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The Impact of Disruptive Technologies on the Professional Storage Marketby Johan De Gelas on 8/5/2013 9:00 AM EST
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- IT Computing
- SSDs
- Enterprise
- Enterprise SSDs
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Jammrock - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkGreat write up, Johan.
The Fusion-IO ioDrive Octal was designed for the NSA. These babies are probably why they could spy on the entire Internet without ever running low on storage IO. Unsurprisingly that bit about the Octal being designed for the US government is no longer on their site :) Reply
Seemone - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkI find the lack of ZFS disturbing. Reply
Guspaz - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkYeah, you could probably get pretty far throwing a bunch of drives into a well configured ZFS box (striped raidz2/3? Mirrored stripes? Balance performance versus redundancy and take your pick) and throwing some enterprise SSDs in front of the array as SLOG and/or L2ARC drives.
In fact, if you don't want to completely DIY, as many enterprises don't, there are companies selling enterprise solutions doing exactly this. Nexenta, for example (who also happen to be one of the lead developers behind modern opensource ZFS), sell enterprise software solutions for this. There are other companies that sell hardware solutions based on this and other software. Reply
blak0137 - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkAnother option for this would be to go directly to Oracle with their ZFS Storage Appliances. This gives companies the very valuable benefit of having hardware and software support from the same entity. They also tend to undercut the entrenched storage vendors on price as well. Reply
davegraham - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - link*cough* it may be undercut on the front end but maintenance is a typical Oracle "grab you by the chestnuts" type thing. Reply
Frallan - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkMore like "grab you by the chestnuts - pull until they rips loose and shove em up where they don't belong" - type of thing... Reply
davegraham - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkI was being nice. ;) Reply
equals42 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - linkAnd perhaps lock you into Larry's platform so he can extract his tribute for Oracle software? I think I've paid for a week of vacation on Ellison's Hawaiian island.
Everybody gets their money to appease shareholders somehow. Either maintenance, software, hardware or whatever. Reply
Brutalizer - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkDiscs have grown bigger, but not faster. Also, they are not safer nor more resilient to data corruption. Large amounts of data will have data corruption. The more data, the more corruption. NetApp has some studies on this. You need new solutions that are designed from the ground up to combat data corruption. Research papers shows that ntfs, ext, etc and hardware raid are vulnerable to data corruption. Research papers also show that ZFS do protect against data corruption. You find all papers on wikipedia article on zfs, including papers from NetApp. Reply
Guspaz - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkIt's worth pointing out, though, that enterprise use of ZFS should always use ECC RAM and disk controllers that properly report when data has actually been written to the disk. For home use, neither are really required. Reply
jhh - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkAnd Advanced/SDDC/Chipkill ECC, not the old-fashioned single-bit correct/multiple bit detect. The RAM on the disk controller might be small enough for this not to matter, but not on the system RAM. Reply
tuxRoller - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkAmplidata's dss seems like a better, more forward looking alternative. Reply
Sertis - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkThe Amplistore design seems a bit better than ZFS. ZFS has a hash to detect bit rot within the blocks, while this stores FEC coding that can potentially recover the data within that block without calculating it based on parity from the other drives on the stripe and the I/O that involves. It also seems to be a bit smarter on how it distributes data by allowing you to cross between storage devices to provide recovery at the node level while ZFS is really just limited to the current pool. It has various out of band data rebalancing which isn't really present in ZFS. For example, add a second vdev to a zpool when it's 90% full and there really isn't a process to automatically rebalance the data across the two pools as you add more data. The original data stays on that first vdev, and new data basically sits in the second vdev. It seems very interesting, but I certainly can't afford it, I'll stick with raidz2 for my puny little server until something open source comes out with a similar feature set. Reply
Seemone - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkAre you aware that with ZFS you can specify the number of replicas each data block should have on a per-filesystem basis? ZFS is indeed not very flexible on pool layout and does not rebalance things (as of now), but there's nothing in the on-disk data structure that prevent this. This means it can be implemented and would be applicable on old pools in a non disruptive way. ZFS, also, is open source, its license is simply not compatible with GPLv2, hence ZFS-On-Linux separate distribution. Reply
Brutalizer - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkIf you want to rebalance ZFS, you just copy the data back and forth and rebalancing is done. Assume you have data on some ZFS disks in a ZFS raid, and then you add new empty discs, so all data will sit on the old disks. To spread the data evenly to all disks, you need to rebalance the data. Two ways:
1) Move all data to another server. And then move back the data to your ZFS raid. Now all data are rebalanced. This requires another server, which is a pain. Instead, do like this:
2) Create a new ZFS filesystem on your raid. This filesystem is spread out on all disks. Move the data to the new ZFS filesystem. Done. Reply
Sertis - Thursday, August 08, 2013 - linkI'm definitely looking forward to these improvements, if they eventually arrive. I'm aware of the multiple copy solution, but if you read the Intel and Amplistore whitepapers, you will see they have very good arguments that their model works better than creating additional copies by spreading out FEC blocks across nodes. I have used ZFS for years, and while you can work around the issues, it's very clear that it's no longer evolving at the same rate since Oracle took over Sun. Products like this keep things interesting. Reply
Brutalizer - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkTheory is one thing, real life another. There are many bold claims and wonderful theoretical constructs from companies, but do they hold up to scrutiny? Researchers injected artificially constructed errors in different filesystems (NTFS, Ext3, etc), and only ZFS detected all errors. Researchers have verified that ZFS seems to combat data corruption. Are there any research on Amplistore's ability to combat datacorruption? Or do they only have bold claims? Until I see research from a third part, independent part, I will continue with the free open source ZFS. CERN is now switching to ZFS for tier-1 and tier-2 long time term storage, because vast amounts of data _will_ have data corruption, CERN says. Here are research papers on data corruption on NTFS, hardware raid, ZFS, NetApp, CERN, etc:
For instance, Tegile, Coraid, GreenByte, etc - are all storage vendors that offers PetaByte Enterprise servers using ZFS. Reply
JohanAnandtech - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkThanks, very helpful feedback. I will check the paper out Reply
mikato - Thursday, August 08, 2013 - linkAnd Isilon OneFS? Care to review one? :) Reply
bitpushr - Friday, August 09, 2013 - linkThat's because ZFS has had a minimal impact on the professional storage market. Reply
Brutalizer - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - linkbitpushr,
"That's because ZFS has had a minimal impact on the professional storage market."
That is ignorant. If you had followed the professional storage market, you would have known that ZFS is the most widely deployed storage system in the Enterprise. ZFS systems manages 3-5x more data than NetApp, and manages more data than NetApp and EMC Isilon combined. ZFS is the future and eating other's cake:
http://blog.nexenta.com/blog/bid/257212/Evan-s-pre... Reply
blak0137 - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkThe Amplidata Bitspread data protection scheme sounds alot like the OneFS filesystem on Isilon.
A note on the NetApp section, the NVRAM does not store the hottest blocks, rather it is only used for correlating writes to allow destaging entire raid group wide stripes onto disk at once. This utilization of NVRAM in NetApp, along with the write characteristics of the WAFL filesystem, allows RAID-DP (NetApp's slightly customized version of RAID-6) to have similar write performance as RAID-10 with a much smaller usable space penalty up to approximately 85-90% space utilization. Read cache is always held in RAM on the controller and the FlashCache (formerly PAM) cards supplement that RAM-based cache. A thing to remember about the size of the FlashCache cards is that the space still benefits from the data efficiency features of Data OnTap, such as deduplication and compression, and as such applications such as VDI get a massive boost in performance. Reply
enealDC - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkI think you also need to discuss the effect of OSS or very low cost solutions that can be built on white box hardware. Those cause far greater disruptions than anything I can think of!
SCST and COMSTAR to name a few. Reply
Ammohunt - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkOne thing i didn't see mention is that in the good old days you spread the I/O out across many spindles which was a huge advantage SCSI which was geared towards such a configuration. As drive sizes have increased the spindles have reduced adding more latency. The fact is that expensive SSD type storage systems are not needed in most medium sized businesses. Their data needs can in most cases be served by spectacularly by using a well architected tiered storage model. Reply
mryom - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkThere's some thing missing - take a look at Pernix Data - That's disruptive and also vSphere 5.5 gonna be a game changer. Software Defined Storage is the way forward - We just need space for more disks in blade servers Reply
davegraham - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkSDS is an EMC-marchitecture discussion (a la ViPR). I'd suggest that you avoid conflating what a marketing talking head discusses with technology can actually do. :) Reply
Kevin G - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkMy understanding withenterprise storage isn't necessarily the hardware but rather the software interface and support that comes with it. NetApp for example will dial home and order replacements for failed hard drives for you. Various interfaces I've used allow for the logical creation multiple arrays across multiple controllers each using a different RAID type. I have no sane reason why some one would want to do that but the option is there and supported for the crazies.
As far as performance goes, NVMe and SATA Express are clearly the future. I'm surprised that we haven't see any servers with hot swap mini-PCIe slots. With two lanes going to each slot, a single socket Sandy Bridge-e chip could support twenty of those small form factor cards in the front of a 1U server. At 500 GB a piece, that is 10 TB of preformatted storage, not far off of the 16 TB preformatted possible today using hard drives. Cost of course will be more expensive than disk but speeds are ludicrous.
Going with standard PCIe form factors for storage only makes sense if there are tons of channels connected to the controlller and are PCIe native. So far the majority of offers stick a hardware RAID chip with several SATA SSD controllers onto a PCIe card and call it a day.
Also for the enterprice market, it would be nice to a PCIe SSD have an out of band management port that communicates via Ethernet and can fully function if the switch on the other end supports power over ethernet. The entire host could be fried but data could still potentially be recovered. Also works great for hardware configuration like on some Areca cards. Reply
youshotwhointhewhatnow - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkThe first link on "Cloudfounders: No More RAID" appears to be broken (http://www.amplidata.com/pdf/The-RAID Catastrophe.pdf).
I read through the second link on that page (the Intel paper). I wouldn't consider that paper as unbiased considering Intel is clearly trying to use it to sell more Xeon chips. Regardless, I don't think your statement "mathematically proven that the Reed-Solomon based erasure codes of RAID 6 are a dead end road for large storage systems" is justified. Sure RAID6 will eventually give way to RAID7 (or RAIDZ2 in ZFS terms), but this still uses Reed-Solomon codes. The Intel paper just shows that RAID6+1 has much worse efficiency with slightly worse durability compared to Bitspread. The same could be said for RAID7 (instead of Bitspread), which really should have been part of the comparison.
Another strange statement in the Intel paper is "Traditional erasure coding schemes implemented by competitive storage solutions have limited device-level BER protection (e.g., 4 four bit errors per device)". Umm, with non-degraded RAID6 you could have as many UREs as you like provided less than three occur on the same stripe (or less than two for a degraded array). Again RAID7 allows even more UREs in the same stripe.
This is not to say that the Bitspread technique isn't interesting, but you seem to be a little to quick to drink the kool-aid. Reply
name99 - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkI imagine the reason people are quick to drink the koolaid is that convolutional FEC codes have proved how well they work through much wireless experience. Loss of some Amplidata data is no different from puncturing, and puncturing just works --- we experience it every time we use WiFi or cell data.
I also wouldn't read too much into Intel's support here. Obviously running a Viterbi algorithm to cope with a punctured convolutional code is more work than traditional parity-type recovery --- a LOT more work. And obviously, the first round of software you write to prove to yourself that this all works, you're going to write for a standard CPU. Intel is the obvious choice, and they're going to make a big deal about how they were the obvious choice.
BUT the obvious next step is to go to Qualcomm or Broadcom and ask them to sell you a Viterbi cell, which you put on a SOC along with an ARM front-end, and hey presto --- you have a $20 chip you can stick in your box that's doing all the hard work of that $1500 Xeon.
The point is, convolutional FEC is operating on a totally different dimension from block parity --- it is just so much more sophisticated, flexible, and powerful. The obvious thing that is being trumpeted here is destruction of one of more blocks in the storage device, but that's not the end of the story. FEC can also handle point bit errors. Recall that a traditional drive (HD or SSD) has its own FEC protecting each block, but if enough point errors occur in the block, that FEC is overwhelmed and the device reports a read error. NOW there is an alternative --- the device can report the raw bad data up to a higher level which can combine it with data from other devices to run the second layer of FEC --- something like a form of Chase combining.
