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The Art Of Wrecking Your Very Own Production Server
George Alexander
May 24, 2007
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Noah aka Puramu is on a rage this week blogging on other blogger's blogs. (One of) His
latest post
(I don't know which one... it's like he keeps posting every 10 minutes) brought back sweet 3rd party stories of near-fatal experiences that I assume few of us fortunate ones might have faced at one time or another.
Noah shares that he had a near fatal death experience once upon a time for which he was personally responsible. Criticle production data was an inch close to total corruption. If his boss had found this out, he would have been charged for war crimes or if my evil side had come out, I would have sent him to Gauntanamo Bay since these things can mean serious things:
3. One time I was working on a data transformation process that loaded data from a file into a transaction database. I was fixing some bugs in the code and ran it against some test data. A minute into the run I remembered I had it pointed at the production database. I was loading test data into the live environment. It took me hours to untangle that mess.
Yes, Noah almost screwed it up once upon a time. Now why did that happen? We shall try and explore. Being a one of the best non-qualified Physiologists in the IT industry, I'm in an authoritative position to share my analysis. So here is my white paper on why the very super heros sent from Crypton to save the planet from Data loss themselves end up being the ones responsibile for destroying it or if they are lucky... close to destroying it.
If you feel joyous and excited at someone else's predicament, you can read two more experiences under the "Oops!" section over
I enjoyed it :-)
When something like this usually happens and if you're anywhere around the vicinity, you are more or less likely to hear a big, loud, screaming sound first as if someone got stung by a gigantic wasp or for me, something close to one of those "Buckingham palace" ladies next door when she sees a cute little spider creeping up her arm. In the case of our Admin or Developer who does Admin kind'a tasks, this is also usually followed by a larger chorus of screaming sounds from the same room within a 5 second gap by others in the team. Being humans, it's natural for us to go running towards the scene. Offcourse, we have absolutely no desire to go there with a heart to help. Doing our normal routine of monotonous, tension filled work; we want to watch, enjoy and have some fun too at someone else's expense - "what happened?", "What's the excitement all about?", "Who's suffering?", "Wow, let me see..."
There's nothing like that sadistic tendency in all of us you know�
And that's when you realize that someone has screwed up a production instance of your firm's or maybe even your customer's application (if they were so careless to give you that many rights). Chances of a survival rate can be very slim if you had the blessed opportunity to single handedly direct your actions toward a successful goof up. Even some mishap like a car accident can be tolerated since you're just breaking a bone or two but something like this is enough to traumatize you for the rest of your life, or send you to rehab or a court of law and loose millions. That's how serious some of the production data you work on can be.
And for that matter, it may not necessarily always be production instance� it could even be a remote DEV environment which was so meticulously put up or a remote QA environment. As a person who works in such situations with various environments and even production data for our customers, I can confess from the bottom of my foot that if you're working for a customer, this is most serious blunder anyone can do. Even a boat load of bugs would have been better.
In real life, if you're working on big critical projects, even wrecking up DEV or QA environments can be deadly and you are guaranteed to get fine smooth blastings from higher-ups. Being in the IT Services industry where every team member is billed, I know the seriousness.
I'm going to try and quickly analyze for myself why these things happen in the first place. Much of this is more applicable to Administrators and maybe developers too as we also tend to do a lot of remoting here and there. In most large, criticle projects, there are people for everything and Administrators are a standard. They have a huge burden on their shoulders, they work tirelessly to protect and maintain the project's systems from harmful diseases and epidemics that you might accidently spread, they scrub the system daily removing dirt and dust, they take backups to make sure that even if they themselves die in a nuclear holocaust, the data still lives. They are the defenders of the universe. But sometimes things could go wrong and they inadvertedly end up as the very ones destroying the very sacred grail they were commisioned to protect.
How does this happen? Let's see...
1. Complacency:
I feel this is THE numero uno reason. If you're a DBA or an Administrator kind'a guy Or even a developer like myself who remotes daily into different environments like dev, QA or production or even their different source control versions through a tool like VSS, there's good chance that you are more or less likely to get so used to the task that you forget the seriousness of the entire thing. Sometimes it's so boring that you have so many browser windows open on a parallel of interesting time-pass websites and you keep sifting through everything pressing the enter key so many times and clicking here and there while you do some boring task.
Be careful.
2. More Complacency:
Because you get so used to these tasks, you click-away when you see all those dialog boxes: Next --> Next --> Next --> "Are you sure?" --> OK... "OH NOOOO!".
I sometimes make the mistake of kicking someone out when I remotely log in to another machine somewhere halfway across the globe. At least that's the worst I've done so far�and I even get a scolding for that! Imagine if I do an accident delete or induce a heavy write that brings the Database crashing to its knees:
I'd be DOOMED!
Seriously, when was the last time, after a routine round of dialog boxes, that you actually read that message in the box carefully? Something in my head tells me that it's not the program that's dumb� it's the user! (oops, did I just say that?). Yeah, that's right. The program tried it's very best to wake you up from your zombie inspired actions while you, instead of sitting up straight, sipping pots and pots of steaming coffee and doing mission critical work the way it's meant to be done, was sleeping.
And someone was complaining about Vista UACs?
Oh wait, that was me.
3. Everyone Loves Admin (Rights):
Yup, let's face it. We all want to be Admins. Everywhere. Local machine, on the Database, on VSS, on the remote machine� you name it. Everywhere. It's cool. You're king. Unless you've been denied this priveledge for atleast a few days, you wouldn't know what it means to be an Admi on a comp, or some server especially when your required to spend much time on it. Like I said, it's cool - you can remove those unnecessary services and anti-viruses running on your machine (and run blocked programs like chat too) being one of them. With Admin rights, there's no need to run behind those irritating requests and wait for permissions every time you need to do some lousy piece of work (I guess my counterparts working in totally process oriented firms or security-sensitive projects know exactly what I'm talking about).
I know how it feels. I love it. And I hate it when I'm not Admin. But seriously, using an Administrator account for everyday stuff is dangerous to say the least especially when you deal with volumes of critical data on remote machines. And this seriousness coupled with point #1 and #2, and we're closer to having short life. A best practice and solution is to have multiple user accounts with specific levels of privileges provided to users.
It works beautifully provided someone always enforces the rules. Consider for a second that you're running SQL Server 2005 Studio with connections to multiple servers since you're required to work on so many different instances. And you open multiple query windows from different connections to test some data operations out. You need to execute so many T-SQL statements and hence you do a few SELECTs, a few UPDATEs, a few SELECTs again, a DELETE, another SELECT, then a�"HOLY CRAP! I'VE BEEN DOING ALL THIS ON A PRODUCTION INSTANCE??????"
I've done it. And unless they hadn't blocked write permissions on production database and onsite QA, I would have probably been in the ICU for months at a stretch - weak heart with tons of cholestrol you know. Instead, thanks to well thought processes and rules (and maybe learning it the hardway), I got a cute looking "Access Violation" error message or something that I'm so thankful for (though I discovered that I could create temp tables). But in that two second gap between executing the T-SQL statement and waiting for output, I think I had a near death experience.
4. Defaults!
Please change those standard default user names ('sa' especially!) And I suspect that the password is more or less either a blank or "password" itself or some company "standard" password (seriously, do you know that so many companies have "default passwords" which employees seldom change). Worse is when for the sake of avoiding "complications", someone decides that all Databases need to have the same user id (usually sa) and the same password (hopefully not a blank or a "password"). We come to that in our next point�
5. Same User Name and Passwords everywhere:
This is the best solution to make our totally worked up work life simple with no complications and hurdles. It's a headache trying to remember machine names. Why make it worse trying to remember crazy looking user names and passwords? And even if you do that, it's common tendency to share your user names and passwords to avoid all the Hassel. But then, why would we want different user names and passwords anyway?
Because once again, being Admin or even a regular user who gets lots of stuff done over the network, there's a better chance to accidentally do the wrong stuff (a write operation for instance) in the wrong place (on production at worst) at the wrong time (during peak usage hours for instance). You might want to clean up space on the C-drive, or maybe execute some script, or create DTS packages or something. So yeah, common usernames and passwords are risky and I don't understand how any Project Manager can allow something like that.
So how do you work around these issues which normally revolve around complacency? I guess you first need to realize the seriousness of working with different server instances. This is serious man! You could loose your job on a goof up. Make it sink in. Before you start banging on the keyboard entering in username and password to a remote server and ready to do a hundred routine tasks, wash your hands with soap and remove all those germs, say a decent little prayer and ask for penance for your entire past remote login session sins and drink tons of coffee to make sure you don't sleep like you usually do after lunch. Those colleagues - devils in disguise, who come and distract you while you were about to click cancel instead of ok, heap a curse on them now itself so that in their next life, they end up in McAfee Quarentene instead. Do all these things daily till your brainwashed to believe that your job is the most serious task in the universe apart from morning calls... as ignoring both can kill. Yes, complacency CAN kill.
But then, sometimes you are wise. Cautious. Awake. Fearful and Serious. You really went to school and passed. And you obviously read
Alpha Admin locutus' blog
. So you bring along a colleague just to sit beside you and to keep an eye on you, or even guide you when you are about to do something really really dead serious on a production instance. If you have attained this level of nirvana, .i.e enlightenment, let me advise you to keep a frequent check on your dear friend to make sure that he is not staring at the ceiling under intense carelessness and boredom or sleeping so hard, falling back on your chair with his head hanging between the back rest and earth, a few seconds away from a BLOB of saliva dripping down due to the fact that whatever you, as an Admin with regular tasks are doing, in reality, is truly....
