like single-process control loops, thread-based architectures often fail during integration even though each component may have tested perfectly. These problems can often be attributed to the following factors:
Multiple-Process. Under the multiple-process model the system is coded as a series of separate, cooperating processes. Like threads, processes execute independently of each other, with each thread having the ability to block when waiting for a specific event to occur without interfering with the execution of other processes in the system. In fact, a process is defined as being made up of one or more threads, though support for more than a single thread is OS dependent. Although many items are similar, what makes this model different from the single-process, multiple-thread architecture is the protection that it provides: the memory space for a process is completely separate from that of all other processes.
In addition to the advantages enjoyed by single-process models, multiple-process models have the following advantages:
Of course, multiple-process models are not without potential problems:
Agent Process: A process that performs an action on behalf of another process.
AIO: Analog input/output; in this article the term refers specifically to an analog input/output interface board to measure or set analog device values.
Array Index: A variable indicating an offset into a data array. In this article the concern is that the value of this variable may exceed the actual number of elements in the array, pointing to some random memory space.
Blocked: Refers to a process that is not currently capable of executing; i.e., it is suspended, waiting for the completion of some external event.
Context Switch: The act of switching the processor from the execution of one process to the execution of another. This article is generally interested in the context switch time, or the time it takes to perform this switch; this is used as one measurement of OS performance.
DIO: Digital input/output; in this article the term refers specifically to a digital input/output interface board to read or set digital devices.
Dummy Code: Nonfunctional or partially functional code used for testing the correct operation of other processes or routines.
FIFO: First-in, first-out organization.
Heap space: Global data space of a process.
Kernel: The core component of the computer OS; this component is always loaded into the physical memory (RAM).
MMU: Memory management unit. This article refers to the MMU's ability to assign physical memory (RAM) to a particular process and prevent other processes from accessing this memory.
Mutex: A synchronization primitive that provides mutual exclusion to critical sections of memory, such as a data structure.
Pointer: A variable consisting of an address in the memory that contains a value or set of values.
Port: In this article the term is used to refer to a single analog or digital I/O channel.
Process: An instance of an executing program within the computer.
Semaphore: A synchronization mechanism using a counting integer, with the integer representing an abstraction such as a resource counter. A key to this mechanism is that the test of the variable and any modification of that variable must be done as an atomic operation; i.e., one that cannot be interrupted by another thread or process between the two operations.
Stack Space: Area in memory where the process stack is kept. This stack contains context information about each subroutine in a last-in, first-out (LIFO) organization; it includes the routine's return address, the arguments the subroutine was called with, and data local to the invoked subroutine.
State Machine: Formally a finite state machine, this is an abstract machine consisting of a set of states and a set of transition rules for moving between these states.
Subroutine Call Time: Overhead time required to enter subroutine code; i.e., the time it takes to place arguments on the stack and then jump to the code. The time is generally insignificant.
Thread: A portion of a process that can run independently of and concurrently with other portions of a process. Threads are very similar to processes except that they share certain mutual resources, such as the process global data space; processes, on the other hand, are completely independent of each other.
Thread Switch: The act of switching the processor from the execution of one thread to the execution of another. This article is generally interested in the thread switch time, or the time it takes to perform this switch; this is used as one measurement of OS performance.
Token Passing: A method of concurrency or resource control where a thread or process will not take an action (such as sending data) until it receives a "token" (i.e., some mutually agreed-upon signal) from another thread or process. Once the token is no longer needed, it is passed to another thread or process waiting for it, typically in a ring fashion.
The next issue that must be considered in designing a software architecture model is to determine how to communicate between the processes—or, more precisely, between threads in different processes, since a process comprises one or more threads. For purposes of clarity, however, this article limits processes to single-thread entities.
A common mistake is to assume that any OS will provide an adequate method of interprocess communication (IPC) for the task at hand, leading developers to choose their OS based on other factors, such as development tools. While these other factors are important to consider, designers need to remember that the IPC mechanisms provided by an OS must meet the requirements of the task at hand; the use of an inadequate mechanism may force the developer into design choices that can compromise system function or integrity during operation.
Signals. Signals are perhaps the simplest form of IPC. Limited to indicating only the occurrence of an event (signals carry no data payload), a signal acts as a software interrupt to the receiving process, causing it to execute special signal-handler code the next time that process is scheduled to execute. This final point is important: developers may assume that the delivery of the signal is sufficient for that process to be next to execute, but that is incorrect. Process execution is dependent on the scheduling algorithm of the OS, not the delivery of the signal.
The primary problem with signals is that they work as designed—as asynchronous interrupts. This limits their usefulness for general IPC, since one never knows when they will execute and must take steps to prevent data concurrency problems. Additionally, an OS may have a window of vulnerability between the entry point of the signal handler and the rearming of the signal; if the same signal is triggered during this time period, the process will be killed. Signals are useful, however, when a software interrupt is necessary for proper system operation; typical examples of this are user-initiated interrupts (typically via the keyboard) and notification of a math error.
Pipes. A pipe is a one-way, byte-oriented, FIFO communication channel between two processes; multiple pipes can be used if bidirectional communication is required. The problem with pipes is primarily one of misconception: it is often assumed that pipes are completely asynchronous. In reality, pipes can block either the reader or the writer. Writing to a pipe is asynchronous until the pipe is filled; at that point the writing process will block until there is room for more data. Similarly, the reading process will block if there are no data in the pipe to read. If the developer remembers this and realizes that pipes require an intermediate copy of the data to be kept, pipes are a useful IPC mechanism.
Queues. The use of queues is probably one of the most well known methods of IPC today. The concept is simple: each process creates one or more queues into which other processes can asynchronously write messages. Unlike pipes, however, queues are not simply FIFO byte streams:
On the other hand, queues have three primary disadvantages:
Queues can be implemented either internal or external to the kernel. Implementing the queue as an external process, however, offers an interesting advantage to developers: it permits them to replace the queuing mechanism with one customized for a specific task. An example would be a developer who needs to simultaneously notify several processes of a particular event. While he or she could send individual messages to each queue, it would be faster to send one message to a queue mechanism that internally distributes the message to the multiple queues— keeping only one copy of the original message and creating links to the message in each queue.
Shared Memory. Shared memory claims the distinction of being one of the fastest mechanisms to share data between processes. To use shared memory, a process defines a specific region of memory for use. Specification is defined by starting location and size. Other processes may then use this region by either directly receiving a pointer to this memory region or by using an indirect reference provided by the OS (such as a file system name) to eventually receive a pointer to the region. Shared memory provides the following advantages:
The disadvantages of shared memory include the following:
Synchronous Messaging. In addition to being one of the most powerful forms of IPC, synchronous messaging may be the most misunderstood. With synchronous messaging, processes communicate directly with each other via messages; accomplishing this task, however, requires that the processes synchronize with each other (i.e., both processes must be prepared for data transfer) before the transfer of data actually occurs. Only in an ideal case, however, would both processes be ready to transfer data at exactly the same moment, requiring either the sending or receiving process (depending on which is ready first) to block until the other process is also ready, at which point the data transfer occurs. This does not end the transaction, however, since the receiving process may wish to formulate a reply to the sender, so the sending process continues to remain blocked while the receiver processes the message. When that is complete, the receiving process replies to the sender (optionally with data), freeing the sending process to continue execution.
Depending on the OS, data transfer can take one of two forms: either the data is copied directly to a buffer in the receiving process, or a pointer is passed to the data in the memory space of the sending process. The second approach is possible because the first task is blocked and cannot access the data. For the purposes of this article, however, only the data-copy approach will be considered, because it does not permit potentially dangerous random access to the memory space of another process.
When first evaluating synchronized messaging, many developers dismiss it out of hand because of what they perceive as problems in its use. Arguments against synchronized messaging are generally made along three lines: message passing incurs more overhead than other forms of IPC, bidirectional communications are impossible due to deadlock, and the blocking of the sending process presents numerous insurmountable design problems. While these problems are possible given an inappropriate system architecture or an improper implementation of the IPC mechanism by an OS, none of these arguments should deter developers from at least evaluating synchronized messaging in relation to their design. In many cases, using the proper design techniques for synchronized messaging—in combination with other appropriate IPC mechanisms—can lead to easier implementation, better performance, and increased system reliability.
The first argument against synchronized messaging is that it is too slow—not only must the data be copied between processes, but the OS must also context switch between the processes. Both statements are true, though they fail to consider the impact of the OS itself. For example, at least one operating system, running on a Pentium 233-MHz processor, can perform a full context switch in 1 microsecond—faster than some operating systems can thread switch. Message transfer time can be equally fast, transferring a 20-byte message (a fairly typical message size) in an additional 1 microsecond. In a single transaction between two processes consisting of a 20-byte message and a 20-byte reply, 4 microseconds of overhead has been incurred—generally an insignificant time period in the overall scope of system timing requirements (two context switches would be involved here, the first from the sending to the receiving process, the second switching back to resume work). For small messages, message copying can actually be more efficient than a shared memory operation, depending on the OS. Additionally, each process has its own copy of the data to process, eliminating the potential contention and delay that can occur when using a single shared copy.
Does this mean message passing is always the best approach? Certainly not in the case when large amounts of data are involved—for example, a megabyte of graphics data—since copying all of this data would consume too much time. In this case, shared memory makes more sense. While the passing of large amounts of data may be prohibitive in many processes, a valuable alternative may be sending a message containing an offset that points to the data location in shared memory.
The second argument against synchronized messaging involves the problem of bidirectional communication: if two processes send a message to each other, the result will be deadlock. This does not mean that bidirectional communication is impossible; it simply means that it must be designed for. Solutions such as message timeout and token-passing schemes are possible, although this problem can also be solved using the IPC architecture itself.
Figure 1. Using auxiliary and central processes to eliminate deadlock.
The simplest method of solving the problem is to involve additional processes, as shown in Figure 1. In the auxiliary process model in the left diagram, process B has a second process associated with it, permitting process A to send its messages to the auxiliary process, and process B to send its messages directly to A. When process B wishes to examine its messages, it sends a message to its auxiliary process to retrieve the messages. No possibility of deadlock exists, as no two processes send directly to each other. Note that the auxiliary process never sends directly to Process B; this could lead to a circular deadlock.
The above solution is cumbersome, however, since the designer must keep track of which processes have an auxiliary task and which do not. Another solution would be to give every process an auxiliary task, but there is an even simpler method. A single task can be used where all processes can send and receive their own messages. This method is the central model shown on the right side of Figure 1. If this type of functionality sounds familiar, it should—it is a queuing process. While this solution (involving the use of a third process) does incur extra overhead, it is versatile and very fast.
The last common argument against synchronized messaging involves the difficulty of designing a system around a mechanism that causes the sending process to block. More accurately, though, the argument should be stated as the difficulty of applying traditional designs in a synchronized messaging environment. By looking at the problem differently, however, possible solutions readily become apparent.
Figure 2. Traditional and modified views of a processing pipeline.
Figure 3. Send- and reply-driven messaging.
A useful example is a traditional process pipeline, as shown in Figure 2. Data are passed from module to module after being processed. A synchronous messaging IPC would be problematic using this design—at some point, each process would block on the process ahead of it and be unable to receive an incoming message, backing up the pipeline. By redesigning the system to introduce agent processes, however, these issues are addressed. The pipeline changes into a set of server processes, while an agent becomes responsible for each element of the process as it passes through the logical, rather than the physical, pipeline. A controlling task also simplifies problems in the original design, such as a processing error that might require an element to skip some or all of the modules in the pipeline.
In fact, designers can use blocking to their advantage by intentionally blocking a process. Designers tend to envision messaging as being send driven—i.e., a client-server type relationship. It is often more useful to think of processes as being reply driven—blocked until the need for activation of the process arises. Both types of messaging systems are shown in Figure 3.
Reply-driven messaging has many uses: the examples from Figures 2 and 3 can now be combined to form a queue-and-dispatch system. In this case, a message would be sent to the master process requesting that a new element be entered into the process pipeline. If an agent process is available, it would immediately be dispatched with this information and begin processing that element. At the completion of all processing, the agent simply sends a message to the master process indicating that its task is complete and that it is again ready for work.
Is it better to use a send-driven or a reply-driven system? Most systems are a combination of the two, permitting designers to use the best mechanism to solve particular parts of the problem.
A final note about a message-passing system: since processes using message passing maintain private copies of a message, nothing prevents the message from being sent across a network as easily as it is sent within a single machine. This feature, of course, would require support from the OS.
Asynchronous Messaging. Some systems define asynchronous messaging systems in addition to queues. For example, the QNX system uses a mechanism known as a pulse to permit the originating process to asynchronously send up to one code byte and four data bytes; the receiving process then reads the message synchronously as a normal message.
Figure 4. Bidirectional communication via pulses.
When combined with synchronous messaging, pulses provide a powerful mechanism for deadlock-free bidirectional communication. As shown in Figure 4, systems can then be designed so that messages flow in a single direction and pulses are used when an event that must be propagated in the opposite direction is generated. If the message is small enough, as in the case of an analog input/output (I/O) driver that notifies a process when a new reading is available, the value may be included directly in the pulse itself. If the message is larger than can be contained in the pulse, however, then the pulse acts as a notification mechanism to let the receiving process know that the pulse originator has data for it. Upon receipt of the pulse, this process sends a message using normal synchronous messaging asking the pulse originator for the data. This type of notification mechanism is also useful for processes that cannot afford to block on a process for an arbitrary length of time, yet still must communicate with these less-trusted processes.
