text:
By Aleksey Martynov, Amazon Web Services
This tutorial provides a number of tips and tricks for building complex and efficient queries for Amazon SimpleDB:
- Lexicographical comparison definition
- Querying for numerical data
- Querying for dates
- Single vs. multi-predicate queries
- Tuning Your Queries Using Composite Attributes
- Partitioning your dataset in order to improve query performance
Lexicographical Comparison Definition
A string
s precedes a string
t in lexicographic order if:
sis a prefix of
t, or
- if
dare respectively the first character of
tin which
tdiffer, then
din character order.
Note: For the characters that are alphabetical letters, the character order coincides with the alphabetical order. Digits precede letters, and uppercase letters precede lowercase ones.
Querying for Numerical Data
All attribute values in Amazon SimpleDB are stored as UTF-8 strings. All attribute comparisons are done lexicographically. This requires the application designers to slightly massage their numerical data before submitting it to Amazon SimpleDB in order to preserve the expected order of comparison.
An easy way to handle these conversions is by implementing them in the communication layer between the application and Amazon SimpleDB. Sample libraries available in the Resource Center include utility classes that aid in conversion of the numerical data types, however, the application designers must choose certain parameters that we will describe below that depend on their individual dataset qualities.
There are two main techniques used with the numerical data in order to properly represent it in the string form:
- Negative number offsetting
- Zero-padding
Negative Number Offsets
The first step for representing the number ranges is to ensure that every number in the dataset is positive. This can be easily achieved by choosing an offset, such that it is larger than the module of the smallest expected negative number in your dataset. For example, if the smallest expected number in your dataset is -12,000, choosing offset = 100,000 may be safe.
After a proper offset is chosen, the conversion is extremely straight-forward:
- For PutAttributes, DeleteAttributes and Query calls, the offset is added to ALL values for that particular numeric attribute
- After executing GetAttributes call, the offset is subtracted to produce the original values
- Original dataset:
{654, -12000, 3610, 0, -23}
- Negative number offset:
- Dataset with offset applied:
{100654, 88000, 103610, 100000, 99977}
Once all the numbers in the dataset are positive, there is another step necessary to ensure that values are properly represented for lexicographical comparisons. For example, number 2 and 10, if converted directly into strings "2" and "10" will not compare properly, as "10" comes before "2" in lexicographical order. However, if we zero-pad number 2 to be represented as "02", the comparison will execute as expected. But what happens if we decide to add number 200 to the dataset at a later point? Zero-padding with a single "0" will not work anymore. Therefore, application designers may follow the next steps for zero-padding:
- Determine the largest possible number in your dataset. Remember, that if you are using offsetting to take care of the negative number conversions, you have to take that into account as well by ensuring that your largest possible number is determined after you have added the offset to all the values.
- Based on the largest possible number, determine the maximum number of digits before the decimal point that you may have in your dataset.
- Convert all the numbers in your dataset to the proper string representation by appending as many "0" as necessary in front of each number to ensure that the total number of characters, representing the portion of the number before the decimal point, matches the maximum number of digits determined in Step 2 above.
- Original dataset:
{14.58, -12536.791, 20071109, 655378.34, -23}
- Negative number offset:
- Dataset with offset applied:
{100014.58, 87463.209, 20171109, 755378.34, 99977}
- Zero-padded dataset representation:
{00100014.58, 00087463.209, 20171109, 00755378.34, 00099977}
- Original query expression:
attribute > '500'
- Converted query expression:
attribute > '00100500'
Querying for Dates
Dates can be properly converted to strings for use within Amazon SimpleDB by following ISO 8601 format. This format defines a representation for dates such that they can be properly compared in lexicographical order.
Below are the formats for representing date-time values with different degree of granularity. Exactly the components shown here must be present, with exactly this punctuation. Note that the "T" appears literally in the string, to indicate the beginning of the time element, as specified in ISO 8601.
Year: YYYY Year and month: YYYY-MM Complete date: YYYY-MM-DD Complete date plus hours and minutes: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD Complete date plus hours, minutes and seconds: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD Complete date plus hours, minutes, seconds and a decimal fraction of a second YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sTZD
|ISO 8601 format
|Year 2007
|January 2008
|January 24 th 2008
|1:15 pm January 24 th 2008
|1:15:30.45 pm January 24 th 2008
`Update Date` > '2008-01-24T22:48:15+01:00'
Single vs. Multi-Predicate Queries
To understand the semantic difference between single predicate and multiple predicate queries, the following are two queries:
select * from mydomain where Keyword = 'Book' intersection Keyword = 'Hardcover'
select * from mydomain where Keyword = 'Book' and Keyword = 'Hardcover'
Using the same data set in Query 101, the first query returns item '1579124585' and the second query returns nothing.
The reason is that each value is evaluated individually against each predicate. In the second query, since neither of the values satisfies both comparisons defined in the single predicate simultaneously, the item is not selected.
Since the "intersection" is a set operation, "Keyword = 'Book'" and "Keyword = 'Hardcover'" are treated as two independent predicates in the first query. The first predicate selects items 0385333498 and 1579124585, and the second predicate selects items 1579124585. Therefore, the intersection operator returns 1579124585 that appears in both queries.
Note: For single-value-attribute domains, the result of the two queries are the same. However, the second query is likely to perform better than the first one.
Tuning Your Queries Using Composite Attributes
Careful implementation of attributes can increase the efficiency of query operations in terms of duration and complexity. SimpleDB indexes attributes individually. In some cases, a query contains predicates on more than one attribute, and the combined selectivity of the predicates is significantly higher than the selectivity of each individual predicate. When this happens, the query retrieves a lot of data, and then removes most of the data to generate the result, which can degrade performance. If you find your queries using this pattern, you can implement composite attributes to improve your queries' performance.
The following example retrieves many books and many book prices before returning the requested result of books priced under nine dollars.
select * from myDomain where Type = 'Book' and Price < '9'
A composite attribute provides a more efficient way to handle this query. Assuming the attribute
Type is a fixed four character string, a new composite attribute of
TypePrice allows you to write a single predicate query.
select * from myDomain where TypePrice > 'Book' and TypePrice < 'Book9'
Performance for a multi-predicate query can also degrade if it uses an
order by clause and the sorted attribute is constrained by a non-selective predicate. A typical example uses
not null. For example, a table contains user names, billing timestamps, and a variety of other attributes. You want to get the latest 100 billing times for a user. A typical approach for this query leverages the index on the
user_id attribute, retrieving all the records with the user's ID value, filtering the ones with correct values for the billing time, and then sorting the records and filtering out the top 100. The following example retrieves the latest 100 billing times for a user.
select * from myDomain where user_id = '1234' and bill_time is not null order by bill_time limit 100
However, if the predicate on
user_id is not selective (i.e. many items exist in the domain for the
user_id value
1234), then the SimpleDB query processor could avoid dynamically sorting a very large number of records and scan the index on
bill_time, instead. For this execution strategy, SimpleDB discards all the records not belonging to
user_id value
A composite attribute provides a more efficient way to handle this query, too. You can combine the
user_id and
bill_time values into a composite value, and then query for items with that value. For example, if the
user_id attribute is a fixed four character string, the following query would efficiently seek the billing times for a user by querying only the composite attribute where the billing time is part of the value:
select * from myDomain where user_id_bill_time like '1234%' order by user_id_bill_time limit 100
Note: If
user_id is a variable length field, consider using a separator when combining it with
bill_time in the
user_id_bill_time composite attribute. For example, the following attribute assignment uses the vertical bar separator character (
|) for a
user_id that is six characters long:
user_id_bill_time = 123456|1305914378. The following select example only gets the attributes with
user_id =1234 in the composite attribute, and does not get the attributes for the six character
select * from myDomain where user_id_bill_time like '1234|%' order by user_id_bill_time limit 100
The composite attribute technique is described further in the "Query performance optimization" section at Building for Performance and Reliability with Amazon SimpleDB.
Partitioning Your Dataset to Improve Query Performance
Amazon SimpleDB is designed from a ground up to support highly parallel applications. One of the features that aid in that goal is the ability for each subscriber to create multiple domains under their account. Application designers can use this feature to their advantage by partitioning their dataset among multiple domains in order to parallelize their queries and have them operate on smaller individual datasets. Single query may only be executed against a single domain, but developers can perform aggregation of the result sets in their application layer. Below are a few example scenarios where partitioning may be applied.
- Dataset naturally partitions along some dimension. For example, a product catalog may be partitioned in the "Book", "CD" and "DVD" domains. It is absolutely possible to store all the product data in a single domain, but partitioning may result in better overall performance. The drawback of partitioning is the additional complexity in the application layer.
- Application requires throughput higher than a single domain can provide. In this case, partitioning data among several domains will increase the overall throughput.
- Dataset is large and queries that application needs to execute are so complicated that they hit the query timeout limit. In this case, partitioning will reduce the size of each domain against which the queries are executed and may improve performance of individual queries.
There are several options for partitioning your dataset. You may be able to find a particular dimension in your data that is suited well for partitioning. For example, "Country" may be a good partitioning dimension, if you are storing data about different NATO countries. In this case, application will create different domains for each country ("USA", "UK", "Germany" and so on) and execute queries against each domain individually, combining the results in the application layer, if necessary.
There are cases where datasets do not naturally present themselves well for partitioning, for example when storing logs, events or web-crawler data. In this case, various hashing algorithms could be used to create a uniform distribution of items among multiple domains. Below are sample steps for partitioning such a dataset into four different domains:
- Determine the hash of an item name using a well-behaved hash function, such as MD5
- Consider last 2 bits of the resulting hash value and place each item in the specified domain:
- Last two bits equal to 00 – place item in Domain0
- Last two bits equal to 01 – place item in Domain1
- Last two bits equal to 10 – place item in Domain2
- Last two bits equal to 11 – place item in Domain3
The outlined algorithm provides a distribution of items among domains, uniformity of which is directly controlled by the hash function used. The additional advantage of this scheme is the ease with which it can be adjusted to partition your data among larger number of domains by considering more and more bits of the hash value (3 bits will distribute to 8 domains, 4 bits to 16 domains and so on).