Administrator = Data
Data = Administrator
The bottom line is that both are interdependent on each other. If one dies, the other invariably ceases to exists. If one lives, it is expected that the other lives. Now I'm loosing it. That's because it's way past midnight and my coffee supply stopped hours ago. I'm already feeling malnourished, unhealthy and weak.
So before I close....
Long live the Admin... long live the Data.
I'm a slave of the programs and imprisoned in the grid. Please don't release me!
PS: I didn't use a spell checker so expect to find LOTS and LOTS of syntax and semantic errors in my post
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5 Comments
Ralph Wilson
May 25, 2007
You forgot the one that I have the most trouble with . . . when your boss and X other high ranking managers are standing over you screaming at you to "get it fixed
Pressure from above combined with pressure from within combined with time criticality leads to an increased probability of disaster!
George Alexander
May 25, 2007
You're Absolutely right! I've been looking more at
the guy
right at the frontlines. On the same note, in my case, it's the other way round. My boss would be much more comfortable if I (or anyone for that matter) didn't have to work on production server or even QA (since setting up our whole environment is real long drag). If my boss is around and sees me on remote on a production instance doing something heavy on a query window, he's bound to come up and confirm that I'm doing my thing through a read-only user account.
Ernest Henry Clay Yates Cordell, II
May 28, 2007
It almost seems unjust to refer to it as complacency, since it has very little to do with comfort or self-satisfaction, but rather more with a rather reasonable reaction to repetition. As a renowned physiologist, I'm sure you remember the case of the humble aplysia whose neurological response to repetitive stimuli was a
or a "deadening" of response.
We are not exempt. I recall a redesign of a government procurement system to which my agency's system had to link. There was some popular-science workplace-process-improvement book that came out about that time, asserting that humans could only efficiently process cognitively about 6 or 7 elements at a time. I believe it was inspired by another popular science book that presented something similar but significantly different. I read neither book and in the ensuing 20 years have been asked to quote neither.
Anyway, the enlightened contractor who built the system designed the new system so that no screen would present more than 7 data elements pertaining to a single case, despite repeated objections of the user community. Unfortunately for the well-read contractor, decisions on buying, particularly those for large government purchases involve comparisons of a number of elements at the same time. Also, there is a need to verify identifying elements while making these comparisons.
If a screen had, say, 21 elements (which is a conservative estimate), then you'd have to flip back and forth through at least 3 screens in order to do your job (provided that the appropriate 7 elements were indeed presented on each of those 3 screens).
The system failed miserably in the final stages of testing where functionality counts. It simply didn't serve users, and that is the final metric. The re-re-design was awarded to another contractor (or
consulting firm
, our preferred title).
In many commercially-available software packages or utility programs often used by admins, there is no acceptance testing, and the "applications" operate at such a low-level of detail, there probably hasn't been much review by people whose lives are made miserable by their features. I'm sure that this will improve over time, as soon as the prevailing wisdom associates the tremendous expense of entrusting the valuable integrity of the information resource to frail humans equipped with repetitive programs.
Since I've said too much already, as a closing note, in web applications one of the most unnerving experiences that I've had was to click on a choice and experience no response -- not even a status cue: Sometimes I'll just sit there and eventually assume that some errant program siezed focus in that moment and click again. It often works -- too often. The reverse case is where I click again with frustration wherefrom I am carried to virtual oblivion.
I agree with you in essence: We know the territory and we should be able to deal with the boredom or find an alternative. However, we must also consider issues such as pressure to perform a delicate operation that may jeopardize the necessary precision and whether repetitive dialogue boxes are a justified assault on our senses. The
list of stupid
things must have been worthwhile -- look at all the design issues it has raised.
George Alexander
May 28, 2007
That was insightful. Thanks for touching on an important aspect of software development - meeting business goals. It's natural to be content with delivering functionality across but I've learned multiple times that this not enough. As you pointed from your incident:
"It simply didn't serve users, and that is the final metric."
Back in this side of my little programming life, our team develops and maintains 5 projects for the customer. This is not related to the "admin" thing we've been talking about the whole time but probably we can link it up somewhere along the thread of thought. One of the observations within our team is that business users want to reduce repetitive, manual input as much as possible. Not doing so will cause them to find the application hinderance to their line of work especially when they have other tools that they work on which are different in terms of usabilty but similar in probably functionality. This usually leads them to make comparisions.
Being buisiness users, they do not care about the technical aspects and they are not expected to either. We usually understand this step by step as usage increase along the IT department of the customer's side. This is where a Business Analyst best serves the purpose of understanding "pain points" and conveying it to the customer's IT department and the development team to work on better usability to provide functionality with a better user experience. Ever since we started focussing and emphasising on this aspect, we've been getting better feedback from business users.
The more I see this happening, the more I'm beginning to appreciate the role of Business Analysts in a team as at the end of the day, they're the guys vouching for the end users.
Unknown User
Jun 8, 2007
I work in a medium sized software company. we also have same user id and passwords for all our machines including the servers except for the clients machines which we connect through remote server. Good article.
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George shares and discusses real-time software development insight, experiences and solutions in this blog. He enjoys talking about anything that might be remotely related to IT and matters within every programmer's programming life. As he plays multiple roles and faces challenging situations in various stages of the SDLC in a global context, he's keen on developing a platform to exchange ideas, share insight and build a super network of developers and pundits.
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text:
Nation is overdue for a discussion of how much eavesdropping we need
Continuing revelations about the reach of the National Security Agency, from vacuuming up information on telephone calls, Internet traffic and emails to collecting information from social media, haven't generated near the outrage that has reverberated from Germany after our ally learned the chancellor's cellphone had been tapped.
After the feigned shock that the United States would do such a thing wears off, perhaps there can be an honest discussion about spying.
The dealings of the once-shadowy NSA have come to light in a series of leaks from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The documents he copied from NSA files detail the extraordinary lengths the agency has gone to in collecting all manner of communications information.
Back in July, President Obama tried to brush off European criticism of alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats with the suggestion that all nations spy on each other.
The "everyone does it" argument is not a sufficient reason. It might have been suspected that the NSA would keep tabs on the leaders of Russia, Iran and North Korea, but it turns out America also is interested in our friends, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel has managed to maintain a diplomatic tone, urging that the eavesdropping not hinder European Union-U.S. trade negotiations, even though her own party has called on her to freeze talks.
The administration now reportedly is considering ending surveillance of friendly leaders, a no-brainer considering the devastating impact of the Merkel phone taps becoming public knowledge. Our allies are angry with us, forcing their security arms to rethink how much they want to cooperate with the United States.
Supporters say the NSA's activities are the necessary price of keeping us safe from terrorist threats. But there's little doubt that the agency's penchant for collecting sweeping amounts of information both near and far is, in some instances, profoundly unsettling.
The government does have a responsibility to keep Americans safe. However, that has to be balanced against citizens' right to privacy. The difficulty is finding the proper balance between safety and privacy. It is a complex issue that has to be aired. More needs to be known, and that is perhaps where leading Democratic lawmaker, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, will play a role.
Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has stated that she does not believe the United States should collect phone calls or emails of friendly presidents or prime ministers.
And although the senator has been a defender of the administration's surveillance policies, she has said her committee would begin a "major review of all intelligence collection programs."
Governments have been spying on each other from time immemorial. To what extent the United States should keep doing it is the question for today. We need a discussion of the limits to spying, instead of just letting the NSA decide. It's a matter of national security.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
M1A Scope Mount and scope performance
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December 11, 2012, 07:33 PM
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Join Date: May 5, 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 517
M1A Scope Mount and scope performance
I inherited a M1A a couple of years ago and have taken it to the range a couple of times to shoot it but I'm just not very good shooting open sights...getting old you see. So I saw a post a couple of days about scoping one and the mounts so I have been pondering scoping mine.
So does anyone know about scope mounts for them? How good is Springfield Armorys scope mount? I found one for $119.00 which sounds like a pretty good price.
How accurate do they shoot with a scope on them? Are they a 1000 yard rifle?
I am thinking about putting a Zeiss Conquest on it if I decide to go ahead and scope it. What kind of scope and reticle? Tactical? Hunting? I'm thinking I would definitely want the scope to have target turrents. If it shoots as good as I think it will I'd like to harvest a buck with it this coming year.
Any advice is appreciated!
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text:
Lesson Plan
Marine Ecology - Water Testing
- Grade Level:
- Ninth Grade-Twelfth Grade
- Duration:
- 2 - 45 minute classes
- Group Size:
- Up to 36
- Setting:
- classroom
- National/State Standards:
- Intermediate Level NYS Science Core Curriculum- Grades– 4-8
Standard 1 –Analysis
Key Idea 1- Inquiry
Standard 4 –scientific concepts
Key Idea 2- the interactions air, water and land
Standard 6- Interconnectedness
OverviewThis teacher-led classroom program allows students to use scientific tools to describe ecosystems. Students formulate hypotheses, read maps, and collect and interpret data to come to a conclusion. A visit to Jamaica Bay or other local water sources would be an extension that really solidifies the instruction.
- Download "Understanding by Design" Lesson Plan
- Download Lesson PowerPoint (PDF)