Convolutional codes are a good start for this, of course, but the state of the art in WiFi and telco is LDPCs, and so the actual logical next step is to create the next device based not on a dedicated convolutional SOC but on a dedicated LDPC SOC. Depending on how big a company grows, and how much clout they eventually have with SSD or HD vendors, there's scope for a whole lot more here --- things like using weaker FEC at the device level precisely because you have a higher level of FEC distributed over multiple devices --- and this may allow you a 10% or more boost in capacity. Reply
meorah - Monday, August 05, 2013 - linkyou forgot another implication of scale-out software design. namely, the ability to bypass flash completely and store your most performance intensive workloads that use your most expensive software licensing directly in-memory. 16 gigs to run the host, the other 368 gigs as a nice RAM drive. Reply
pjkenned - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkHi Johan, one thing to be clear about is that the dollars you are quoting in this article are off by a huge margin. Enterprise storage is one of the most highly discounted areas of technology. Happy to chat more on this subject. Patrick @STH Reply
name99 - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkAhh, the never-ending whine of the Enterprise sale man, who desperately wants to have it both ways --- to be able to charge a fortune and simultaneously to claim that he's not charging a fortune. Good luck with that --- there is, after all, a sucker born every minute.
But let's get one thing straight here. If your organization refuses to publish the actual prices at which it sells, then you STFU when people report the prices that ARE published, not the magic secret prices that you claim exist but neither you nor anyone else are ever allowed to actually mention them. You don't get to have it both ways.
AnandTech and similar blogs are not in the business of sustaining your obsolete business model and its never-ending lies about price... Reply
enealDC - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkThank you!!! lol Reply
JohanAnandtech - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkYou can not blame a company to do whatever they can to protect their business model, but your comment is on target. The list versus street price models reminds of techniques of salesman on the street in touristic areas: they charge 3 times too much, and you end up with a 50% discount. The end result is that you are still ripped off unless you have intimate knowledge. Reply
nafhan - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkMy experience with stuff like this is that the low prices are geared towards locking you into their products and getting themselves in the door. As soon as these companies feel certain that changing to a different storage tech would be prohibitively expensive for you, the contract renewal price will go through the roof.
In other words, that initial price may actually be very good and very competitive. Just don't expect to get the same deal when things come up for contract renewal. Reply
equals42 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - linkYou shouldn't be making enterprise purchasing decisions unless you have intimate knowledge and have done the necessary research. Reply
pjkenned - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkSo three perspectives:
First - I have been advocating open storage projects for years. I do think we are moving to 90%+ of the market being 4TB drives and SSDs and SDS is a clear step in this direction. I don't sell storage but have been using open platforms for years precisely because of the value I can extract through the effort of sizing the underlying hardware.
Second - Most of the big vendors are public companies. It isn't hard to look at gross margin and figure out ballpark what average discounts are. Most organizations purchasing this type of storage have other needs. The market could push for lower margins so my sense is that the companies buying this class of storage are not just paying for raw storage.
Third - vendors are moving the direction of lower discounts at the low end. Published list prices there are much closer to actual as the discounting trend in the industry is towards lower list prices.
Not to say that pricing is just or logical, but then again, it is a large industry that is poised for a disruptive change. One key thing here is that I believe you can get pricing if you just get a quote. This is the same as other enterprise segments such as the ERP market. Reply
equals42 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - linkI'll not ask you to STFU as you eloquently abbreviated it. Though in general I believe people ultimately charge what they believe the market will pay.
Yes, list prices are generously overpriced in the IT industry. But to ask EMC or IBM to tell you how much they really charge for things is stupid. That's a negotiated rate between them and their customer. BofA or WalMart isn't going to disclose how much they pay for services. Their low negotiated price helps drive efficiencies to better compete with rivals. Heck, ask Kelloggs how much Target pays per box for cereal vs WalMart. No way in hell they're going to tell you. You think a SMB is going to get the same price as Savvis or Bank of America? They can ask for it but good luck. I sense some naiveté in your response.
In essence you're complaining about how inflated the list is vs what the average customer pays. That's a game played out based on supply and demand, market expectations and the blended costs of delivering products. Reply
prime2515103 - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - link"Note that the study does not mention the percentage customer stuck in denial :-)."
I don't mean to be a jerk or anything, but I can't believe I just read that on Anandtech. It's not the grammar either. A smiley? Good grief... Reply
JohanAnandtech - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkI fixed the sentence, but left the smiley in there. My prerogative ;-) Reply
prime2515103 - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkI know, it just seems unprofessional. It's a tech article, not a chat room. Reply
FunBunny2 - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkWhat is always missing from such essays (and this one reads more like a 'Seeking Alpha' pump piece) is a discussion of datastore structure. If you want speed and fewer bytes and your data isn't just videos, then an industrial strength RDBMS with a Organic Normal Form™ schema gets rid of the duplicate bytes. Too bad. Reply
DukeN - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkBut has there actually been any disruptions to the top dogs?
EMC, NetApp, storage from HP/Dell/IBM, Hitachi all have had significant earnings increases yet again.
So maybe a couple of new startups as well as FusionIO are making money now, but some of the big guys can probably just buy them out and shelf them. Reply
davegraham - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkLook at EMC's acquisition of XtremeI/O...that's a viable competitor that EMC has already been able to integrate as a mainstream product. Oh, and they're also using Virident PCIe cards for server-side flash. ;) Reply
DukeN - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkBut is that really disruptive, or business as usual? These guys usually buy up smaller technologies as needed and integrate them if needed. Most of their core business (spinning disks) has remained the same. Reply
bitpushr - Friday, August 09, 2013 - linkXtremIO is still not a shipping product. It is not generally-available. So, I do not think this qualifies as "integrate as a mainstream product".
Likewise their server-side Flash sales (Project Lightning) have been extremely slow. Reply
phoenix_rizzen - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkIf you ditch Windows on the desktop, you can do a lot more for a lot less.
$22,000 for a Nutanix node to support a handful of virtual desktops? And you still need the VDI client systems on top of that? Pffft, for $3000 CDN we can support 200-odd diskless Linux workstations (diskless meaning they boot off the network, mount all their filesystems via NFS, and run all programs on the local system using local CPU, local RAM, local GPU, local sound, etc). The individual desktops are all under $200 (AMD Athlon-II X3 and X4, 2 GB of RAM, onboard everything; CPU fan is the only moving part) and treated like appliances (when one has issues, just swap it out for a spare).
No licensing fees for the OS, no licensing fees for 90+% of the software in use, no exorbitant markup on the hardware. And all staff and students are happy with the system. We've been running this setup in the local school district for just shy of 10 years now. Beats any thin-client/VDI setup, that's for sure. Reply
turb0chrg - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkAnother vendor doing hybrid storage is Nimble Storage (http://www.nimblestorage.com/). I've looked at their solution and it is quite impressive. It's not cheap though.
They also claim to be the fastest growing storage vendor! Reply
dilidolo - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkI have 2 of them for VDI, they work fine, but I wouldn't call it enterprise storage. Reply
equals42 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - linkIt's only iSCSI so you better like that protocol. Reply
WeaselITB - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkFascinating perspective piece. I look forward to the CouldFounders review -- that stuff seems pretty interesting.
-Weasel Reply
shodanshok - Tuesday, August 06, 2013 - linkVery interesting article. It basically match my personal option on SAN market: it is an overprice one, with much less performance per $$$ then DAS.
Anyway, with the advent of thin pools / thin volumes in RHEL 6.4 and dmcache in RHEL 7.0, commodity, cheap Linux distribution (CentOS costs 0, by the way) basically matche the feature-set exposed by most low/mid end SAN. This means that a cheap server with 12-24 2.5'' bays can be converted to SAN-like works, with very good results also.
In this point of view, the recent S3500 / Crucial M500 disks are very interesting: the first provide enterprise-certified, high performance, yet (relatively) low cost storage, and the second, while not explicitly targeted at the enterprise market, is available at outstanding capacity/cost ratio (the 1TB version is about 650 euros). Moreover it also has a capacitor array to prevent data loss in the case of power failure.
Bottom line: for high performance, low cost storage, use a Linux server with loads of SATA SSDs. The only drawback is that you _had_ to know the VGS/LVS cli interface, because good GUIs tend to be commercial products and, anyway, for data recovery the cli remains your best friend.
A note on the RAID level: while most sysadmins continue to use RAID5/6, I think it is really wrong in most cases. The R/M/W penalty is simply too much on mechanincal disks. I've done some tests here: http://www.ilsistemista.net/index.php/linux-a-unix...
Maybe on SSDs the results are better for RAID5, but the low-performance degraded state (and very slow/dangerous reconstruction process) ramain. Reply
Kyrra1234 - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkThe enterprise storage market is about the value-add you get from buying from the big name companies (EMC, Netapp, HP, etc...). All of those will come with support contracts for replacement gear and to help you fix any problems you may run into with the storage system. I'd say the key reasons to buy from some of these big players:
* Let someone else worry about maintaining the systems (this is helpful for large datacenter operations where the customer has petabytes of data).
* The data reporting tools you get from these companies will out-shine any home grown solution.
* When something goes wrong, these systems will have extensive logs about what happened, and those companies will fly out engineers to rescue your data.
* Hardware/Firmware testing and verification. The testing that is behind these solutions is pretty staggering.
For smaller operations, rolling out an enterprise SAN is probably overkill. But if your data and uptime is important to you, enterprise storage will be less of a headache when compared to JBOD setups. Reply
Adul - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkWe looked at Fusion-IO ioDrive and decided not to go that route as the work loads presented by virtualize desktops we offer would have killed those units in a heartbeat. We opted instead for a product by greenbytes for our VDI offering. Reply
Adul - Wednesday, August 07, 2013 - linkSee if you can get one of these devices for review :)
we have hundreds of VDI instances running on this. Reply
Brutalizer - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - linkThese Greenbyte servers are running ZFS and Solaris (illumos)
http://www.virtualizationpractice.com/greenbytes-a... Reply
Brutalizer - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - linkGreenByte:
Also, Tegile is using ZFS and Solaris:
Who said ZFS is not the future? Reply
woogitboogity - Sunday, August 11, 2013 - linkIf there is one thing I absolutely adore about real capitalism it is these moments where the establishment goes down in flames. Just the thought of their jaws dropping and stammering "but that's not fair!" when they themselves were making mockery of fair prices with absurd profit margins... priceless. Working with computers gives you so very many of these wonderful moments of truth...
On the software end it is almost as much fun as watching plutocrats and dictators alike try to "contain" or "limit" TCP/IP's ability to spread information. Reply
wumpus - Wednesday, August 14, 2013 - linkThere also seems to be a disconnect in what Reed-Solomon can do and what they are concerned about (while RAID 6 uses Reed Solomon, it is a specific application and not a general limitation).
It is almost impossible to scale rotating discs (presumably magnetic, but don't ignore optical forever) to the point where Reed-Solomon becomes an issue. The basic algorithm scales (easily) to 256 disks (or whatever you are striping across) of which typically you want about 16 (or less) parity disks. Any panic over "some byte of data was mangled while a drive died" just means you need to use more parity disks. Somehow using up all 256 is silly (for rotating media) as few applications access data in groups of 256 sectors a time (current 1MB, possibly more by the time somebody might consider it).
All this goes out the window if you are using flash (and can otherwise deal with the large page clear requirement issue), but I doubt that many are up to such large sizes yet. If extreme multilevel optical disks ever take over, things might get more interesting on this front (I will still expect Reed Solomon to do well, but eventually things might reach the tipping point). Reply
equals42 - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - linkThe author misunderstands how NetApp uses NVRAM. NVRAM is not a cache for the hottest data. Writes are always to DRAM memory. The writes are committed to NVRAM (which is mirrored to another controller) before being acknowledged to the host but the write IO and its commitment to disk or SSD via WAFL sequential CP writes is all from DRAM. While any data remains in DRAM, it can be considered cached but the contents of NVRAM do not constitute nor is it used for caching for host reads.
NVRAM is only to make sure that no writes are ever lost due to a controller loss. This is important to recognize since most mid-range systems (and all the low-end ones I've investigated) do NOT protect from write losses in event of failure. Data loss like this can lead to corruption in block-based scenarios and database corruption in nearly any scenario. Reply