text:
Friday January 28, 2011 6:41 pm
Deal of the Day: Save 20% on Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks
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subset: commoncrawl


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text:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Barbara Balevre is used to seeing her neighbor walking his dog Roxy, washing his truck and going to and coming from work.
Now she looks across the street at a truck parked in front of his Northside home with the door kicked in, crime scene tape across the frame, and a sign in the yard seeking information.
"He was my friend," Balevre said of 47-year-old Bryan Edwards, who was found dead in his home early Sunday morning. "He was a sweetheart, and why anyone would do this to him? I don't know."
Police are investigating the killing.
It was just after midnight, and family members couldn't reach Edwards, so they contacted police to do a wellness check.
When patrol officers got inside the home on Carthage Drive, they found Edwards dead.
"The person who did this is nothing but a coward, to me, to go in there and hurt such a sweet man," Balevre said.
She said Edwards never bothered anyone, only helped others. She said he fixed her air conditioning unit a couple of times when it broke down during a summer scorcher, and refused to let her pay him, only asking her to watch his house and dog when he was out of town.
Now Balevre is left heartbroken, knowing her friend is never coming back home.
"I'm angry. I'm angry because I don't know why," she said. "It's a quiet neighborhood. Why would anybody go in there and harm such a gentle man?"
Anyone with any information about Edwards' killing is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
Copyright 2014 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Don't miss out on a lower price on this hotel
Get an overview of this hotelDowntown hotel near Stanley Park, English Bay
Popular property highlights
On Robson Street
Located on Robson Street, famed for shopping and dining, this 42-story downtown Vancouver hotel is 1 km (a half-mi) from Stanley Park and within 3 km (2 mi) of Granville Island.
Rooftop restaurant
Dining options feature a revolving fine-dining restaurant on the top floor, offering Pacific Northwest cuisine and panoramic views.
Balconies, view rooms
All 357 guestrooms at the Empire Landmark Hotel And Conference Center include coffeemakers, free WiFi, and walk-out balconies with city, harbor, or mountain views.
Guest Highlights
- Central location
- Proximity to shopping and sightseeing
- Helpful staff
- Clean guestrooms
Empire Landmark Hotel
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Located on the shopping thoroughfare of Robson Street, this downtown Vancouver hotel in the West End neighborhood is one km (a half-mile) from Stanley Park and two km (1.25 miles) from the Gastown historic district.
On-site facilities at the Empire Landmark Hotel And Conference Center include a fitness room with cardio and strength-training equipment.
Cloud 9 restaurant offers dinner with views of the city, harbor, and mountains, while C9 Live Lounge provides live entertainment on select nights. Other amenities include a beauty salon, car rental, and gift shop.
The hotel's 1,253 square meters (13,500 square feet) of meeting and event space include a ballroom for 350 guests, with event catering, audiovisual equipment, and free wireless Internet access. The business center provides high-speed Internet access and a printer. Self parking with in/out privileges is available for a surcharge. Pets are not allowed, only service animals.
- Fitness facilities
- Restaurant
- Bar/lounge
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Conference space
- Meeting rooms 6
- 24-hour front desk
- Porter/bellhop
- Multilingual staff
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Total number of rooms - 357
- Number of floors - 42
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Shopping on site
- Hair salon
- ATM/banking
- Laundry facilities
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Elevator/lift
- Wedding services
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Concierge services
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Free WiFi
- Luggage storage
- Self parking (surcharge)
- 24-hour business center
- Express check-out
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Free Wi-Fi
- Laundry facilities
- Refrigerator
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Self parking (surcharge)
Room Amenities
- Pay movies
- Hypo-allergenic bedding available
- Balcony
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Air conditioning
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Refrigerator
- Coffee/tea maker
- Private bathroom
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Shower/tub combination
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
- Cribs/infant beds available
- Flat-panel TV
- Free WiFi
- Daily housekeeping
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
- Rollaway/extra beds (surcharge)
Where to Eat
Cloud 9 Restaurant - Located on the 42nd floor, this revolving restaurant serves breakfast and dinner. Pacific Northwest cuisine includes prime rib, wild salmon, and seared scallops. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide panoramic views of the city, English Bay, Stanley Park, and the North Shore Mountains. Reservations required.
C9 Live Lounge - Offering live entertainment and dancing on Friday and Saturday evenings. Cocktails, appetizers, and desserts are available nightly.
Nearby Things to Do
Guests enjoy a fitness room with two stationary bikes, a stair machine, a treadmill, and strength-training equipment.
Stanley Park, one km (a half-mile) away, has public tennis courts, running paths, playgrounds, beaches, and a seasonal saltwater pool (surcharge). The Vancouver Aquarium and a par-three golf course are also located in the park. The hotel is four blocks from the Seawall Promenade, a 12 km (7.5-mile) waterfront path suitable for cycling, inline skating, running, and walking. Kayak and boat rentals are available at Granville Island, three km (two miles) away.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or near the hotel; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Mountain biking nearby
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at 5:30 AM
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Minimum check-in age is 19
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Rollaway/extra beds are available for CAD 20 per night.
- Cribs (infant beds) are available.
- Pets not allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
- The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation.
- Deposit: CAD 75.00 per night
Optional extras
- Breakfast fee: CAD 19.95 per person (approximately)
- Self parking fee: CAD 18.00 per night (in/out privileges)
- Rollaway bed fee: CAD 20 per night
Hotel Name
- Empire Landmark
- Empire Landmark Hotel
- Empire Landmark Hotel Vancouver
- Empire Landmark Vancouver
- Hotel Empire Landmark
- Landmark Empire
- Landmark Empire Hotel
We should mention
The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.


text:
Company Teaches Art Of Tactic With Current And Upcoming Games...
Russian miniatures giant Zvezda brought several of its most recent hit games as well as a preview of the next one to Gen Con this year. Prominently on display was Art of Tactic: Samurai Battles, a solid seller for the company and winner of Origins' Best Historical Board Game, and Art of Tactic: Battle for Oil. Also at the booth for fans to admire was the upcoming release The Ships: Armada Invencible featuring real wooden vessels!
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Reviewed By Austin E (Paw Paw, MI) Reviewed for a 2008 Ford Edge —8/26/2015 4:42 AM
Simple and easy design. Quick to lay it down when not in use. Fairly easy for 1 boat. Little difficult to tie down 2 on a Ford Edge because of accessibility from the ground. All in all good looking and gets the job done.


text:
Unique Universal Monsters Prop Replica Ready for Pre-Order...
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Factory Entertainment (factoryent.com) is now accepting pre-orders on a unique Universal Monsters prop replica: the Fossilized Creature From the Black Lagoon Hand.
Each replica is cast in heavyweight stone effect polyresin and then hand-painted to create an aged fossil effect. Support bars are permanently molded into the wrist bones to create stability and a durable replica suitable for display, mirroring the specimen presentation style seen in the classic 1954 film during the scenes when the fossil is examined at the marine biology institute.
As with all Factory Entertainment replicas, each Creature Hand comes with a limited edition plaque, COA, and detailed prop story booklet. Each piece is also presented in a full color box designed to emulate a shipping crate.
The Fossilized Creature Hand is priced at $299.00 and limited to only 500 pieces worldwide. Shipping second quarter 2013.