text:
Bell helps Padres snag fifth straight victory
Closer's barehanded grab draws raves; Gaudin gets win
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
Bell picked up his 11th save in as many chances Wednesday as San Diego topped the Giants, 2-1, at PETCO Park, though the praise that came his way afterward weren't for any of the 13 pitches he threw.
Instead, Bell, who hasn't allowed a run this season in 17 innings, was applauded for his barehanded, do-or-die play he made on an Emmanuel Burriss topper in front of the plate, which was good for the second out of the ninth inning.
"I'm a tough judge of defense, but I give that a 9.75," Padres manager Bud Black said of the play that helped the team inch one out closer to its fifth consecutive victory. "That was a hell of a play."
Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, no stranger to barehanded plays himself, did Black one better.
"That was awesome; from 0 to 10, I would rate it a 10," said Kouzmanoff, who hit a tiebreaking home run in the fourth inning that stood up. "You've got a fast runner and if he gloves that ball, I think he's [Burriss] safe."
Yes, these are heady times for the Padres (18-22), who, after going 0-6 on a road trip, in the last 10 days have now swept the Reds and secured, at the very least, a series victory over the Giants (19-20).
They've done it with strong pitching, from the starters to the bullpen. This is a team that went nearly a month without a victory from a starting pitcher. Now, the Padres have gotten victories from Jake Peavy, Chris Young and, on Wednesday, Chad Gaudin.
"I've seen guys getting ahead in the count, throwing strikes and putting guys away," Black said.
For Gaudin (1-3), in his first start at PETCO Park, this game was generally an early walk compared to what he endured five days ago at Wrigley Field when he walked seven in an 11-3 loss to the Cubs.
Gaudin allowed one run in six innings and did walk four, but, like Young did Tuesday, was able to pitch his way out of trouble. He did so by keeping the ball down in the strike zone, getting 10 groundouts.
"Early in the game it was fine, but late in the game it got a little spotty," Black said. "When you walk a guy or two, it becomes critical that you get those next batters out."
The same holds true for pitchers in the bullpen, and the three relievers the Padres threw at the Giants -- rookies Greg Burke and Luke Gregerson and Bell, the first-year closer -- did their part after Gaudin left after six innings and 102 pitches.
Burke tossed his third scoreless inning since being recalled last week from Triple-A Portland and allowed one hit in the seventh inning. Second baseman David Eckstein might have saved a run with a diving play that inning on Pablo Sandoval's ball up the middle.
Gregerson followed by working a scoreless eighth inning, including getting a strikeout on a wipeout slider he threw to Randy Winn.
Finally, Bell, entered the ninth inning and got Travis Ishikawa looking at a called third strike on a curveball. Then he got Burriss on the topper, a play that proved tough since Burriss can run and was coming out of the box from the left-hand side.
"I thought to myself, I have to catch it and throw it [at once]," Bell said. "I did not want to throw it down the line. Eck said he jumped 20 feet in the air. I might watch the replay, not for the throw but for Eck jumping."
Offense was again at a premium for the Padres and Giants, who played their second 2-1 game in as many nights.
The Padres managed two hits off Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez (1-4), who allowed the two runs in six innings. Three relievers combined to allow the other two hits.
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Presidential Address: The Cost of Active Investing
- Abstract
- Full Text PDF
- Full Text HTML
- Author(s): KENNETH R. FRENCH
- Published: Jul 19, 2008
- Pages: 1537-1573
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01368.x
I compare the fees, expenses, and trading costs society pays to invest in the U.S. stock market with an estimate of what would be paid if everyone invested passively. Averaging over 1980–2006, I find investors spend 0.67% of the aggregate value of the market each year searching for superior returns. Society's capitalized cost of price discovery is at least 10% of the current market cap. Under reasonable assumptions, the typical investor would increase his average annual return by 67 basis points over the 1980–2006 period if he switched to a passive market portfolio.