text:
AMHERST TOWNSHIP, Ohio (AP) -- A 78-year-old woman has suffered non-life threatening injuries after her car was struck by a train at a Norfolk Southern railroad crossing.
Miriam A. Matesic of Lorain was driving over the tracks at about 4:05 p.m. Sunday when her car was hit. She was taken to a local hospital and then airlifted to MetroHealth hospital in Cleveland.
The accident is being investigated.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Gio a force with arm, bat in win over Marlins
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Left-hander Gio Gonzalez used his arm and his bat to help the Nationals blank the Marlins, 3-0, at Nationals Park on Wednesday night. Washington has now held Miami scoreless in its last 19 innings, extending back to last season.
According to Elias, with the victory, the Nationals became the 13th team since 1900 to open a season with two straight shutout victories.
"With the stuff they've got, it's pretty special, and it doesn't surprise me at all one bit," catcher Kurt Suzuki said about the pitching staff. "You look at the bullpen, too, it's tough."
It was 45 degrees at game time, and it was cold in the dugout. In fact, the team had a tough time with the heater. When the heat finally came on, hitting coach Rick Eckstein's pants were singed and almost caught fire, though he was was not injured during the mishap.
"[Eckstein] started talking to one of the hitters and he was standing close to the fire. His pant leg is all burned out," manager Davey Johnson said.
Furthermore, the bats were cold on both sides until the bottom of fifth inning.
Then, with one out, Gonzalez swung at the first pitch he saw from starter Kevin Slowey and sent it over the left-field wall to give Washington a one-run lead. It was Gonzalez's second career home run.
"It was a lucky swing," Gonzalez said. "It's just one of those lucky things. I don't want guys getting the wrong idea that I can hit. It was just one of those things where I was trying to get in there and let the rest of those guys go up there and swing the bat. I just wanted to get on base and do something. I didn't expect that."
Neither did Denard Span.
"I was putting my doughnut on the bat," Span said. "I'm still getting used to hitting behind the pitcher. I'm used to pitchers going up there and taking a half-hearted swing or a half-hearted at-bat. When the ball went off his bat, it definitely took me by surprise."
Slowey wanted to throw a slider down in the zone, but the ball stayed up, and Gonzalez crushed it.
"I tried to throw a really good [slider], and I got underneath it. It's a shame to have that happen, but that's how it goes," Slowey said.
Gonzalez pitched six shutout innings, struck out five and walked two. The Marlins' only threat came in the fifth inning. Justin Ruggiano led off with a double and Miguel Olivo followed by a walk, but Casey Kotchman hit into a double play and Adeiny Hechavarria struck out to end the threat.
"Gio is a pretty smart pitcher," Marlins third baseman Placido Polanco said. "When he has to throw a little bit harder, he knows when to do it. He is good at mixing speeds. He had a good curveball going today, and a good changeup, too."
That Gonzalez went six innings was a feat in itself. After throwing in the bullpen before the game, he came down with a headache. The training staff massaged his temples and he took Advil, and the headache subsided by the fifth.
The Nationals had a chance to give Gonzalez an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning against Slowey. With one out, Ryan Zimmerman tripled down the right-field line. After Adam LaRoche walked, Slowey left the game in favor of right-hander Ryan Webb, who got Ian Desmond to hit into an inning-ending double play.
The Nationals were able to get their insurance run off Webb in the following inning. With runners on first and third and one out, Span hit a slow roller to second baseman Donovan Solano. Solano collided with pinch-runner Roger Bernadina for the second out but was unable to get Span to complete the double play, and Danny Espinosa scored.
"I was confused. I was glad I was actually running," Span said. "When I hit it, I thought [Bernadina] was going to keep going to second. When he ran into Solano, I thought it was interference on Bernadina. I think the umpire was saying that Solano caught the ball first. I don't know. Whatever that meant, I was glad I was able to get the run in."
Bryce Harper scored the third run of the game on a single by Zimmerman, who went 2-for-4.
Ryan Mattheus, Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano blanked the Marlins over the final three innings.
"You give us the ball with the lead, more often than not, we are going to close the game out," Mattheus said. "I told Suzuki, the amazing thing is, we still have Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen, Zach Duke and Henry Rodriguez sitting down there, and we used three guys. So we could have pitched another four or five innings strong, I think. It's a great group of guys down there."
Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, All Nats All the Time. He also could be found on Twitter @WashingNats. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Petit Fours, Blackberry Millefeuilles and Pain Perdu — these are just a few of the elegant French dishes Laura Calder has demystified in the first 3 seasons of French Food at Home. Fortunately for haute-cuisine lovers everywhere, she's back and eager as ever to share some of her most recent culinary discoveries on the all new season of French Food at Home.
Spanning the gamut of classics and contemporary recipes alike, Laura makes cooking French easy, from bistro desserts to savory tarts and scrumptious sautés.
Catch the all new premiere of French Food at Home, today at 12pm ET.
Don't be surprised if you decide to start things off with Laura's Deep Fried Zucchini Blossoms (show above) or these Almond-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Prunes. (Recipes coming later this season!)
Or sit back to a luxurious serving of Laura's tender Duck Breasts with Green Peppercorn Sauce.
Get Laura's latest crash course in fine French cooking in the all new season of French Food at Home, today at 12pm ET.
Recipes in today's show:
- Halibut Poached in Olive Oil
- Olive Oil and Red Grape Cake
- Olive Potatoes
- Olive and Nut Tartines
- Roasted Squash Puree
More French favorites:


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I just wanted to share something that someone shared with us a few years ago when I was shopping for affordable health insurance coverage for my family. At the time we were self employed and had cancelled our $1000 per month health insurance policy because we could no longer afford it. One of our guests overheard me on the phone and later told me about this wonderful organization called Samaritan Ministries where Christians share each others burden of paying for health insurance costs. We have had Two needs published since becoming a member, and it is a wonderful feeling to know that there are thousand of members out there ready to send in their monthly share directly to you to help during your time of financial need.
Lucia, Innkeeper at American Guest House Bed and Breakfast


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1 Explore the Midlands Meander
This wonderful route takes you through the scenic KwaZulu-Natal midlands. There are wonderful B&Bs and guest houses where you can overnight before heading out to visit art galleries, stud farms, glassworks, leatherworks, weavers, heritage homes, a brewery and a host of close to 200 craft outlets plus some excellent restaurants! more
2 Visit the Isimangaliso Wetland Park
This is a World Heritage Site where the rhino and elephant share an ecosystem with coelacanth and whale. It encompasses ocean, lagoon, wetland, wildlife, birdlife, diving, angling, horse riding, game viewing, hiking, kayaking, scuba diving, turtle tours and accommodation. more
3 Spend time on the Hibiscus Coast
Leave Durban and head down south on the N2 coastal road to the Hibiscus Coast where you'll discover a world of stunning beaches, including 6 of Blue Flag status: Margate, Ramsgate, Umzumbe, Marina, Trafalgar and Lucien. Venture inland to the Pure Venom reptile and snake park or head to Lake Eland in the majestic Oribi Gorge for abseiling, hiking and bungee swinging! more
4 Go to Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana
Take a step back in time by traversing the once-bloody battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, where the British troops, resplendent in red tunics, encountered firsthand the raw power of Zulu warriors in full cry. Knowledgeable local tour guides bring the past to life with their re-telling of the historic battles of yesteryear. more
5 Plan a trip to the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park
Known as the "barrier of spears", South Africa's most impressive mountain range - a World Heritage Site - is home to an impressive variety of indigenous flora and fauna. From wildlife and birdlife to anciet San rock art, challenging horse trails, hiking routes, hotels, lodges, B&Bs and the most breathtakingly beautiful mountain vistas, the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg is a wonderful getaway spot. more
6 Soak up the sun on the Dolphin Coast
Take the N2 north from Durban to the more upmarket seaside villages of Umhlanga, Umdloti, Ballito, Chaka's Rock, Salt Rock and Zinkwazi. Here you'll find trendy shopping centres, holiday hotels, estate developments and more private beaches than elsewhere on the coast. Spend time on the beach, watch the dolphins, shop up a storm and sample local fare in a trendy restaurant - all with a seaview thrown in for good measure. more
7 Go diving in Sodwana Bay
Take a three-hour drive way up north to the pristine beaches of Sodwana Bay, home ground of the coelacanth and a favourite launch site for fishing boats. Sodwana is also a fantastic swimming and diving destination, with crystal clear waters and many reefs teeming with fish. This is a wonderful getaway option for the whole family. more
8 Take in the view in the Valley of a Thousand Hills
Less than an hour's drive inland takes you to the famous Valley of a Thousand Hills, so called due to its many rolling green hills. Take a cultural detour to a Zulu enclave to see dancing and local rituals; lunch at a colonial hotel, indulge in browsing for crafts and absorb the sounds of nature while stopping for a cappuccino and cake at the local eatery. more
9 Have a cultural experience at Shakaland
Named after former Zulu king Shaka, this Zulu cultural village lies a two-hour drive from Durban, in Eshowe. Interact with the locals, participate in singing, beer-making, dancing and stick-fighting rituals and overnight in a beehive hut with en-suite amenities. Shakaland will leave you with a true taste of life in KwaZulu-Natal. more
10 Go on safari in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve
This is a sizeable wilderness area on the north coast of the province that is home to the Big Five and numerous other animal species including giraffe, nyala, kudu, warthog and many smaller mammals. On-site accommodation is available, making an overnight bushveld getaway a perfect solution to city stress. more


text: ExxonMobil introduced a new feature that will allow customers to download Exxon and Mobil service station locations to their GPS devices. This feature is downloadable from the ExxonMobil Station Locator Web site, and is compatible with the leading consumer GPS devices, including Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. The site features easy to follow instructions along with


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Filed under: Wrist pain
If you've been experiencing pain, burning, numbness, or tingling in one or both of your hands, you might be experiencing symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. This "tunnel" in the wrist carries the important tendons and nerves that supply your hands with motor and sensory functions, allowing your hands to move and feel. Swelling inside the carpal tunnel can squeeze the median nerve that passes through it, causing discomfort. According to the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database, in the military, women are more likely than men to develop this condition. It's also more likely to develop with age and rank. There are surgical and non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome, but as the saying goes, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The University of Maryland Medical Center has advice, which includes:
- Do exercises to keep your muscles and tendon flexible. (See the UMMC link above for detailed instructions.)
- When performing repetitive activities your the wrists and hands, take frequent breaks, even if it's just for a minute or two at a time—called "microbreaks."
- Use correct posture and technique, especially wrist position when using a keyboard or hand tools.
- Make sure that your work area is ergonomically sound. Military-specific information is available from both the Army Public Health Command and the Naval Safety Center.
HPRC's Physical Fitness domain also has a section on Injury Prevention.


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We have themed candy boxes to help you sell your candy and other small edibles during any time of the year! Choose from models with or without windows, ranging in size from less than 5 oz. all the way up to 3 lbs.! Whether you run a fudge shop, chocolate shop, or sell salt water taffy at the shore, we've got the perfect boxes for any type of candy! For more essential dessert food packaging options, take a look at our cake and bakery boxes, cupcake and muffin take out containers, and cupcake boxes. If you're wondering where to buy candy boxes, we have a large selection of candy boxes for sale at the lowest prices.