text:
- Description
The Leo Clutch is the perfect sidekick for a night out. It features interior credit card slots so you don't need to bring your wallet out.
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Details & Care
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- Genuine leather
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Reviews Write a review
More Reviews


text:
UPDATE: A drugs search was being carried out on the yacht of the Dutch man who fell to his death in St Mary's Harbour on the Isles of Scilly.
The 62-year-old's yacht the Windrose had been towed into the Isles of Scilly on Monday after the skipper reported he was suffering from fatigue and his rigging was failing "on the lee side of the mast" on Sunday.
Border Force officers were reported to have been removing items from the yacht's cabin.
The yacht has now been towed to Newlyn.
UPDATE: Police say that at approximately 8.30pm on Monday evening, Devon and Cornwall Police were alerted that a man was seriously injured after falling from the mast of a yacht. He later died in hospital from his injuries.
The man is believed to be a Dutch national in his early sixties.
It is understood that the yacht had been boarded as part of a Border Force (formerly UK Border Agency) operation shortly before the incident.
The matter has been referred to the IPCC by the Border Force and a local investigation will be carried out this morning.
A Border Force spokesman said: "We are assisting Devon and Cornwall Police with their investigation and the incident has been referred to the IPCC."
It is unclear whether the yacht was boarded as part of an anti-smuggling operation.
The BBC are reporting that the skipper reported he was suffering from fatigue and his rigging was failing "on the lee side of the mast" on Sunday.
Adding that two RNLI crew boarded the 11m (36ft) yacht, Windrose and towed it into the Isles of Scilly.
UPDATE: St Mary's quay has reopened.
One person is reported to be dead after an incident on a boat in the Isles of Scilly last night.
The UK Border Agency are believed to be involved with police also investigating, however details are sparse at the moment
The twitter account for St Mary's Harbour said: "Harbour staff are facilitating the police with their investigation and will endeavour to open the quay fully as soon as we can.
"Access to the quay remains restricted this morning as a result of a police investigation into an incident yesterday evening."
The BBC are reporting that Falmouth Coastguard say an injured person was airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital from the quay at St Mary's last night.


text:
This star rating is the opinion of the property owner only. A Self-Rated hotel has not been assessed by the AA or Visit Britain, whose official star ratings we use across LateRooms.com.
Wessex Hotel3 Self rated
11-13 WEST CLIFF ROAD, Bournemouth, BH2 5EU
Price FromView Rooms
- Very Good
- 147 guest reviews
"very enjoyable trip. all aspects food was good and the staff were all excellant..."
"Good location and great value - stayed 2 night with 3 adults and 3 kids in January. Staff were friendly, hotel could do with a little refres..."
"Great value, £35 pool gym. Wow!..."
"Room very spacious good furniture good bed kept clean and tidy but very shabby carpet lots of dirty stains plus iron scorch mark in full vie..."
"Had a couple of nights here. There was a warm and friendly welcome on arrival. The room was clean and comfortable. Plenty of parking space a..."
About the hotel
The Wessex Hotel is situated in its own grounds on the prestigious West Cliff of Bournemouth and is only five minutes from the town centre, Bournemouth International Centre, and the award-winning blue flag beaches. The attractive seaside town of Bournemouth has so much to offer - golden sandy beaches, great shopping and a wide range of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs.
The modern spacious lounge, bar and reception areas provide the ideal place to relax and unwind, complemented by the Lulworth Restaurant offering an appetizing dinner menu and extensive wine list.
The hotel has 109 en-suite bedrooms including standard, premier rooms, family bedrooms along with twenty-four premier rooms that accommodate up to two adults and two children.
All our guests can enjoy the Heated Indoor Pool Gym, Sauna and Steam Bath of the nearby Wessex Hotel's Leisure Club. That's an experience not to be missed! You can get passes from our Reception (maximum of 10 at a time) and visit the Leisure Club anytime from 7:30am to 11:00pm, 7 days a week. The cost is only £5 per person (payable at the Wessex Hotel's Leisure Club Reception), which grants you access to all the facilities for a full day! Pre-booking is not required. The beautiful New Forest and spectacular Jurassic Coast both make for great days out with plenty to see and do for all ages! Please be advised that the hotel does not accept single sex parties. Bournemouth Central railway station is 2. 2 miles and Bournemouth International Airport is 7. 4 miles away.
Read MoreLess
Facilities Show/hide
- Main
- Hotel Non-Smoking Throughout, Disabled Facilities, 24 Hour Reception, Cots available, Wedding Licence, Tea/Coffee making facilities in each room, Hairdryer in each room, Trouser press in each room, Telephone In Each Room, 24 Hour Room Service, Wake Up Call Available, Interconnecting rooms available, Pets Allowed, Porter, Ground floor bedrooms, Lift to all floors
- Parking
- Car parking available onsite
- Business
- Wi-Fi Available, Meeting Facilities, Wi-Fi Available In Public Areas, Wi-Fi Available In Rooms, Private dining services
- Dining
- Restaurant, Lounge Menu, Bar
- Leisure
- Gymnasium, Indoor Pool, Sauna, Steam Rooms
- In Room Entertainment
- Accessibility
- Disabled Access Public Areas, Disabled Access Bedrooms, Disabled toilets on ground floor, Wheelchair Access, Wheelchair Access To Reception, Wheelchair Access To Restaurant, Wheelchair Access To Bar, Wheelchair Access To Conference Rooms, Wheelchair Access To Disabled Car Parking Spaces
Useful Info Show/hide
- From 14:00 hours
- By 11:00 hours
- Up to 13 years old
- 22/03/2013 to 31/12/2022 - Please be aware for bookings of 6 rooms or more additional terms will apply to your reservation. Pets must be pre-booked prior to arrival and are not allowed in Superior rooms, only in standard rooms The price shown is based on the occupancy and dates you have searched for. Prices and availability are subject to change based on the arrival date, number of nights and occupancy searched for. All prices are inclusive of all local taxes.
- Pets are allowed
Customer Reviews
Our reviews are from genuine LateRooms.com customers. We verify that the customer has stayed before leaving a review.
Very Good
73% would recommend it to a friend
Customer service
Food quality
Room quality
buisiness trip
very enjoyable trip.
all aspects food was good and the staff were all excellant...
Read More Less
Does the job
Not bad for the money.


text: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TPWD News Release 20101217b | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. | | It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying | | and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. | | To copy the text into an editing program: | | --Display this page in your browser. | | --Select all. | | --Copy. | | --Paste in a document in your editing program. | | If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send | | an e-mail to email@example.com and mention Plain Text Pages. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ Note: This item is more than six years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [LH] Dec. 17, 2010 O.H. Ivie Continues Toyota ShareLunker Run No. 505 is first of season; third for female angler ATHENS--Bobbie Gayle of Millersview joined a very exclusive club December 15 when she caught Toyota ShareLunker 505 from O.H. Ivie Reservoir. The fish was Gayle's third entry into the ShareLunker program, making her one of only five anglers to have achieved that distinction. O.H. Ivie continued its remarkable run of Toyota ShareLunkers. Last season the West Texas lake produced 11 entries, including two on the last day of the season. Gayle's fish weighed 14 pounds and was 25.5 inches long and 21.5 inches in girth. Gayle caught it in 16 feet of 52-degree water at 3:00 p.m. using a perch. The fish was weighed at Elm Creek Village, an official Toyota ShareLunker weigh and holding station. Other anglers who have caught three ShareLunkers include Roy Greer, Bill Lozano and Richard McCarty. One angler, Jim Gore, has four fish entered in to the program, but one was a male fish weighing 6.5 pounds. All other entries into the program have been females. Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, between October 1 and April 30 may submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a phone number including area code. Fish will be picked up by TPWD personnel within 12 hours. ShareLunker entries are used in a selective breeding program at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens. Some of the offspring from these fish are stocked back into the water body from which they were caught. Other ShareLunker offspring are stocked in public waters around the state in an attempt to increase the overall size and growth rate of largemouth bass in Texas. Anglers entering fish into the Toyota ShareLunker program will receive a free replica of their fish, a certificate and ShareLunker clothing and be recognized at a banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. In addition, if a Texas angler catches the largest entry of the year, that person will receive a lifetime fishing license. For complete information and rules of the ShareLunker program, tips on caring for big bass and a recap of last year's season, see http://tpwd.texas.gov/sharelunker. The site also includes a searchable database of all fish entered into the program along with pictures where available. Information on current catches, including short videos of interviews with anglers, is posted on http://www.facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram. The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible by a grant to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation from Gulf States Toyota. Toyota is a long-time supporter of the Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, providing major funding for a wide variety of education, fish, parks and wildlife -30-


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Weather-Related Closings Available Online
Jan. 27, 2009
News Highlights
More Information
The latest information on Fairfax County Government and Public Schools closings can be found online or on the county's Twitter page at www.twitter.com/fairfaxcounty.
Residents can find information about Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax Connector bus service, School Age Child Care centers, Park Authority events and classes, Community and Recreation Services programs and activities, and more.
These sites will be updated throughout the day as new information is available.
The Fairfax County Police Department has safe winter driving tips and its accident response policy online.
Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director, Office of Public Affairs
703-324-3189, TTY 711, Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
To request this information in an alternate format, call 703-324-3187, TTY 711