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As Miguel de Cervantes says: "Travelling and sojourning among various people makes men wise." And I'd like to become wiser ;)
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text:
Based on the early odds, there are three matchups I like Friday, starting with a matinee in which I'll take the Rangers and C.J. Wilson plus-105 over the Red Sox and Jon Lester. The Rangers are 15-4 in Wilson's last 19 starts in Arlington. I would stick with the Rangers unless the odds go above minus-105.
I also see two favorable late-night matchups on the West Coast, going with the Athletics and Trevor Cahill minus -120 over the Mariners and Felix Hernandez, and the Giants and Jonathan Sanchez at an even 100-100 over the Dodgers and Chad Billingsley. Like Wilson, Cahill is tough to beat at home as the Athletics are 20-7 in his last 27 starts in Oakland. I would not go past minus-125 with the Athletics or past minus-105 on the Giants.
Opening Day picks went 1-1 with the Reds rallying for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Brewers 7-6 and the Giants falling to the Dodgers 2-1. From a money standpoint, it was a breakeven day as the Reds were 120-100 favorites and the Giants were 100-101 underdogs.
Season record: 1-1(.500)
Profit/loss: $0


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Achieve impressive improvement in Sales Effectiveness
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- Will receive real-time alerts when companies are visiting again showing a buying intent
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You want:


text:
|Original size compared to new pocket-size
Pocket-sized Diurnale Romanum - follow-up
4 comments:
Is there a companion Nocturnale? That would be most welcome.
- 05 February, 2013 21:16
- Elizabeth said...
I'm not up on this so maybe someone would tell me how this differs from the Monastic Diurnal from St. Michael's Abbey Press, other than my Monastic Diurnal is Latin/English. Are there other differences?
Thank you.
- 06 February, 2013 00:25
This appears to be Diurnale Romanum rather than a Diurnale Monasticum. THe Farnborough Press one referred to above is a Monasticum.
- 06 February, 2013 02:10
- Jonvilas said...
As for the differences between Monastic and Roman Diurnal, they are many. For the starters, the number of psalms in Vespers differs (Roman version – 5, Monastic - 4). The distribution of psalms is also different - the Monastic diurnal strictly follows the order prescribed in the Rule of St. Benedict, while in the present Roman Diurnal the order follows the one that was made after the reform of st. Pius X, which took place in 1911. Besides, on the same website of Le Barroux one can also acquire the Latin/French version of Monastic Diurnal.
- 06 February, 2013 08:15


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52 homes set for Waterfront Place restaurant site
4:00pm Thursday 29th May 2014
4:00pm Thursday 29th May 2014
A ONCE-POPULAR restaurant looks set to be developed into a complex containing shops and 52 homes.
The former Waterfront Place restaurant, in Wharf Road, which closed in 2012, looks set to be converted into a mix of residential and retail, with a mixture of one, two and three-bed apartments.
The plans mean the Oasis Church, which uses the building, must find a new home.
The development, by Taylor Wimpey, will include 38 parking spaces, seven dedicated motorbike spaces and 98 cycle spaces. Access to the homes will be from Wharf Road with pedestrian links made through to the canal.
City councillor Dick Madden said the development was a positive one, but the church must not be forgotten.
He said: "I have been supporting and assisting them in their relocation. They have done a significant amount of good in the area like running the food bank, and they're good, honourable people.
"This is a wonderful development opportunity, but equally we want to assist Oasis in their relocation. We must remember what is being replaced."
© Copyright 2001-2017 Newsquest Media Group


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ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Grant Hill scored 21 points in his return from a three-game absence Sunday night as the Orlando Magic won its fourth straight, 87-79 over Boston.
Hill came back from the latest in his long line of maladies -- in this case a foot injury -- and was helped by 18 points from Dwight Howard.
Boston, losers of eight of its last 10, was led by Tony Allen with 21 points.
The Celtics were within six early in the fourth quarter, but Orlando went on a 9-2 run to regain control.


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by Geri O, Jan 26, 2014.
What can that neck be made of??...
Now that's a "5-string and then some" bass!
There has to be a video somewhere, off I go!
Not quite the same, but close.
For your entertainment: http://youtu.be/kIupV9HyeSE
That's a "Pratt" built by Oscar Pratt here in Canton, Ohio. He does some incredible work...
Obviously not a roots and 5ths guy.......
This appears to be a foul prank
So what is it, 8 strings with double octaves on each string?
lmao! Countng them up, thats 23? I think that adds up to a 6 string bass with 2 octave strings per course save the lowest, which just got 2? I tried a 12 string once and that was hard enough, I'm not sure what I'd even do with that....
Oh yes, 323, I think youre right that does look like 8
Just because we can doesn't mean we should...
One could slice a lot of cheese with that sucker.
Is that 8x3 = 24 Wowza! I bet it has a moddest amount of neckdive with that headstock!
But a total work of art it is.
That's just silly.
Maybe he is but he just has a different string for each root and fifth! Lol
And I thought 8 and 12-string basses served no function. This may take the cake along with that ridiculous chapman stick.
Have you ever heard Tony Levin play a stick? I have, and it wasn't the slightest bit ridiculous.
After reading the thread title I was hoping for some four string pr0n, for a change. Bummer...
naw man it's cool
ridiculous, would hate to string that thing
I'd be more than willing to take it on a test drive, would not buy it though.
Yes I have. Music for nobody but bored music magazine readers. It's wankery. Why hasn't it caught on with other cats? Cuz it sucks. It belongs to the smooth jazz circuit of sterility and poor album sales. Tony used to rock. Now he is like an info-mercial for a stick no one wants.