The final piece to be considered in software system design is the selection of the OS itself. When considering which system to select for a project, designers often assume that if the OS supports the selected software architecture, offers appropriate scheduling algorithms, and provides the necessary system services (timers, drivers, etc.), then it is sufficient for use in the product. This belief fails to consider the key elements of easy integration and reliable system operation, which are determined by the architecture of the OS itself.
Flat Architecture. While not all cpus provide an MMU, it is rare to find hardware today for a medium to large embedded system that does not contain an MMU. The reason is straightforward: an MMU, when used properly, can protect each process from typical programming errors, such as a stray pointer. Any attempt to write into the memory space of another process is caught by the MMU and prevented. The problem is that this type of protection requires support by the OS. Many systems, however, provide no support for this MMU feature— though because the systems work on a processor with an MMU it is often assumed that they do. These OSs provide a flat memory architecture.
Figure 5. A flat architecture provides no memory protection.
In a flat architecture, all of the software modules, including the kernel, are folded into the same address space (see Figure 5). This gives any process the ability to write randomly into the memory space of any other process, or even the kernel. When this occurs, a system crash occurs at best, and at worst, a terminally corrupted system is created.
In addition to the potential harm resulting from operating a system with random and unknown damage, it becomes extremely difficult to debug the problem, since it is nearly impossible to determine where the damage came from or when it occurred. Even the best development tools have difficulty when presented with this type of situation; as a result, it can take days, weeks, or even months to identify and fix the problem.
Additional problems occur when the modified modules are reintegrated into the system. Whenever a module is introduced, even a slightly modified one, the entire system must be relinked, producing a unique version of the system with a distinct memory map. If the relinked system suddenly fails during testing, however, where should blame be assigned? Using Figure 5 as an example, assume a one-line code change is made in application 2 and reintegrated into the system. If the system were to fail during testing, it would be logical to blame the failure on the change in application 2. Unfortunately, this may not be accurate—the bug could easily be a stray pointer in application 1. The stray pointer might not have been recognized earlier if it were writing into an unused area of memory, since this would have no effect on system operation. The problem would only occur when the software was relinked and the memory map was changed—application 1 would then inadvertently be writing into a critical memory area. This type of problem is extremely difficult to find because designers generally do not assume that previously working code is at fault.
The real risk in a flat-architecture model is that the entire system, not just a small piece of it, becomes subject to the errors of the worst programmer who ever worked on the project. This person does not even have to work for the same company—third-party code is just as suspect since it can interact anywhere within the system. All of this takes a severe toll on product integration time (as well as on the sanity of the developers).
Figure 6. Monolithic architecture provides memory protection for applications.
Monolithic Architecture. In an attempt to address the problems of flat architecture, some OS vendors have adopted the monolithic architecture shown in Figure 6. A distinct improvement in this architecture is that every application module runs in its own memory-protected address space. If an application tries to overwrite memory used by another module, the MMU will trap the fault, thus allowing the developer to identify where the error occurred.
At first glance, this looks enticing: the developer is immediately notified of memory access violations and no longer has to follow blind alleys looking for subtle bugs in the code. Unfortunately, this architecture only addresses half the problem— the application modules. All of the low-level modules—file systems, protocol stacks, drivers, etc.—remain linked to the same address space as the kernel. As would occur in a flat architecture, a single memory violation in any of the system routines of the monolithic architecture will crash the system. While this is certainly an improvement over flat architecture, it fails to protect the developer from significant problems that delay integration and cause future reliability problems.
Figure 7. UPM architecture provides memory protection for all software components, including OS modules and drivers.
Universal Process Model (UPM) Architecture. UPM architecture, as shown in Figure 7, implements only core services (interprocess communications, interrupt handling, scheduling) in the kernel. With this model, optional user-level processes provide all other system services, such as file systems, device I/O, and networking. Thus, very little code that could cause the kernel to fail is running in kernel mode. This architecture also allows user-written extensions, such as new drivers, to be added to the OS without compromising kernel reliability. This type of architecture leads to faster integration in several ways:
Having examined the design choices, it is time to design a hypothetical system—or, more accurately, a subsystem, as the detailed design of a system for an entire medical device would be too extensive to present in a single article. This example will consider a fluid-pumping system such as might be found in dialysis equipment. The example provided is not intended to describe an actual system; certain liberties have been taken to provide a simpler operational model. For example, redundant independent sensors are not employed as they normally would be where patient safety is concerned. This, along with other safety and functional factors, must be considered when designing an actual medical device, but they are not strictly necessary to demonstrate the general design principles.
For this example, the following functional requirements will be assumed:
Figure 8. Design of the fluid-pumping system.
Design Proposal. A designer's first concern should be to break the problem down into a reasonable number of processes: using too many requires the developer to spend a lot of time performing needless context switches, while too few forces the merger of components that do not necessarily relate to each other. Figure 8 shows the chosen design for the fluid-pumping system, including the communication paths.
There are several reasons behind each process and its communication paths. Note that if multithreaded processes are used, each process could have a receiving thread to handle reverse-direction messages, as opposed to using pulses for this purpose; in this example, however, only single-threaded processes will be used.
Safety Layer. The safety watchdog process in the design's safety layer provides an overall health check on the system. It performs two major functions in this example: resetting the hardware watchdog timer and monitoring to ensure that other software processes are still running. While the watchdog could also perform other functions, such as comparing critical values to ensure sane system operation, in this example that will be left to other processes in the system.
The method used for checking on the health of the other processes is a simple one—regular check-in. At regular intervals, all processes are required to send a pulse to the safety watchdog process; failure to receive a pulse from any other process within the specified time period causes a corrective action to occur. Corrective actions vary depending on which process failed and the severity of that failure; the action could restart the process involved, notify the operator of an error, generate an entry in an error log, shut down the equipment, or perform any combination of the above.
The normal mode for the watchdog process would be blocked and waiting for a message or pulse to process; these messages might come from the following:
Subsystem Control Layer. The pumping control process in the subsystem control layer is a state machine controlling the pumping subsystem. It brings the pump up to speed, monitors pump speed and flow rate, and determines how to handle out-of-boundary conditions (such as a low flow rate with a high pump speed). For this example, the pumping control process will also handle actions such as the pressing of an emergency off switch. Normally this type of control would be concentrated in a layer above the subsystem control known as the master control, which coordinates overall machine control and directs all subsystems to shut down properly. For this example, however, the pumping control subsystem will assume this responsibility. As with the safety layer, the normal mode for this process would be blocked and waiting for a message or pulse to process, with messages coming from
Upon receiving a message, the pumping-control process determines the next action for the subsystem and sends out the appropriate messages to the devices (e.g., "speed up the pump," "stop the pump"). The process then waits for another message, or possibly a timer if an action was not completed on time.
It can be argued that the communication paths to the pumping control process are inverted, and that this process should never block on a message send. The reasoning here is that it is only sending to trusted processes—those known to respond quickly. More likely, however, it matters little in which direction the communication occurs as long as a single direction is chosen.
Device Interface Layer. The flow and speed sensor interface, pump interface, and light-and-switch interface—all part of the device interface layer—provide an abstraction layer for the physical hardware. Though if may be tempting to let the pumping control process directly address the analog and digital I/O devices, there are several reasons to avoid doing so, including the following:
Why not create one giant program that abstracts all physical devices? This could be done, but there are two reasons why it is not a good idea. The first is simplification: if all device control were integrated into a single process, it would be huge and difficult to manage, and even capable of missing time deadlines. The second reason is that by separating functionality into multiple processes, different programming teams can be assigned to implement and test each subsystem—a vital component necessary for fast system development and integration, and one that would be unavailable were the system part of one large program.
In the present example, some developers might question the pairing of the flow rate measurement and rotational speed sensor interface into a single process. While there are other methods that could be used here, this setup is beneficial: these two measurements are tightly linked, and thus it makes sense to perform routine checking (such as out-of-boundary condition checking) in a single process rather than in pumping control. The pumping control process could be notified either when an error occurred or when a sought condition is reached (e.g., "pump is at speed"). Both methods are shown in this example, and eachhas its advantages; it is left to the designer to determine the type of organization that is best for the medical device.
Again, the normal mode for these processes would be blocked and waiting for a message or pulse to process; these messages would come from
Upon receiving a message, these processes determine the appropriate action. This includes converting values to a type necessary for further operations (e.g., converting voltage to flow rate) and forwarding this value on to the next appropriate layer. Forwarding can take many forms, whether it involves responding to a message with a value or initiating a message to the proper I/O board to change or query a value.
Following are some important notes on design:
Physical Hardware Layer. The AIO and DIO processes of the physical hardware layer, which control the actual I/O boards, constitute the physical hardware driver layer. A separate process is used for each type of board being used, permitting hardware to be easily replaced since the interface to external programs remains the same. Multiple boards of identical type can be driven by one driver process.
As with the previous process formats, the normal mode for these processes would be blocked and waiting for a message or pulse to process; these messages might come from the following locations:
Upon receiving a message, the process would determine the appropriate action; this would include beginning a data scan, replying with the current port value, or initiating a pulse to another process indicating that data is ready.
Display Layer. The display and poll processes, which are part of the display layer, are responsible for displaying information about the system on the user interface. Why are two processes necessary? Normally, one would expect that information to be displayed would be sent to the display process by the appropriate responsible process—e.g., the pumping control process would send information about whether it has begun pumping, or that the pump is up to speed, etc.
The problem is with the physical devices themselves—these are constantly changing values (at least in the case of analog I/O values) that need to be displayed twice per second, as specified by the pump's functional requirements. While the physical device interfaces could constantly send this information to the display process, that would be wasteful if the screen currently being displayed does not show those values. To solve this problem, the information is only polled for when it is being displayed on the screen. If the display process does this directly, however, it will not be ready to receive a message from another process (potentially in another subsystem) that needs to update the display—possibly causing that process to miss a critical time deadline (display is considered a fast, trusted process). The solution is to introduce the poll process, which acts as an agent for the display process.
When the display system starts operation, the display process blocks, waiting for a message to process. The poll process then starts, sending a message to the display process indicating that it is ready for operation. By not replying to the poll process, the display process prevents the poll process from further execution and retains control of the polling process. Display then sets a repeating timer that triggers at 0.5-second intervals. When the timer triggers, the display process replies to the poll process with specific instructions as to which processes to query for the real-time data currently being displayed on the screen. The poll process then queries those specific processes for the real-time data, forwards this information back to the display process, and waits for the next poll cycle.
The pumping control and safety watchdog processes need not be polled; information in these processes rarely changes and it is wasteful to constantly poll them for the same data. Instead, these processes can send changes directly to the display process when the data changes. The only concern is with the safety watchdog: if the display process takes too much time to process the message, the resetting of the hardware watchdog timer might get delayed, causing an inadvertent system shutdown. This is probably not a serious consideration since the display process is a fast, trusted process, but this possibility can nevertheless be prevented with the introduction of another pulse. Using this additional pulse, the display process is notified of a value change by a pulse sent by the safety watchdog; upon receipt, the display process simply directs the poll process to seek the new value on its next data-gathering pass.
It should be noted that this is not the only design method that could be used for this system—it is merely a valid possibility. Other IPC mechanisms such as a queue could be used, but with the trade-off of additional system overhead. Shared memory would also work in some areas. For example, device values read from the I/O boards and those calculated by the device processes could have been written to shared memory since these are write-once, read-multiple items. Of course, this only applies if they are single-word values (or less); anything larger would require the use of a data-synchronization mechanism to prevent possible concurrency problems. Shared memory might improve the performance somewhat, but probably not a lot— messages would still have to be generated to notify processes when data is available or has changed; otherwise, the processes would have to block on a semaphore (effectively the same as blocking on a message), or poll for changes (tying up the cpu).
Architecture, both in the software design and in the underlying operating system, is a differentiating factor for faster system development. Through the use of a process-oriented architecture coupled with a messaging IPC, programming teams working in parallel can develop a system where each component is tested in isolation and then quickly integrated into the completed product. This system also provides for a more flexible architecture, as individual components can be easily replaced as requirements change during system development. Furthermore, by coupling this type of architecture with an OS that provides full MMU support, the developer is assured that unintended data interactions cannot occur—problems such as a stray pointer will immediately be caught by the MMU and easily debugged.
The result is a faster time to market because manufacturers will not be fighting the typical system integration nightmares. Later, when the system is deployed in the field, these same mechanisms will provide for extremely reliable system operation, particularly when coupled with a software watchdog. Designing with this type of architecture also benefits future projects: each component need only be developed once, since any process can be reused in another project with the knowledge that it will act in exactly the same manner.
With development time being such a limited commodity to-day, wasting it using the wrong software architecture is an error that can be avoided. The proper design choices make this possible and yield benefits throughout the lifetime of the project.
Fletcher-Haynes, P. "Rx:QNX—COBE Remedies the High Cost of Blood Collection," QNXnews 11, no. 7 (1998): 7—12.
Isensee, G. "Stress-Free ECG—QNX Gives Burdick's Quest a Running Start," QNXnews 11, no. 2 (1997): 7—12.
Leroux, PN. The New Business Imperative: Achieving Shorter Development Cycles while Improving Product Quality. (Kanata, ON, Canada: Whitepaper, 1999).
Stevens, WR. UNIX Network Programming. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990).
Stewart, DB. "30 Pitfalls for Real-Time Software Developers, Part 1," Embedded Systems Programming 12, no. 11, (1999): 32—41.
Stewart, DB. "More Pitfalls for Real-Time Software Developers," Embedded Systems Programming 12, no. 12, (1999): 74—86.
Tanenbaum, AS. Operating Systems—Design and Implementation. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1987).
Jeffrey Schaffer is a senior applications engineer at the Westlake Village, CA, office of QNX Software Systems Inc., an operating systems vendor headquartered in the Ottawa, Canada area. He has more than 20 years of experience working with operating systems, database internals, and system design.