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[As Delivered]
Good afternoon. Thank you, Wendy, for that kind introduction. In all honesty, one of my favorite moments in this role was visiting the Syrian-American community outside of Detroit, which, as you my may know, is the largest Syrian-American community anywhere in our country.
There are doctors from that community that go in and out of Syria, and make a huge difference, doing extraordinary things at great personal risk. So, I'm proud to be from Detroit, and proud to highlight the accomplishments and service that come from that great city all the time.
I also want to recognize Ann Richard, our Assistant Secretary of State for PRM, who is here, and I think shared some thoughts with you this morning. And Nancy Lindborg—Nancy, as you know, is really the one who is on behalf of USAID leading this effort, together with her colleagues Rob Jenkins and Alina Romanowski, they have really come together to make sure that all of the resources of our government and our agency can be deployed, in whatever means are required, to address what is the largest humanitarian crisis we face. So, thank you, Nancy, for your leadership. Nancy needs no introduction.
I'm thrilled to see so many of our partners here as well, and look forward to a panel discussion with outstanding experts who will share with you, I think in much more granular detail, the quality, the effectiveness and the challenges we all face trying to address a humanitarian catastrophe that of course gets worse every day, because its root underlying cause remains uncontained.
So thank you—many of you are partners, many of you take risks to do this work, and many of you are critical to our efforts to help serve the millions of people who are in dire need right now.
I was in Lebanon and Jordan just a few weeks ago and had a chance to meet with a family—a young woman and her five young children, who are Syrian refugees embedded in a community inside Amman. She told me about leaving her home, and her businesses, she described that her husband, after arriving in Amman, went back to make sure that their assets and property were protected—and never returned. And as we were talking, her young children—kids about the same age as mine—were running around the room and holding onto her. And she described how for the first time in two years, they were just getting the chance to go to school. How they had spent down all of their assets; went for a period of time without any food support; and were now getting vouchers from the world food program, to allow them to buy food in local communities; and trying to get back on their feet, but in an extraordinarily difficult circumstance.
And while I only met one mother that day, we know that there are more than 11 million people like her inside Syria and across the region—who have left their homes and been cut off from their communities and their livelihoods.
I only met a few of the kids that day, but we know that more than 5 million of the people are children whose lives that will never be the same.
Think about that.
It is as if every student in the 25 largest U.S. school districts—including New York, LA, Chicago, Miami and 21 others—had been affected by violence, homelessness, hunger, disease, or malnutrition, all at once and simultaneously.
Since this time just last year, there are more than 4 times as many internally displaced persons and 4 times as many refugees.
Over 40 percent of Syria's population is now in need of humanitarian assistance.
The scale of this challenge is unprecedented.
In three years, we have seen a brutal civil war has created not only a humanitarian crisis, but has taken a country of engineers and artists; entrepreneurs and doctors; teachers and scientists; and destroyed more than three decades of capital stock in that country.
The UN estimates that Syria has lost 35 years of development in just two and a half years of conflict.
So even as we struggle to grasp the real meaning of all these numbers, we really can't lose sight—as Secretary Kerry just recently noted—of how this revolution began. Not with Scud missiles, barrel bombs, and systematic torture. But with graffiti cans and the peaceful protests of citizens calling for change.
The United States will continue to stand with the Syrian people against the brutality of Assad's regime, but so long as the violence and bloodshed continues, no amount of humanitarian aid—and we have led the world in providing nearly $3 billion of support in development support throughout the region—no amount of developmental and humanitarian aid is going to address this challenge.
A negotiated political transition—as outlined in the Geneva communiqué—represents the best opportunity to create a transitional opportunity.
And as Secretary Kerry has said, Bashar Assad cannot be a part of that transition.
A man who holds his own country hostage; a man who retaliates against hospitals and doctors; who has used both starvation and chemical weapons as tools of war against his own people; does not have the capacity to bring about peace.
So, in this context, Syrians themselves must chart their own path forward, Secretary Kerry and the United States government are working relentlessly toward a political solution, and I know that you heard from Jeff Feldman earlier about efforts in that regard.
But it doesn't mask the fact that there is a critical crisis going on, and in many cases, has acute consequences. Right now, in too many parts of Syria, civilians are being used as chess pieces in this conflict.
In Homs, people have been cut off from life-saving aid for months. In the Damascus suburb of East Ghouta, 160,000 citizens are still waiting for clean water and other life-saving supplies that cannot get past the regime's blockades.
We're not talking about fighters here. We're talking about men and women; girls and boys; families and children.
The roads are being closed by a government that has the capacity to enforce checkpoints and literally stop from being delivered across the line. This violates every basic humanitarian principle, and is absolutely unacceptable.
As Secretary Kerry recently noted, "If the regime can allow access to United Nations and international weapons inspectors, surely it can do the same for neutral, international humanitarian assistance."
It is absolutely within their power to open these areas—and open them immediately—in order to avoid the very real and accelerating pictures of abuse you have seen.
Despite these challenges, and despite the dire nature of the challenge we face, there are aid workers, doctors, and nurses who risk their lives every day to bring medicines, perform surgeries, and deliver food in regions torn apart by violence. Since the crisis began, more than one hundred NGO workers have been killed, tortured or abducted.
Not all of them have been caught in the crossfire. Many have been directly targeted—especially those who work in medical facilities—for the very act of providing humanitarian support to those in need.
They are truly humanitarian heroes. And the fact that some of them come from Detroit just makes me more proud.
And thanks to their sacrifices, they are saving lives every day.
The United States government has been able to supply food, clean water, shelter, medical care and relief supplies to help 1.4 million refugees and 4.2 million people inside of Syria, including in the most ravaged areas like Daraa and Aleppo.
Majid and his family were among them when intense fighting forced them to flee Homs. When his family arrived in Tartous, they had nothing but each other and the clothing on their backs.
They managed to find shelter in a shared apartment with another displaced Syrian, but this new "home" did not have the capacity to protect them.
They were sleeping on cold, hard floors, and its our humanitarian resources and partners that reach them and families like them with basic winterization supplies—mattresses, extra thermal blankets, and winter clothing to help them through the cold season.
It may not sound like much. And in the context of what we see on television, and the fact that the number of people have died in this crisis in over 100,000, it certainly is not enough. But I want to ensure you that America's investment in humanitarian support has made a huge difference for millions and millions of people.
At the same time, nearly one million patients have been treated at 260 field hospitals and clinics that we help support. Early warning systems for communicable diseases have helped manage and maintain widespread child disease and death at a time when infrastructure is literally falling apart.
So it was in this context, earlier this month, Secretary John Kerry and Nancy and Ann led our delegation to Kuwait, where the Secretary General was trying to raise billions of dollars for the humanitarian effort in the year going forward. He committed $380 million in additional humanitarian assistance—which now brings our total to more than $3 billion when you include the support we provide in Jordan and Lebanon.
This is allowing a wide-ranging humanitarian effort to do things as unheard of—and as timely and necessary—as a massive polio vaccination campaign. We were all deeply concerned to hear about 23 confirmed positive polio cases inside of Syria, and the very fact that it surfaced inside of Syria, when the disease had been eradicated from the region for a decade, is an indicator of how quickly things can go backwards.
Today, the UN is leading the largest-ever polio vaccination campaign in the region, aimed at immunizing approximately 20 million children across the Middle East, including 2.2 million kids inside of Syria.
So what does it tell us, that we are able to mount these types of large scale efforts when we put effort and get support to do so? It means that even though right now is a time of extraordinary crisis, we also have to look for and find and take advantage of certain core opportunities.
And we've been trying to do that by bringing our humanitarian and development teams and efforts together to focus on building resilience in the country and in the region.
Today, for the first time ever, both Jordan and Lebanon have resilience plans in place to help their countries withstand the impact of the crisis and keep their borders open to Syrians in need.
Today, almost 2.5 million Syrian refugees now live in these neighboring countries.
In Lebanon, 1 out of every 5 people is from Syria. And in some cases, Syrian refugees now outnumber local populations in certain towns, especially along the border.
In Jordan, the influx has been so significant it's as if the entire population of Canada moved to the United States over the last 18 months. No comment about our Canadian colleagues [laughs].
In both countries, the greatest concentration of refugees overlaps with the poorest communities—and this is important. Because this means we have to do things in a sensitive way. If we just rush in and provide traditional humanitarian support to refugees—walking by the children who are not going to school, who are getting displaced, who are also in dire need as their economies are under extraordinary stress—we will only be fueling the divisions and the risks and the consequences that prevent unity from succeeding.
And that's why we've done some really unique things to help our colleagues in supporting Jordan and Lebanon in particular.
In Jordan, one of the driest countries in the world, we are providing more than $20 million through a Complex Crises Fund to help communities manage their precious water resources.
In fact, our developmental water programs with Jordan over the past five years have put enough water infrastructure into the north so that the entire Zaa'tri refugee camp—the largest one in Jordan—is fed clean water through a USAID project that completed just before the crisis started.
We've set up a revolving credit fund so families have loans to install cisterns for harvesting rainwater. We've expanded access to health systems and schools and clinics so that the Jordanian and Lebanese people also have better access to basic services.
And this effort around local school systems is perhaps most critical and most significant, since half of all refugees coming from Syria to these two countries are school-age children.
In Lebanon, we've helped rehabilitate over 180 public schools to improve the infrastructure of those schools, train teachers, get science and lab equipment into them. And as a result, in many of these places, they are now able to provide education to Lebanese kids in the morning, Syrian kids in the afternoon.
And this trend towards the double shift is going to be a big part towards making sure that these kids get a chance to school.
Now, we want to be sure that this devastating crisis that has robbed them of their homes doesn't rob these children of their future.
That is why we launched, in Kuwait, the "No Lost Generation" initiative. The idea is very straightforward: to make sure that even as we face a crisis now, we are putting in place some solutions as best we can to make sure that we don't end up with a generation of young children whose only experience with the international community is not being there when they needed us most.
Many of these kids have been out of school for over two years, and nearly 4,000 of their schools in Syria are sheltering displaced families or have been damaged or destroyed.
And yet, the future of what we hope is democratic, stable Syria depends precisely on these kids returning with the skills and capacity to be part of a positive future. That's why the United States has now committed more than $100 million to schools in Lebanon and Jordan—and some inside of Syria—as part of this No Lost Generation Initiative. It's why I'm spending time calling my counterparts to ask them to match these efforts—because even as we fight an immediate and critical humanitarian crisis, we need to build the infrastructure that keeps this generation of kids on track to be a productive citizens for a more peaceful and brighter future.
So I'd like to conclude just by saying thank you. I look around this room and see so many folks who are part of our partner organizations who are out there doing this work. And I know that largely what you do is unheralded. Almost every article that we read or see starts with a narrative that says, "We're all not doing enough."
And it's hard when you look at these kids, and you see what they're going through, to think we are doing enough. We can never really do enough. But the United States can be proud of the fact that we've been the primary support of humanitarian aid and assistance. That we've done it differently, aggressively, more creatively, in order to reach people inside and outside of Syria. And that we've done it in a manner to enable Syria's neighboring countries to at least continue to have economic stability and hope for the future.
And my final request of all of you is that you continue to stay committed to this, continue to tell this story in Congress and around our country so that we have the capacity to extend this forward in the years ahead. Thank you.
Last updated: February 21, 2014