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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
We live near tennis court, near central experimental farm, we have a cat. We are within walking distance to hogs back, Dows lake, Mooney's bay within twenty...
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Contemporary (1983 built) townhouse on quiet, tree-lined street of older homes in downtown Ottawa. Middle unit of three (quiet, single neighbours), 1800 sq. feet (170 sq. metres) on 3 floors. Enclosed, landscaped garden in back.
Ground floor: garage (used for storage) in front; laundry room; den / TV room with patio door access to garden in back.
Second (main) floor: dining room with bay window and kitchen in front; powder room; then living room, with deck overlooking garden in back.
Third floor: large (16' x 16') guest room with double bed & computer desk in bay window; full bath; master bedroom with queen-sized bed, fireplace & bay window overlooking garden in back.
Hardwood floors throughout main floor.
3 fireplaces (in den, living room and master bedroom), sauna & shower off den.
Computer in guest room. TV / VCR / DVD in den downstairs; stereo / CD player in living room.
Driveway parking available at front of house, if you rent a car. 2 bikes also available for tooling around town.
Lovely private landscaped garden, with flowering shrubs & perennials and small pond / fountain. Small BBQ on patio at back.
Kitchen has all modcons: fridge, electric stove, microwave, dishwasher.
Central (electrical) heating & air conditioning.
Ample closet space for you in guest bedroom.
This place is probably ideal for one or two adults, with maximum one or two older children. It has quite a few stairs, being on 3 floors, so not suited to people who have difficulty with stairs, nor probably to very young children.
My place offers peace, quiet and space in the middle of a fairly large & vibrant urban centre.
It is a modern, easy-care place, though located amidst older homes.
Bus transportation to anywhere in the city is 1 block away; guests can use my 2 bikes on Ottawa's many scenic bike paths; Parliament is a 15- or 20-min walk, as are the Ottawa River, the Rideau Canal, downtown shopping. Supermarket, pharmacy, cafés, all the shops that one could need are an 8-minute walk, on Bank Street.
A wide variety of restaurants, many Asian (Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean) and also good Italian and French and Caribbean fusion food, are all within 10 to 15 minutes walk, as are a range of ethnic food stores (Indian, Chinese, Caribbean).
The neighbourhood is diverse, vibrant, safe.
Park with playground at 5 mins on foot (just across from the beer store!!)
Modern swimming pool / gym complex 10 mins by foot.
Univ of Ottawa 10 mins by bike, 20 mins on foot.
Ottawa offers all the charms of a large city, with bilingual (and multilingual) cultural events: theatre, cinema, dance, music, national museums.
It offers easy access to nature and open-air activities: in summer, there is swimming, picnicking and hiking in the Gatineau Hills (Meech Lake is a 20- to 25-minute drive from my house); in fall, the colours of the maple trees are breathtaking--again, excellent hiking through to late October; in spring (May) the city is awash with tulips (a Tulip Festival takes place in early May, showcasing the thousands of tulips given to Ottawa by the Dutch royal family, as a token of appreciation for the years of exile spent here by Queen Juliana during WWII.) In winter, though it can get very cold, there is no experience like skating on the Rideau Canal -- an 8-km waterway that winds through the centre of the city and is open for skating from Jan through March. Or cross-country skiing in the Gatineau Hills, again just 25 minutes from downtown Ottawa.
I am an active, 56-year-old single gay man, retired in April 2006 from a career as a public servant with the Canadian government. I worked in the immigration and refugee areas, beginning my career with postings overseas, in Spain, Morocco and Portugal, spending 2 years in each of those countries. I also have had the opportunity to spend shorter periods working in cities like Paris, Brussels, Santiago (Chile), Mexico City, Singapore, Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Ankara, Nairobi, Vienna and, most recently, Beirut. I speak and write fluent French, Spanish and Portuguese; I can manage basic German & Italian, as well, but they're pretty rough!
You may have guessed some of my interests: I enjoy reading, gardening, biking, skating, swimming, x-country skiing, spending time with friends & family -- and, of course, TRAVEL :-)
I share an adorable little shih'tzu, "Muggins", with my ex-partner (we have "joint custody", each keeping him 2 weeks at a time!)
I'm a single guy, retired from the Canadian government, into languages (do Spanish - French - Portuguese interpretation) and volunteering at a couple of local schools, helping mostly immigrant kids with reading & writing
Love the beach -- and dancing -- and swimming -- and biking :-)
We live near tennis court, near central experimental farm, we have a cat. We are within walking distance to hogs back, Dows lake, Mooney's bay within twenty...
Open to travel pretty much anywhere! Newly built in 2013, our place is in one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Ottawa, called Westboro. Tree-lined...
3 bedroom (1 king, 1 queen, 1 twin) modern and bright home in a fantastic neighbourhood. Close to restaurants, shopping and parks and a short streetcar ride...


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- Seller: Hipmunk
- © 2017 Hipmunk Inc.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.


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2007 Joseph Phelps Insignia
Red Bordeaux Blend
- California
- Napa Valley
Community Tasting Note
Jeff Leve wrote: (96 points)
May 1, 2013 - Powerful aromas of licorice, blackberry, jam, earth, smoke, espresso and black cherry liqueur are in full force. The wine is deep, concentrated and rich, packed with extremely ripe fruit, everything is in balance. There is no sensation of heat or over ripe flavors, this is a beautiful example of everything great about California Cabernet Sauvignon.2 people found this helpful 8,528 views


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October 24, 2013
Photo by Jennie McGhan
Sunnyside Pioneer Elementary School students Miguel Garcia and Raymond Ramirez (L-R) prepare a wood rose for planting at Heavenly Hills Harvest Farm. The effort to plant native plants along the Yakima River is part of the habitat restoration underway from Sunnyside to Cle Elum.
©2017 Daily Sun News
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Fortina Spa Resort
Select your stay dates to check availability at Fortina Spa Resort
Fortina Spa Resort
About the Hotel
Property Location
With a stay at Fortina Spa Resort in Sliema, you'll be near the beach and minutes from Bisazza Street and close to Fort St. Elmo. This 5-star hotel is within close proximity of St. Paul's Anglican Church and Sliema Ferry.
Make yourself at home in one of the 150 air-conditioned rooms featuring minibars. Rooms have private balconies. Complimentary wired and wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and satellite programming provides entertainment. Private bathrooms with separate bathtubs and showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers.
Relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages, body treatments, and facials. You're sure to appreciate the recreational amenities, including an indoor pool, a spa tub, and a sauna. Additional features at this hotel include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services, and gift shops/newsstands.
Enjoy a meal at one of the hotel's dining establishments, which include 6 restaurants and a coffee shop/café. From your room, you can also access room service (during limited hours). While enjoying a refreshing dip in the hotel pool, you can order your favorite drink at the poolside bar.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include express check-in, express check-out, and dry cleaning/laundry services. A roundtrip airport shuttle is provided for a surcharge (available 24 hours).
Hotel Facilities
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Multilingual staff
- Garden
- In-room accessibility
- Poolside bar
- Spa services on site
- Airport transportation (surcharge)
- Barbecue grill(s)
- Outdoor seasonal pool
- Elevator/lift
- Laundry facilities
- Luggage storage
- Swim-up bar
- Concierge services
- Sauna
- Spa tub
- Pool sun loungers
- Porter/bellhop
- Hair salon
- Full-service spa
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Coffee shop or café
- Number of floors - 17
- Indoor pool
- Total number of rooms - 150
- 24-hour front desk
- Express check-in
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Wedding services
- Steam room
- Fitness facilities
- Pool umbrellas
- Free use of nearby fitness center
- Express check-out
- Roll-in shower
- Number of restaurants - 6
- Spa treatment room(s)
- Free WiFi
Room Facilities
- In-room safe
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Room service (limited hours)
- Private bathroom
- Free toiletries
- Satellite TV service
- Free WiFi
- Minibar
- Iron/ironing board
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Daily housekeeping
- Separate bathtub and shower
- Balcony
- Turndown service
- Free wired Internet
- In-room massage available
- Bathrobes
- Hair dryer
- Coffee/tea maker
- Slippers
Hotel Policy
Know Before You Go
- Reservations are required for massage services and spa treatments. Reservations can be made by contacting the hotel prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation.
The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- Fee for full breakfast: EUR 10.50 for adults and EUR 10.50 for children (approximately)
- Airport shuttle fee: EUR 21.50 per vehicle (one way)
- Late check-out fee: EUR 35
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
Mandatory Fees and Taxes
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property:
- Destination fee: EUR 0.50 per person, per night
We have included all charges provided to us by the property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.Show all hotel policy Show less hotel policy