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Front Row at Fall 2012 Fashion Week
The fashion world is no stranger to the juxtaposition of the lavishness of high-end mastery and the taboo nature of sex. Marrying the dark and twisted mind of David Lynch with the sensual and sophisticated style of Louboutin, "Fetish" debuted in 2007, an exhibition that perfectly captured the hidden sexual aesthetic behind women in heels. The unwearable shoes with models feet pointed like a ballerina's were so well received at Paris Fashion Week that the duo created five sets of shoes and five prints to be sold.
With the recent sartorial turn towards all things dangerous — or dangerously chic — Louboutin ran with the idea of "killer shoes". Pairing weapon-worthy shoe adornment with a girly frock was Elizabeth Banks' idea of a perfect pairing when she recently wore these golden spiked sandals to the premiere of her new movie Man On A Ledge.
Lazy Girl Fashion Week Essentials


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Sleek look, Tailored Fit.
A best seller, our Stretch Piqué has a sleek look and ultra-soft finish. The subtle geometric design, in a slightly raised waffle-knit pattern, adds cozy texture. This favorite fabric is available in our greatest array of colors to accommodate any decorating style. Our ottoman cover is designed to fit ottomans up to 30" on the longest side.
the stretch
I am very happy with the covers but find the chair cover has too much stretch. I am sorry I didn't buy the duck fabric.
Fits like a glove!
I'm amazed that this cover fit my oversized ottoman. Gives it a nice ans smooth look. Love the taupe color as well.
Absolutely beautiful fabric and fit
I bought this to re-cover an ottoman I have had for years. The fabric is far more beautiful than you can see in the photo. I have used other Sure fit products to cover furniture and the fabrics are absolutely far more beautiful than the pictures can show. Take a chance on these, you will not be disappointed.
Fabric Weight: 8.5 oz. per Square yard.
Care Instructions: Machine Wash Separately in Cold Water on Gentle Cycle. Only Non-Chlorine Bleach when Needed. Tumble Dry Low. Remove Promptly. Do Not Iron.