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The 2009 vintage in California had a mix of weather conditions that kept growers busy all year long, but in the end resulted in an average-sized crop of very good wines. Ripe, rich, and full, rounder and more supple in their tannins than the 2008 and a notch under 2007 — but the best are excellent.
A slow start to the year was mitigated by good conditions through the summer; a couple of hot spells in August and September allowed the grapes to catch up.
The harvest started just ahead of normal, and things looked great until the 13th of October, when almost 4 inches of rain fell in a day. Fortunately, the rain was predicted well in advance, and many growers accelerated picking and were able to bring in much of the crop before the rain, especially Pinot Noir and other earlier-ripening grapes. The weather after the rain would be critical, as the risk of rot and dilution of flavors became a major concern for grapes not brought in before the rain. In most regions the weather improved and dried up the vineyards, extending hang-time into late October, and the majority of growers reported post-rain fruit coming in healthy and in good shape.
Spottswoode Estate has a long history, dating back to the late 1800s when George Schonewald, a German immigrant, purchased a 31-acre property on the western edge of St. Helena and planted 17 acres of wine grapes there. Over the next hundred years, the estate would change hands, and names, several times. In Schonewald's era it was known as "Esmerelda," then "Stonehurst," "Lyndenhurst," and finally, "Spottswoode." It was one of the few estates that survived prohibition, only by selling grapes to Christian Brothers Winery for their sacramental wine. When prohibition was repealed, Spottswoode began its resurgence by selling fruit to the Gallo winery.
The modern era at Spottswoode kicked off in 1972, when Dr. Jack Novak, and his wife, Mary, purchased the estate, seeking a country setting to raise their children in (and a place where Jack could potter about on the tractor as a gentleman farmer). This was of course back when St. Helena was still rural. Over time, Jack got to know some of his neighbors in the wine business, including Louis Martini, Justin Meyer, and Ric Forman. They all agreed that Jack had stumbled upon some special terroir. With their endorsement, Jack and Mary purchased another 15 acres to add to the estate and began to replant the vineyards to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, and Sauvignon Blanc. As their daughter Beth tells it, "We could have just as easily ended up on deeper fertile soils near the river, as we knew nothing about farming, let alone grapes and wine!" Lucky for them, they landed on some of the best soils in Napa.
Not everything came easy to the Novaks, however. The expenses began to pile up shortly after Jack and Mary purchased the property, and Jack was forced to take a job as an emergency room doctor to pay the bills. Then, In 1977, at the age of 44, Jack passed away from a sudden heart attack. Mary was left alone with the property, her children, and a big decision to make. Fortunately, the vineyards were just starting to produce some income, so she decided to stay and tough it out. She kept the business alive by selling grapes to some of the top wineries of the day (Mondavi, Martini, St. Clement, Shafer, and Duckhorn), and the vineyard eventually gained a very good reputation for its fruit. Many clients even encouraged Mary to make her own wine.
In 1982 Mary did just that, bringing on Tony Soter (who was at Chappellet at the time) to make the wines. The first vintage was made that same year, and having no place else to put them, the wines were aged in the basement of the family home. Things took off soon after and Spottswoode joined the cadre of early Napa wineries to take advantage of the valley's newfound fame and the attendant boom in American wine consumption.
Under Tony Soter's guidance, Spottswoode began farming organically in 1985, receiving full certification in 1992. In 1999, construction was completed on a beautiful estate winery just across the street from the vineyards. After more than 30 vintages, Spottswoode wines have earned "icon" status. They are adored far and wide for their classically styled and well-knit structures, their tension, energy, and ability to improve for decades. With the next generation of Novaks leading the way at Spottswoode, it looks like the estate will be doing much of the same.
Area Under Vine: 40 Acres
Cabernet Sauvignon has been the flagship red grape of the California wine industry for decades, and its popularity shows no sign of abating. Napa Valley is the heart of Cabernet Sauvignon production and is clearly an ideal region for creating world-class wines. If any Cabernet-based wine is capable of giving Bordeaux a run for its money, it's Napa Valley's examples. However, due to the extremely high cost of purchasing and developing vineyards in California, and the cachet of Napa Valley on the label, this has largely become a category for the well-heeled wine lover.
At their best, Napa Valley's Cabernets are characterized by fruit notes of cassis, black cherry, and licorice and sweet oak notes of chocolate, mocha, cedar, and tar. Today, most of the best wines are aged entirely or almost completely in French oak barrels, which tend to produce somewhat more refined wines than do most American barrels. (These latter barrels often introduce exotic and pungent suggestions of scotch, bourbon, tar, coconut, and dill.) But the use of expensive French oak is no guarantee of a good bottle: too many wines today, due to high crop levels or insufficiently ripe fruit, do not have the stuffing to support their oakiness and can quickly be dominated or even dried out by their wood component. The best California Cabernets mellow and soften with five to ten years of bottle aging, developing more complex and less fruit-dominated notes of tobacco, leather, and earth, with mellower wood tones. Compared to the top Bordeaux, however, many California Cabernet Sauvignons merely endure in bottle rather than truly become more interesting. There are no shortage of quality producers, even if these wines are rarely values. And it remains to be seen if today's outsized showstoppers, made from superripe grapes and undeniably impressive on release, will reward extended bottle aging or will turn out to have been best suited for drinking in their youth.
Many wines labeled Cabernet Sauvignon contain small percentages of other so-called Bordeaux varieties -- chiefly Merlot and Cabernet Franc but also Petit Verdot and even Malbec (varietally labeled wines in California must contain at least 75% of the variety named).
Cabernet Sauvignon also flourishes in Washington State, Australia and even Chile. In Washington, prices have been creeping up at the high end, with some producers aiming to compete with cult wines from the Napa Valley. Consider Chateau Ste. Michelle and Woodward Canyon. In Australia, look to the Coonawarra and Margaret River regions. Chile can reveal excellent bargains to those who know where to look: Montes makes a strong range of quality bottlings, as does Casa Lapostolle.
As Cabernet Sauvignon is bold and assertive on the palate, it pairs best with foods like grilled red meats. Taken together, the proteins and fats in the food neutralize some of the stronger tannic qualities of the wine, leading to a harmonic combination that enhances both partners.
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Philippe Geluck [Βέλγιο, 1954]. Ο Γάτος/Le Chat. «9» #100 [29/5/2002].
Philippe Geluck is active in many artistic field, but for comics fans, he is best known as the creator of Le Chat. Born in Brussels, Geluck wanted to become a comedian since his childhood. He eventually starred in several plays by the Belgian National Theatre. In 1976, he began the Théâtre Hypocrite, where he played works by Chaval and Copi. For a period of twenty years, starting in 1978, he worked on various productions for the broadcasting company R.T.B.F., including the children's show Lollipop and L'Esprit de Famille. He also cooperated with the show Le Jeu des Dictionnaires. For La Semaine Infernale, he made a section related to his show, called Le Docteur G répond à vos Questions. In 1983, he cooperated on the films Benvenuta by André Delvaux, and on Jeackson et le Mnémocide by Jean-Louis Colmant [script by Jean Van Hamme]. In addition, Geluck has been active in print ever since he was 14. His first illustrations were published in Azimut and the medical publication «L'Oeuf». His paintings were exhibited in London, Paris, Milan, Copenhage and Dallas. He has made children's books based on the Lollipop show for Labor-Nathan and he cooperated with the magazine Jouez avec Quick et Flupke. In 1983, he created his popular egocentric cat with big glasses, known as Le Chat. The character made its first appearance in Le Soir, and was soon also published in Sud-Ouest, Ouest-France and À Suivre. The first album of Le Chat was published by Casterman in 1986, and it was an instant hit. Geluck has also made his own Encyclopédie Universelle, which featured palimpsests and other fairytale animals. In 2002, he became editor of the collection C'est Pour Offrir of the publishing house Casterman. In this collection, he reprinted work by Siné, whose cats were a big inpiration for his own Chat. In 2009, he scripted the comic Les Avontures de Scott Leblanc - Alerte sur Fangtaufa, a spoof on classic belgian comics like Tintin and Blake et Mortimer, drawn in a Clear Line style by Devig and published by Casterman. [http://lambiek.net/artists/g/geluck_philippe.htm].