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Play free online games!
Dressing Up>
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DescriptionIt's up to you to make sure that Barbie's looking good! Give her a cute top, matching pants, a nice haircut and don't forget the jewelry!
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To reprise his role as Sam in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," Shia LaBeouf played with pain – and paid with flesh.
The gouges on his back, the cuts on his knee and the stitches on his eyelid were all on-set battle wounds, the price of filming the anticipated follow-up to the 2007 summer blockbuster. But it was the broken hand, crushed in an off-set accident during production in which he wrecked his pickup truck, that forced the screenwriters to react.
"He hurts his hand in the middle of a human transfer," LaBeouf explains.
"Revenge of the Fallen" begins with LaBeouf's character, Sam Witwicky, heading off to college to distance himself from his shape-shifting robot friends. Sam's beloved Camaro, which transforms into Bumblebee, sits in the garage "sort of like his (parole officer), his guardian," LaBeouf said during a recent interview.
While at school, Sam starts seeing symbols through "epileptic seizure-type fits of information transfer," LaBeouf said. "He just becomes a factual volcano." The symbols form a map to an energy source the robots need to control sentient beings, LaBeouf said.
The actor becomes visibly excited when talking about "Transformers," his slight frame buzzing in a button-down shirt and skinny black tie. His left hand is wrapped in gauze, with a splint propping up one finger. "It's like 11 days out of surgery," he said, referring to a procedure to remove screws that stabilized his digits after the accident.
LaBeouf was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after the crash, but prosecutors decided there wasn't enough evidence to charge, and he said all is well now. His hand feels fine, and the splint just provides extra protection for his next job – a role in "Money Never Sleeps," Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" sequel – which begins in August.
"It's not broken, but it's newly not-broken," LaBeouf said.
There were also certain things LaBeouf couldn't do during production because of that late-night collision in West Hollywood: In a movie all about robots that disguise themselves as cars, LaBeouf couldn't drive – not legally anyway, since his refusal to submit to a breathalyzer resulted in a temporary license suspension.
"I was in some hot water making this movie," he said. "At 22, you're always in hot water."
But LaBeouf was able to perform many of his own stunts – including "some death-defying (stuff)" – in the effects-heavy flick.
"There's far more stunts this time," he said. "Aside from the fact that I was making the whole movie with a broken hand, my knee has stitches, my eye had stitches, my back was gouged."
During one scene, LaBeouf said he "literally stabbed myself in the eye" and had to be treated at a military hospital. Though credit may be due for toughness, it's LaBeouf's natural warmth that makes him perfect to play Sam, the film's screenwriters say.
"What you see on screen is very much what you get with Shia," said Alex Kurtzman, co-writer of both "Transformers" films. "He's incredibly open."
That openness is key to Sam's ability to connect with alien robots, the writer continues: "He's very unjaded and he has an open heart, and I think that's what (the Autobots) see in the character that allows them to feel they can communicate with him and share their secrets."
"It turns into a plot reason as well," adds co-writer Roberto Orci. "In the first one, he's the keeper of the map, and, in the second one, he in a way has become the map."


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By Karen Brainard
Thomas Stephan is on a quest to save oak trees.
"I can't watch the oak trees die anymore," the Ramona resident said. "I had to do something."
As a certified arborist who operated Stephan's Tree Maintenance for 32 years, he knows a lot about trees. In 2005 he switched from running a tree service business to installing barn owl nest boxes for organic rodent control. Now, with the goldspotted oak borer infesting oak trees and the drought, he is putting a focus on tree health from the ground up.
Stephan said he was the first arborist called to troubleshoot a mass die-off of live oak trees eight years ago near Boulevard. Upon inspection, he found small "D" shaped larval borer exit holes on the bark and branches. That led to the discovery of the goldspotted oak borer infesting oak trees. The beetle is believed to have come from Mexico in a firewood shipment, he said.
For nearly a decade, Stephan has watched the pest take over San Diego County.
"It had gained tempo all the while," he said. "The government experts say there are no known predators to this bug."
As if the pest wasn't enough, the drought is putting additional stress on trees.
"A stressed tree is vulnerable to fungi and insects," noted Stephan.
Die-offs of oak trees can be seen locally on the eastern flank of Mt. Woodson just above the forestry headquarters and with scattered infested trees on state Route 67 from Mt. Woodson to Country Wine & Spirits market.
San Diego Country Estates is beginning to see the full effect of this pest, he added.
Three types of oaks are affected: canyon oaks, live oaks and black oaks.
Stephan wants to treat the trees before they fall victim to the oak borer. He performs site inspections and can make a diagnosis. Keeping the tree hydrated is important.
He will drill holes in the dirt along the drip line — the area under the outer edge of the branches. Then he mixes worm food and worm castings and pours that into the holes.
"This is how I keep the trees healthy," he said of the worm mixture.
He tops off the mixture with fish emulsion.
Stephan explained that the worms will hatch, eat the food and tunnel about the drip line, fluffing up the soil
"This allows the roots to penetrate the soil, growing out, searching for water and nutrients. This successfully accomplished, allows the rest of the tree to grow, improving the general health of the tree," he said.
After adding the mixtures, Stephan rakes mulch over the area under the tree, which he said is very important to keep in the moisture.
Mulch is an insulating blanket between the weather, sun and rain, and the mineral layer, he explained.
"Very little moisture can penetrate this hardened soil, and soon a hard crust layer is formed," he said. "Year after year, if the situation is not reversed, the trees will stress and die."
After his procedure, Stephan advises his customer about irrigating the tree. For someone who does not have drip irrigation, he can insert tubes in the holes into which he pours water.
Trees are not the only plants he can doctor.
According to the arborist, he has a mixture with beneficial fungi that works well on plants that can get a powdery mildew like roses and wine grapes.
For more information about Stephan's service or his barn owl nest boxes, contact him at 760-445-2023.