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A lovely array of colors graces the Technocolors giclee print, lending sparkling allure to this brushed steel table lamp.More Details >
Refined simplicity is yours with this modern table lamp design. The metal base offers a graceful sculpted shape thats presented in a brushed steel finish. Topped with a giclee cylinder shade thats custom printed with a stylish Technocolors pattern. U.S. Patent # 7,347,593.


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LAS VEGAS — Andrew Borracchini of Metropolitan Market at Admiral, Seattle, garnered the title of America's Best Bagger.
Borracchini beat out Taylor Cantrell of Dillons Food Stores, Wichita, Kan., at the 27th annual National Grocers Association Best Bagger Championship, at NGA's annual convention Feb. 10-13.
He won the $10,000 grand prize, the Golden Grocery Bag trophy and the Best Bagger Golden Lane, a special checkout stand that will be installed in his store.
The competition was hosted by Phil Lempert, known as the Supermarket Guru, who said the checkout bagger is the final part of the grocery store transaction, and therefore, very important.
Contestants were judged on speed, bag-building technique, weight distribution, style, attitude, and appearance. This year's contestants used three reusable bags, in which they bagged 30 to 35 items.
Cantrell won $5,000, and the third place through fifth place winners — James Wilmot of ShopRite of Hunterdon County, N.J.; Nicholas Lewis of Food City, Abingdon, Va.; and Daniel Busquets of Kowalski's Market, Eagan, Minn, respectively — won $1,000 each.