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Corporate Team Building
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Charter Convocation features address by 1962 alumnus and Board of Trustees Chairman
Harold W. Burlingame
Muskingum University held its Charter Convocation on August 25 in the Recreation Center on the campus. The event, which was Muskingum's first as a university, featured an address by 1962 alumnus and Board of Trustees Chair Harold W. Burlingame.
In his address, Mr. Burlingame said, "Every new class represents a new chapter in the history of Muskingum, and this is true of you, the class of 2013. It is here you will gather the building blocks for the rest of your life."
In 2004, Mr. Burlingame was named a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources, receiving the highest recognition of his profession. Only nine other individuals have been so honored, including two United States Secretaries of Labor.
As executive vice president of AT&T, Mr. Burlingame played a key leadership role in the historic transformation of the Bell System from a collection of regulated monopoly organizations into a competitive player in the burgeoning global telecommunications marketplace. He joined Ohio Bell in 1962 and in 1977 became the director of AT&T's corporate policy initiative, helping prepare senior executives for the seismic industry shifts that were on the horizon. During the 1982 Bell System dismantling and the demanding years that followed, he led the communication process with hundreds of key officials and more than one million employees. His innovative programs guided the human dimensions of this unprecedented structural change, creating a constructive "workplace for the future" and furthering AT&T's goals of attaining a world-class, diverse workforce. Among the many legacies of his 40-year AT&T career are his recruiting and retention initiatives, including then-novel corporate programs for child-care, elder support and sabbatical leave. Since retiring, he has continued to share his expertise as an executive coach of choice for CEOs and other senior executives.
Mr. Burlingame serves as chairman of the board of directors of ORC Worldwide, on the National Advisory Board of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, and on the Board of Directors of eCornell, the distance learning subsidiary of Cornell University.
Since 1994, he has served Muskingum as chair of the Board of Trustees. He has been recognized for his tremendous impact upon the lives of others with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree and the Alumni Distinguished Service Award, the university's highest alumni honor.
During his undergraduate years, Mr. Burlingame founded WMCO, the Muskingum radio station. He and his wife Susanne (Sue) Hussey Burlingame '63 reside in Chatham, New Jersey, and are the parents of Marjie Burlingame Hancock '91 and Betsy Burlingame Wood. A true Muskingum legacy family, the Burlingames are linked in The Long Magenta Line to many family members, including their mothers Martha Elizabeth Pickens Hussey '32 and Elsie Wagner Burlingame '60.
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My Acne Journey
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So far in this blog series, we've talked about Hybrid Clouds, some of the benefits that Hybrid architectures can bring to a cloud solution and how these benefits can be realized at Rackspace by using RackConnect™. Last week, we zoomed in on the flexibility hybrid can bring to a small business that may be budget constrained, but still needs to grow at the same time.
I'd like to move in a slightly different direction now and talk about Hybrid Cloud for the enterprise. I recently attended the Cloud Connect conference in Chicago and I'd like to share some interesting insights from the conference, such as how enterprises think about the cloud today, and what's on deck that will help drive their further use of cloud in the near future.
One of the keynote presenters at Cloud Connect was Scott Bils from Everest Group (his presentation can be found here). He presented a survey of enterprise IT and service providers. One of the key insights from this research was that cost is not the primary driver for cloud adoption for enterprises (in fact, cost was No. 5!). Top line growth is more of the imperative driving usage. It's the time-to-market value proposition that is key here, and how self-service and automation (key tenants of a cloud) can rapidly shrink deployment times for new applications and new revenue streams for the business. I found this to be a very interesting point because the cost benefit (part from the utility billing and part from economies of scale) is more commonly believed to be the primary adoption driver for the cloud.
However, cloud still has some significant barriers to adoption. Security concerns remain the leading blocker, but a close second is integration of cloud solutions. Here's my second point: if integration is a blocker, that implies that the adoption of cloud is dependent on it working WITH existing infrastructure and applications; not as a REPLACEMENT for them. In other words, a Hybrid Cloud can help overcome this barrier.
To me, the primary value of a Hybrid Cloud is precisely its ability to integrate different platforms. A Hybrid Cloud could be traditional IT infrastructure, dedicated hosting, private clouds and/or public clouds, within a single site or connecting infrastructure around the globe. The degree to which a hybrid solution succeeds at integration defines its success in accelerating cloud utility for business.
This suggests a couple of conclusions: first, that public cloud is not sufficient as a standalone platform for all use cases. Second, that there must be integration at several points in a solution. Management from a single console is not enough, nor is single sign on. Virtual Machine (VM) portability and network integration don't solve the entire problem either. Rather, the combination of integrated services define the degree of integration (and by extension, the effectiveness of the hybrid solution).
If a Hybrid Cloud can effectively bridge traditional and cloud based solutions, it will allow enterprises to begin using cloud in a meaningful way (for production workloads) much more rapidly than waiting to move an entire app 100 percent into public cloud. By allowing the flexibility and integration between platforms, applications can be deconstructed into their architectural components (data storage, presentation, distribution, etc.). Then, these components can be matched to where they will be most optimized – some fit cloud use better than others. This almost certainly is a quicker path to cloud than a wholesale rebuild of an app, allowing that time-to-market benefit to accrue and help enterprises really start to drive top line growth through the use of cloud.
So, which options are available now and how can an enterprise leverage them effectively? Certainly there are solutions that help create Hybrid Clouds. There are many products available today that can solve authentication integration, network integration, VM mobility and single-pane-of-glass management. In most cases, though, they are either proprietary or from different vendors, meaning the enterprise must do some of the heavy lifting to bring these together into a comprehensive integration stack and build a complete solution.
At Rackspace, we've created RackConnect specifically for integrating dedicated and cloud hosted solutions. It solves for integration of infrastructure management, network integration and centralized security management. We have already seen an impressive adoption by midsized and larger enterprise customers – we know that Hybrid Clouds help enterprises meet their business needs. But today, RackConnect is limited to solutions within a single, Rackspace data center. We aim to change that.
Extending the design tenants of multi-level integration used in RackConnect to allow Hybrid Clouds to reach beyond a single data center can unlock many more use cases; particularly for enterprises that often have substantial critical IT assets that need to be deeply integrated into cloud. Disaster recovery, data replication and geo-distributed applications are all possibilities when cloud can be tied effectively into existing infrastructure. We are working on technologies that will extend the cloud right into the enterprise data center, and we are very excited about how this will help transform enterprise IT into a true business partner. These technologies will potentially enable them to drive revenue faster through the effective use of Hybrid Clouds.
I'll leave the details of some of these exciting developments for the near future, but I will say that we are starting at the bottom of the architecture – at the network in the cloud.