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Washington : Government Printing Office
|Public Law 85-794
|Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. Per capita payments.
|Sec. 3
|49 Stat. 620.
53 Stat. 1379.
|Sec. 4
|Net proceeds.
Page 846
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to withdraw as much as may be necessary from the fund on deposit in the Treasury of the United States arising from the proceeds of the sale of timber and lumber within the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota, according to the provisions of the Act of May 18, 1916 (39 Stat. 137), to the credit of the Red Lake Indians in Minnesota, and to pay therefrom $100 to each member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians of Minnesota who is living at the date of enactment of this Act. Such payment shall be made under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.
No money paid to Indians under this Act shall be subject to any lien or claim of attorneys, or other persons.
Payments made under his Act shall not be held to be "other income and resources" as that term is used in sections 2 (a)(7), 402 (a)(7), and 1002 (a) (8) of the Social Security Act, as amended (U. S. C., 1946 edition, title 42, secs. 302(a)(7), 602(a)(7), and 1202(a)(8)).
The nineteenth paragraph of section 9 of the Act of May 18, 1916 (39 Stat. 123, 138), is amended to read as follows:
"After the payment of all expenses connected with the administration of these lands as herein provided, the net proceeds therefrom shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Red Lake Indians and draw interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum. Any part of such fund or the interest thereon that is in excess of reserve and operating requirements, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, may be distributed per capita to the members of the Red Lake Band upon request of the tribal council and approval by the Secretary."
Paragraph seventeen of section 9 of the Act of May 18, 1916 (39 Stat. 123, 137), as amended by the Act of August 3, 1956 (70 Stat. 982), is amended by deleting from clause (a) thereof ", with the consent of the tribal council,".
Approved, August 28, 1958.


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May the water take us, and make us, much like the liquid flows, into and of and one with the others, the currents the collective bestows.
I'd heard of the infamy, the prestige of canoe trips of the past. Stories of laughter and animated exchange between great brethren have filled my ear on a regular basis, and so when I received the invite on Facebook to skim the Wisconsin River on a late summer weekend with a clutch of old comrades, I felt like a fish having finally found the pond. The process was to include uproarious shenanigans, humble anecdotes of soulful inquisition and the unquestionable tomfoolery relegated to a handful of cunning creatures crashing nature's available bachelor pad.
Inclusion is a word that hardly offers proper justice to the aforementioned aspects of the most recent weekend. From the moment we packed our tents, duffels and canoes into the back of the trucks and began our climb across the countryside, our abs enlisted within the weekend warrior program. The sound of laughter might as well have been the air itself because it erupted from our lungs like concert notes from a stack of speakers, and each area on the side of the road that was deemed suitable for rest included exclamation for and admiration of each other.
And then, without warning, our paddles hit the water, our eyes the view outside. The day had been designed for our presence within it, and we weren't to be mistaken for chaps unwilling to recognize. The river was housed by a foundation of soft sand, perfect stomping grounds for bare feet that don't believe in any toe at times theory, and although we had to battle the wind during portions of the trip, the desire to be anywhere but that particular location was an opponent that fell like a flock of birds searching for lunch right below the surface of the water.
The weekend festivities was an opportunity to celebrate one of our warriors, as he had recently decided to suck in that big breath and take the jump into the rewards and responsibilities of wedlock. Our salutations filled his ear and assuredly brought the reassurance to his perspective that is needed from loved ones during the decision-making process of life-altering resolutions. He is a great virtuous man, and I am as proud to have him as a friend as I am to know that he will move forth with humility and resolve in fulfilling the dreams of the woman that is constant in his.
What I received most joy from throughout the weekend, though, was not just the celebration of one man, but my personal celebration of every man surrounding. Friendships I had made in my youth were rejuvenated in a matter of moments, and I spent the entirety of a stellar slide down the liquid miles asking of the intricacies of their current desires and independent ideas. I saw many fine lads whom I had not witnessed for years. We lamented over some who couldn't make the trip, and others who never will again. In a matter of a mere 48 hours, we conquered wet tents and cracked smiles at dry perspectives, all the while asking for no more or no less, but precisely what we had in our midst.
I have lived in a number of different places in my life now, and in each of those settings I have met individuals who I will invite to my own wedding someday, but there is a certain unquestionable bond that exists between me and the originals that helped build the one place truly known as home. I realized this weekend the maturation that has been setting up camp within my character this last decade does not reside in a one-horse town, as the tents of each man there was in close proximity to my own.
The blessings of brotherhood present themselves with constancy, and my appreciation for those who build the bridges and provide shelter from the rain in my life are not of short supply, and yet of tall order to replicate. I thank the gentlemen who are jesters in my court and soldiers by my side. The river would not be as wide if you had not been my elixir this long.
And in recent I witnessed reminders aplenty, that our friends are just what they seem, the vessels that keep us afloat in the sun and the ripples that end us downstream.
My heartiest congratulations to Ryan and Lauren Widmer.
Eric Engel, formerly of Tiskilwa but now of Peoria, can be reached by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 2/12/2012 (1724 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Send cops to court
Re: City cop pleads not guilty in alleged assault on suspect (Free Press, Nov. 27). I am not sure how many more people will be assaulted and abused both physically and verbally by Winnipeg police officers before the department realizes they do indeed have employees with anger-management problems, and who are abusive, racist and mean, with little or no respect for others.
Internal departments that hear all abuse accusations almost always determine that their employees are innocent. These cases should go before the courts with the facts and let an independent jury decide if police officers are guilty. Until police realize it is their responsibility to only make the arrest and then let the court system punish the accused, this constant police abuse will continue. This has gone on long enough. I hope our new police chief is listening.
Klingons can take it
Cathie Morgan Matula's attempt at censorship ( Standing up for gays, Letters Nov. 26) is disgusting. Doug Speirs and William Jordan enjoy the right to the freedom of expression, protected by our constitution. The Winnipeg Free Press is just that; free to publish commentary that some people may find offensive. Any other approach means we lose freedom of the press. There is nothing offensive about a "gay Klingon" remark. Klingons are a mythical race invented by the Star Trek franchise. No person or creature is protected from comments he, she or it may find offensive. Matula and her Klingons will have to learn to live in an imperfect world.
This attempt at censorship is in order to force Matula's opinions on us. Attempting to censor public commentary on any subject or topic is an affront to liberty and democracy that freedom-loving people the world over despise.
So much are we hearing in the media, yours included, about old people and their medical problems. The aging boomers are going to make this evermore insufferable. It is bad enough listening all about it at morning coffee. Get over it people, we are all going to die. And our pension programs depend upon this fact. Those that would save their life (mortal) lose it (eternal). Harrumph!
Dog with a bone
Boy, Michael Melanson is a dog with a bone. He is determined to stick with a definition of genocide that only includes killing people.
In an earlier letter, he asserts there was no intent to destroy aboriginal culture in the residential schools. Yet, the first thing that was done to the young people after being taken from their families (they had no choice) was that their clothing was removed, they were dressed in European clothing, and their hair was cut. They were not taught in their own language, nor were they taught about their own culture. These actions were deliberate attempts to teach the children that their own culture was inferior and, by implication, so were they. These are actions that were intended to eradicate a culture.
The children were not free to leave the schools. Even if they were, distance prevented them from escaping and they were physically punished when caught. After school was over, how could they return home when they had systematically been taught that home was an inferior place? Not only inferior but savage, pagan, a place to be despised. Most of the people who tried to participate in Canadian culture experienced overt racism that barred them from achieving anything they may have been promised.
By the time residential schools arrived, most aboriginal cultures had already been marginalized. Traditional ways of life had been destroyed by agricultural settlement, and the remaining individuals were stuck on unwanted reserve land and were expected to learn farming within a generation. In every aspect but the overt killing, this is the destruction of "ethnic" groups. Sounds a lot like genocide.
"Broadening the concept of genocide" may "make it easier to conceive genocide," but it can also reflect a realization that the destruction of a culture does not have to be accomplished through killing. Perhaps Melanson would like to come up with a new term, but it would still mean the same thing.
NDP bucket leaking
The song There's a hole in the bucket could be the anthem of the Selinger government. This NDP bucket has sprung a legion of enormous holes aside from the flood-fighting tab. The concerns before the Clean Environment Commission were covered so well by former Hydro vice-president Will Tishinski. His description of the Bipole III routing issue, inflating the cost on the west side to $3.4 billion from the original $1 billion for the east-side routing is ignored by the premier (himself at one time finance minister). The enormous saving that could be realized with a return to the east side could allow a budgetary decrease in perpetuity, particularly with the decrease in line-loss cost with the shorter east-side routing. A petition or letter-writing campaign to the NDP government supported by opposition parties may be the only way to save Manitoba taxpayers from allowing this financial disaster.
Friendly giant missed
In Our own Icelandic saga, Nov. 24, the Free Press missed mentioning Svein Sigfusson (1912-1992).
Svein, an imposing 6-5, built more than 3,580 kilometres of winter road rights-of-way throughout northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario. With a workforce of more than 400, half of them aboriginal, he rebuilt the network annually to resupply dozens of remote communities with food, staples, fuel and building supplies.
Originally operating a major fishing enterprise from Reindeer Lake to Flin Flon by cat train, and southward to Winnipeg and Chicago by rail, Sigfusson Transportation Ltd. kept improving the snow and ice roads to the point they were capable of carrying loaded 18-wheelers.
He loved to tell of teachers in remote communities not being able to keep children in school when the cat train arrived, or when many children saw their first vehicle ever. To northern children, this friendly giant was the next best thing to Santa Claus. He is a legend.
As a salvage expert, he raised dozens of graders, tractors and the like from the bottom of northern lakes. During his 16-year athletic career, Svein was eight-time Manitoba champion and nine-time Canadian champion in hammer throw and discus; British Empire Games bronze medalist in discus throw in 1950 and he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1982. He is listed as a "Memorable Manitoban" by the Manitoba Historical Society and received the Manitoba Centennial Medal in 1970 for his contribution to transportation in northern Manitoba.
After being put out of business through government interference in each of the three provinces, he wrote a book entitled: Sigfusson's Roads, which was runner-up for the National Business Book Award in 1992.
Svein was invested as a Companion to the Order of Canada in 1974.
The Our own Icelandic saga feature was very interesting and informative. However, one person that I would have liked to see included in the faces of the Icelandic community is that of Margret Benedictsson (1866-1956). She was a publisher, editor and leader in the women's suffrage movement. With her husband, Sigfus, she published and edited Freyja, the first Canadian women's magazine and suffrage paper with a focus on women's issues. The Spence Neighbourhood Association has placed a plaque in her honour at 530 Maryland St., where the Benedictssons lived in the early 1900s.
I was very disappointed that the story of Wilhelm Kristjanson, my father, was not included in the Free Press focus on Manitoba's Icelandic community. He made significant contributions to life in our community and was so recognized by the University of Winnipeg with an honorary doctorate in 1972. Other awards included the Manitoba Historical Society Centennial Commemoration Medal, the Pioneer Historian Award and the YMCA Fellowship Pin He was chosen by the Manitoba Historical Society to write the 1965 book The Icelandic People in Manitoba and for many years was editor-in-chief of the Icelandic Canadian Magazine, for which he also wrote many articles and translations.
He studied at Oxford, University of Chicago and others institutions.
He was wounded at Vimy Ridge during the First World War and upon recovery joined the RAF, where he held the rank of 2nd lieutenant. During the Second World War, he served as a training officer.
He taught in rural Manitoba from 1924 to 1969, was principal of the Consolidated School in Manitou and prepared curriculum courses for the correspondence branch of the Department of Education.
The Free Press welcomes letters from readers. Include the author's name, address and telephone number. Letters may be edited. Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, R2X 3B6. Fax 697-7412. Email firstname.lastname@example.com Letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg Free Press or its staff.