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Address 10 Regent Street
# 408
Jersey City, New Jersey 73020
United States
# 408
Jersey City, New Jersey 73020
United States
|Juris Doctorate
|Most recent firm
|Honorable Alexander P. Waugh, Jr., Appellate Division Judge, Morristown, NJ
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USA-NJ-Cedar Knolls
Law Offices of John M.Clyne, Jr., P.A. Morristown, NJ area AV rated tax boutique, seeks experienced Associate. Areas of practice are: trusts and esttes, general corporate matters; general corporat...
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Immediate opening for a patent legal assistant to provide secretarial support to attorneys and patent agents related to the patent prosecution process including: preparing routine correspondence, file...
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A. Harrison Barnes is a well-known attorney throughout the United States. As a member of the Malibu community, Harrison is committed to serving the needs of Malibu residents and businesses in legal matters.


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Your browser does not support iframes.
Field trip for STEM Scholars
By Tabatha Hays
The Cedar Key FFA donated another truckload of fresh vegetables to the Cedar Key Food Pantry.
The produce was grown in the gardens around the school by FFA members.
SR Fair holding weigh in
Cedar Key School held its annual speech contest and these young orators finished at the top of their classes.
They now move on to countywide competition.
Levy County teachers and staff could have a merry Christmas this year as their Dec. 20 paychecks could include a 4 percent pay raise dating back to the start of the school year and help in paying insurance premiums.
Junior Class Pie Auction
By Amanda Robinson
Jr. Beta Halloween Dance a success
The Cedar Key FFA swept the District III Forestry Contest by winning both the high school and middle school events.
Both teams will travel to Perry on Nov. 14-15 to compete in the state finals.
The high school team includes: Kit Riley, Taryn Epperson, Michael Shewey and Nathanael Brinkman. The middle school team is comprised of Emilie Lavoie, Terra Dunn, Amanda Robinson and MacKenzie Kirkbride.
The teams brought home 25 individual and team ribbons. The team is coached by Denny Voyles, ag teacher and FFA advisor at CKS.
Young people ages 5-18 living in Gilchrist, Levy, and Dixie Counties are invited to participate in a new dog project and show at the Suwannee River Youth Fair. This year, the project will focus primarily on dog obedience. Families with interested youth are invited to attend the kick-off seminar on Monday, Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the Suwannee River Youth Fair arena in Fanning Springs. Only youth and family members should come to this meeting. Please leave your dogs at home.
Copyright © 2017
The Cedar Key Beacon is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Levy County and Cedar Key Florida, and the surrounding area.


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ROVERS slipped five points behind the play-off places after they had to settle for a 2-2 draw at basement boys Barnsley.
The Tykes opened the scoring against the run of play in the 29th minute courtesy of a superb finish from debutant Nick Proschwitz.
But Rovers equalised nine minutes later with an equally impressive strike from Tom Cairney before Rudy Gestede, following a brilliant run from David Dunn, put them in front a minute before the break.
Having totally controlled proceedings in the opening period, Rovers were unable to ram home their advantage after the restart and Chris O'Grady brought spirited Barnsley level in the 69th minute from a hotly disputed penalty which left boss Gary Bowyer and his players seething.
Bowyer said: "The negative of this evening, other than the (penalty) decision, was the fact we should have been three or four (goals) up.
"It's just the penalty decision that has stopped us coming away with all three points – and it's as simple as that."
For a full report see tomorrow's Lancashire Telegraph.
Barnsley: Steele, Cranie, Ramage, Nyatanga (Cywka 55), Kennedy, Shea, Dawson (Digby 46), O'Brien, Jennings (Lawrence 62), O'Grady, Proschwitz. Subs not used: Dibble, McCourt, M'voto, Noble-Lazarus.
Booked: Dawson.
Goals: Proschwitz 29, O'Grady 69pen.
Rovers: Robinson, Henley, Hanley, Kilgallon, Spurr, Lowe, Williamson (King 77), Cairney, Dunn (Taylor 64), Rhodes, Gestede. Subs not used: Eastwood, Kane, Olsson, Morris, Mahoney.
Booked: Lowe.
Goals: Cairney 36, Gestede 44.
Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge.
Attendance: 9,703 (720 away).


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BRIDGWATER & Albion Under-15s have battled their way to a superb tournament trophy win at the South West Festival of Rugby, in Barnstaple.
Playing in two groups of six teams, Bridgwater were in Group One along with Pontypridd, Esher, Brighton II, Moseley and Abertillary. Each Group game was 10 minutes each way, with no conversions and only points for awarded for tries.
On Saturday's, Albion went down 10-5 to Brighton II, 10-0 to Moseley and 20-0 to Pontypridd – before drawing 5-5 with Esher.
On Sunday, Bridgwater were put into the trophy competition after a sixth place finish in the group stages, but bounced back in fine fashion to beat Barnstaple 5-0 in the semi-final and Brighton II 15-5 in the final to complete a superb comeback.
Coach Stuart Powell said: "Every single player played their part and, on Sunday, the lads played some scintillating rugby.
"They made us all proud but most of all they did it for themselves.
"They turned around a disappointing opening day and I had several people, including the RFU officials, comment on how fantastic some of our rugby was."


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Matthew D. Green
- Violin
Matthew Daniel Green began teaching in 1981 at the Bregenzer Musikschule in Bregenz, Austria, and the Musikschule der Stadt St. Gallen in Switzerland. He has served on the faculties of the Boston Conservatory Division of Special Programs, the Performing Arts Center of Metrowest, the Nashua Community Music School, and the summer festival at the Winchester Community Music School. Currently he teaches at the Manchester Community Music School in New Hampshire and New England Conservatory.
The primary influences on his teaching are Aaron Rosand and George Neikrug. Other important sources include Rudolf Baumgartner, Robert Rozek, Gunars Larsens, Magdalena Richter, Zinaida Gilels, and master classes with Nathan Milstein and Clayton Haslop. He was in the Konzerklasse at the Konservatorium Luzern and is a graduate of the New England Conservatory. Students of Matthew Green have been accepted into prestigious undergraduate violin programs including the Eastman of Music, the Boston Conservatory, the Peabody Institute, the Hartt School of Music, New York University, Boston University, and others. Matthew Green teaches all levels including undergraduate preparation, intermediate, and beginners, who are taught the Scharlach method, which starts in the third position.
2014-08-25Expand to view more


text: Chicago Auto Show eager to open January 14, 2009 12:00 AM Tough times call for creative alternatives. The current economic climate and how it has affected the automobile industry have caused some manufacturers to rethink how they will share their news in a cost-effective manner. Two items remain a constant: Manufacturers still need to get their messages out and auto shows are a critically important marketing tool to sell cars and trucks. The Chicago Automobile Trade Association will offer manufacturers the opportunity to use the Chicago Auto Show to present news they need to convey, but whose resources are being depleted. This year, the Chicago Auto Show will construct a news conference set in the Grand Concourse. The set will be available to all manufacturer exhibitors at no charge. The show will provide a brand-neutral Chicago Auto Show backdropped stage; professional lighting for up to two vehicles; presenter podium with sound and teleprompter; large screens for video projection; plus media seating and camera platforms. While the show understands there are many manufacturers who prefer to conduct their news conferences in their floor displays, this alternative is designed for those whose current budgets might prevent having a media preview presence. The Chicago Auto Show will continue its fly-in "A List" media program. The triple-digit list is compiled from input given to the show by our exhibiting manufacturers. Exhibitors are encouraged to use the Chicago Auto Show for product reveals, executive availability, business news and giving the automobile industry its best opportunity to refocus public attention on the incredible breadth of new products and technology the industry offers the customer. "We wish it were February already," said Show Chairman Mark Scarpelli. "We are chomping at the bit to give dealers and manufacturers the best opportunity possible to move some iron. "We're always excited to open the doors of our show, but this year we wish we could open up tomorrow and just stay open 'til March. It's what we do. It's who we are. So let's get it rolling," he continued. "Dealers I talk to are so sick of 'bailout this' and 'rescue that.' Let's just get customers back in love with the automobile-and there's no better place to do that than more than a million square feet of McCormick Place." Chicago Auto Show Co-Chairman John Phelan said, "Talking about our current economic conditions isn't going to turn our industry around, but showing and talking about great new products, technology and breaking automotive news will help turn it around-and we want to help." Back to News