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notself wrote:Let me reverse the question. Alan, why are you not practicing Theravada?
Cafael Dust wrote:The Lotus Sutra uses the forms and images associated with Buddhism e.g. lotus position, expedient means and so on, but I get the impression from what I've read of the sutra that the writer or writers doesn't actually understand what Buddha was talking about in the Pali scriptures, what lies beneath the archetypes of Buddhism. Because the sutra seems to be written in order to impress people with the vast scale and glitteriness of the imagery. But all that glitters...
alan wrote:Why did you choose Theravada?
Dan74 wrote:I guess people have already said this, but I will say it again - people tend to stick with a particular school of Buddhism because it works for them.
If you are hungry, you find a place to eat that looks OK and if when you eat there it is still OK, you return. Bad analogy, but with Dhamma/Dharma it is even more so, because "the food" gets better with time!
I"m curious...how long did you study the Lotus Sutra, the culture milieu that it came forth from, and the culture's unique use of language, written structure, mythology, allegory, and conceptual ritual? I'm guessing you've studied the Pali scriptures quite awhile to actually understand what the Buddha was talking about, and to know what lies beneath the archetypes (?) of Buddhism, and to know that the Lotus Sutra doesn't actually understand what the Buddha is talking about.
Have you read TEXT AS FATHER ?Cafael Dust wrote:
As I mention above, I've been a bit angry for years about the original message of the Buddha being distorted through the Mahayana, because the original message is so beautiful and it moves me to tears that people could discard it or deny it to others. That's where I'm coming from emotionally. It's that important to me because I understand what's being denied.
Paññāsikhara wrote:Looks like an interesting book.
(Three "l"s in the name, though i am amused.)Cafael Dust wrote:Titbillings: the first review of the text seems to echo my concerns about the Lotus Sutra. The book could be a good read, but as I said earlier, the battle itself can distract one from the goal.
Cafael Dust wrote::tongue:
You know, I've been reading your posts for some time at E-Sangha and I always mentally went 'Titbillings', because I thought it was funny. Busted.
I don't find the Pali Canon difficult.
Some of the others I classify in one of two ways; there are Buddhists texts, I won't name names, that are very metaphysical and difficult to understand, sometimes that's because the writers were being precise about something very specific and useful but difficult to define, and sometimes it's because their ideas are balanced in an ontological framework that no longer exists in the collective consciousness (I don't use that term in any psychic way) or was created to be obscure because the writer wanted recognition but didn't possess insight or depth of understanding. That's a polite way of putting it. Sorry, but I've been a critical reader all my life, and that's my interpretation of why some texts 'don't work' for me and many others.
Now some texts I do understand only too well, but not on their own terms. Some texts use various devices known to advertisers, other religions, propaganda machines etc etc. They employ loaded questions, poisonings of the well and other ad-hominem logical fallacies to attack their opponents - confusing since often their opponents have vanished into history, leaving us with unbalanced writing. They employ tautologies, what I will call 'appeals to grandiosity of imagery', Emperor's New Clothes arguments (only wise/brave/high quality people can understand this...), chain letter type threats e.g. 'spread this sutra and you will be enlightened very soon, disparage it and you will die!'... (...idiots. I hate chain letters), and, oddly for Buddhism, homunculus arguments, to support their own poorly defined ideas, or actually, usually not their ideas but their desire to increase support for their sectarian missions.
As I say, I'm not naming names; some of these texts are modern, some are archaic. The Pali Canon, on the other hand, while not perfect and containing occasionally dubious passages that seem off message (some of the comments on women, for instance), is clearly based on a highly intelligent and focussed person's attempt to create a foolproof and methodically explained guide to enlightenment, the text using techniques of repetition both as an oral tradition's mnemonic device and also a learning aid for the reader, who I think Buddha realised would find many ideas counter-intuitive and would require said ideas to be effectively reinforced.
Buddha tried to exhaustively detail the possibilities and questions arising from his ideas, while humbly recognising that he wasn't able to do this completely and asking us to investigate for ourselves, at the same time advising us not to get too attached to the myriad spurious trains of thought that may arise from them. He uses imagery as analogy, not for shock and awe effect, he dismantles the logical fallacies of others, of the mind, rather than introducing those of his own in support of his assertions. When reading the Pali Canon, I, who have never been particularly star struck or respectful of 'world honoured ones', find myself seeing Buddha as a person; not someone 'special' in any magical sense, but someone I both like and respect and am prepared to listen to.
That's what I read between the lines here.
I suppose what I mean is that Siddhartha comes through as a person, a very approachable one at that, warm and witty and quite beautiful in his affection for others, certainly not some horrible idealised razor's edge of perfection.
alan wrote:I was also not clear when I said "convert me, if you like that idea".
It was meant to create some momentum. I'm already converted; no Mahayana troll am I.
Cafael Dust wrote:Pink Trike:I"m curious...how long did you study the Lotus Sutra, the culture milieu that it came forth from, and the culture's unique use of language, written structure, mythology, allegory, and conceptual ritual? I'm guessing you've studied the Pali scriptures quite awhile to actually understand what the Buddha was talking about, and to know what lies beneath the archetypes (?) of Buddhism, and to know that the Lotus Sutra doesn't actually understand what the Buddha is talking about.
My words must have made you angry
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In times of crisis, this nation has always turned to religious leaders for help in order to understand why, as well as for comfort and healing. In a piece for the Portland Press Herald, following the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., the executive director for the Maine Council of Churches, Jill Saxby, described this role of the clergy saying, "Churches have always stood ready to help the faithful understand the complexities of having to carry on after the devastation."
Saxby went on to say that during these times religious leaders often write sermons "with a newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other."
I heartily agree that overall this nation's religious leaders do a wonderful job with "aftermaths." But if we examine the many faces of evil, I question whether many in the clergy haven't shied away from preemptive discussions on the subject.
As a kid and a regular church attendee at the behest of my parents, I heard sermon after sermon of the wrongful behaviors that would earn you a place in Hell's inferno. I grew up believing that Satan was a real presence in the world and that an omnipresent God knew of every temptation you succumbed to. It was a Christian world I grew up in, and perhaps it was a bit heavy on the Hellfire and brimstone, but tolerance of peoples was expected of you, tolerance of behaviors was not.
It seems in these times of political correctness that such directness in talking about evil is often avoided. Certainly, the ability to draw new attendees as well as keeping old ones from leaving a congregation has always held sway over determining the message that's given. It is perhaps arguable that those decades of unwavering attacks by the mainstream secularist media has impacted the way Christianity has been viewed by the masses. In the neverending and costly litigation brought on by the ACLU against public religious messages and symbols, it may no longer be fashionable to be a believer. It is better to keep your views hidden so as not to offend or draw attention.
Such attitudes remind me of the story of when the Communists were purging Mother Russia of its religious heritage, a Russian poet famously commented, "You can pray freely, but just so God can hear."
The response by many churches so as not to offend is to keep the message rosy by delivering the Good News." Or perhaps in a more cynical phrase, "Don't worry, be happy."
Don't get me wrong, I certainly understand the importance of the Good News offered by the teachings of the New Testament, but I also believe that Christian teachings must be adapted and offered so as to prepare individuals to see evil for whatever guise it chooses to hide behind. Particularly, this is needed by our young.
America's children are exposed daily to issues and beliefs that are immoral and dangerous, although they are packaged by distributors to be vogue. Whether those issued have to do New-Age beliefs, sexual attitudes, school violence, dealing with conflict, views on criminal behavior or the roles of the believer in a modern world, I have found that far too many are woefully unprepared to take an intellectual as well as a spiritual stand for what it is they believe in. In fact, I've learned that far too many young people don't know what exactly it is they do believe in. Without this, how then do we expect them to discern the basics of evil?
It is not a matter of how they judge others, but more of developing within them a strong foundation in making decisions and choices.
Although there are many within the ranks of our religious leaders, who do keep abreast of the issues of the day and are very effective when addressing the faces of evil, many others either refuse to update or educate themselves to the ways of the world and thus remain content to see the congregation smiling though unchallenged and unprepared for what preys outside the church doors.
Others hide behind the premise that religion should not become involved in politics. But what if evil is spread by offering a message of acceptability through political means? Take for instance the states that have legalized drugs. Have our religious leaders become so intimidated by what is projected to be popular opinion so as to not openly take stands against a vice that destroys so many young lives? Can they deliver a message that is both understood and accepted by an adolescent? Is any political issue worth talking about?
Certainly the Catholic Church believes so in standing up to the current administration in forcing hospitals to drop their polices against abortion.
I believe there is an injustice when we talk only about God in heaven, and not enough about God on earth. I believe that it is vital that our religious institutions put the issues out there on the table, at least for intellectual discussion and in a pertinent manner so that parishioners can see what form evil takes.
Our modern American culture has in many ways succeeded in pushing against Christianity and other mainstream faiths in order to make them irrelevant. It is time that faith becomes relevant again. For the sake of our souls, as well as our nation.


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Movies: What do you think of the new RoboCop suit so far?
Industry: Archie Comics has named Adam Tracey its new Director of Publicity and Marketing.
Gaming: The Angry Birds spin-off, Bad Piggies, has an official comic tie-in teasing the game's September 27 launch...