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Basketball legends golf for charity
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Basketball Legends Walt Frazier, Nate Archibald and John Starks appeared at a golf fundraiser to fight cancer hosted by Joe Cairo at Lido Golf Course. Videojournalist: Robert Cassidy (July 23, 2013)
Newsday.com now uses Facebook for our comment boards. Please read our guidelines and connect your Facebook account to comment.


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Did you know?
Zastron is called 'the place of the Eye' because of an eyelike hole in an adjacent mountain
The Free State villages of Zastron and Wepener form part of the scenic Maluti Mountains Route which acts as a gateway to Lesotho.
There are four entry points into Lesotho within a 75km radius. Travellers, bikers and 4x4 enthusiasts from Gauteng and the Cape who like to head off the beaten track often take this route.
Zastron and Wepener are agricultural towns surrounded by productive livestock, dairy, wheat and cattle farms, situated in a dramatic landscape creased with mountains.
Thousands of years ago the region was home to the San (Bushman) people who lived in the surrounding sandstone caves. Their legacy lives on in their rock paintings on the surrounding farms, some of which you can visit.
During the 1800s the region was a fierce battleground for possession of land between the Free State settlers and the Basotho people, and between the Boers and the British during the South African War (Anglo-Boer War).
Hunters from all over the world, the United States in particular, visit here each year, frequenting the hunting lodges in and around Zastron. If you're a golfer, bring along your clubs as there's a fine nine-hole golf course just two kilometres outside of Zastron.
The Montagu Dam offers excellent fishing and watersports. Hiking trails, mountain biking, rock climbing and quad biking are also favourite pastimes in this area.
The legendary woollen Basotho blanket with its distinctive patterns can be traced back to Lord Ian Fraser, an early resident, who first imported them from Britain. Spend a winter in these parts and you will well understand why the blanket, worn as a cloak, is an essential piece of clothing.
Zastron is a lively village, and you will be warmly welcomed by the locals who are always keen to show visitors around.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Zastron Information Centre
Cell: +27 (0)78 944 7354
Email: email@example.com
How to get here
Zastron and Wepener are approx 550km from Johannesburg and 120km from Bloemfontein. From Johannesburg, follow the route to Kroonstad, Senekal and Clocolan, and take the R26 to Zastron.
Best time to visit
All year round, unless you specifically wish to hunt, which is a winter activity.
Around the area
Visit the country of Lesotho while you are in the region. You will need your passport to enter this mountain kingdom.
Length of stay
Spend at least three days discovering the area.
Where to stay
The towns of Zastron and Wepener in the Free State offer a range of guest houses, B&Bs and farmstays.
What to eat
Most of the guesthouses, B&Bs and farmstays offer meals - ask your host. Zastron has restaurants and pubs.


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Tim Firth's hit survival comedy Neville's Island will be performed in Huby next week.
The Weeton and Huby Players' spring production runs at Almscliffe Hall from Thursday, March 20 to Saturday, March 22.
The play is set on a fog-ridden lakeland island in the middle of Derwentwater, and the amateur company says its backstage team has "pulled out all the stops" to deliver a variety of special effects and create a convincing environment.
Weeton and Huby Players chairman Neil Muffitt said: "It's easy to see why few amateur groups in this area have taken on the challenge of Neville's Island.
"Apart from four chunky parts to learn for the actors, whose characters must convey a range of conflicting emotions, the technical aspects of the play require a great deal of planning and ingenuity.
"The reason we've been able to stage it has been the enthusiasm and support of our dedicated and enthusiastic backstage team who have risen to the challenge incredibly well.
"Neville's island is a very funny but thought-provoking play, and has been great fun to rehearse with each actor having plenty to get his teeth into."
In addition to Neil, the Bernard Riley production also features Brian Bounds, Tim Bennett and Chris Holland as a group of beleaguered middle managers whose team-building exercise goes badly wrong.
Tickets for the 7.45pm performances cost £7 and are available from Mike Bidgood on (01423) 734871, e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com


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March 27, 2014, 8:00 AM - April 22, 2014, 5:00 PM @ Rio Rancho City Hall
The annual Rio Rancho Public Schools Senior Art Show 'Rising Stars' is taking place on the third and fourth floors of Rio Rancho City Hall from March 27-April 22. Artwork from seniors at Rio Rancho and Cleveland high schools and the Cyber Academy will be on exhibit as part of the show. A reception will be held on April 4 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall. During the reception at 6 p.m., awards will be presented to students featured in the exhibit. At the free reception refreshments will be served and the public is invited to attend. National Art Honor Society students will also have their art on exhibit from March 27 through April 22 on the fourth floor of City Hall as part of their membership requirement.


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Stella McCartney Runway | Fashion Week Fall 2013 Pictures
Stella McCartney Fall 2013 Runway
For Fall 2013, Stella McCartney showed off her signature sporty-cool aesthetic to an A-list group that included Jessica Alba, Nicole Richie, Natalia Vodianova, Bono, and, of course, her father, Paul McCartney. A star-studded crowd indeed, but once the lights went down, all eyes were focused on McCartney's refreshing array of boxy pinstriped coats, flip skirts, cropped plaid jackets, and chunky-soled loafer shoes. "It was a redirection of Stella classics, things I do instinctively and effortlessly, so paying homage to Britain and its classic tailoring and inserting a new femininity, bringing a sensual woman into it all," said McCartney. The designer continued her Fall story with an interesting array of knit dresses featuring intricate semisheer lace detailing, portraying a simultaneously tomboy yet luxe feel. Eveningwear showcased a lineup of effortlessly elegant strapless silk dresses with bold elastic banding, while others featured a kitschy "skate" print. There was also a covetable array of metallic, holographic bags that will surely make their way onto every fashion darling's must haves list. See Stella McCartney's Fall collection in all its glory now.