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Gossip Girl returns from its two month-long hiatus tonight with the first of five all-new episodes and an answer to this burning question: Dan and Blair kissed — now what?!
Well, based on the following exclusive clip from the eppy, the smooch leads to what I can only assume will be the first of several tense encounters between Dan and B's ex Chuck. The following scene also confirms what I long suspected: Dan has genuine feelings for his onetime nemesis.


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Incline Village Turns to Charter TV® for Entertainment
It's time to get the most value from your entertainment dollar while watching your favorite shows, movies, and sporting events. Close to 75% of households in Incline Village have at least one HDTV. Now it's your chance to enjoy HDTV programming throughout your home. Charter TV® deals bring you:
- Movies, shows, and sports in HD
- Special offers for Incline Village residents
- The option to rewind and watch your favorite scenes
- The ability to fast forward through commercials
If you want to feel like you're right in the center of all the sports action, choose Charter Cable for the best in sports programming. Catch a previous episode, start a new series, or watch the big game. Charter Cable makes sure you never miss a moment of the entertainment you love. HD programming gives your flat screen TV a power boost.


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Today, as the nation pays homage to doughnuts, we're celebrating National Doughnut Day with something slightly more unique: fonuts!
Fonuts are baked, not fried – but just as delicious as their doughy cousins. These sweet confections are vegan, gluten-free – oh, and unbelievably addictive.
The Rosemary Olive Oil Fonuts (pictured above) come from Fonuts in LA. That "powdered sugar" topping is actually pulverized olive oil. (That's why it's a Unique Sweet). Or, for all the lemon lovers out there, give our Lemon Fonuts a try.
Want more? Find out how Fonuts are made here.
But don't get us wrong – We love DOUGHNUTS, too:
- Zac Young's Pumpkin Spiced Donuts
- Chuck's Doughnut Extravaganza
- Bobby Deen's Whole Wheat Doughnut Bread Pudding
- Watch Now: The Donut Man's Stuffed Donuts
Plus, try out our Doughnut-Inspired Cocktails:
- Alie and Georgia's Drunken Donuts Cocktail: Watch them make it here.
- What Would Brian Boitano Make? A Coffee and Donuts Shake, of course: Watch him make it here.
Whether you celebrate with fonuts, doughnuts, or doughnut-inspired cocktails — Happy National Doughnut Day from Cooking Channel!


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Case study: Bullhead
The challenges of producing and distributing Belgian drama Bullhead [pictured] were discussed by Savage Film producer Bart Van Langendonck and Celluloid Dreams boss Hengameh Panahi. The pair spoke to Screen at the Les Arcs European Film Festival.
Bullhead, set in the world of animal hormone traffickers, was the feature directorial debut of Michael R Roskam and was nominated for the foreign language Oscar last year, launching the international career of lead actor Matthias Schoenaerts.
Roskam is now working on Brussels gangster film The Faithful, which will also star Schoenaerts, produced by Langendonck's Savage Film and co-produced by France's Stone Angels.
Langendonck had travelled from Brussels and Panahi from Paris to attend the Alpine festival and speak about Bullhead. Below are excerpts from the conversation.
How did you get to know Michael Roskam and when were the seeds of Bullhead first sewn?
Langendonck: I met Michael in 2003 when I started a company with people from a commercials production firm called CCCP. We launched a new label together. Michael had already made a short film with another producer but wanted to make his second with me. We made three shorts together.
After the third, he was already writing Bullhead – then called The Fields, in 2006 – and got support from the Flemish Film Fund for script development. At that time, it was a 3 ½ hour epic. Luckily, that changed or it would have been totally unsellable.
Michael was already well known in the Flemish film world with his successful shorts that showed his craftsmanship and ability to tell stories. He then had to start writing, which took a long time. He got it down to 2 ½ hours.
At that time, I was breaking away from my previous partners who weren't interested in Michael's feature. He came with me and I set up my production company. It was my first feature too.
Michael is great at convincing people to give money. But we weren't bankable because we hadn't done anything commercial. We were selling the film as a commercial arthouse film. People believed the arthouse part but not commercial side. So I had to associate myself with a bigger player in Belgium, Eyeworks, for all my projects. It was a good deal if we didn't turn a profit. Unfortunately, we made profits so it wasn't such a good deal. Now, I'm trying to turn it into an advantage.
How was the longer version of the script different?
Instead of having five-minute shots of people driving through a field, it was only three seconds. The Fields was more epic. Storylines were dropped before we had a shooting script, such as a love affair between a cop and an informer.
I still thought the film was going to be too long but luckily we didn't get funding from Eurimages and had to reduce the shooting days – so sometimes Eurimages' refusal is good. They didn't believe it was going to be credible and weren't sure if we were making a thriller or personal drama. One week before the shoot we had to reduce the budget by €300,000.
It was frustrating that, after five years of working on the financing, I had to put my salary as a guarantee on the contingency. If we went over budget, I would not have made anything. Thankfully, we didn't go over budget.
Was it a tough sell?
We spent a lot of time talking to sales agents at Cinemart and Cannes, at the development stage. People listened but didn'tact. We had a good feeling with Wild Bunch but it didn't turn into anything.
We were then selected for Berlinale while in post production. We wondered whether to wait for Cannes but decided to go for Berlinale because there hadn't been a Flemish film there in 10 years. We thought that would give us extra promotion.
We shot in spring 2010 and the film was released in February 2011.
How did the relationship with Celluloid Dreams come about?
I had heard a lot about Hengameh Panahi. She had great charisma and a strong track record so I felt she might be a great representative for this film. When we were selected for Berlin, I sent her a bad quality Vimeo link. She emailed me back three hours later at 3am.
Hengameh, what happened after you first saw Bullhead?
Panahi: I showed it to my sales team, who said it would be impossible to sell. I was torn because I saw the quality of the film and emergence of a director and actor. I responded to Bart saying that if he was prepared for the fact that I may not make any sales, I was interested in promoting the movie.
But I didn't have a clue who would buy it because it's long, dark and sits between arthouse and genre, which hard to sell.
I had a track record of making directors famous and Bart agreed to come on board. With a tough film, you have to be as inventive and creative as the director to find ways to sell the movie.
I came on board late. The film was finished and already selected for Berlin so I was frustrated. It would not have been my idea to go into their Panorama section because it features audience-friendly movies – and Bullhead isn't an audience-friendly movie.
I wanted to try Cannes or at least get it in competition in Berlin. Experience tells you where the film will best play.
But we went to Panorama and the film was everywhere - posters, the cover page of the market guide. But we were unlucky because our screening we went up against Wim Wenders' Pina. We had no reviews and left Berlin with no sales. We needed another launch.
We struggled to find a distributor because in Europe, sex isn't a problem but violence is, and in North America violence isn't a problem but sex is. I had to make a splash at a genre festival.
With a US launch, we saw another opportunity to promote it and bring it back to Europe. We chose to go to Austin [Fantastic Fest]. It was a start. We went there and won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and the US press went over the roof.
Drafthouse Films acquired the rights to distribute the film in the US. Bart then applied for funds for Oscar promotion, having been selected as Belgian's foreign language entry.
So we came out of Berlin with no interest and ended up being among the foreign language selections for the Academy Awards. But it was still a tough sell.
Right now, the film has sold in 20 territories, screened at 55 festivals and won 36 awards.
What did happen at Berlin is that Michael was signed by [US agent] UTA. The US path opened and he is now doing projects for Fox Searchlight, HBO and Brad Pitt's Plan B.
Years ago it would take talented directors at least a few films to get there. Now, if you're talented, the door can open after one film. He is still young but is already with big names. Matthias was also signed by major agents and starred in Rust and Bone.
It is going to be released in the UK by Soda Pictures, which first distributed Rust and Bone. They bought it after the Oscar nomination.
They were originally going to release it in the UK earlier in the year but delayed the release so that they could promote it after Rust and Bone. Now, every month, people are asking me what Michael is doing next.
Did you ever consider re-cutting the film to make it easier to sell?
Panahi: I proposed to recut it to under two hours. Many distributors won't consider films over two hours so be careful in that respect. Exhibitors are against it too. I would say, the shorter the better.
Langendonck: It wasn't a problem in Belgium. And we didn't have the time or money to re-cut it. But it may have been a better film if ten minutes had been cut.
Panahi: After the nomination, there was demand but still no sales. We even accepted smaller deals to get the film out in territories. Even with all that attention, the market is tough. What you win is recognition for the director, who now has three contracts with big US companies. That is the real reward.
Have you been approached about a US remake?
Langendonck: Some people showed an interest but we don't want to do it because we don't want to spoil it by making a mediocre story. It would taint the original.
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Half the world species catalogued, according to ABC (Australia) News, 9 April 2007, which reports: "Scientists working on a catalogue of every known kind of living organism have reached the milestone of having catalogued one million species. The project is being led by experts at Reading University in Britain and the Smithsonian National Museum in Washington. About 3,000 biologists are processing data provided by museums and scientific organisations around the world. Those involved say it is like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. The biggest section in the catalogue is devoted to butterflies and moths with more than 250,000 species. The one million species catalogued comprise just over half of the world's known species. The scientists hope to complete the catalogue by 2011."
Editorial Comment: Sceptics have used such large numbers of catalogued species to pour scorn on the idea of God creating each species separately and of Noah fitting the animals on the Ark. They also point out that occasionally one species has been shown to give rise to two separate species, and therefore, Darwin, rather than the Bible, was right about the origin of species. However, they are confusing the word "kind" in the Bible with the modern definition of a species. The two are not the same. The simplest definition of a species is a group of individuals that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring. It has been observed that some subgroups within a group of species cease breeding with others within the group, so technically the species has split and formed two new species, but this does not explain how the original group or kind came into being. As such, the title of Darwin's book was quite deceptive. Darwin did describe some real processes, such as natural selection, that can result in a large and varied group of living things splitting into two or more separate groups. However, this does not explain how any living kinds came to exist in the first place, so Darwin never did explain the "origin" of anything. (Ref. taxonomy, classification)
Evidence News 15th August 2007