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At the HIO Financial Desk, we consider this a low-ball offer for a player of P.K.'s calibre and potential. Subban made $875,000 on the final year of his three-year entry-level contract.
A salary of $2.75 million would make Subban – whose average ice time of 24:18, in all situations, led the team last season – the fourth-highest paid defenceman on the Canadiens, behind Andre Markov at $5.75 million, Tomas Kaberle at $4.25 million and Josh Gorges at $3.9 million.
It is also noteworthy that Gorges' new deal is for six years.
Subban would make $750,000 more than Alexei Emelin.
Ain't gonna happen.
No one is suggesting P.K. deserves (Shea, not Yannick) Weber money.
And in terms of second contracts, Subban isn't going to get a seven-year, $35-million deal like Erik Karlsson's.
But if Anaheim can give Sheldon Souray $12 million for three years …


text: Bringing the WVC show to a close By Mitch Vingle February 26, 2013 Story Share CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Usually, this week gives me a spring in my step as the West Virginia Conference tournament hits Charleston.I get a spring in my step because, well, it signals spring is just around the corner. And I get a spring in my step because the event brings back fond memories.This year's event, however, brings a fall to my countenance. It brings a sadness.For this will be the last real stand of what we've come to know and love as the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.After this school year, most conference members will move to something called the Mountain East Conference. The Civic Center's John Robertson said negotiations are ongoing to keep the hoops tournament in town, at least for next year.But I simply can't wrap my arms around this MEC replacing the WVC. Our WVC.I duly note the West Virginia Conference has had its flaws. Yet it's been our conference. It's been the Mountain State's conference. There's never been a need for the word "east." Since 1924.Here's what the WVC's most time-honored icon had to say about the Mountain East on Tuesday:"I don't know much about it."That was from former Fairmont State coaching legend Joe Retton.Few do know much about it. It will be starting from scratch. It will be trying to build a brand, which will take years, if not decades. Yes, WVC tournament crowds have dwindled. Yes, some programs needed to step up and act like NCAA Division II schools rather than NAIA schools.But the WVC has always worked through differences. It took the tired, the poor, the huddled schools yearning to breathe free. It allowed the possibility for schools like Bluefield and Ohio Valley to dream and contribute to a long, rich tradition - an 89-year tradition.This move seems like change for the sake of change."We'll have to see what develops," said Retton, now 81. He then added, "Sometimes change has to occur." Indeed. My question: Was such a drastic change necessary? A conference call to bring in Virginia-Wise fell a couple votes short and 89 years of tradition are tossed?What I think those in charge didn't understand is this ragtag WVC conference has meant something to us. We grew up watching Retton and his Fighting Falcons. We grew up watching Neal Baisi and his WVU Tech teams. We watched with amazement players like Archie Talley and Sedale Threatt.Forcing change to spur league schools to meet Division II standards is one thing. However, the mission of the league should be to accommodate state schools, not punish them or push them away. Many state schools struggle mightily. They are those tired and poor.Maybe new league leadership was needed. But the new conference will be starting completely over. There will be no automatic NCAA bids for a couple of years. League familiarity will be out the window.Out also are Alderson-Broaddus (which, by the way, is adding football), Bluefield, Davis & Elkins and Ohio Valley, as well as the two latecomers from Pennsylvania, Pitt Johnstown and Seton Hill. Salem and Tech have been out. The tradeoff is adding Wise and two Ohio schools, Notre Dame and Urbana. I can't help but ask: Is that really worth ditching a tradition so near and dear to so many?It seems as though some, like University of Charleston president Ed Welch, tried to slow and temper the change. In the end, however, word is he caved so his school would have a decent football schedule.It's sad. After 89 years of showcasing personalities, personality conflicts brought down the show.UC, of course, will be fine. Same with Fairmont, Concord, Glenville, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, West Virginia Wesleyan and Wheeling Jesuit. Their new conference will have a shiny web page and maybe an Internet radio network or some such deal.(I had to laugh, though, at the suggestion that bringing in Urbana, Wise and Notre Dame would increase the league's "footprint." Umm, for what? Those ESPN and Fox television negotiations?)What's lost here is, new conference or not, Glenville is still in Glenville. What's lost is West Virginia State will still have issues.What's lost is the WVC probably did try too hard to be all to too many - but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.What's lost here is a little piece of all who followed the WVC through the years. As well as 89 years of tradition.Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, firstname.lastname@example.com or follow him at twitter.com/MitchVingle. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 Teen pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Oakes Field shooting 2 Facebook founder visits Cabin Creek Health Systems 3 Toyota announces new $115 million project for WV plant 4 'Report for America' pilot project begins in Appalachia 5 Congressional opioid investigation targets drug wholesaler Miami-Luken Women get WVC finale started today Previous Story Rare losing season looms for Mountaineers Next Story


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DORSET, VT. - With her play "The Scene" Theresa Rebeck paints a world of fragile people whose lives crash and burn because their view of the world is self-centered. The work which is at Dorset Theatre Festival in Dorset, VT. through July 7, is a look at how those who worship shallow values end up as soulless individuals
It's certainly a contemporary topic for society that puts high value on wealth and fame. But, for a drama to work it is critical for the audience to have some sort of empathy for the characters. In "The Scene" there is no person about whom it is possible to care.
If tragedy can be measured by the height of the fall of its central character, Charlie, it's like falling off a curb. He's an out of work actor who once had a major Off-Broadway hit. Charlie married to Stella decent person who when at work is an aggressive, demanding booker for a television talk show - a job she hates.
When at a New York City party Charlie meets the beautiful seductive Clea he begins his journey resulting in a classic mid-life identity crisis. There's no sense going into detail as it is predictable and not all that interesting.
Despite solid acting it is difficult - no impossible - to care about any character on stage. Indeed, the only interesting character is Clea, played by Carolyn Holding. She makes a character who seems almost stupid and invests in her an intriguing innocence that is sexually charged and clearly manipulative.
Clea is the only person in the play that has her own sense of self, which happens to be warped. She has no morals, but does have code of behavior that lets her navigate through the social quicksand that makes up the late-hour party scene of New York City. I'd love to see Holding play Vanda in "Venus in Fur" another bigger than life enigmatic woman with a personal agenda.
Tim Daly is effective in making Charlie's descent pathetic. Were the script effective and Charlie written as a stronger individual Daly would have a chance at making him sympathetic. But because of Charlie's selfishness and lack of accomplishments in life, as well as the absence of loyalty in his personal relationships, it is difficult to care about the mess his life becomes.
Supporting characters are also poorly written. Mary Bacon as the wife Stella has a great scene at the start of the second act where she is perplexed by Clea's lack of conscience and her husband's behavior. However, she has little else to do and has no opportunity to show why she cares about a free-loader like Charlie.
Geoffrey Arend as Charlie's best friend Lewis seems to exist as a device rather than as a person. The actor does well giving the man personality. But, considering the vagueness of his friendship with Charlie, his relationship with Stella, and his infatuation with Clea - we never get to know him as a person.
The most telling thing about the script is midway through the first act I realized I saw the play when it was at Second Stages in New York City. I didn't remember seeing it and I couldn't remember basic plot points.
Indeed, "The Scene" is a forgettable play.
"The Scene," at Dorset Theatre Festival, Dorset, VT. Through July 7.Tickets $47-$38 (802) 867-2223, dorsettheatrefestival.org


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DENVER –The Denver Outlaws have acquired midfielder Roy Lang from Florida in exchange for goalie Adam Fullerton, the team announced on Monday.
Lang (6-3, 205 pounds) has scored 23 goals with three assists for 26 points in two Major League Lacrosse seasons. He opened his career with Rochester, scoring 14 goals with three assists for 17 points, while adding 26 ground balls in 13 games as a rookie.
"Roy Lang is an excellent all-around athlete and plays well at both ends of the field," Outlaws General Manager
Tony Seaman said. "He gives us the ability to transition the ball from the defensive end to the offensive end and is always a threat to score goals. His addition to our team gives us another all-around midfielder with valuable MLL experience."
Last season, Lang tallied nine goals and picked up 27 ground balls in 12 games for Hamilton. He was originally drafted with the 11th overall pick in the 2012 MLL collegiate draft by Rochester.
A two-time All-American at Cornell University, Lang played 65 games with 43 starts and posted 68 goals with 23 assists for 91 total points with 127 ground balls and 32 forced turnovers in his college career.
Lang was traded from Rochester along with the 11th overall pick in the 2013 MLL Collegiate Draft to Ohio in exchange for midfielder Dan Groot and the 17th, 20th and 38th selections in the 2013 Collegiate Draft. He was later traded from Ohio to Hamilton along with Ohio's first-round draft choice in the 2015 Collegiate Draft in exchange for goalie Scott Rodgers, defenseman Chad Wiedmaier and Hamilton's second-round pick in the 2014 Collegiate Draft.
For more,
visit the Outlaws Lowdown Blog.