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" With their distinguishable white appearance, the earphones are stylish, well priced and durable. Whilst there are arguably better options out there in terms of sound quality, they're a great 'everyday' option. "
The Apple Earphone offer mostly impressive sound, with good detail and better bass than Apple's previous headphones. They're also lightweight, with a comfortable fit, and have an integrated inline remote and microphone for making calls and controlling your music playback.
What are they?
These headphones are the ones that classically come with any Apple Device, and are a white colour. They have a volume control on the wire and are shaped fairly well to fit in your ears.
What I think?
These headphones are not necessarily what you would buy if you were browsing in a shop but they are good enough headphones and they are certainly genuine. The advantage of them really is that because they are genuine they won't cause any problems to your device which is sometimes what rip-off ones do - with overheating and simple messing up the audio port being a massive problem. They are not particularly expensive which is a good advantage and the sound quality is good. They produce a clear sound, which fully captures the range of tones across the board, and adjusts well regarding whatever the song is. However they do not have what some headphones do in that if you play a quiet song then a loud one, they have no control to stop it from blaring out and deafening you. The ability to control the volume just on the wire is a very good quality, especially if you keep your device away or are running or walking, and it is very easy to do. You can also stop the song by pressing the middle of the volume adjust and restart it which is another useful feature. The only real issue with them is how easily the wire breaks because they are not the strongest of headphones, but being careful with them and storing them carefully will certainly help.
These are the very standard earphones with a slim volume control and microphone on the cable. The cable length on Apple earphones are average in length (and most other things!!) but there's a sliding cable clip you can use to alter the length of the section of cable that is under your chin, this is useful because you can make the cable asymmetrical if you like to wear it at the back of your neck but the clip doesn't hold in the correct position for very long so is a bit pointless!! I don't use the microphone function so don't know how good that is, but the volume control is responsive when I use the earphones with my iPod Touch. The + and - buttons are very small and it feels like the positionings have been reversed from other Apple earphones I've had before, I dont know if this is true or not but the two buttons feel like they're in the wrong place and I'm always turning the volume up when I mean to turn it down and vice versa!
The buds feel comfortable when they're first inserted into the ear but quickly start to push against the sides of my inner ear and that makes them very uncomfortable, even painful if I'm wearing them for a long time. They've never fallen out of my ears but don't feel very secure when I'm wearing them for example while running on the treadmill and I have to keep reassuring myself that they're not about to fall out, this has been the same with all Apple earphones I've used so my ears must not be compatible with the shape of them.
Like mud!! Apple earphones are laughed about because for a company who are so brand aware and produce thoughtful accessories they have never cared about the very poor quality of their earphones and for years they've offered this same useless model. Recently they've introduced Ear Pods and those are supposed to be a lot more comfortable thanks to a rounded earbud design but I haven't tried those and have heard the sound isn't much improved anyway so don't think I'll bother.
Apple earphones are appalling, they have a quality of sound that compares badly even against much cheaper unbranded earphones giving the listener tinny beats and a lack of clarity to individual nuances of a track. I've never had a problem with the sound going inexplicably in one earphone or another, but every pair of Apple earphones I've had have ended up being tossed in the bin because of wires becoming exposed underneath the earphones which looks a mess and always ends in that earbud failing. I've never heard anyone say "Apple earphones are brilliant", only "Apple earphones are rubbish" with even my Apple obsessed friends having hatred towards the official earphones.
After losing the originals that came with my iPhone, I really needed a replacement asap. The last thing I wanted was a fake, and supposing there are supposedly so many on Amazon: I wanted to ensure I was getting the real thing. I was on the verge of forking out the full £25 from Apple themselves (which is a complete rip off, they're good, but they're not that good) when I came across this product.
The reviews were the most positive I had seen, and thats what encouraged me to get them. They come in the package shown (something the fake one's supposedly don't), which was encouraging, and the music quality is very good. I have compared these one's the real thing (which I ended up finding) and they are identical in look, and sound quality; thus leading me to believe that this is real thing (thank god.) I personally have Spotify Premium, and therefore I have the extreme music quality function, and as I say, these earpods can deliver this quality; again this is one of the comparisons I made when comparing these to my old pair.
I have come across the fakes which cost next to nothing, and there is a distinct difference in the product (hopefully not just the placebo effect that because I paid considerably more that ive got the better/real product.) The fakes have poor music quality, and will break with just a tap.
The only slight suspicion I had was that the volume control was a little unresponsive, sometimes when trying to change the sound level it wouldn't register your click; I don't know whether over time I have got used to this, or whether its fixed itself. But otherwise, the only suspicion I could have is that it wasn't dispatched from Apple themselves.
Im convinced that they are the real thing, and if they're not, you're still getting your moneys worth!
I have never bought a pair of Apple earphones. I have always got them with ipods that I have bought.
I have had a few ipod shuffles as well as my ipod classic.
~ Price and availability ~
These earphones cost around £8.00 from Amazon.co.uk. Apple no longer sell these earphones and from what I can gather, ipods now come with in-ear earphones.
Apple used to sell these earphones for £19.99.
I think £8.00 is reasonable, but I do think you can get better quality for your money.
~ In use ~
The earphones are white and have a white wire to match. They look smart at first, but I have found that the wire has become grubby from being thrown around in my handbag and even when I clean the wire it is not restored to its original immaculate condition.
The earphones are comfortable to wear and the sound quality is good. I find that occasionally they do fall out of my ears, which is a bit irritating, but I have found this with many of the earphones I have used in the past so it is something I have learnt to put up with and it is only now and then, not constantly.
Around the outside of each earphone there is a piece of grey rubber, which is probably there for added comfort. After a lot of wear I have found the grey rubber starts to come off making the earphones look even less presentable. I still find them just as comfortable without the grey rubber around the earphones.
I think the wire seems quite fragile and a bit flimsy compared to other earphones I have used. I have gone through a few pairs of these headphones that have developed kinks in the wire, which means that sometimes music only plays out of one earphone and I have to try to straighten out the wire to find where the break is.
~ Conclusion ~
These earphones are pretty basic. They look smart until the wire becomes grubby. The sound quality is good, but I have found with more than one pair of these earphones that breaks can develop in the wire quite easily and the grey rubber around the earphones comes off leaving the earphones looking tatty and old.
These earphones are pretty standard. I wouldn't particularly recommend them. I have some JVC Gumy earphones, which I feel are much more durable and better quality.
A pair of dual-driver headphones for this price may seem appealing, and a lot of potential users won't have had dual-driver headphones before. For the most part, they won't be disappointed - the treble is nice and defined, and the bass response is good. However, the design of these headphones is lacking. The earbuds simply fall off. Competing headphones from the likes of Sony and Sennheiser use a similar shape of earbud - but these employ a ridge to help secure the earbud on the headphone, and these generally work well. Apple have simply used a nozzle with no such ridge - so there is nothing keeping the earbud in place. This means that they fall off in your pocket - and since Apple don't offer aftermarket replacements, this means your headphones are essentially useless at this point. Assuming this doesn't happen to you, you're likely to have problems with the thin cables, which will have noticeable kinks despite being looked after well. Then the drivers will likely start having issues - such as mine, where the left earphone has buzzing problems with mid-range frequencies at anything above whisper volume. They're good out of the box, but they don't stay that way for long - and you will be disappointed, especially for the price you're paying. Alternatives will offer you a better experience in the long run.All in all ok but you can get better for sure. Headphones are a investment might as well make it a good one! Hope you all enjoyed my review
I've had too many pairs of Apple earphones to count, I like their design and quality but there are better earphones available. Most people stay with Apple because they will be provided with your new device as my iPod ones were.
They are white and look smart. When I first started using Apple products the design was groundbreaking and I say they're still the best looking earphones of their price.
The earphones are comfortable and sit in the correct part of the ear. Outside noise isn't cancelled out completely but the seal of the earphones to my ear is good enough. They do not prevent music leaking out very well either.
Music is clear but if turned up too loud there is distortion. I listen to my iPod at low volume so that is not a concern to me, rock music or anything with a very heavy bass does not transmit well through these earphones so they will not be compatible to all.
A set of iPod Apple earphones will last for a short period of time and when mine fail I buy other brands, I have purchased Apple earphones as a stand alone set but not often because I do not think they offer good value for money. It is nice to use them to compliment your iPod as an Apple product but they are not necessary for the enjoyment of your product.
They cost roughly £5, not expensive but you will find better for your money if you look past the brand name.
The headphones that came with my ipod were so terrible that I couldn't believe that a company such as Apple were willing to put their name to them as they were awful and almost unusable. They look like any other white headphones but as soon as you look at the ear buds you notice they do look a bit cheap looking as they are just lumps of hard plastic and they don't have rubber parts which go in the ear.
Instead they just sit on the outside of the ear canal which makes them so irritating because thye just wouldn't stay in place at all no matter what I was doing. I bought my ipod for using when running or at the gym but I couldn't imagine using these headphones at the gym because they wouldn't stay in my ear when I was just sitting so there is no way they would stay put running on the running machine or on the epilator.
It isn't even as though I can complement the sound quality because that wasn't even that good either. The sound coming from these was very hollow and echoed a lot and it also wasn't very loud. At least the cord length was good and I could have my ipod in my pocket and the cord was long enough to stretch from my pocket to my ears without pulling on the headphones.
I know these were a bundled freebie with my ipod but I really was disappointed with them and expected so much more. They aren't comfortable and they don't sit right without falling out of my ear. The sound quality was also a big disappointment for me and I have chucked them in the bin because they were useless as far as I am concerned and weren't even suitable for using as spares. Maybe some people like them but I am not one of them and can't imagine who would prefer these when you can buy a really good sounding and comfortable pair for less than 10.00.
Before i start ranting off about all the good point of these earphones, i want to start off by saying that they dont fit my ears. but i have this problem with any earphones that arent bud earphones. i find that if i wear them for long period of time my ears scab and even bleed due to the rubbing of the earphones. That said, i havent found anyone else with the same problem so the chances are this wont need to be a worry for you!
Overall the sound quality is amazing, which is what is t be expected with a pair of earphones which come with apple products (well, USED to come with apple products, they recently updated their design). As with all earphones they are prone to general wear and tear, and i often find the rubber outside bunches up, but this is due to the way in which you store your earphones. Take good care of them and they will take good care of you!
Time and time again I have found myself coming back to these headphones and I have to admit, they don't get any better. If anything, I just get more and more disappointed each time. I'm quite prone to losing my earphones and whenever it comes down to it I usually buy another pair of these ones made by Apple. It's not for lack of choice but instead that they are simply cheap - although hardly cheerful.
I've lost count of the number of pairs that I have bought in the past. Upon buying my first, and only iPod, these were the earphones that came with it and back then I was fairly pleased as they were a simple means to listen to my music but now I'm less than impressed.
To begin, I have to admit that the design is simple and good enough. As pictured above, they are grey and white and look smart. That is until they start falling to pieces.
The grey ring around them that should offer some comfort usually breaks away leaving you with what can only be described as sharp metal in your ears that can be really quite painful. After this they are barely salvageable and worth using. One problem that personally I haven't encountered, but that I know others have, is the fact that they only come in one size meaning great difficulty for people with smaller or larger ears.
As for sound quality, it definitely isn't the best. I don't know quite what more to say.
Overall, I think you should do yourself a favour and simply invest in a good quality pair of earphones or headphones and completely scrap the idea of these ones. I do know however that Apple have released newer versions with newer products and I particularly recommend the ones that come with the iPhone 5s and 5c.
As an owner of 4 apple products, I have used plenty of apple earphones in my lifetime and have a large experience of what they are like. They deliver a high quality sound that is clear and detailed, not fuzzy or tinny in any way. The earpiece sits nicely in your ear and is comfortable for long wear times. The colour also makes them a little different from standard black headphones and distinguishes them as an apple product. As a high quality headphone product, they certainly do the job.
However...they break easily. The rubber around the rim of the speaker is susceptible to peeling off within quite a short amount of time, which leaves the earphone less comfortable to put in your ear. Also, where the jack is that you plug into your device often cracks (the rubber) which makes a dodgy connection which interrupts your sound. This eventually leads to the headphones not working completely.
In conclusion, I would say that these headphones are definitely good for making your music sound great, but they are not very durable.
When you buy a pair of apple headphones you expect a certain level of quality, because the iPod and iPhone deliver so well you expect the earphones too as well. however this is just not the case as I have been heavily disappointed with these , to start with the pro's - they are quite comfortable in the ear , look good when being worn, if you buy a apple iPod or iPhone then they come free in the package! but they are also some cons which should be enough to put you off buying them, the sound quality isn't that great and doesn't go very loud, because of the design of the product a lot of sound escapes out of the earphones so meaning if you're sat on public transport everyone can hear what you hear, and most importantly they are not reliable I've been through a few pairs and they just break easily , usually one ear will break first then slowly the other or the sound will become fuzzy. There is a lot better headphones on the market.
Apple headphones looks great when they're brand new and brilliant white but once they take on that grungy looking uneven grey dirty look they're not so good and this inevitably happens quite quickly they're difficult
and a pain to keep clean I also find they can become marked and dented very easily because of the softness of the material which doesn't look great either. They do give a good sound and are great at amplifying songs and sounds that are too quiet normally and the microphone on the headphones given with the iPhone works well and I have no problems with hands free and people being able to hear me. The buttons on the headphones are also quite quirky and a nice gadgety option to have if you have this version of headphones and allow you to change the volume or to change the song. My biggest fault is that they seem to break really easily in my experience the grey rubber coating around the outside of the earpiece breaks and the earpiece falls to pieces and they are not cheap to replace which is another disadvantage.
I personally don't use iPod more but I can tell they are not that good but not that bad. They last a really small amount of time. I remember when I had them in my pocket the cable was tied up which I really hated it I got them solved but the next time i tried to solve them from being tied up one earphone didn't work. Now i don't know if I pulled them too hard and something broke but even the quality wasn't that good. When you turn the volume up to max. it's relly low volume I don't know if that was problem with my iPod but when I used other earphones later on it was nice quality. The main thing I like is the design it doesn't fall out your ear which is great since all these earphones are making those that goes in ear really deep which is pretty bad for ears but anyway I'm giving 3/5 for quality
I have found that the simple Apple headphones have a much better quality than those of other brands.
For me, the sound I hear through the earphones is of a high quality, the clarity is incredible, and these headphones are one of the only ones I can wear in my ears without them getting uncomfortable or achey - something I was very impressed with as this is a recurrent problem for me!
The headphones work in numerous devices, so they aren't specific to certain products which is a bonus for me as I can plug them into my laptop, my phone, the computers at college etc. without the hassle of it not working (I have purchased some headphones that only work for a certain device before)
The headphones also have durability, they don't break easily like some other earphones for example almost every other pair i've had either one earphone stops working or the wires all start to come out just because I have used them so much, but so far these headphones have lasted, which is brilliant!