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Jerry Spinelli
About the Author
"Whom do I write for? I write for the story. Each story, it seems to me, knows best how it should be told. As I once put my ear to the railroad track, I listen now for the voice of my story."—Jerry Spinelli
Jerry Spinelli is the author of more than a dozen books for young readers, including Maniac Magee, winner of the Newbery Medal, and Stargirl a New York Times bestseller and an ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults. Spinelli made his picture book debut with My Daddy and Me, a loving tribute to fathers and sons.
Growing up, Jerry Spinelli was really serious about baseball. He played for the Green Sox Little League team in his hometown of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and dreamed of one day playing for the major leagues, preferably as shortstop for the New York Yankees.
One night during high school, Spinelli watched the football team win an exciting game against one of the best teams in the country. While everyone else rode about town tooting horns in celebration, Spinelli went home and wrote "Goal to Go," a poem about the game's defining moment, a goal-line stand. His father submitted the poem to the Norristown Times–Herald and it was featured in the middle of the sports page a few days later. He then traded in his baseball bat for a pencil, because he knew that he wanted to become a writer.
After graduating from Gettysburg College with an English degree, Spinelli worked full time as a magazine editor. Every day on his lunch hour, he would close his office door and craft novels on yellow magazine copy paper. He wrote four adult novels in 12 years of lunchtime writing, but none of these were accepted for publication. When he submitted a fifth novel about a 13-year-old boy, adult publishers once again rejected his work, but children's publishers embraced it. Spinelli feels that he accidentally became an author of children's books.
Spinelli's hilarious books entertain both children and young adults. Readers see his life in his autobiography Knots in My Yo-Yo String, as well as in his fiction. Crash came out of his desire to include the beloved Penn Relays of his home state of Pennsylvania in a book, while Maniac Magee is set in a fictional town based on his own hometown.
When asked if he does research for his writing, Spinelli says: "The answer is yes and no. No, in the sense that I seldom plow through books at the library to gather material. Yes, in the sense that the first 15 years of my life turned out to be one big research project. I thought I was simply growing up in Norristown, Pennsylvania; looking back now I can see that I was also gathering material that would one day find its way into my books."
On inspiration, the author says: "Ideas come from ordinary, everyday life. And from imagination. And from feelings. And from memories. Memories of dust in my sneakers and humming whitewalls down a hill called Monkey."
Spinelli lives with his wife and fellow writer, Eileen, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. While they write in separate rooms of the house, the couple edits and celebrates one another's work. Their six children have given Jerry Spinelli a plethora of clever material for his writing.
"Readers will devour this humorous glimpse of what jocks are made of while learning that life does not require crashing helmet-headed through it."—Starred, School Library Journal
"Spinelli packs a powerful moral wallop, leaving it to the pitch-perfect narration to drive home his point."—Publishers Weekly
"As Spinelli effortlessly spins the story of an ordinary Pennsylvania boy, he also documents the evolution of an exceptional author."—Starred, Publishers Weekly
"In this warm, deeply personal memoir of the kid he was, Spinelli takes us to Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the 1950s."—Booklist
"Newbery-winning Spinelli spins a magical and heartbreaking tale from the stuff of high school."—Starred, Kirkus Reviews
"Part fairy godmother, part outcast, part dream-come-true, the star of Spinelli' s latest novel possesses many of the mythical qualities as the protagonist of his Maniac Magee."—Starred, Publishers Weekly
"Sixteen-year-old Leo recounts Stargirl' s sojourn at Mica High in an allegorical story that is engagingly written."—Booklist
"Tooter is a real-life, plucky, resourceful heroine who scampers through this novel for new readers."—The Horn Book Magazine
"The characters are well-developed—Tooter is at times reminiscent of Ramona—and the story is enjoyable." —School Library Journal