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Jupiter's scar in infrared
Scientists believe that Jupiter's gravitational pull prevented a planet from forming between it and Mars. Instead, small bodies collided with each other, creating what is now our solar system's asteroid belt. Pictured here is Jupiter in 2009 after an object the size of the Titanic hurtled into the giant planet. As NASA writes, "The image on the left was taken on July 20, 2009, and the image on the right was taken on Aug. 16, 2009. The impact and its aftereffects can be seen as the bright spot on the lower left of the July 20 image and as the bright smudge on the lower left of the Aug. 16 image." The intensely powerful winds of Jupiter had "sheared apart" the impact by the time the Aug. 16 image was taken.


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Tractor-trailer accident on I-95
A tractor-trailer has flipped over onto its side on northbound I-95 in Jessup, killing at least one person, police say.
The accident occurred near the exit for Maryland Route 175. Two northbound lanes were shut down for about three hours. By 9:30 p.m., a portion of the exit ramp lane to Route 175 is closed, but drivers can still get off. The trailer is being off-loaded and removed from the road.
Preliminary investigations showed that the truck driver was in the third lane and ran off the road, up an embankment, and overturned in the wood line, Maryland State Police stated. No other vehicle was involved and its unclear why the truck ran off the road.
The operator was identified by his Georgia driver's license as David Arturo Espinoza of Culledon, Ga.
The accident occurred just before 11:40 a.m., according to Maryland State Police. Delays on northbound I-95 begin near Route 32 and stretched for about eight miles, police say.


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L'alta qualità di un maglione Made in Italy con il gusto del brand italiano Canadiens, in un capo pesante per le fredde giornate invernali.
Tessuto: 50% Lana 50% Poliacrilico
Apertura con zip intera con cursore in metallo
Una tasca sul petto chiudibile con zip
Applicazioni sulla manica sinistra
Punto vita e polsini lavorati a costina
Colore: Blu
Additional Info
Additional Info
|Product category
|Man Sweater
Animasportiva ships immediately! Every order is handled with the utmost urgency. As soon as we receive the order, product retrieval occurs; then, when we receive the payment, we prepare the package and shipping follows.
We deliver via express courier: the delivery times range from 48 to 72 hours for Western Europe, and from 72 to 96 hours for the rest of Europe, United States, Canada and Australia. To improve our service you should always leave a telephone number, in order to be contacted by the carrier in case of problems with the delivery.
In order to make our service increasingly efficient please check the conditions of the package upon delivery.
If the parcel is not perfectly healthy, pick it up with reserve: next to the signature in the delivery note, mark clearly "ACCEPTED UNDER RESERVE damaged parcel".
Animasportiva refunds the amount paid with the same method used by the customer for paying (bank transfer, credit card or Paypal) in the least possible amount of time and in any case within 10 days from receipt of the product.
The refund refers to the price of the product or products returned.
It is expressly understood that the expenses incurred to return the product to Animasportiva will have to be paid by the customer.


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|Successful product development requires the orchestration
of multiple complex systems and processes, sometimes
requiring worldwide coordination.
by Lisa Weeks, Communications Specialist, MasterControl
Having a great product does not guarantee success. The road from concept initiation to commercial release is a long and arduous one. Success depends upon not only understanding the new product development process, but also the FDA submission process, and the complex interplay between the two. Many companies underestimate the value of a carefully thought-out submission strategy. They focus solely on product development and treat the approval process as an afterthought. Others are so eager to get their product to market, they rush the design and testing processes and end up with a product that's dogged by costly delays or, worse, unmarketable.
Successful product development requires the orchestration of multiple complex systems and processes, including design control, compliance management, and risk analysis/assessment and design and process validation. Is your company's new product development program equipped to handle all of these elements in an environment that's constantly changing due to new technologies, regulations and competitive activity? Few are.


text:
Self-storage real estate investment trust Extra Space Storage is offering two months of free storage and a free bundle of packing and moving supplies valued at $50 at selected Birmingham, Ala., locations to local residents and businesses that have been impacted by the severe storm emergencies in the area. The offer is good through May 15 while supplies last. Residents and businesses wanting more information should contact the one of the following Extra Space locations:
- 501 Palisades Blvd., Birmingham
- 115 Grace Baker Road, Birmingham
- 2135 Columbiana Road, Birmingham
- 3050 Bowling Drive, Hoover
Extra Space Storage self-storage operations are committed to helping friends and neighbors in their communities, according to a company press release.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space owns or operates 832 self-storage properties in 34 states and Washington, D.C. The company's properties comprise approximately 555,000 units and more than 60 million square feet of rentable storage space.