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16 January 2016
Followed along with Bob Ross today!
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Use the Application for Benefits Eligibility (ABE) to apply for SNAP, cash or medical assistance.
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Editorial: Hop off the trolley
Published: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, April 29, 2013 at 2:38 p.m.
The Gainesville City Commission is becoming its own worst enemy.
Case in point: Its 6-1 decision last month to pay a consultant up to $100,000 to study the possibility of a downtown streetcar system.
If the commission wants to build public support for a possible transportation tax that would provide revenue for mass transit, the idea of a streetcar is hardly helping the cause.
As the area faces more pressing priorities including badly needed road repairs, it's a distraction to waste time on a streetcar that wouldn't be built for a decade or more. Its potential price tag — an early projection is $128 million for infrastructure and annual operating costs of $2 million — is Exhibit A for critics of the commission's extravagant spending.
The frustrating part is the idea of an urban circulator has some merit. The Innovation Square development is growing, with Boston-area mobile app developer Mobiquity being the latest company to locate there. It's a good idea to provide fast and reliable transit options for students and workers moving between the businesses there, the University of Florida campus, the hospital complex and downtown.
It just doesn't require the metal rails and other costly infrastructure necessary for a streetcar. A bus could serve the same purpose — with the difference in costs paying for improvements such as better stations and even a design that gives it a trolley-like appearance.
In addition to the $100,000 approved by the commission, the city is seeking $1 million in federal money for future phases of a streetcar study. City Commissioner Thomas Hawkins said such studies are needed simply to know whether the project is worth pursuing.
But the city is already in the middle of studying another transportation concept, bus rapid transit. Hawkins and other backers need to do a better job explaining the benefits of bus rapid transit to the public, rather than muddying the waters with another costly possibility.
Alachua County's transportation summit last month showed that there's consensus building in support of placing a transportation tax referendum on the 2014 ballot. While representatives of local organizations gave support for mass transit getting funding from the tax, there was skepticism among some of them and members of the public about high-priced projects that drain money from other priorities.
The commission's mistakes with the biomass contract have given reason to be wary of another expensive, long-term commitment. Bus rapid transit may be a great idea, but the commission is going to have to do a better job developing and selling the idea before the public gets on board. Asking them to also hop on the idea of a streetcar system is expecting too much.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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Just Beat It Earrings
Okay there are 2 ways to look at this. Beat it ... or he must want to whisk you away : ) Would look great with a retro apron. A unique way to celebrate the cook in the house, these whisk earrings let the chef take a little part of the kitchen with her. Crafted from sterling silver by artist Debbie Howe, the shiny whisks, with their matte finish handles, swing gracefully from delicate French hook posts. A delicious accessory for all, from novice casserole makers to masterful pastry chefs. Handmade in New York.


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Presidential Pathways / Williamson
The Pines Golf Course - Williamson
752 Reidsboro Rd.
Williamson, GA 30292
Williamson, GA 30292
The 18-hole "Pines" course at the Pines Golf Course facility in Williamson, Georgia features 6,513 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72 . The course rating is 70.9 and it has a slope rating of 117. Pines golf course opened in 1972. Ralph Hogan manages the course as the General Manager.
Info & Amenities
Course Type
Facility Amenities
Free Parking
General Information
Number of Holes: 9
Par: 71


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A man went to sleep next to the corpse of his lover instead of calling for help because he was heavily drugged and frightened, a court heard today.
Laszlo Gyarmati, 29, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murdering 25-year-old Alexandra Kovacs at her home in Lee Road, Mill Hill, last July.
Mr Gyarmati told jurors at Central Criminal Court how he had smoked cannabis and sniffed MDMA on the night he argued with Miss Kovacs over their plans to organise illegal marriages to earn extra money.
Despite telling the court earlier today that he thought the effect MDMA had on him that night was irrelevant to his trial, he later admitted that it made him "irritable".
He said: "In principle I should feel well from the MDMA but in practice this is not its effect. I took rather a lot of it and it brought about a sudden change of mind and I was irritable."
During the argument, Mr Gyarmati described putting his hand over Miss Kovacs's mouth in an attempt to stop her talking.
He said she "shrieked for help", so he put his hand on her throat before covering her face with a pillow. When he removed the pillow, Mr Gyarmati realised he had killed Miss Kovacs.
Telling the court why he did not contact police, he said: "I can't speak much English, I was heavily drugged, and I was very frightened."
Instead, Mr Gyarmati went downstairs where he saw a large, black suitcase.
He took the case upstairs, removed Miss Kovacs's clothes and dragged her body off the bed by pulling at her bra between the cups.
The body "fell" into the suitcase which he then took to Dollis Valley Greenwalk where he left it, before returning to his home in Station Road, Finchley, on the morning of Thursday July 18, last year.
He said: "I didn't feel physically ill but in my soul, I did not feel well."
Mr Gyarmati also admitted to posting a message on Miss Kovacs's Facebook account and calling her phone in "a stupid attempt" to cover his tracks.
But he agreed with his defence lawyer, Joel Bennathan QC, that what he did "was very wrong" and there are "many things he should have done differently".
Mr Gyarmati has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murdering Miss Kovacs.
The trial continues.