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Peer-Reviewed Publications
Found 428 resultsTitle
The Assault-Injured Youth and the Emergency Medical System: What Can We Do?" Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine. 2013;14(1):47-55."
The Association Between Forms of Aggression, Leadership, and Social Status Among Urban Youth." J Youth Adolesc. 2013;42(2):263-74."
Best Practices in Culturally Appropriate Education Approaches." Ethnicity,Health, and Well-Being . 2013."
Caregivers' Confidence in Performing Child Safety Seat Installations: What Matters Most?" Inj. Prev.. 2013."
Child coping, parent coping assistance, and post-traumatic stress following pediatric physical injury." Child Care Health Dev. 2013;39(2):171-7."
Child passenger safety practices and injury risk in crashes with father versus mother drivers." Inj. Prev.. 2013."
Childhood Traumatic Stress and the Emergency Department Visit." Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine. 2013;14(1):41-46."
Cognitive Rest and School-Based Recommendations Following Pediatric Concussion: The Need for Primary Care Support Tools." Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2013."
Development and psychometric evaluation of child acute stress measures in spanish and english." J Trauma Stress. 2013;26(1):19-27."
Emergency department-based brief intervention to reduce risky driving and hazardous/harmful drinking in young adults: a randomized controlled trial." Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res.. 2013;37(10):1753-62."
Evaluation of Unintended Training Effects from Collision Scenarios in a Simulated Assessment for Young Novice Drivers.; 2013.
Graduated driver licensing decal law: effect on young probationary drivers." American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013;44(1):1-7."
Headway Time and Crashes Among Novice Teens and Experienced Adult Drivers in a Simulated Lead Truck Braking Scenario." Proc Int Driv Symp Hum Factors Driv Assess Train Veh Des. 2013;67:439-445."
It takes two: A brief report examining mutual support between parents and teens learning to drive." Accid Anal Prev. 2013."
Miles to Go: Focusing on Risks for Teen Driver Crashes. Philadelphia : The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute; 2013.
New Insights Into the Detrimental Effects of Peer Passengers on Teen Drivers. Vol. 57. Sage Publications; 2013.
Physical disability after injury-related inpatient rehabilitation in children." Pediatrics. 2013;131(1):e206-13."
Posttraumatic Stress Following Pediatric Injury: Update on Diagnosis, Risk Factors, and Intervention." JAMA Pediatr. 2013."
Prevalence of and risk factors for poor functioning after isolated mild traumatic brain injury in children." J. Neurotrauma. 2013."
Relative Kinematics of the Shoulder Belt and the Torso: Comparison of the Q10 ATD and Pediatric Human Volunteers.". In: IRCOBI Conference. Gothenburg, Sweden; 2013."
Residual Cognitive Disability after Completion of Inpatient Rehabilitation among Injured Children." J. Pediatr.. 2013."
Understanding recovery in children following traffic-related injuries: Exploring acute traumatic stress reactions, child coping, and coping assistance." Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2013."
Using a web-based game to prevent posttraumatic stress in children following medical events: design of a randomized controlled trial." Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2013;4."
Validation of a parent survey for reporting child injuries." Injury Prevention. 2013."


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By Ryan Krogh
On a warm summer afternoon last week, in a fit of motivation spurred on by six months of indolence, I found myself on the verge of collapse tossing a 10-pound tire down an asphalt parking lot. I'd joined a strength-training class at Undisputed Fitness, a jujitsu and kickboxing gym in West Alameda's Solona Shopping Center, thinking I'd get back in shape. With some previous mixed martial arts training under my belt, I assumed I could handle it. I was wrong.
Without much ado, six of us—guys with a lot more fighting ambition than myself—walked out back, where three tires lay on the parking lot. Within minutes I was flipping one of the spares over my head and chasing it down, only to repeat the process the entire length of the parking lot and back again. Then I donned a 35-pound weight vest, squatted down with a medicine ball pressed against my chest and tossed it up against a cinder-block wall as high as I could for a minute and a half. Then push-ups. Then pull-ups. Then we did it all over again—without breaks. After an hour I was stumbling around in an oxygen-deprived daze.
"I don't have time to slow the class down for anyone," Josh Montoya, a competitive fighter who led the class, told me after it was all over. He meant it as a motivator—anyone that can last through the class should be proud—but standing next to him, feeling like I was breathing through a drinking straw, all I could think about was when, and if, I'd be able to focus on anything besides not losing my lunch in the garbage can in the corner of the room.
Undisputed Fitness is MMA–star Tait Fletcher's brainchild. He opened the gym at its current location in October 2008 in hopes of drawing more people to a sport he's been passionate about for a decade. As a professional fighter and a contestant on the third season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter, he experienced first-hand the transformative power, both physically and mentally, he says, that competitive training can have on an individual. Undisputed Fitness is his chance to share that knowledge and experience—and his own unassuming star-power—with the local community.
"I wanted a one-stop gym that would really build athletes," Fletcher says, "whether it was for hobbyists in kickboxing or jujitsu, or for guys who had competitive goals, or whether it was for people who just wanted to reach the pinnacle of their health."
Since opening, Undisputed Fitness has experienced a steady rise in membership. And it's done it despite the usual MMA stereotype—aggro pain junkies looking for a legal way to let loose—that can sometimes deter people from joining a gym like Fletcher's.
Still, there's no doubt about it: Walking into an MMA gym is intimidating—heavy bags hanging from the ceiling, grappling dummies strewn about the mats and heavily tattooed patrons thwacking punching bags. But Undisputed, manager Jenn Yi says, is trying to lessen that initial intimidation for first-timers. Yes and no. Yes, it's less intimidating than other fighting gyms (a fake plant welcomes visitors near the door). No, it's not intimidation free: A whiteboard by the water fountain often lists the workout routine for various classes: 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 sit-ups, etc., etc.
"It's scary," Yi admits. "You see the workout and you just don't think you can do it. But at the end of class, when you're passed out on the floor, dripping with sweat, it's a huge sense of accomplishment."
That sense of accomplishment and the personal successes Fletcher sees from his members—winning a grappling tournament, losing 60-plus pounds—comes from a supportive group dynamic in the gym's jujitsu, kickboxing and strength-training classes.
"You ask so much more of yourself when you're working with other people," Fletcher says, "because I'll quit on myself, but I'm not going to quit on my workout partner."
Fletcher should know. After getting involved in jujitsu nearly 10 years ago at a late age—29, an age that would dissuade many people from starting—he went on to compete at the highest levels of MMA. And he attributes much of his success to the group dynamic that is the hallmark of competitive fighting gyms. He's brought that collaborative mind-set to Undisputed. One of the members in my class called Undisputed's classes "intensely supportive."
Classes are supportive because they typically involve partners. In strength training, pairs rotate exercises and motivate each other with words of encouragement. In jujitsu or kickboxing, partners practice kicking, punching and executing specialized grappling moves on each other to get a sense of the right and wrong ways to do them. But much of the support and encouragement comes from Fletcher himself.
"People are really drawn to Tait because he's such a personality and motivator," Yi says. "He's like a giant cement-covered marshmallow—all heart and goo on the inside—and it really translates with the people who train here."
For his part, Fletcher says he gets just as much gratification out of the successes of his members as his own. "It's a beautiful thing, my favorite thing, to watch somebody surpass their own self-imposed limitations," he says.
After the end of my first training session, I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had muscles. Four days later, after recovering, I'm jonesing for more. The only hang-up: whether or not I can actually survive another session. Then I remember something Fletcher told me over the phone when I asked him about his training philosophy.
"Real physical fitness comes from pushing yourself beyond the limits that you think you can go. My job is to kill that little voice in your head that says, 'I can't.'"
Undisputed Fitness
915 W. Alameda St., in the Solana Shopping Center
Classes, including kickboxing, strength training and jujitsu, from 8 am to 7pm, from Monday to Friday. Memberships start at $70 per month with a 12-month contract.
Champion Brazilian jujitsu expert Nivaldo Oliveira is a guest instructor at the gym for part of September and is available for private lessons by appointment.


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Ultraman Takes His Parents To Hawaii In Adorable Tourism Commercials [Video]
This past fall I had the pleasure of visiting the island of Maui, where I got to eat a bunch of shave ice, surf while shark fins visibly poked up from the waves and eat at this place that housed a giant sculpture of a sea turtle eating pizza. It was dope. Still, as always, it seems I've been bested by Tsuburaya's Ultraman, who seemed to have an even better time vacationing in the Hawaiian islands with his family.